THEE MORE SHALLOWS Book Of Bad Breaks (Anticon) cd 14.98
Thee More Shallows have a new unexpected home on the usually hip hop-centric Bay Area label Anticon, but we shouldn't really be all that surprised now, should we? Heck, music genre boundaries have been dissolving left right and center over the past few years. The SF band's sound on their new full length is a little unexpected too. Since their last release 2006's Monkey Vs. Shark, the formerly more rootsy rock band's already broadening scope seems to have expanded in all directions with impressive results. Book Of Bad Breaks journeys through many moods -- alternately romping, rocking and reclining -- but always with a shadowed, subtle druggy headiness.
MPEG Stream: "Eagle Rock"
MPEG Stream: "Mo Deeper"

THEE MORE SHALLOWS Monkey Vs. Shark (Turn) cd ep 8.98
Not sure about the significance of this 7-song EP's title, but we are sure that Thee More Shallows can deliver the dreaminess. 'Tis all soft pop grandeur like a not so distant cousin of Mercury Rev and Flaming Lips. The third song "Phineas Bogg" is particularly gorgeous, whisking you off into the heavens. The EP includes a remix of their song "Freshman" by Odd Nosdam and Why? which takes them into the neighborhood of the Postal Service (the band not the, um... service). Ultra pretty!
MPEG Stream: "Phineas Bogg"
MPEG Stream: "Freshman Remix"

THEE MORE SHALLOWS More Deep Cuts (Monotreme) cd 12.98
On their new album More Deep Cuts, San Francisco's Thee More Shallows seem to have shed much of the folksy characteristics a la Fuck and Lambchop of their previous full length A History Of Sport Fishing (except on the final song "House Break" that echoes with an earthy ache akin to Sparklehorse), in favor of a more dynamic Radiohead-ish expansiveness. That's not to say this new release is a full departure for the group. No, not at all. It actually makes for an impressive progression with lots of slow building tension and emotiveness -- still encorporating their shuffling beats, droney bass notes, lonesome piano interludes, slinking string accents and hushed male vocals.
MPEG Stream: "Pre-present"
MPEG Stream: "House Break"

THEE MORE SHALLOWS More Deep Cuts (Turn) cd 11.98
More? Yes, please! This fine album has received a very welcome reissuing, offering this Bay Area band's fans and newcomers another opportunity to have their hearts melted. On More Deep Cuts, Thee More Shallows are seemingly inspired by the over-the-top trippy grandeur of bands such as Sparklehorse, Flaming Lips and Radiohead, but adeptly avoid falling prey to idol worship, crafting a dark, achingly beautiful world of their own. 'Nuff said!
MPEG Stream: "Post-Present"
MPEG Stream: "2am"

THEE OPEN SEX (Is Not A Cult) (Auris Apothecary / Magnetic South) cassette 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
It's like Christmas around here (we know, it is ACTUALLY like Christmas around here right now), whenever we get a new batch of tapes from Auris Apothecary, not only is it bound to sonically all over the map, without fail the packaging is totally stellar, often high (or low) concept, meticulously hand assembled, often involving organic matter, or broken glass, or sponges, or scrolls, or who knows what else. Needless to say, every AA release is special, and is often as much a work of sonic art, as it is a piece of music.
Thee Open Sex is apparently, according to the label, "a psychedelic supergroup of mammoth proportions" from the label's hometown of Bloomington, Indiana. We sense a bit of tongue in cheekiness there, but this is most definitely a primo slab of droned out mysterious psychedelia, with long tones layered into thick undulating drones, buzzing synths, plenty of buzz and hum, some bowed metal, a slow ominous build, buried melodies drifting in viscous swells of rumble and whir, laced with saxophone blurts, and eventually driven by pounding tribal percussion, the sound super druggy and gauzy and abstract, but with a strange internal propulsion, that adds tension and intensity, this is the sort of stuff that would most definitely appeal to fans of Avarus and No Neck Blues Band and Sunburned Hand Of The Man, the same sort of abstract sonic ritualism, totally mesmerizing, and per the above description, the sort of thing most aQ-ers, especially the psych-kraut-space-drone inclined, will flip over. Includes members of aQ faves Dylan Ettinger, Circuit De Yeux along with a bunch of other Indiana psych rockers.
LIMITED TO 150 HAND STAMPED COPIES. The tapes are housed in anti-static ziplock bags stamped on the front with some strange pink symbol, and stickered on the back, inside a thick printed cardstock insert, the tapes featuring hand-printed paper labels, each stickered bag numbered/stamped in red.

THEE PLAGUE OF GENTLEMEN Pressure & Time (Southern Lord) 7" 4.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
First chance for us to check out this band of Belgian brutes and we're pretty impressed. Huge slabs of slowly shifting downtuned slow motion riffing, massive and pummelling, a perfect fit on Southern Lord. But it's the vocals that really make Thee Plague stand out. A bellowing, growling caterwaul not all that dissimilar to the mighty Killdozer. In fact, a thumbnail review could simply read: SUNNO))) meets Killdozer. Good stuff. On yellow vinyl.

THEE PLAGUE OF GENTLEMEN Primula Pestis (I Hate Records) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A couple of years ago some of us here at Aquarius befriended a visiting Belgian guy, a big fellow with a waxed handlebar mustache named Steve. That is, the guy was named Steve, actually, not his mustache. But if his mustache had a name we wouldn't have been surprised -- it was quite a striking 'stache. ANYWAY, we knew that in addition to being a record collecting fiend, Steve was a musician and that he played in a band, but somehow we didn't discover until much later that his band was called Thee Plague Of Gentlemen (is that some sort of punning reference to the BBC comedy?) and they were proponents of something that we love so much: sheer HEAVINESS! We learned this when they did a now out-of-print 7" single for Southern Lord, that we decided sounded like an unholy union of SUNNO))) and Killdozer! While we haven't really kept in very close touch with our Belgian friend (if you're reading this, hi Steve, how've you been?!), we have definitely been on the look-out for more from his band. Well, here it is! A full-length cd of downtuned sludge and gargling vocal wail. Total doom. Something along the lines of Cathedral (circa Endtyme), Electric Wizard, Unholy Trance, Celtic Frost, and Winter. Slow and grinding and a little bit psychedelic, with occasional bursts of speedier brutality. Riff-heavy, feedbacking doom extremity that means business. This disc is enhanced with two Quicktime videos of the band performing live. That's the aforementioned Steve singing and playing guitar, the bald guy with more beard now than moustache. And he's wearing a Magma t-shirt!
MPEG Stream: "Your Love Is King (Of The Dead)"
MPEG Stream: "The Ocean Has No Sides"

THEE SILVER MOUNTAIN REVERIES (AKA SILVER MT ZION) Pretty Little Lightning Paw (Constellation) lp 14.98
Once a tour-only piece of merch, now available in stores...like ours. Four new tracks (two about 5 minutes, two around 10) from this Montreal based, Godspeed You Black Emperor! related ensemble. From the intimate to the epic, some of this is garagey and "ghettoblastered" while other parts are ethereal and grandiose with violins sawing away, massed voices and birdcalls.
MPEG Stream: "Pretty Little Lightning Paw"

THEE VAPORIZER Ovrspliffed (Roborecords) cd 14.98

THEGALVINWILHELMMILLERQUARTET s/t (Impatience Or Indifference) cd 5.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
Found two (2) of these hidden in a box in the back of the store, haven't listed 'em since 2003, great album, grab one if you can, first come first served, sale price...
AQ pal Drucifer (and the guy who runs Dielectric Records, who released those amazing 12" a while back: Sote, Karen Stackpole, etc...) had been threatening to play this record for us for a while, and he's got pretty darn good taste so we were looking forward to finally checking it out. We always just sort of assumed from the title and from talking to Drucifer that it was going to be some sort of jazz, but boy were we surprised when we threw this on. The quartet in question is actually a trio, and while the music these three play does have certain qualities one might find in jazz, this is GRINDMETAL through and through. Five tracks of furious, chaotic, brutal and pummeling hyper complex metallic grind a la Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Pig Destoyer, Discordance Axis and the like. But unlike most grinders, TGWMQ stretch their songs way out (none of the songs is shorter than 3 minutes, most significantly more), allowing them to explore and develop and stretch out a bit. The final track is nine minutes long ferchrissakes, with lots of splattery free noise, rumbling ambient passages, found sounds and ethereal female vocals, almost-groovy riff rock parts, and buzzing droning weirdness. But don't be frightened off by all that, 'cause the core of this record is dense and grinding, ultra complicated, dizzyingly agile, and crushingly savage heaviness. So good. All you folks who freak out over Agoraphobic Nosebleed and their similarly sonic minded ilk definitely need this!
MPEG Stream: "Idiot Savant"
MPEG Stream: "Great Faith, Great Doubt, Great Effort"

THEMSELVES Live (Anticon) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Live hip hop has always been a dodgy proposition. Bad sound, rapping over boring backing tracks, lots of "Hey! Ho! Put your hands in the air!!" kind of stuff. So a live record seems like a pretty bad idea. Especially when you're talking about a group that thrives on production, weird sounds, and studio fuckery. Thankfully and surprisingly, this is a pretty great set, and a testimony to the skillz of Dose One and Jel. Jel weaves a crazy musical backdrop of rumbling creepy soundtracks, bouncing boppy funky jazz, stuttering breakbeats, Phantom Of The Opera organs, beeping blooping electronica and monor key hip hop shuffles while Dose One spits an amazing, tongue twisting, never-ending flow in that distinctive and impossible whine of his.
MPEG Stream: "Track 1"
MPEG Stream: "Track 2"

THEMSELVES Live II (Purple Guerilla) cd 13.98

THEMSELVES The No Music (Anticon) cd 14.98
Themselves is the renamed Them, a project of Doseone and Jel who also do time in the more well known cLOUDEAD. Them put out a record a couple of years back that we didn't list for some reason, but was one of the best post-hip-hop excursions into blissed out beat-oriented hip-hop flecked space rock. Or something. Hard to accurately describe what these cats do. Use cLOUDEAD and Anticon and Mush as a starting point, but then head way out. No, I mean WAAAAAY OUT! This is no longer hip-hop. It's gone beyond that. Kind of like the way the Boredoms are not 'rock'. This is epic and expansive; soundscapes of thick stuttery beats, washes of rumbling groove, creepy snatches of ghostly piano, disembodied voices and weird, WEIRD loops. And then there's the vocals. While it -is- rapping, it's gone beyond that too. A relentless, never ending, ultra nimble flow of whiny invective. Doseone's vocals are like a mix of whiny indie rock boy and Cypress Hill's B-Real. But they are all over the place, going from actual SINGING to ridiculously tongue twisting , head spinning rapping/scatting. Definitely for fans of Anticon and Shadow, but hip-hop-heads that aren't afraid to try some WEIRD stuff should definitely give this a listen.
RealAudio clip: "Track 1 "
RealAudio clip: "Track 3"
RealAudio clip: "Track 2"

THEMSELVES The No Music of Aiff's (Anticon) cd 14.98
Hip hop remix records have huge potential for disappointment. Actually remix records in general have pretty much become pointless and boring, albeit with a few exceptions. Thankfully Them(selves) first foray into handing over their raw tracks for other folks to fuck with has yielded some surprisingly good results. Most of these remixes of tracks from their most recent No Music album don't sound all that remixed, especially if you're not too familiar with the original tracks, since those original tracks are so dense and multi layered to begin with. Part of the reason this record sounds so good, and still retains all its Anticon-ness, is the fact that most of the remixes are handled by Themselves...er...themselves, as well as the usual Anticon suspects: Controller 7, Why?, Alias, and Odd Nosdam. The guest remixers though do their best to add their own stamp while keeping things flowing nicely. AQ fave Hrvatski adds some additional skitter, dreamy ambience and rumbling low end...before seriously junglizing the proceedings with murky throb, digital crunch and spastic beats. Hood smear some healthy portions of Jesus And Mary Chain fuzz and My Bloody Valentine guitar skree over everything turning their track into a pulsing drone. Grapedope (Tortoise's John Herndon) fiddles with the speed and pitch, giving the original loping hip hop ditty a stuttery, jumpy, playful bounce, and Notwist give Themselves (not themselves) a sweet indie techno pop makeover. Really great.
MPEG Stream: "Terror Fabulous"
MPEG Stream: "Good People Check (Hrvatski Remix)"

THEMSELVES The No Music of Aiff's (Anticon) lp 14.98
Hip hop remix records have huge potential for disappointment. Actually remix records in general have pretty much become pointless and boring, albeit with a few exceptions. Thankfully Them(selves) first foray into handing over their raw tracks for other folks to fuck with has yielded some surprisingly good results. Most of these remixes of tracks from their most recent No Music album don't sound all that remixed, especially if you're not too familiar with the original tracks, since those original tracks are so dense and multi layered to begin with. Part of the reason this record sounds so good, and still retains all its Anticon-ness, is the fact that most of the remixes are handled by Themselves...er...themselves, as well as the usual Anticon suspects: Controller 7, Why?, Alias, and Odd Nosdam. The guest remixers though do their best to add their own stamp while keeping things flowing nicely. AQ fave Hrvatski adds some additional skitter, dreamy ambience and rumbling low end...before seriously junglizing the proceedings with murky throb, digital crunch and spastic beats. Hood smear some healthy portions of Jesus And Mary Chain fuzz and My Bloody Valentine guitar skree over everything turning their track into a pulsing drone. Grapedope (Tortoise's John Herndon) fiddles with the speed and pitch, giving the original loping hip hop ditty a stuttery, jumpy, playful bounce, and Notwist give Themselves (not themselves) a sweet indie techno pop makeover. Really great.

THEODORE AND HAMBLIN The Scientific Contrast (Moteer) cd 15.98
Quietly gently Theodore And Hamblin's debut album creeps out of our speakers and tiptoe into our ears. Their name might recall Hollywood musical maestros Rodgers And Hammerstein or Las Vegas magic men Ziegfied And Roy (at least to us it did!), but this pair's electronics based music is far more low key and intimate than either of those duos' works. Rain droplet chimes ring out amid the deeper tones that undulate and flutter. Rounded 4/4 beats pulse softly as if they're being broadcast through many layers of blankets. Yes, this is music best suited for nestlin'.
MPEG Stream: "Lacie"
MPEG Stream: "Termul"

THEOLOGIAN Finding Comfort In Overwhelming Negativity (Handmade Birds) cd 12.98
Latest from black ambient soundscaper Theologian, aka Leech, he previously of long running power electronics / synthdrone outfit Navicon Torture Technologies, and like the recently reviewed (and awesomely titled) The Further I Get From Your Star, The Less Light I Feel On My Face, this new one Finding Comfort In Overwhelming Negativity is another collection of abject industrial blackness, of heaving, shadowy blackness, of harrowing cinematic ambience, four sprawling tracks that ooze and creep, blurring rumbling drones into stuttering mechanical rhythms, buried voices and smeared chordal swells, the opening track here, the most overtly rhythmic thing we've heard on a Theologian record, a hypnotic rhythmic loop, creaking and scraping, metallic and mesmerizing, churns away, while all around it, shades of black slither and shimmer, wreathed in streaks of black FX and shards of glitch and gristle and thrum.
The rest of the record ditched the rhythms, and returns to a more rumbling droned out black ambience, shimmery and atmospheric for the bulk of one track, corrosive and caustic for much of the other, the second sounding near metallic, roiling slo-mo riffage, draped over disembodied vocals and a swirling morass of mysterious sounds. The crunch and buzz, gradually smooth out and becomes a mesmerizing sprawl of staticky pulsations, and while rhythmless technically, are pretty tranced out and rhythmic.
The final track might be the noisiest of the bunch, a post industrial sprawl of chaotic noise, overlapping rhythms, streaks of keening high end, lots of hiss and hum, everything brittle and upper register, sounds almost like some strange field recording of a post apocalyptic wasteland, all rusted out robotics and grinding machinery, like some of the moments earlier, weirdly rhythmic, gristly and staticky, but also noisy, washed out and sort of of bleached out, as if at some point the sound was full and rich and simply decayed into the wasted skeletal sprawl that unwinds gradually, and ends the record with a slowly fading sky full of static and hiss...
Gorgeously packaged in an oversized book-style digipak.
MPEG Stream: "Fighting For Nothing"
MPEG Stream: "Finding Comfort In Overwhelming Negativity"

THEOLOGIAN The Chasms Of My Heart (Crucial Blast) cd 13.98
The second of two releases this year from black ambient alchemist Theologian, the other, Finding Comfort In Overwhelming Negativity, released on Handmade Birds and reviewed here recently, and now this one, The Chasms Of My Heart, released on Crucial Blast. Like Finding Comfort (and The Further I Get before that), Chasms is another stunning collection of grim, industrial wastescapes, all bleak drones and industrial percussive crunch, although Chasms does start out on a remarkably 'musical' note, opener "Abandon All Hope" weds actual singing to tense layered keening tones, and churning machinelike rhythms, the vocals mantra like, wreathed in static and crackle, drift atop a dense droned out thrum, driven by that relentless rhythm, eventually the vocals and drums drop out, leaving some seriously serene sonic shimmer and softly sweeping cinematic ambience.
The second track makes up for the melody in the first, unleashing a heaving onslaught of power electronics and blacknoise skree, which eventually blurs, and is melted down into a thick morass of crumbling low end that gradually becomes a hushed blackened drift.
But it does seem that melody will be a recurring theme on Chasms, as "My Body Is Made Of Ash, I Live As Ash" begins as a series of thick thick distorted synth swells, which rapidly blossom into something much more melodic, soaring and cinematic, like M83 via the Swans, but even slower and meaner, and then the beats come in, and you can add Muslimgauze to the mix. Weird combo, but it works, hypnotic and tranced out, until the hammer falls, and the song explodes into full on face melting noise, but if you listen close, within that caustic cloud of noise, the rhythm continues to churn, vocals wail, and melodies drift and shimmer, it's the sort of hard noise, that softens a bit the more you listen, and seems to transform before your ears into something weirdly, and impossibly catchy. The rest of the record reveals more of Theologian's bleeding black sonic heart, the stuttering, almost 'danceable' "We Can't All Be Victims", the processed vocal driven blackened power electronics skitter of "I Don't Exist", the blown out noisebliss of "Bed Of Maggots, the almost house music-y pulsating noisescape title track, and finally, the sprawling 13 minute, haunting, grinding cinematic ambient noisescape closer.
Comes packaged in a super striking, full color, oversized dvd style, six panel digipak.
MPEG Stream: "Abandon All Hope"
MPEG Stream: "Starvation Is A Legitimate Weapon Of War"
MPEG Stream: "My Body Is Made Of Ash... I Live As Ash"
MPEG Stream: "The Chasms Of My Heart"

THEOLOGIAN The Further I Get From Your Star, The Less Light I Feel On My Face (Crucial Blast) cd 13.98
We had never actually heard much from NYC power electronics / black ambient / dark industrial / synthdrone outfit Navicon Torture Technologies, but we were definitely intrigued by this latest installment of blackened sound from NTT mainman Leech, under the name Theologian. Even before hearing it. It's on Crucial Blast, and if anyone knows their way around grim, bleak, black heaviness, it's CB. Then there's the gorgeous oversized cover, a long haired figure holding her head, underneath a strange sigil and surrounded by a decahedron and a field of pure black, and then the record title, The Further I Get From Your Star, The Less Light I Feel On My Face, and the accompanying song titles: "In Times Of Need, We All Go Against Our Natures", "The Fragility Of The Male Ego", "Bearing Bitter Fruit", and the packaging folding out to reveal more mysterious shapes and strange shadowy nudes, a pretty compelling chunk of art, even before we get to the sounds within.
And if anything, the sounds inside more than live up to that promise, the opening track "Zero" begins the proceedings, and we expectantly wait for some serious harsh noise, or some grim black ambience, and while there is a little of both, it's molded into something much more, well, lovely for lack of a better word, 5 minutes of crumbling black beauty, gorgeous plaintive melodies buried in a thick morass of buzz and blur and swirling hiss and whir, like a way more ominous and blackened Philip Jeck or Tim Hecker, gorgeous, and gorgeously harrowing.
"In Times Of Need, We All Go Against Our Natures" is 24 minutes long, the majority of which is spent drifting through some nightmarish landscape of hushed minimal rumbles and post industrial grit, again, far more 'pretty' than we might have expected, a smoldering chunk of subterranean blackness, a roiling murky surface than offers brief glimpses of melodies and voices below, unsettling but gloriously grim, and in case we find the proceedings too soothing, the last few minutes find those sounds expanding and exploding into thick crumbling swells of blown out synths and fractured black electronics, underpinning some seriously anguished super distorted vokills.
The record continues in a similar fashion, creating blackened shades of beauty out of elements harsh and hateful, abject and bleak, the sound almost shoegazey at times, hints of Nadja for sure abound, but a Nadja stripped to its essence, the tracks creep, and crawl, and drift, thrumming and pulsing softly, wreathed in sheets of grit and grime, but always glowing from within, the melodies like buried black secrets. Occasionally, like on "The Fragility Of The Male Ego", the sound becomes super blown out and corrosive, an ultradistorted blacknoise, that for all it's corrosive clamor, remains somehow, if not lovely, at least haunting and mysterious, while other tracks, like "It's All Gone", take unlikely elements, and again, weave them into something strangely beautiful, but still undeniably pitch black.
Dark and mysterious and troublingly lovely, some seriously intense power electronics flecked black ambience, most definitely recommended for fans of Lustmord, MZ412, Nordvargr, Blue Sabbath Black Cheer, Wicked King Wicker, Locrian, Wraiths, Wolf Eyes, etc...
Incredible packaging, 6 panel dvd sized digipak, black and spare on the outside, full color on the inside.
MPEG Stream: "Zero"
MPEG Stream: "Unfamiliar Skies"
MPEG Stream: "The Further I Get From Your Star, The Less Light I Feel On My Face"

THEORETICAL GIRLS 1978-1981 (Acute) cd 14.98
Theoretical Girls (Jeffrey Lohn, Wharton Tiers, Margaret Dewys & Glenn Branca), fixtures of the New York no-wave scene, only released one single back in the day. The tunes Branca penned can be found on his 1977-79 Static/Theoretical Girls compilation; Jeffery Lohn's contributions are collected on this new 19 track disc. Lohn wanted to combine punk rock with avant-garde classical composition. Less sharply jagged and jarring than Branca's compositions, these very lo-fi recordings have a definite element of straight-up, Dead Boys-style, dirty, stripped-down RAWK. Some tracks bring on the full on noise destruction, while others display a punk anthemic-ness almost on the level of Wire's first album. One of the most striking things on first hearing this disc is the blatancy with which Theoretical Girls provided a blueprint for Sonic Youth, especially in the spoken vs. sung vocal interplay; Lohn's voice is even a bit reminiscent of Thurston Moore's (or is it the other way around?). The degree of classical rigor isn't exactly clear, if it's even really there at all, but what does shine through is some immensely influential, kick-ass New York noise rock. Keyword: Raw.
RealAudio clip: "Lovin in the Red"
RealAudio clip: "Computer Dating"
RealAudio clip: "Theoretical Girls (Studio Version)"

THEORY IN PRACTICE Colonizing The Sun (Listenable ) cd 14.98
Are you ready for a cd with more twists and turns and brutality than a Guy Ritchie movie? Then check out this, the third album by Swedish progressive death metal band Theory In Practice. Super tight, super technical, this is in math-rock for metalheads in the vein of the late Chuck Schuldiner's Death, Atheist, or fellow Swedes Meshuggah (but TIP are less chaotic than Meshuggah, more melodically-minded). Especially on this new album, which is more song-oriented and *slightly* less technical-for-technicality's-sake than their previous efforts. But you can still expect furious drumming, raw vocals, relentless riffing, and the occasional "what the fuck" acoustic breakdown -- it's complex, mindboggling stuff indeed, and suitably science-fictional in lyrics and imagery. And it ends with a death metallized cover of "This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us" by '70s prog band Spark just to show how truly prog they are!
RealAudio clip: "Colonizing The Sun"
RealAudio clip: "The Clockwork That Counts Aeons"
RealAudio clip: "This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us"

THEORY IN PRACTICE The Armageddon Theories (Listenable) cd 16.98
Super technical death metal. For fans of Meshuggah and late Death. No jazz fusionisms, tho, just mindboggling speed and changes and general all-around instrumental rippin'. Very very good.

THEORY OF RUIN Outfit (Elastic) 7" 3.75
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Theory of Ruin is the new project from Alex of Fudge Tunnel, and here are three songs to give you a taste of where he's at these days. Bass heavy and staccatic, very much in the Shellac/Big Black vein (almost uncannily so).

THERE GOES NEUTRO! Organelle (self-released) cd-r 8.98
We've actually been sitting on these for a while now, another victim of the too many records to review and not enough time problem we seem to perpetually have.
There Goes Neutro! is the project of aQ customer John Ira Thomas, and the minute we first heard about his Organelle record, we knew we had to hear it. One of those discs that we liked based on the description alone, having yet to hear a single note. C'mon, here's what it's all about (from the liner notes): "Thomas cut the advance frame noise from an old filmstrip record about the life of Jesus Christ, cut it into about 400 pieces, and with the magic of computers made something new out of it." Exactly. Jesus, chopped up records, noise, we knew it had to be good, or at the very least, interesting, lucky for us, it's both.
Obvious references would be Jeck and Tetreault and Basinski, especially since the main component is record crackle, and damaged vinyl, and the arrangement is a looped assemblage of stuttering chopped up bits, like a rougher more raw Oval. But it's not just hiss and crackle, the first few seconds of music are also captured, sounding a bit circusy, even more so once they get looped up and tangled. Four long tracks, all movements in one epic and fractured soundscape.
Woozy, trippy, warped and warbly and definitely a bit psychedelic. Super cool!
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 1"
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 2"

THERGOTHON Fhtagn-nagh Yog-Sothoth (Eibon) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Prior to the classic "Stream From The Heavens" disc on Avantgarde, this Finnish band of early '90s doom metal pioneers (along with Australian contemporaries Disembowlment, establishing the sound later taken up by bands like Skepticism, Ras Algethi, and Shape of Despair) released the appropriately Lovecraftian titled "Fhtagn-nagh Yog-Sothoth" demo tape, circa '91. Now it's available on cd, in a nice cardboard mini-lp style package. These are different songs from what's on the (also recently-reissued) "Stream" album. Moody doom / doomy mood music, slow, heavy, full of cosmic angst and horrific beauty.

THERGOTHON Stream From The Heavens (Avantgarde Music) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Lost dooooom metal classic, circa '92, finally reissued. Finland's Thergothon play super slow, morose, keyboard-abetted doom metal that must have been a big influence on fellow countrymen Skepticism. With cosmic, H.P. Lovecraft-inspired lyrics. Darkly beautiful melancholy. For fans of Skepticism, Ras Algethi, Disembowlment, Esoteric.

THERGOTHON Stream From The Heavens (Painiac Records) lp 18.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Here's one for true doom cultists: a gatefold LP reissue of this dooooom metal classic from 1992, for the first time on vinyl as part of Painiac Records' "Suicidal Doom Series". Finland's Thergothon play super slow, morose, keyboard-abetted doom metal that must have been a big influence on fellow countrymen Skepticism. With cosmic, H.P. Lovecraft-inspired lyrics. Darkly beautiful melancholia. For fans of Skepticism, Ras Algethi, Disembowlment, Esoteric. The band says on this record's sleeve: "The stars are right again...Thergothon originally planned the album to be released on vinyl, the order of the songs and other details were designed to serve the idea of the whole split in two opposite, facing inward spirals." This is slow music but you'll have to act fast if you want one: this is limited to 500 and we only got four copies!

THERIEAU, MIKE, BRIAN GLAZE AND GUESTS (V/A) Ace of Spades Series Volume 6 - February 2005 (E14) cd-r 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Ace Of Spades is a cd-r series of live recordings showcasing the intimate acoustic music of a variety of local indie artists. The series so far boasts consistently strong performances from all participants (well played and well recorded at Mama Buzz Cafe in Oakland).
The Volume 6 edition was recorded on February 20th, 2005 and features a few songs each from Mike Therieau, Brian Glaze, Paul Panamarenko, James Moore and Monique Lacour.
MPEG Stream: THERIEAU, MIKE "Tomorrow's Woman"
MPEG Stream: PANAMARENKO, PAUL "Don't Come Messin' Round"

THERIOS II (Hollenden) cd-r 11.98
More one-man metal band madness. This time from Cleveland Ohio, and man is this stuff crazy. Instead of just playing all the instruments himself like a 'normal' one man band, he records the drums, the bass, the guitars, -and- the vocals, loads them into his computer and chops and shuffles, and distorts and chops some more and comes up with something that is sort of a metal record, but is so alien and completely bizarre that just calling it metal sort of sells it short. This is primitive-futuristic-lo-fi-black-grind-electronic-metal. Or something. I played it for my friend Josh in the car, and I think he mumbled something like 'Hmm, sounds kind of weird.' Or maybe he said 'bad'. But it -does- sound weird -and- bad and great and bizarre and completely amazing. Ultra lo-fi, fuzzed out blurry grinding metal, like Darkthrone mixed with Anal Cunt, thrown in a blender, and then played back through an AM radio. The guitar is so distorted, it sounds like a swarm of angry bees recorded on a dictaphone. The drums either sound like cardboard boxes run through a chain of distortion pedals or huge metal garbage cans thrown down a flight of stairs. But it's the vocals that blew us away, completely freaked out and so demented. Insanely inhuman and raw, sounding a bit like wild demons being beaten to death and a little bit like a drag race mic-ed and broadcast through a bullhorn, threatening to blow out the speakers with shards of distortion and hiss. When people talk about music being extreme, take into consideration the fact that they probably haven't heard Therios, 'cause next to this, no band seems all that extreme.
RealAudio clip: "Punctured"
RealAudio clip: "Trauma"

THERIOS s/t (Hollenden) cd-r 11.98
We listed Therios' amazing "II" disc last time, and the response was so good that we just brought in a few of this older self-titled Therios release. Like "II", this recording is a studio/computer-assembled one man band project. It's constructed from samples, but as the back cover specifies, "Therios does not sample the work of others" -- this guy plays all the instruments himself and then chops and splices everything into noisy, chaotic, metallic compositions. This disc is somewhat less "metal" than its successor, however, sounding a little bit like stuff the Boredoms were doing back in their "Soul Discharge" days. Over the top distorted insanity.
RealAudio clip: "Components Of Lucifer Refraction"
RealAudio clip: "Cortex Implant"

THERMALS Fuckin A (Sub Pop) cd 13.98
We raved up and down about the Thermals last year with the release of their ass kicking, Strokes squashing jangle punk classic More Parts Per Million, a sweaty, sloppy, lo-fi kick in the nuts, equal parts Stooges, Strokes, Ramones, Guided By Voices and loads of snotty swagger. Now, they're back! With a supposedly cleaner production, which worried us a bit, but on first listen, it became clear that better production just meant differently shitty and sloppy. Which is a relief, 'cause the Thermals' brand of simple, catchy, snotty punk-pop sounds so much better all sweaty and covered in lint and crumbs and broken glass and whatever else was all over their practice space floor. And while the sound is still appropriately raw and in your face, some things -have- changed. There is definitely more of a pop to punk ratio this time around, with the band expanding beyond their 4 chord, 2 part song limit. Although for every lilting melody and sugary sweet hook, the Thermals stomp it to bits within minutes. Lots of folks here think that this is what the Mountain Goats would sound like all drugged up and punk rock supercharged, with the vocalist's nerdy whine, sung/spoken delivery and oblique wordy lyrics. Imagine the simple jangle pop of the Strokes, the skewed take on classic Beatlesque songwriting of Guided By Voices, the three chord stomp of the Ramones and add lots of packed basement, broken down van, DIY, punk rock snarl and you've got Fuckin A.
MPEG Stream: "Our Trip"
MPEG Stream: "Every Stitch"

THERMALS More Parts Per Million (Sub Pop) cd 14.98
Everybody who's been worshiping at the altar of the Strokes for the last year will be facing some serious theological choices with this, the debut from the Pacific Northwest's Thermals. A buzzing blast of white knuckle pop in punk rock's clothing. The Thermals sound like the Strokes cranked on crystal meth and recorded on a boom box in a sweaty smelly basement. The lazy jaded stoned jangle of the current crop of New York hipsters is rolled in dirt and piss and whiskey and handed a beat up old guitar. Thirteen songs, most barely reaching the two minute mark, of blasting fuzz and ramshackle rooooaaaaarrr with a whiny, snotty vocalist climbing all over your table and spilling drinks in your lap. Or think Guided By Voices if their drug of choice was speed instead of Pabst Blue Ribbon and their influences were the Stooges and the Feederz instead of the Beatles and 80's/90's college rock. So great!
RealAudio clip: "No Culture Icons"
RealAudio clip: "Goddamn The Light"
RealAudio clip: "It's Trivia"

THERMALS No Culture Icons (Sub Pop) cd ep 3.98
Four-song ep previous to their "More Parts Per Million" full-length that Andee loves so much.

THERMALS, THE Now We Can See (Kill Rock Stars) cd 14.98

THERMALS, THE Personal Life (Kill Rock Stars) cd 16.98

THERMALS, THE The Body, The Blood, The Machine (Sub Pop) cd 13.98

MPEG Stream: "Here's Your Future"
MPEG Stream: "I Might Need You To Kill"
MPEG Stream: "An Ear For Baby"

THERMALS, THE / THAO When I Died / With The Get Down Stay Down (Record Store Day) (Kill Rock Stars) 7" 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

THERMO Touring Inferno! (Inoxia) cd 13.98
We're excited to finally be able to get hold of this second release by this Tokyo drums and electronics duo! Former Melt-Banana drummer Toshiaki Sudoh and Gaji guitarist Yui Kimijima, together known as Thermo, have been fixtures on Tokyo's avant improvisational underground for quite some time now. Having both been featured in separate improvisational settings on the excellent document "The Improvisation Meeting At Bar Aoyama", as well as numerous performances within their native country, these guys have been unstoppable. In Thermo, Kimijima sets aside his guitar in favor of an assortment of electronic devices and effects, through which he filters the unrelenting fiery force of Sudoh's unstoppable percussive attack. The result isn't as repetitive as one would think -- certainly most appealing to drummers and those into breakbeat culture and instrumental rhythmic jams, the duo's mechanical distorto beats, crunching funktronix and ballistic breakbeats also cough up rhythms and sonics reminiscent of ESG and This Heat. Very cool -- although, be warned, the casual listener (like your housemates, say) may be driven insane by this.
RealAudio clip: "Hi.China"

THESE ARMS ARE SNAKES Easter (Jade Tree) cd 14.98
These Arms Are Snakes surprise us by going in a new, increasingly metallic direction. It spurred us to muse, "what happens when the guys leave their Mastodon and Big Black records out in the sun next to each other?" Not a bad thing, just quite different from what this post hardcore band used to sound like... at least to our memory. There's fewer convulsive fits and starts, and a steadier stream of aggressive rock intensity. Standouts are the ninth and tenth tracks, the winding "Lady North" (think Pleasure Forever colliding with Jesus Lizard!) and the Pink Floyd leaning "Perpetual Bris". Cool!
MPEG Stream: "Lady North"
MPEG Stream: "Perpetual Bris"

THESE ARMS ARE SNAKES Oxeneers or The Lion Sleeps When Its Antelope Go Home (Jade Tree) cd 14.98
Did someone say post-hardcore? Bringing it back from the near-dead, Seattle's These Arms Are Snakes are just born and ready to unleash their slightly arty raucousness on you. On their debut album, Oxeneers or..., TAAS offer that signature balance of dissonance and melody with much brooding fans of other post-hardcore bands will recognize (though in a vein that's more Rodan than Shellac). You'll enjoy some arty post-hardcore similarities to Drive Like Jehu / Hot Snakes, even the slightest seasoning of melodic guitar angularities as heard in Brooklyn's Les Savy Fav. Really good stuff.
MPEG Stream: "The Shit Sisters"
MPEG Stream: "Angela's Secret"

THESE ARMS ARE SNAKES Tail Swallower And Dove (Suicide Squeez) cd 14.98

THESE NEW PURITANS Beat Pyramid (Domino) cd 14.98
After some truly spectacular British only singles, These New Puritans landed their debut album on Domino. In the process of recording Beat Pyramid (including some rehashing of those earlier singles), the art-punk quartet polished up their sound with the production chops of Gareth Jones, who had worked with Wire, Nick Cave and Einsturzende Neubauten back in the day and more recently with the Liars. These New Puritans have adopted the classic post-punk sound with jittery sparkplug guitar riffs and nervously taut rhythms, which could come from the best works from Gang Of Four, the Fall, or Joy Division. Unlike many of their contemporaries which also wear those same influences on their sleeve (i.e. Interpol, Bloc Party, The Editors, etc.), These New Puritans keep it dark without ever getting maudlin. Vocalist Jack Barnett has a dispassionate delivery more in keeping with Mark E. Smith's slurred bark. If only his subject matter were a bit more caustic like Smith's, though. Much of what Barnett has to say is rather quotidian verses about numerology or paranoiac surveillance or whatnot. Fortunately, the band is good enough to overcome his shortcomings at this stage in the game as a lyricist. Altogether, Beat Pyramid makes for a pretty damn good record.
MPEG Stream: "Elvis"
MPEG Stream: "En Papier"
MPEG Stream: "Navigate - Colours"

THESE TRAILS s/t (Sinergia) cd 22.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Outstanding psychedelic folk rarity with delicate female vocals, from Hawaiian trio circa 1973. There's just enough tabla, slide guitar, and arp synthesizer to give it an 'edge.' One of Windy's new favorite records.

THESE TRAILS s/t (Drag City) cd 14.98
We reviewed a previous, long out of print reissue of this, way back in 1999, saying simply and succinctly (as we did back then, we're more long winded now):
Outstanding psychedelic folk rarity with delicate female vocals, from Hawaiian trio circa 1973. There's just enough tabla, slide guitar, and Arp synthesizer to give it an 'edge.'
We further cited it as being one of then AQ-owner Windy's new favorites.
Well, These Trails apparently have fans over at Drag City too, 'cause they've just reissued it, on cd and vinyl, and we're glad to have this old fave back! These gentle, melodic songs are alternately sunny, sprightly and delightful, or moody and mellow, a bit country-twangy and tropical too, this album overall having a wonderful hippy Hawaiian vibe to it... As mentioned above, some strangely buzzing, burbling synth alongside the acoustic guitars and dulcimer gives the proceedings a darker, mystical feel much of the time, with tracks like the droning, melancholy "Hello Lou" being among our favorites. The vintage electronics, in combination with the lovely harmonized vocals, do definitely put this into a very special category of its own, even among all the privately pressed, mysterious one-album-ever gems out there, from the dusty past.
Definitely for fans of Linda Perhacs, also perhaps imagine '70 UK folksters Trees on a Hawaiian vacation, on the beach at sunset, with a synth plugged in somewhere.
Perfect time to have this reissued, with the ongoing acid folk and New Age revival, lots of folks haven't heard this before and are gonna LOVE it. We should have had it on our Summer Special last inbetween list, come to think of it. So check it out, and hang loose, very loose, with These Trails.
Maybe Drag City will reissue The Enlightening Beam of Axonda, next...?
By the way, amazing that These Trails somehow anticipated the internet, by writing a song here called "Of Broken Links"... haha.
MPEG Stream: "Of Broken Links"
MPEG Stream: "Hello Lou"
MPEG Stream: "Sowed A Seed"

THESE TRAILS s/t (Sinergia) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Outstanding psychedelic folk rarity with delicate female vocals, from Hawaiian trio circa 1973. There's just enough tabla, slide guitar, and arp synthesizer to give it an 'edge.' One of Windy's new favorite records.

THESE TRAILS s/t (Drag City) lp 17.98
We reviewed a previous, long out of print reissue of this, way back in 1999, saying simply and succinctly (as we did back then, we're more long winded now):
Outstanding psychedelic folk rarity with delicate female vocals, from Hawaiian trio circa 1973. There's just enough tabla, slide guitar, and Arp synthesizer to give it an 'edge.'
We further cited it as being one of then AQ-owner Windy's new favorites.
Well, These Trails apparently have fans over at Drag City too, 'cause they've just reissued it, on cd and vinyl, and we're glad to have this old fave back! These gentle, melodic songs are alternately sunny, sprightly and delightful, or moody and mellow, a bit country-twangy and tropical too, this album overall having a wonderful hippy Hawaiian vibe to it... As mentioned above, some strangely buzzing, burbling synth alongside the acoustic guitars and dulcimer gives the proceedings a darker, mystical feel much of the time, with tracks like the droning, melancholy "Hello Lou" being among our favorites. The vintage electronics, in combination with the lovely harmonized vocals, do definitely put this into a very special category of its own, even among all the privately pressed, mysterious one-album-ever gems out there, from the dusty past.
Definitely for fans of Linda Perhacs, also perhaps imagine '70 UK folksters Trees on a Hawaiian vacation, on the beach at sunset, with a synth plugged in somewhere.
Perfect time to have this reissued, with the ongoing acid folk and New Age revival, lots of folks haven't heard this before and are gonna LOVE it. We should have had it on our Summer Special last inbetween list, come to think of it. So check it out, and hang loose, very loose, with These Trails.
Maybe Drag City will reissue The Enlightening Beam of Axonda, next...?
By the way, amazing that These Trails somehow anticipated the internet, by writing a song here called "Of Broken Links"... haha.
MPEG Stream: "Of Broken Links"
MPEG Stream: "Hello Lou"
MPEG Stream: "Sowed A Seed"

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS ... In Holidayland (Restless) cd 9.98
If there's one thing you can count on around any special season, it's They Might Be Giants leading the festivities parade. Hoisting their eggnogs, ringing the bells and handing out plenty of pop goodies from their big sack with plenty of mirth and glee. Well, this winter is no exception. They've gathered together a handful of appropriately themed numbers for this special 5-song EP. To start things off, their rollicking funked-up version of garage greats The Sonics' "Santa Claus" features John Flansburgh (the larger, more boisterous John) affecting a strange, strained, uncharacteristically raunchy vocal delivery perhaps trying to emulate, but not anywhere close to that of Gerry Rosalie. While on "Feast of Lights", John Linnell (the smaller, more soft-spoken John) gives us one of their charming, old-style quirky tunes for Hanukah. And "Careless Santa" you might recall from Flansburgh's side project MonoPuff. Something of a TMBG historic holiday overview.
RealAudio clip: "Santa Claus"

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS A User's Guide To They Might Be Giants (Elektra/Rhino) cd 12.98
What's your favorite TMBG song? "Ana Ng", "Birdhouse In Your Soul", "Don't Let's Start", "Particle Man", "Spider", "I Palindrome I", "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)"? Well, you've got another prime opportunity to figure it out! Yup, here's yet another They Might Be Giants compilation, but it's a much more concise one. Whereas its double disc predecessors "Dial-A-Song: 20 Years of They Might Be Giants" and "Then: The Earlier Years" were a bit pricey and overwhelming, this new collection has somehow whittled their highlights down to one single ultra concentrated cd serving of TMBG bliss. It's still a whopping 29 songs long though! They could've easily called it "The Best Of..." or "Greatest Hits", but dubbing it a "User's Guide" works just fine. It's sorta one step away from those "...For Dummies" or "Idiot's Guide To..." how-to series -- perfect for that rare guy or gal who has yet to experience the assorted pop mastery of the 'Two Johns'. The liner notes even includes an assortment of both relevant and seemingly irrelevant trivia facts and figures. One thing tho', you'll need a magnifying glass to read them. The print is teeny tiny!
MPEG Stream: "She's An Angel"
MPEG Stream: "Ana Ng"

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS Dial-A-Song: 20 Years of... (Rhino) 2cd 30.00
Despite the title, this is NOT a complete compilation of the two Johns' Dial-A-Song answering machine genius. Bummer! I mean, sure, they let us know in the liner notes that almost each of the songs here originated as a dial-a-song, but that's just not the same. Hold your horses though 'cause what this two cd set is is a gigantic, stellar collection of They Might Be Giants' best to commemorate their 20th year together! Bonanza! They kick it all off with a triple whammy of "Birdhouse In Your Soul," "Ana Ng," and "Don't Let's Stop", but the running order of the songs from there on is somewhat puzzling. Seems to be just a big jumble. Definitely not chronological nor alphabetical, but it does come with a hefty booklet filled with photos, discography, lyrics, and band-written essays - all laid out phonebook style. There's 52 songs in all including a handful of live versions as well as their contributions to the television and movie world (for Austin Powers and Malcolm In The Middle respectively). A genuine TMBG fan undoubtably already owns a copy (or two) of each of the albums from which 95% of these songs come, but then again, a genuine TMBG fan is also undoubtably a completist so.... TMBG fan or not, if you like finely crafted eclectic, eccentric pop, this is splendid!
RealAudio clip: "Birdhouse In Your Soul"
RealAudio clip: "Minimum Wage"
RealAudio clip: "New York City"
RealAudio clip: "Dr. Evil"

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS Flood (Elektra) cd 17.98
Features the wonderful "Birdhouse in Your Soul", "Istanbul", "Particle Man", "Whistling in The Dark"... I could go on and on. 19 songs in all. Quirky, brainy nerd pop at it's best.