SPACE: 1999 (OST) (Silva) cd 16.98

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

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

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

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

SPACEGHOSTPURRP Mysterious Phonk: The Chronicles Of Spvcxxghxztpvrrp (4AD) cd 14.98
After years of underground mixtapes, this is the proper debut from oddly monikered Miami MC / producer Spaceghostpurrp, a seriously sweet slab of sinister darkness, a collection of hip hop slow jams, but slow jams that ooze and creep, all slithery and sick, blackened and ominous, the music a screw-ed low slung swagger, the beats a skeletal crunked out skitter, the sound all mysterious loops and swirls of grim shimmer, Purrp's cough syrup drawl the perfect match for the music's woozy drag. There's a bit of a horrorcore vibe throughout, think a more laid back Gravediggaz, which gives the whole record a seriously nightmarish vibe. One of the meanest, darkest, creepiest hip hop records in recent memory, and one that offers the rest of the world a glimpse of the grim dark underbelly of sunny Miami.
MPEG Stream: "Mystikal Maze"
MPEG Stream: "Bringing The Phonk"
MPEG Stream: "Been Fweago"
MPEG Stream: "The Black God"

SPACEGHOSTPURRP Mysterious Phonk: The Chronicles Of Spvcxxghxztpvrrp (4AD) 2lp 19.98
After years of underground mixtapes, this is the proper debut from oddly monikered Miami MC / producer Spaceghostpurrp, a seriously sweet slab of sinister darkness, a collection of hip hop slow jams, but slow jams that ooze and creep, all slithery and sick, blackened and ominous, the music a screw-ed low slung swagger, the beats a skeletal crunked out skitter, the sound all mysterious loops and swirls of grim shimmer, Purrp's cough syrup drawl the perfect match for the music's woozy drag. There's a bit of a horrorcore vibe throughout, think a more laid back Gravediggaz, which gives the whole record a seriously nightmarish vibe. One of the meanest, darkest, creepiest hip hop records in recent memory, and one that offers the rest of the world a glimpse of the grim dark underbelly of sunny Miami.
MPEG Stream: "Mystikal Maze"
MPEG Stream: "Bringing The Phonk"
MPEG Stream: "Been Fweago"
MPEG Stream: "The Black God"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SPACEMEN 3 Performance (Fire Records) cd 15.98
Nice, now we have these essential albums available on cd too!
Performance was released to fulfill contractual obligations with Glass Records, sort of an easy solution before moving on to bigger things. Still, it comes completely recommended, as it captures Spacemen 3 in a live setting on the Perfect Prescription tour, and there's no reason to complain about that. Apparently they weren't exactly pleased with this particular set, and the drums are surprisingly low in the mix, but they tear things up just as you would expect, with the molten guitars taking over everything everywhere. Recorded in 1988 in a setting one could imagine the band being quite comfortable in - Amsterdam - Performance is a fiery run through some early classics, and it will no doubt give you further insight into Spacemen 3's revolutionary approach. Goddamn, there sure aren't any bands like this these days.
MPEG Stream: "Mary Anne"
MPEG Stream: "Take Me To The Other Side"
MPEG Stream: "Starship"

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

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

SPACEMEN 3 Recurring (Space Age Recordings) cd 14.98

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

SPACEMEN 3 Sound of Confusion (Fire Records) cd 15.98
Nice, now we have these essential albums available on cd too!
Sound Of Confusion was the band's first statement after building up a repertoire for a few years. It's their most aggressive record and even though the future was full of surprises, it is the album that set the template for how most people will describe Spacemen 3: loud droning guitars, a minimal but intensely psychedelic approach that is almost violent in its focus, and of course, an inseparable cloak of drugginess. Lyrically, you just can't fuck with songs like "Losing Touch With My Mind" and their mindblowing cover of Juicy Lucy's "Just One Time", retitled as "Mary Anne". The album contains three originals, and three amazing covers that manage to become originals, and a sort of original/cover hybrid. Everything Spacemen 3 did is worth your time, they're definitely an appropriate band to get obsessed with, so why not start at the beginning?
MPEG Stream: "Losing Touch With My Mind"
MPEG Stream: "Hey Man"
MPEG Stream: "Mary Anne"

SPACEMEN 3 Sound Of Confusion (Fire Records) lp 17.98
It took over a month, but these hotcakes are finally repressed and back in stock!!
Hmm. There's no point in really "reviewing" Spacemen 3 records at this point. They're surely one of the top 10 greatest bands to ever exist and even with their influence touching so many bands everywhere, no one - NO ONE - sounds like Spacemen 3. They just got it in ways other bands couldn't. Simple as that. It sure is great to have the band's Glass Records output, their first three full lengths, available on vinyl (some nice 180 gram vinyl to boot) for the first time in God knows how long. They look amazing in their heavy duty sleeves, and after years of absorbing every molecule of the shitty looking Taang Records cd versions, seeing these records as they were initially presented puts things into perspective even more. They just look so classic, so timeless, and so many years later, it makes perfect sense why we felt like we uncovered some secret portal when we discovered this band. Any song they ever did is the perfect soundtrack to any moment of any or every day.
Sound Of Confusion was the band's first statement after building up a repertoire for a few years. It's their most aggressive record and even though the future was full of surprises, it is the album that set the template for how most people will describe Spacemen 3: loud droning guitars, a minimal but intensely psychedelic approach that is almost violent in its focus, and of course, an inseparable cloak of drugginess. Lyrically, you just can't fuck with songs like "Losing Touch With My Mind" and their mindblowing cover of Juicy Lucy's "Just One Time", retitled as "Mary Anne". The album contains three originals, and three amazing covers that manage to become originals, and a sort of original/cover hybrid. Everything Spacemen 3 did is worth your time, they're definitely an appropriate band to get obsessed with, so why not start at the beginning?
MPEG Stream: "Losing Touch With My Mind"
MPEG Stream: "Hey Man"
MPEG Stream: "Mary Anne"

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

SPACEMEN 3 Take Me To The Other Side (Fire) 12" 13.98
The Spacemen 3 vinyl reissue campaign continues, with the Glass Records eps now getting their due. Considering the amount of repetition in this band's catalog, many may be asking themselves whether or not they need another record with the same songs on it, and it may come down to just how obsessed you are... wait, scratch that, OF COURSE YOU NEED IT! It's awesome to have these eps available to us again individually (having been previously compiled together on cd via Taang! Records, and who knows, probably by someone else as well) because it lets you really get into the drugged out mindset of the band. Listening to these as they were intended, you can get a better idea of how Spacemen 3 established themes within their music. Rather than release mere 7" singles, they instead developed and reinterpreted certain songs on the 12" format. Which makes sense, as the band was certainly in no rush to adhere to 3 minute pop songs if they weren't up to it. In fact, calling these "eps" is a little misleading, as the boys stretch things out to album lengths.
Take Me To The Other Side was the companion ep to the band's mighty - nay, GODLY - Perfect Prescription lp. In other words, this ep represents the band at the height of their unified powers, and the title song itself (taking up side 1 at 45 rpm; side 2 goes at 33) is no doubt one of their strongest pieces. Kicking off the second side is "Soul 1", a slow burning soul-inspired (duh) number with blaring, sleepy horns given the Spacemen 3 treatment, followed by "That's Just Fine", which has appeared tacked onto various editions of the Perfect Prescription. No matter how you weigh it, it's awesome having the bulk of the Spacemen 3 discography available as these handsome vinyl reissues. Playing this stuff alongside so much of what we carry, it's obvious that this band has seeped into underground consciousness like the legends they were always destined to become. But you know what? There's only one Spacemen 3.

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

SPACEMEN 3 The Perfect Prescription (Fire Records) cd 15.98
Nice, now we have these essential albums available on cd too!
For some people, it's Playing With Fire. For others, probably most, it's The Perfect Prescription, Spacemen 3's ultimate statement and the record where everything was working together in absolute harmony. The record cover itself seems to completely capture the essence of Spacemen 3, with Sonic Boom and Jason Pierce holding their guitars, eyes closed, no doubt concentrating deeply on the contents of their minds. It seems fair to call this their pinnacle, as things would become increasingly more split between the group's mainmen from this point on. The Perfect Prescription is one of those rare albums that is completely beyond criticism. Don't even try. Beginning in classic Spacemen 3 style with "Take Me To The Other Side", the album subsequently incorporates a wide array of influences and styles, from soul to gospel to country, making it clear that, even though they did it better than anyone else, there was far more to this band than just walls of fuzzed out drones. Even with this diversity, everything on the album belongs to Spacemen 3 - especially their cover of the Red Crayola's "Transparent Radiation" - and they were able to harness all their powers into something which is, yeah, pretty fuckin' definitive. We could go on forever, but we won't.
MPEG Stream: "Take Me To The Other Side"
MPEG Stream: "Walkin' With Jesus"
MPEG Stream: "Feel So Good"

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

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

SPACEMEN 3 Transparent Radiation (Fire) 12" 13.98
The Spacemen 3 vinyl reissue campaign continues, with the Glass Records eps now getting their due . Considering the amount of repetition in this band's catalog, many may be asking themselves whether or not they need another record with the same songs on it, and it may come down to just how obsessed you are... wait, scratch that, OF COURSE YOU NEED IT! It's awesome to have these eps available to us again individually (having been previously compiled together on cd via Taang! Records, and who knows, probably by someone else as well) because it lets you really get into the drugged out mindset of the band. Listening to these as they were intended, you can get a better idea of how Spacemen 3 established themes within their music. Rather than release mere 7" singles, they instead developed and reinterpreted certain songs on the 12" format. Which makes sense, as the band was certainly in no rush to adhere to 3 minute pop songs if they weren't up to it. In fact, calling these "eps" is a little misleading, as the boys stretch things out to album lengths.
Transparent Radiation (last seen going for $600) is undoubtedly one of Spacemen 3's finest moments. Originally a herky jerky outsider jam by legendary Austin weirdos the Red Crayola, in the hands of Sonic and Jason the song became something undeniably greater, reaching unsurpassed heights of spiritually drugged out grandeur. If nothing else, the song is testament to the power of the electric guitar and human voice. And best of all, two versions of the song are included here, the first featuring the two singers sharing a ragged vocal harmony that sounds, well, like a couple guys trippin on some heavy shit but still holding things down like the experts they are. Next up is the complete version of "Ecstasy Symphony", which couldn't be more hypnotic with its strobing organ pulling you in deeper. No wonder they used this as their live intro. Following this is the definitive version of "Transparent Radiation" (appropriately enough, the "Flashback" version) which is so good we won't even bother trying to explain it.
Side 2 opens with the snarling "Things'll Never Be The Same", presented in complete unedited form, before going into a triumphant take on the Sun Ra / MC5 jam of "Starship", ending the record on a perfect note. Fuck yeah.

SPACEMEN 3 Walkin' With Jesus (Fire) 12" 13.98
The Spacemen 3 vinyl reissue campaign continues, with the Glass Records eps now getting their due . Considering the amount of repetition in this band's catalog, many may be asking themselves whether or not they need another record with the same songs on it, and it may come down to just how obsessed you are... wait, scratch that, OF COURSE YOU NEED IT! It's awesome to have these eps available to us again individually (having been previously compiled together on cd via Taang! Records, and who knows, probably by someone else as well) because it lets you really get into the drugged out mindset of the band. Listening to these as they were intended, you can get a better idea of how Spacemen 3 established themes within their music. Rather than release mere 7" singles, they instead developed and reinterpreted certain songs on the 12" format. Which makes sense, as the band was certainly in no rush to adhere to 3 minute pop songs if they weren't up to it. In fact, calling these "eps" is a little misleading, as the boys stretch things out to album lengths.
The Walkin' With Jesus ep kicks off with the song of the same name, which itself was an early title for the song "Sound Of Confusion", off the... uh... Sound Of Confusion ALBUM. Confusion, as we all know, being an integral part of the Spacemen 3 discography. Perhaps the most striking number here is the band's insane cover of the 13th Floor Elevators' famous ode to tripping balls-as-philosophy, "Rollercoaster". While a version of this song also appeared on Sound Of Confusion, the band's dissatisfaction with that take spurred the idea of recording the song live and stretching it out to a monolithic 17 minutes. Gotta say, the 13th Floor Elevators are a band that most band's simply shouldn't/can't cover, but Spacemen 3 earned themselves a pass, for obvious reasons, and in the end they make the song their own. Amazing. After your mind tries to piece together what the fuck just happened for 17 minutes, the mellow "Feel So Good" takes you down nice and easy. Best band (of this sort) of the '80s, no question.

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

SPACEWURM See You Later Oscillator (Gravity) cd 6.98

SPACIN' Deep Thuds (Richie) lp 14.98
We'd been wanting to review this for ages, but the first pressing disappeared in a heartbeat. Which makes sense considering that this is the SECOND kick ass offshoot of Philly psych rock outfit Birds Of Maya - the first being the awesome Purling Hiss, whose Public Service Announcement record we made Record Of The Week back in 2010.
The weird thing is, for whatever reason, we were never that nuts for Birds Of Maya, but Purling Hiss totally blew us away, and Spacin' is doing the same, which has us thinking maybe it's time to revisit Birds. But for now, we can just revel in Spacin's debut, the awesomely titled Deep Thuds, and if you're already a fan of Purling Hiss, we have to say, you might as well stop reading right now and add this baby to your cart, cuz it's most definitely cut from the same sonic cloth, equal parts power pop, classic rock, Stooges-y swagger, hooky and fuzzy, hand claps, all tripped out and psychedelic.
The opener "Empty Mind" is a total classic old school garage punk jam. The Stooges vibe is HUGE, the drawled vox, and the T-Rex guitars, the woozy hooky chorus, the spidery psychedelic leads, the sound lo-fi but still rocking and fantastically fuzzed out. But then the second song "Some Future (Burger)", ditches songcraft entirely, instead weaving a lush landscape of murky mesmer, all heavily effected guitar drones, and looped melodies, total low fidelity kosmische trip out, which once again reminds us of Purling Hiss, and the way PH flits from pop to psych out and back again.
"Wrong Street" is total Yellow Pills style psychedelic power pop, the sound super distorted, but hooks galore, and more wild psych shreddery. "Chest Of Steel" is another lo-fi pop gem, which leads directly into the warped experimental "Oh Man", that is a weird melding of fuzzy psych groove, minimal krautrock, and hippie rock trip out, but it's awesome, totally hypnotic and spaced out and trance-y, the production giving it a sort of Ariel Pink / John Maus vibe.
There's one more short sharp pop jam before the final number "Ego-Go", which might be our favorite, a sprawling psychedelic groover, plenty poppy, but still droney and murky and minimal, sort of a power pop Velvets maybe, driven by some fierce guitaring, some rad psychedelic leads, and laced with plenty of thrum and jangle, with another warped production, that gives it the vibe of some lost live jam captured surreptitiously in some shitty dive bar, and dug out of some old dusty box 30 years later.
Probably our new favorite lo-fi psychedelic spaced out power pop / garage punk record, fuzzy, jangly, hooky as hell and one of those records we can't seem to stop listening to! And absolutely WAY recommended for everybody who bought any/all of the Purling Hiss records!!
MPEG Stream: "Empty Mind"
MPEG Stream: "Some Future (Burger)"
MPEG Stream: "Chest Of Steel"
MPEG Stream: "Ego-Go"

SPARHAWK, ALAN Solo Guitar (Silbermedia) cd 14.98

SPARHAWK, JESSE & ERIC CARBONARA Sixty Strings (VHF) cd 13.98
Another amazing release from VHF (who also brought us the Record Of The Week by Alexander Turnquist), and another fantastic disc of modern minimalism / 21st century classical, this one from the duo of Jesse Sparhawk and Eric Carbonara, who play the 38-string lever harp and the 22-string upright Chaturangui guitar respectively, hence the sixty strings of the title. Carbonara was trained by none other than Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya, so there is definitely an Indian vibe to the proceedings, a dreamlike Raga feel, but Sparhawk also plays in psych folk outfit Fern Knight, so there is a bit of that sort of buzzy dreamy dronepsych going on as well.
Two long tracks, sprawling and spacious, the two instruments weaving lush webs of melody, those melodies constantly shifting and intertwining, like the dreamiest and new agiest krautrock, warm and tranquil, deeply mediative and mesmerizing, the harp melodies often leaping to the fore, while the guitar buzzes sitar like beneath. The second track is a bit more folky, the guitar urgently strummed, while the harp offers some melodic counterpoint, the overall sound very dark and percussive, eventually settling down into something a bit dronier and driftier, which is when a snare drum enters the mix, seemingly replacing what would normally be tabla, and playing tabla like rhythms, shuffling and skittery, the effect is quite fantastic, not so much propulsive as textural, the guitar melodies beginning to sound almost flamenco, as the harp takes on the supporting role, unfurling a gorgeously repetitive loopscape, which the guitar soon mirrors, until the two are engaged in an impossibly tangled dance, before the song finishes in a folky flourish. So incredible. The sort of record we want never to end...
MPEG Stream: "A Patient Promise"
MPEG Stream: "The Entwined Twin"

SPARHAWK, JESSE & ERIC CARBONARA Sixty Strings (VHF) lp 14.98
Another amazing release from VHF (who also brought us the Record Of The Week by Alexander Turnquist), and another fantastic disc of modern minimalism / 21st century classical, this one from the duo of Jesse Sparhawk and Eric Carbonara, who play the 38-string lever harp and the 22-string upright Chaturangui guitar respectively, hence the sixty strings of the title. Carbonara was trained by none other than Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya, so there is definitely an Indian vibe to the proceedings, a dreamlike Raga feel, but Sparhawk also plays in psych folk outfit Fern Knight, so there is a bit of that sort of buzzy dreamy dronepsych going on as well.
Two long tracks, sprawling and spacious, the two instruments weaving lush webs of melody, those melodies constantly shifting and intertwining, like the dreamiest and new agiest krautrock, warm and tranquil, deeply mediative and mesmerizing, the harp melodies often leaping to the fore, while the guitar buzzes sitar like beneath. The second track is a bit more folky, the guitar urgently strummed, while the harp offers some melodic counterpoint, the overall sound very dark and percussive, eventually settling down into something a bit dronier and driftier, which is when a snare drum enters the mix, seemingly replacing what would normally be tabla, and playing tabla like rhythms, shuffling and skittery, the effect is quite fantastic, not so much propulsive as textural, the guitar melodies beginning to sound almost flamenco, as the harp takes on the supporting role, unfurling a gorgeously repetitive loopscape, which the guitar soon mirrors, until the two are engaged in an impossibly tangled dance, before the song finishes in a folky flourish. So incredible. The sort of record we want never to end...
MPEG Stream: "A Patient Promise"
MPEG Stream: "The Entwined Twin"

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

SPARKLEHORSE Distorted Ghost (Odeon) cd 6.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Three new songs from the amazing Mr. Linkous ("Waiting For Nothing," "Happy Place," & "My Yoke Is Heavy"), plus three live versions of songs off the first two albums.

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

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

SPARKLEHORSE Dreamt For Light Years IN The Belly Of A Mountain (Plain Recordings) lp 19.98
This 2006 gem and longtime aQ fave gets the deluxe vinyl reissue treatment. R.I.P Mark Linkous.
Here's our review from way back then...
Hard to believe it's been five years since we last heard from Mark Linkous and Sparklehorse. It seems like every record has involved some sort of struggle or personal tragedy. Linkous has had a seriously rough life, an accident that almost killed him, and which left him crippled for life, struggles with anxiety and depression, but the result of all that anguish is one of the most incredible bodies of work in modern music. Sparklehorse is sort of like the country rock Flaming Lips. Starting life out as a super scrappy rock band, and then discovering the joys of the studio, learning to use the studio like another instrument, creating an incredibly expansive sound palette, and eventually creating a unique world of unbelievably lush sounds, like a modern day Brian Wilson. And this record is no different. It's rich and dense and lush and sweet, the vocals, a plaintive heartstring pulling croon, guitars strum and shimmer, melodies drift, harmonies float and glisten, everything woven together into gorgeously perfect twang flecked pop. The vocals are multi tracked, doused in effects, swathed in reverb, guitar parts are simple and spare, the record is dotted with bits of strange digital glitch, or fuzzy record crackle. Some tracks are crystal clear, simple and straight forward, others are dense and dizzying, with strange edits, and extreme stereo panning, there are a few super fuzzed out rockers, but for the most part Dreamt For Light Years is a record of sun dappled divinity and sweetly melancholy drift. A gloriously and dreamily psychedelic excursion into the heart of darkness. So lovely.
MPEG Stream: "Don't Take My Sunshine Away"
MPEG Stream: "Getting It Wrong"
MPEG Stream: "It's Not So Hard"

SPARKLEHORSE Good Morning Spider (Capitol) cd 16.98
Containing beautiful, heart wrenching, lush country-ish rock with meaty, satisfying guitars and lonely-guy vocals that will twist yer heartstrings, the new Sparklehorse record is MILES ahead of their No Depression contemporaries. If you like Vic Chestnut, Lambchop, Neutral Milk Hotel, Palace/Will Oldham/Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, or Windy's current favorites Wisdom of Harry, we strongly suggest that you give Sparklehorse a shot! An "enhanced' portion of the disc includes four pretty cool videos for yous with computers.

SPARKLEHORSE Good Morning Spider (Plain Recordings) lp 16.98
Originally released in 1998, and now available on vinyl again (and still available on cd), Good Morning Spider was record number 2 from the late Mark Linkous and band, following their debut, Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot. The interesting thing about GMS, is that it was a huge stylistic and sonic shift for the band, much more somber and introspective that its predecessor, in part, most assume, because just before the recording of GMS, Linkous overdosed in a London hotel room, collapsed and was clinically dead for several minutes, he also spent the next few months in a wheelchair after a surgery that threatened to keep him in that chair forever. But if that particular black cloud did indeed have a silver lining, it's the absolutely inspired, ultra personal, intimate and heart wrenching beauty that is Good Morning Spider. While the record still strikes a precarious balance between rambunctious rocking and more darkly balladic introspection, the scales seem to be tipping toward delicate crystalline beauty, dark, hushed, whispery, haunting and so lovely. But even the more rocking numbers are infused with some serious pathos, and of course plenty of melancholy and heartbreak.
The whole record is a marvel, gorgeously and idiosyncratically produced, lots of crackle, and buzz, and processed vocals, effected instrumentation, strings, lush twang flecked indie rock one second, dreamy about-to-collapse balladry the next, fragmented perfect pop the next. The record begins with the brief blast of "Pig", is a serious chunk of incendiary crunch, but so rife with impossibly hooky melodies, and some super dramatic layered vocals, not to mention plenty of twisted sounds and atmosphere. And then it's all dialed WAY down, "Painbirds" is a lilting bit of sweetly sorrowful shuffling slowcore, "Saint Mary" is a hushed bit of slo-mo Appalachian pop, Linkous' fragile vox drifting over a simple strum, but it is so much more than the sum of its parts. "Sick Of Goodbyes" is another more rocking track, but that rocking squall is brief, as the record shifts back into slow sorrowful drift.
One of our favorite tracks has to be "Chaos Of The Galaxy / Happy Man", which begins as a whirling FX flecked bit of organ warble, mysterious voices, ethereal and dreamlike, a brief intro to what sounds like bad radio reception, the song "Happy Man" struggling to be heard through the static and hiss, even cutting out completely at points, until finally kicking in, and it's such a perfect pop song, with an incredible hook, and some super intense vocals, and killer guitar playing, and then once again, the record slips back into darkness, and for the remainder of the record, slips seamlessly between angstful distorted jangly crunch and shimmery drifty introspection. So good.
Anyone who loves stuff like Vic Chestnutt, Lambchop, Neutral Milk Hotel, Palace/Will Oldham/Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Songs:Ohia and the like, who somehow missed out on Good Morning Spider, here's another chance...
Includes a digital download card!
MPEG Stream: "Pig"
MPEG Stream: "Painbirds"
MPEG Stream: "Sick Of Goodbyes"

SPARKLEHORSE It's a Wonderful Life (Capitol ) cd 16.98
Hooray! AQ all-time fave Mark Linkous returns at last with a brand new Sparklehorse album and we are happy to report that he, once again, does not disappoint. Mr. Linkous has that innate ability to write incredibly infectious pop songs with teeth -- never slipping into preciousness or saccharine artificiality -- and a multi-instrumental playfulness that harkens Tom Waits' works from the mid eighties. It should come as no surprise then that both Tom Waits and his wife Kathleen Brennan collaborate on one track. They are also the only other names to appear as songwriting credits on the album. Also contributing to this album are Cardigans vocalist Nina Persson (singing backup on a few tracks), PJ Harvey (playing some guitar and singing lovely harmony vocals) and Harvey's bassist John Parish drops some bass licks along with throwing his weight around as a producer on a couple tracks.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Sparklehorse, Linkous' aesthetic weaves delicate, about-to-crack vocals, gently strummed guitars, and all sorts of bizarre studio trickery (a wonderful amalgamation of lo-fi home recording and ultra-lush top dollar multi-track wizardry) to make his records SOUND so great. But it's the songs that make the biggest impression. Whether it's a super distorted rollicking rocker, a barely-there ghost of a melody, or a heart wrenching country ballad, every song, at its core, is a perfect, perfect pop song. Catchy as hell, but not immediately -- more a sort of insidious, slowly spreading, like a virus beautiful, but beautifully miserable as well. And the lyrics too are practically perfect. Simple but astonishing in their depth. Clever and brutally soulful, without being melodramatic or overwrought.
RealAudio clip: "Piano Fire"
RealAudio clip: "More Yellow Birds"
RealAudio clip: "Comfort Me"
RealAudio clip: "Morning Hollow"