TIGERSHARK / APESHIT! split (Molsook) lp 9.98
We went a little nuts for the is Richmond, VA outfit a while back, when we reviewed their demo tape. So now they're back, and they still totally kick our ass, with their modern take on sludgy chaotic Amrep style mathy noise rock. Everything we loved on the tape is here in full effect, heavy, crushing drumming, huge chugging bass, ultra tangled riffery, with grooves buried amidst the murk and crush, lots of distortion, howled vocals, crumbling downtuned guitars, it's a sound we miss a lot and so few bands are able to pull it off, but these guys can, BIG TIME. Amrep, Dazzling Killmen, Drive Like Jehu, if that stuff pushes your buttons, you gotta get this (and the tape while you're at it).
On the flipside, Brooklyn combo Apeshit also channel some retro sounds, but their sound is yet another one we've been missing like crazy, and hardly any bands can manage anymore. That super spastic, over the top Gravity style screamo, think Heroin, Orchid, Mohinder.... short furious bursts of damaged thrash chaos, loads of feedback, thick swaths of scrape and grind, super lo-fi but still crazy heavy, tons of tempo changes, super dynamic with killer bits of epic drama and speaker shredding blasts of white hot howl and buzz.
Together these two bands sound like they must destroy live, the sort of show you crawl from, bruised and bloody, deaf and drenched in sweat, and dying for more. The ultimate noise-rock / screamo tagteam matchup...
Gorgeous full color cover, printed insert with liner notes and lyrics, pressed on transparent lavender vinyl. And as all things like this, crazy limited!

TIGHT BROS FROM WAY BACK WHEN Lend You A Hand (Kill Rock Stars) cd 13.98
One of the best bands from Olympia, Washington are back, better than ever. They (try to) sound a lot like the MC5 and other great propaganda-rock from the 70's. Though their inspirations are obvious, they stand out as a fun band that puts on one of the best live shows ever. This record is successful at translating that live enthusiasm to record. Slicker than their first release "Runnin' Through My Bones", yet still plenty raw. Your appreciation of this will depend on how you like the vocalist's ragged shriek. Allan thinks he sounds like tormented cat trying to impersonate AC/DC's Brian Johnson. But, his "singing" is certainly part of the Tight Bros' energetic appeal (if you're not Allan). A rad live band nonetheless. ...Oh, and if you are a fan, you really should check out Kix, 'cause those guys *smoke* over this (sez Andee and Allan).
RealAudio clip: "Bless Me"

TIGHT BROS FROM WAY BACK WHEN Lend You A Hand (Kill Rock Stars) lp 10.98
One of the best bands from Olympia, Washington are back, better than ever. They (try to) sound a lot like the MC5 and other great propaganda-rock from the 70's. Though their inspirations are obvious, they stand out as a fun band that puts on one of the best live shows ever. This record is successful at translating that live enthusiasm to record. Slicker than their first release "Runnin' Through My Bones", yet still plenty raw. Your appreciation of this will depend on how you like the vocalist's ragged shriek. Allan thinks he sounds like tormented cat trying to impersonate AC/DC's Brian Johnson. But, his "singing" is certainly part of the Tight Bros' energetic appeal (if you're not Allan). A rad live band nonetheless. ...Oh, and if you are a fan, you really should check out Kix, 'cause those guys *smoke* over this (sez Andee and Allan).
RealAudio clip: "Bless Me"
RealAudio clip: "Bring Your Thunder"

TIGHT BROS. FROM WAY BACK WHEN Runnin' Through My Bones (Kill Rock Stars) cd 10.98
Members of Karp and Behead the Prophet N.L.S.L. and a few of their thuggish cronies team up to make an unholy racket not unlike a noisy, clumsy mating of AC/DC, MC5, and Grand Funk Railroad. Very rockin'.

TIGHT BROS. FROM WAY BACK WHEN Runnin' Through My Bones (Kill Rock Stars) lp 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Members of Karp and Behead the Prophet N.L.S.L. and a few of their thuggish cronies team up to make an unholy racket not unlike a noisy, clumsy mating of AC/DC, MC5, and Grand Funk Railroad. Very rockin'.

TIGHT MEAT DUO Creaming The Gutterpunk / Nobody Loves The Hulk (alt.vinyl) 8" square lathe cut 14.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**

TIHEASALO, TOPIAS Eyes Of A Dead Lamb (Tyyfus) cd 10.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
Is there no end to the wonderful musical mysteries Finland has to offer? We sure hope not. Whether it's demented black metal, crushing doom sludge, freaky forest folk, or shimmery pop, Finland never disappoints. And now you can add, ultra minimal outsider solo guitar to that list.
Topias Tiheasalo, who we know absolutely nothing about, and Google searches also reveal practically nothing, other than the fact that he is 29 years old, is less of a "guitarist" and more of a guitar explorer, a guitar experimentalist. Falling somewhere between the abstract scrabble of Derek Bailey and the moody minimalism of Loren Connors, Tiheasalo, crawls all over the guitar, spending as much time thumping the body, scraping the bridge, and coaxing all manner of buzz and rattle from his guitar as he does either picking or strumming. The opening track is a strange percussive soundscape, punctuated by an awesome deep reverberant buzz drenched throb, as well as some fragmented chunks of slide. While all around these almost-melodies, lurk tons of black space, and all manner or subtle shuffle and accidental squeaks and creaks. Later on, some deliberately stumbling strum becomes a harmonic drenched melody, lurching and stuttering along a very abstract path. Elsewhere the guitar is rubbed to create strange whispery ambience, notes are hurled violently from the guitar, left to flutter to the ground, where they are sprinkled with glistening flurries of harmonics. Lots of angularity and atonality, but their are bits of delicate beauty tucked amidst the twisted and convoluted guitarscapes.
A strange strange record. Not beautiful in any sort of typical way, but damaged and difficult and in that musical obstinance, quite lovely indeed. Fans of Bailey, Connors, Taku Sugimoto, Fabrice Eglin and of course Keith Rowe as well as other atypical six stringers will find much to explore and enjoy...
MPEG Stream: "4:14"
MPEG Stream: "5:22"
MPEG Stream: "3:17"

TIJUANA CRIME SCENE Change Of Venue (Arise) cd ep 9.98
This is the debut release from this Kansas City supergroup comprised of members of New Amsterdam and Get Up Kids. It's a blend of heartfelt neo-folk crooning, twangy roots rock, and Moog-enhanced pop sounds. It's good, pretty and lovely and I'm in love with the singer's voice. The first song gives you the impression that this is in the vein of the Strokes or other '70s rock influenced bands (ala Television, NY Dolls) but then quickly slows down and is soft mellow pop. Not as punchy as the Get Up Kids but you can tell it's of the same ilk.
RealAudio clip: "Summer of '87"
RealAudio clip: "Bad Idea"

TILBURY, JOHN & EDDIE PREVOST Discrete Moments (Matchless) cd 18.98

TILLIANDER, ANDREAS Ljud (Mille Plateaux) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Jeff asked a very reasonable question about this record, "Is this Vladislav Delay or Thomas Brinkmann? No, no, this isn't clinical enough to be Brinkmann, it's gotta be Delay." While each sound (the dubbed out glitch, the monochromatic techno pulse, the big simple bass lines) is a direct copy of the Vladislav Delay sound, this is the work of one Andreas Tilliander.

TILLIS, BISHOP PERRY In Times Like This (Mississippi) lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
MISSISSIPPI RECORDS NEW RELEASE!!! MISSISSIPPI RECORDS NEW RELEASE!!! MISSISSIPPI RECORDS NEW RELEASE!!!
We gotta do that every time, there's so many folks now who want them all, every Mississippi Records release, be it blues, or country, or gospel or punk rock. And can't say that we blame you, pretty much everyone at aQ is the same way, a box from Mississippi shows up, and we all gather round to see what magical sounds are awaiting us.
This time, it's a collection of unreleased recordings from Bishop Perry Tillis, preacher, and master of the electric blues, with a super idiosyncratic guitar playing style and a gorgeous voice, and a truly strange approach to music and spirituality.
Unlike the Tillis cd a couple years back on Birdman, which featured songs recorded in the seventies, these tracks here were collected from home recordings, made in the years right before Tillis' death. Super lo-fi and raw, these tracks were recorded on an old boombox in Tillis' living room, even going so far as to use multiple boomboxes for a primitive sort of multitracking, the results are fantastic and strange and gorgeous.
Yeah, it's classic sounding blues, but the guitar parts are dense and angular and tangly, his voice raw and rough, but everything smoothed by the lo-fu recording, and there are strange harmonies happening too, the result of Tillis "channeling angels" who want to help him by singing along and testifying.
The enclosed liner notes, feature an interview with Tillis, where he answers questions in the voice of his 'guardian angel', and, well it's a bit confusing for sure, but he, or she, tells the story of his life, talks about the angels, really fascinating.
But it's the music that matters, and once again Mississippi seemingly can do no wrong. The sounds here are soulful and energetic, mysterious and beautiful, spiritual and emotional, but also surprisingly rocking and groovy, and bluesy and bad ass.
The packaging as always is fantastic, super thick sleeves, nice heavy vinyl, and extensive liner notes. Needless to say, if you haven't started collecting Mississippi releases, this one is as good a place to start as any, and like the other Mississippi lps, these go our of print pretty quick, so grab one while you can.

TILLIS, BISHOP PERRY Too Close (Birdman) cd 14.98

TILLY AND THE WALL s/t (Team Love) cd 15.98

TILLY, THOMAS Cables & Signs [Ten Underwater Field Recordings] (Fissur) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Most of the underwater environmental recordings we're familiar with are of whale songs and Antarctic seals and penguins, but this one takes us to an even more unusual locale: the moat of a medieval castle! How cool is that? The ten tracks on this 55 minute disc consist of material selected by French sound artist Thomas Tilly from about five hours of hydrophonic field recordings he made in the murky green waters of the moat of Sanzay Castle in the west of France. These excerpts represent what Tilly, in his careful listening, found most interesting, a dense buzzing micro-sound world created by the aquatic insects and plants, apparently reacting to the intensity of the summer sunlight on the surface of the water. Aside from some "slight equalisation", he made no electronic treatments or altering edits of the raw recordings; weird as it is, this is what you'd hear if you dunked your head in the moat and gave a long listen! Yet, it SOUNDS quite electronic (something that other nature recordings have prepared us for). They certainly don't sound of organic origin. Buzzing, pulsing, chattering drones. Rhythmic, intriguing. Steady mechanical whirr. Sometimes subtle, sometimes not so subtle. Constant clicking, like the ticks of a Geiger counter. Sudden sharp whines... decay... Even Morse Code like BLEEPS! (Is that a robot rusting away at the bottom of the moat, still emitting sounds? Did a mad scientist once inhabit this castle?).
It makes us think, Raster-Noton meets Sounds Of North American Frogs. Almost makes you wonder why the likes of Alva Noto, Ryoji Ikeda, Nerve Net Noise, all the experimental electronica, digital glitch, clinical clicks and cuts types even bother, when instead of investing in a laptop computer and software, it seems you merely need to submerge a microphone in a suitable stagnant moat. Of course we're kidding. But the thought does occur.
The varied ambient textures of these tracks are mesmeric for sure, and surprising. The most fascinating Found Sounds / Field Recordings find we've run across in recent weeks (unless you count the new Thai Elephant Orchestra, but those elephants are playing instruments).
MPEG Stream: "Cables & Signs 1"
MPEG Stream: "Cables & Signs 5"
MPEG Stream: "Cables & Signs 10"

TILSON, STEVE An Acoustic Confusion (Scenescof) cd 15.98

TIM GAZE BAND, THE Band On The Run (EM Records) cd 21.00
Last list we highlighted two somewhat unusual "surf music" reissues, by Farm and Peter Martin & Finch, both brought to us by our favorite Japanese reissue label, EM Records, as part of their Summer 2007 "EM Under Water Series"! Those were quite cool, and now we've got the remaining three discs in the series, all of 'em (like those first two) soundtracks to several now-legendary surfing movies from back in the sixties/seventies. With the exception of Farm (from the USA) all the bands in EM's series are Australian, and in all cases the movies they were doing soundtracks for were Australian productions and/or featured Australian surfers. And as before, this isn't your typical SoCal Jan & Dean, Beach Boys style surf music... it's *psychedelic* surf music. Well 2 out of 3 of these anyway (the Tim Gaze Band album being more of a yacht rock outing).
Whoa. Or, "whoa-whoa". 'Cause that's what they're singing. Sunshiney '70s soft rock mellowness abounds here, disco-era goodtimes on a sandy beach Down Under. Surfer-musician Tim Gaze (the guitarist on Tamam Shud's second album, who also played with proggers Kahvas Jute) and his Band recorded this music in 1979 as the soundtrack to a surfing film entitled Band On The Run (nothing to do with Wings by the way). The original soundtrack LP was only released in a limited promotional run in 1982, and also featured several songs by J.J. Cale as well as the eight cuts by the Tim Gaze Band found here on this cd reissue. Such vocal tracks as "Lazy Day Fever", "Brothers And Sisters" and "Beautiful Lady" are full of melodic lushness, some rockin' with a smile, others more laidback and gentle. There's also some more jazzy, "soundtracky" instrumentals, our favorite being the spacey, organ-jammy "Bermuda". All of it conjures up images of sunsets and bikinis -- even if you weren't looking at the movie-poster album cover painting. Kitschy, yes, quite, but hey "yacht rock" is the new big thing isn't it?? This pretty yacht-y.
Includes liner notes both from Aussie "surf music historian" Stephen J. McParland and also Tim Gaze himself, along with lyrics and lots of vintage photos and graphics. Ok, this is probably the weakest entry in the EM Under Water Series as far as our tastes are concerned, but if you get into the spirit of the thing you'll want it, also to complete the collection -- and did we mention "yacht rock"?
MPEG Stream: "Lazy Day Fever"
MPEG Stream: "Bermuda"
MPEG Stream: "Give Me Life"

TIMBALAND Timbaland Present: Shock Value (Blackground) cd 15.98

MPEG Stream: "Bounce (Feat. Dr. Dre, Missy Elliott & Justin Timberlake)"
MPEG Stream: "One And Only (feat. Fallout Boy)"
MPEG Stream: "Throw It On Me (Feat. The Hives)"

TIMBALAND & MAGOO Indecent Proposal (Blackground) cd 16.98
By track two on Timbaland and Magoo's second full length, you realise why Timbaland is the man. He makes every drum loop totally his own, every song a slithery hiccupping classic and there's very few producers who have such a knack for crafting such a bizarre and recognizable (and surprisingly popular) sound. Almost every song on the radio these days is either recorded, written or produced by the T-land, who almost single handedly changed the face of modern R+B/hip hop, taking the stale predictable 'funk', and chopping it up, coming up with his quirky, stuttery signature sound (and with those trademark 'What....uh huh.....what...' background vocals). And on 'Indecent Proposal'. Timbaland steps out from behind the mixing board and up to the plate to show the world just why everyone comes to him for -that- sound.
RealAudio clip: "Drop"
RealAudio clip: "Indian Carpet"
RealAudio clip: "Party People"

TIMBALAND & MAGOO Under Construction Part II (Universal) cd 14.98

TIMBERLAKE, JUSTIN Futuresex / Lovesounds (Jive) cd 16.98
We all kinda secretly like Justin Timberlake, don't we? Some of us not so secretly.
MPEG Stream: "Damn Girl"
MPEG Stream: "SexyBack"

TIME CRYPT {Cruel Science} (Hospital Productions) cassette 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A few weeks ago we got a killer batch of 'metal' tapes from Hospital Productions, two of which we reviewed, the 2nd album from Vegas Martyrs, and the debut from death-obsessed doom flecked black metal weirdos Curved Blade, both of which sold out and went out of print crazy quick.
In the same batch we also got two other releases, twisted lo-fi outsider sci-fi death metal weirdness from a band called Time Crypt, and super blown out noise metal damage from Terrorism. The bummer is that we intended to check these out, and then order more to review, but before we knew it, both of these were sold out and out of print as well. But we do still have THREE copies of each, they're both bizarre and baffling and perfect for folks into fucked up confusional metal, so at least a few folks will get to check them out...
Time Crypt unleash a stumbling blast of midtempo lo-fi blackened death metal, the guitars jagged and buzzy, the drums buried in the mix, the vocals a snarly grunt one minute, a reverbed bellow the next, there are occasional bursts of frenzied blast, but they quickly collapse into more lurching lumbering chug and churn, some weird little bits of keyboard surface here and there, the production is damaged and off kilter and perfectly fits the music, which is chaotic and trancey and buzzy and bizarre. We're digging this big time. Too bad we only have 3 copies...
Also features some killer dead astronaut artwork!

TIME FLYS Rebels Of Babylon (Birdman) lp 10.98
Sophomore album from Oakland '70s style punkers The Time Flys, which leads off with the title track of their 'tween albums single, "Reality (Is A Rock Band)". Like their debut, this retro-rockin' disc is appropriately snotty and undoubtedly well-schooled in their chosen genre, with lotsa energy, not a lotta chords, and some handclaps, but this time 'round we're not feeling it as much... something here (the lyrics, maybe) just seems a bit forced. It's like, they're trying too hard. If you're gonna emulate the likes of the Ramones, you've gotta make it seem easy, c'mon! On the other hand, maybe we just weren't in the mood for the 'tude when we first put this on, and it's just gonna take a few more spins (and a few more PBRs?) for us to 'get'... we'll see.
MPEG Stream: "Reality (Is A Rock Band)"
MPEG Stream: "Bronzo's A Bruiser"

TIME FLYS, THE Fly (Birdman) cd 14.98
This looks and sounds like it's gotta be a reissue, a lost '70s punk vinyl classic dug up by a devoted record collector and at long last put out on cd. But actually The Time Flys are a band from the here (Oakland, specifically) and now, so if you live 'round these parts you can not only spin this disc but also go see 'em play, which is a good show I'm telling you. The Flys are three guys and one girl, the girl playing drums, all of 'em rock-star skinny, one of the guys being Andy from The Cuts. And I'm sure none of 'em are teenagers but they're all about the teenage angst and energy. Just check the song titles here: "Smokin' Dope", "Jailbait", "In My Skool", "Teenage Is The Stone-age" (which comes right after another song called "Teenage Tears"). There's 12 songs in 27 minutes 32 seconds, total '70s wasteoid punk stylings in the vein of thee MC5, New York Dolls, Heartbreakers, and (to mention another current band similarly retro-fitted) Chicago's Vee Dee. With snotty vocals, distorted guitar jangle and primal drum clatter that altogether does the shimmy, not to mention the packaging -- b&w pics and typewritten lyrics -- in a blindfold test this would probably fool even some not-so-casual old skool punk rawk collector types. Produced by Greg Ashley of the Gris Gris, another great Oakland garage band with a way-back machine (though theirs is dialed more to the '60s). Very kool.
MPEG Stream: "Jailbait"
MPEG Stream: "1900's"

TIME FLYS, THE In Crowd (Douchemaster) 7" 5.50

TIME FLYS, THE Reality (Is A Rock Band) (Birdman) 7" 3.98
All right! Three energetic new tunes for those of you who have been rockin' to these teenage (well, in spirit, anyway) '70s garage punk throwbacks' debut from last year. With their authentic vintage stylings, Oakland's Time Flys surely do belong on seven-inch black wax... you'd almost think you'd have to buy this from some collector scum on eBay but this is here and now and in print, for only $3.98.

TIME FLYS, THE Rebels Of Babylon (Birdman) cd 14.98
Sophomore album from Oakland '70s style punkers The Time Flys, which leads off with the title track of their 'tween albums single, "Reality (Is A Rock Band)". Like their debut, this retro-rockin' disc is appropriately snotty and undoubtedly well-schooled in their chosen genre, with lotsa energy, not a lotta chords, and some handclaps, but this time 'round we're not feeling it as much... something here (the lyrics, maybe) just seems a bit forced. It's like, they're trying too hard. If you're gonna emulate the likes of the Ramones, you've gotta make it seem easy, c'mon! On the other hand, maybe we just weren't in the mood for the 'tude when we first put this on, and it's just gonna take a few more spins (and a few more PBRs?) for us to 'get'... we'll see.
MPEG Stream: "Reality (Is A Rock Band)"
MPEG Stream: "Bronzo's A Bruiser"

TIME OF ORCHIDS Early As Seen In Pace (Epicene) cd ep 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
NYC-based quartet who play an insane variety of time signatures and styles, and they do it so athletically and manically that I broke out in a sweat listening to it. You'd think they were Mr Bungle or something. Or maybe even better? This group certainly has been inspired by Bungle, but now that Bungle have split off into so many other projects, it's nice that these guys are carrying the torch so adroitly. Crashing power metal chords are interrupted by furious screeching, pummelling bass and advanced percussion. Contemporary avant pianist Marilyn Crispell even guests on one amazing track, the 18-minute long "Laugh Track" which stretches out pastoral paino tinklings and culminates in layer after layer of cascading piano randomness. Nice!

TIME OF ORCHIDS Melonwhisper cd 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
NYC-based quartet who play an insane variety of time signatures and styles, and they do it so athletically and manically that I broke out in a sweat listening to it. You'd think they were Mr Bungle or something. Or maybe even better? This group certainly has been inspired by Bungle, but now that Bungle have split off into so many other projects, it's nice that these guys are carrying the torch so adroitly. Crashing power metal chords are interrupted by furious screeching, pummelling bass and advanced percussion. Contemporary avant pianist Marilyn Crispell even guests on one amazing track, the 18-minute long "Laugh Track" which stretches out pastoral paino tinklings and culminates in layer after layer of cascading piano randomness. Nice!
RealAudio clip: "Age Gracefully"
RealAudio clip: "Laugh Track"

TIME OF ORCHIDS Sarcast While (Tzadik) cd 16.98
Geeky and proud artrock prog math madness from the same scene, more or less, as Infidel?/Castro!, Behold The Arctopus, and Kayo Dot. So if you're into those bands, and Mr. Bungle, Secret Chiefs, Estradasphere, Idiot Flesh, that sort of thing, then this new release on John Zorn's Tzadik label might just be the ticket for you. But then again, they're probably not quite what you'd expect (which is the idea). While sometimes heavy and more often mathy, they aren't really so much of a metal deal like some of those other bands. Plenty of indie rock melody makes it into their quirky, claustrophobic mix. We're actually reminded a bit of Heavy Vegetable (remember them?) and we're pretty sure that both OK Computer and Angel Dust just might be in somebody in this band's top 10. Along with lots of the poppier '70s and '80s prog.
They're a quartet (augmented by a guest trumpeter and vocalists, including Julee Cruise) and a look at the cd booklet will reveal that one guy, for instance, is credited with "keyboards, vocals, guitar, machine parts, hair dryer and sequencing" which might give you some idea of the weirdness amid the melody that they get up to here.
MPEG Stream: "It Gone"
MPEG Stream: "Earned Over"
MPEG Stream: "Everyone Is Suspended"

TIME SPENT Mystery & Meaning (self-released) cd-r 9.98
A while back, we reviewed a cd by an SF outfit called Burial Tree, who trafficked in a sort of dusky deserty twang (a la Earth, Barn Owl) fused to a heaving churning mathy postmetal crush (Neurosis, Isis, etc.), well it seems when BT mainman / aQ pal Monte is not doing Burial Tree, he spends his time meticulously crafting a whole different world of sound, under the monicker Time Spent. Four sprawling tracks of haunting rhythmic ambience, sounding at times like Brian Eno jamming with Muslimgauze, especially on the opening track, which unfurls gradually in softly shimmering swells, buried melodies, everything panned and woozily drifting from speaker to speaker, with simple spare percussion surfacing a few minutes in, and transforming the vibe into an almost sort of spaced out dub, we hear hints of African Head Charge too, but Time Spent is much darker, more sonically sinister, the opening track very cinematic evocative of late nights, and cities lit by moonlight, a world in shadow. The second track, the comparatively tranquil/meditative "LaurenClaire", takes the same synth shimmer, but spread it out into soft ethereal billows, more major key, softly sun dappled, a hushed new agey drift, that also finds itself melded to a rhythm, which instead of adding propulsion, seems to add a delicate framework, turning the middle portion of the song into a sort of downtempo shuffle, before drifting into an ether of blurred thrum and field recordings.
"Memories Drift & Fade", begins with a stretch of grey noise static wreathed in sci-fi swirls, before the track blossoms into something blissed out and kosmische, the guitar figures drenched in echo and floating on streaks of spacey shimmer and soft focus cosmic hum, the track, gradually growing less abstract and more guitar driven, the second half sounding like Expo 70 at their most Eno, softly tangled guitar melodies, over swells of prog like synth, all hazy and dreamily druggy, too short even at nearly ten minutes. And finally, the record finishes off with the relatively brief "Warm Chatter", which sounds a bit like one of the more experimental Teenage Filmstars jams, garbled found sounds and random voices, buried beneath a warm liquid swirl of melodic murk and glacial chordal creep, totally hypnotic and mesmerizing, and again, way to brief. Fantastic stuff, and recommended for fans of spaced out kosmische drift, Eno-like new age ambience, and dark, dreamlike dronemusic.
LIMITED TO 100 COPIES, each one hand numbered.
MPEG Stream: "Mystery & Meaning"
MPEG Stream: "LaurenClaire"

TIME'S UP Obsolete (Staalplaat) 3"cd 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
I'd be hard pressed to believe that Time's Up has nothing to do with Stock, Hausen, & Walkman, as the outfit replicates the ironic digital cut'n'paste ethos of SHW with surprising ease. This cute little three inch presents a rather nostalgic view of obsolescence in constructing a festive collage of electronic beats littered with samples of early arcade games, Commodore 64 muzak, and Atari bitmap music. "Obsolete" is the science fiction of youth having grown up with Pong, Tron, and Space Invaders. Totally great.

TIME, THE Pandemonium (Paisley Park / Reprise) cd 13.98

TIMEBLIND Bloatware (Orthlorng Music) 12" 5.98
Surely this one will be ending up on the IDM lists in the form of ecstatic hyperbole (probably more so than us!) perhaps more due to the relative obscurity than to the content. Fortunately for us (and therefore for you), we don't have to worry about the obscurity issue as we can get a steady supply of these singles from Orthlorng's label boss - Kit Clayton. While Clayton has had acclaim with his Cytrax label, Orthlorng is a more leftfield venture than the straight techno of Cytrax. Timeblind (aka Chris Sattinger) successfully follows the genre-jumping aesthetic of the likes of Gescom or Lexaunculpt. One track is reminscent of the devistaing low-end hip hop of Techno Animal, the electro fracture of Black Dog, and some quality dubby downtempo electronica. An excellent start to what looks like an excellent label!!!

TIMEBLIND Most Eye: Rastabomba Remixes (Orthlorg Musork) cd 9.98
"Most Eye" is a collection of remixes of one of the more populist cuts "Rastabomba" from the willfully eclectic Timeblind release "Rugged Redemption." Here, Timeblind has enlisted Kid 606, Kit Clayton, and DJ/Rupture to remix alongside the original and three of his own remixes. The original opens this album as a darkened piece of hip-hop futurism, with a relaxed rudeboy toasting in a thick patois that has more in common with the detacted smooth delivery of French rappers like MC Solaar. Accentuated with Chain Reactive dub elements, those thick rhythms recall the brief but noteworthy collaboration between Porter Ricks and Techno Animal. Of all of the remixes, Kid 606 offers the most predictable production as he's mixed out the low-slung rhythmic groove in favor of the dum-dum Rotterdam 909 techno stomps and big Amen breaks. To his credit, the Kid does concede to the original mid-range tempo instead of maniacally reving up the adrenaline as he is oft to do. Kit Clayton turns the original into a thouroughly distressed dancehall hip-hop mix, DSP-dub mangling the original with the Timbaland rhythms behind Missy Elliott's "One Minute Man." DJ/Rupture leaves very little of the original behind a mess of throbbing distortion and kaleidoscopic breakbeats.
RealAudio clip: "Rastabomba (original)"

TIMEBLIND Most Eye: Rastabomba Remixes (Orthlorg Musork) 12" 8.98
"Most Eye" is a collection of remixes of one of the more populist cuts "Rastabomba" from the willfully eclectic Timeblind release "Rugged Redemption." Here, Timeblind has enlisted Kid 606, Kit Clayton, and DJ/Rupture to remix alongside the original and three of his own remixes. The original opens this album as a darkened piece of hip-hop futurism, with a relaxed rudeboy toasting in a thick patois that has more in common with the detacted smooth delivery of French rappers like MC Solaar. Accentuated with Chain Reactive dub elements, those thick rhythms recall the brief but noteworthy collaboration between Porter Ricks and Techno Animal. Of all of the remixes, Kid 606 offers the most predictable production as he's mixed out the low-slung rhythmic groove in favor of the dum-dum Rotterdam 909 techno stomps and big Amen breaks. To his credit, the Kid does concede to the original mid-range tempo instead of maniacally reving up the adrenaline as he is oft to do. Kit Clayton turns the original into a thouroughly distressed dancehall hip-hop mix, DSP-dub mangling the original with the Timbaland rhythms behind Missy Elliott's "One Minute Man." DJ/Rupture leaves very little of the original behind a mess of throbbing distortion and kaleidoscopic breakbeats.

TIMEBLIND Rugged Redemption (Orthlorng Musork) cd 14.98
Timeblind's "Rugged Redemption" is one of those recombinant albums that has received a handful of praise for rendering a multitude of styles within a singular but multi-faceted vision. Blunted French hip-hop, Chain Reactive techno grit, mirages of DSP abstrations, free jazz (yup, electronica free jazz), and thick dub reverberations all make their way into the Timeblind agenda, with an understated panache much like Two Lone Swordsmen.
RealAudio clip: "The Rastabomba"
RealAudio clip: "Indestructible"

TIMEOUT DRAWER Alone (The Consumers Research And Development Label) cd 8.98
A brief breezy follow up to Timeout Drawer's Nowonmai that we made record of the week a little while back. This six song, 22 minute ep acts as a asort of addendum to the blown out majestic epic loveliness of the full length. Following firmly in the footsteps of fellow postrock pioneers Mogwai, Godspeed and the like, but with their own strange little twists. On the full length it was massive thick fuzzy synths all over the place, on Alone, the synths are sort of moved into the background, while the band sort of explores different sounds, from the perfect quiet loud explosive rock of opener "Man Must Breathe" to the soft circusy shimmer of "Women And Children Line The Rocky Shore" to the strange DJ Shadowy trip hop shuffle of "There's Just An Empty Space". The last three tracks add some angular Slinty riffing, some My Bloody Valentine guitar wash, even some keening vocals, finishing off with the ultra aggressive "The Exorcist" (yes, they're covering the Tubular Bells music by Mike Oldfield!) with fuzzy synth, shuffling stuttering drumming and freaked out distorted psych guitar squalls over some downright metal riffing. Wow!
MPEG Stream: "Man Must Breathe"
MPEG Stream: "Women And Children Line The Rocky Shore"

TIMEOUT DRAWER, THE Nowonmai (Consumer Research and Development) cd 14.98
If there was ever going to be a band to FINALLY steal the slow-building-atmospheric-cinematic-post-rock-soundscape crown from Godspeed! You Black Emperor it would definitely have to be The Timeout Drawer. Sure there's Mogwai, Explosions In The Sky, the Grails, Mono, Silver Mt Zion and about a million Godspeed! side projects, but as good as those bands are, and as much as we love them, we'd definitely be hard pressed to pass a blind listening test. Sure, they all do their own thing, with subtle differences, but there's plenty of times we couldn't tell you if a certain track was a Mogwai song or an Explosions In The Sky track, even with a gun to our head (okay, -maybe- with a gun to our head). Which brings us to Nowonmai by The Timeout Drawer. A quick listen will reveal all the stuff we love about post rock, pulsing hypnotic rhythms, languorous soundscapes, moody melancholia, intricate arrangements, no vocals, slow building epics. What can we say? We love that stuff. But listen a little closer and you'll begin to understand how the Timeout Drawer manage to avoid sounding like just another post rock band. We haven't actually been this blown away by an instrumental rock band since we discovered German post rockers Fuehler (no longer available sad to say) way back when.
Drifting dreamy atmospheric bliss builds and builds beneath fuzzy synthesizer melodies and throbbing propulsive rhythms, before super blown out distorted guitars explode the whole thing into a dense wall of white hot fuzz, a thick slab of rumbling buzzing guitar drone, that then crumbles to pieces and from the wreckage emerges a groovy jazzy shuffle, meandering lazily through a gauzy soundfield of throbbing low-end and barely-there synthesizer chirps. And that's just the first track! Phew. Not every track runs the sonic gamut like that, some just sort of drift along, dreamy and shimmering, some explode with feverish intensity and never let up, but they all manage to be dense and complex and make every part seem totally essential to the whole, no matter how convoluted or how simple they seem on the surface.
Sonically it's the synthesizer really that is the most noticeable addition to the Timeout Drawer's post rock pallet, not that most bands don't use a synthesizer, it's just that the Timeout Drawer use it for everything. Weird warbly melodies, rumbling drones, wild wigged out space rock swoops, every track is laced with that warm synth fuzz, sometimes replacing the guitar or the bass, sometimes just adding more and more layers of sound. Add to that a penchant for unlikely stretches of Calexico-ish deserty twang, pounding metal guitar crunch, bursts of manic angular riffing, lonely moaning horns and even shuffling programmed beats. Programmed beats? Well, that sort of makes sense when you realize the band started out on hip hop label Chocolate Industries when they were more of a post rock / IDM hybrid, and that skittery shuffling IDM sensibility translates strangely well to these brooding epic instrumentals.
Plus how can you not love a band with song titles like: "What Looked Like Morning Was The Beginning Of Endless Night", "Bursting With Tears I Commit To Destroying You", "I Fall So Far And I Fall So High" and "Blue Eyed And FIlled With Horror"!
MPEG Stream: "I Fall So Far And I Fall So High"
MPEG Stream: "Bursting With Tears, I Commit To Destroying You"

TIMEOUT DRAWER, THE Nowonmai (Consumer Research and Development) lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
If there was ever going to be a band to FINALLY steal the slow-building-atmospheric-cinematic-post-rock-soundscape crown from Godspeed! You Black Emperor it would definitely have to be The Timeout Drawer. Sure there's Mogwai, Explosions In The Sky, the Grails, Mono, Silver Mt Zion and about a million Godspeed! side projects, but as good as those bands are, and as much as we love them, we'd definitely be hard pressed to pass a blind listening test. Sure, they all do their own thing, with subtle differences, but there's plenty of times we couldn't tell you if a certain track was a Mogwai song or an Explosions In The Sky track, even with a gun to our head (okay, -maybe- with a gun to our head). Which brings us to Nowonmai by The Timeout Drawer. A quick listen will reveal all the stuff we love about post rock, pulsing hypnotic rhythms, languorous soundscapes, moody melancholia, intricate arrangements, no vocals, slow building epics. What can we say? We love that stuff. But listen a little closer and you'll begin to understand how the Timeout Drawer manage to avoid sounding like just another post rock band. We haven't actually been this blown away by an instrumental rock band since we discovered German post rockers Fuehler (no longer available sad to say) way back when.
Drifting dreamy atmospheric bliss builds and builds beneath fuzzy synthesizer melodies and throbbing propulsive rhythms, before super blown out distorted guitars explode the whole thing into a dense wall of white hot fuzz, a thick slab of rumbling buzzing guitar drone, that then crumbles to pieces and from the wreckage emerges a groovy jazzy shuffle, meandering lazily through a gauzy soundfield of throbbing low-end and barely-there synthesizer chirps. And that's just the first track! Phew. Not every track runs the sonic gamut like that, some just sort of drift along, dreamy and shimmering, some explode with feverish intensity and never let up, but they all manage to be dense and complex and make every part seem totally essential to the whole, no matter how convoluted or how simple they seem on the surface.
Sonically it's the synthesizer really that is the most noticeable addition to the Timeout Drawer's post rock pallet, not that most bands don't use a synthesizer, it's just that the Timeout Drawer use it for everything. Weird warbly melodies, rumbling drones, wild wigged out space rock swoops, every track is laced with that warm synth fuzz, sometimes replacing the guitar or the bass, sometimes just adding more and more layers of sound. Add to that a penchant for unlikely stretches of Calexico-ish deserty twang, pounding metal guitar crunch, bursts of manic angular riffing, lonely moaning horns and even shuffling programmed beats. Programmed beats? Well, that sort of makes sense when you realize the band started out on hip hop label Chocolate Industries when they were more of a post rock / IDM hybrid, and that skittery shuffling IDM sensibility translates strangely well to these brooding epic instrumentals.
Plus how can you not love a band with song titles like: "What Looked Like Morning Was The Beginning Of Endless Night", "Bursting With Tears I Commit To Destroying You", "I Fall So Far And I Fall So High" and "Blue Eyed And FIlled With Horror"!
MPEG Stream: "I Fall So Far And I Fall So High"
MPEG Stream: "Bursting With Tears, I Commit To Destroying You"

TIMES NEW VIKING Born Again Revisited (Matador) cd 13.98
The kings (and queen) of shitgaze return once again, to prove once again, that none of those wannabe noiseniks can even come close. It's not about your shitty 4-track, or your busted ass equipment, or recording onto a boombox in Mom's basement, it's about songs and hooks, the riffs and the melodies, and TNV have it all covered. The songs rule, impossibly catchy, with weary drawled indie sad boy vocals all tangled up with dreamy girl group la la la girl vocals, the guitars are crunchy and angular, the drums are blown out, in-the-red basement crunch, the keyboard is warm and warbly and wheezy, not sure if there's an actual bass, it's hard to tell since most of these tracks lean toward the trebly, and the production varies, from surprisingly clean and shimmery (on "Martin Luther King Day"), to crumbling and distorted almost everywhere else.
But again, that's all incidental to the songs, which manage to be sort of pop, sort of punk, a little new wave, a bit crusty, all wrapped around unlikely, but irresistible hooks, a few songs get super jagged and no wave-y, and the sound totally suits them, but then there are jams like "Martin Luther King Day" which sound like classic nineties indie rock, albeit a bit rougher around the edges. And the rest of the tracks fall somewhere in between, raw, blown out garage-y new wave-y pop, that easily outshines all the other shitgaze combos, as well as positioning TNV comfortably amidst a similar but parallel scene, the weirdo lo-fi new wave garage pop scene that Thee Oh Sees, Sic Alps, The Fresh & Onlys, Ty Segall and Tyvek all call home.
We LOVE this band!
MPEG Stream: "Martin Luther King Day"
MPEG Stream: "I Smell Bubblegum"
MPEG Stream: "City On Drugs"

TIMES NEW VIKING Born Again Revisited (Matador) lp 14.98
The kings (and queen) of shitgaze return once again, to prove once again, that none of those wannabe noiseniks can even come close. It's not about your shitty 4-track, or your busted ass equipment, or recording onto a boombox in Mom's basement, it's about songs and hooks, the riffs and the melodies, and TNV have it all covered. The songs rule, impossibly catchy, with weary drawled indie sad boy vocals all tangled up with dreamy girl group la la la girl vocals, the guitars are crunchy and angular, the drums are blown out, in-the-red basement crunch, the keyboard is warm and warbly and wheezy, not sure if there's an actual bass, it's hard to tell since most of these tracks lean toward the trebly, and the production varies, from surprisingly clean and shimmery (on "Martin Luther King Day"), to crumbling and distorted almost everywhere else.
But again, that's all incidental to the songs, which manage to be sort of pop, sort of punk, a little new wave, a bit crusty, all wrapped around unlikely, but irresistible hooks, a few songs get super jagged and no wave-y, and the sound totally suits them, but then there are jams like "Martin Luther King Day" which sound like classic nineties indie rock, albeit a bit rougher around the edges. And the rest of the tracks fall somewhere in between, raw, blown out garage-y new wave-y pop, that easily outshines all the other shitgaze combos, as well as positioning TNV comfortably amidst a similar but parallel scene, the weirdo lo-fi new wave garage pop scene that Thee Oh Sees, Sic Alps, The Fresh & Onlys, Ty Segall and Tyvek all call home.
We LOVE this band!
MPEG Stream: "Martin Luther King Day"
MPEG Stream: "I Smell Bubblegum"
MPEG Stream: "City On Drugs"

TIMES NEW VIKING Busy Making Love & War (Columbus Discount) 7" 4.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A brief blast of murky scuzzy garage pop from our latest fave Siltbreeze combo. This 3 piece kicks up a serious racket, a sort of Guided By Voices via The Strapping Fieldhands stomp but with plenty of Dead C skree sprinkled on top. Boy / girl vocals, trashy distorted guitar, the whole sound a fuzzy lo-fi blur, but everything dominated by the ORGAN, big blown out buzzy blast of melody like some long lost Fuzztones organ riff played through a wall of Marshall stacks. So good.

TIMES NEW VIKING Dig Yourself (Siltbreeze) cd 13.98
We're obviously not graphic designers, or even all that computer savvy considering it took us a little too long to get the band name joke (hint: it's a font, sort of). Anyway, this newest release on the always impeccable SIltbreeze comes in the form of this here crusty noisy blast of aggro garage scuzz. Maybe the best part is how they got signed to Siltbreeze. A found cassingle, lodged in some sort of street shrine discovered according to the label "on a street corner during our annual litter crusade. Inside the cassette's handmade case was scrawled 'This am band. Good band!' Next to that was a crude drawing of what appeared to be three people playing instruments. It smelled musty and had a real creepy, cultish vibe to it."
I mean, c'mon, how could it not be great? And it sounds exactly how you think it would after that sort of story. Straight from the gutter, to a practice space, some fried mics and a blown out 4-track, and then slapped on a cd. Fuzzy superdistorted guitars, wheezing blasts of organ, splattery drumming, shouted male female vocals, all buried in tape his and amp buzz. Mostly noisy and ramshackle and stumbling through a minefield of Dead C outtakes and broken GBV cassettes, but once in a while, like on "Skull Versus Wizard", they'll whip out a veritable pop gem, a little slice of Pavement, beaten and bloodied and rolled in the mud, but still a sparkling pop gem under all that grit. Speaking of "Skull Versus Wizard", they have other killer song titles too: "Lions And Oil", "Fuck Books", "Fashion To Talk About The Moon", "We Got Rocket" and more. At times it almost sounds like a not-annoying Kim Gordon fronting Gate or the Dead C while they try to record popular indie rock favorites. Fans of the Bunnybrains, Icky Boyfriends, Liquorball and grimey gritty scummy noise pop rejoice!
MPEG Stream: "Lion & Oil"
MPEG Stream: "Skull Versus Wizard"
MPEG Stream: "Fuck Books"

TIMES NEW VIKING Dig Yourself (Siltbreeze) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We're obviously not graphic designers, or even all that computer savvy considering it took us a little too long to get the band name joke (hint: it's a font, sort of). Anyway, this newest release on the always impeccable Siltbreeze comes in the form of this here crusty noisy blast of aggro garage scuzz. Maybe the best part is how they got signed to Siltbreeze. A found cassingle, lodged in some sort of street shrine discovered according to the label "on a street corner during our annual litter crusade. Inside the cassette's handmade case was scrawled 'This am band. Good band!' Next to that was a crude drawing of what appeared to be three people playing instruments. It smelled musty and had a real creepy, cultish vibe to it."
I mean, c'mon, how could it not be great? And it sounds exactly how you think it would after that sort of story. Straight from the gutter, to a practice space, some fried mics and a blown out 4-track, and then slapped on a cd. Fuzzy superdistorted guitars, wheezing blasts of organ, splattery drumming, shouted male female vocals, all buried in tape his and amp buzz. Mostly noisy and ramshackle and stumbling through a minefield of Dead C outtakes and broken GBV cassettes, but once in a while, like on "Skull Versus Wizard", they'll whip out a veritable pop gem, a little slice of Pavement, beaten and bloodied and rolled in the mud, but still a sparkling pop gem under all that grit. Speaking of "Skull Versus Wizard", they have other killer song titles too: "Lions And Oil", "Fuck Books", "Fashion To Talk About The Moon", "We Got Rocket" and more. At times it almost sounds like a not-annoying Kim Gordon fronting Gate or the Dead C while they try to record popular indie rock favorites. Fans of the Bunnybrains, Icky Boyfriends, Liquorball and grimey gritty scummy noise pop rejoice! The lp is super limited and comes packaged in a nice hand screened sleeve.
MPEG Stream: "Lion & Oil"
MPEG Stream: "Skull Versus Wizard"
MPEG Stream: "Fuck Books"

TIMES NEW VIKING Move To California (Matador) 7" 5.50

TIMES NEW VIKING Present The Paisley Reich (Siltbreeze) cd 13.98
There seems to be two sides to Siltbreeze. The arty noisy side, represented by bands like the Dead C and Harry Pussy, and the fractured pop side, with bands like Guided By Voices, Psychedelic Horseshit, the Strapping Fieldhands (be prepared FINALLY for a cd reissue of SFH's mindblowing classic Discus this year!) and of course, Times New Viking, who sonically have much in common with labelmates Psychedelic Horseshit, but where PH do a sort of post new wave jangle filtered through nineties noiserock, TNV are much more jagged and sing songy, a definite post punk pogo vibe. Less deconstructionist that their Horseshit pals, instead, they just write perfect indie rock jams, but when committed to tape, they somehow turn into something much more raw and intense. Howling teenage noisepop jams that stick in your head as they're destroying your eardrums. Dig past the distorted buzz and lo-fi crunch, and there's all sorts of crazy stuff going on in there, chunks of classic new wave, riot grrl howl, groovy sixties style jangle, furious garage rock stomp, but all wrapped up into something that really only sounds like Times New Viking. We LOVE it.
MPEG Stream: "Imagine Dead John Lennon"
MPEG Stream: "Devo & Wine"
MPEG Stream: "Little Amps"

TIMES NEW VIKING Present The Paisley Reich (Siltbreeze) lp 13.98
There seems to be two sides to Siltbreeze. The arty noisy side, represented by bands like the Dead C and Harry Pussy, and the fractured pop side, with bands like Guided By Voices, Psychedelic Horseshit, the Strapping Fieldhands (be prepared FINALLY for a cd reissue of SFH's mindblowing classic Discus this year!) and of course, Times New Viking, who sonically have much in common with labelmates Psychedelic Horseshit, but where PH do a sort of post new wave jangle filtered through nineties noiserock, TNV are much more jagged and sing songy, a definite post punk pogo vibe. Less deconstructionist that their Horseshit pals, instead, they just write perfect indie rock jams, but when committed to tape, they somehow turn into something much more raw and intense. Howling teenage noisepop jams that stick in your head as they're destroying your eardrums. Dig past the distorted buzz and lo-fi crunch, and there's all sorts of crazy stuff going on in there, chunks of classic new wave, riot grrl howl, groovy sixties style jangle, furious garage rock stomp, but all wrapped up into something that really only sounds like Times New Viking. We LOVE it.
MPEG Stream: "Imagine Dead John Lennon"
MPEG Stream: "Devo & Wine"
MPEG Stream: "Little Amps"

TIMES NEW VIKING Rip It Off (Matador) cd 12.98
We only just reviewed the -last- Times New Viking on the most recent list, even though it had been out for a while. And now here we are two weeks later, with a brand new TNV, and it's more of the glorious blown-out in-the-red chaotic ultra catchy pop same.
As it says on the back of the record "Times New Viking play pop songs with guitar keyboards drums." Which is definitely simplifying it a bit. Since they also incorporate a huge amount of NOISE, and feedback, and buzz, and tape hiss, and all manner of distorted blur and skree and howl. That said, this new one is even poppier and catchier than Present The Paisley Reich, and even more buried under thick slabs of crumbling sonic chaos.
But even with all the noise, at it's heart, TNV is definitely a pop band through and through, the dueling boy/girl vocals, the warbly keyboard, the bouncy indie guitar jangle, sometimes it sounds like Superchunk, but if they were on Siltbreeze and recorded all their songs on a microcassette recorder and mastered it with a tin can and twine. They also sound a bit like Mates Of State, but way less polished, way more punishing, thick bolts of high end and dense clouds of hiss bombarding the lilting sweet pop, the bouncy keyboards and crooning earnest vocals. Here and there, the noise drops off a bit, revealing the pure sweet sunshine underneath, but it's quickly swallowed up again, by another wash of speaker shredding buzz and soaring hyperdistorted melodies.
We just can't get enough of this stuff. Pop record of the year contender? Absolutely, and it's still January. If there was ever a band who deserved the sobriquet of 'noise pop' it's definitely Times New Viking. And it certainly doesn't get any noisier or poppier than this. Certainly not at the same time!
MPEG Stream: "Teen Drama"
MPEG Stream: "(My Head)"
MPEG Stream: "Rip Allegory"
MPEG Stream: "The Wait"

TIMES NEW VIKING Rip It Off (Matador) lp 14.98
We only just reviewed the -last- Times New Viking on the most recent list, even though it had been out for a while. And now here we are two weeks later, with a brand new TNV, and it's more of the glorious blown-out in-the-red chaotic ultra catchy pop same.
As it says on the back of the record "Times New Viking play pop songs with guitar keyboards drums." Which is definitely simplifying it a bit. Since they also incorporate a huge amount of NOISE, and feedback, and buzz, and tape hiss, and all manner of distorted blur and skree and howl. That said, this new one is even poppier and catchier than Present The Paisley Reich, and even more buried under thick slabs of crumbling sonic chaos.
But even with all the noise, at it's heart, TNV is definitely a pop band through and through, the dueling boy/girl vocals, the warbly keyboard, the bouncy indie guitar jangle, sometimes it sounds like Superchunk, but if they were on Siltbreeze and recorded all their songs on a microcassette recorder and mastered it with a tin can and twine. They also sound a bit like Mates Of State, but way less polished, way more punishing, thick bolts of high end and dense clouds of hiss bombarding the lilting sweet pop, the bouncy keyboards and crooning earnest vocals. Here and there, the noise drops off a bit, revealing the pure sweet sunshine underneath, but it's quickly swallowed up again, by another wash of speaker shredding buzz and soaring hyperdistorted melodies.
We just can't get enough of this stuff. Pop record of the year contender? Absolutely, and it's still January. If there was ever a band who deserved the sobriquet of 'noise pop' it's definitely Times New Viking. And it certainly doesn't get any noisier or poppier than this. Certainly not at the same time!
MPEG Stream: "Teen Drama"
MPEG Stream: "(My Head)"
MPEG Stream: "Rip Allegory"
MPEG Stream: "The Wait"

TIMES NEW VIKING Stay Awake EP (Matador) 7" 3.98