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
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
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"

SAXANA - THE GIRL ON A BROOMSTICK (MICHAJLOV, ANGELO) OST (B-Music / Finders Keepers) cd 16.98
Usually here at AQ, when we have a record that's pertains to witches and/or witchcraft in some way, it's from a metal band... like, obviously, Acid Witch, or Witchcraft, or Witch... then there's the "hauntological" likes of Broadcast & The Focus Group, and Demdike Stare, and let's not forget witch house... And, ok, the '70s Afro-fuzz of the other, original Witch from Zambia.
But THIS witchy record isn't like any of those, at all. It's a B-Music release and has a lot more in common with another B-Music fave, the soundtrack to Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders! This is a soundtrack too, and also from a cult New Wave Of Czech cinema flick from the early '70s. Unlike Valerie, we've never seen this movie, but we'd like to, based on this quirky, cool soundtrack. The music for Valerie was dreamy and delirious, suitable for a phantasmagorical, dark fairytale, and some of this is too. But since Saxana is about the more lighthearted adventures of a very modern teenage witch (we're thinking Daisies meets Harry Potter??), it gets a more suitably groovy, modish, jazzy score, with "psychedelic effects". There's lots of spooky and/or sprightly instrumental interludes, with titles like "Rats And Rodents", "Haxipola's Trip", and "Algebraic Airbrush", along with a couple songs sung by Czech chanteuse Petra Cernocka, including a version of the film's infectious theme song. Of the 27 tracks here (including one bonus cut from a 45rpm single), five of 'em, interspersed throughout, aren't actually songs or music, but "spells" - Latin sounding arcane incantations presumably uttered by teen witch of the title, each one heralded by those psychedelic effects, ominous echoings conveying magickal mysteries. Quite (literally) charming, as is this whole previously unreleased soundtrack, and nicely presented here with a thick booklet of text and graphics, by Finders Keepers/B-Music (of course).
MPEG Stream: "Divka Na Kosteti"
MPEG Stream: "Telescopicas Humerus"
MPEG Stream: "Algebraic Airbrush"
MPEG Stream: "Dexem Po Krumplex"

SAXANA - THE GIRL ON A BROOMSTICK (MICHAJLOV, ANGELO) OST (Finders Keepers) lp 24.00
Also on import vinyl...
Usually here at AQ, when we have a record that's pertains to witches and/or witchcraft in some way, it's from a metal band... like, obviously, Acid Witch, or Witchcraft, or Witch... then there's the "hauntological" likes of Broadcast & The Focus Group, and Demdike Stare, and let's not forget witch house... And, ok, the '70s Afro-fuzz of the other, original Witch from Zambia.
But THIS witchy record isn't like any of those, at all. It's a B-Music release and has a lot more in common with another B-Music fave, the soundtrack to Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders! This is a soundtrack too, and also from a cult New Wave Of Czech cinema flick from the early '70s. Unlike Valerie, we've never seen this movie, but we'd like to, based on this quirky, cool soundtrack. The music for Valerie was dreamy and delirious, suitable for a phantasmagorical, dark fairytale, and some of this is too. But since Saxana is about the more lighthearted adventures of a very modern teenage witch (we're thinking Daisies meets Harry Potter??), it gets a more suitably groovy, modish, jazzy score, with "psychedelic effects". There's lots of spooky and/or sprightly instrumental interludes, with titles like "Rats And Rodents", "Haxipola's Trip", and "Algebraic Airbrush", along with a couple songs sung by Czech chanteuse Petra Cernocka, including a version of the film's infectious theme song. Of the 27 tracks here (including one bonus cut from a 45rpm single), five of 'em, interspersed throughout, aren't actually songs or music, but "spells" - Latin sounding arcane incantations presumably uttered by teen witch of the title, each one heralded by those psychedelic effects, ominous echoings conveying magickal mysteries. Quite (literally) charming, as is this whole previously unreleased soundtrack, and nicely presented here by Finders Keepers/B-Music (of course).
MPEG Stream: "Divka Na Kosteti"
MPEG Stream: "Telescopicas Humerus"
MPEG Stream: "Algebraic Airbrush"
MPEG Stream: "Dexem Po Krumplex"

SAXON s/t (EMI) cd 12.98

MPEG Stream: "Rainbow Theme"
MPEG Stream: "Frozen Rainbow"

SAXON Strong Arm Of The Law (EMI) cd 12.98

MPEG Stream: "Heavy Metal Thunder"
MPEG Stream: "To Hell And Back Again"

SAXON Wheels Of Steel (EMI) cd 12.98

MPEG Stream: "Motorcycle Man"
MPEG Stream: "Stand Up And Be Counted"

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

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

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

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

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

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

SCALD Vermiculatus (Code666) cd 14.98

MPEG Stream: "Vermiculatus (excerpt 1)"
MPEG Stream: "Vermiculatus (excerpt 2)"

SCALE THE SUMMIT Carving Desert Canyons (Prosthetic) cd 14.98
We were gonna try to review this record without mentioning what this sometimes reminds us of, but hell, we just can't, and if it keeps you from buying it then it's YOUR LOSS. Scale The Summit are some young shredding guitar instrumentalists, who weave epic, soaring jubilant tech metal jams, that drift and shimmer and shred, laced with tons of swirling harmonies, tinkling harmonics, plenty of chug, all surprisingly major key, like the soundtrack to a videogame, or the climax of some action movie, or yeah, a little like Joe Satriani's Surfing With The Alien...there we said it. But take that Satriani sound, tangle it all up with some Fucking Champs shred-ery, get it all mathy here and there, let it sprawl majestically like some sort of Explosions In The Sky album closer, and you've pretty much got Carving Desert Canyons. This is the sound that accompanies a camera dangling from the bottom of a helicopter soaring along the desert floor, the soundtrack to a hipper emo-metal version of Planet Earth, expansive and epic, but plenty metallic and post rocky. We've been listening to this like crazy, it definitely pushes some buttons we never knew we had (or at least hadn't had pushed in a while), but fuck it, everything can't be dour and depressive and buzzy and black, sometimes you need something like StS, all emotionally metallic and triumphant, post rockisms spreading out into wild churning chugfests that in turn eventually explode into mathmetal blowouts, or super melodic shredfests. Definitely for fans of the Fucking Champs, Pegataur, Electro Quarterstaff, Explosions In The Sky, Zebulon Pike, Pelican, and all things postmetal, mathmetal and instru-metal.
MPEG Stream: "Bloom"
MPEG Stream: "Sargaso Sea"
MPEG Stream: "The Great Plains"

SCALE THE SUMMIT The Collective (Prosthetic) cd 14.98
We loved the last Scale The Summit record, a soaring shredding, super epic, majestically scenic chunk of instrumental metal, jubilant, sweeping, kinda prog, but totally mesmerizing in its scale and cinematic vibe. Like we mentioned in the review of that record, it was almost like a metal soundtrack to one of those nature films, the sweeping shots of the coastline from a helicopter, or maybe the music playing while the credits roll, and the main characters drive off into the distance, the shot growing wider and wider, until the car becomes barely a speck on a fantastically panoramic vista. As we also mentioned, the only downside, and it's a downside that didn't really seem like a downside at all to us, is something that probably dogs lots of epic instrumental prog metal bands, the fact that no matter how rocking, or how shredding or how epic things get, it's hard not to think of Joe Satriani's Surfing With The Alien. Lots of folks out there probably don't even remember that record, but when that record came out we LOVED it. Now it's considered supremely cheesy, but at the time it was totally epic shredding genius.
Which we suppose makes Scale The Summit the modern Surfing With The Alien, which is fine with us. And this record is more of the same. Maybe even better than the last one. It's heavy, the riffs are awesome, the arrangements are intricate and complex, the vibe is totally epic, like a shreddy prog metal Godspeed, but the band slip deftly from that sort of slow build chug, to super intricate stop/start progged out workouts, and then right back into something emotional and cinematic and sweeping. There's some fretless bass, and some woozy almost jazzy bits that definitely drift awfully close to cheese, but those parts are few and far between, and in the context of the whole, they offer a brief respite from much of the rest of the record's Champs meets Satriani progshred crunch.
Check out the sound samples, it'll probably take you all of 30 seconds to figure out if this is your cup of tea, but trust us, if you find that it is you might find it hard not to blast this in your convertible as you speed down the highway along the coast, driving off into the sunset...
MPEG Stream: "Colossal"
MPEG Stream: "Whales"
MPEG Stream: "Emersion"

SCANDINAVIAN SOUNDSCAPES - 1 (KRISTER MILD) Scandinavian Soundscapes - 1 (Symphonies Scandinaves 1) (Sittelle) cd 17.98

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

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

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

SCANTILY CLAD 2 (self-released) cd-r 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The second cosmic synth-drone-rock missive from Scantily Clad, a duo of instrumental improvisers split between Northern and Southern California. We loved their first cd-r, an amalgam of lo-fi synth styles from soft lullabies to abrasive noise that showed a lot of promise. Well, that promise is made good on their follow-up, a richer, more focused, and self-assured outing than before. The sonic intensity is beefed up, the songs more composed, the instrumentation more varied, the dreaminess heightened ( especially on tracks like Vanilla, Baby"), and the nosier parts (like what sounds like chipmunks speaking in tongues on "Deep Witch") are even weirder. But it all fits together very well as a fully-realized piece of heavy instrumental spaciness. Even the packaging is cooler, with their clipart collages of mandalas and symbolic animals housed in a sturdy transparent plastic case. Fans of groups like Emeralds and Carlton Melton will find lots to dig here!
MPEG Stream: "Plain Galaxies"
MPEG Stream: "Vanilla, Baby"
MPEG Stream: "Mud Dreams"

SCANTILY CLAD 3 (self-released) cd-r 9.98
The bedroom synth-rockers of Scantily Clad return with their third home-brewed communique. And as always, they deliver the lo-fi/sci-fi goods with tracks that teeter from distorted cosmic rock instrumentals to moody cinematic soundscapes.
They often pack a lot of ideas into short songs that only add to their listenability. White Noise and other fucked-up and broken electronic textures are painted on over prettily composed pieces that add a noirish sublime element to the proceedings, like lullabies for powered-down robots before they retire to obsolescence. Packaged in a homemade gatefold digipack with their usual xerox copy art inserts.
Limited to 99 copies, these most likely won't last for long. Their other two releases went out of print in a flash, so don't wait too long!
MPEG Stream: "Imaginary Wisdom Teeth"
MPEG Stream: "Fuzzy Stomach Again"
MPEG Stream: "Cromagnon Tape Forage"

SCANTILY CLAD 4 (self-released) cd-r 7.98
Album number 4 from these home recorded synth rock improvisers, each one has been a beautifully hand assembled package rife with bizarre xerox collages that riff on retro-futurist themes, as does the music though in a more roundabout way. This is modular synth music that doesn't winkingly nod to the vast past of synth heavy music, but takes a more DIY off the cuff attitude towards shaping its sounds and song. Though we can hear strains of groups like Chrome, Add N To X and Stereolab, Scantily Clad don't seem to try and emulate either of those bands instead focusing on a hodgepodge of moods and tropes: Noisy interludes, distorted shoegaze psych, vibrant pop, kosmiche bliss, and avant experimentation. All with strange titles like "Vacant Stare World Exciter" and "Exotic Fabrics And Materials". This is library music for the new modern age!
MPEG Stream: "Hey Swisher"
MPEG Stream: "Black Leather Utility Belt"
MPEG Stream: "Paso Nineteen Eighty-Eight"
MPEG Stream: "Somehow Please Miss Me"

SCANTILY CLAD s/t (self-released) cd-r 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Scantily Clad is the curious moniker of this duo of bedroom space-rock improvisors from Paso Robles, CA. Creating cosmic percolating synthscapes that venture from electronica lullabies ("Bedroom Giggles") to Yellow Swans-ish drone abrasion ("Stoned, Street Goblins") to epic post-rock swells ("Promegranate") and tribal abstractions ("Bone-Colored Moon"). Bathed in a lo-fi glowing fuzz, the warm sound of the vintage analog synths immerse us in its dreamy drifting wake, a sound we can live in forever in its multiple mutating forms. Though short, the six tracks over 25 minutes definitely leave us wanting more and we hope to see what this group does next. Packaged in handmade bronze or silver sleeves with black and white photocopied artwork. Not sure how limited these are, but with all things homemade and self-released, don't wait too long!
MPEG Stream: "Prickly Glow"
MPEG Stream: "Promegranate"
MPEG Stream: "Bone-Colored Moon"

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

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