SAWS s/t (InTone) cd 14.98

SAWYER, PHIL Childhood's End (Guerssen Records) cd 21.00
No, this is not some outsider electronic record based on Arthur C. Clarke's dark tale of alien invasion (although that would be rad, wouldn't it?). No, this is actually an extremely rare psych-folk record from Down Under originally released in 1971. How rare? Well, a recent eBay seller was asking $700 dollars for this. Whoa! A bit country-tinged with some really great songwriting, this remind us of a more electric Gordon Lightfoot (whom we love!). We believe this is Phil Sawyer's only release, and even this album is not very well known outside high-caliber record collector circles, which is a shame because it's really good. Looking for some psych-dappled singer-songwriter fare in the vein of Graham Nash, Gary Higgins or the abovementioned Mr. Lightfoot? Look no further. Awesome!
MPEG Stream: "Nightbirds"
MPEG Stream: "Stranger in The Street"

SAY BOK GWAI s/t (Monkey King Records) cd 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SC.ALL Live @ Silk City (Scarcelight) cd-r 4.98

SCALA Beauty Nowhere (Touch) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Ex-Seefeel members. For fans of Too Pure, and yes, this is the full-length. Fuzz, distortion, and a cool techno version of "Heart of Glass" that makes those who recognize it run to the counter to ask 'who IS this?'

SCALA Beauty Nowhere (Touch) lp 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Ex-Seefeel members. For fans of Too Pure, and yes, this is the full-length. Fuzz, distortion, and a cool techno version of "Heart of Glass" that makes those who recognize it run to the counter to ask 'who IS this?'

SCALA Compass Heart (Touch) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Their previous album Beauty Nowhere was a furious incarnation of belligerent electronica / noise almost sounding like Leichenschrie era SPK with a female vocalist. Here Scala (whose members feature the talented remnants of the once great Seefeel - Sarah Peacock and Daren Fletcher - as well as Locust's Mark Van Hoen) have greated a darker, more sublime album of leftfield electronica with a surprisingly silky atmosphere lingering around the processed guitars and subdued breakbeats... not too far from the last Tricky album.

SCALD Fluke (Midhir Records) cd 16.98
We admit it, we're cool packaging junkies. Which is different than being a collector. It's just that we like to have the music we love, all wrapped up lovingly in artwork and packaging that was as well thought out as the music. That's one thing you'll never get from an MP3, some crazy gatefold pop up, or some curious origami like creation wrapped in twine. The possibilities are endless. And we're constantly amazed at what artists come up with to compliment their music.
So before we get to the music on Scald's latest Fluke, we have to talk about the artwork. Some of you, whether you know it or not, are probably already familiar with the artwork of Scald drummer Paul McCarroll, who did the layout and design for the Nordvargr / Drakh on tUMULt, laid out AND painted the cover for the over the top Nordvargr / BSE Hypergenome666 box on Old Europa Cafe, he also did the cover for the forthcoming Pyha on tUMULt (yes, it's really finally coming out) as well as tons of other stuff, but this one takes the cake.
A beautiful oversized glossy gatefold, the images all washed out and dark, a crucifix in the forest, all sorts of harrowing photos, a die cut pocket for the cd, and A COMMUNION WAFER printed with the Scald log. A real communion wafer! How evil is that?! Holy shit. Apparently it took ages to find someone who would or could print on a communion wafer, but it was worth it!
Scald are a long running outfit, who sort of straddle the line between crusty punk, furious grind and buzzing black metal, their songs are complex and serpentine, the riffs massive and mathy, the drums furious and pounding, massive fuzzed out basslines, strange time signatures, lurching tempos, howled shouted vocals, the tracks are woozy and chaotic, chugging, churning, definitely hear some Amrep noise rock amidst the blasting buzz. The first 5 songs are a furious assault, that should totally hit the spot for metalheads and noiserockers alike.
But Scald have another side. A much darker, dronier side, which they indulge on the epic 25 minute closing track (longer than all the other tracks combined). A sprawling and expansive noise flecked dronescape, the usual suspects are referenced, but Scald definitely create their own sound, super creepy, and dense, with long stretches of hushed whispering shimmer, strange voices, bursts of jagged grinding crunch, strange swooping backwards effects, dense rumbling low end drones, muted glitch and all sorts of garbled interference, super cinematic, almost like a straight recording of some mysterious seventies art film, dialogue and all. Fucking awesome.
MPEG Stream: "Larva"
MPEG Stream: "Cocoon"
MPEG Stream: "Lumbricoid"

SCANNER 20' to 2000: August (Noton/Raster) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We've reached the eighth installment in Raster's monthly countdown to 2000, and this time it's Robin Rimbaud's turn. His contribution is a minimal array of pulses, blips and beats (nothing too surprising in that discription, now is there?). Very much a headphone listen--keep away from noisy machines.

SCANNER Sulphur (Sub Rosa) cd 15.98
From the liner notes: "The Scanner series of recordings features the intercepted conversations of unsuspecting talkers, edited into minimalist musical settings as if they were instruments." Robin Rimbaud is Scanner, recorded live in London, March 1995.

SCANNER/SHEA/MAIN Live Sessions - Paris June 1996 (Sub Rosa) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
David Shea, Robin Rimbaud, and Robert Hampson follow up their live in London disc with another from the French capitol.

SCARE DEM The Album (Felony) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
When we asked our reggae distributor for recent AQ-staff fave Ward 21, his response was a baffled "uh, yeah, sure we've got those" but when we asked about the Scare Dem records he just laughed and asked whether we were going to start selling crack. I guess Scare Dem Crew have a reputation as being Jamaica's dancehall bad boys, the progenitors of 'gangstah dancehall' possibly. Scare Dem Crew had achieved a certain amount of clout in Jamaica through several singles and session work for other stars before releasing their debut full-length album "Scared From the Crypt" in 1999 (so we're a little behind the times, call us Rip Van Winkle why don'tcha.) Featuring the vocal talents of Elephant Man, Harry Toddler and Nitty Kutchie -- all of whom have had fairly successful careers on their own since. Though "Scared From the Crypt" was apparently their first full length release, "The Album" also released in 1999 is a complete mystery in that it seems to not exist, even on the group's managerial agency's website. It's definitely the original crew and features a cameo by long time collaborator Bounty Killer, a song in which Nitty Kutchie's vocal part was recorded via phone call. The lyrics lack the insane inspired charm of Ward 21 and the Crew seems obsessively bent out of shape in their fear of "batty boys" (gays) and have not one, but four songs and a skit devoted to the subject. But if you can get past their dipshit insecurities concerning sexuality, the production on the album is generally above average with lots of edgy rhythms, pounding bass, and aggressive -- hot potato voice -- toasting to annoy the shit out of your neighbors while you chew up two by fours 'til your gums bleed.
RealAudio clip: "Big Gun Pop Out"
RealAudio clip: "Be A Shotta"

SCARE DEM CREW Scared From the Crypt (TVT) cd 17.98
It's funny, until just now -- and we've had this album floating around the reggae section for a few weeks already -- I didn't know that the picture of the Crew on the cover is supposed to be taken in a graveyard. You'd think with an album title like "Scared From the Crypt" I would have put dos y dos together, but the execution of the photo itself makes the group look as though they're lounging around in the garden of someone's plantation style estate. Flowering shrubs aside, the crew are dressed up in brightly colored smoking jackets. Hardly scary. The Scare Dem Crew seems to struggle with their identity as tough guys, which is maybe why they have to have several anti-batty boy (gay men) songs on every album. On both albums they have a song devoted to the importance of men not dressing like women, but then choose to have their photos taken wearing jackets stolen from Jimmy Buffet's reject pile. The most hilarious slip on their part though is using the rhythm track from Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" to back up their "Girls Dem Want We", which actually works pretty well all things considered. Most of the tracks on this album are pretty weak though, lots of bouncy beats with Carnival whistle hits and crappy attempts at crooning. The best song ironically enough is the above mentioned "collaboration" with Soft Cell. Also quite nice is the opening track "Dis Scare Dem" which features Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" as its backbone. For a limited time we have some of these in stock at 10.98 if you're interested, but once they're gone the price will revert back to 17.98.
RealAudio clip: "Dis Scare Dem"
RealAudio clip: "Shotta"
RealAudio clip: "Girls Dem Want We"

SCARFACE The Last Of A Dying Breed (Rap A Lot) cd 17.98

SCARLETT JOHANSSON Anywhere I Lay My Head (Atco / Rhino / Periwinkle) cd 17.98
We can't think of any album in recent history that was more set up to fail than this one.
A "love her or hate her" actress with dubious musical abilities performing mostly Tom Waits covers (with the exception of one original, "Song for Jo"). Even in the highly capable hands of David Sitek from TV On The Radio manning the production (and providing a healthy dose of indie cred), they must have realized this was a high risk venture. Which means we think most people will never bother to give this a listen, which is too bad, because if you didn't know it was Scarlett Johansson and you didn't know these were Tom Waits covers, it's actually a pretty good ethereal pop album. One could easily mistake this for a record by Beach House or even Mazzy Star. There's been much worse music put out by actresses than this (ahem, She and Him), that got away with so much less scrutiny. Perhaps this is the problem, it's setup to be a vanity project when it really isn't (Johansson's vocals are just as much of an instrument in Sitek's production as the swirling music boxes and atmospheres), leaving the actress to bear much of the blame for its failure. Perhaps if it was released under a band name that just happened to have Johansson on vocals or whatever, under any other circumstances this would be a hit. Oddly, David Bowie makes a guest appearance.
MPEG Stream: "Town With No Cheer"
MPEG Stream: "Song For Jo"
MPEG Stream: "Green Grass"

SCARLETT JOHANSSON Anywhere I Lay My Head (Warner) lp 23.00
NOW ON VINYL!!!!!!!!!!
We can't think of any album in recent history that was more set up to fail than this one.
A "love her or hate her" actress with dubious musical abilities performing mostly Tom Waits covers (with the exception of one original, "Song for Jo"). Even in the highly capable hands of David Sitek from TV On The Radio manning the production (and providing a healthy dose of indie cred), they must have realized this was a high risk venture. Which means we think most people will never bother to give this a listen, which is too bad, because if you didn't know it was Scarlett Johansson and you didn't know these were Tom Waits covers, it's actually a pretty good ethereal pop album. One could easily mistake this for a record by Beach House or even Mazzy Star. There's been much worse music put out by actresses than this (ahem, She and Him), that got away with so much less scrutiny. Perhaps this is the problem, it's setup to be a vanity project when it really isn't (Johansson's vocals are just as much of an instrument in Sitek's production as the swirling music boxes and atmospheres), leaving the actress to bear much of the blame for its failure. Perhaps if it was released under a band name that just happened to have Johansson on vocals or whatever, under any other circumstances this would be a hit. Oddly, David Bowie makes a guest appearance.
MPEG Stream: "Town With No Cheer"
MPEG Stream: "Song For Jo"
MPEG Stream: "Green Grass"

SCARNELLA s/t (Smells Like Records) cd 12.98
Working apart from the Geraldine Fibbers, Carla Bozulich and AQ-favourite guitarist Nels Cline team up as Scarnella. Slow building intense walls of droning guitar strum not unlike late period Swans and lilting ballads that wouldn't be out of place in a German cabaret.

SCATTER Surprisin Sing, Stupendous Love (Cenotaph Audio) cd 14.98
This very interestingly, artfully packaged disc is stickered with the information that the debut from Scatter includes a member of Scottish NYC-wavers Franz Ferdinand. And while at least of few of us here at Aquarius really like Franz Ferdinand, that fact is much less relevant to the sound of Scatter than that the nine member Scatter also includes percussionist Alexander Neilson in their ranks, who we only recently were introduced to via Neilson's excellent collaborative cd with AQ fave Richard Youngs, Ourselves. And Scatter indeed proves to be in line with the experimentation of Youngs and others in the UK free-folk underground. On Surprisin Sing, Stupendous Love, you'll find Scatter appropriately enough scattering their music with elements drawn from such diverse traditions as folk music and free jazz. There's some sweet female vocals, softly melodic *and* plenty of abstract, jazz oriented group blowing. Both Appalachia and Sun Ra are referenced. Less dense than delicate, but definitely lively and lovely. We think this is on roughly the same wavelength as the likes of A Silver Mount Zion, Vibracathedral Orchestra, and Black Forest / Black Sea, though sounding mostly unlike any of those.
MPEG Stream: "Nationa Magic"
MPEG Stream: "Alternations Of Pasture And Urban Conurban"

SCATTERED PAGES Lazy Are The Skeletons (Three Ring Records) cd 14.98
... but lazy are not the Scattered Pages! The new full length from these three troubadours from Houston, TX comes swiftly on the heels of their fine cdep This Is Where The Story Ends, and even in that short time the band has evolved and fleshed out their sound tenfold. Their not so secret weapon is the combined songwriting force of Kurt Coburn and Brandon Hancock, both have proven themselves to be quite the richly imaginative storytelling lyricists and crafty songsmiths. Many of the songs here reminded us quite a bit of The Hidden Cameras or Belle And Sebastian, but more rootsy folk inclined. An engaging listen.
MPEG Stream: "Alice To Wonderland"
MPEG Stream: "I Was Never Someone In Love"

SCATTERED PAGES This Is Where The Story Ends (Three Ring) cd 9.98
Bay Area label Three Ring Records expand their roster by a third with four impressive new releases by Rykarda Parasol, Frankel, Tom Thumb & The Latter Day Saints and these three Texans who call themselves Scattered Pages. Three Ring has already got fine releases by the indie rock/pop likes of Elephone, Soltero, Ebb & Flow and D.W. Holiday and Scrabbel, but with this recent outpouring they bolster their country and folk branches.
Scattered Pages' male vocals exude the sort of mellowness that you'd imagine was the result of the golden warmth of whisky. These are earthy country tunes that sway in the breeze while the burnished amber light of dusk fades. Nice. Despite the band's name, the band itself seems to be in anything but disarray. And despite the album's title, it seems that their story's only just beginning... and in a very promising, self-assured fashion.
MPEG Stream: "This Is Where The Story Ends"
MPEG Stream: "Stately Man"

SCELSI, GIACINTO Music For High Winds (Mode) cd 16.98
These recordings date from the 50's and are unlike a lot of Scelsi's other compositions, which tend to be dark and bombastic (we at AQ are huge fans). These are all solos or duets composed for woodwinds and come from a period during which Scelsi abandoned all of his classical training in search of some mystical 'interior of sound.' The playing is very free, melodic and playful. When it's good, it's really good, atonal and frenzied, gorgeously rich and dynamic. When it's not so good (which thankfully isn't all that often) it can be a little too Peter And The Wolf.
RealAudio clip: "Ixor"
RealAudio clip: "Suite"
RealAudio clip: "Suite 2"

SCELSI, GIACINTO Piano Works 1 (Mode) cd 16.98

SCELSI, GIACINTO The Piano Works 2 (Mode) cd 16.98

SCELSI, GIACINTO Yamaon (Kairos) cd 16.98
"Giacinto Scelsi is unique among composers in this (or any) century. Trained in the New Vienna School, he grew into a totally personal style in which he focused completely on tone and sound. Scelsi was highly influenced by Oriental philosophies and the deep meditative aspects underlie his stark, expressive music. This disc presents five works that document this growth. 'Yamaon' has the voice (a booming operatic baritone) using no words -- only syllables and sounds, with instruments gradually taking over. 'I Presagi' is about the visionary precognition of the downfall of a Mayan city. In three movements, each focused on a single pitch, it is scored for 2 trombones, 2 tubas, saxophone, percussion and wind machines. 'Anahit' is a work for 18 instruments with violin solo. It is a very difficult work, creating a brilliant sound-world which defies any conventional description. 'Tre Pezzi' for solo saxophone contemplates a unique approach to sound, and 'Okanagon' is, according to the composer, 'to be understood as a rite, or if you choose, as the heartbeat of the earth'."

SCENE CREAMERS Suck On That Emotion (Drag City) cd 14.98
Yet another incarnation of the Ian Svenonius / Michelle Mae thing (Wierd War, The Make Up!), and perhaps our favorite to date, that's for sure -- though that's not necessarily saying too much 'cause there's really no big Make Up fans at AQ. However, Ian & company have progressed from sounding like a watered down version of a James Brown backup band or a bad Prince cover band to this actually kinda fun fucked up fuzzed out '70s funk/trippy/soul thing. It sounds like it would indeed be exciting to see them perform live -- we figure they'd be fun, dancey and crazy in a good way. Actually Allan can confirm this, he happened to see 'em play (rather by accident, he was there to see another band) not long ago and though he's never been a Make Up fan, he had to admit that the Scene Creamers put on a good show -- Mr. Svenonius is a geniune showman indeed and you can't argue with some good ol' fashioned rock n' soul entertainment with a sense of humor. Does that come through on record? Well, while some of this reminded us of what we didn't like about the Make Up -- the line between funny & kitsch and pretentious & dumb being crossed in the wrong direction too often -- all in all we're into it. It's true that all the posturing and styling and preaching that Ian and Michelle do can cause people who don't immediately dig that sort of thing to hate them before they've heard 'em, but really their whole propaganda thing about how "making sexy music and dressing well will uplift the oppressed proletariat" can be fucking hilarious. So give 'em a chance, we did and ended up thinking this was surprisingly rad.
RealAudio clip: "Better All The Time"
RealAudio clip: "Session Man"

SCENIC Spheres (Foundry Recordings) cd ep 12.98
These Death Valley instrumentalists haven't put out a record in four years, so here at last is...a three-song ep. One track is exclusive to this, the others are alternate versions of songs from that as-yet-unreleased new album. Scenic sounds like their name -- they're aiming to bowl you over with epic, stretched out instrumentals. Gorgeous and labor-intensive Independent Projects "discfolio" packaging, letterpressed, of course.

SCENIC The Acid Gospel Experience (Hidden Agenda) cd 12.98
Assuaging any fears I may have had that this was about Scenic doing some kind of new diva house or something, "The Acid Gospel Experience" consists of languorous, lovely instrumental space rock washes to lull you to sleep. Nestled in new-age haven Sedona, Arizona amidst energy vortexes, galleries full of bad Georgia O'Keefe knock-offs, and very picturesque big red rocks, former Savage Republic guitarist Bruce Licher expresses his appreciation for the harsh beauty of the desert landscape through the kind of slow, gently droning psych rock more conducive to weed than acid, methinks. Very pretty.
RealAudio clip: "The Acid Gospel"
RealAudio clip: "Skylight"

SCENIC / LANTERNA Live Recordings (Parasol / IPR) cd 12.98
Lanterna and Scenic would make for an excellent live billing, as both ensembles accent their guitar driven narratives with details of the open road from their respective homes (Lanterna from the Midwest, and Scenic from the Southwest); hence, this 4 song ep of live recordings from the two bands works quite well together. Although both bands preceded Godspeed You Black Emperor and Tarentel by several years, they've managed to carve a similar niche as their younger contemporaries with expansive soundtrack-ish instrumentals with majestic crescendos and introspective atmospheres. This split EP has also been beautifully packaged within a letterpress 'discofolio' by Scenic's Bruce Licher through his beloved Independent Project Press.
RealAudio clip: LANTERNA "End Of The Tunnel"
RealAudio clip: SCENIC "Angelica"

SCHAEFER, JANEK Above Buildings (Fat Cat / Splinter) cd 15.98
Janek Schaeffer worked extensively as an architect before shifting his aesthetic focus to sound design -- specifically, vinyl manipulation with modified turntables. On this recording, Schaefer incorporates field recordings into his signature magnification of slow turntablist actions, and utilises much more digital production than in his previous work, creating an exceptional album of drones, but full of eccentric details that remind us of Stilluppsteyppa. "Above Buildings" invokes Schaeffer's architectural fascination not only through the title, but with his compositional strategies as well, musically defining the space of a claustrophobic closet or a majestic open hall. Attention to detail keeps this record interesting, with surface noise being processed to sound like sizzling bacon fat and sawtooth distortion waves cajolled to release subtle melodies. Janek's digitized grey drones ebb and flow as if they were the somatic rhythm of some living architectural entity. Nice.
RealAudio clip: "forglen"

SCHAEFER, JANEK Black Immure (SIRR.ecords) cd 14.98
Before his commissioned performance at the Casa de Serralves in Porto, Portugal in 2002, Janek Schaefer spent several days accruing sounds from the surrounding areas. While collecting his usual armload of antiquated vinyl for his avant turntablist collages, Schaefer also made recordings of a Steinway piano as well as a series of gestural actions that made use of the building's natural reverb. The manipulation of that natural reverb -- both in the electronic manipulation of the pre-recorded sounds and in physical actions made during the performance -- were the crux of Shaefer's performance. The electronic aspect of "Black Immure" follows a similar path as his last couple of records "Pulled Under" and "Le Petit Theatre De Mercelis," with divergent currents of mysterious sounds abstracted into innumerably bleak surfaces. Schaefer punctuates his atmospheres with looped samples from those old records and the piano recordings, using a technique similar to Philip Jeck's, crafting those sonatas into oblique fragments of memory that have been faded beyond all recognition. Within these portions of the performance, the natural reverb of the space does blur the edges of each sound ; however, when Schaefer creates dense metallic clattering from slamming all of the windows shut in the space and dragging chains throughout the space, the reverb takes on an Industrial din. Altogether, "Black Immure" is an impressive piece of work.
MPEG Stream: "Excerpt 03"
MPEG Stream: "Excerpt 05"

SCHAEFER, JANEK Le Petit Theatre De Mercelis (Audiosphere) cd 15.98
The third in this series of beautifully but annoyingly (according to several AQ-ers) packaged cds features AQ fave Janek Schaefer (the first two volumes featured Philip Jeck / Otomo Yoshihide / Martin Tetreault and Mika Vainio / Christian Fennesz). Recorded live in Brussels in April, 'Le Petit Theatre...' finds Schaefer in a mellow mood. And sounding not a little bit like Philip Jeck. Less looped sounding than Jeck, but still painting similarly sepia toned, fuzzy and murky soundscapes, with fluttering record crackle, low end thrum, warbly distant melodies, and dreamy gauzy atmospheres created out of layers and layers of rumble and hiss and whir and hum. This fifty minute track veers lazily from ominous dark ambient to free-drone to noisy clatter but always returns to the tranquil turntablescapes that we all find so damn irresistible. Probably one of my favorite Schaefer records so far!
RealAudio clip: "le petit theatre de mercelis [excerpt 1]"
RealAudio clip: "le petit theatre de mercelis [excerpt 2]"
RealAudio clip: "le petit theatre de mercelis [excerpt 3]"

SCHAEFER, JANEK Out ((K-RAA-K)3) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Janek Schaefer - an architect turned sound sculptor - presents two 30 minute turntable collages that build slow moving paranoid drones, rich with amplified blasts of surface noise, vertigo inducing swells of RPM dynamics, and stochatic tones usually associated with musique concrete. Fans of Christian Marclay and Otomo Yoshihide's turntable work should certainly take note.

SCHAEFER, JANEK Pulled Under (audiOh!) cd 16.98
A while ago Janek Schaefer himself described a record by my band Coelacanth as "soulless" so I am happy to return the favor in my review of Schaefer's latest album "Pulled Under," but of course for an album that is admittedly based upon a novel by JG Ballard, soullessness, vacancy, and desolation is just what he's going for.
Janek Schaeffer works primarily within the scope of experimental turntablism, building his own twin and triple armed varispeed turntables. That said, it's rare to actually hear anything within his compositions that really reflect his tricked out gear, with no scratching at all and very little recognizable appropriations of pre-existing recordings. Instead, Schaefer runs this source material through a considerable amount of digital filters, often maximizing the sounds latent bass reflex and smoothing out the high end. Augmented with equally manipulated field recordings, Schaeffer's "Pulled Under" transforms itself into a cold piece of sonic abstraction, rippling with desolate sonar blips, washes of unknown textures, and refractions of deep, dark drones. Sure, it's soulless, but it's a great soulless.
RealAudio clip: "SuperChannel"
RealAudio clip: "Penumbral Rover"
RealAudio clip: "Parallel Spoor"

SCHAEFER, JANEK Skate / Rink (Audion! / Staalplaat) lp + 3" cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
So, we were playing this in the store, when a homeless guy, after bugging us incessantly for 'water' music, you know, like gamelan or Indian music (huh?), to combat the current water shortage and counteract the rampant petroleum consumption, asked if this Schaeffer record was broken:
"Why does this sound like broken 78s? Is this on purpose?"
"Is this to make money? The Beatles used music to make money, but I don't think this will make money."
"Does this make people happy?"
I'm sure it will make some AQ customers happy, as this is the sort of weird, high concept experimental stuff we dig so much. The first disc of this set is a one-sided lp entitled 'Skate' and refers to the skating of the needle across a record, not rollerskates. And appropriately enough, the record is cut wildly with brief bursts of static and grit, that will send your needle skating to middle of the record. Schaefer suggests this lp as a soundmaking tool, utilising your hands, or a 7" placed on top of the lp, to build clicking popping loops. It is accompanied by a 99 track, 20 minute three inch cd entitled 'Rink', designed for random play (of course), that incorporates a composition using sounds taken from the 'Skate' lp and live recordings from a skating rink installation in Ireland, extending the metaphor/pun even further. Glitchy and clicky and scratchy and staticky, perfectly pushing all those Jeck/Oval/Yoshihide buttons, that at least around here, can't be pushed often enough!
MPEG Stream: "Rink (Excerpt)"

SCHAEFER, JANEK Weather Report (Alluvial) cd ep 14.98
Janek Schaefer's Weather Report is a noticable contrast to the polished surfaces that twist through his previous albums of desolate isolationism, Black Immure and Le Petit Theatre De Mercelis. During his Residency in Minneapolis as part of the American Composers Forum, Schaefer was astounded by the hostility of the storms, tornados, snow, and cold; thus, set out to make a sound portrait of a Minnesotan winter. Schaefer didn't just focus on field recordings of weather, but of media sounds associated with weather. He offers the cryptic taxonomy of his sounds as "underwater ice skaters; flapping; old meteorological kit; leaf blowers; repairing weather damage; various 60's archive audio; melting ice, ski across snow, Minnesota forecasts on radio, in the car and on TV; Tornado chasing & test equipment; snow flakes landing on mic; squeaky tree; National Weather Service balloon launch."
Using very rough splices to join his material together, Schaefer looks back towards the pioneers of musique concrete to aid him through this psychogeographic piece of sound poetry. A brief 21 minutes long.
MPEG Stream: "Excerpt 1"
MPEG Stream: "Excerpt 2"

SCHAFFER THE DARKLORD Meet My Maker (DB Productions) cd 10.98
Hard to believe, but this is indeed a RAP record from one of the drummers of BURMESE! But Burmese fans aren't necessarily Schaffer's demographic, as there are no hellish howls, or gut ripping low end, of head crushing percussive onslaught, just some bumping bass, casio-ish drum beats, and a whine-y white boy flow. But it's the lyrics that keep the Burmese flame burning. Metal, Satan, mayhem, rock and roll and assorted other punk rock debauchery spit in a sing songy, un-funky flow. Fans of Steven Schultz's I Forgot To Get A Rap Name record should definitely check this out!
MPEG Stream: "Your Band"
MPEG Stream: "Attack Of The CLonefucker"

SCHANDE, THE We're Talking About China (Red Square) cd 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SCHARPLING & WURSTER Chain Fights, Beer Busts, and Service with a Grin (Stereolaffs) 2cd 14.98
Following up on the hilarious and successful "Rock, Rot, Rule" (see AQL #73) comedy cd comes a new collection of radio tomfoolery. On New Jersey's unique and prestigious radio station WFMU, Tom Scharpling hosts an unlikely talk radio show which features interviews from some of our nation's most unlikely, most unsociable, and completely annoying cast of characters. So unlikely, unsociable, and annoying that they actually don't exist: the shows are prank theater a la War of The Worlds meets Firesign Theater meets Larry King. The 'guests' include [a] an uber-music snob, [b] an insane electronics store manager, [c] a pharmaceutical CEO cum politician, [d] the original "Fonz" a.k.a. "The Gorch", and so on. The segment that we most appreciate is the call-in interview with "the music scholar", a self described "educator of music" who prides himself on having seen the Beatles at age 6, the MC5 and Stooges at age 10, talked Big Star into re-forming in the early seventies and reduced a customer to tears at the record store he once ran for expressing interest in the band X (Mr. Music Scholar liked their demos, but thought their albums were bubblegum, no different from the Bay City Rollers!). DJ Scharpling gets more and more annoyed with the snobbish attitudes of his guest, until the interview takes a surprise turn that we won't reveal here. Brilliant.
We tried to play this for our favorite "music scholar" (we'll call him "JW") but his response was, "Oh yeah, I've already got that". Of course. Worth it for this piece alone, although the rest of this double disc set contains lots of laughs too.
RealAudio clip: "The Music Scholar (excerpt 1)"
RealAudio clip: "The Music Scholar (excerpt 2)"
RealAudio clip: "The Music Scholar (excerpt 3)"

SCHARPLING & WURSTER Hippy Justice: The Best Of Scharpling & Wurster On The Best Show On WFMU Volume 3 (Stereolaffs) 2cd 14.98
The first thing we thought when we heard this was, how the hell do these guys do this without cracking up?? Here's the setup: Tom Scharpling is a DJ on WFMU and takes calls from listeners. Ocassionally one of those callers will be Jon Wurster (Superchunk drummer!), portraying any one of a number of annoying characters and the comedy genius that ensues is, well, GENIUS!
The first track is Hippy Johnny, where Wurster calls up as Hippy Johnny and proceeds to discuss his commune where the men make art and the women make dinner, dressed in fur bikinis, and the children manufacture drain cleaner and other not-so-natural products. It's kind of a twisted Tom's of Maine idea. The funny part is how disgusted Scharpling becomes over the course of the 20 minute call, eventually giving up, exasperated and disgusted. The second call is a Wuster again as a guy who apparently used to be in the little kid punk rock band Old Skull, concerning their REUNION tour. An idea that's ridiculous enough to begin with. As the call progresses, we learn that he was only in the band briefly, none of the main members are involved, and a quick sample of their new music displays a drastic new shift in musical direction. Which of course has Scharpling hysterical. Hard to explain how funny this stuff if, you should definitely listen to the sound samples and know that when we play this in the store, everyone freezes, stops what they're doing and listens intently until everyone in the store seems to be laughing uproariously. The rest of the calls involve a cowoker and his nefarious plans for Tom, a phone call from a two inch tall racist, Gene Simmons' rock and roll car dealership and an epic, brutally funny and painful to listen to call from a guy known simply as Kid eBay. From the same guys who brought us the brilliant Rock, Rot And Rule, Chain Fights, Beer Busts, and Service with a Grin, and New Hope For The Ape-Eared. So highly recommended!!!!!
MPEG Stream: "Hippy Johnny"
MPEG Stream: "Darren From Work"

SCHARPLING & WURSTER New Hope For The Ape-Eared (Stereolaffs) 2cd 14.98
Third installment of audio hilarity from WMFU DJ Tom Scharpling's radio show. For those of you unfamiliar with the show or the previous releases "Chain Fights, Beer Busts, and Service with a Grin" and "Rock, Rot, and Rule", Scharpling & Wurster is a spoof talk radio show in which our host, Tom Scharpling is hounded each week by a supposed different phone-in guest -- aka Jon Wurster. Highlights from this two cd set include "Todd the Audio Guru", a sadistic prankster who decides to make a living by ripping off audiophiles after a lark at the local CD boutique; "Chocolageddon", in which Tom is poisoned by a weight loss dessert; a would-be five foot tall, nasal voiced rock star (see album cover for likeness) soliciting band members on the air; an interview with a young man promoting his band while on a Clear Channel sponsored music tour and more! We've got no idea how both Scharpling and Wurster manage to keep themselves from cracking up when conducting these 'interviews'. Very funny stuff, especially for us music geeks.
MPEG Stream: "Mother 13"
MPEG Stream: "Todd And The Audio Guru Pt. 1"

SCHARPLING & WURSTER Rock, Rot & Rule (Stereolaffs) cd 9.98
Finally this old AQ favorite gets reissued! A new cover, but the same side splitting contents.
The story goes something like this: "Rock, Rot, & Rule: The Ultimate Argument Settler" is supposedly a 98-page book which simply lists band names and states whether these groups ROCK, RULE, or ROT. Published with a cover price of $25.00, it is the genius of one Ronald Thomas Clontle. This cd documentation is a live radio interview between WFMU DJ Tom Scharpling and Mr. Clontle, in which beleaguered callers attempt to argue the inaccuracies of Mr. Clontle's analysis that Madness RULE ("because they invented ska"), while the Beatles ROCK ("because they wrote some bad songs like 'Strawberry Fields Forever'"), and Stereolab ROTS ("because they don't use guitars").
Needless to say, if there is anybody who is baffled by the aesthetics of Aquarius, we insist that you buy this, as we agree with ALL of Mr. Clontle's tautological sputterings. As Mr. Clontle predicts, time will vindicate us.
(by the way, Mr. Clontle is a pseudonym for Jon -- the drummer of Superchunk.)
MPEG Stream: "Rock, Rot & Rule [excerpt 1]"
MPEG Stream: "Rock, Rot & Rule [excerpt 2]"

SCHARPLING & WURSTER The Art Of The Slap (Stereolaffs) cd 16.98
BACK IN STOCK! Hilarious. Bizarre. Amazing. As always. Can you tell we're fans?
The humor of Tom Scharpling and Jon Wurster is one of the reasons that New Jersey's WFMU is one of the best radio stations anywhere. Every time a new cd from these two comes out (there's been four previous releases) we drop everything to put it on in the store and listen and laugh our asses off. And every time, customers previously unfamiliar with Scharpling & Wurster start laughing too, ask what the heck we're playing, and instantly buy copies. Basically, the S&W formula is that easily-bemused regular-guy DJ Tom Scharpling is taking calls on this show, when some weirdo and/or jerk (not always obvious as such at first) calls in to talk and the two of them get into some ridiculous verbal battle. Said caller always being played by Jon Wurster. It's a theatre of the absurd, with Scharpling & Wurster spinning some really strange and incredibly funny scenarios which they somehow make almost believable -- in part 'cause they have an uncanny ability not to crack each other up, dunno how they do it, especially since a lot of these calls/tracks go on for upwards of 20 minutes!
Originally we got into S&W 'cause of the indie-rock connection, they love to make fun of rock snobbery (like Wurster's character Ronald Thomas Clontle on the classic Rock, Rot, & Rule). But they don't limit themselves to music-related humor at all -- though the bonus third disc here is devoted entirely to the efforts of the would-be rock star guy originally introduced on New Hope For The Ape-Eared to have his band Mother 13 play on Mount Everest. Meanwhile, disc one features "Jock Squad" (think Geek Squad but different), "The Auteur" (a self-important slasher film director), and "Philly Boy Roy" (a lampooning of such supposed Philadelphia pastimes as the "running of the cheesesteaks" and "Laser Allin"). Disc two has "Andy From Lake Newbridge" (who turns out to live in, not on the lake, and in fact is a carp), "Tornado Todd" (a guy whose life-changing escape from death doesn't stop him from being a total sleazeball), and "Postal Slap Fight" (wherein Tom gets threatened by a guy whose uncle is the Postmaster General). You've got to hear these to understand why they're hilarious, but trust us, they are. Recommended to anyone with a funny bone.
MPEG Stream: "Jock Squad"
MPEG Stream: "The Auteur"
MPEG Stream: "Postal Slap Fight"

SCHEMA s/t (5RC) cd 11.98
The members of spacerock outfit Hovercraft team up with, surprisingly, Mary Hansen of Stereolab, for lighter duty than Hovercraft's normal heavy psychness. Comparisons to Stereolab are unavoidable since Mary provides the pretty murmured vocals and bloopy synth effects. Swooping meteorite guitar and rumbling drums keep you tethered to your space capsule. A successful collaboration indeed. Released on 5RC, Kill Rock Stars subsidiary label.

SCHICKERT, GUNTER Uberfallig (Green Tree) cd 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is the cd reissue of Schickert's second album (following his Brain debut "Samtvogel") originally issued in 1980. It's hard to believe somebody this good didn't record more or with other people (if he did we'd like to know!). Schickert's exceptionally hypnotic space-echo guitar work similar to Manuel Gottsching is matched by fascinating rhytmic pulsations (at times recalling prime Can-like velocities or AR & the Machines circular bubbliness, and some Pink Floyd "Meddle" era pastoral psych as well). Guitar, drums, some voice, and nature sounds...Superb.

SCHIFRIN, LALO Enter The Dragon (OST) (Warner) cd 27.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Limited edition hard-to-get cd release of the fantastic Lalo S. soundtrack to the classic Bruce Lee kung fu movie. Newly restored and remastered. Sorry it's so expensive, but it is damn great.

SCHIZOID All Things Are Connected (DHR) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Alec Empire's DHR label gave us a sample of what the US had to offer as far as REAL underground digital hardcore on the triple cd comp 'Don't Fuck With Us' released a while back. And in keeping with their campaign of support for the US DHR underground, they've picked up and reissued two of our favorite bands form the comp, Unitus and Schizoid, both originally released on the awesome D-Trash label. Here's what we had to say about this record the first time around:
Schizoid was responsible for our favorite tracks on the massive (and massively good) 'Don't Fuck With Us' 3 cd compilation of North American digital hardcore compiled by the 'expert' on such things, Mr. Alec Empire. We described Schizoid as "Burzum goes DHR" and that's still pretty right on. But now we have a whole disc, so there's much more variation and much more mayhem! Super distorted, heavily effected, totally evil vocals over dense electronic soundscapes, with chopped up metal guitars, pounding hardcore/gabber/drill'n'bass rhythms. Way more intense and aggressive than almost anything on DHR, and certainly more fucked up and pummelling than almost any electronic music we've heard lately, without falling into the boring, repetitive sameness of most gabber/digital hardcore. Super varied, with full on speed metal gabber, lots of spaced out ambient breaks, electronic drones, and some seriously damaged mid tempo primitive-black-metal-electronica. This is definitely some of the best (and most brutal) electronica to come our way since we first heard 'The Destroyer'. For fans of DHR, The Berserker, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Pig Destroyer, Venetian Snares, Atomsmasher, Burzum, Darkthrone and all that evil stuff.
RealAudio clip: "All Things Are Connected"
RealAudio clip: "New God"
RealAudio clip: "Grim Prospects"
RealAudio clip: "Extinct And Obsolete"

SCHIZOID All Things Are Connected (D-Trash) cd 11.98
These disappeared right quick so got another little handful for anyone who might have missed out on this last time around:
Another long overdue reissue from Canadian digital hardcore label D-Trash, this time All Things Are Connected, an old AQ fave from label head honcho Schizoid (the other reissue is the droned out breakcore disc Cross Contamination by Unitus, reviewed elsewhere on this list). More recently Schizoid has been dabbling in black metal, even contributing a track to that kick ass double disc Burzum tribute we carried a while back. But Schizoid is a master of ultra heavy, hyper violent metallic breakcore, which come to think of it actually does sound sort of black metal, we even described Schizoid as "Burzum goes DHR". Shrieked vocals over chopped and processed metal riffs, and insane spastic sped up breakbeats. Like a MUCH more evil Atari Teenage Riot. Here's the review from when we first got this in, way back when:
Schizoid was responsible for our favorite tracks on the massive (and massively good) 'Don't Fuck With Us' 3 cd compilation of North American digital hardcore compiled by the 'expert' on such things, Mr. Alec Empire. Super distorted, heavily effected, totally evil vocals over dense electronic soundscapes, with chopped up metal guitars, pounding hardcore/gabber/drill'n'bass rhythms. Way more intense and aggressive than almost anything on DHR, and certainly more fucked up and pummeling than almost any electronic music we've heard lately, without falling into the boring, repetitive sameness of most gabber/digital hardcore. Super varied, with full on speed metal gabber, lots of spaced out ambient breaks, electronic drones, and some seriously damaged mid tempo primitive-black-metal-electronica. This is definitely some of the best (and most brutal) electronic music to come our way since we first heard 'The Destroyer'. For fans of DHR, The Berserker, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Pig Destroyer, Venetian Snares, Atomsmasher, Burzum, Darkthrone and all that evil stuff.
MPEG Stream: "All Things Are Connected"
MPEG Stream: "New God"
MPEG Stream: "Grim Prospects"
MPEG Stream: "Extinct And Obsolete"

SCHLAMMPEITZIGER Augenwischwaldmoppgefloete (A-Musik) cd 15.98
With a name and title that are quite a mouthful (nay, alphabetful!), what might you expect musically from this gent? (more clues: he's a German fella also in Holosud etc., and this is on A-Musik). Well on this, his fourth full-length, you'll be treated to a hefty dose of the arpeggiator button on his Casio for one thing. A playful multi-tiered electronic pop arcade of PacMan-esque melodies.

SCHLIPPENBACH QUARTET Hunting The Snake (Atavistic / Unheard Music Series) cd 14.98

SCHMICKLER, MARCUS Param (A-Musik) cd 15.98
Better known for his post-krautrock electronica as Pluramon, Marcus Schmickler has also been tinkering with the ideas of academic composition. He claims that his interest is a "confrontation with modern classical composers," and that "innovations are only possible by including the old." His words appear with a pretense of punk antagonism, but the music that he has composed in Param for a good-sized chamber ensemble (with of course electronics) is remarkably beautiful yet at times eerily ominous, but holds nothing remotely antagonistic towards the aesthetics of 20th Century composition. Instead, "Param" should be seen as a successful homage to Varese, Nono, Ligeti, and Xenakis with massive shimmering swells of strings and horns that ascend alongside perfectly matched electronic timbres and reverberations. If Schmickler's antagonism is based against the elitism of academic compostion, then he has made a very good argument that the academic circle do not have the stranglehold on orchestral compostion that they think they do. A worthy complement to the aforementioned composers.
RealAudio clip: "Param 5"
RealAudio clip: "Param 9"