SAUL, DANNY History + 3 (self-released) cd-r 8.98
We've just received two terrific self-released cd-rs by this solo artist from across the pond -- Balance and this one which includes a fine cover of Jandek's "I'm Ready"! First impressions of Danny Saul's music stir a traditional folk singer/songwriter stance, but delving deeper you become aware that there's more layers to his songs. Each one moves through subtle mood shifts and occasionally some startling dissonance. Alternately intimate and expansive, he captures a nice counterbalance between tremolo'd electric guitars and warm picked acoustic guitars. Great stuff! Fans of Badly Drawn Boy and Arab Strap, don't miss!
MPEG Stream: "History"
MPEG Stream: "I'm Ready"

SAULE Sentimental Journey (Sub Rosa) cd 16.98
This is the stuff we like! Slow moving vinyl crackle and click, achingly pretty. Droning melodiously, hum and repetition beautifully employed, this conjures a mood of reverie and melancholic bliss. Saule is the name used by Belgian composer Xavier Garcia Bardon for his turntable-based works, and this Sub Rosa cd is his debut release. The first thing we were reminded of when we heard this was Philip Jeck. You know how much we love that British looper of scratchy old vinyl, right? Like Jeck, Saule also finds music in the grooves of old records -- that is, in the sound of the needle on wax, as well as what's more commonly considered a record's musical 'content'. And like Jeck he's a careful listener, rather than a hyperkinetic whipwhipwhap DJ. Futhermore, both Saule and Jeck use multiple turntables to elaborate an aesthetic enamored of dusty, glacially-paced drones. But although they have much in common, Saule isn't merely just another Jeck. No, Saule is more like Jeck crossed with a post-rock band! But there's no 'band', just Saule's prepared records, three turntables, a microphone, mixer, and "headphones (for feedback)". With Philip Jeck, the mesmerizing, crackling loops can be their own reward, but Saule will provide some rock-like resolution as well, as with the sudden burst of distortion that heralds the addition of a sampled, broken drum break toward the end of track one, "Hola". Especially when you get to "Lido", the third of three long tracks that comprise Sentimental Journey, you'll hear this post-rock thing we're talking about. Codeine mixed with Radian comes to mind. "Lido" was apparently originally conceived as a soundtrack to an independent film, stills from which enliven the cd packaging. And it, like the other tracks here, has a cinematic quality, though it might well overwhelm any visuals. This disc is a stellar example of 'turntablism' in a non-hip-hop context - as we said, it's more like instrumental post rock instead, although we're sure DJ Shadow fans will like this! We suggest playing it loud, which will be especially effective when track three swells into something grand that Godspeed could never match.
MPEG Stream: "Hola"
MPEG Stream: "Lido"

SAUTER, JIM / DON DIETRICH / THURSTON MOORE Barefoot In The Head (Forced Exposure) cd 13.98
The 1988 collaboration between the two noise-saxophone titans of the legendary improv outfit Borbetomagus and well-known Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore. Classic squall, now on a domestic cd.

SAVAGE Loose 'N Lethal (Krescendo Records) cd 16.98
Ready for some galloping rifftasy?? We could be reviewing the new Early Man ep (and we will) but for your metallic delectation this week, we'd rather present you with a reissue of an old fave, a relatively obscure NWOBHM classic. If you don't know what NWOBHM means (and we mention it often enough, like in our Rogue Male reviews recently), this will clue you in with an ace to the face - even though Savage never quite made it up there with more famous New Wave Of British Heavy Metal brethren like Iron Maiden and Def Leppard*, ferinstance. And if you do know what the NWOBHM is, and love it, then this is for you. No need to hesitate. Savage's 1983 debut (they had some other, later releases, but basically blew their wad here, and how) is utterly a classic, even just on the strength of the lead-off track alone, "Let It Loose" (misidentified on the back cover tracklist here as "Letting Loose", d'oh). And the rest of the album is full of quality, crunching metallurgy too, oh yeah. Noted metal scribe Martin Popoff rates it a 10 out of 10, comparing it to the best of Saxon, Witchfinder General, Grim Reaper, & Diamond Head (we'd say it comes closest to the latter). He's quite right, this IS one of those 10/10 NWOBHM stormers that can do no wrong, unquestionably when it comes to "Let It Loose", crackling with electric energy, which sets the tone for a whole disc of white hot, speaker trashing, youthful shred, Savage sounding quite savage indeed, while maintaining the NWOBMH's reputation for pint-draining, party-hardy catchiness.
Need more recommendation? How 'bout that Metallica in their early days used to cover two of this album's songs live?! Lars knew his NWOBHM neckwreckers after all!
Aside from the aforementioned typo, this is an ok reissue, though there's no liner notes included in the cd booklet. Lyrics yes, but no liner notes, what's their excuse? We expect thorough liner notes in our reissues, people! The previous reissue of this on Neat had liners from the guy that did the awesome Mad Maxish cover art! At least this does include the same 3 bonus tracks, taken from Savage's 1979 and '80 demos.
*no, Def Leppard don't suck. Their first few albums are pretty great.
MPEG Stream: "Let It Loose"
MPEG Stream: "On The Rocks"

SAVAGE DAMAGE DIGEST Issue 1, Summer 2010 magazine 3.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Wow. This new 'zine is not only full of awesome readin', looks great, and comes with a button, but also is dirt cheap! Just $4. Real goddamn fanzines are few and far between these days, kudos to editor Cory Linstrum and friends for putting this one out, and making it so killer too. It shows those blogs a thing or two. Savage Damage Digest is all about music that you don't really read about all that often, and all in one place, thought the artists covered all make total sense together here, you'll see: Link Wray, Teenage Head, Jean-Pierre Massiera, Dave Kilgour & The Clean, Hanoi Rocks, Tank's Algy Ward, Nick Lowe & Brinsley Schwarz! And this debut ish features the only article we've ever come across about the uniquely Australian youth sub-culture of "Sharpies", outside of the liner notes to those Coloured Balls cd reissues, fascinating stuff. 70 pages, lots of vintage photos and magazine ads, nice use of spot color inside, and rounded corners, it's a handsome 'zine all right. Totally recommended to anyone interested in semi-obscure music from the '60s 'til now that ROCKS. Or is weird. Or both.
The cover story on Link is all about his "lost years" in the early-to-mid '70s, albums that tend to get ignored but, having read about 'em here, we want to hear! It's super in-depth, enthused and informative, like all the other articles here. This is sort of 'zine that will definitely turn you on to stuff you need to know about, and we can only hope that issue #2 isn't that far off. This has a lot of potential to be a favorite new regular read... For those who miss the likes of Black To Comm, or Motorbooty, or Fuzz (not to mention Bomp! or Creem)... check this out!!

SAVAGE DAMAGE DIGEST Issue 2, January 2012 magazine + button 5.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Whoo-hoo! SDD #2!! Well, in "zine time" getting 2 issues done in as many years isn't that bad. At least, at last, it's here: the 2nd issue of Savage Damage Digest, a 'zine that with but one issue became one of our faves in the realm of enthusiastic dead-tree rock n' roll writin'. As good as the first issue was, this one's maybe even better, it's got great stuff about a wide variety of long-lost legends... '60s UK popsyke geniuses July, '60 NZ garage gods Chants R&B, '70s pub rockers Ducks Deluxe, and more... The cover story, especially interesting for those of us located in the Bay Area, is about '70s San Francisco proto-punks La Rue. No, never heard 'em, but boy do we want to now.
What we love about SDD is that it's the sort of thing that really puts the FAN in fanzine. We mean, they even devote two pages to some non-musical fandom - about the special San Francisco ice cream sandwich known as an It's It! And, most amazingly, there's pages and pages about guitarist Ross The Boss and his various bands over the years: The Dictators, Shakin' Street, Manitoba's Wild Kingdom, and... Manowar!! The Manowar stuff, especially, makes this issue required reading. We just tend to think that a lot of "typical" SDD readers and AQ customers might not already be Manowar fans, but this is the sort of thing that just might covert 'em (you?).
And, this issue comes with a free button, bearing the Vertigo records label swirl design! With accompanying label appreciation essay for anyone not already aware of just how cool UK '70s prog imprint Vertigo was.
Hopefully it won't be another 2 years before issue 3 of Savage Damage Digest comes out, though we won't be holding our breath. But we will be looking forward to it. And, let's say, the highest form of praise we can give a 'zine like SDD is that it makes us want to get to work on our own 'zines, like some of us used to do back in the day.

SAVAGE GRACE Master Of Disguise / The Dominatress (Limb Music) cd 17.98
We didn't even know this reissue was happening, but both Andee and Allan were so psyched when this came out recently. The first we heard of LA speed metal outfit Savage Grace was back in the day, they had a track on the Metal Blade Metal Massacre II compilation released in 1982, with other rad bands of the time like Aloha, Overkill, Obsession and all time aQ faves Warlord, among others. Even with all that tough competition, their song "Scepters Of Deceit" ruled, and weirdly enough, it featured Ozzy guitarist Randy Rhoads' brother on vocals. The next year, the band put out The Dominatress ep, which besides being their first proper release, featured a saucy lingerie clad dominatrix, er, dominatress on the cover, which was quite titillating for young metalheads like us at the time. A couple years later, the band released their killer debut full-length Master Of Disguise, featuring another infamous cover, this one with a naked woman handcuffed to a motorcycle, with a creepy red eyed cop leering at her, all wreathed in red fog, and the music inside was even better than the ep, not as raw, but still fast and heavy and melodic. This slipcased cd reissue contains both Master Of Disguise and The Dominatress, and tacks on 4 early eighties demo tracks, including their Metal Massacre contribution.
Most metalheads maybe remember these guys, but they might not realize how well this stuff has stood the test of time. It sounds better than ever, especially with the onslaught of retro metal and old school style thrash bands, this stuff just rules. Still. The riffs are killer, the songs are super hooky and stick in your head like crazy, the leads are super technical and catchy in their own way too, the kind of leads that you end up humming along to, the vocals soaring and high and perfectly suited to the music, the drumming intense and also super technical, and while these guys are generally considered to be speed metal, the band they most sound like in many ways is Iron Maiden, the same sort of epic song structures, harmonized guitar leads, there's definitely a serious NWOBHM influence, which makes this stuff so much more than run of the mill speed metal. Just check out the sound samples, if you can resist "Lion's Roar" or "Bound To Be Free", you really have no right to call yourself a metalhead... Oh, and if you liked the new one from Sweden's Enforcer we highlighted a few weeks back, THIS is definitely the kind of '80s speed metal that they're today's torch carriers of.
Includes a massive booklet with lyrics, liner notes, tons of photos, including alternate even saucier shots from the photo session for the Master Of Disguise cover! Recommended, metallers!!
MPEG Stream: "Lions Roar"
MPEG Stream: "Bound To Be Free"
MPEG Stream: "Fear My Way"
MPEG Stream: "Master Of Disguise"

SAVAGE PENCIL AQ x WFMU x SXSW 2010 (green) poster 15.00
That's right, we've got a handful of these cool posters we commissioned to promote/commemorate this year's aQuarius recOrds and WFMU sponsored South By Southwest showcase. They were for sale at the show, and the remaining copies we've got we're now making available to our local and mailorder customers (who, if you weren't lucky enough to be in Austin, hopefully listened to the show via WFMU's live feed).
EXTREMELY LIMITED EDITION! Only 90 copies printed. Of which we only got half, a few of those went to the bands, which means not many of these left. Handscreened. Two color (one is dark green on light green, the other is blood red on grey). Featuring original art by one of our favorite underground artists, Savage Pencil! It's a crazy tangled squiggly mass of angry bird heads and strange intricate tendrils, it's super striking, and of course also features all the bands who played the show, as well as all the other show info. They're super sharp, and as they say, suitable for framing, so get one while you can. If you order one with other stuff, it will have to ship separately in its own tube, and so will require an extra separate shipping charge, just so you know.
For bigger better pictures, go here:
http://twitpic.com/1b719b
and here:
http://twitpic.com/1b71df

SAVAGE PENCIL AQ x WFMU x SXSW 2010 (red) poster 15.00
That's right, we've got a handful of these cool posters we commissioned to promote/commemorate this year's aQuarius recOrds and WFMU sponsored South By Southwest showcase. They were for sale at the show, and the remaining copies we've got we're now making available to our local and mailorder customers (who, if you weren't lucky enough to be in Austin, hopefully listened to the show via WFMU's live feed).
EXTREMELY LIMITED EDITION! Only 90 copies printed. Of which we only got half, a few of those went to the bands, which means not many of these left. Handscreened. Two color (one is dark green on light green, the other is blood red on grey). Featuring original art by one of our favorite underground artists, Savage Pencil! It's a crazy tangled squiggly mass of angry bird heads and strange intricate tendrils, it's super striking, and of course also features all the bands who played the show, as well as all the other show info. They're super sharp, and as they say, suitable for framing, so get one while you can. If you order one with other stuff, it will have to ship separately in its own tube, and so will require an extra separate shipping charge, just so you know.
For bigger better pictures, go here:
http://twitpic.com/1b719b
and here:
http://twitpic.com/1b71df

SAVAGE REPUBLIC 1938 (Neurot) cd 14.98
The Savage Republic song "Birds of Pork" has been the preamble to each and every Neurosis show for many, many years now; so if anybody should be subsidizing a Savage Republic reunion recording, it should definitely be Neurot Recordings! And yes, the influence that Savage Republic had on Neurosis can still be heard in these recordings, as the heavy tribal percussion is still the underbelly to these expansive post-punk crescendos. The current incarnation of Savage Republic revolves around Thom Fuhrmann, Ethan Port, and Greg Grunke (all of whom were members back in the day) alongside Val Haller (who had played with Fuhrmann in the grossly underappreciated Autumn Fair in the late '80s) and Alan Waddington. 1938 is pretty true to the sounds that Savage Republic had produced on Ceremonial or Customs, with that tribal percussion grounding slashes of drone guitar which slide into post-Morricone / proto-Godspeed crescendos for guitar and violin. Vocals have always been the problematic area for Savage Republic; and fortunately, they keep this album almost entirely instrumental.
MPEG Stream: "Marshal Tito"
MPEG Stream: "Monsoon"

SAVAGE REPUBLIC Box Set (Mobilization) 4cd 54.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The beautifully packaged boxset of all of the recent Savage Republic reissues ("Tragic Figures," "Ceremonial," "Jamahiriya," and "Customs") has of course been designed by former-Savage Republic member Bruce Licher and his reknowned Independent Project Press and is a bargain if you plan on buying all four.

SAVAGE REPUBLIC Ceremonial + Trudge (Mobilization) cd 14.98
Upon the release of the "Ceremonial" album and the "Trudge" ep in the mid-'80s, Savage Republic underwent a number of personnel changes which altered the group's sound from the primitive, percussion heavy art-punk found on "Tragic Figures" toward a far more expansive sound that has often been cited by Godspeed You Black Emperor! as one of their influences. Drawing heavily upon Turkish and Greek musical traditions, Savage Republic played quickening, repeated rock grooves that begin stoically out of quiet spaces and accelerated with soaring guitar solos into climatic crescendos. While descriptively this may sound much like the aforementioned GSYBE!, Savage Republic's production techniques were much rougher, at times sounding like early Joy Division. Similarly, Savage Republic's conceptual agenda always lacked the socially conscious overtones of that of GSYBE! Instead, Savage Republic triumphantly claimed something of a nomadic, masculine space reflected in the best of Burning Man culture. And fortunately, with the recordings found on this disc Savage Republic mostly did away with the vocals that somewhat hampered the success of their previous "Tragic Figures" LP.
Again, beautifully packaged by Bruce Licher and Independent Project Press.
RealAudio clip: "Trek"
RealAudio clip: "Andelusia"

SAVAGE REPUBLIC Customs (Mobilization) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
"Customs" was the final studio album from Savage Republic, recorded under considerable duress in Greece during an ill-fated 1988 tour in which all of their gear was confiscated by Greek customs! Thus, "Customs" was recorded entirely on borrowed equipment. The resulting album is not dissimilar to the usual Savage Republic sound of expansive songs that build up through the increasingly aggressive riffs of "monotone" guitars, but has been augmented with a handful of traditional Greek instruments such as hand drums and bouzouki. And, as a potentially useful piece of trivia, you might want to know that this album features Savage Republic's "Birds of Pork," which for years has been the preamble played before each and every Neurosis live show!
RealAudio clip: "Birds of Pork"

SAVAGE REPUBLIC Jamahiriya Democratique (Mobilization) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Since Savage Republic dissolved in the late '80s, most of its members went onto other projects, with Bruce Licher and Robert Loveless forming Scenic, Ethan Port working with Scot Jenerik in F-Space, and Thom Furhmann founding the amazing but shortlived Autumn Fair (a re-issue of which is due soon). "Jamahiriya Democratique" is Savage Republic's fourth album, exhibiting many of the traits that would later be so pronounced in these various post-breakup projects (especially Scenic). There is much less emphasis upon Savage Republic's trademarked junk-yard / punk-as-fuck percussion, but they continue in their post-punk translations of Greek / Arabic motifs, with more of a production polish (which runs close to the dreamy sound of Bill Laswell's neo-prog professionalism). Vocals, absent on "Ceremonial", make a few returns, but aren't terribly annoying and are also off-set by a couple of instrumental versions (i.e. "Viva La Rock 'n' Roll" which may be Savage Republic's best song, does much better as an instrumental track). Certainly, those of you who love Scenic's big sky expansiveness and Godspeed You Black Emperor!-esque guitar crescendos should check out the "Jamahiriya Democratique."
RealAudio clip: "So it Is Written"
RealAudio clip: "Tabula Rasa"
RealAudio clip: "Viva La Rock 'n' Roll (Instrumental)"

SAVAGE REPUBLIC Recordings From Live Performance, 1981-1983 (Independent Project Records) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Right on the heels of a reunion tour (reunited after 13 years), Savage Republic offers us this collection of live recordings, dating back to their first live performance as Africa Corps in May, 1981. The legends that surround the band all state that they were much better live than they were in the studio; for on stage, a punk energy came to the forefront in the massive bass ploddings, slashing guitars, and junk-yard percussion. This collection, while clearly lacking in fidelity, proves the point that Savage Republic was certainly a kick-ass live band. Most of the material present also appeared on their debut "Tragic Figures" album, with a couple of previously unreleased / undocumented tracks. As I've never thought that Savage Republic's lyrics and vocals were particularly strong, they are fortunately few and far between in these live performances. The majority of the words are spoken as between song banter highlighted by the announcement that "Every band's gotta have a surf song!" Their's being the incendiary instrumental "Ivory Coast."
RealAudio clip: "The Ivory Coast"

SAVAGE REPUBLIC Siam (Independent Project Music) cd ep 12.98

SAVAGE REPUBLIC Tragic Figures (Mobilization) cd 14.98
Savage Republic was one of Los Angeles' leading art-punk bands, fusing gritty post-Joy Division basslines, slashing guitars with occasional Arabic cadences, and a massive clatter of dense percussion at times worthy of comparisons to Test Dept. or Einsturzende Neubauten. Yet, Savage Republic always maintained a much closer relationship to the simple structuralism of punk, layering all of their percussive energy into complex articulations of a simple 4/4 beat. Originally called Africa Corps, Savage Republic recorded their 1982 debut "Tragic Figures" while its members were attending art school at UCLA. The resulting album is a vibrant cross section of LA's punk scene from the early '80s, slipping between dark, yet subtle Factory-ish songs to aggressive percussion assaults worthy of a Mad Max soundtrack (before Tina Turner, of course). While at their best, Savage Republic were a force to be reckoned with, these reissues force us to recall that vocals were never their strong point, wavering from a Steve Albini -like nasal delivery to a Lee Ving-ish throaty scream.
The band's Bruce Licher has since gone on to form the acclaimed Independent Projects Press, developing a unique, celebrated style of beautifully letterpressed packaging, of course utilized for these new Savage Republic reissues on Scot Jenerik's Mobilization label. This disc features all of the tracks from previous CD editions, including the proper recordings from "Tragic Figures," the "Film Noir" 7" and a couple of alternate versions.
RealAudio clip: "When All Else Fails"
RealAudio clip: "Ivory Coast"
RealAudio clip: "Film Noir"

SAVAGES Silence Yourself (Matador / Pop Noire) cd 14.98
The hype surrounding Savages has almost eclipsed the album itself. Here was a London quartet that erupted on the scene in 2012, hybridizing your favorite post-punk reference into a violent buzzsaw of Teutonic falsetto and martial rhythms, delivered with a sneering abhorrence of anything melodic. While it's easy to hear a riff from Wire, a plod from Joy Division, or a scream from Siouxsie in Savages, all of those bands had the potential to deliver an unforgettable pop hook; and that is something that these four lasses have no interest in delivering. Instead, these songs are built through jagged layers of propulsion, aggressive thrusts into guitar noise, and unconventional mathy structures that start-stop-start-stutter-then-stop-start-stop. In listening to Savages, we're really getting that sense of deja vu; but not for those bands we had already mentioned. Instead, Savages really come across as a re-incarnation of Bestial Mouths, the LA goth-punk outfit which matched an unhinged drumming with a caterwauling vocalist in the most inhospitable of atmospheres, and again nary a melody to be heard. While that LA band seems to be undergoing an re-invention themselves with their fantastic drummer leaving Bestial Mouths, Savages pick right up from where Bestial Mouths left off a couple years back on their LP for Dais. That record made a lot of sense coming out of the bowels of the underground, but Savages' campaign through the mainstream music press is all the more unlikely. If you were expecting Matador to deliver the next Interpol through Savages, that's not the case... but if you were hoping for a feral squallor of post-punk volatility, Savages will happily oblige.
MPEG Stream: "Shut Up"
MPEG Stream: "Strife"
MPEG Stream: "Husbands"

SAVAGES Silence Yourself (Matador / Pop Noire) lp 16.98
The hype surrounding Savages has almost eclipsed the album itself. Here was a London quartet that erupted on the scene in 2012, hybridizing your favorite post-punk reference into a violent buzzsaw of Teutonic falsetto and martial rhythms, delivered with a sneering abhorrence of anything melodic. While it's easy to hear a riff from Wire, a plod from Joy Division, or a scream from Siouxsie in Savages, all of those bands had the potential to deliver an unforgettable pop hook; and that is something that these four lasses have no interest in delivering. Instead, these songs are built through jagged layers of propulsion, aggressive thrusts into guitar noise, and unconventional mathy structures that start-stop-start-stutter-then-stop-start-stop. In listening to Savages, we're really getting that sense of deja vu; but not for those bands we had already mentioned. Instead, Savages really come across as a re-incarnation of Bestial Mouths, the LA goth-punk outfit which matched an unhinged drumming with a caterwauling vocalist in the most inhospitable of atmospheres, and again nary a melody to be heard. While that LA band seems to be undergoing an re-invention themselves with their fantastic drummer leaving Bestial Mouths, Savages pick right up from where Bestial Mouths left off a couple years back on their LP for Dais. That record made a lot of sense coming out of the bowels of the underground, but Savages' campaign through the mainstream music press is all the more unlikely. If you were expecting Matador to deliver the next Interpol through Savages, that's not the case... but if you were hoping for a feral squallor of post-punk volatility, Savages will happily oblige.
MPEG Stream: "Shut Up"
MPEG Stream: "Strife"
MPEG Stream: "Husbands"

SAVATH & SAVALAS Apropa't (Warp) cd 16.98

SAVATH & SAVALAS Golden Pollen (Anti) cd 14.98
Scott Herren's (better known as Prefuse 73) latest incarnation as Savath & Savalas has manifested one of his finest works to date which for some reason we weren't expecting at all. His last couple of records on Warp featured Eva Puyuelo Muns on vocals which made them highly compelling to listen to on the one hand but also made them safe enough to feature in car commercials and as background music in trendy restaurants. On Golden Pollen, well after a highly publicized falling out between Herren and Muns, Herren takes up all the vocal duties himself, making for a subdued but never unpredictable recording. After listening to O Terco and Caetano Veloso all week, Golden Pollen almost sounds like a lost Brazilian pastoral psych record from the early seventies, if it wasn't for the experimental electronic passages in tracks like "Te Amo...Por Que Me Odias". Although it's his best record, that doesn't mean it's without certain flaws. Its concentration on subtlety creates a lack of dynamics making the record seem overly long and a bit same-y at times. But that is sometimes what happens when a record is based more on atmosphere than composition and is probably best enjoyed in a peripheral setting rather than a deeply concentrated listening environment. Produced by John McEntire, with Jose Gonzales and Mia Doi Todd making guest appearances.
MPEG Stream: "Apnea Obstructiva"
MPEG Stream: "Te Amo...Por Que Me Odias"

SAVATH & SAVALAS La Llama (Stones Throw) cd 14.98
Mr. Scott Herren sure likes to keep busy. We just listed his newest project Diamond Watch Wrists, an indie rock minded collaboration with Zach Hill from Hella, he also has a brand new Prefuse 73 album in the works, but somehow even with all that going on, he's also managed to crank out another Savath & Savalas album. S+S is the project that allows Herren to explore a more delicate, breezy and tropical sound. Teamed up with a great ensemble of musicians, which includes dreamy vocalist Eva Puyuelo Muna, La Llama might be the most fully realized and satisfying Savath & Savalas recording yet, channeling the sounds and sentiments of '70s Brazilian/South American soft-psych greats like Joyce, Milton Nascimento, and Congregacion, yet infusing that sound with a modern element that keeps the music from sounding purely nostalgic. Understated and richly flowing with an ease and breeze that is totally hitting the spot!
MPEG Stream: "La Llama"
MPEG Stream: "Pavo Real"
MPEG Stream: "Barceloneta"

SAVATH & SAVALAS Manana (Warp) cd 8.98
Sometimes it takes incredibly stressful interpersonal band relationships to make really wonderful music. Perhaps this is an example. Acclaimed hip-hop producer Scott Herren, aka Prefuse 73, claims that he and singer Eva Puyuelo Muns will no longer work together beyond this release. That's really too bad, cause it's truly a cool and beautiful ep. Manana exposes their shared passion for early '70s Brazilian psych, simple production techniques, sad melodies as found in Spanish folk music and edginess and attitude in Afro/Cuban/Puerto Rican/NYC fusions. Bright and juicy Catalan sounds fill-out the abstract electronic recontextualization, creating a successful sonic collaboration, at least musicly so. Let's hope they can make amends and create some more hazy explorations of Catalan singing in this electronic manifestation. Meanwhile, Manana is a glistening beauty for us to treasure!
MPEG Stream: "Interludio Inconcreto"
MPEG Stream: "Sota L'aigua"

SAVES THE DAY Stay What You Are (Vagrant Records) cd 14.98
Anthemic indie-rock on the Get-Up Kids label. LA sing-along-songsters rock in the dynamic power-chord tradition of Get Up Kids, the Anniversary and The Stereo. Since when did punk rock get so bubblegum? (Not to mention a suspiciously glossy website where they brag about working with a producer who has worked with Beck.) However, this is a fine kickass pop record. Check out the song clip -- the hook is addictive.
RealAudio clip: "Jukebox Breakdown"

SAVIO, DANIEL Assassinn b/w Crimewave (Poisonous Gases) 7" 5.98
Two new, 7"s of delicious skweee here folks! From the same Portland label, Poisonous Gases, that previously brought us Lazercrotch. Now they've gone and signed up a genuine Scandinavian skweeer, Daniel Savio from Sweden, as well as Portland's Michael Bruce (not the guy from the Alice Cooper Band we're pretty sure).
Savio's 7", following up his other recent one for LoDubs, features two new tracks, both representative of Savio's brand of "Apocalyptic Skweee", suspenseful blip-blip-bloop rhythms and ominous bass pulses that harken back to creepy cool John Carpenter scores.

SAVIO, DANIEL Dirty Bomb (Flogsta Danshall) lp 24.00
SKWEEE!!!!

SAVIO, DANIEL Jihad Akhbar / The Djinn (Flogsta Danshall) 7" 6.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Skweee!

SAVIO, DANIEL Nekropolis ( Losonofono / LoDubs) lp+cd 14.98
By now, faithful readers of the aQ list know how into skweee we are, that twisted playful freaked out glitchy electronica that's equal parts 8-bit video game music, classic hip hop boom bap and eighties electro, all woozy synths, stuttery beats, lots of buzz and fuzz and bloop and bleep. We've listed tons of 7"s, a few full lengths, some killer comps, but this is the first long player we've listed from Swedish skweee scene king Daniel Savio, and it's a good one.
And unlike most skweee, which tends toward the fun and funky, Savio's Nekropolis gets downright dark. Well dark for skweee anyway. Savio calls it "Apocalyptic Skweee". The sounds are buzzy and fuzzy, the melodies minor key, the mood ominous and haunting, sure it's still playful, that's the nature of the skweee beast, but Nekropolis plays out like a compliation of the music from all the scariest levels from all your favorite eighties arcade games, remixed into creepy dancefloor destroyers. Bleeps and glitches are underpinned by thick swaths of low end buzz, jagged shards of upper register crunch, at times almost like Bernard Herrmann like string stabs rendered in 8-bit, the low end constantly creeping like some digital black fog. "Warhead" is an awesome Atari creepscape that manages to be both haunting and spooky, groovy and goofy; "Black Water" is John Carpenter's soundtrack to Escape From New York played on a Commodore 64; "Reanimator" is an old school electro jam constructed from chiptuned tones and laced with horror movie ambience, it's all so good. If there was ever gonna be a record that finally convinced the masses to bow before the skweee, it would most definitely be Nekropolis!
The vinyl, with tip-on art, comes packaged with a cd version of the album as well, which we way prefer to just a download code, thanks Losonofono!
MPEG Stream: "Nekropolis"
MPEG Stream: "Reanimator"
MPEG Stream: "Warhead"
MPEG Stream: "Black Water"

SAVIO, DANIEL Nightmare Food b/w Sleeping Wit' Fish ( Losonofono / LoDubs) 7" 5.98
Skweee! Skweee! Skweee! (That's our onomatopoeic skweee alert siren, of course.) Daniel Savio is one of those peculiar Scandinavian skweee producers, making tracks in that funky, fun (and pun) filled '80s arcade-y, chiptune-y, instrumental electro genre we dig so much, you've heard his stuff on the Museum Of Future Sound comps, on the Skweee Tooth comp too, and he's got several 7"s and a full-length lp out as well... Here's his latest, released by an American label, actually a sub-label of Portland dubstep imprint Lo Dubs (who also brought us the killer new Clubroot set also highlighted this week), it's a 2-song 45 featuring skweee that maybe leans towards the darkness of dubstep a bit!
"Nightmare Food" is slinky-slunky skweee, jammin' the blip-blurp, with vaguely Middle Eastern motifs. "Sleeping Wit' Fish" is maybe even moodier, building up into whipcracks of suspenseful grooviness. If John Carpenter made skweee, it might sound like this. Apparently this single is the forerunner for a new full-length from Savio, of what he terms "apocalyptic skweee", eventually to be released on Losonofono, can't wait!

SAVIO, DANIEL The Bubble Bump/Yu [heart] Bibimbab (Flogsta Danshall) 7" 6.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Skweee!!! See our Museum of Future Sound review for more explanation...

SAVIOURS #1 - Acid Hand b/w Slave To The Hex (Kemado Records) 7" 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Metalheads! SF local metal faves Saviours have just finished up recording their new, third full-length (following last year's killer Into Abbadon). To whet our appetite for its impending release, they've just put out three limited edition 7" singles, with devilish, medieval lookin' b&w artwork courtesy of Tim "Draugar" Lehi.
The 7"s feature demos of raging tracks that will appear on the new album, along with (on singles #2 and #3) exclusive cover tracks of songs by old school metal greats Saxon and Judas Priest respectively. Those fit right in with the Saviours' badass denim-and-leather thrashing.
In addition, each 7" comes with promotional extra item tucked into the sleeve - #1 has a large sticker, #2 has an embroidered patch, and #3 what we guess you'd call a mini-comic, one page, photocopied. Very cool, fans act fast! LIMITED TO 500 COPIES EACH, we only got a few.

SAVIOURS #2 - Burning Cross b/w Fire In The Sky (Saxon) (Kemado) 7" 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Metalheads! SF local metal faves Saviours have just finished up recording their new, third full-length (following last year's killer Into Abbadon). To whet our appetite for its impending release, they've just put out three limited edition 7" singles, with devilish, medieval lookin' b&w artwork courtesy of Tim "Draugar" Lehi.
The 7"s feature demos of raging tracks that will appear on the new album, along with (on singles #2 and #3) exclusive cover tracks of songs by old school metal greats Saxon and Judas Priest respectively. Those fit right in with the Saviours' badass denim-and-leather thrashing.
In addition, each 7" comes with promotional extra item tucked into the sleeve - #1 has a large sticker, #2 has an embroidered patch, and #3 what we guess you'd call a mini-comic, one page, photocopied. Very cool, fans act fast! LIMITED TO 500 COPIES EACH, we only got a few.

SAVIOURS #3 - F.G.T. b/w Running Wild (Judas Priest) (Kemado) 7" 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Metalheads! SF local metal faves Saviours have just finished up recording their new, third full-length (following last year's killer Into Abbadon). To whet our appetite for its impending release, they've just put out three limited edition 7" singles, with devilish, medieval lookin' b&w artwork courtesy of Tim "Draugar" Lehi.
The 7"s feature demos of raging tracks that will appear on the new album, along with (on singles #2 and #3) exclusive cover tracks of songs by old school metal greats Saxon and Judas Priest respectively. Those fit right in with the Saviours' badass denim-and-leather thrashing.
In addition, each 7" comes with promotional extra item tucked into the sleeve - #1 has a large sticker, #2 has an embroidered patch, and #3 what we guess you'd call a mini-comic, one page, photocopied. Very cool, fans act fast! LIMITED TO 500 COPIES EACH, we only got a few.

SAVIOURS Accelerated Living (Kemado) cd 13.98
If we picked our Records Of The Week based on how likely they were to inspire massive bouts of head banging and air guitaring (and come to think of it, why the heck don't we?) then this new album from San Francisco's Saviours would easily be the Record Of The Week this week. And maybe next week too, and again and again for some weeks to come, since we don't know who'd want to mess with 'em, they might be tough to dethrone. Do you feel lucky, punk? they'd be asking all future pretenders to Record Of The Week status. Seriously, maybe the only reason we just made this a highlight on our list instead is that while Saviours are so good at what they do, what they do is perhaps a bit more circumscribed than the sort of metal we would make a Record Of The Week (such as the more eccentric likes of The Lord Weird Slough Feg's Ape Uprising a while back... though we'd definitely imagine any fan of that band would dig a lot of what's happenin' on this Saviours platter). But if you're in the mood for ragin' METAL and nothin' but, have we got a record for you!
Saviours, whom most metal inclined AQ customers already know we hope, are punkish proponents of adrenaline fuelled, NWOBHM lovin', thrash infected, uber metal up your ass gallop. Punkish maybe only 'cause they ooze attitude, also in part from the hoarse and shouty nature of the vocals (which we dig more on this album than in the past it must be said). As we have come to expect, then, Accelerated Living is in large part the sound of triumphant twin axes rampaging together, wet and red with poseurs' blood, lashing out left and right with slash and burn soloing. There's of course plenty of crushing low end heaviness and dominating battery propelling things along at a breakneck pace. But number one in our book are the guitars, dealing out heroic harmonies and rambunctious riffery. Oh yeah, this has got riffs, good ones. Riffs piling upon riffs. As much as we liked the Skeletonwitch album reviewed last time, THIS is way catchier and more memorable (maybe 'cause it lacks the more modern and monotonous black/death aspect, going only for the thrash/punk and trad '80s metal thing). We're even ready to sing along with the vocals, dammit! This is the type of album where it's tough to pick which tracks to make sound samples of for our review, 'cause they're almost all standouts. We kept thinking, ok, this one, then we'd listen to the next track, and be like, this one too, and on and on through the record. Of course, in the end that meant we could pick any 3 random tracks to sample and that'd be fine, let's just that sample making out of the way so we can put the album on again from the beginning, loud, and bang our heads!!
Our appetite for this rad, rippin' release was whetted by the limited edition trilogy of 7"s that preceded it, featuring spirited covers of Saxon and Judas Priest as well as demo versions of some of Accelerated Living's songs. They sound even better here, the album produced by Phil Manley (of Trans Am, The Fucking Champs, etc.). Recommended, if you couldn't tell.
MPEG Stream: "We Roam"
MPEG Stream: "Burnin' Cross"
MPEG Stream: "Apocalypse World Split"

SAVIOURS Accelerated Living (Kemado) 2lp 19.98
Yeahhh! Now available on VINYL! Here's the review we did of the cd version last list:
If we picked our Records Of The Week based on how likely they were to inspire massive bouts of head banging and air guitaring (and come to think of it, why the heck don't we?) then this new album from San Francisco's Saviours would easily be the Record Of The Week this week. And maybe next week too, and again and again for some weeks to come, since we don't know who'd want to mess with 'em, they might be tough to dethrone. Do you feel lucky, punk? they'd be asking all future pretenders to Record Of The Week status. Seriously, maybe the only reason we just made this a highlight on our list instead is that while Saviours are so good at what they do, what they do is perhaps a bit more circumscribed than the sort of metal we would make a Record Of The Week (such as the more eccentric likes of The Lord Weird Slough Feg's Ape Uprising a while back... though we'd definitely imagine any fan of that band would dig a lot of what's happenin' on this Saviours platter). But if you're in the mood for ragin' METAL and nothin' but, have we got a record for you!
Saviours, whom most metal inclined AQ customers already know we hope, are punkish proponents of adrenaline fuelled, NWOBHM lovin', thrash infected, uber metal up your ass gallop. Punkish maybe only 'cause they ooze attitude, also in part from the hoarse and shouty nature of the vocals (which we dig more on this album than in the past it must be said). As we have come to expect, then, Accelerated Living is in large part the sound of triumphant twin axes rampaging together, wet and red with poseurs' blood, lashing out left and right with slash and burn soloing. There's of course plenty of crushing low end heaviness and dominating battery propelling things along at a breakneck pace. But number one in our book are the guitars, dealing out heroic harmonies and rambunctious riffery. Oh yeah, this has got riffs, good ones. Riffs piling upon riffs. As much as we liked the Skeletonwitch album reviewed last time, THIS is way catchier and more memorable (maybe 'cause it lacks the more modern and monotonous black/death aspect, going only for the thrash/punk and trad '80s metal thing). We're even ready to sing along with the vocals, dammit! This is the type of album where it's tough to pick which tracks to make sound samples of for our review, 'cause they're almost all standouts. We kept thinking, ok, this one, then we'd listen to the next track, and be like, this one too, and on and on through the record. Of course, in the end that meant we could pick any 3 random tracks to sample and that'd be fine, let's just that sample making out of the way so we can put the album on again from the beginning, loud, and bang our heads!!
Our appetite for this rad, rippin' release was whetted by the limited edition trilogy of 7"s that preceded it, featuring spirited covers of Saxon and Judas Priest as well as demo versions of some of Accelerated Living's songs. They sound even better here, the album produced by Phil Manley (of Trans Am, The Fucking Champs, etc.). Recommended, if you couldn't tell.
MPEG Stream: "We Roam"
MPEG Stream: "Burnin' Cross"
MPEG Stream: "Apocalypse World Split"

SAVIOURS Crucifire (Level Plane) cd 13.98
Here's the debut full length from these local long hairies, whom quite possibly you've headbanged to already, live and in person -- most recently we saw 'em opening for The Sword at Slim's. Those from outside the Bay Area might know 'em from their previous ep release on Level Plane, or from their inclusion on Kemado's Invaders comp celebrating up-n-coming heavy psych and metal bands. Moreso even than The Sword, these guys were fully representin' the metal side of that roster. Furthermore, the Saviours' style of metal, make that METAL, definitely has one foot in the gutter, one fist in the gold... in other words, a big old school '80s influence. But this ain't no Motley Crue party rock. It's extremely HEAVY with kinda punk, shouty singing, which makes sense since they guys come out of the East Bay hardcore scene (though one of 'em also plays bass with smartass stoner rawk gods Drunk Horse). Works well for us. Plenty of fierce, chugging riffage, endlessly galloping, the band a mighty metal steed indeed. Imagine the heavy likes of High On Fire, Floor, or 16, but way more METALLIC(A). Or indie retro-metallers Early Man, with all their NWOBHM and Bay Area thrash influences, getting truly mean and ugly and throwing down big time. And we should mention: awesome drummer!
MPEG Stream: "Christhunt"
MPEG Stream: "Exalter Of Thorns"

SAVIOURS Death's Procession (Kemado) cd 10.98
Oakland's more metal than thou (but still sorta punk) Saviours are back to the attack with this new album, their fourth, another wicked rager like 2009's Accelerated Living, once more produced by Trans Am's Phil Manley, and again on the Kemado label. Hesher, hipster, whatever, this is METAL and your soon to be bangin' head will be proof of that. So, poseur patrol, but down your pitchforks (and Pitchfork readers, time to switch to stronger stuff than PBR).
This time 'round, rather than ripping right into it, Saviours actually start things off slow and low, in something of a stoner/sludge mode, with the lumbering, 7+ minute "The Eye Obscene". Electric Wizard fans might want to break out their bongs for this one. But, while the album surely stays sludgey, the sonics thick, pretty soon Saviours are chuggin' along more aggro, metallic, thrashed out avenues, eventually channelling the classic likes of Judas Priest and Motorhead with the souped up rocka rolla of "Crete'n" and "God's End" ferinstance.
Once again it's the glorious, galloping guitars that rule the record (though that drummer of theirs deserves a hand too), the quasi-melodic vocals however hopelessly hollerin' away without nearly as much effort put in, it would seem. But the guitars, damn they're whipping out the shredding solos and sweet harmonies aplenty. If you dug Accelerated Living as much as we did, you'll be into Death's Procession too, it's cut from the same (denim) cloth but with extra doom-trudge heaviosity added in. Fans of High On Fire, The Sword, Early Man, and Bible Of The Devil, this is for you (though, as much as we like Saviours, we don't understand why Bible Of The Devil aren't at least as popular!).
MPEG Stream: "Fire Of Old"
MPEG Stream: "Earthen Dagger"
MPEG Stream: "Crete'n"

SAVIOURS Death's Procession (Kemado) lp 16.98
NOW ON VINYL!!!!
Oakland's more metal than thou (but still sorta punk) Saviours are back to the attack with this new album, their fourth, another wicked rager like 2009's Accelerated Living, once more produced by Trans Am's Phil Manley, and again on the Kemado label. Hesher, hipster, whatever, this is METAL and your soon to be bangin' head will be proof of that. So, poseur patrol, but down your pitchforks (and Pitchfork readers, time to switch to stronger stuff than PBR).
This time 'round, rather than ripping right into it, Saviours actually start things off slow and low, in something of a stoner/sludge mode, with the lumbering, 7+ minute "The Eye Obscene". Electric Wizard fans might want to break out their bongs for this one. But, while the album surely stays sludgey, the sonics thick, pretty soon Saviours are chuggin' along more aggro, metallic, thrashed out avenues, eventually channelling the classic likes of Judas Priest and Motorhead with the souped up rocka rolla of "Crete'n" and "God's End" ferinstance.
Once again it's the glorious, galloping guitars that rule the record (though that drummer of theirs deserves a hand too), the quasi-melodic vocals however hopelessly hollerin' away without nearly as much effort put in, it would seem. But the guitars, damn they're whipping out the shredding solos and sweet harmonies aplenty. If you dug Accelerated Living as much as we did, you'll be into Death's Procession too, it's cut from the same (denim) cloth but with extra doom-trudge heaviosity added in. Fans of High On Fire, The Sword, Early Man, and Bible Of The Devil, this is for you (though, as much as we like Saviours, we don't understand why Bible Of The Devil aren't at least as popular!).
MPEG Stream: "Fire Of Old"
MPEG Stream: "Earthen Dagger"
MPEG Stream: "Crete'n"

SAVIOURS Into Abaddon (Kemado) cd 16.98
Local boys Saviours are kind of SF's answer to The Sword from Texas and Early Man from New York. The New Wave Of American Indie Ironic Hipster Metal, y'know? They're on the same label as The Sword, home also to the heavy psych likes of Dungen and Danava. Yet while an argument can be made that The Sword and Early Man are indeed indie ironic hipster metal at best (which doesn't stop 'em from rockin', we should note!), a loud listen to Saviours new full-length Into Abbadon ought to convince the most diehard metaller that these dudes are in fact fully, no foolin, METAL. If the cover art (by Joe "Motorhead" Petagno) didn't already. Nothin' ironic about it. Not that such arguments matter much anyway, what's important is, does this album rule or not? Our call: yea, and verily, it doth rule.
The sinuous guitar harmonies in the first track "Raging Embers" remind us a lot of the late great epic doomsters Solstice, whilst track two, the title track, gallops out of the gate like a mixture of The Fucking Champs and High On Fire... And on it rages, a showcase of sheer metal mastery. No ballads. No death metal monotony, or black metal makeup. No trendy emo bullshit. Just pure pedal to the metal, metal.
The riffage is righteous, the guitars shred, it's old school '80s to the max but HEAVY as heck. The only element that keeps this from attaining total true metal acclaim from the 'heads here at AQ are the punkish vocals, hoarse and shouty and not-so-melodic. Your mileage may vary, lots of folks like that style. But anyway the vocals are more than made up for by the guitars, which provide plenty of melody amidst the aggression, and atmosphere too. As well as, like we said, shred. Tasty solos abound, including guest six string tickling from Tim Lehi of Draugar and Isiah Mitchell of Earthless!
In truth, we're a little surprised by how much we dig this album (and Crucifire too, before it). Maybe because they're local we had been taking Saviours for granted, or feeling a little bit of an unwarranted NWOAIIHM backlash. Also we've seen them live many a time (they have a knack for opening for a lot of touring metal bands we want to see) but didn't really fall under their spell until hearing 'em at home, when all their true metallic grandeur could really sink in, without the distractions of shitty sound systems or somebody spilling beer on us. Songwriting nuances are revealed on record that were were perhaps numb to in person. At the end of the day, we're pretty into Into Abbadon.
MPEG Stream: "Raging Embers"
MPEG Stream: "Narcotic Sea"

SAVIOURS Into Abaddon (Kemado) lp 16.98
NOW ON VINYL!
Local boys Saviours are kind of SF's answer to The Sword from Texas and Early Man from New York. The New Wave Of American Indie Ironic Hipster Metal, y'know? They're on the same label as The Sword, home also to the heavy psych likes of Dungen and Danava. Yet while an argument can be made that The Sword and Early Man are indeed indie ironic hipster metal at best (which doesn't stop 'em from rockin', we should note!), a loud listen to Saviours new full-length Into Abbadon ought to convince the most diehard metaller that these dudes are in fact fully, no foolin, METAL. If the cover art (by Joe "Motorhead" Petagno) didn't already. Nothin' ironic about it. Not that such arguments matter much anyway, what's important is, does this album rule or not? Our call: yea, and verily, it doth rule.
The sinuous guitar harmonies in the first track "Raging Embers" remind us a lot of the late great epic doomsters Solstice, whilst track two, the title track, gallops out of the gate like a mixture of The Fucking Champs and High On Fire... And on it rages, a showcase of sheer metal mastery. No ballads. No death metal monotony, or black metal makeup. No trendy emo bullshit. Just pure pedal to the metal, metal.
The riffage is righteous, the guitars shred, it's old school '80s to the max but HEAVY as heck. The only element that keeps this from attaining total true metal acclaim from the 'heads here at AQ are the punkish vocals, hoarse and shouty and not-so-melodic. Your mileage may vary, lots of folks like that style. But anyway the vocals are more than made up for by the guitars, which provide plenty of melody amidst the aggression, and atmosphere too. As well as, like we said, shred. Tasty solos abound, including guest six string tickling from Tim Lehi of Draugar and Isiah Mitchell of Earthless!
In truth, we're a little surprised by how much we dig this album (and Crucifire too, before it). Maybe because they're local we had been taking Saviours for granted, or feeling a little bit of an unwarranted NWOAIIHM backlash. Also we've seen them live many a time (they have a knack for opening for a lot of touring metal bands we want to see) but didn't really fall under their spell until hearing 'em at home, when all their true metallic grandeur could really sink in, without the distractions of shitty sound systems or somebody spilling beer on us. Songwriting nuances are revealed on record that were were perhaps numb to in person. At the end of the day, we're pretty into Into Abbadon.
MPEG Stream: "Raging Embers"
MPEG Stream: "Narcotic Sea"

SAVIOURS Warship (Level Plane) cd ep 8.98

SAWADA, JYOJI Enfant Terrible (Sonore) cd 14.98
Apparently, a concept record about the children of the future and the terrible legacy we are leaving to them on this planet, with children's voices, jazz guitar, electronics, gamelan, record crackle, field recordings, etc. Japanese musician Sawada is kind of a "kitchen sink" style composer, heavily utilizing the sampler and the studio, but all his sounds are quite beautiful and/or intriguing.
While this might MEAN more to those who speak either Japanese or French, Sawada's music has plenty of charm on its own, without the context the narration provides. Some may remember his excellent and mysterious Base of Fiction cd from 1994, which was similiar but more "rock" (with members of underground Japanese bands like the Ruins joining in).

SAWAGUCHI, MIKI Big Boobs (Alchemy) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Other than stating the obvious (you have to see the album cover), I have no idea why Miki Sawaguchi gave this album the title "Big Boobs"... Musically, she goes all over the place, starting off with some schlocky excessively produced Japanese pop that sounds like a studio band trying to fuse Madness with Link Wray. Then she sings over a lengthy Hijokaidan-like guitar/effects noise attack (the album's high point), followed by an strange, sorta-funny a capella version of "Oh, Lord Won't You Buy Me A Mercedes Benz." The album is wrapped up by some Ramones-like three chord thug rock, and back to the schlock pop that opened the album. There's a guy in the booklet who is wearing a Burzum t-shirt, but that seems insignificant next to all of the topless photos of Miki Sawaguchi. Still don't know what to make of it -- is this some study into the variety of musical exports of Japan? The only thing for certain is the title's accuracy.

SAWAGUCHI, MIKI / JOJO HIROSHIGE / MASAMI AKITA / MASAHIKO OHNO Uterus and Human (Alchemy) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another new Alchemy title that we've imported from Japan, this one kind of an all-star Japanoise fest featuring noise guitarist Jojo (Alchemy boss and Hijokaidan mastermind), vocalist Miki Sawaguchi (of dubious "Big Boobs" fame), Masami Akita (aka Merzbow) on Macintosh computer, and Masahiko Ohno of noisicians Solmania playing one of his self-built electric guitar monsters (he's also responsible for the lovely graphic design, as he is for most all equally-keen looking Alchemy releases). Naoko Otani plays live drums. Three tracks, one "remix" (I think that's Merzbow's role with his Macintosh), one studio, one live. All pretty great, ranging from rumbling foghorn soundcapes with delicate female spoken vocals, to churning noise accompanied by Yoko Ono-inspired shrieking.

SAWAKO Bitter Sweet (12K) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Originally from Tokyo and now living in the states, Sawako has a really nice and subtle touch in creating delicate sounds that drone, crackle and flow in such a beautiful way. Delicate but never too precious this is a record sure to catch the ears of fans of the Fennesz/Sakamato collaborations, Christopher Willits and the final track (the only one with vocals) reminded us a lot of the early sound of Mum that we've been missing.
MPEG Stream: "Utouto"
MPEG Stream: "Wind Shower Particle"

SAWAKO Hum (12K) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Tokyo artist Sawako crafts her delicate, minimal ambient soundscapes from interwoven slivers of piano, voices, field recordings among other things.
The results are ultra ethereal and soothing. She would fit very well in either the Mort Aux Vaches or 20' to 2000 series. Hum also features additional instrumental contributions from Taylor Deupree, Aoki Hayato and Kenneth Kirschner. For fans of Deupree, William Basinski, Oval, Colleen and Pan Sonic.
MPEG Stream: "Patchworked Blanket"
MPEG Stream: "Incense Of Voice"

SAWAKOT Omnibus (Community Library) cd 12.98
Omnibus is a gorgeous collage of donated sound. Various contributors (Polmo Polpo, Tu'M, Hypo, Yuichiro Fujimoto, Birds in Tokyo and more) each presented various bits and pieces of sound: songs, found recordings, misplaced melodies, snippets of vocals, little chunks of rhythm, all of which were twisted and tangled and stretched and smeared into a gorgeous droney soundscape. The resulting pieces seemingly bear no relation to the original sounds. Instead, they managed to be pretty cohesive suite of soft shimmery sort-of-songs, all cobbled together from looped hiccupping warbles, damaged music box melodies, tape hiss, lo-fi recording detritus, detuned guitars, muted percussive thump, skittery shuffle, blooping bleeping video game sounds, skipping cds, little bursts of some disco-y techno chopped up and reassembled, and loads more impossible to pick out source sounds. But the final product really is more than the sum of its parts. A deliriously dreamy weird and wonderful world of sound.
MPEG Stream: "O R G"
MPEG Stream: "Aykmin"
MPEG Stream: "Datam"

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"

SAX RUINS Yawiquo (Ipecac) cd 16.98
Do you like sax? Do you like the Ruins? Then, hey, have we got a deal for you! Ruins drummer/mastermind Tatsuya Yoshida teams up with jazz improviser Ono Ryoko (alto sax) in this new unit, Sax Ruins (sorry, no idea what that name means, how did they come up with it?). The Japanese band Ruins has been Yoshida's vehicle for heavy duty, ultra mathy, Magmoid post-punk prog mania since 1985, and has pretty much always been a drums / bass two piece, Yoshida accompanied by several different insane bass players over the years. Their last album was 2002's Tzomborgha, also on Mike Patton's Ipecac label... and then in 2004 bassist number four (Sasaki Hisashi) left the band, yet to be replaced as far as we know. So Ruins is now defunct, or at least on an indeterminate hiatus, but that hasn't stopped Yoshida from performing Ruins songs, in a mindboggling one-man-band format called Ruins Alone. And now, in the Sax Ruins duo!
As you might expect, it's hyper frenetic and jumpy, but also... boppy. The buoyant saxophone helps make this duo's uber uptempo activity feel positively infectious, a joyful noise indeed. And it's not all frantic musical athletics, there's room here for some really lovely, melodic passages too, as on "Epigonen". Ono Ryoko really pulls out all the stops, drawing on her experience playing not only jazz but also funk/R&B, prog, and psych (the latter in collaboration with Acid Mothers Temple). She delves into extended techniques, circular breathing and such, and somehow is a match for Yoshida in the endless energy dep't. Together, what they unleash here is exciting stuff, way more complex and catchy than your average freakout. Imagine a stripped down, pepped up marching band playing really wild Carl Stalling / Raymond Scott style cartoon music. And wisely, Yoshida has kept this instrumental, none of his crazy vocals getting in the way of the sax blasts.
The 17 tracks here include saxified reinterpretations of classics from the Ruins' vast catalog, such as "Hyderomastgroningem" and "Pallaschtom", plus some new tunes too, including the album's title track and grand finale, that one a showstopper for sure.
So, again, definitely for fans of Ruins - who also like saxophone. And those into the likes of Zu, Flying Luttenbachers, 16-17, Alboth, and other exemplars of jazzprogcore craziness. Oh, and of course any John Zorn / Naked City fan ought to be ecstatic! Dunno if we'll really need any MORE albums from Sax Ruins though, 'cause as cool as this is, we're still keen for more Bass Ruins...
MPEG Stream: "Zworrisdeh"
MPEG Stream: "Gravestone"
MPEG Stream: "Yawiquo"