SOCRATES DRANK THE CONIUM On The Wings (Polydor, Greece) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Not a new (re)release, but newly in stock here at AQ. Another one for all you fans of '70s proto-metal hard rock, one of Allan's faves (hence, we got some in when we got the chance). Socrates Drank The Conium were a Greek band, and "On The Wings" was their third album, originally issued in 1973. Psychedelic hard blues rock with ragged, rough-edged English vocals, and -- this is key -- UTTERLY RIPPING twin electric guitar. Definitely an early milestone in heavy acid rock guitar shred. Vangelis later joined this band, but you'd never guess there was any New Age connection from this kick ass album. The songs twist and snake around, with rockin' and doomy riffs, dual guitar harmonies, and crazy leads -- both guitarists playing entirely different, complex licks that somehow meld perfectly. Brilliant stuff. Kinda progressive and utterly powerful. None other than Julian Cope has described this as sounding "a lot like SABBATH VOLUME 4 with Family's Roger Chapman singing". So, if past AQ-reviews of bands like Night Sun, Toad, Wishbone Ash, Flower Travellin' Band, I Teoremi, Tractor, etc. have resulted in successful music purchase/listening experiences for you, then you certainly might want to give this Socrates Drank The Conium album a try. Of course, we only have a few in stock, so please be ready to be patient if/when we run out...
MPEG Stream: "Death Is Gonna Die"

SOCRATES DRANK THE CONIUM s/t (Polydor, Greece) cd 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Got a couple of these in, the first album from the '70s Greek hard rock/psych outfit Socrates Drank The Conium. If you dug their On The Wings album that we listed a little while back, you may also want to check out this reissue. Originally released in 1972, their debut isn't quite as ripping as the totally off-the-hook On The Wings, but it's got plenty of wailing kick ass guitar work nonetheless. Unlike On The Wings there's only one guitar in the mix, but when he gets cooking with the bands' driving rhythm section backing him up he really takes off. There's also some more laid-back, rural psych moments on here, but mostly hard boogie-blues-acid-rock numbers harking back to Cream and Hendrix, assuredly big heroes of Socrates Drank The Conium. They've got something to say through their music as well, as titles like "It's A Disgusting World" and "Underground" indicate, although the band's lasting message might not really be one of radical politics but something more basic: rock on!
MPEG Stream: "It's A Disgusting World"
MPEG Stream: "Starvation"

SODAHBERK, DWAYNE Don't Want To Know You (Tigerbeat6) cd 13.98
Hey, it's *yet another* glitch-alicious release from hyper-prolific label Tigerbeat 6, and it's better than most! Dwayne Sodahberk works in, around and through various dance, glitch and indie conventions, rocking lo-fi beats and bringing elements of electronic experimentalism to the party while not totally rejecting listenability, even occasionally flirting with four on the floor romps. Fun!
RealAudio clip: "Walk Me To The Corner"
RealAudio clip: "Is OK"

SODAHBERK, DWAYNE Unfortunately (Tigerbeat6) cd 14.98

SOFT BOYS Underwater Moonlight (Matador) 2cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Robyn Hitchcock started the Soft Boys in the late 1970s and such is the band's brilliance that it cannot all be contained in one album. They wrote amazing song after amazing song, and the classic Underwater Moonlight album (first released in June 1980) boasts so many of them. Start here for sure, then seek out their other smart and wonderful records Can of Bees, Give it to the Soft Boys, etc. The Rykodisc double disc set of hits & rarities is also excellent -- I wonder if it is still available?
The Soft Boys' sound? Well, Hitchcock said he wanted to cross Abbey Road with Captain Beefheart's Troutmask Replica. Ambitious guy, and he quite succeeds -- the songs are filled with incredible junp-up-and-down energy, manic hooks 'n melodies, and slashing clangy guitar that has deeply influenced everyone from REM to Yo La Tengo to Tall Dwarfs to ... like... EVERYONE.
This Matador reissue contains the entirety of the Underwater Moonlight album along with 9 outtakes and another disc of a previously-unreleased live performances. Lots of new photos and drawings. The triple 150 gram gatefold vinyl version is even more comprehensive, with a bonus 7" that has even more unreleased tracks.
RealAudio clip: "I Wanna Destroy You"
RealAudio clip: "Insanely Jealous"

SOFT BOYS Underwater Moonlight (Matador) 3lp+7" 22.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Robyn Hitchcock started the Soft Boys in the late 1970s and such is the band's brilliance that it cannot all be contained in one album. They wrote amazing song after amazing song, and the classic Underwater Moonlight album (first released in June 1980) boasts so many of them. Start here for sure, then seek out their other smart and wonderful records Can of Bees, Give it to the Soft Boys, etc. The Rykodisc double disc set of hits & rarities is also quite wonderful!
Their sound? Well, Hitchcock said he wanted to cross Abbey Road with Captain beefheart's Troutmask Replica. Ambitious guy, and he quite succeeds -- the songs are filled with incredible junp-up-and-down energy, manic hooks 'n melodies, and slashing clangy guitar that has deeply influenced everyone from REM to Yo La Tengo to Tall Dwarfs to ... like... EVERYONE.
This Matador reissue contains the entirety of the Underwater Moonlight album along with 9 outtakes and another disc of a previously-unreleased live performances. Lots of new photos and drawings. The triple 150 gram gatefold vinyl version is even more comprehensive, with a bonus 7" that has even more unreleased tracks.

SOFT BOYS, THE A Can Of Bees (Yep Roc) lp 21.00
If you deliriously dug into the recent Soft Boys Underwater Moonlight vinyl reissue, and are seeking more... Well, look no further than that album's older brother, the band's 1979 debut full length which has also been reissued on lp by the fine folks at Yep Roc. Robyn Hitchcock's obtusely peculiar lyrics rally with Kimberley Rew's guitars - at once, somehow both jangly and angular. Granted A Can Of Bees is not quite as bountiful with immediately charming hooks as Underwater Moonlight, but there's still plenty of top notch infectious goodness on it from Hitchcock, Rew and co. Unquestionably though, the band dishes out far more delicious piss'n'vinegar than normally expected from bands inhabiting the neo-psych folk pop arena. Still great thirty two years later!

SOFT BOYS, THE Nextdoorland (Matador) cd 14.98
I have truly mixed feelings about the reunions of bands whose decades-past acheivements I hold in high esteem. On one hand, it's the only way I can share in the experience of seeing them live- and bands like Wire and Mission of Burma prove that that can be a rewarding experience. On the other hand, as soon as those bands channel their tour reunion energy into a studio album, my skepticism increases tenfold.
The Soft Boys had a very succesful and by all accounts excellent reunion tour, and here's the inevitable reunion album. Well. Let's keep in mind the fact that these fellows are responsible for truly brilliant albums like "Underwater Moonlight" and "A Can of Bees," that Robyn Hitchcock has released some very fine solo work, and be thankful. Diehard Hitchcock fans will undoubtably find something to appreciate in "Nextdoorland," which definitely isn't a terrible record, just a relatively non-essential one that most of us can safely pass over. This assesment may be a tad unfair-- the jangly pop found here might just need some "growing time"-- but I'm sticking to it for now.
RealAudio clip: "I Love Lucy"
RealAudio clip: "La Cherite"
RealAudio clip: "Unprotected Love"

SOFT BOYS, THE Underwater Moonlight (Yep Roc) lp 21.00
Finally available on vinyl (again)!
Robyn Hitchcock formed The Soft Boys back in 1976. Pretty much from the get go, they were cranking out amazing song after amazing song, and the songwriting got even more awesome when guitarist Kimberley Rew joined the fold a year later. Their sophomore full length, the classic Underwater Moonlight (first released in June of 1980), boasts so many of them. The band fires up the punk engines with the anthemic "I Wanna Destroy You" and then gets your bubblegum snappin' with "Positive Vibrations" and then melts your heart with "Queen Of Eyes". All the while embedding their pop hooks permanently in your cranium... which is just fine with us! The band was sadly short-lived, burning brightly for just four years, and then going their separate ways shortly after this album (although they did reform briefly in 1994 and 2001). So, that perhaps makes this record even more cherished. The Soft Boys' sound? Well, Hitchcock himself said he wanted to cross The Beatles' Abbey Road with Captain Beefheart's Troutmask Replica. Ambitious guy, and he quite succeeded - these songs are filled with wryly clever absurdist lyrics, manic jump-up-and-down energy, lovely melodies, delicious vocal harmonies, art folk psychedelia, and slashing clangy post-punk guitars. Yes, all that and then some! The band has deeply influenced everyone from Yo La Tengo to Flaming Lips to Destroyer to Tall Dwarfs to REM to... well... EVERYONE. Those who've yet to encounter the brilliance of The Soft Boys should start with this, inarguably their definitive album, and then seek out their other smart and wonderful releases: 1979's Can of Bees, 1977's Give it to the Soft Boys ep, etc. Not to mention Hitchcock's subsequent solo outings as well as Rew's post-Soft Boys solo activities as well as in the deliriously catchy Katrina And The Waves.
MPEG Stream: "I Wanna Destroy You"
MPEG Stream: "Positive Vibrations"
MPEG Stream: "Queen Of Eyes"

SOFT CELL The Bedsit Tapes (Some Bizarre) cd 23.00
We managed to miss this one when it was released a while back in 2005, but we figured we weren't the only ones to let this import cd slip through the cracks. The Bedsit Tapes is the officially released collection of the early demos, escapades, and excursions from the megawatt new wave pop stars Soft Cell. These DIY recordings date back to 1978 when David Ball was attending Leeds Polytechnic, where he made full use of a makeshift recording studio consisting of a couple of reel-to-reel tape decks and a mixing board. Upon wiring up a Korg synth and primitive drum machine, Ball started to make "weird little tunes," one of which caught the ear of fellow student Marc Almond who asked if he could use one of those songs for his performance art shows. The two began refining those electronic blorps and bleeps into arty synth-pop numbers, snarling with contemporary punk energy and technological primitivism. Almond already had developed a charismatic persona, which he jubilantly expressed upon the wide vistas of grandiose theatricality, from the crooning balladeering of "L.O.V.E. Feeling" to the switchblade slashes on the uber-ironic "Bleak Is My Favorite Cliche" to the ominous bark of "Occupational Hazard" and onto the fucked-up delirium of their frenzied cover of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid." Yeah, you heard us right: Soft Cell covered Sabbath!
Given the stripped down arrangements and trial-by-fire approach to the technology at hand, Soft Cell certainly benefited from Almond's larger than life persona. Such is what gave the 'pop' elements of Throbbing Gristle and Reproduction era Human League their iconic status, and it certainly set the stage for the anthemic '80s hits that Soft Cell would produce later on. While many ordinary Soft Cell fans might be put off by the roughness of these tracks, it's precisely that fucked atonality, that avant-punk electricity, that giddy nervousness, those warbled, sci-fi effects and those ominous drones which make us totally dig this collection. Anyone into the whole "Messthetics" scene, and/or the current revival of retro new wave electronica old and new, should also dig.
MPEG Stream: "L.O.V.E. Feelings"
MPEG Stream: "Science Fiction Stories"
MPEG Stream: "Paranoid"

SOFT CIRCLE Full Bloom (Eastern Development) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Soft Circle is the long-awaited solo debut of former Black Dice drummer and visual artist Hisham Bharoocha. Channeling the cosmic meditative vibe of bands like Popol Vuh and Quintessence and filtering them through similar avant-rock tropes of his contemporaries, Animal Collective, Gang Gang Dance and Exceptor, Bharoocha has crafted a warm yet subdued inner space travelogue. Filled with sitars, tamboura, layered and delayed vocalizing, marimba repetitions and drum circles, Full Bloom sounds like the logical next step after Black Dice's 2002 release Beaches and Canyons. But Black Dice as a group would never have released something so transcendentally focused as Full Bloom, leaving no doubt that Bharoocha's departure from the band was all for the better. The music also complements Bharoocha's concerns as a visual artist nicely, sharing a multi-layered kaleidoscopic spiritualism loaded with tribal and ritualistic ruminations.
Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Ascend"
MPEG Stream: "Untitled"

SOFT MACHINE Backwards (Cuneiform) cd 14.98
Yet another archival release of stuff by this still-relevant 'Canterbury' band, one that wedded jazz fusion to prog rock to pure avant-garde invention (file 'em between Miles Davis and King Crimson, unless you're a stickler for alphabetization like me). The majority of this disc (three tracks, about 40 minutes) is live material from 1970, circa their album "Third", recorded by the 'classic' Soft Machine line-up of Elton Dean (sax), Hugh Hopper (bass), Mike Ratledge (electric piano, organ) and Robert Wyatt (drums and vocals). That's followed by two more live tracks, from 1969, recorded by the barely-documented septet version of the group (more sax, and trombone). This disc wraps up with an epic 20-minute demo version of the Wyatt-penned "Moon In June" from '68/'69. This composition was later recorded for "Third" and also appears in an abridged live form as track two of this disc. The 1970 live stuff sounds great, the '69 tracks a little rougher (but very immediate). The "Moon In June" demo was rescued from an apparently quite fucked up acetate, but is miraculously listenable. Liner notes and photos enhance the experience. Ok, that's the basic info...if you're a Softs fan you probably want this. If you have yet to investigate this band's voyage from British psychedelic/prog rock to experimental jazz realms (a voyage also undertaken by many Krautrock bands, probably inspired in part by these guys), you probably want to get "Third" to start with (other suggestions welcome, but that's the one I'm most familiar with). But, as this stuff is from that era, it's also recommended. True, the Soft Machine's style of fusion has its dangers, but whenever the jazz element threatens to get too polite, or the prog too twee, some distorted bass or organ or sax wailing saves the day.
RealAudio clip: "Facelift (live '69)"

SOFT MACHINE Live At The Paradiso 1969 (Blueprint) cd 15.98
13 tracks of prime Soft Machine.

SOFT MACHINE Noisette: Live 1970 (Cuneiform Records) cd 13.98
Elton Dean, Robert Wyatt, Hugh Hopper, Mike Ratledge, and Lyn Dobson live 1970. Another fine entry in the seemingly never-ending series of archival recordings being dug up of this classic Canterbury rock-jazz act.

SOFT MACHINE Third (Columbia) cd 12.98

SOFT MACHINE Virtually (Cuneiform) cd 12.98
Recorded live for German radio in March of 1971.

SOFT METALS s/t (Captured Tracks) cd 13.98
Soft Metals have really upped the ante with their sophomore effort, as they have created one of the most sensual and seductive albums of the year. Female vocals that melt with an icy detachment, and Euro-synth stylings that walk the line between the dancefloor and somewhere darker and weirder. Like a lo-fi Goldfrapp adding vocals to a lost Goblin score, or Fever Ray hosting an after hours party at an alternate universe Studio 54, the album flows and comes together so perfectly, the music is just as important as the vocals and together they swirl, sway, and achieve absolute late night bliss. We've been playing this nonstop, a record that pleases so immediately, but that you want to keep around you as on repeated listens it delves and burrows even deeper into our subconscious...
MPEG Stream: "Psychic Driving"
MPEG Stream: "Eyes Closed"
MPEG Stream: "Always"

SOFT METALS s/t (Captured Tracks) lp 16.98
Soft Metals have really upped the ante with their sophomore effort, as they have created one of the most sensual and seductive albums of the year. Female vocals that melt with an icy detachment, and Euro-synth stylings that walk the line between the dancefloor and somewhere darker and weirder. Like a lo-fi Goldfrapp adding vocals to a lost Goblin score, or Fever Ray hosting an after hours party at an alternate universe Studio 54, the album flows and comes together so perfectly, the music is just as important as the vocals and together they swirl, sway, and achieve absolute late night bliss. We've been playing this nonstop, a record that pleases so immediately, but that you want to keep around you as on repeated listens it delves and burrows even deeper into our subconscious...
MPEG Stream: "Psychic Driving"
MPEG Stream: "Eyes Closed"
MPEG Stream: "Always"

SOFT METALS The Cold World Melts (Captured Tracks) lp 13.98
Yet another hat thrown into the eighties retro futuristic sci-fi Carpenter / Goblin new/cold/synth wave faux soundtrack ring, this one comes from a duo called Soft Metals, who definitely draw from the same sonic well as many of their contemporaries, but have a sound that's varied (and catchy) enough, to make them pretty interesting.
For folks more into the dark cold wave buzzy synth side of this new wave sound, the opener might throw you for a loop, with it's synth disco vibe and way up in the mix soulful vocals, an overtly eighties montage soundtrack styled jam, but for folks into Italians Do It better and all that sort of Italo disco dancefloor stuff, it will definitely hit the spot. A little bit cheesy, but seemingly purposefully so, primitive drum machines, fuzzy synths, echo drenched female vox, it's total old school electro pop, which surprisingly leads into something much darker, a robotic Kraftwerk like groove, sinister and sci-fi, motorik and hypnotic, with moments that definitely remind us of Herbie Hancock's "Rockit". From there on out the record veers into some total old school electro pop cold wave, very Teutonic, with detached aloof almost spoken vocals, everything wrapped in swirled effects. The next track might be the biggest surprise, like Reich or Riley rendered in analog cold wave synth form, looped and cyclical, sounding a little like 8 bit video game music, mesmerizing and repetitive and so wonderfully hypnotic. Finally the record finishes off the way it started, with another blast of full on swoonsome and dramatic eighties electro pop...

SOFT MOON, THE Breathe The Fire (Captured Tracks) 7" 6.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Damn, it's getting hard to keep up with Captured Tracks. Every time we blink it seems they have put out a new record of some sort. But keeping up pays off, because they have a pretty amazing record when it comes to fucking great releases. Before we even heard The Soft Moon, we heard so many of our customers in the store asking when we were getting it in. And we can see what all the anticipation and excitement was about as this is for sure one of the finest slabs of wax yet to be released on Captured Tracks. Minimal, driving and sensual post punk. Almost like a sexier Moon Duo, as it shares a similar repetitive and drugged out psychedelic post-Suicide/Spacemen 3 aesthetic, but much more sleek and song based. Makes it even cooler that its all the work of one guy from right here in San Francisco. For sure he fits well in the world of folks like Blank Dogs, Cosmetics, and Pearl Harbor. You can hear that he must have a love for everything from Tones On Tail to Suicide to Slowdive as these two songs melt as much as they slowly burn with such pleasing fire. Fucking great!

SOFT MOON, THE Parallels (Captured Tracks) 7" 6.98
While there is no shortage of rad new music coming out of San Francisco, there is something about the sounds of Soft Moon that excite and dazzle us so much that it's safe to say they very well may be our favorite new Bay Area band in quite a while. They came out of nowhere, releasing their incredible debut 7" before even playing a show, and then kicking off their live incarnation with unforgettable performances, including their first ever show where they played with Blank Dogs. Seeing them live after falling so hard for that first slab of wax was just further proof that this was a band we would be loving for a long time to come. This new 7" continues to show the intensity and spot on vision that makes their entrancing psychedelia so damn addicting and satisfying. Both these songs have something so menacing, driving and assured about them. You can't just name a single specific band or era that they are tapping into, and while they do have this really cool dirgey early '80s dark wave disposition there is also something so sensual and singular to their sound. Without a doubt a total contender for our favorite 7" of the year and we are so psyched for their full length to drop in the near future!

SOFT MOON, THE s/t (Captured Tracks) cd 13.98
Ok, bear with us here... Might anybody remember Steve Trecasse? We're guessing the answer is no. He has been a small-time music producer, who worked at a time for MTV way back in the mid-to-late '80s. He was responsible for all of the music on the shortlived MTV gameshow Remote Control, but he also composed the theme song for the first incarnation of 120 Minutes. The show grew into a rather banal rehash of major label sponsored "alternative" music, but the early years had some genuine underground acts showcasing their videos. Live Skull, Swans, Sonic Youth, and Loop were some of the more atypical groups to get their videos on the air, alongside more conventional college rock favorites like The Sugarcubes, Love & Rockets, and They Might Be Giants. But that theme song hedged toward the darker, grittier sound through a throbbing electronic underbelly girding an air-raid siren guitar swarm which was not too far from a Skullflower (circa Birthdeath & Form Destroyer) / Sigue Sigue Sputnik / Joy Division hybrid as bafflingly awesome as that may seem. Another weird piece of trivia about that theme song was that it was performed by Trecasse with Doug Di Franco (who might just be Double Dee, turntablist Steinski's partner in crime) and Josh Braun (who seems to be the same dude who played keyboards in Circus Mort, which was Michael Gira's band before Swans). Anyway, that theme song proved to be more haunting and menacing than anything else that 120 Minutes dared to broadcast. It is a bit strange that a song that good, that dark, and that bleak would make it as a theme song for anything, much less for MTV. While that track is clearly something for somebody to dig up beyond an odd YouTube clip here or there, the fact remains that The Soft Moon has unintentionally arrived at this exact same psychic, sonic environment, nearly 25 years later, in an act of convoluted convergent evolution.
The Soft Moon is the post-punk / minimal wave project fronted by Oakland's wunderkid Luis Vasquez, whose eagerly awaited debut album is the perfect extension of his two teasing singles which emerged on Captured Tracks earlier in 2010. Guitars, bass, keyboards, drum machines, and a whispered vocal delivery all come together in a series of monochromatic, mechanical, and gloomy propulsions that fit within the current resurgence of Factory inspired alienation through sound. Amongst his death disco vibes and downer post-punk dirges, Vasquez has a knack for an icy noise quotient that glides through the springy basslines and taut rhythms. Layers drift throughout each song, building never as anything so garish as a solo, but more as a scabrous doppleganger of the songs arching mood. These are tonebent squalls of atonal screeches exhumed from a lo-fi murk and rinsed in pools of reverb, very much like those really early Skullflower recordings when Gary Mundy and Stefan Jaworzyn provided the twin guitar attack. Where Skullflower had a drug-fuelled nihilism at their core, The Soft Moon is more of an alchemist of gloom, doubling rhythms with staccato electronics and downtuned Killing Joke-ish basslines to what would have been a standard Goth plod. In many ways, it makes perfect sense that The Soft Moon has landed on Captured Tracks, as he's mining the same aesthetic surfaces of Blank Dogs, but where Blank Dogs holds back with a subtle irony, The Soft Moon fully embraces the gloom of this music; thus making this one of the best records of 2010 that everybody will be hearing in 2011. Awesome.
MPEG Stream: "Breathe The Fire"
MPEG Stream: "Circles"
MPEG Stream: "Out Of Time"
MPEG Stream: "Tiny Spiders"

SOFT MOON, THE s/t (Captured Tracks) lp 16.98
Ok, bear with us here... Might anybody remember Steve Trecasse? We're guessing the answer is no. He has been a small-time music producer, who worked at a time for MTV way back in the mid-to-late '80s. He was responsible for all of the music on the shortlived MTV gameshow Remote Control, but he also composed the theme song for the first incarnation of 120 Minutes. The show grew into a rather banal rehash of major label sponsored "alternative" music, but the early years had some genuine underground acts showcasing their videos. Live Skull, Swans, Sonic Youth, and Loop were some of the more atypical groups to get their videos on the air, alongside more conventional college rock favorites like The Sugarcubes, Love & Rockets, and They Might Be Giants. But that theme song hedged toward the darker, grittier sound through a throbbing electronic underbelly girding an air-raid siren guitar swarm which was not too far from a Skullflower (circa Birthdeath & Form Destroyer) / Sigue Sigue Sputnik / Joy Division hybrid as bafflingly awesome as that may seem. Another weird piece of trivia about that theme song was that it was performed by Trecasse with Doug Di Franco (who might just be Double Dee, turntablist Steinski's partner in crime) and Josh Braun (who seems to be the same dude who played keyboards in Circus Mort, which was Michael Gira's band before Swans). Anyway, that theme song proved to be more haunting and menacing than anything else that 120 Minutes dared to broadcast. It is a bit strange that a song that good, that dark, and that bleak would make it as a theme song for anything, much less for MTV. While that track is clearly something for somebody to dig up beyond an odd YouTube clip here or there, the fact remains that The Soft Moon has unintentionally arrived at this exact same psychic, sonic environment, nearly 25 years later, in an act of convoluted convergent evolution.
The Soft Moon is the post-punk / minimal wave project fronted by Oakland's wunderkid Luis Vasquez, whose eagerly awaited debut album is the perfect extension of his two teasing singles which emerged on Captured Tracks earlier in 2010. Guitars, bass, keyboards, drum machines, and a whispered vocal delivery all come together in a series of monochromatic, mechanical, and gloomy propulsions that fit within the current resurgence of Factory inspired alienation through sound. Amongst his death disco vibes and downer post-punk dirges, Vasquez has a knack for an icy noise quotient that glides through the springy basslines and taut rhythms. Layers drift throughout each song, building never as anything so garish as a solo, but more as a scabrous doppleganger of the songs arching mood. These are tonebent squalls of atonal screeches exhumed from a lo-fi murk and rinsed in pools of reverb, very much like those really early Skullflower recordings when Gary Mundy and Stefan Jaworzyn provided the twin guitar attack. Where Skullflower had a drug-fuelled nihilism at their core, The Soft Moon is more of an alchemist of gloom, doubling rhythms with staccato electronics and downtuned Killing Joke-ish basslines to what would have been a standard Goth plod. In many ways, it makes perfect sense that The Soft Moon has landed on Captured Tracks, as he's mining the same aesthetic surfaces of Blank Dogs, but where Blank Dogs holds back with a subtle irony, The Soft Moon fully embraces the gloom of this music; thus making this one of the best records of 2010 that everybody will be hearing in 2011. Awesome.
MPEG Stream: "Breathe The Fire"
MPEG Stream: "Circles"
MPEG Stream: "Out Of Time"
MPEG Stream: "Tiny Spiders"

SOFT MOON, THE Total Decay (Captured Tracks) cd ep 10.98
In the year since its release the Soft Moon's debut full length has become a rare unanimous favorite here at aQuarius, and many other places too we would imagine. The songs were immediately gripping, but over time we came to the realization that the album is, dare we say, pretty dang perfect, and within the sea of similarly styled bands who would describe themselves as "dark" that record is one that will stand out as a classic. We often find ourselves wondering how something could be so goddamn amazing, managing to sound both familiar and unique to itself. Soft Moon mainman Luis Vasquez has taken things to the next logical step by assembling a full band to bring these songs to the live stage, and with the arrival of this brand new ep, Vasquez and company effortlessly show the world that there is more where that came from. The only issue we have here is Total Decay's short running time - but then it's an ep, so who are we to complain. Clocking in at under 15 minutes, we are already salivating for the next Soft Moon platter, but like the two singles that preceded the debut album, where we were given some months to digest the tunes and think about what might come next, Total Decay works in setting a mood while you hunger for what's around the corner. And yet, the ep also works well as a brief but wholly contained slab of music, beginning with "Repetition", where a murky post-punk bassline sets the flow over steady driving rhythms and frantically atmospheric synths that are as chillingly sexy as they are ominous. "Alive" would be a good place to start for someone who has never heard this band, displaying all the Joy Division / Wire / whatever influences they have merged into a sound that really belongs only to them at this point, with Vasquez's strange shouted whispers (or whispered shouts?) occasionally soaring into the disembodied falsetto that has become one of the band's trademarks. No doubt the standout here is the title track, which lurches forward midtempo with an industrial buzz and provides the perfect score to wandering alone through all the creepy abandoned parts of town. The heavily effected vocals feel like the voice of some sexless robo-narrator guiding you along and offering no guarantees that you won't get your ass kicked by whoever or whatever happens to be lurking around in the shadows as beautiful buried synths bring all kinds of strange melodies into the mix. The final track, "Visions", is a claustrophobic percussion workout with more creepy ambience that, again, has most of us desperately freaking out in advance for the next full length. Guess we'll just have to be patient, but until then Total Decay will be on constant repeat.
MPEG Stream: "Alive"
MPEG Stream: "Total Decay"

SOFT MOON, THE Total Decay (Captured Tracks) 12" 13.98
NOW ON VINYL!!
In the year since its release the Soft Moon's debut full length has become a rare unanimous favorite here at aQuarius, and many other places too we would imagine. The songs were immediately gripping, but over time we came to the realization that the album is, dare we say, pretty dang perfect, and within the sea of similarly styled bands who would describe themselves as "dark" that record is one that will stand out as a classic. We often find ourselves wondering how something could be so goddamn amazing, managing to sound both familiar and unique to itself. Soft Moon mainman Luis Vasquez has taken things to the next logical step by assembling a full band to bring these songs to the live stage, and with the arrival of this brand new ep, Vasquez and company effortlessly show the world that there is more where that came from. The only issue we have here is Total Decay's short running time - but then it's an ep, so who are we to complain. Clocking in at under 15 minutes, we are already salivating for the next Soft Moon platter, but like the two singles that preceded the debut album, where we were given some months to digest the tunes and think about what might come next, Total Decay works in setting a mood while you hunger for what's around the corner. And yet, the ep also works well as a brief but wholly contained slab of music, beginning with "Repetition", where a murky post-punk bassline sets the flow over steady driving rhythms and frantically atmospheric synths that are as chillingly sexy as they are ominous. "Alive" would be a good place to start for someone who has never heard this band, displaying all the Joy Division / Wire / whatever influences they have merged into a sound that really belongs only to them at this point, with Vasquez's strange shouted whispers (or whispered shouts?) occasionally soaring into the disembodied falsetto that has become one of the band's trademarks. No doubt the standout here is the title track, which lurches forward midtempo with an industrial buzz and provides the perfect score to wandering alone through all the creepy abandoned parts of town. The heavily effected vocals feel like the voice of some sexless robo-narrator guiding you along and offering no guarantees that you won't get your ass kicked by whoever or whatever happens to be lurking around in the shadows as beautiful buried synths bring all kinds of strange melodies into the mix. The final track, "Visions" is a claustrophobic percussion workout with more creepy ambience that, again, has most of us desperately freaking out in advance for the next full length. Guess we'll just have to be patient, but until then Total Decay will be on constant repeat.
MPEG Stream: "Alive"
MPEG Stream: "Total Decay"

SOFT PACK, THE Grinding Halt (Kemado) 7" 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SOFT PACK, THE s/t (Kemado) cd 13.98
We've been going a little Soft Pack crazy lately, with the recent spate of releases from these guys, a 7" with a killer Cure cover, a 4 song 12", as well as a repress of their first record, recorded back when they were called The Muslims, their hooky jangle and stripped down garage pop just totally hitting the spot. Long touted as the next big thing, it's hard not to see how they WOULDN'T be, their sound right at home alongside the Strokes, probably the band they sound most like, sunshiney, jangly garage pop with drawled vox, each song only two or three parts, total classic power pop, but given a sort of modern day slacker makeover. Opener "C'Mon" is equal parts frantic jangle and Strokes-y indie sunglasses jangle pop, "Down On Loving" is a loping punk rock garage groove, laid back, but super rocking, with call and response vocals, but it's "Answer To Yourself", also on the recently reviewed 12" that is the stone cold hit here, a little like a way more rocking Hoodoo Gurus, surf guitars, and world weary vocals, garagey, with pounding muted verses and a soaring chorus, the Strokes vibe here is HUGE, but hell, those guys were awesome popsmiths, and these guys are too, and this is a killer jam, the one we find ourselves listening to over and over and over.
But don't get stuck for too long, or you'll miss out on a whole mess of other pop gems, tribal shuffling grooves, frantic clean guitar strumming, loads of jangle, simple bouncy basslines, shimmering synths, and hooks galore, every song more catchy than the last, not sure what's keeping these guys from blowing up, maybe it's the fact that they're not super hipster hunky, instead just regular dorky dudes, but hopefully that won't dissuade the rest world from getting hip to these guys.
Even if for some weird reason we felt like resisting, bucking the Soft Pack hype, not sure we could stop listening. Totally addictive, stripped down, jangly, garage pop bliss. WAY RECOMMENDED!! Now we can go back and play "Answer To Yourself" for about the tenth time today...
MPEG Stream: "C'Mon"
MPEG Stream: "Down On Loving"
MPEG Stream: "Answer To Yourself"

SOFT PACK, THE s/t (Kemado) lp 16.98
We've been going a little Soft Pack crazy lately, with the recent spate of releases from these guys, a 7" with a killer Cure cover, a 4 song 12", as well as a repress of their first record, recorded back when they were called The Muslims, their hooky jangle and stripped down garage pop just totally hitting the spot. Long touted as the next big thing, it's hard not to see how they WOULDN'T be, their sound right at home alongside the Strokes, probably the band they sound most like, sunshiney, jangly garage pop with drawled vox, each song only two or three parts, total classic power pop, but given a sort of modern day slacker makeover. Opener "C'Mon" is equal parts frantic jangle and Strokes-y indie sunglasses jangle pop, "Down On Loving" is a loping punk rock garage groove, laid back, but super rocking, with call and response vocals, but it's "Answer To Yourself", also on the recently reviewed 12" that is the stone cold hit here, a little like a way more rocking Hoodoo Gurus, surf guitars, and world weary vocals, garagey, with pounding muted verses and a soaring chorus, the Strokes vibe here is HUGE, but hell, those guys were awesome popsmiths, and these guys are too, and this is a killer jam, the one we find ourselves listening to over and over and over.
But don't get stuck for too long, or you'll miss out on a whole mess of other pop gems, tribal shuffling grooves, frantic clean guitar strumming, loads of jangle, simple bouncy basslines, shimmering synths, and hooks galore, every song more catchy than the last, not sure what's keeping these guys from blowing up, maybe it's the fact that they're not super hipster hunky, instead just regular dorky dudes, but hopefully that won't dissuade the rest world from getting hip to these guys.
Even if for some weird reason we felt like resisting, bucking the Soft Pack hype, not sure we could stop listening. Totally addictive, stripped down, jangly, garage pop bliss. WAY RECOMMENDED!! Now we can go back and play "Answer To Yourself" for about the tenth time today...
MPEG Stream: "C'Mon"
MPEG Stream: "Down On Loving"
MPEG Stream: "Answer To Yourself"

SOFT PACK, THE s/t (Kemado) 12" 15.98
For a while, there was a band called the Muslims, who were seriously hyped, before squeamishness about their obviously problematic moniker found the band changing their name to Soft Pack, only to have the kids cry 'sell out', but hell, one can only imagine trying to get on a plane with a bunch of flight cases filled with strange battery powered devices, all stenciled with the words 'The Muslims'. But hell, whatever they're called, it's easy to see what all the hubbub was about. These guys kick up a seriously excellent racket, somewhere between the lo-fi jangle of groups like Thee Oh Sees and the Fresh & Onlys, classic hooky Britpop and the more seriously post punk rock of the Hot Snakes, which is precisely how this 12" plays out. Opener "C'Mon" is equal parts frantic jangle and Strokes-y indie sunglasses jangle pop, while "Eat Gold" is a pounding and manic with on-the-verge-of-cracking vocals and a definite screamo vibe, and then there's "Answer To Yourself" which also has a Strokes vibe, a little like a way more rocking Hoodoo Gurus, surf guitars, and world weary vocals, garagey, with pounding muted verses and a soaring chorus, while the final track follows a similar sonic path, but adding a bit more grit and distortion. Really good stuff, it's easy to see why these guys were, and still are the talk of the town, it's not hard to imagine them on Matador, or opening for Interpol or on MTV. Which is not a bad thing at all. Especially considering we've been listening to this pretty much nonstop since we got it.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES, each one hand numbered, with a download code so you can cram these jams onto your computer.

SOFT PACK, THE s/t (Kemado) 8x7" 35.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We had this marked out of print, but just realized we have ONE COPY LEFT of this super deluxe 7" boxset from the Soft Pack, a special Record Store Day release, which features the band's self titled debut, on multiple 7"s, including a bonus single with two unreleased tracks!
We've been going a little Soft Pack crazy lately, with the recent spate of releases from these guys, a 7" with a killer Cure cover, a 4 song 12", as well as a repress of their first record, recorded back when they were called The Muslims, their hooky jangle and stripped down garage pop just totally hitting the spot. Long touted as the next big thing, it's hard not to see how they WOULDN'T be, their sound right at home alongside the Strokes, probably the band they sound most like, sunshiney, jangly garage pop with drawled vox, each song only two or three parts, total classic power pop, but given a sort of modern day slacker makeover. Opener "C'Mon" is equal parts frantic jangle and Strokes-y indie sunglasses jangle pop, "Down On Loving" is a loping punk rock garage groove, laid back, but super rocking, with call and response vocals, but it's "Answer To Yourself", also on the recently reviewed 12" that is the stone cold hit here, a little like a way more rocking Hoodoo Gurus, surf guitars, and world weary vocals, garagey, with pounding muted verses and a soaring chorus, the Strokes vibe here is HUGE, but hell, those guys were awesome popsmiths, and these guys are too, and this is a killer jam, the one we find ourselves listening to over and over and over.
But don't get stuck for too long, or you'll miss out on a whole mess of other pop gems, tribal shuffling grooves, frantic clean guitar strumming, loads of jangle, simple bouncy basslines, shimmering synths, and hooks galore, every song more catchy than the last, not sure what's keeping these guys from blowing up, maybe it's the fact that they're not super hipster hunky, instead just regular dorky dudes, but hopefully that won't dissuade the rest world from getting hip to these guys.
Even if for some weird reason we felt like resisting, bucking the Soft Pack hype, not sure we could stop listening. Totally addictive, stripped down, jangly, garage pop bliss. WAY RECOMMENDED!! Now we can go back and play "Answer To Yourself" for about the tenth time today...
MPEG Stream: "C'Mon"
MPEG Stream: "Down On Loving"
MPEG Stream: "Answer To Yourself"

SOFT PINK TRUTH Do You Party? (Soundslike) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
If Martin Schmidt has anything to say in the matter, "Do You Party" will be the one and only Soft Pink Truth album. For the Soft Pink Truth is the work of Drew Daniel, Schmidt's partner in the acclaimed San Francisco electronica duo Matmos. Where Matmos flirted with notions of dance music, incorporating all sorts of electro-acoustic experiments and eccentric sampling techniques, the Soft Pink Truth offers a cheese ball pastiche of queer pop culture references -- disco fantasy, robot funk, big booty bounces, and house cliches all rolled up in a ridiculous explosion of libidinal pleasure. It's clear that the clipped house grooves that emerged in Matmos' third album "A Chance To Cut Is A Chance To Cure," were just teasings of the bright-pink, spandex electro-pants that Daniel was itching to put on. Thus, "Do You Party" is the full realization of those house leanings that Daniel wanted to explore, but had been kept in check by the "experimental" aesthetic which Matmos had so carefully constructed. In fact the Soft Pink Truth is the by-product of a dare to Daniel from Matthew Herbert to make this record; and Daniel dutifully produced a cheesy, nasty, and funky house album but with plenty of twists and turns to make it much more than your garden variety Castro club fodder. Along with the Sylvester acid squelches, there's a goofy Vanity 6 cover of "Make-Up" with disembodied vocals presented by Bevin Blechtum and there's also plenty of smarty-pants gender bending allusions that pop up throughout the album. But when the day is done, the (soft pink) truth about "Do You Party" is that it's all about booty.
MPEG Stream: "Make Up"
MPEG Stream: "Promo Funk"

SOFT PINK TRUTH Do You Party? (Soundslike) 2x12" 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Finally available on vinyl (with three less tracks). Here's what we said about the cd a few lists back:
If Martin Schmidt has anything to say in the matter, "Do You Party" will be the one and only Soft Pink Truth album. For the Soft Pink Truth is the work of Drew Daniel, Schmidt's partner in the acclaimed San Francisco electronica duo Matmos. Where Matmos flirted with notions of dance music, incorporating all sorts of electro-acoustic experiments and eccentric sampling techniques, the Soft Pink Truth offers a cheese ball pastiche of queer pop culture references -- disco fantasy, robot funk, big booty bounces, and house cliches all rolled up in a ridiculous explosion of libidinal pleasure. It's clear that the clipped house grooves that emerged in Matmos' third album "A Chance To Cut Is A Chance To Cure," were just teasings of the bright-pink, spandex electro-pants that Daniel was itching to put on. Thus, "Do You Party" is the full realization of those house leanings that Daniel wanted to explore, but had been kept in check by the "experimental" aesthetic which Matmos had so carefully constructed. In fact the Soft Pink Truth is the by-product of a dare to Daniel from Matthew Herbert to make this record; and Daniel dutifully produced a cheesy, nasty, and funky house album but with plenty of twists and turns to make it much more than your garden variety Castro club fodder. Along with the Sylvester acid squelches, there's a goofy Vanity 6 cover of "Make-Up" with disembodied vocals presented by Bevin Blechtum and there's also plenty of smarty-pants gender bending allusions that pop up throughout the album. But when the day is done, the (soft pink) truth about "Do You Party" is that it's all about booty.
MPEG Stream: "Make Up"
MPEG Stream: "Promo Funk"

SOFT PINK TRUTH, THE Do You Want New Wave Or Do You Want... (Tigerbeat6) cd 14.98
How's this grab you? Drew Daniel (one half of famed SF electronica duo Matmos and a good friend of ours) doing a record of mostly punk/hardcore covers: Die Kruezen, Crass, The Swell Maps, Minor Threat, The Angry Samoans, Rudimentary Peni...and Carol Channing? Well it wouldn't be The Soft Pink Truth if gay camp wasn't an ingredient. Hence the show tune. Actually, hence the whole album. Drew's previous solo effort under the Soft Pink Truth moniker was a celebration of gay house/disco culture, and here Drew indulges again in the disco thing, perverting these carefully-chosen punk nuggets into electroclash dance-floor fodder with lots of beats, synth, and samples. He's certainly having fun, and chances are you will too if this concept appeals to you at all. We wonder what's in store for future SPT albums...is he going to move on to his death metal favorites next?
MPEG Stream: "Out Of Step"
MPEG Stream: "I Owe It To The Girls"

SOFTIES It's Love (K) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The Softies are Rose Melberg (from Tiger Trap, Go Sailor, and a heaping cake box full of other pop confections) and her good friend Jen Sbragia. Two jangling guitars, two sweet voices. Fans of Amelia Fletcher (Marine Research, Heavenly, Talulah Gosh) surely must be rabid fans of Rose, and vice versa. Very very lovely.

SOFTIES It's Love (K) lp 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The Softies are Rose Melberg (from Tiger Trap, Go Sailor, and a heaping cake box full of other pop confections) and her good friend Jen Sbragia. Two jangling guitars, two sweet voices. Fans of Amelia Fletcher (Marine Research, Heavenly, Talulah Gosh) surely must be rabid fans of Rose, and vice versa. Very very lovely.

SOFTIES Softies (Slumberland) cd ep 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SOFTIES Softies (Slumberland) 10" 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SOFTIES Winter Pageant (K) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SOFTIES, THE Holiday In Rhode Island (K) cd 12.98
The Softies are back! Two women who seemingly effortlessly write music that can only be described as the sweetest of the sweet. Prettiest of the pretty. Lovey-dovey-est of the lovey-dovey. What else would you expect from a record from Rose Melberg (ex-Tiger Trap, Gaze, Go Sailor) and Jen Sbragia? Angelic voices lilt around reverb-rich duo guitar melodies. This time around the songs are embellished with xylophone, keyboards and bass (all performed by Jen and Rose). Positively dreamy.

SOFTLIGHTES Say No ! To Being Cool. Say Yes To Being Happy (Modular) cd 14.98
Not sure what it is exactly about this band, but there's something special that has sort of captured our hearts. It might have been seeing their amazing video on YouTube for the track "Heart Made Of Sound", where every word in the song is written out visually, in yarn, or food, or piss on concrete or whatever. Even the parts of the song without singing are represented visually with strange colored shapes moving and rearranging themselves in time to the music. And somehow, that video does sort of explain what it is about this band. It's fun and colorful, catchy and playful, but sort of strange, and a little bit unexpected.
This is pure, wide eyes indie pop for sure, simple jangly guitars, shuffling drumming, keyboards wheezing and bouncing melodically atop the rest of the song, and of course a winsome sad boy singer, lots of acoustic strum, and swooshy ambience. The closest comparison would have to be Death Cab For Cutie or maybe the Postal Service, Modest Mouse too, and fans of those bands will absolutely LOVE Softlightes. But those of us who wouldn't normally give this the time of day, have been playing it like crazy. The sound is just so glistening and gossamer, lush and weirdly spacey, lots of reverb and ambient swirl, some strange bits of electronic buzz, some drum machine, some power pop guitar crunch, some vocoder, it's all mixed in there, but none of that stuff would mean anything if this record weren't chock full of perfect little pop songs, which it is. Later on, the record gets lighter and lighter, almost to the point of seventies soft rock, but even then it's strangely lilting and lovely, almost precious, but never so much that it bugs, just enough to sort of wrap your head and fill you ears with soft poppy goodness.
"Heart Made Of Sound" is definitely the star here though, the one that gets the most repeats, and is definitely a possible contender for pop song of the year, and well worth the price of admission, but the rest of the record is right there behind it, blissy and jangly and dreamy and sucking us right in and wrapping us up tight in a perfect crystalline dream pop cocoon.
MPEG Stream: "Heart Made Of Sound"
MPEG Stream: "The Ballad Of Theodore And June"
MPEG Stream: "Girl Kills Bear"

SOFTWAR s/t (Digitalis) cd 12.98
Full disclosure: the members of this new, Jewelled Antler-related outfit making their debut release on the Digitalis label are not only all friends of ours, but one of 'em, namely Christine Boepple, worked here at AQ for a spell (she was the charming lass dealing with all your mailorder requests). And until recently, another of the Softwar bunch, Kerry McLaughlin, was also working here side-by-side with Christine. So, OF COURSE this is great! And if all you regular mailorder customers don't order one, well, don't say we didn't warn you about what happens when you get on Christine's bad side... But seriously, this IS good, a relaxing fantasy camping trip into the wilds of Northern California (and into the basement musical lairs where these folks dwell when they're at home).
It is, as you might expect, improvised, abstract psych-folk. Drifting and densely detailed. Jewelled Antler's Franciscan Hobbies (among other JA acts) would be a close parallel, as would Finnish contemporaries Kemialliset Ystavat. Softwar's mysterious droning moods are sweetened by distorted melodies and haunting, gentle female singing. The sounds and structures are inherently unstable, with queasy keyboards and overloaded electronics sending the listener softly to the floor (or up to the clouds), where one can safely bask in the queer beauty of Softwar's fragmented songforms, which range from whispery lullabies adorned with clinking and tinkling atop their shimmering drones, to much more beard-stiffening, rhythmic jamming, with suggestions of a primitive communal hippy vibe recalling krautrockers Siloah ferinstance.
Like the artwork that accompanies it -- vintage photos of happy, groovy people playing "non-competitive group games" in the Whole Earth Catalogue era of the 1970s -- the music is playful and nicely captures the spirit of icebreaking games that were designed sincerely with the ideal of changing society.
We mentioned Kerry and Christine, who have played in a zillion bands from this scene; Kerry in Franciscan Hobbies, Buried Civilizations, and Skygreen Leopards among others, Christine in Skygreen Leopards, Ov, Kyrgyz, Franciscan Hobbies, Whysp, etc. But Softwar's also got two guys to go with those two girls: Geoff Koops (Franciscan Hobbies, The Shitty Listener) and long-time AQ fave Loren Chasse, whom we're sure you already know quite well from all of his myriad projects. Let's list a few together shall we? Thuja, id battery, Of, Ov, Coelacanth, Blithe Sons, Franciscan Hobbies, Child Readers, L/R, Kyrgyz, etc. etc. etc.
As wonderful as so many of those other projects have been, we're truly convinced that these four teaming up to wage Softwar is a very special thing.
MPEG Stream: "Psychic Shake"
MPEG Stream: "Hagoo (The Victory Over Moods)"
MPEG Stream: "The Softwar"
MPEG Stream: "Fraha"

SOG MONGEY Large 11"+ Handmade Creature toy/figure 49.98
What the heck is a sog mongey? Well, in the land of Ms Cup, it is a distant mutant cousin of the sock monkey. She's made close to a hundred of these handcrafted creatures of her own design. Each one is unique and individually named (complete with numbered hangtag and 'hello my name is' tag). There have been stardust cowboys (with chaps!) and Fame/Flashdance dancers, party girls and death metallers (with corpse paint!). Others wore latex, fishnets, feather boas, fake fur, capesÊand masks. Would you believe there was even a King Diamond mongey? That's right, King Diamongey!
She even made a complete AQ sog mongey family. Bearing more than a striking resemblance to their human counterparts, they sat prominently behind the front counter and watched over the goings-on. Here's what we had to say about them back in AQ List #120:ÊÊ"In the likenesses of all the AQers and accurate down to the tiniest details: Allan's denim vest, Elisabeth's red hair, Sadie's black ponytail, Windy's flowered dress, Byram's beard, Andee's maroon ski hat, Jeff's Boredoms shirt, Jim's bracelets. You gotta see 'em. They're so fucking cute it's killing us."
We carry them very sporadically because A) they are *handmade*! and B) inspiration and materials just don't grow on trees. Patience, grasshopper!
Please ask about availability.

SOG MONGEY Medium 8"-10" Handmade Creature toy/figure 39.98
What the heck is a sog mongey? Well, in the land of Ms Cup, it is a distant mutant cousin of the sock monkey. She's made close to a hundred of these handcrafted creatures of her own design. Each one is unique and individually named (complete with numbered hangtag and 'hello my name is' tag). There have been stardust cowboys (with chaps!) and Fame/Flashdance dancers, party girls and death metallers (with corpse paint!). Others wore latex, fishnets, feather boas, fake fur, capesÊand masks. Would you believe there was even a King Diamond mongey? That's right, King Diamongey!
She even made a complete AQ sog mongey family. Bearing more than a striking resemblance to their human counterparts, they sat prominently behind the front counter and watched over the goings-on. Here's what we had to say about them back in AQ List #120:ÊÊ"In the likenesses of all the AQers and accurate down to the tiniest details: Allan's denim vest, Elisabeth's red hair, Sadie's black ponytail, Windy's flowered dress, Byram's beard, Andee's maroon ski hat, Jeff's Boredoms shirt, Jim's bracelets. You gotta see 'em. They're so fucking cute it's killing us."
We carry them very sporadically because A) they are *handmade*! and B) inspiration and materials just don't grow on trees. Patience, grasshopper!
Please ask about availability.

SOG MONGEY Small 5"-7" Handmade Creature toy/figure 29.98
What the heck is a sog mongey? Well, in the land of Ms Cup, it is a distant mutant cousin of the sock monkey. She's made close to a hundred of these handcrafted creatures of her own design. Each one is unique and individually named (complete with numbered hangtag and 'hello my name is' tag). There have been stardust cowboys (with chaps!) and Fame/Flashdance dancers, party girls and death metallers (with corpse paint!). Others wore latex, fishnets, feather boas, fake fur, capesÊand masks. Would you believe there was even a King Diamond mongey? That's right, King Diamongey!
She even made a complete AQ sog mongey family. Bearing more than a striking resemblance to their human counterparts, they sat prominently behind the front counter and watched over the goings-on. Here's what we had to say about them back in AQ List #120:ÊÊ"In the likenesses of all the AQers and accurate down to the tiniest details: Allan's denim vest, Elisabeth's red hair, Sadie's black ponytail, Windy's flowered dress, Byram's beard, Andee's maroon ski hat, Jeff's Boredoms shirt, Jim's bracelets. You gotta see 'em. They're so fucking cute it's killing us."
We carry them very sporadically because A) they are *handmade*! and B) inspiration and materials just don't grow on trees. Patience, grasshopper!
Please ask about availability.

SOGAR Apikal Blend (12K) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SOGGY s/t (Memoire Neuve) lp 32.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now we can perhaps prove that old adage that one YouTube clip is worth a thousand words! Go watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o49KyJQl-Og
Ok, you're back? Now just try to tell us you don't want to buy that band's record! After seeing that clip of Soggy kicking out the jams live on French TV in 1980 (thanks to our pal Brian Turner at WFMU for turning us on to it) we knew that if they had an album, we had to have it! A bit of research and we learned that indeed they did, newly reissued as a vinyl-only, limited edition. And now here it is, while they last. It's an expensive import, but it's also a deluxe gatefold package, with the super-thick LP in one pocket of the sleeve and a freakin' HUGE Soggy poster in the other (now when other records claim they come with a 'poster' they'd better step up!). And who cares how much it costs, didn't you just watch that video??!
For those for whom YouTube is somehow forbidden, we'll just say that Soggy (what a name!) were a French band circa 1980-82 who sound a lot like a more metallized version of The Stooges, obviously their biggest influence (end of side one here is cover "I Wanna Be Your Dog"). The skinny, shirtless singer is about as Iggy as you can get, with the added shake appeal of sporting a giant Rob Tyner (MC5) style Afro! Though they're about ten years after the Francais Metal de Proto scene we've obsessed over lately, they're more like Francais Metal de not-so-Proto, they'd fit right in, all heavy and punk and psychedelic. And they're even more obscure than those other French Stooge worshipers Angel Face, but just as badass. In fact, before they broke up the were supposedly slated to open a Judas Priest tour. What else do you need to know? Oh yeah, before they were Soggy, in the '70s some of these guys were in a band called the Hardfuckers!
All right, why are we still writing this? We don't need to, just watch that YouTube clip!! And yes, that song ("Waiting For The War") is included here. Act fast though 'cause this is limited to 500 copies and while we got a bunch we're sure they'll go quick.

SOIL SING THROUGH ME (Manhand) cd-r 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
FEATHERS and SUNBURNED HAND OF THE MAN! Not much else to say. Especially since we only managed to get about a dozen of these, and as with all SHOTM related releases, it's very likely we will never see these again. So if you do want one, be quick on the buzzer or be prepared to be disappointed.
Soil Sing Through Me is a wild whirring improvised abstract free for all collaboration between folks from both of these two underground outfits. The sound seems to fall much closer to the Sunburned end of the spectrum, with huge freeform dirges, wild Dead C like drumming, layers of whirring distortion and amp buzz and gritty reverb. Sonically, this definitely sounds like some lost release from NZ, some unreleased Xpressway cassette, Dead C, Trash, Gate, This Kind Of Punishment, A Handful Of Dust, a whirling suffocating skree, a dense drone dripping freerock space jam, psychedelic and totally mind melting. AWESOME!
Packaged in a super trippy, massive psychedelic fold out poster.
And again, only about a dozen of these, so odds are these will be gone before you can blink...
MPEG Stream: "Four Hands Carveed The Figure With Four Breasts"
MPEG Stream: "Sick Mothers"

SOIL SING THROUGH ME MEETS KOHOUTEK New Milk (Wabana) cd-r 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Second release we've been able to get our hands on from Soil Sing Through Me, a sort of underground freak folk supergroup featuring members of Feathers and Sunburned Hand Of The Man, who for this disc have teamed up with DC outfit Kohoutek for an evening of communal music making, the results should be no surprise, a druggy blown out meandering laid back psychedelic folk free for all. Blasted, stoned, groovy and fucked up.
You can definitely hear more SHOTM than Feathers, or maybe it's Kohoutek who we had never heard anyway, but this is not so much folky as sort of spaced out and trippy. Simple propulsive tribal rhythm jams and simple stripped down rock beats are the framework for these inner space excursions, wah guitar and slivers of silvery feedback drift to and fro, melodies are spread out over the proceedings like a tattered old blanket, there seem to be vocals too, but they are minimal and are usually buried under a ton of FX and psychedelic shimmer, keyboards buzz and huge spacious expanses offer the players plenty of space to stir up subtle bits of percussive clatter, glistening flurries of blurry buzz, strange spidery little melodies all tangled up amidst the stumbling drums and rumbling bass. This definitely has a Dead C vibe, but then what improvised noise rock psych jam doesn't? No good ones, that's for sure.
The usual suspects will eat this up. Sunburned Hand obsessives for sure need this, as do all you free folk noise rock cd-r freaks...
LIMITED TO 200 COPIES, most likely already out of print. Packaged in the instantly recognizable skull and crossbones Wabana purple painted digipak.
MPEG Stream: "III"
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