TEITANBLOOD Seven Chalices (Norma Evangelium Diaboli / Ajna) cd 14.98
France's Norma Evangelium Diaboli has always been one of the labels to turn to for some of the best black metal the world has to offer. Since pretty much forever, we have championed the pure evil promoted by Deathspell Omega, Katharsis, Watain, and Funeral Mist, but somehow Teitanblood managed to slip under the radar, and it wasn't until the dudes in YOB strolled in and told us to check this stuff out that we realized it was time to get on track. Based in Spain, but featuring the talents of a couple of Swedes, one of whom spent some time in Ofermod, Teitanblood plays a super punked out style of blackened death metal that few other bands could pull off with such perfection. Just looking at Seven Chalices' artwork, which brings to mind a crusty Xeroxed punk approach crossed with medieval woodcuts, will give you a pretty good indication of what's in store. From the band's logo to the face of the cd itself - complete with that "compact disc" icon - Teitanblood deliver the goods with a decidedly late '80s/early '90s bent, but thankfully without any trace of retro fetishism. The guitars are thick and downtuned, recalling the tone captured on Entombed's Left Hand Path - you know, some of the greatest sounding death metal guitars EVER - the drums pound out ferocious, heavy as fuck D-Beats, and the vocals growl out hateful bile as they fly all over the mix. There are moments that bring to mind the early Earache roster with insane Greg Ginn inspired solos made up of equal parts pure chaos and total noise, and somehow the band manages to hit a psychedelic stride with its cosmic heaviness. Like other NED bands, they expertly utilize creepy samples of angelic choir voices that make the metal moments even more disconcerting and intense. There are plenty of sludged out dirges that make you think of thick black tar, but the band also understands the importance of a good thrashy groove. The only moments of rest seem to come with the interludes spaced throughout the album, but even these will make your skin crawl with their throbbing tension.
Basically, Teitanblood takes what you love about heavy music and makes good - real good - on it. With all the metal coming out these days, it's easy for this stuff to start sounding tired, but it makes all the difference in the world in the capable hands of some masters who know what's up. What you get is a dizzying blur of hate filled fury that is so heavy it sounds like it may collapse on itself. In other words, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
MPEG Stream: "Whore Mass"
MPEG Stream: "Domains Of Darkness And Ancient Evil"
MPEG Stream: "Seven Chalices Of Vomit And Blood"

TEKHTON Alluvial (The Church Within Records) cd 16.98
Tectonic, Teutonic, yeah Tekhton is a good name for this heavy dirge/doom metal plus post rock (?) band from the Netherlands. This is their second opus, and it's a doozy of FUZZ laden riffage slamming repeatedly into your head, alternating now and again with much quieter, prettier parts, even acoustic strum and spacey synth. There's gruff, emotive singing, sometimes verging on melody, that works with both sides of the loud/soft equation. Tekhton make some allusions to geologic processes, and while a lot of this is subterreanean and slow-mo (and thus massively heavy) they speed up too for the occasional earthquake... their songwriting full of interesting complexities that keep the listener's ear engaged, along with one's emotions, that are already probably firmly in the grip of this intensely doomful music.
We mentioned pretty parts, well the prettiest here might be the indeed glorious "All Is Glory", that track being a mostly gentle, sorta spaced out psychedelic ramble, that's mesmerically mathy too, repetitive in a nicely Circle-ular way. Didn't Om and Six Organs do a record together? Did it sound like this song? Probably not but maybe it should have! (Oh, right, that was a split not a collaboration.)
Call it post-rock or not (maybe doom-prog would work as well?) this does remind us of post-rock stuff, but keeps it doooooooooom too, old school even, with any tendencies towards fancypants artsy-fartsiness utterly bludgeoned by the likes of, ferinstance, the crushing creepycrawl that is the appropriately titled "Tectonic Mass".
Super recommended, in particular to fans of a specific variety of AQ-beloved bands from Harvey Milk to Khanate to Pharoah Overlord to The Body to Boris. And we're detecting a definite Melvins influence on tracks like "Tooth And Nail", also a good thing.
MPEG Stream: "Clove Hitch"
MPEG Stream: "Tooth And Nail"
MPEG Stream: "All Is Glory"

TELE:FUNKEN A Collection of Ice Cream Vans Vol. 2 (Domino) cd 19.98
Tele:funken's second full-length is a follow-up to his collaboration with flying Saucer Attack a few years ago. This record reflects its title in that it seems roughly based on twinkly children's tunes with intermittent space-invaders sprinkles.

TELEDUBGNOSIS Magnetic Learning Center (WordSound) cd 14.98

TELEFON (LALO SCHIFRIN) / HIDE IN PLAIN SIGHT OST (Film Score Monthly) cd 17.98
After watching this movie starring Charles Bronson and Lee Remick, you'll never think of Robert Frost's famous poem "Stopping By Woods on A Snowy Evening" in the same way. Putting a new twist on a plot device borrowed from the Manchurian Candidate, Telefon (1977) is a unique take on the Cold War spy thriller. Donald Pleasance, playing a mad Russian spy, recites the last stanza of Frost's poem ("The woods are lovely, dark and deep / But I have promises to keep / And miles to go before I sleep / And miles to go before I sleep.") via telephone as a hypnotic trigger to wake up long dormant sleeper agents embedded in the US to commit violent suicidal sabotage. Charles Bronson is the KGB agent sent to intercept him before all the Telefon agents are activated, sparking the next World War, and Remick is the double agent who loves him but is ordered to betray him once the mission is complete. Don Siegel (Charley Varrick, Dirty Harry, The Beguiled) directs this with enough sharp hard-boiled pulpiness to make it a great b-movie thriller, as we used to see it get played a lot on independent television in the seventies (Those were the days!). Its far-fetched plot, spoofed in the Naked Gun movies, was believable enough for aQ-staffer Scott to fear telephonic hypnosis for a brief time when he was very young.
Lalo Schifrin's brooding score makes great use of the cimbalom, a Hungarian dulcimer used in a lot of Eastern European folk music, and other harp and string based instruments as a means to convey a pensive uncanny dread. Matching the harboring terror lurking beneath seemingly normal American citizens, the music at first exudes a dreamy facade that quickly becomes tense and hair-raising. Since this is one of the first American movies to have a KGB agent protagonist, the music also borrows from Eastern European musical idioms for the more sensitive character based plot lines.
Added onto this release is Leonard Rosenbaum's score for Hide In Plain Sight, the 1980 directorial debut of James Caan. Caan also stars in this film about a man searching to reunite with his kids after his ex-wife and new husband enter a witness protection program. Rosenbaum's score is typical of most Hollywood thrillers of the time, but it is short with only a few cues and a couple of longer pieces that probably wouldn't warrant its own release. Like with all Film Score Monthly releases, the booklet is chock full of information about both film's history and cultural context and the score's particular cinematic power in exemplifying each scene. Hypnotic!
MPEG Stream: "Main Title"
MPEG Stream: "Remember Melikyan"
MPEG Stream: "I Killed For You"
MPEG Stream: "Let's Go (Hide In Plain Sight)"

TELEGRAPH MELTS Ilium (Absolutely Kosher) cd 13.98
Just electric guitar and amplified cello making lush 'indie chamber math rock' or 'classical post rock' or...well, were not sure what to call it, but it sure is cool. Highly recommended!

TELEKINESIS Dirty Thing (Merge) 7" 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

TELEKINESIS Parallel Seismic Conspiracies (Merge) cd 6.98
Why the heck aren't these guys (this guy?) huge? Their debut record, released on Merge a while back, was a practically perfect slab of nineties style indie pop jangle, lush and hooky and rife with glorious Elephant 6isms, and this follow up ep is more of the same. These tracks were mostly recorded lo-fi bedroom style, straight into a laptop, and somehow, even though it's noticeably more lo-fi, it still sounds surprisingly lush, and still catchy like crazy.
And how about that title? Sound tongue twistingly familiar, at least stylistically? It's cause this record is sort of an homage to Guided By Voices, the band having become newly obsessed with GBV's Alien Lanes, and to further that point they offer up a fantastic take on "Game Of Pricks" from that very same record. And it definitely speaks to the pop genius of Telekinesis that the originals barely even pale in comparison. There's also a killer cover of "The Drawback" by the pre-Joy Division outfit, and somehow here, even that chunk of dour buzzsaw punkiness comes out all fuzzy and crunchy and jangly and sounding like a Telekinesis original. So great!
MPEG Stream: "Dirty Thing"
MPEG Stream: "Game Of Pricks"

TELEKINESIS! 12 Desperate Straight Lines (Merge) cd 14.98
If you're not already crazy obsessed with Telekinesis! (and yeah, the exclamation mark is part of the name), listen to maybe a minute of "Dirty Thing", and we're guessing you're gonna be totally smitten. Totally perfect, hooky classic indie pop, lush, and hooky, and so goddamn good. If these guys happened 15 years ago, folks would probably be talking about them the same way they talk about Superchunk and Guided By Voices today. High praise for sure, but well deserved we think. Their debut from last year was easily one of our favorite records, the song "Coast Of Carolina" still on heavy rotation, the perfect mix of Neutral Milk Hotel, Apples In Stereo, Death Cab... just the perfect fuzzy summery pop jam, and the thing was, the record was overflowing with similar jams, as was the cdep that followed, which brings us to this one, and guess what? Yep, another record filled to the brim with still more perfect indie pop, hooky and fuzzy and jangly, but there have definitely been some changes, it's a bit less sunshiney, a little more moody, a subtle darkness wrapped around what on the surface seems like similarly sunny sounds, some more electronics, a little bit glossier, some cool weird studio tricks, but all woven into that Telekinesis! sound we so love. And if "Dirty Thing" isn't enough to convince you, try "Please Ask For Help", which infuses jangle pop with a little bit of new wavey gloom, or "50 Ways" that pairs bug crunchy distorted guitars, with hushed delicate heartfelt vocals, lilting melodies, and super emotional vocals, or "I Cannot Love You" which sounds like some sort of Pavement / Sebadoh hybrid, all bouncy bass, start stop arrangements, and another hook to die for, not to mention some proggy distorto guitars and weird effects, we could probably go track by track through the whole record, which speaks to how great ALL these songs are. Total mixtape manna, indie rock bliss, made for both soothing bitter breakups and for soundtracking hand holding dreamdates, like all the best indie rock. A new favorite for sure!
MPEG Stream: "You Turn Clear In The Sun"
MPEG Stream: "Please Ask For Help"
MPEG Stream: "Dirty Thing"

TELEKINESIS! 12 Desperate Straight Lines (Merge) lp 17.98
If you're not already crazy obsessed with Telekinesis! (and yeah, the exclamation mark is part of the name), listen to maybe a minute of "Dirty Thing", and we're guessing you're gonna be totally smitten. Totally perfect, hooky classic indie pop, lush, and hooky, and so goddamn good. If these guys happened 15 years ago, folks would probably be talking about them the same way they talk about Superchunk and Guided By Voices today. High praise for sure, but well deserved we think. Their debut from last year was easily one of our favorite records, the song "Coast Of Carolina" still on heavy rotation, the perfect mix of Neutral Milk Hotel, Apples In Stereo, Death Cab... just the perfect fuzzy summery pop jam, and the thing was, the record was overflowing with similar jams, as was the cdep that followed, which brings us to this one, and guess what? Yep, another record filled to the brim with still more perfect indie pop, hooky and fuzzy and jangly, but there have definitely been some changes, it's a bit less sunshiney, a little more moody, a subtle darkness wrapped around what on the surface seems like similarly sunny sounds, some more electronics, a little bit glossier, some cool weird studio tricks, but all woven into that Telekinesis! sound we so love. And if "Dirty Thing" isn't enough to convince you, try "Please Ask For Help", which infuses jangle pop with a little bit of new wavey gloom, or "50 Ways" that pairs bug crunchy distorted guitars, with hushed delicate heartfelt vocals, lilting melodies, and super emotional vocals, or "I Cannot Love You" which sounds like some sort of Pavement / Sebadoh hybrid, all bouncy bass, start stop arrangements, and another hook to die for, not to mention some proggy distorto guitars and weird effects, we could probably go track by track through the whole record, which speaks to how great ALL these songs are. Total mixtape manna, indie rock bliss, made for both soothing bitter breakups and for soundtracking hand holding dreamdates, like all the best indie rock. A new favorite for sure!
MPEG Stream: "You Turn Clear In The Sun"
MPEG Stream: "Please Ask For Help"
MPEG Stream: "Dirty Thing"

TELEKINESIS! s/t (Merge) cd 14.98
They sure don't make pop music like this anymore. Or so we thought. A few months back, we heard just a tiny part of a single song from this record, and ever since, we'd been dying for this to finally come out. It was "Coast Of Carolina", first sound sample below, check it out, we'll wait....
If after hearing that, you're not totally in love with Telekinesis! (exclamation point part of the name!) then your pop heart is truly black and shrivelled.
That song is pretty much the ultimate fuzz pop super catchy summer jam of the year. These guys (or actually this guy!) oozes fuzzy Elephant Six style pop genius. Neutral Milk Hotel, Apples In Stereo, that sort of thing, crunchy and jangly guitars, slightly distorted drumming that pounds and swings, the songs soaring through fields of sizzling cymbals and sheets of ebullient pop glimmer and shimmer, the vocals heartfelt and boyish and swoonsome and just a little bit Death Cab, and the sound, a perfect mix of classic power pop, sad boy lo-fi bedroom strum and nineties style jangly indie rock. And every song here is catchy as all get out, hooks everywhere, if we were a bit younger and were going a courting, you know about half of these songs would end up on mix tapes for that special someone. Actually fuck it, we're gonna go make a mix tape right now. Courting or not, this is that rare sort of record that pretty much demands its songs wind up on a crushtape...
MPEG Stream: "Coast Of Carolina"
MPEG Stream: "Tokyo"
MPEG Stream: "Look At The East"
MPEG Stream: "Awkward Kisser"

TELEPATHE Dancemother (I Am Sound) cd 14.98
This is exactly what we were hoping the new Yeah Yeah Yeah's record would sound like when we first heard rumors that it was going to be a more synth based, dance oriented record, but sadly that YYY disc felt a bit flat to our ears.
But Telepathe do it right, tapping into hazy and silky dancefloor pop with enough interesting nuances and influences to make their songs stick! And to hold up so nicely on repeated listens. Makes perfect sense that TV On The Radio's Dave Stiek produced this as it's infused with the same kind of genre blending and avant meets pure pop aesthetic that he's perfected with his own band. You might be familiar with one half of this female duo, Melissa Livaudais who has been in tripped out and witchy outfits like First Nation, who put out a record on Animal Collective's label Paw Tracks.
It's definitely cool as of late for folks with very experimental backgrounds to embrace a more song based and catchy dancefloor aesthetic, as such, this reminds us a bit of the latest Gang Gang Dance outing, albeit with more sparkle and sleekness. We could totally see folks who dig on Italians Do It Better releases finding much to love on Dancemother. The high in the sky feeling of these songs makes for such a satisfying and captivating listen, just dripping with enticing pleasure.
MPEG Stream: "So Fine"
MPEG Stream: "Lights Go Down"
MPEG Stream: "Drugged"

TELEPATHE Farewell Forest (The Social Registry) cd 9.98

TELEPHERIQUE Sight-Seeing Tour (Noise Museum) cd 17.98
Telepherique's slow grinding industrial repetitions (industrial defined more as relating to factories churning enormous machines rather than Nine Inch Nails) culled from a variety of field recordings where voices slip in an out of the macabre atmospheres and shifting rhythmic elements. Thematically based as a tour of a grimy horrific underside to an undisclosed German metropolis.

TELESCOPES 4 (Antenna) cd 16.98

TELESCOPES Singles Compilation #2 (Mind Expansion) cd 15.98
We made the first compilation of Telescopes singles a Record Of The Week late last year, so it would make sense, that the second volume might receive the same honors. As we mentioned back then, we've been pretty obsessed with that particular era in druggy space rock, be it the Telescopes, or Spacemen 3, or Loop, or Swervedriver. There seems to be a resurgence in interest, as more and more young bands discover that sound and attempt to make it their own.
We're not complaining of course, we love that blown out, druggy drone rock, looped riffage, and simple pounding krautrock rhythms, effects and drones, swirling and shimmering, and the recent spate of reissues drove that home, both Loop and Swervedriver getting the deluxe reissue treatment, and reminding us why they STILL rule, and why few bands could ever hope to create the same sort of druggy sonic space magick.
That said, this Telescopes singles collection offers up another side of the band, some of that old sound is still present, the pounding droning churning riffage, the swirling spaced out effects, the buried vox, the trancelike arrangements, but if anything the band have taken their sound even further out, ditching any semblance of proper rock arrangement, sometimes playing the same riff for 6 minutes, other times crafting a slow hushed drone-y crawl, dabbling in abstract slowcore, space-drone, and various other abstractions in sound we don't really have proper names for yet, and you know what? We love it. It's like everything we love about space rock and krautrock and slowcore but just smeared and blurred and pulled apart and reimagined as something way more psychedelic, way more minimal, and so much more compelling and arresting than another disc of fuzzy space-y rock jams (not that we wouldn't love that too), instead, these are explorations, experiments, but only to the degree that they digress from various space rock tropes, offering instead, something wholly other, a sound that is avant and challenging, but at the same time warm and enveloping and inviting. This is timeless trance music, even at it's heaviest, The Telescopes have created some sort of ur-rock, loosed from all the usual rock and roll strictures and allowed to ooze and sprawl and billow and shimmer and explode into ever expanding clouds of blinding glimmer and prismatic tonal shift, and it's ever so divine.
Even though this is technically a singles collection, none of these tracks sound like proper singles, instead, as mentioned above, they barely retain any rock or pop, instead existing as slow shifting fields of looped mysterious sound, infused with elements of the rock and pop that came before.
The opener "Winter #7" is absolutely stunning, a hushed bassy crawl, with ethereal barely audible boy girl vocals, distant horns, plenty of crumbling ambience and buzzing crackle, wheezing keyboards, fans of Crescent and Flying Saucer Attack and similarly abstract space rock will be smitten. Which leads directly and seamlessly into "The Perfect Needle #4" (a title that smacks of Spacemen 3, as does the track itself), a slow smoldering drift, all muted drones, mumbled vox, buried percussive thumps, a sort shimmering patina of glitch and crackle, totally space-y and meditative, which leads directly into the first 'rock' song, "Another Sky" which takes a woozy warbly Loop-ish riff, and then, yep, loops it, creating a totally mesmerizing riffdrone, while all around it effects swirl, voices hover, shards of squiggly guitar streak past sheets of blurred psychedelic supernovas, utterly entrancing and irresistible.
And so it goes, a trajectory set for the outer reaches of the galaxy, but it's not where we're headed, it's how we get there, and the soundtrack to the ride, from the murky muted jangle laced shimmer of "Household Objective #2", the pounding flute flecked effects drenched space garage groove of "Dsm-1v Axis", which gets almost industrial at one point, to the strange muted whirring dronescape of "Another Whip", to the buzzing guitar stasis of "The Blue Shroud Of Alkatraz", with its static charged sheets of crumbling high end, wrapped in tendrils of skree and softened crunch, underpinned by a deep moaning tangle of droneguitar, finally discharging in a warped burst of glitched out effects and fractured buzz. And there's still more to discover, with every listen. Headphones, while not required, will allow you to delve even deeper, allow you to escape your earthly bonds and get lost in the Telescopes world of bleary eyed fuzz, hushed minimal mystery, greyed out guitar grime, and looped outer space shimmer.
MPEG Stream: "Winter #7"
MPEG Stream: "The Perfect Needle #4"
MPEG Stream: "Another Sky"
MPEG Stream: "Dsm-1v Axis"

TELESCOPES Untitled Second (Bomp!) cd 15.98

MPEG Stream: "Splashdown"
MPEG Stream: "High On Fire"
MPEG Stream: "The Sleepwalk (Sitar Version)"

TELESCOPES, THE Altered Perception (Space Age) cd 15.98
If you follow the AQ list at all, you know we love all things space-y and druggy and psychedelic, especially when it's of the dirgey fuzzy grungy variety. Spacemen 3, Hawkwind, F/i, Monster Magnet, the Heads, Loop, and all that stuff. And now you can add the Telescopes to the list. And pretty damn close to the top if you ask us. Not because they're a new discovery, but because their gorgeously massive slabs of blissed out drug fuzz are finally getting reissued. Altered Perception is a compilation of sorts, collecting a handful of previously unreleased tracks as well as a few vinyl-only rarities. Part of the early nineties shoegazer scene, but only peripherally, the Telescopes took the dreamy bliss of My Bloody Valentine and dipped it in thick tarpits of distorted guitar, howled feedback, laconic vocals, landing them sonically much closer to Loop or Spacemen 3. In fact sometimes the similarities are uncanny. Which is not a bad thing. This is supreme drug/head music. Definitely music to take drugs to make music by. One of Andee's most listened to records of the last few weeks.
MPEG Stream: "The Perfect Needle"
MPEG Stream: "Violence"
MPEG Stream: "Deep Hole Ends"

TELESCOPES, THE Another Whip (Trensmat) 7" + cd-r 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We've long been fans of the Telescopes, a veritable UK institution. A long running blissed out space rock outfit as adept at crafting dreamy billowy drone rock epics as they are spewing huge gobs of caustic guitarnoise and wild psychedelic freakouts. This ultra limited 7", in Trensmat's ongoing series of eps, finds the band dabbling in the latter. Two tracks of crumbling slowly decaying space rock ambience, washed out guitars, streaks of glittering feedback, rumbling drones, coruscating white noise guitar buzz, blurred disembodied chordal bliss and crunch slabs of fuzzy distortion, all stretched out into mesmerizing sprawls of dreamlike psychedelic space drone. Heavy and dense, noisy and divine!
Includes a cd-r with the same tracks as the 7", but also with a 40 minute cd-rom film. A gorgeous and super abstract black and white video and live performance recorded in 2006, all stripes and striations, static and video white noise, shifting and slowly moving and changing shape, crumbling beauty, abstract decay and distortion, the visual analogue to the Telescopes blown out ambient skree.
Pressed on opaque cloudy blue vinyl. Packaged in a cool full color sleeve with a half cutaway on the back revealing the single and the cd. LIMITED!!! Of course. Less than 100 copies worldwide...

TELESCOPES, THE Night Terrors (Trensmat) 7" 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We've long been fans of the Telescopes, who have been travelling a sonic path similar to Spacemen 3, Hawkwind, F/i, Monster Magnet, the Heads, Loop and assorted other psychedelic outer space drone rockers. This new 7" though has the band exploring new territory, and we must admit we are pretty dang pleased. If this was some weird Finnish cd-r limited to 50 copies people would be freaking out. But just because it's a new record from a band we know and love, don't let that keep you from picking this up. Might even be the best 7" we've heard all year.
The A side is a droning, buzzing raga-like dreamscape, flitting bird-like flutes that swirl and float over a blackened drift of guitar rumble and pulled apart riffs, until the drums kick in, and then it's like you've been launched into space, a full on drug drenched, FX heavy psychedelic space rock jam, with a thick bassy organ groove, wild flutes and effects EVERYWHERE. Dirge-y and groovy and dreamlike.
The B side is even more far out. A dense tangle of garbled guitars, slowly shifting, little squalls of layered distortion, muted blurry melodies, another sort of raga, this time reminiscent of SUNNO))) or Sunroof!, super blissy and abstract, but still heavy and dense and dark. WOW! Has us dying for a new record. Packaged in cool creepy skull cover art.

TELESCOPES, THE Psychic Viewfinder (Trensmat) 7" lathe cut + cd-r 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We won't go into too much detail with this as we only got 10 copies and we're pretty sure we won't be able to get more. A super limited (less than 100) lathe cut 7" from UK space rock institution The Telescopes. But don't be expecting any Loop like grooves (Loop the band, not loop the... um.. loop) or Hawkwind heart of the sun psychrock blow outs, or even any introspective shoe gazing, instead, this is the Telescopes at their most abstract and minimal, emitting a gorgeous multi-layered high end squall, very much like Sunroof! or Vibracathedral Orchestra. Sheets of wail and skree, keening streaks of feedback and wavering shimmering washes of glimmer and glisten. Two tracks, both barely shifting high end drones, and both quite lovely.Ê
The cool thing about this single is, that it comes with a cd-r containing the same tracks that are on the 7", so since it's a lathe cut, and lathe cuts lose a little on every play, you can play it like crazy, letting it degrade slightly with each listen, enjoying the every changing sound quality, allowing for more crackle and hiss and distortion, probably getting more and more beautiful, without sacrificing the original tunes. Plus the cd-r also includes a QuickTime movie of the band performing in 2006 in Ireland...
Awesome.
MPEG Stream: "Psychic Viewfinder 1"
MPEG Stream: "Psychic Viewfinder 2"

TELESCOPES, THE Singles Compilation 1989-1991 (Mind Expansion) cd 15.98
Here's an easy one, anyone who bought those Loop reissues we made Records Of The Week back on list 307, should probably pick this up too. If you dig Loop and Spacemen 3 and Jesus And Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine, then the Telescopes druggy dirgey spaced out garage rock will definitely find an honored spot alongside those aforementioned outfits.
Formed in 1987, the Telescopes first release was a split with Loop oddly enough, a flexi disc released with a fanzine, pretty auspicious beginning for sure, yet ever since, they have constantly and continually been overshadowed by their drone rock brothers in arms Spacemen 3 and Loop. Which is weird considering how similar their sounds are.
Similar they may have been, but the Telescopes always seemed much more rocking and heavy and WAY more noisy that either, but were definitely not averse to the occasional blissed out Spacemen style druggy drift, or some metallic Loop-ed pound. But those moments were scattered amidst a minefield of amp destroying ear drum splitting spaced out noise rock, with a definite grunge element. Re-listening to these tracks now, it definitely sounds like the seeds that spawned Mudhoney and some of the more raw and rocking early Sub Pop bands.
Pretty much every Telescopes record is worth owning, but this singles collection is especially transcendent, gathering up some of their earliest singles, which means raw and lo-fi, and fuzz drenched, and noisy as fuck and gloriously poppy, and HEAVY, always on the verge of total collapse. Killer hooks doused in distortion, verse chorus verse imploding into a squall of psychguitar freakout and total off-kilter drum damage. Every space filled up with wild streaks of lightning bold feedback, drums and guitar locked into killer stop start grooves, the vocals drenched in distortion, yowling and growling, some serious Stooges infused space rock garage mayhem.
But the band did mellow a bit as time went on, so the second half of the disc offers up another side of the band, groovy tripped out almost paisley sounding sixties jangle drift, pretty strummed soft pop, blissy shoegazey shuffle, lush Beatlesesque shimmer, but still plenty of warbly organ, some surprising banjo, fuzzy reverb, everything in a softly druggy haze.
We reviewed the Telescopes Altered Perception record a while back, another collection of sorts, and while the first two tracks are indeed the same, those are the only two tracks to be found on both. Which means not only is THIS essential, but odds are you're probably gonna want that one too. Cuz as far as we're concerned you can never have too much blurry and buzzy and druggy spaced out noisy garage-y psychedelic drone rock in your life. EVER.
MPEG Stream: "The Perfect Needle"
MPEG Stream: "Sadness Pale"
MPEG Stream: "You Can Not Be Sure"

TELESCOPES, THE Taste (Rev-Ola) cd 17.98

MPEG Stream: "And Let Me Drift Away"
MPEG Stream: "Oil Seed Rape"
MPEG Stream: "Suicide"

TELESCOPES, THE Taste (Bomp!) lp 19.98
NOW ON VINYL (but, without the bonus tracks from The Perfect Needle ep that were added to the recent cd version):
In the past we've taken every opportunity to rave like crazy about this band of British noise/space/psych/drone rockers, and with the current lust for all sounds psychedelic and spaced out, and the popularity of a new wave of psychedelic space rockers: The Heads, White Hills, Carlton Melton, Spyrals, Wooden Shjips, etc, it seems like the perfect time for folks who somehow missed out on the Telescopes to figure out just what it is they've been missing. And what better way than with this, a reissue of their very first full length, originally released way back in 1989, a year after their debut 7", a split with aQ beloved dronerockers Loop, and just the fact that they shared a split with Loop should tell you most of what you need to know. With a sound that veers from hushed, droney, druggy drift, to full on heavy, noisy, distorted dronepsychspace crunch, the Telescopes were like a super charged version of Spacemen 3, injecting some swaggery Stooges-y stomp into their hazy psychedelic mesmer. Think the classics, Hawkwind, Loop of course, Monster Magnet, Spacemen 3, F/i, but then mix in some My Bloody Valentine, and some Jesus And Mary Chain, a little Swervedriver, and the aforementioned Stooges, and what you're left with is a big beautiful noisy chunk of blissed out hypnp-heaviness.
The record opens up with the very Spacemen 3 beholden "And Let Me Drift Away", with it's chiming melodies and simple acoustic strum, all hushed croon and sun dappled glimmer, laced with elegiac piano, violin and even French horn, a definite Velvets vibe happening too, but before you lay back and prepare for a warm whirling druggy drift off as the title implies, DO strap yourself in for the next track, "I Fall, She Screams", a pounding noise rock freak out, wild raspy vocals howled over wild squalls of tangled psych guitar, pounding drums and tons of FX, occasionally locking into some droned out repetition, but then veering right back into wah wah drenched sonic chaos. But then the sound shifts gears again, "Oil Seed Rape" wraps gauzy clouds of distortion around a strummy acoustic lament, all woozy and washed out, but of course peppered with brief blasts of full on noise rock crunch.
And so it goes, the record deftly juggling those two disparate sides of the Telescopes' schizophrenic personality, managing to fuse the two into something simultaneously heavy and heady, dense and dreamy, noisy and hypnotic, offering up some of THEE best droned out psych rock ever: the very Spacemen 3-like "The Perfect Needle" (a nod to Spacemen 3's "The Perfect Prescription?) alongside some of the hookiest heaviness of the era: "Please, Before You Go" which seems to foreshadow the punked out pop of Nirvana or the sludge pop of Torche, alongside full on extended amp destroying psychedelic space rock workouts that rival the masters: the 8 minute chaotic freak out "Suicide".
Awesome.
MPEG Stream: "And Let Me Drift Away"
MPEG Stream: "I Fall, She Screams"
MPEG Stream: "Oil Seed Rape"
MPEG Stream: "Suicide"

TELESCOPES, THE Taste / The Perfect Needle (Bomp!) cd 16.98
In the past we've taken every opportunity to rave like crazy about this band of British noise/space/psych/drone rockers, and with the current lust for all sounds psychedelic and spaced out, and the popularity of a new wave of psychedelic space rockers: The Heads, White Hills, Carlton Melton, Spyrals, Wooden Shjips, etc, it seems like the perfect time for folks who somehow missed out on the Telescopes to figure out just what it is they've been missing. And what better way than with this, a reissue of their very first full length, originally released way back in 1989, a year after their debut 7", a split with aQ beloved dronerockers Loop, and just the fact that they shared a split with Loop should tell you most of what you need to know. With a sound that veers from hushed, droney, druggy drift, to full on heavy, noisy, distorted dronepsychspace crunch, the Telescopes were like a super charged version of Spacemen 3, injecting some swaggery Stooges-y stomp into their hazy psychedelic mesmer. Think the classics, Hawkwind, Loop of course, Monster Magnet, Spacemen 3, F/i, but then mix in some My Bloody Valentine, and some Jesus And Mary Chain, a little Swervedriver, and the aforementioned Stooges, and what you're left with is a big beautiful noisy chunk of blissed out hypno-heaviness.
The record opens up with the very Spacemen 3 beholden "And Let Me Drift Away", with it's chiming melodies and simple acoustic strum, all hushed croon and sun dappled glimmer, laced with elegiac piano, violin and even French horn, a definite Velvets vibe happening too, but before you lay back and prepare for a warm whirling druggy drift off as the title implies, DO strap yourself in for the next track, "I Fall, She Screams", a pounding noise rock freak out, wild raspy vocals howled over wild squalls of tangled psych guitar, pounding drums and tons of FX, occasionally locking into some droned out repetition, but then veering right back into wah wah drenched sonic chaos. But then the sound shifts gears again, "Oil Seed Rape" wraps gauzy clouds of distortion around a strummy acoustic lament, all woozy and washed out, but of course peppered with brief blasts of full on noise rock crunch.
And so it goes, the record deftly juggling those two disparate sides of the Telescopes' schizophrenic personality, managing to fuse the two into something simultaneously heavy and heady, dense and dreamy, noisy and hypnotic, offering up some of THEE best droned out psych rock ever: the very Spacemen 3-like "The Perfect Needle" (a nod to Spacemen 3's "The Perfect Prescription?) alongside some of the hookiest heaviness of the era: "Please, Before You Go" which seems to foreshadow the punked out pop of Nirvana or the sludge pop of Torche, alongside full on extended amp destroying psychedelic space rock workouts that rival the masters: the 8 minute chaotic freak out "Suicide".
This reissues trades in the live tracks that were included as bonus material on the last reissue of Taste for the three tracks from The Perfect Needle ep, the band's 1989 ep, and it's a doozy, and is essentially cut from the same sonic cloth, "Sadness Pale" is a brief blast of slipper slide guitar laced Stoogesy stomp, while "S.H.C. Burn" opens with a wild blast of psychnoise before settling into something a bit more droney and hypnotic, but really never getting any less noisy, and finally, "You Can Not Be Sure" a twisted soundscape of wildly sawed violin over a woozy slithery bassline, wrapped in a haze of washed out shimmer, and pelted by a barrage of strange noises and shards of grind and crunch. Awesome.
MPEG Stream: "And Let Me Drift Away"
MPEG Stream: "I Fall, She Screams"
MPEG Stream: "Oil Seed Rape"
MPEG Stream: "Suicide"

TELEVISION Marquee Moon (Elektra) cd 17.98
Whether you're young or old, into rock or not, male or female, you gotta hear Marquee Moon. If you already know it, then you can skip down to the description of the bonus tracks below, but if you haven't heard it before, then know that Marquee Moon is simply perfection from beginning to end, and is here reissued with 5 bonus tracks. Television's masterpiece came out in 1977 and is inarguably one of the best albums to come out of the New York punk scene (which also included the Ramones, Patti Smith, Blondie, Heartbreakers, etc). Tom Verlaine's sinewy vocals are half-sung, half-spit out over his and Richard Lloyd's interweaving guitars, the solid bass of Fred Smith, and equally solid drumming of Billy Ficca. Richard Hell (later of the Heartbreakers and Voivoids) was also a founding member of the band who stuck around long enough to record their demo but got kicked out before the album, although his influence is definitely heard.
There's so much on this album to love: there's the rollicking guitar party of "See No Evil", the tender piano and epic melodic guitar solo in "Guiding Light", the stark, stunningly lovely twin guitar interplay of the album's 10 minute selftitled centerpiece, etc etc... dammit, this album is BRILLIANT and PERFECT.
As for the bonus tracks, there's the out-there "Little Johnny Jewel" from the band's debut selfreleased 7", alternate versions of "See No Evil" (amazing! -- Richard Lloyd playing quite different stuff from what ended up on the released take), "Friction", and "Marquee Moon" (again, fascinatingly different guitar solos -- and not terrible, thank goodness), and a sprightly, fun instrumental. If you already own this album and love it, I'd advise you to check out the alternate tracks -- they actually are worthy of trading in yer old copy (at least I, Windy, am going to!)
MPEG Stream: "See No Evil (album version)"
MPEG Stream: "Marquee Moon (album version)"
MPEG Stream: "See No Evil (alternate version)"
MPEG Stream: "Guiding Light"

TELEVISION Marquee Moon (4 Men With Beards) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Whether you're young or old, into rock or not, male or female, you gotta hear Marquee Moon. If you already know it, then you can skip down to the description of the bonus tracks below, but if you haven't heard it before, then know that Marquee Moon is simply perfection from beginning to end, and is here reissued ON VINYL. Television's masterpiece came out in 1977 and is inarguably one of the best albums to come out of the New York punk scene (which also included the Ramones, Patti Smith, Blondie, Heartbreakers, etc). Tom Verlaine's sinewy vocals are half-sung, half-spit out over his and Richard Lloyd's interweaving guitars, the solid bass of Fred Smith, and equally solid drumming of Billy Ficca. Richard Hell (later of the Heartbreakers and Voivoids) was also a founding member of the band who stuck around long enough to record their demo but got kicked out before the album, although his influence is definitely heard.
There's so much on this album to love: there's the rollicking guitar party of "See No Evil", the tender piano and epic melodic guitar solo in "Guiding Light", the stark, stunningly lovely twin guitar interplay of the album's 10 minute selftitled centerpiece, etc etc... dammit, this album is BRILLIANT and PERFECT.

TELEVISION PERSONALITIES, THE My Dark Places (Domino) cd 14.98
Long-awaited comeback record from British post punk psych jokers Television Personalities.
Believed to have either disappeared in a fog of mental illness or died mysteriously, frontman Dan Treacy has recently re-emerged after a long stint on a prison barge. Their sound is a hodge podge of noisy psych garage in the vein of Syd Barret, and the Pastels, The Manchester pop of the Charlatans, as well as the arch humor of Toy Dolls and Ian Dury and the Blockheads, that people seem to either really love or really hate. You decide.
MPEG Stream: "Special Chair"
MPEG Stream: "All the Young Children on Crack"
MPEG Stream: "You Kept me waiting Too"

TEMBO, CHRISSY ZEBBY & NGOZI FAMILY My Ancestors (Hummingbird) cd 24.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We've been getting all riled up over some hot Afro-rock releases lately, first from those killer Nigerian comps put out by the Strut and Soundway labels and then The Peace's Black Power reissue. But the lo-fi fuzz that's really rocking our world is this gem from Chrissy Zebby Tembo & Ngozi family, 1974's My Ancestors. Though included on the Love Peace and Poetry African psych compilation, Chrissy Zebby Tembo may not be so memorable from that because their track was the one instrumental track from My Ancestors, and though it's great, it's not as good as the tracks where Tembo sings. Like an odd hybrid of Malcolm Mooney from Can and Sabbath-era Ozzy Osbourne, Tembo's English delivery over these fuzzed-out groovers is the reason to take notice. Hailing from Zambia, same as The Peace and The Witch (another Afro-rock group we'd like to see get more affordably reissued), Tembo wails over these rhythmically charged but largely western-style rock structures. The best being the Sabbath gone to South Africa "Trouble Maker". In constant rotation, since this first arrived a few weeks ago, we've finally managed to get enough to share with our customers. Don't hesitate, this whole record kills!
MPEG Stream: "My Ancestors"
MPEG Stream: "Trouble Maker"
MPEG Stream: "Feeling Good"

TEMBO, CHRISSY ZEBBY & NGOZI FAMILY My Ancestors (Hummingbird) lp 30.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
NOW AVAILABLE ON VINYL!!! Good thing too, since the cd reissue is now out of print. Our review of it follows...
We've been getting all riled up over some hot Afro-rock releases lately, first from those killer Nigerian comps put out by the Strut and Soundway labels and then The Peace's Black Power reissue. But the lo-fi fuzz that's really rocking our world is this gem from Chrissy Zebby Tembo & Ngozi family, 1974's My Ancestors. Though included on the Love Peace and Poetry African psych compilation, Chrissy Zebby Tembo may not be so memorable from that because their track was the one instrumental track from My Ancestors, and though it's great, it's not as good as the tracks where Tembo sings. Like an odd hybrid of Malcolm Mooney from Can and Sabbath-era Ozzy Osbourne, Tembo's English delivery over these fuzzed-out groovers is the reason to take notice. Hailing from Zambia, same as The Peace and The Witch (another Afro-rock group we'd like to see get more affordably reissued), Tembo wails over these rhythmically charged but largely western-style rock structures. The best being the Sabbath gone to South Africa "Trouble Maker". In constant rotation, since this first arrived a few weeks ago, we've finally managed to get enough to share with our customers. Don't hesitate, this whole record kills!
MPEG Stream: "My Ancestors"
MPEG Stream: "Trouble Maker"
MPEG Stream: "Feeling Good"

TEMPERATURE WITHIN / LOVEPOWEREXPERIMENT Through Fire (NOTHingness) cd-r 11.98
Three new sonic missives from the ether, from whatever mysterious alternate sonic universe the NOTHingness label exists in. A world of bleak emptiness, massive expanses of barren rumbling tundras, of glassy black surface sonic pools... Every disc dark and lovely, creepy and ominous, haunting and super intense. And of course outrageously limited...
Through Fire is the first collaboration between these two relatively unknown (at least to us) US industrial ambient drone outfits, Temperature Within and Lovepowerexperiment, and together, they weave a suitably rumbling whirring shimmery series of slow burning dronescapes, that subtly shift and swell and morph over the course of eight Roman numeral-ed tracks. The opener is a prime slab of mysterious melodic dark ambience, imagine Lustmord if the sound was as pretty as it was scary, buried melodies tangled up in gritty crumbling swells of thick low end thrum. But by the end of the track, it has transformed into some sort of epic cinematic swirl, sweeping melodies, simple propulsive rhythms, a lost soundtrack to some dark drama. The rest of the disc unfolds in a similar fashion, tracks wander abstractly through shadowy stretches of haunting tension, barely there soft melodic shimmers, caustic corrosive walls of crumbling drone, and muted neoclassical flares tucked amidst deep blackened swells and slow swirling expanses of slow motion sprawl.Ê
LIMITED TO ONLY 111 COPIES!! Packaged in a slimline dvd style case with full color cover.
MPEG Stream: "I"
MPEG Stream: "II"

TEMPLE s/t (PsiFi) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
3 krautrock albums (from groups you may want to first sample on the "Unknown Deutschland" comps, see below) that were supposedly issued in the 70s in tiny editions of, like, 50 copies or something. The Pyramid album sole track is a mysterious 35-minutes of spacy drone with mellotron, moogs, and Tibetan bells. The Nazgul cd, our favorite of the three, is from 1975 and features 4 long tracks of droning ambience that's easily as good as any current space rock outfit could put together; i.e. Magnog, Labradford or anything else on Kranky. Bonus weirdness: the bandmembers are named Frodo, Gandalf, and Pippin.

TEMPLE OF BON MATIN Endure (Bulb) cd 13.98

TEMPLE OF BON MATIN Flower Footed Ghost (Ruby Red Editora) cd 16.98

TEMPLE OF BON MATIN Infidel (Spirit Of Orr) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

TEMPLE OF NOT B.O.T. (Starlight Temple Society) cd 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The last we heard from industrial black ambient terrorist Temple Of Not, was on a split with black metallers Nightbringer, which makes perfect sense as the man behind ToN, Alcameth, also fronts Nightbringer. But in ToN, Alcameth crafts gorgeously grim expanses of heaving blackened drones, and decaying industrial crumble, the tracks on the split with Nightbringer definitely bucked the black ambient trend by adding all manner of fucked up sound, noise and texture and samples, and on this new one, the method seems to be similar. In fact we were sort of expecting some shimmery black drift, but ToN offers up a sound much more corrosive and aggressive and creepy than typical black ambience, with thick streaks of howling horror, or crumbling distortion, alien voices, inhuman howls, pounded atonal piano, industrial creaks and groans, sounding more like the orchestral black doom weirdness of Gnaw Their Tongues. Sure there are stretches of hushed shimmer, and creeping black sprawl, but those are just brief respites between squalls of sonic crunch, stretches of undulating black terror, clouds of haunting ghostly voices and heaving slabs of blown out buzz.
LIMITED TO ONLY 150 COPIES!!
MPEG Stream: "Maha Mamsa"
MPEG Stream: "The Hands Of Cain"

TEMPLE OF THE MAGGOT How To Perform A Human Sacrifice (Rusty Axe) cd 9.98

TEMPLE OF TIERMES Delerium Sadomaso (Freak Animal) cd 14.98

TEMPLE OF TIERMES Psychotropic Substances (Kaos Kontrol) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Temple of Tiermes is a side project of the Finnish noise/drone ensemble Tiermes (whose Jussi Saivo figures on old Circle and recent Ovalki material, but is not featured on this album). Far from sounding like the arctic hypno-rock of Circle, Temple of Tiermes generates a haunted swarm of overdriven guitar feedback and blustery noise crescendos that are filtered into statospheric shimmers. In the realm of "ambient industrial", not nearly as death obsessed as Brighter Death Now, but more malevolent than Maeror Tri.

TEMPLETON TWINS, THE WITH TEDDY TURNER'S BUNSEN BURNERS Trill It Like It Was (EM Records) cd 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Kinda like a Mr. Show sketch! This cd reissue of an LP from the sixties features then-contemporary pop hits (like the Beatles) done in the old fashioned style of the 1920s. Fun. Another weird one from Japan's always-odd EM Records.

TEMPLETON, MARK Standing On A Hummingbird (Anticipate) cd 15.98
Nice title! And, oooh. It's a very nice recording too. This debut album by electro-acoustic glitchtronica artist Mark Templeton should appeal to fans of Paul Wirkus, Mitchell Akiyama, Guiseppi Ielasi and others working in the experimental-but-beautiful, lowercase field of painterly abstraction, processed instruments, delicate drone, and (last but not least) ambient melodies. Mark Templeton's use of guitar, accordion, vibraphone, cymbals and especially banjo have us most closely comparing this to Geoff Mullen's wonderful thrtysxtrllnmnfstns, as Templeton is similarly submersing the notes played acoustically into a warm, electric bath of creaking staticky stuff, accompanied by murmuring field recordings and chirping digital glitch, like the pleasant but disintegrated soundtrack to some grainy super 8 footage, barely heard beneath the whirr of the film projector itself. Sweet swells of sound throb and drift, fracture and coalesce. It's all very lovely and mysterious, gentle caresses for curious ears.
MPEG Stream: "Pigeons Hurt"
MPEG Stream: "Standing On A Hummingbird"
MPEG Stream: "Pattern For A Pillow"

TEMPO NO TEMPO Waking Heat (self-released) lp 9.98
We'd been hearing lots about this energetic San Francisco band but our ears had yet to grace them until now, and we like what we hear! Angular and melodic post-punk that's reminding us a lot of the crisp energy of the 90's D.C./Dischord scene (Jawbox, Q & Not U, Faraquet) as well as having some of the spunk and relentless uptempo demeanor as folks like Les Savy Fav, Black Eyes, or a less spazzy Mae Shi. We bet these guys are super fun to see live. The LP comes on clear vinyl with a coupon for a free digital download.

TEMPORAL MARAUDER Makes You Feel (Spectrum Spools / Editions Mego) lp 21.00
BACK IN STOCK!!
Another amazing release from Spectrum Spools, the Editions Mego sublabel, who over the last few months has given us records from Mist, Bee Mask, Fabric and Forma, all of them fantastic, and this one is no different. A killer collection of hypnokraut synth psych, that purports to be vintage recordings from back in the day, but we're guessing is more likely the work of a modern music maker raised on a steady diet of Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze.
The record slips back and forth between propulsive almost chaotic krautrock grooves, and more blissed out percolating kosmische synthscapes. Warped loops and swirling effects wrap around a motorik pulse, glistening electro grooves throb hypnotically amidst swirling streaks of blooping and bleeping effects, soft billowing swirls of arpeggiated synths blur into gauzy soundtacky stretches, sometimes splintering into dirgey IDM skitter, or still more noisy electronic pulses. Much of this actually sounds like Astral Social Club at their most electronic.
Every song here is a warm glowing chunk of kosmische bliss out, whether it be a murky sprawl of synth burble and skeletal skitter wreathed in squiggles and chirps, or percolating melodies doused in bleary eared shimmer, all like the work of some sonic mad scientist, whose cauldron is a burbling concoction of classic krautrock, abstract electronica, and dreamy ambient minimalism. So good!

TEN KENS s/t (Fat Cat) cd 14.98

TENACIOUS D s/t (Epic) cd 17.98
For those you who have somehow managed to not become completely obsessed with the 'D', let us bring you up to speed. A few years back there was an amazing sketch comedy show on HBO called Mr. Show. Completely hilarious and more importantly, unfettered by the rules of television (i.e. there was lots of nudity, foul language, etc) seeing as it was cable. The show ran for a few seasons and then Bob and David, the show's masterminds, were screwed out of their show by HBO so the only way to see it was to buy it on EBAY, which we all of course did. Mr. Show occasionally featured a then-unknown Jack Black, who would later go on to steal the spotlight in High Fidelity and become a big star. But after Mr. Show and before stardom, came a short lived HBO series called Tenacious D, revolving around the adventures of Jack Black and Kyle Gass, otherwise known as Tenacious D, the world's greatest, but pathetically underappreciated open mike night duo. The D spent 6 episodes rocking with Sasquatch, stalking their biggest fan Lee, battling the devil, and infiltrating a christian commune that worships gourds, and of course playing impossibly catchy songs on two acoustic guitars with ridiculous lyrics, super complicated parts and perfect harmonies. Combining cheesy seventies riff rock, heavy metal, folk and a peurile obsession with pussy and weed, the D became cult heroes, with copies of the series and bootlegged live shows selling for big bucks on the internet. But with the world clamoring for an official release and fans like Dave Grohl (of Nirvana and the Foo Fighters) we knew that day would come, and it finally has!
So a few things have changed. Most noticeably, the D are no longer an acoustic duo. They are a full on rock band, with drums (courtesy of Dave Grohl of course) electric guitars and even strings! On first listen, it was kind of a bummer, since part of what made it so funny was that these two dorky fat guys were playing classic rock/metal on two acoustic guitars. But the flipside is that the D's unabashed love of seventies cheese metal and FM rock can be fully realised and becomes even more of a brilliant parody. Allan keeps telling us that if we lived in the dorms, we would hate this record. Probably true. It's stupid and silly and the songs are all about fucking and smoking and swearing. But we don't live in the dorms and hopefully we can appreciate this on a different level. Lots of the songs from the series are redone and revamped, and there's a handful of new songs as well as a lot of arguing and discussions about stuff like cock pushups. And the songs sound great. Super rocking, big riffs, stupidly catchy hooks, really heavy, great production, and the vocal harmonies are still intact and still perfect.
So of course you should buy the record, but if you get hooked, you can find the tapes of the HBO series on EBAY and definitely go check out their video for 'Fuck Her Gently'. It's offensive enough to guarantee you won't be seeing it on MTV anytime soon. It's by John K. (of Ren and Stimpy infamy) and it's pretty amazing. You can watch it at http://www.spumco.com.
RealAudio clip: "Tribute"
RealAudio clip: "Explosivo"
RealAudio clip: "Kyle Quit The Band"
RealAudio clip: "Karate"
RealAudio clip: "Double Team"

TENACIOUS D The Complete Master Works (Epic) dvd 19.98
Here's what you gotta do. You have to ignore the legion of frat boys that bang their heads wildly to Tenacious D songs, and try to forget the overproduced debut album, and just clear your mind and succumb to the D. This shit is GODLIKE. Originally a sort of spinoff from the equally godlike Mr. Show, Tenacious D concerned the exploits of the greatest band in the world, and their continuing struggles at various open mic nights. As well as the occasional run ins with Sasquatch, Satan, cults, and crazed fans. All of you who only discovered Jack Black from his recent School Of Rock or hosting Saturday Night Live, NEED to see this, and understand why people knew he was destined to rock our fucking socks off. Disc one is titles 'For Fans' and features an entire live performance in London and is amazing, complete with JB battling a giant inflatable dragon with his mighty sword a la Dio, and plenty of onstage tantrums and bickering. Disc one also contains all 6 episodes which until now had been only available as nth generation dubs, and are so good, they'd be worth $20 all on their own. The episodes are a brilliant and hilarious mix of sketch comedy a la Mr. Show and live acoustic performances, and that's how these songs sound best, just two acoustic guitars, two amazing voices, and some of the best songs ever! If you haven't seen these you are in for a treat. Disc two is titled 'For Psycho Fans' and is pretty much just that. Features three very peurile and disgusting short films like Butt Baby and JB's BJ. You just have to see them. There's also some behind the scens in the studio footage and television appearances on MadTV, Crank Yankers and Late Night. But disc two also has their videos which are amazing. The Spike Jonez directed "Wonderboy", a Lord of the Rings style epic (as well as the making of), "Tribute" (as well as the making of) and the totally amazing "FHG (Fuck Her Gently)" animated video directed by the same guy who did Ren And Stimpy! Finally there's a documentary about life on the road with the D. Worth it for the episodes alone, but even more worth it with all that extra crap!!

TENACIOUS D The Pick Of Destiny (Epic) cd 16.98

MPEG Stream: "Kickapoo"
MPEG Stream: "Classico"
MPEG Stream: "Dude (I Totally Miss You)"

TENACIOUS D The Pick Of Destiny - Deluxe Edition (Epic) cd 27.00

MPEG Stream: "Kickapoo"
MPEG Stream: "Classico"
MPEG Stream: "Dude (I Totally Miss You)"

TENDER FOREVER Wider (K) cd 14.98
So very "K Records"! One gal band Tender Forever is such a perfect fit on this Olympia, WA indie pop label. Melanie Valera makes her low-key sweet Casio-festooned pop on an assortment of keyboards, drum machines, a tattered acoustic guitar and drumkit and a bunch of other noisemakers from the kitchen cupboard (chopsticks, wooden spoon, rice, saucepan). Her softly emotive multilayered vocals meet at the crossroads of Sinead O'Connor, Mirah and Tegan & Sara. Folks around hear were reminded of The Blow and Mates Of State too!!
MPEG Stream: "Tiny Heart And Clever Hand"
MPEG Stream: "Nice If They Tried"

TENDER TRAP Film Molecules (K) cd 14.98
Another honey pie melodious incarnation from Amelia Fletcher and crew. She's already strewn a bountiful sugar coated pop blossoms for many years in Marine Research, Heavenly and Talulah Gosh, but now along with her fellow MR bandmates John Stanley and Rob Pursey, she's veering away from the twee pop path that has been her trademark. They started this group last year with some self-imposed rules: 2-minute songs only, no touring. These rules were soon tossed in the trash. The first rule was broken when they were asked to play with Magnetic Fields in Dublin. Plus, they've got some songs that *gasp* are longer than 120 seconds. Nonetheless, things do sound a bit different this time around. For instance, they've added some electronics into the usual jangly guitar mix and recorded it all digitally. From one song to the next, the trio dons different musical jackets. Stylistically this is all over the damn place. There's a traditional Fletcher perky pop song ("Oh Katrina"), a thumpin' dance track that's right at home next to Stephin Merritt's Future Bible Heroes ("Face Of 73" - complete with Duran Duran "Girls On Film" camera shutter intro!), a raucous, crunchy guitar number ("Dyspraxic"), a slow romantic lovely ("Brown Eyes") and nine more. Nevertheless, at the heart of all of this is really delightful pop, and did we really expect anything less from Ms Amelia? I think not!
RealAudio clip: "Face of 73"
RealAudio clip: "Oh Katrina"
RealAudio clip: "That Girl"
RealAudio clip: "Brown Eyes"