V/A Dirty French Psychedelics (Dirty) cd 16.98
From the same great tastemakers who put together the Dirty Space Disco collection that has become an all-time AQ favorite, comes this collection of sultry and sensual French psychedelia. These are the sounds and artists that have influenced folks like Sebastian Tellier, Air, Islaja, Blonde Redhead, Bjork, Broadcast, Komeda, etc.
And while we of course love the peppy sounds of classic French ye-ye pop, it's the more seductive, warped and tripped out sounds from France in the '70s that really gets us going! When we realized that one of our favorite songs of all time, "Il Pleut" by Brigitte Fontaine (complete with arrangements by Jean-Claude Vannier!) was included, we knew there was some mighty fine curatorial work going on here.
But it's not just that one track, not even close, this comp has turned us on to amazing sounds from new-to-us folks like Christophe, Nino Ferrer, Jeanne Marie Sens as well as long beloved AQ faves like Dashiell Hedayat, Ilous & Decuyper, and Francois de Roubaix. While many of their US and UK counterparts were injecting large amounts of blues and hard rock into their psychedelia, the French kept it sensual, steamy and tripped out, realizing an alternate yet completely enticing musical universe. Full on sexy psychedelic seduction! Weirdness too, like the awesome track whose grooves are backed with the sounds of revving race cars.
MPEG Stream: BRIGITTE FONTAINE "Il Pleut"
MPEG Stream: CHRISTOPHE "Sunny Road To Salina"
MPEG Stream: JEANNE-MARIE SENS "Tape Tape Tape"

V/A Dirty French Psychedelics (Dirty) lp 26.00
NOW ON VINYL!!
From the same great tastemakers who put together the Dirty Space Disco collection that has become an all-time AQ favorite, comes this collection of sultry and sensual French psychedelia. These are the sounds and artists that have influenced folks like Sebastian Tellier, Air, Islaja, Blonde Redhead, Bjork, Broadcast, Komeda, etc.
And while we of course love the peppy sounds of classic French ye-ye pop, it's the more seductive, warped and tripped out sounds from France in the '70s that really gets us going! When we realized that one of our favorite songs of all time, "Il Pleut" by Brigitte Fontaine (complete with arrangements by Jean-Claude Vannier!) was included, we knew there was some mighty fine curatorial work going on here.
But it's not just that one track, not even close, this comp has turned us on to amazing sounds from new-to-us folks like Christophe, Nino Ferrer, Jeanne Marie Sens as well as long beloved AQ faves like Dashiell Hedayat, Ilous & Decuyper, and Francois de Roubaix. While many of their US and UK counterparts were injecting large amounts of blues and hard rock into their psychedelia, the French kept it sensual, steamy and tripped out, realizing an alternate yet completely enticing musical universe. Full on sexy psychedelic seduction! Weirdness too, like the awesome track whose grooves are backed with the sounds of revving race cars.
MPEG Stream: BRIGITTE FONTAINE "Il Pleut"
MPEG Stream: CHRISTOPHE "Sunny Road To Salina"
MPEG Stream: JEANNE-MARIE SENS "Tape Tape Tape"

V/A Dirty Laundry - The Soul Of Black Country (Trikont) 2lp 31.00

V/A Dirty Space Disco (Tiger Sushi) cd 16.98
AT LONG LAST RE-PRESSED AND BACK IN STOCK!
We've been waiting for this one with all kinds of excitement and anticipation. The always eclectic and forward minded folks at Tigersushi have compiled one of the more intriguing and rewarding comps of recent times. Digging deep into the vaults of the slow and drugged out side of disco's past they have miraculously connected dots that we always dreamed would finally be joined together. Dirty Space Disco brings together folks from the more avant and krautrock worlds like Roedelius (of Cluster), Conrad Schnitzler, and Clara Mondshine, setting their tracks up alongside disco luminaries and obscure dance floor burners from Sylvester, Fern Kinney, Odyssey, Undisputed Truth and more. This is all about the moody, seductive and way late night side of disco.
We've been big fans of the current movement of artists tapping into this seductive sound (Lindstrom, Chromatics, Prins Thomas, etc.) but we're so happy to have the blueprints and origins of those sounds all on one disc. Though he's not included in this collection we know Arthur Russell would be so happy to see this disco / avant-garde match up finally happen. We're in love with so much of this comp but it's pretty much worth it alone for Sylvester's "I Need Somebody To Love Tonight" one of the greatest spaced out disco gems of all time, from his amazing Stars LP which came out in 1979 and features the innovative production of Patrick Cowley, one of the unsung heroes and pioneers of the San Francisco electronic/dance scene.
Luckily just about every other track is just as fantastic. This collection has been at the top of the charts on KUSF (our local college radio station, where both Irwin and Andee have shows) ever since it went into rotation and it's no surprise because it's the kind of collection that easily wins over folks who thought they just weren't into disco just as much as it pleases those of us who are huge disco freaks!! Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: ROEDELIUS "Regenmacher"
MPEG Stream: SYLVESTER "I Need Somebody To Love Tonight"
MPEG Stream: TONY ESPOSITO "Processione Sul Mare"
MPEG Stream: ODYSSEY "Who"

V/A Dis-Jointed (Dis-Joint) cd 14.98
About a year ago we wrote about a 12" split of a couple of Wackie's tracks that were both amazing in their own ways. The A-Side was Horace Andy's "Musical Episode", an extended 12" mix which is probably one of the best disco mixes we'd ever heard and the B-Side was an absolutely bizarre extended mix called the "Wack Rap" from 1979 and featuring some completely off kilter impersonations of the Sugarhill Gang. Well, Dis-Joint records, the fellas who released that 12", have put together a nice compilation of tracks featuring the aforementioned along with several singles -- new and old -- that their label has released. Now the vinyl-ly challenged can also join in on the enjoyment of these two tracks and then some. There's quite a few rare tracks here, including an instrumental mix of Ronnie Gee's "Raptivity" from 1980, Zap Pow's reggae homage to Kool & The Gang "Lottery Spin" recorded at Dynamic Sounds way back in 1976, plus some new dance floor cuts inspired from the old school by the likes of DJs Cool Chris & Romanowski, Ben Cook & Deep Fuzz, Dub Diablo and more.
MPEG Stream: HORACE ANDY "Musical Episode"
MPEG Stream: SOLID C., BOBBY D. & KOOL DROP "Wack Rap (Version Mix)"
MPEG Stream: HUMAN RACE "Human Race"

V/A Dis-Jointed (Dis-Joint) 2lp 14.98
About a year ago we wrote about a 12" split of a couple of Wackie's tracks that were both amazing in their own ways. The A-Side was Horace Andy's "Musical Episode", an extended 12" mix which is probably one of the best disco mixes we'd ever heard and the B-Side was an absolutely bizarre extended mix called the "Wack Rap" from 1979 and featuring some completely off kilter impersonations of the Sugarhill Gang. Well, Dis-Joint records, the fellas who released that 12", have put together a nice compilation of tracks featuring the aforementioned along with several singles -- new and old -- that their label has released. Now the vinyl-ly challenged can also join in on the enjoyment of these two tracks and then some. There's quite a few rare tracks here, including an instrumental mix of Ronnie Gee's "Raptivity" from 1980, Zap Pow's reggae homage to Kool & The Gang "Lottery Spin" recorded at Dynamic Sounds way back in 1976, plus some new dance floor cuts inspired from the old school by the likes of DJs Cool Chris & Romanowski, Ben Cook & Deep Fuzz, Dub Diablo and more.

V/A Disco Deutschland Disco (Marina Records) 2lp 19.98
NOW ON VINYL!
Oh how we've adored the Germans' take on various musical styles over the years, and we're not just talking about their obvious kosmiche krautrock brilliance. No, it's German musicmakers' handling of the more unexpected genres that have deepened our love affair tenfold. The hip '60s kitten heeled go-go pop of the In-Kraut compilations? The spaghetti (er, sauerkraut?) westerns of the Wig Wam Weste(r)n Weisse Wolfe collections? Yes and yes! Those two genres are unquestionably more commonly associated with French chanteuses and American cowboys, so the unmistakable German inflections that surface always make for a delightful twist on the familiar.
Now Marina Records, who brought us those In-Kraut comps, takes it (or is it retakes it?) to the dancefloor with this compilation of German disco and funk music circa 1975 thru 1980. They're not messin' around. This is straight-up boogie wonderland business. Awesome.
Some highlights include the 8+ minute Supermax track, a lowdown I'm so sexy unstoppable groover... the Giorgio Moroder studio band Munich Machine's classic "Get On The Funk Train"... and a disco-era hit from In-Kraut alumnus Peter Thomas and his Sound Orchestra... among 15 other mainly killer, glitterball dazzlers. Now, if the weird thing is, this isn't really that weird. Heck disco's even back "in" now. Don't go expecting krautrocky craziness, instead just get yer dancing shoes on and yer ass in gear. Seriously, this has been getting spun in the store by AQ staffers just as much or more than anything else lately, and when it's on we've been getting our work done with just a little more groove.
Includes a 14-page booklet of informative liner notes, with such interestin' tidbits as that Berry Lipman's track "Sex World" was used as the theme song for an American porno film, but originated as an instrumental from the German sci-fi TV series Star Maidens...
MPEG Stream: SUPERMAX " Love Machine"
MPEG Stream: LIPMAN, BERRY "Sex World"
MPEG Stream: PETER THOMAS SOUND ORCHESTRA "Opium"

V/A Disco Italia (Strut) cd 14.98
The past few years have been good to disco. Somehow it's managed to rise above the mucky kitsch value in which it had become historically mired. The popular conception that it was just a mess of ridiculous clubs jamming The Andrea True Connection packed tight with sequins and cocaine is apparently not wholly true. Not every club played Andrea True. But amidst the silly outfits and copious drug use, there were some fantastic songs and artists that expanded on the innate dance potential within funk and soul. As the ubiquitous cowbell and 4/4 rhythmic pattern of disco spread across the world like a glamorous plague, different regions seemed to add their own take on the dance phenom. Perhaps most notably were the Italians. Ah, even in pop culture, where would dance music be without the bassline arpeggiations of Giorgio Moroder? The clearest trademark of much Italo Disco, along with the synthetic drum sounds, and the overall spacey, futuristic bent. That is to say, there was a specific sound that became relevant and distinctive. And while this compilation really does have some amazing songs - like the semi-obvious "Now Baby Now" from Kano - not every song really does a good job at conveying what it is that makes this very recognizable genre what it is. Moreover, even as a disco collection, there are some notably weak moments. For instance, Revanche's "1979 It's Dancing Time," with b-rate, throw away choral vocals that cheaply hint at the Philadelphia sound. Not to mention the insanely dated and just plain cheesy title. Then there's D. D. Sound's "Burning Love," a secondhand version of the wonderfully sleazy, inventive Rinder and Lewis work that earmarked the AVI sound from LA - geez, will someone reissue that stuff?! There is a booklet inside, which is fairly informative, if not a little self-serious. An example is contained within the first paragraph where the author of "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life," Bill Brewster, very boldly claims that if not for Italo, then "dance music would have remained decidedly more monochrome and house music would almost never have happened." We're going to say that Larry Levan and Frankie Knuckles might disagree a bit. Sure it was definitely an important chapter in dance music history, but let's not get completely carried away. Okay, enough of the negative aspects. There are some great songs on here that are totally worth owning, like Kasso's "Brazilian Dancer." What an amazing song! Totally in the vein of French group Voyage's completely epic and timeless "I Love You Dancer." Bands like Daft Punk and Phoenix can just send them a thank you letter and royalties at any point in time. So, completists will want this, but maybe it's not the best starting place for someone just working their way into this type of music. Although if you're a big fan of disco already, then you have probably been searching for one or more of these tracks at some point.
MPEG Stream: KANO "Now Baby Now"
MPEG Stream: RED DRAGON BAND "Let Me Be Your Radio (Part 1)"
MPEG Stream: FIREFLY "Love (Is Gonna Be On Your Side)"

V/A Disco Not Disco (Strut) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Wow! As if the Tony Allen reissues and the stellar Club Africa compilations weren't enough, the excellent UK label Strut has undertaken to compile a look back at the early days of *underground* disco when disco was an outgrowth of both New York punk and "No New York" proto new wave. This record is fantastic. It is ass kicking stripped down disco with no affectations and no stupid fashion victim Saturday Night Fever synth action to muck up the groove. Wailing JB's-style horns, chiming guitars and staccato bass, all backboned by totally organic percussion that makes you think "fucking kick ass live drummer" instead of "hmmm, good drum machine programming". Sure, this music has been sitting around for years and most of you have probably heard a track or two contained here, but Strut's stroke of genius has been to compile these tracks *together*, coming as they do from seemingly totally disparate groups who don't (to our ears today) share much in common -- from Yoko Ono (a track she began remixing on the day John Lennon was killed) to Liquid Liquid (the classic "Cavern", whose bassline was stolen, er, appropriated by Grandmaster Flash for "White Lines")... to Bill Laswell, Ian Dury, Steve Miller(!) and Don Cherry(!). The pages and pages of liner notes do a lot to bring these artists together in a musically logical sense, and I have to say that the Loose Joints track "Tell You (Today)" is hands down my fave single of the year -- thank god for "Disco No Disco" or I never would've heard it (we put almost the whole seven minute track up on the website so you can hear it in all its glory -- it starts in one place and ends up in quite another and you're not quite sure how you got there but you're glad).
If the word "disco" makes you cringe, get ready for your world to change. And if you thought that band !!!'s record funkified your indierock life, they ain't NOTHING compared to "Disco Not Disco".
P.S. Someone really needs to tell Neil Hamburger he sounds exactly like Steve Miller on "Macho City".
RealAudio clip: LIQUID LIQUID "Cavern"
RealAudio clip: LOOSE JOINTS "Tell You (Today)"
RealAudio clip: YOKO ONO "Walking on Thin Ice"
RealAudio clip: STEVE MILLER BAND "Macho City"
RealAudio clip: IAN DURY AND THE SEVEN SEAS PLAYERS "Spasticus Autisticus"

V/A Disco Not Disco (3) (Strut) cd 16.98
Strut is back! After releasing 2 amazing comps of the finest in underground leftfield disco and post-punk dance rarities, Strut called it a day. This was heartbreaking news as we were hoping Strut would become a stalwart reissue label like Soul Jazz or Numero Group. Miraculously, they have defied the odds and with the help of K7! and risen once again, hopefully to stay around for awhile. And with their return comes this third volume from the always exciting Disco Not Disco series. Billed as Post Punk, Electro and Leftfield Disco classics from 1974-1986, the bulk of the cuts are heavier on the eighties side with classic tracks from Shriekback, Quango Quango, Material and Konk. But also with rare leaps into Belgian and German territory with Liaisons Dangereuses, Kazino and Gina X performance (which due to an 11th hour dispute may or may not really be a Yellow Magic Orchestra track). Vivien Goldman and Delta 5 represent classic late seventies British post-punk while a Kid Creole remix of James White and The Blacks "Contort Yourself" offers a breezier twist on the New York scene favorite. The proto-disco fusion groove of Isotope is the earliest and our least loved track, but the white hot store favorite status goes to A Number Of Names' "Sharivari" and The Pop Group spin off project, Maximum Joy's minimal dub winddown "Silent Street / Silent Dub". So Killer! Strut's essential comps do not stay in print for very long so don't miss out on the first of 2008's awesome party jams!
MPEG Stream: VIVIEN GOLDMAN "Laundrette"
MPEG Stream: KONK "Your Life"
MPEG Stream: A NUMBER OF NAMES "Sharivari (Instrumental)"
MPEG Stream: MAXIMUM JOY "Silent Street / Silent Dub"

V/A Disco Not Disco 2 (Strut) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This title seems to be out of print, but we just managed to snag a dozen-or-so copies, and at a reduced price. So, back in stock, if very temporarily. If you missed out before, get it now while you can! Here's our review from when we first had it:
As you probably know, the first volume of Strut's Disco Not Disco compilation has been a big hit here at AQ, with customers and staff alike. Well, we're happy to report that volume 2 is also great. It's a look back at the early days of *underground* disco when disco was an outgrowth of both New York punk and "No New York" proto new wave -- and although volume 2 doesn't limit itself to New York (there's Dutch, British, German musicians here), it is still ass kicking stripped down disco with no affectations and no stupid fashion victim Saturday Night Fever synth action to muck up the groove. Sure, this music has been sitting around for years and most of you have probably heard a track or two contained here, but Strut's stroke of genius has been to compile these tracks *together*, coming as they do from seemingly totally disparate groups who don't (to our ears today) share much in common -- from Laid Back's classic "White Horse" to Yello's much sampled "Bostitch", Can's "Aspectacle (Holger Czukay edit)", and yes, there's another Arthur Russell track to match the fucking brilliance of his piece "Tell You Today" on the first Disco Not Disco comp. The only misstep, in my opinion, is the inclusion of the Clash's "This is Radio Clash" at the tail end of the comp. The song is so familiar and even a bit tired, and while we appreciate that it rightfully belongs in this context, it still will make you run to your stereo to see if somehow the radio got turned on by accident. Still, highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: ARTHUR RUSSELL "Let's Go Swimming"
MPEG Stream: LAID BACK "White Horse"
MPEG Stream: ALEXANDER ROBOTNICK "Problemes d'Amour"

V/A Disco Not Disco 2 (Strut) 2lp 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
As you probably know, the first volume of Strut's Disco Not Disco compilation has been a big hit here at AQ, with customers and staff alike. Well, we're happy to report that volume 2 is also great. It's a look back at the early days of *underground* disco when disco was an outgrowth of both New York punk and "No New York" proto new wave -- and although volume 2 doesn't limit itself to New York (there's Dutch, British, German musicians here), it is still ass kicking stripped down disco with no affectations and no stupid fashion victim Saturday Night Fever synth action to muck up the groove. Sure, this music has been sitting around for years and most of you have probably heard a track or two contained here, but Strut's stroke of genius has been to compile these tracks *together*, coming as they do from seemingly totally disparate groups who don't (to our ears today) share much in common -- from Laid Back's classic "White Horse" to Yello's much sampled "Bostitch", Can's "Aspectacle (Holger Czukay edit)", and yes, there's another Arthur Russell track to match the fucking brilliance of his piece "Tell You Today" on the first Disco Not Disco comp. The only misstep, in my opinion, is the inclusion of the Clash's "This is Radio Clash" at the tail end of the comp. The song is so familiar and even a bit tired, and while we appreciate that it rightfully belongs in this context, it still will make you run to your stereo to see if somehow the radio got turned on by accident. Still, highly recommended!

V/A Disco Rallado (Broklyn Beats) cd 9.98

V/A Disco Undead (Device) cd 16.98
How could we resist a disc with cute lil' bitty lo-res computer graphic zombies on the cover? We couldn't! Disco Undead is a theme compilation, an electro tribute to horror movies, especially the Italian '70s and '80s gore and suspense variety, as directed by maestros like Argento and Fulci. So of course you should expect some Goblin worship, and you get it with Bangkok Impact's version of Goblin's seminal Profundo Rosso theme, here titled "The Pianist And The Reporter". Not only that, but the theme to Suspiria also gets covered as well (Solenoid's "Suspiriorum"). We've gotta say, though, that it is just a little weird/lame that Goblin themselves are credited nowhere on this! It's a tribute after all, so why not give credit where credit is due? Other artists/tracks include Gigue's "Fulci's Rotting Children", Negative's "Cannibal Sluts", Orgue Electronique's "Le Notti Del Terrore", Legowelt's "Season Of Samhain" and Porn Darsteller's "Holocaust" among others. Movie themes are plundered and re-interpreted, beats get dropped onto spooky incidental music, and much inspiration is taken from the stylishness of these campy slasher flicks. Just imagine if John Carpenter made electro/techno dance mixes...kinda like his theme to Friday The 13th. Creepy keyboards, distorted computer voices, zombie-plodding rhythms, soulless textures, all good stuff! It's true that some of this comes off a bit like electro elevator music, but that's the case with a lot of the original horror scores as well, which are eerie and sinister mainly due to context, not content. After all, a lot of the best Goblin is more funky than frightening! Anyway, this is a perfect fit for the already-retro electro approach, and that Profundo Rosso version is a classic!
MPEG Stream: BANGKOK IMPACT "The Pianist And The Reporter"
MPEG Stream: ORGUE ELECTRONIQUE "Le Notti Del Terrore"

V/A Discover Indonesia (Smithsonian Folkways) cd 6.98
For those of you who may find the full 20-volume Smithsonian Folkways "Music Of Indonesia" series a little daunting, and don't know just where to begin, the kind folks at SFW decided to release this budget-priced series sampler cd. Featuring 15 tracks selected from the many amazing entries in the series. Everything from xylophone duets to brass bands, from church songs to gamelan, from bamboo tubes to funeral gongs. Totally great. Get this and then begin collecting the volumes from whence comes the music that intrigues you the most on here. We also recommend Vol. 20 ("Indonesian Guitars") and Vol. 2 ("Popular Music of Indonesia") as being good starting points and definite essentials in this series.

V/A DIY-Fest (DHR) cd 14.98
A sound and spoken word collection of international DIYers including contributions from Atari Teenage Riot members Nic Endo, Hanin Elias, and Alec Empire as well as Jello Biafra, Dillinger Escape Plan, Ani Difranco, Creation Is Crucifixion, Mystic of Heiroglyphics, Nicole Blackman, William Upski Wimsatt (author of "No More Prisons" and "Bomb The Suburbs"), and more.
RealAudio clip: DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN VS. NIC ENDO "43 Percent Burnt Remix"

V/A DJ Dank's Biggest (Bong) Hits (Hip Hop History Series) cd 11.98
(Paraphrased from the back cover of this, again, EXTREMELY LIMITED release:)
Hot on the heels of the St. Ides rap compilation "DJ Drank's Greatest Malt Liquor Hits" in the "Hip Hop History Collectors' Series" comes "DJ Dank's Biggest Bong Hits" featuring the best of West Coast 1990's hip hop/rap dank (weed) anthems including Tha Alkaholiks' "Mary Jane," Luniz' "I Got 5 On It (Remix)," and Total Devastation's "Many Clouds of Smoke." With every other hip hop track including some reference to getting high there are tons of rhymes about joys of the sticky green. And one of the best times for weed anthems, especially on the West Coast, was the first half of the nineties (hip hop's "blunted" era) when Dr. Dre released "The Chronic," Cypress Hill reigned supreme, and such classics as RBL Posse's "Don't Gimme No Bammer Weed," Total Devastation's "Many Clouds Of Smoke," The Luniz' "I Got Five On It," and The Pharcyde's "Pack The Pipe" were all released. The so-bad-it's-good "Leprechaun In The Hood" boasts a classic weed moment when Ice T shares "the bomb" with the evil lil green fella ("A friend with a weed is a friend indeed!"). Note that back in 1993 when it seemed like everyone was getting blindly blunted the lone dissenting voice of Boots offered up an alternate view ("ain't no revolution gonna come from the blunted") in "The Last Blunt" on the Coup's debut, "Kill My Landlord."

V/A DJ Drank's Greatest Malt Liquor Hits cd-r 11.98
VERY LIMITED. And we think the blurb on the back of the cd says it best, so we'll just quote it:
Before the appropriately named Alkaholiks DJ/producer E-Swift hooked up with King Tee and DJ Pooh to work on a series of 60-second St. Ides TV and radio commercial spots that they had been commissioned to do: complete with a budget that allowed them to bring in some of the best emcees of the day. These rap commercials were really really good (they sound better than most commercial rap crap today!) and were so immensely popular at the time (early 90's when commercial radio didn't play nearly as much rap as today, esp. West Coast artists) that they resulted in listeners jamming radio station request lines at stations like Wild 107, San Francisco just to hear Cube or the Geto Boys rap about their favorite high-octane malt liquor. Not surprisingly with lyrics like Cube's "Get your girl in the mood quicker, get your jimmy thicker, with St. Ides malt liquor," it wasn't long before controversy soon overshadowed the advertising campaign. Outraged protests followed particularly in African-American and Hispanic communities where malt-liquor billboards and posters were defaced. Additionally the St. Ides commercials were publicly criticized by the U.S. Surgeon General and the New York State Consumer Protection Commission and drew fines from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, as well as the New York State Attorney General's Office. Additionally Korean grocers boycotted St. Ides, but for a different reason, for their use of Ice Cube as their spokesperson. Their protest was based on Cube's derogatory lyrical comments about Koreans in his album "Death Certificate." (Note: McKenzie River Partners, the San Francisco-based maker of St. Ides, consequently temporarily discontinued using Ice Cube.) But the biggest criticism of the St. Ides commercials was that it used hip hop/rap music, a genre most popular with teenagers at the time, to sell malt liquor directly to underage drinkers. This was further enforced when St. Ides blatantly marketed a nonalcoholic drink for kids, boldly using the St. Ides name/logo (check out the lyrics to Ice Cube's "Crooked I For All Ages" track #30). Overall the reaction to the St. Ides ads was so intense that G. Heileman Co., the national brewer that had created the St. Ides label, disavowed any connection with St. Ides. And eventually the commercials were banned altogether and never heard/seen again.
With Ice Cube, Yo-Yo, Geto Boys and Scarface, Snoop Dogg, Wu Tang Clan, Eric B & Rakim, EPMD, and many more. 30 tracks in all. VERY LIMITED.

V/A DJ Hype Presents The Ganja Kru: Super Sharp Shooter ep (BMG) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Including DJ Zinc's awesome "Super Sharp Shooter" track, an old AQ-favorite, previously available only on 12" vinyl. Kick ass drum and bass jungle.

V/A DJ Prank's Greatest Celebrity Phone Calls (Hip Hop History Series) cd-r 11.98
SUPER LIMITED.
Kathy McGinty lovers watch out! If you loved that prank phone call album and wanted to replicate the effect -- a preprogrammed set of responses to unleash upon unsuspecting folks -- here's your chance. And it's all Aaaahnold! Schwarzenegger that is. Plus Pacino and Pesci. You may remember these pranks making the rounds on the net a few years ago -- "I'm Detective John Kimball!" and "Who is your daddy and what does he do?" The calls even made it onto an early episode of the AQ Neighborhood Films series. So we've got 21 tracks of the existing prank calls (answering machine material for days!), 24 of the actual sound bytes so you can make your own calls, plus 9 bonus digital skratch DJ tracks -- perfect for DJs with cd scratchers. 55 tracks in all.
RealAudio clip: "You Love to Say 'Son of a Bitch'"
RealAudio clip: "Gateway"

V/A Do The Pop! (Shock) 2cd 18.98
50 songs of Australian garage rock 1976-1987, almost all of it fucking great! Most of us are familiar with the The Saints and Radio Birdman, but included on this compilation are a bunch of amazing lesser knowns running the gamut from dirty rock to jangly pop to crusty garage to Detroit influenced punk. Bands like The Hoodoo Gurus (one of Andee's favorite bands ever), Died Pretty, The Lipstick Killers, The Sunnyboys, The Scientists, The Lime Spiders, The Screaming Tribesmen, The Hard-Ons, The Celibate Rifles, The New Christs, The Eastern Dark, The Exploding White Mice, The Stems and more. 2 1/2 hours!! It's like Christmas or something, I (Sadie) already loved The Saints and Radio Birdman but hadn't heard any of these other bands and I'm freaked out at how much awesome garage rock I've been missing out on. Andee told me that the Celibate Rifles are rad, and they are! Other kick ass bands are the Scientists (who also have a collection on Sub Pop), the Lime Spiders, the Victims, oh I could go on and on! Just buy this. One of the best compilations we've heard in a long time! (Particularily great if you got that excellent recent Sub Pop Radio Birdman collection reviewed on list #118, and want to hear more from their scene, or the scene that they inspired.)
RealAudio clip: THE SAINTS "Simple Love"
RealAudio clip: LIPSTICK KILLERS "Driving The Special Dead"
RealAudio clip: CELIBATE RIFLES "Back In The Red"
RealAudio clip: LE HOODOO GURUS "Leilani"

V/A Do The Pop! Redux Part One (Savage Beat) 2cd 24.00

V/A Document 03 - Diffuse (Dorobo) cd 14.98
"Diffuse" is a collection of work produced by the graduates from the Media Arts Department of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia, under the guidance of noted Australian electro-glitch composer Philip Samartzis. It seems that Samartzis has clearly taught his students about a number of contemporary electronic manifestations of sound, but has impressed the neccessity for space and silence for sound to breath and move. Thus, none of his students have presented the claustrophobic assaults of noise culture, rather these are nano-technological movements that bridge the Raster / Ikeda purity of digital sound and the Surreal drama of French musique concrete. Artists include Troy Allan, Thembi Soddell, Andie Reynolds, Bruce Mowson, Camilla Hannan, G_S, James Celil, Sianna Lee, Phillip Pietruschka, 24k, and Haima. Heard of any of 'em? Neither have I, but hopefully they'll put out more work soon.
RealAudio clip: THEMBI SODDELL "Pnc"
RealAudio clip: ANDIE REYNOLDS "As"
RealAudio clip: G_S "Outside"

V/A Documenta.II (Agenda) cd 16.98
Let's hope that nobody confuses this compilation with any of the "Documenta" shows, as there is really nothing in common with this compilation and the massive art exhibit in Kassel, Germany. Rather this is the second in a series from Agenda (the avant-rock subsidiary of UK house label Peacefrog), featuring "some of the finest moments in the movement of modern acoustic and electroacoustic grooves." What Agenda means by such half-baked lingo is the groovier side of post-rock, and has gotten together a pretty good sampling from the Hausmusik crowd (Lali Puna, Tarwater, Tied + Tickled Trio, and Notwist), plus cuts from Mum (the Icelandic, not the German band), Labradford, Calexico, American Analog Set, Windy & Carl, Mice Parade, State River Widening, Bergheim 34, Re, and Savath & Savalas. It should be noted that while some of these tracks are qualified as "rare," nothing's unreleased or exclusive.
RealAudio clip: LALI PUNA "Superlotado"
RealAudio clip: CALEXICO "Stinging Nettle"

V/A DOEL Presents NEXTASY Recording Distronica (DOEL) cd 14.98

V/A Don't Fuck With Us (Digital Hardcore) 3cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Alec "The Destroyer" Empire, fed up with the Berlin scene, returned to the New York DHR offices and rummaged through the huge box of demo tapes from numerous underground and largley unheard American artists. These three jam-packed discs feature 35 of those artists in 66 tracks of harshness in the typically darkcore DHR fashion. Features The Shizit, Ronin, Kaar, Schizoid, Dummy Plug Conspiracy (who contribute a track with the great title "All The Worst Albums In The World Were Recorded On Protools"), Edgey, plus 29 others. And according to Empire, this compilation is "just the tip of the iceberg"! Fucking great. Really hypnotic and powerful, avoiding the 'annoying factor' that so often comes into play with other DHR releases. A total listening experience, actually kinda melodic! despite all the hard noise posturing. I ended up listening to all three discs, all in a row the other night. Can't remember the last time I did that with any record, especially a 3 cd set of 'abrasive' electronic music. From Boards Of Canada on steroids, to dreamy droney rhythms, to all out pummelling almost-gabber, to kind-of black metal (track 8 on disc one, Schizoid, is VERY Burzum goes DHR), this compilation is way more satisfying than almost any 'electronic music' compilation in recent memory. And a steal at $15.98 for three discs!
RealAudio clip: SCHIZOID "Indulgence/Compulsion"
RealAudio clip: CATHODE RAY TUBE "Tweaking"
RealAudio clip: THE SHIZIT "Audio Jihad II"
RealAudio clip: CHEAP CZAD "Automobiles"
RealAudio clip: PIVOT "33 Percent Remix (By Technology Scum)"

V/A Don't Let The Bastards Get You Down - A Tribute to Kris Kristofferson (Jackpine) cd 14.98
The first of two Kris Kristofferson tribute albums to come out in this here year 2002, Don't Let the Bastards Get You Down was put together by local man about town Nick Tangborn. Like a Dwight Yoakum of his day, Kris Kristofferson was equally involved with acting AND music. Yep, he wrote "Me and Bobby McGee"! And "Sunday Mornin' Coming Down" (which, if you can find it, was once covered by Hank Ballard stunningly well)! Anyway, except for a jarring track by Dart, whose synthesized drums stick out like a sore thumb, the whole album is uniformly melancholy and slow. So, y'know, the Low and Red House Painters fans amongst you might even like it. Highlights include renditions by Paul Burch, John Doe (a gravelly "Me and Bobby McGee"), Jon Langford & Chip Taylor (doing the theme from Allan's favorite movie, Fat City -- "Help Me Make It Through the Night"), and Kelly Hogan (crooning "Why Me" with Edith Frost harmonizing). Strong entries also from: the deep-voiced local favorite Chuck Prophet, Tom Verlaine, and Hannah Marcus with Mark Kozelek of Red House Painters. Rounding out the collection with (in our opinion) forgettable versions are bands like Polara, Oranger, Mother Hips, and Mover. And there's more, 17 tracks in all.
RealAudio clip: JOHN DOE "Me and Bobby McGee"
RealAudio clip: KELLY HOGAN "Why Me"

V/A Don't Stop: Recording Tap (Numero Group) cd 17.98
The Numero Group goes digging deep once again and come up for air with some mighty fine disco and proto-hip-hop jams from the super obscure vaults of an early '80s NY label called Tap. From start to finish this lavishly packaged collection offers up helping after helping of killer grooves and funky jams, from that magical era where funk and disco were the seeds that would blossom into the hip-hop scene that would soon blow up bigtime.
While names like Jackie Stoudemire, Magnetism, Arnie Love & The Lovettes and Fabulous 3 MC's might not have become household names, after listening to their tracks on this comp you will be wishing you could get your hands on more of their goods. Every time we put this on we start to have fantasies about being in NY during this era and blasting these songs on a playground while we do some double dutch and then catch ESG playing a show in the Bronx, and afterwards heading to the Paradise Garage where we dance the night away with Larry Levan.
This is going to go right up there with The Third Unheard, Big Apple Rappin and the new Funky Nassau collection as one of our favorite party perfect comps of all time. And of course there's a massive booklet with liner notes detailing the full of the story of the Tap label and all the trouble and adventures it took to actually get these amazing sounds into the world. We are so glad they did!
MPEG Stream: JACKIE STOUDEMIRE "Don't Stop Dancin'"
MPEG Stream: FABULOUS 3 MC'S "Rub A Dub Dub"
MPEG Stream: MAGNETISM "Breakout"

V/A Don't Stop: Recording Tap (Numero Group) 3lp+cd 33.00
NOW ON VINYL! The Numero Group goes digging deep once again and come up for air with some mighty fine disco and proto-hip-hop jams from the super obscure vaults of an early '80s NY label called Tap. From start to finish this lavishly packaged collection offers up helping after helping of killer grooves and funky jams, from that magical era where funk and disco were the seeds that would blossom into the hip-hop scene that would soon blow up bigtime.
While names like Jackie Stoudemire, Magnetism, Arnie Love & The Lovettes and Fabulous 3 MC's might not have become household names, after listening to their tracks on this comp you will be wishing you could get your hands on more of their goods. Every time we put this on we start to have fantasies about being in NY during this era and blasting these songs on a playground while we do some double dutch and then catch ESG playing a show in the Bronx, and afterwards heading to the Paradise Garage where we dance the night away with Larry Levan.
This is going to go right up there with The Third Unheard, Big Apple Rappin and the new Funky Nassau collection as one of our favorite party perfect comps of all time. And of course there's a massive booklet with liner notes detailing the full of the story of the Tap label and all the trouble and adventures it took to actually get these amazing sounds into the world. We are so glad they did!
The lavishly packaged vinyl comes with two extra tracks as well as a cd copy of the compendium.
MPEG Stream: JACKIE STOUDEMIRE "Don't Stop Dancin'"
MPEG Stream: FABULOUS 3 MC'S "Rub A Dub Dub"
MPEG Stream: MAGNETISM "Breakout"

V/A Doob Doob O' Rama 2 (Normal Records) cd 15.98
Second volume of this popular collection of Bollywood madness. More bizarrely recorded, genre splicing, manic and sometimes ridiculous Indian film music. Bring on volume 3!!

V/A Doob Doob O' Rama 2 (Normal Records) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Second volume of this popular collection of Bollywood madness. More bizarrely recorded, genre splicing, manic and sometimes ridiculous Indian film music. Bring on volume 3!!

V/A Doob Doob O'Rama: Filmsongs From Bollywood (QDK) cd 15.98
A collection of Indian film music classics, kind of a bizarre and infectious lo-fi hybridization of genres. If you liked the "Bombay The Hardway" disc, or our favorite, the great "Dance Raja Dance" collection of Vijaya Anand's film music, you'll surely dig this. Features the illustrious Asha Bhosle! Recommended.

V/A Doob Doob O'Rama: Filmsongs From Bollywood (QDK) lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A collection of Indian film music classics, kind of a bizarre and infectious lo-fi hybridization of genres. If you liked the "Bombay The Hardway" disc, or our favorite, the great "Dance Raja Dance" collection of Vijaya Anand's film music, you'll surely dig this. Features the illustrious Asha Bosle! Recommended.

V/A Doom & Gloom (Trikont) cd 21.00
Train wrecks, war, drought, despair, atomic bombs, sinking ships, and more, are all to be found in the songs compiled by Christopher Wagner for the latest in a string of themed compilations from Trikont.
Wagner, in his introductory essay "In The Shadow Of The Apocalypse", takes the position that the modern age brought with it a newfound sense of fear and alienation that isolated individuals from religion, tradition, and community, leaving them with an overarching, unrelenting sense of melancholy that pervaded all aspects of their lives; for him, these recordings are a musical testament to the zeitgeist of that era. Heavy stuff indeed (what else would you expect from a compilation cd that uses a passage from Walter Benjamin as an epigraphŠ?).
But what really stands out in this selection of songs is the depth and breadth of responses to disaster that the musicians are able to present. To be sure, you'd be hard pressed to find more plaintive, harrowing or emotionally evocative recordings than "That Great Ship Went Down" by William and Versey Smith (familiar to anyone who's heard The American Anthology of Folk Music) or "Off To War I'm Going" by The Carolinan Twins, but tracks such as these are starkly contrasted by The Allen Brothers' buoyant, kazoo-driven, "Jake Walk Blues" and the gruesome yet disconcertingly matter-of-fact narrative found in The Dixon Brothers' "School House Fire." Doom & Gloom is a success because the songs themselves are never overshadowed by the academic conceits of the compilation itself -- the thematic thread is always there, but what you hear first and foremost is the humanity, humility and resilience found in the music. Seriously recommended.
MPEG Stream: WILLIAM & VERSEY SMITH "When The Great Ship Went Down"
MPEG Stream: THE DIXON BROTHERS "School House Fire"
MPEG Stream: THE ALLEN BROTHERS "Jake Walk Blues"

V/A Dope & Glory: Reefer Songs Der 30er & 40er Jahre (Trikont) 2cd 24.00
With the diverse amount and massive number of highly vocal supporters of this versatile plant over the ages it's amazing that it's still illegal. And though I don't smoke the reefer anymore (it only gets the best of my onboard paranoia generator), I certainly see no reason why this fragrant plant can't become a productive member of our society. Certainly Trikont's newly released collection of recordings celebrating the wacky weed is no ground breaking concept, as there have been plenty of compilations featuring every possible genre of music devoted to praising the herb. But what probably sets Trikont's double disc "Dope & Glory" apart from the pack is their dedication to compiling a set focusing solely on the early days of American jazz (all culled from the 30's and 40's.) 50 tracks from such heavyweights as Fats Waller, Cab Calloway, Sidney Bechet, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and much much more perform such classics as "If You're A Viper", "When I Get Low I Get High", "Golden Leaf Strut", "Chant of the Weed" and then some! So pack up a bowl, put this disc on the old aluminum spinning laser device and enjoy. Fold out eco-pak includes booklets of liner notes in both German and English.
RealAudio clip: CALLOWAY, CAB "Reefer Man"
RealAudio clip: SLIM & SLAM "Dopey Joe"

V/A Double Articulation (Sub Rosa) cd 16.98
A follow-up to Sub Rosa's "Folds & Rhizomes" tribute to philosopher Gilles Deleuze, this time with the original participants (an electronica who's who: Main, Scanner, David Shea, Oval, Mouse on Mars, Tobias Hazan) remixing each other's contributions to the (quite excellent) first compiliation, and in so doing somehow exploring Deleuze's ideasŠ

V/A Down & Out: The Sad Soul of the Black South (Trikont) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We're proud to be carrying the very hard to find German label Trikont, who have amassed an incredibly diverse selection of cds featuring music from all over the world. This WONDRFUL compilation collects the warm soul music of the American south, featuring Percy Mayfield, Betty Lavette, Virgil Griffin, Sam Dees, etc. The liner notes set the stage: "Nowhere will a romance be longed for that desperately, nowhere are the comforting powers of love known that well. And still: Soul can do more. Who ever has dared to go beyond the shallowness of radioformatted sounds and has ventured deeper, will soon have discovered stains, all kinds of interesting dirt and spiritual undertones that connect the gutter with heaven. You can get addicted to Soul painfully. You will realize it when the long forgotten voices of ecstasy, irrationality and despair strike back."

V/A Down From The Mountain (Lost Highway) cd 17.98
Down From The Mountain is a recording of a live concert held at the Ryman Auditorium (a.k.a. The Grand Ole Opry) that featured many of the artists that appeared on the soundtrack to the Cohen Bros. popular film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" The concert was documented on film by D.A. Pennebaker (who directed the renowned film on Bob Dylan "Don't Look Back" among many other documentaries), and this accompanying cd will most certainly push "Down From The Mountain" into the Buena-Vista-Social-Club-For-The-New-Millennium realm. Includes performances by the Fairfield Four, John Hartford, Alison Krauss & Union Staion with Dan Tyminski, The Cox Family, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, The Whites, Chris Thomas King with Colin Linden and Emmylou Harris. There are a few nice performances here, although it tends to fit well within the boundaries of your standard, milque-toast NPR fare.
RealAudio clip: ALISON KRAUSS & UNION STATION "Wild Bill Jones"
RealAudio clip: WHITES, THE "Sandy Land"

V/A Down In A Mirror: A Second Tribute To Jandek (Summersteps) cd 14.98
Not once, but twice has the Summersteps label commissioned an entire album of Jandek covers. Given the unmistakable idiosyncratic signature of Jandek's vocal warble and shrill guitar picking, it's not an easy task to reinterpret Jandek without watering down the original, even when you're a songwriter as strong as Jeff Tweedy or John Darnielle (aka The Mountain Goats). These are two of 21 artists who took on the challenge, alongside Eric Gaffney, Okkervil River (boldly covering what may be Jandek's best individual song "Your Other Man"), Six Organs of Admittance, Kawabata Makoto, Home For The Def (doing an is-it-brilliant-or-is-it-stupid hip-hop take on Jandek's "European Jewel"), Rivulets, and whole bunch of other people we've never heard of.
MPEG Stream: SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE "I'll Sit Alone And Think Of You"
MPEG Stream: THE MOUNTAIN GOATS "White Box"
MPEG Stream: KAWABATA MAKOTO "Babe I Love You"

V/A Down In the Basement (Old Hat) cd 21.00
Pretty amazing collection of old timey rarities from the collection of Joe Bussard, known as the "King Of Record Collectors" with a collection of 25,000 or so rare 78's, lps and reel to reel tapes, covering pretty much everything from jazz to blue grass to jug bands to wild hillbilly hoedowns. Definitely for fans of the Secret Museum Of Mankind series and all those Yazoo and Folkways collections. The sound is amazing, super clear and crisp, which for some of you loyal AQ-ers may be the only disappointment, 'cause we know how you love your record hiss and grit and crackle and pop. But c'mon, this is no post modern skipping glitchscape, this is just some sweet and timeless, classic music. Comes with a MASSIVE booklet of liner notes and song details, as well as lots of goofy pictures of Bussard himself.
MPEG Stream: STRIPLING BROTHERS "The Lost Child"
MPEG Stream: BIG BILL "How You Want It Done?"

V/A Downer Rock Genocide (Audio Archives) cd 17.98
We know people who work at other record stores give each other gifts of music for birthdays and Christmas. Makes sense, that's what they love, right? But from another perspective, there's something just a little too easy about that... "here, I bought you this from the store where we all work". So, 'cause of that, here at AQ we don't have much of a tradition of giving cds and lps as presents.
But, Allan was thankful that Andee broke with tradition last year and mailordered him a copy of this hard to find cd for Xmas. (Andee got himself one too, of course). And now we've finally managed to contact the label directly, over in England, and order a few to sell here at AQ as well.
Definitely any lover of early '70s proto-metal heaviness needs to put this on their wish list. Downer Rock Genocide is a collection of super rare tracks by some really obscure heavy psych/prog acts who kicked around the same scene as early Black Sabbath. And it's pretty darn killer. There's 16 tracks by 14 bands, here they are: Flying Hat Band, Clear Blue Sky, Necromandus, Egor, Monument, Iron Maiden, Gnidrolog, Iron Claw, Red Dirt, Slowbone, Bram Stoker, Hackensack, Bum, and Writing On The Wall. We'd heard of some but others were new to us, unearthed from way down deep in the murky underground of decades past.
Too many gems here to talk about 'em all, but we'll mention a few... Flying Hat Band (2 tracks from them, from a never released 1973 album) was where Glenn Tipton hung (flung?) his hat and slung his axe before joining up with Judas Priest. No wonder they hired him! We'd never heard FHB's stuff before, and already this comp is worth it just for the badass rockin' doom of their first cut, "Seventh Plain". It's like Comus meets Judas Priest! Clear Blue Sky, who also contribute two demo tracks, is one of the bands we -had- heard before (their album is a Sabbathy treat). And Sabbath lovers will really want this for "Nightjar" by the Tony Iommi produced Necromandus, easily that band's heaviest and best track. So good.
What else? The Iron Maiden on here is NOT the Iron Maiden you're familiar with, it's another, earlier band with the same name but a much doomier disposition. Actually who they really sound like is Wishbone Ash, Argus-era, all folky and epic. Gnidrolog is another one we knew, a great, super dramatic prog act in the vein of Van Der Graaf Generator, who offer up their doomiest "Long Live Man Dead". Red Dirt are a gruff slice of raw, primitive bluesy heaviness, that just got Cup to remark "that music has hairy balls!". Iron Claw kick out the jams big time on "Lightning" from a 1971 cassette only release, Egor tear it up on the blown-out live track "Street" also from '71, Hackensack deliver some wild fuzzed out soloing and wailing vocals on their kick ass cut "River Boat" circa '72, and Bum bring us the pagan "God Of Darkness" from way back in '68. Did Sabbath hear these guys? All of it good stuff for fans of bands like Sabbath, Budgie, Leaf Hound, High Tide... and Witchcraft today. Give yourself the gift of downer rock.
Some of these tracks are from albums, many are demos or archival live recordings. So sound quality varies, but not the occult-inspired, heavy-riffing, proto-metal awesomeness.
MPEG Stream: FLYING HAT BAND "Seventh Plain"
MPEG Stream: NECROMANDUS "Night Jar"

V/A Downtown 81 soundtrack (Virgin France) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Long overdue reissue of this wonderful soundtrack to the film Downtown 81, which starred the now-deceased artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, and was written by Glenn O'Brien. Here we've got 20 tracks representing the breadth and range of the hip downtown NY scene circa 1980-81, and what a rich, fertile time this was for music! The energy is totally infectious! From the herky jerky art-punk of James White (Contortions), to the white funk of Liquid Liquid (yes, it's their big sampled-everywhere hit "Cavern"), the proto-new wave of The Plastics, Kid Creole, and Arto Lindsay's DNA, to some of the best songs ever realized by such groups as John Lurie's Lounge Lizards, Tuxedomoon, Suicide (their incandescent "Cheree"), and Basquiat's own band Gray. And I'd never heard Coati Mundi Hernandez before, but their addictively happy track has become my favorite.
This is not only a cool document of a scene that was breathtaking in its diversity, but this is also a very handy sampler to the music of this time, much of which is now recognized as seminal. It's rare that a soundtrack documents a scene well (as opposed to just featuring throwaway tracks by bands who saved their best stuff for their own albums), but this album does it! The booklet's got a bunch of film stills and lots of information on the bands.
Listen to *all* the soundclips to get an idea of the range of styles represented on this great record.
RealAudio clip: COATI MUNDI HERNANDEZ "K Pasa-Pop I"
RealAudio clip: JAMES WHITE & THE BLACKS "Contort Yourself"
RealAudio clip: TUXEDOMOON "Desire"
RealAudio clip: LOUNGE LIZARDS "Bob the Bob"
RealAudio clip: SUICIDE "Cheree"

V/A Dr. Boogie Presents Shim Sham Shimmy (Sub Rosa) cd 16.98
Fuck Off. Fuck Off. Fuck Off... Sorry, we're just singing along with all of the songs here. that's the title of one of the songs here. Kind of a novelty number by Slim Gaillard, recorded back in the forties, believe it or not. They never -quite- say "fuck off" in the song, well they do but it sounds like a clucking chicken or something each time. So they could get away with it. Heh heh heh. It's also known as "The Dirty Rooster".
So that's one good reason to buy this comp of old time boogie woogie rarities. There's 29 more cuts here, all of 'em lotsa fun and/or bluesy drinkin' music. If you liked the previous Dr. Boogie compilation on Sub Rosa, you'll dig this too. Listening to this, it's not too hard imagining yourself wandering into some roadhouse honky tonk down South, circa '46 or '52, grooving to the rough and ready sound of what wound up as rock n' roll not too long later.
The many artists found here include some well known names like electric blues guitarist Albert Collins, blues/jazz guitar great Lonnie Johnson, and pianist Champion Jack Dupree, along with plenty of amazing obscurities (the liner notes give what little information is available about some of these). From Bobo Jenkins to Guitar Slim Green, Ramblin Hi Harris to Papa George Lightfoot... they're all screaming 'n' crying about how life gets hard, it's a low down dirty shame, just can't understand it, she's taking all my money and I'm gonna kill that hen... and suchlike subjects.
MPEG Stream: ALBERT COLLINS & THE RHYTHM ROCKERS "Freeze"
MPEG Stream: SLIM GAILLARD "Fuck Off"
MPEG Stream: EDDIE SNOW "I'm Off That Stuff"

V/A Dr. Boogie Presents Shim Sham Shimmy (Sub Rosa) lp 15.98
Fuck Off. Fuck Off. Fuck Off... Sorry, we're just singing along with of the songs here. that's the title of one of the songs here. Kind of a novelty number by Slim Gaillard, recorded back in the forties, believe it or not. They never -quite- say "fuck off" in the song, well they do but it sounds like a clucking chicken or something each time. So they could get away with it. Heh heh heh. It's also known as "The Dirty Rooster".
So that's one good reason to buy this comp of old time boogie woogie rarities. There's 29 more cuts here, all of 'em lotsa fun and/or bluesy drinkin' music. If you liked the previous Dr. Boogie compilation on Sub Rosa, you'll dig this too. Listening to this, it's not too hard imagining yourself wandering into some roadhouse honky tonk down South, circa '46 or '52, grooving to the rough and ready sound of what wound up as rock n' roll not too long later.
The many artists found here include some well known names like electric blues guitarist Albert Collins, blues/jazz guitar great Lonnie Johnson, and pianist Champion Jack Dupree, along with plenty of amazing obscurities (the liner notes give what little information is available about some of these). From Bobo Jenkins to Guitar Slim Green, Ramblin Hi Harris to Papa George Lightfoot... they're all screaming 'n' crying about how life gets hard, it's a low down dirty shame, just can't understand it, she's taking all my money and I'm gonna kill that hen... and suchlike subjects.
MPEG Stream: ALBERT COLLINS & THE RHYTHM ROCKERS "Freeze"
MPEG Stream: SLIM GAILLARD "Fuck Off"
MPEG Stream: EDDIE SNOW "I'm Off That Stuff"

V/A Dr. Boogie Presents: Rarities From The Bob Hite Vaults (Sub Rosa) cd 15.98
Search on the keyword "boogie" on our website and you'll get, uh, let's see... 133 hits. This item being the latest, one that would go right to the top if we had the appropriate relevance algorithm at work. And there's actually 19 boogie hits here (well, obscurities actually), rare tracks circa 1941 to 1958. What's this compilation of American oldies music doing on the Belgian avantgarde label Sub Rosa?? And not, say, on Arhoolie or Bear Family? Well we're not sure exactly, but it has something to do with this Dr. Boogie character, he's a DJ from Belgium who has compiled this collection of boogie tracks, all of 'em from awesomely crackly old 78 rpm records that had been amassed over the years by boogie fanatic Bob "The Bear" Hite, better known as the lead singer of Woodstock-era hippie blues rock band Canned Heat (y'know, "Going Up The Country"), who passed away in 1981. Dunno if any of you folks are fans of Canned Heat, but regardless, it makes sense (and is pretty cool) that their vocalist had such a deep record collection devoted to old time rock n' blues boogie woogie. Apparently back in the sixties, he used to host all-night listening parties in his Topanga Canyon pad, and the cuts collected here ought to give you an idea of what those sessions must have 29 like. Wild boogie fun!
How couldn't it be, when it starts off with the excellently titled "Death Ray Boogie" by piano player Pete Johnson? And there's no slack on the next track, Googie Rene's "Wiggle Tail". There's a bunch more uptempo, jumpin' numbers like that one (such as rock n' roll pioneer Bill Haley's "Birth Of The Boogie"), while other tracks here are more languidly bluesy (like guitarist Clarence's Brown's smokey "Taking My Chance"). It's all pretty great old time good times. Other names here, some famous, some now more or less forgotten except by hardcore collectors: Earl King, Etta James, Elmore James, Clarence Brown, Johnny Otis, Otis Rush, Chuck Higgins, Eddie Hope, The Hot Shots, and some crazy cat called Mad Mel Sebastian!
Recommended... and we're happy to hear that more volumes drawn from Hite's historic collection are forthcoming.
MPEG Stream: GOOGIE RENE "Wiggle Tail"
MPEG Stream: ELMORE JAMES "Please Find My Baby"
MPEG Stream: CLARENCE BROWN "Taking My Chance"

V/A Dr. Boogie Presents: Rarities From The Bob Hite Vaults (Sub Rosa) lp 15.98
Now also on vinyl! Here's our review of the cd version, highlighted last list:
Search on the keyword "boogie" on our website and you'll get, uh, let's see... 133 hits. This item being the latest, one that would go right to the top if we had the appropriate relevance algorithm at work. And there's actually 19 boogie hits here (well, obscurities actually), rare tracks circa 1941 to 1958. What's this compilation of American oldies music doing on the Belgian avantgarde label Sub Rosa?? And not, say, on Arhoolie or Bear Family? Well we're not sure exactly, but it has something to do with this Dr. Boogie character, he's a DJ from Belgium who has compiled this collection of boogie tracks, all of 'em from awesomely crackly old 78 rpm records that had been amassed over the years by boogie fanatic Bob "The Bear" Hite, better known as the lead singer of Woodstock-era hippie blues rock band Canned Heat (y'know, "Going Up The Country"), who passed away in 1981. Dunno if any of you folks are fans of Canned Heat, but regardless, it makes sense (and is pretty cool) that their vocalist had such a deep record collection devoted to old time rock n' blues boogie woogie. Apparently back in the sixties, he used to host all-night listening parties in his Topanga Canyon pad, and the cuts collected here ought to give you an idea of what those sessions must have sounded like. Wild boogie fun!
How couldn't it be, when it starts off with the excellently titled "Death Ray Boogie" by piano player Pete Johnson? And there's no slack on the next track, Googie Rene's "Wiggle Tail". There's a bunch more uptempo, jumpin' numbers like that one (such as rock n' roll pioneer Bill Haley's "Birth Of The Boogie"), while other tracks here are more languidly bluesy (like guitarist Clarence's Brown's smokey "Taking My Chance"). It's all pretty great old time good times. Other names here, some famous, some now more or less forgotten except by hardcore collectors: Earl King, Etta James, Elmore James, Clarence Brown, Johnny Otis, Otis Rush, Chuck Higgins, Eddie Hope, The Hot Shots, and some crazy cat called Mad Mel Sebastian!
Recommended... and we're happy to hear that more volumes drawn from Hite's historic collection are forthcoming.
MPEG Stream: GOOGIE RENE "Wiggle Tail"
MPEG Stream: ELMORE JAMES "Please Find My Baby"
MPEG Stream: CLARENCE BROWN "Taking My Chance"

V/A Drag City Hour (Sea Note) cd 12.98
Live at WMBR, Cambridge MA, 7/13/92. Features Smog, Palace Bros, and the Sea Note Players, all tracks previously unreleased.

V/A Driftworks (Big Cat) 4cd 28.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
So lovely, a disc apiece from international drone-meisters Paul Schutze, Pauline Oliveros & Randy Raine-Reusch, Thomas Koner, and Nijiumu (Keiji Haino).

V/A Drinking Horns & Gramophones 1902-1914 (Traditional Crossroads) cd 17.98
Subtitled: "The First Recordings in the Georgian Republic." The Traditional Crossroads label is at its best when digging up and restoring historical recordings from the Middle East and elsewhere, such as those found here, 25 tracks recovered (and digitially remastered -- as wonderfully dusty and crackly as these are, I wonder what they sounded like beforehand!) from the archives of the Gramophone Company in Moscow and London. It's a treasure trove of complex, polyphonic choral folk music, a unique Georgian tradition dating back to the 4th century (predating the use of polyphony in Western music). These songs were recorded prior to the Russian Revolution and have been "lost" for many years... Work, wedding, and religious songs, and even improvisations based on nonsense words, all quite beautiful and mesmerizing. Packaged with 23 pages of detailed notes and photos.
RealAudio clip: CHOIR OF TBILISI "Ghmerto Mets Gadmomkhede"
RealAudio clip: CHOIR OF GURIA PROVINCE "Tsamokruli"

V/A DRONE RECORDS: A Selection Of Drones Past: Singles 1993-2000 (tUMULt) 2cd 16.98
If there's one unifying theme or sonic characteristic present in all the music we love, even if it's not always obvious, it would surely have to be the 'drone'. Whether it's in lugubrious campfire crackle and hum, furious blasting black metal buzz, jagged fuzz and hiss drenched noisepop, skeletal slow motion low end ambience or motorik rhythmic hypno-rock, there is always the drone. Infusing each note with its pervasive sound, its palpable feel. A force as much as a sound. To be felt as much as heard. For us, the core, the heart of all music. The sound of the stars dying, the sound of planets being born, the sound of cells splitting, the sound of our bodies growing and decaying, the sound of life and especially death. Whether heard or felt, it is there, in, of and around all sound. Otherworldly and transcendent. Soothing and relaxing. But NOT easy listening. Not easy at all. The drone can be as bleak and foreboding as it is warm and soft, as moody and malefic as it is sweet and shimmery. Subtle for sure, but with a power and energy unlike any other sound in the universe.
So it would of course make perfect sense that we would be completely obsessed with a label, created for the sole purpose of recording and releasing dronemusic. A label appropriately named Drone Records. Run by Stefan Knappe of the group Troum (and formerly of the group Maeor Tri), Drone Records is a vinyl only label focusing on, in the label's words, "atmospheric music that has a certain 'mind-challenging' character, thus supporting the sensibility of the human senses. DRONE RECORDS RELEASES MUSIC FOR THE RIGHT SIDE OF YOUR BRAIN... music for the unconscious, irrational mind, creating an emotional communication without language." We couldn't have said it better ourselves. For the last 15 plus years, Drone has been releasing ultra-limited vinyl only ep's each one hand designed and assembled by the artist, and each one a gorgeous slab of unique and individualistic drone music.
This two disc set, released by our own Andee's tUMULt label, collects some of the best tracks from many of the earliest, long out of print 7"s and makes them available on cd for the first time ever. The artists featured include Maeror Tri, Alio Die, Dual, Ultra United, Delphium, Inade, Aube, Vance Orchestra, Osso Exotico, Klood, Vir, Reynols, Spear, Dronaement, Toy Bizarre, Tarkatak, Francisco Lopez, Kallabris, Yen Pox and Die Feinen Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim. Two discs, over two hours, a completely mesmerizing collection of droning drifting bliss. From barely there minimal ambience to thick clouds of whirring fuzz, to glistening expanses of ghost like melody. Essential for all drone lovers. And of course recommended for fans of Colelcough, Chalk, Aidan Baker, Tim Hecker, Fennesz, Tiermes, Noisegate, William Basinski, Philip Jeck, and the whole current crop of minimal cd-r soundmakers.
While most of the music we love is in some way drone-y, these singles give us a chance to gaze upon the drone unadorned. Feel its warmth, its mystery, its sublime beauty. Like staring into the sun. Or into the void...
One of the most potent and pervasive sounds in the world, in our lives, our bodies, in music, the industrial world and in nature. All hail the drone...
Packaged in a gorgeous mini cd gatefold, with a fold out poster, liner notes on one side, reproductions of all the 7" covers on the other.
So gorgeous!
MPEG Stream: MAEROR TRI "These Tears Will Cristallize"
MPEG Stream: ALIO DIE "Thank You Lucky Star"
MPEG Stream: DUAL "Klanik"
MPEG Stream: REYNOLS "10,000 Chickens' Symphony Part I"
MPEG Stream: SPEAR "The Names - Low Frequency Silence"
MPEG Stream: DRONAEMENT "Wassermond"