V/A Eccentric Soul: Smart's Palace (Numero Group) cd 16.98
This time out the mighty Eccentric Soul series focuses on the dingy and delightful venue Smart's Palace, located in Witchita, Kansas which during the years of 1963-1975 was ground zero for all the best sweaty, sensual and romping soul being played around that town. While the club did get a few big names in their time, both James Brown and Aretha Franklin once played there, its bread and butter were the nationally unknown but completely talented soul artists located in the tragically underrated scene going on down in Kansas.
The man behind Smart's Palace was Dick Smart who not only ran the club but also played music himself, promoted most of the shows AND ran his own label. In true DIY fashion he helped cultivate one of the richest soul scenes around, totally overflowing with true but untapped talent. This has got to be the sexiest, sweatiest, most romantic, sultry and sexual set of songs that has come out of the Eccentric Soul series yet. So many amazing voices on here, some as smooth as butter, others as commanding as a drill sergeant of love. Fans of folks like Eddie Kendricks, Al Green, and Curtis Mayfield will find so much to dig as as the new to us artists here like Baby Neal, Fred Williams and Kenneth Car offer up songs that we could listen to over and over and still get down and dirty with their raw yet flawless true soul grooves.
MPEG Stream: BABY NEAL & THE SMART BROTHERS "I'm Not Ashamed"
MPEG Stream: THERON & DARRELL "It's Your Love"
MPEG Stream: TIM JACOB "Mercy Baby"

V/A Eccentric Soul: Smart's Palace (Numero Group) 2lp 21.00
Now On Double Vinyl!
This time out the mighty Eccentric Soul series focuses on the dingy and delightful venue Smart's Palace, located in Witchita, Kansas which during the years of 1963-1975 was ground zero for all the best sweaty, sensual and romping soul being played around that town. While the club did get a few big names in their time, both James Brown and Aretha Franklin once played there, its bread and butter were the nationally unknown but completely talented soul artists located in the tragically underrated scene going on down in Kansas.
The man behind Smart's Palace was Dick Smart who not only ran the club but also played music himself, promoted most of the shows AND ran his own label. In true DIY fashion he helped cultivate one of the richest soul scenes around, totally overflowing with true but untapped talent. This has got to be the sexiest, sweatiest, most romantic, sultry and sexual set of songs that has come out of the Eccentric Soul series yet. So many amazing voices on here, some as smooth as butter, others as commanding as a drill sergeant of love. Fans of folks like Eddie Kendricks, Al Green, and Curtis Mayfield will find so much to dig as as the new to us artists here like Baby Neal, Fred Williams and Kenneth Car offer up songs that we could listen to over and over and still get down and dirty with their raw yet flawless true soul grooves.
MPEG Stream: BABY NEAL & THE SMART BROTHERS "I'm Not Ashamed"
MPEG Stream: THERON & DARRELL "It's Your Love"
MPEG Stream: TIM JACOB "Mercy Baby"

V/A Eccentric Soul: The Bandit Label (Numero Group) cd 17.98
If you've ever read any Iceberg Slim (Afro-Noir books), set in 70's south side Chicago, you'll get a pretty good feel for Bandit Label's founder, Arrow Brown. Keeping a harem of his "daughters", Brown ruled over his consortium with an iron-fist while striving for, what he imagined to be, a ghetto entertainment conglomerate. Much ghetto-glamorous drama ensued in the Bandit compound during its years of operation. Though no real "hits" emerged, this compilation is a document of the undeniably real soul that existed in the hearts of his artists. While you'll find some truly moving demos here (they had acted as rehearsal tapes), many songs have some pretty scrappy vocals that are also absolutely endearing. So despite the rich tales spun from real events at the Bandit studio, we're left with true soul-driven songs in this chapter of the beautifully packaged Eccentric Soul series. Well allriigghhhtttah!
MPEG Stream: THE MAJESTIC ARROWS "One More Time Around"
MPEG Stream: THE MAJESTIC ARROWS "If I Had A Little Love"

V/A Eccentric Soul: The Big Mack Label (Numero Group) cd 17.98
Our love affair with The Numero Group is still running hot and heavy. Can they do no wrong? Looks like it with the most recent outing in their "Eccentric Soul" series where they dig deep to find forgotten and obscure regional soul labels and share the found treasures with all of our ears. And we thank them tenfold cause every time they do it we are exposed to such rich songs that begin making their way on every mix we make. This time out it's the other side of running a soul label in a town like Detroit. With Motown pretty much holding a monopoly on the sound and market labels like Big Mack had a really hard time breaking through. If Motown was for millionaires the Big Mack label was truly a label for the people. In fact they even advertised in the Detroit Free Press offering anyone off the streets a chance to record a one-off track for under fifteen bucks. And then you could go down the street and get your songs pressed on its own 45. This is soul deep in the garage bursting with sincerity and flare. We keep hoping that with all these great soul reissues by Numero Group and Soul Jazz and Luv n Haight someone will get the good insight to start making soul records with this same kind of raw stripped down production. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: PERFORMERS "Mini Skirt"
MPEG Stream: MAE YOUNG "The Man Puts Sugar In My Soul"
MPEG Stream: SOUL PRESIDENT "Get It Right"

V/A Eccentric Soul: The Outskirts Of Deep City (Numero Group) cd 17.98
At this point the Numero Group's Eccentric Soul series is no longer any sort of secret. The world couldn't help but take notice of the amazing job the label has done at digging deep into uncharted and forgotten regional labels and scenes from the heyday of soul and funk. So now, we usually don't have to turn people on to the series but instead we're often asked -which- of the Eccentric Soul comps is our favorite. A very tough question as they have yet to release a dud. But there are two of the releases so far that are a step or two above the rest in their golden soul perfection. The collection from The Big Mack label out of Detroit and Florida's Deep City label, a collection that we still listen to all the time.
So we were quite excited when we found out that Numero was going to mine even further into the Deep City vaults with a follow up collection from the amazing Florida label. Apparently Numero Group got their hands on a box of lost Deep City master tapes so seven of those tracks are on here as well as killer tracks from some of the other Miami labels putting out sizzling soul 45's back in the day. Every song we've ever heard from Helene Smith fills us with chills of excitement and she has two more on this collection, alongside amazing songs from a young Betty Wright, Lynn Willliams, Clarence Reid, The Rollers, etc. Anyone who has been taken by the spell of Miami soul needs to get this immediately and in fact this could very well become our new favorite of all the amazing Eccentric Soul releases. So damn pleasing!
MPEG Stream: HELENE SMITH "Pot Can't Talk About The Kettle"
MPEG Stream: THE ROLLERS "Knockin' At The Wrong Door"
MPEG Stream: LYNN WILLIAMS "Don't Be Surprised"

V/A Eccentric Soul: The Outskirts of Deep City (Numero) lp 17.98
Now On Vinyl!!
At this point the Numero Group's Eccentric Soul series is no longer any sort of secret. The world couldn't help but take notice of the amazing job the label has done at digging deep into uncharted and forgotten regional labels and scenes from the heyday of soul and funk. So now, we usually don't have to turn people on to the series but instead we're often asked -which- of the Eccentric Soul comps is our favorite. A very tough question as they have yet to release a dud. But there are two of the releases so far that are a step or two above the rest in their golden soul perfection. The collection from The Big Mack label out of Detroit and Florida's Deep City label, a collection that we still listen to all the time.
So we were quite excited when we found out that Numero was going to mine even further into the Deep City vaults with a follow up collection from the amazing Florida label. Apparently Numero Group got their hands on a box of lost Deep City master tapes so seven of those tracks are on here as well as killer tracks from some of the other Miami labels putting out sizzling soul 45's back in the day. Every song we've ever heard from Helene Smith fills us with chills of excitement and she has two more on this collection, alongside amazing songs from a young Betty Wright, Lynn Willliams, Clarence Reid, The Rollers, etc. Anyone who has been taken by the spell of Miami soul needs to get this immediately and in fact this could very well become our new favorite of all the amazing Eccentric Soul releases. So damn pleasing!
MPEG Stream: HELENE SMITH "Pot Can't Talk About The Kettle"
MPEG Stream: THE ROLLERS "Knockin' At The Wrong Door"
MPEG Stream: LYNN WILLIAMS "Don't Be Surprised"

V/A Eccentric Soul: The Prix Label (Numero) cd 17.98
The Numero Group's "Eccentric Soul" series lives up to its name with this new entry, lucky number seven in the series, which also lives up to the high expectations all its bumpin' predecessors have created for it -- Capsoul, Bandit, Deep City, all the rest, some better liked here than others but all pretty great when you get down to it... and get down to it is what you will, what this shit's all about. Long lost soul/funk/r&b gems from back in the day, regional obscurities that never had the breakout hit they deserved. Dunno why such soul men as Eddie Ray and Marion Black, heard here, didn't become stars. Wasn't for lack of talent.
Ranging from Stax style soul, to chicken scratch geetar funk in a right-on JB's vein, and even to some funked up psychedelic instrumental wailing, this disc features 19 killer tracks, eight of them previously unreleased (demos and even finished masters recently discovered at an estate sale!), recorded circa 1969-1973 for the obscure Columbus, Ohio based label Prix. Yes, more amazing stuff from the same town that supported the Capsoul label documented on the very first Numero Eccentric Soul comp. If you like soul and funk from the era, you owe it to yourself to take a listen, and then you'll owe thanks to Numero for digging these tracks up. A great comp in a great series.
MPEG Stream: MITCHELL MITCHELL & GENE KING "Never Walk Out On You"
MPEG Stream: EDDIE RAY "Wait A Minute"
MPEG Stream: OFS UNLIMITED "Mystic"

V/A Eccentric Soul: The Prix Label (Numero) lp 17.98
Now on vinyl!!!
The Numero Group's "Eccentric Soul" series lives up to its name with this new entry, lucky number seven in the series, which also lives up to the high expectations all its bumpin' predecessors have created for it -- Capsoul, Bandit, Deep City, all the rest, some better liked here than others but all pretty great when you get down to it... and get down to it is what you will, what this shit's all about. Long lost soul/funk/r&b gems from back in the day, regional obscurities that never had the breakout hit they deserved. Dunno why such soul men as Eddie Ray and Marion Black, heard here, didn't become stars. Wasn't for lack of talent.
Ranging from Stax style soul, to chicken scratch geetar funk in a right-on JB's vein, and even to some funked up psychedelic instrumental wailing, this disc features 19 killer tracks, eight of them previously unreleased (demos and even finished masters recently discovered at an estate sale!), recorded circa 1969-1973 for the obscure Columbus, Ohio based label Prix. Yes, more amazing stuff from the same town that supported the Capsoul label documented on the very first Numero Eccentric Soul comp. If you like soul and funk from the era, you owe it to yourself to take a listen, and then you'll owe thanks to Numero for digging these tracks up. A great comp in a great series.
MPEG Stream: MITCHELL MITCHELL & GENE KING "Never Walk Out On You"
MPEG Stream: EDDIE RAY "Wait A Minute"
MPEG Stream: OFS UNLIMITED "Mystic"

V/A Eccentric Soul: The Young Disciples (Numero Group) cd 16.98
By the late 1960's East St Louis, Illinois had seen better days. Hit hard by poverty, crime, drug addiction and gang activity, it was really important for teens to have a safe place to hang out, and a positive outlet for creativity. No one understood this better then Allen Murray, a seasoned musician from the area who was semi-famous for his past work with the likes of Ray Charles and Ike Turner. He started a really inventive program at The Southside Community Center, where youth could come and sing and play music in his program called The Young Disciples.
With an amazing stable of musicians and fresh new voices on the mic, most for the first time, he really created an amazing musical world while also offering salvation to so many teens in East St Louis. What's even more remarkable is how damn good the music they made was. This was not some sort of amateur hour soul, in fact before we even knew the whole back story to this record we just thought it was another amazing lost soul label getting the primetime Eccentric Soul series attention it deserved. These songs are just dripping with warmth, soul and unfiltered funk. Another total winner from the Numero Group and such a cool program that Murray developed, we only wish it was being used as a template in cities across the country today!
MPEG Stream: THE DEBONETTES "Tears"
MPEG Stream: LAVEL MOORE "The World Is Changing"
MPEG Stream: GEORGETTES "Hard Hard"

V/A Eccentric Soul: Tragar & Note Labels (Numero) 2cd 31.00
There hasn't been a dud yet in the Numero Group's superb and ever ongoing Eccentric Soul series and this latest two disc offering is no exception, in fact it might find itself a special spot near the Big Mack and Deep City collections as one of our favorites so far!
This time out they dig up gems from two woefully obscure labels out of Atlanta in the late '60s. While there are some uptempo shakers sprinkled amongst the tracks on these two discs, what's swept us off our feet is the totally devastating heart broken soul that just drips with honesty and warmth. We just can't get enough of it. And it's the ladies who really shine the brightest on this collection, we now want to get our hands on everything and anything that Eula Cooper, Franciene Thomas and Sonia Ross have ever released. The kind of richly orchestrated soul that sounds so perfect when you're alone in your living room with the lights dimmed, a cocktail to lessen the pain of a broken heart and these songs to let you wallow with class, yet still enough uptempo tracks to let you cut a rug when your tears take a break. So great!
MPEG Stream: FRANCIENE THOMAS "Too Beautiful To Be Good"
MPEG Stream: NATHAN WILKES "Strange Feeling"
MPEG Stream: EULA COOPER "Let Our Love Grow Higher"

V/A Eccentric Soul: Twinight's Lunar Rotation (Numero) 2cd 27.00
The Numero Group has helped spawn a much needed revival and rediscovery of lost soul from the 60's and 70's, showing the world that there was much more amazing music beyond the Motown monopoly. Amazing soul records were being released everywhere by all sorts of small independent labels. We'll never ever tire of really good soul done juuuuust right and once again the Numero Group has hit the bulls eye. This collection focuses on the Chicago label Twinight. The label began with the name Twilight but soon found out another label with the same name existed so they changed one letter and thus became Twinight which would prove to be an appropriate moniker for the label, as most of the records they released were only played during the wee hours of broadcasting day often referred to as the twinight hours. The label was known primarily for its one star Syl Johnson but this collection digs even deeper and exposes the music and the artists who never had big hits but who produced some classic soul burners.
This collection isn't as flashy or outright catchy as some of the past Eccentric Soul collections but it's that great kind of tasty soul that heats up nice and slow and keeps you coming back for more.
Another fantastic collection of lost soul treasures!
MPEG Stream: JOHNNY WILLIAMS "Breaking Point"
MPEG Stream: ELVIN SPENCER "Lift This Hurt"
MPEG Stream: JOSEPHINE TAYLOR "Is It Worth A Chance"
MPEG Stream: KRYSTAL GENERATION "Satasfied"

V/A Eccentric Soul: Twinight's Lunar Rotation (Numero) 4lp box 48.00
NOW AVAILABLE ON VINYL! Incredibly deluxe and over the top packaging. A gorgeous full color printed heavy box style slipcover, each lp in its own heavy printed full color sleeve inside, and of course pressed on nice thick vinyl. WOW.
The Numero Group has helped spawn a much needed revival and rediscovery of lost soul from the 60's and 70's, showing the world that there was much more amazing music beyond the Motown monopoly. Amazing soul records were being released everywhere by all sorts of small independent labels. We'll never ever tire of really good soul done juuuuust right and once again the Numero Group has hit the bulls eye. This collection focuses on the Chicago label Twinight. The label began with the name Twilight but soon found out another label with the same name existed so they changed one letter and thus became Twinight which would prove to be an appropriate moniker for the label, as most of the records they released were only played during the wee hours of broadcasting day often referred to as the twinight hours. The label was known primarily for its one star Syl Johnson but this collection digs even deeper and exposes the music and the artists who never had big hits but who produced some classic soul burners.
This collection isn't as flashy or outright catchy as some of the past Eccentric Soul collections but it's that great kind of tasty soul that heats up nice and slow and keeps you coming back for more.
Another fantastic collection of lost soul treasures!
MPEG Stream: JOHNNY WILLIAMS "Breaking Point"
MPEG Stream: ELVIN SPENCER "Lift This Hurt"
MPEG Stream: JOSEPHINE TAYLOR "Is It Worth A Chance"
MPEG Stream: KRYSTAL GENERATION "Satasfied"

V/A Echoes of Africa: Early Recordings (Wergo) cd 17.98
Interesting collection of early recordings from throughout the African continent. Rare recordings dating as far back as 1929 and on up to the early 50's give us a peek into the germinus of modern popular music on the continent. Inundated by Christian missionaries, Europeans looking to make a buck and an increasingly urbanized lifestyle new forms of music had been developing even long before the introduction of the phonograph to Africa. There's a wealth of proto-African pop on here in the form of string bands, concertina and/or accordion groups, guitar, brass bands and vocal ensembles.
MPEG Stream: WEST AFRICAN INSTRUMENTAL QUINTET "Bea Tsin No. 2"
MPEG Stream: SITTI BINTI SAAD "Njia Ungurusumbwe"
MPEG Stream: LAGOS MOZART ORCHESTRA "Ore Mi Kini Se"

V/A Economi$ed (Economy / Manifold) cd 11.98
This is a compilation from Economy, the new breakbeat/drill & bass subsidiary of the dark ambient label Manifold. With such notables as Justin Broadrick, Mick Harris, and Neil Harvey appearing under various pseudonyms and in various combinations, expect devastating dub production, fractured two-step drum & bass, and an overall malevolence.

V/A Ed Rec Vol III (Ed Banger) cd 15.98
Volume twa! Or at least that's how the pronunciation sounds, yeah our French sucks here but that never kept us from leaving work sore from chronic head bobbing and rabid fist thrusting. Okay maybe not that extreme, but it's like our own mini rave here at aQ whenever this is bumped. Yep, it's the third installment of much hyped French imprint, Ed Banger Records. More pumping electro from the masterminds behind the more commonly used term, "the French touch" and a very consistent example of the description.
Within this compilation the Ed Rec roster explore new ground and take some unexpected yet intriguing attempts at chopping the hell out of samples, synths, and vocals, and turning them into full on grueling disco-house anthems. But not ALL of it's that jump up, dancey, semi-rave hype shit, they tend to unveil more of their hip hop roots this time around with the likes of label frontman, Busy P's number, "To Protect and Entertain" a collab with Murs from LA's underground hip hop troop The Living Legends, including a simple yet arduous analog synth melody rolling over boosty drum patterns to accompany Murs' simple yet catchy raps. Along with Spankrock's rap appearance on the indie-rave thriller "Back it Up" by Feadz, as well as new predominately hip hop label signees DSL, who deliver a new twist to French rap with "Find Me a World". But of course the majority of the artists shine most with their dancefloor thrashers and grinding synth driven tunes that we've grown to love. Veteran Mr. Oizo cooks up more of his signature punchy and spastic sample chopping techniques, horns and all, with everything in its right place to produce a bouncy yet fun rhythm. Then of course there's Sebastian who delivers a mind fuck of a track, "Dog", sampling, yes, a black metal tune and cutting it to shreds, guitars, screams and all, delivering a punishing yet addictive, sweatdriven "banger" that we like to call "metal house" if we may...(yeah we said). While Dj Mehdi delivers his blissful disco composition "Pocket Piano", not necessarily for the dancefloor but amazing "groove" music nonetheless! Simply put, Ed Rec 3 is a well rounded hype machine that's bound to work wonders at any given party. Truly one to check out!
MPEG Stream: KRAZY BALDHEAD "No Cow No Pow"
MPEG Stream: SEBASTIAN "Dog"
MPEG Stream: BUSY P "To Protect and Entertain"

V/A Ed Rec Vol III (Ed Banger) 2lp 29.00
Volume twa! Or at least that's how the pronunciation sounds, yeah our French sucks here but that never kept us from leaving work sore from chronic head bobbing and rabid fist thrusting. Okay maybe not that extreme, but it's like our own mini rave here at aQ whenever this is bumped. Yep, it's the third installment of much hyped French imprint, Ed Banger Records. More pumping electro from the masterminds behind the more commonly used term, "the French touch" and a very consistent example of the description.
Within this compilation the Ed Rec roster explore new ground and take some unexpected yet intriguing attempts at chopping the hell out of samples, synths, and vocals, and turning them into full on grueling disco-house anthems. But not ALL of it's that jump up, dancey, semi-rave hype shit, they tend to unveil more of their hip hop roots this time around with the likes of label frontman, Busy P's number, "To Protect and Entertain" a collab with Murs from LA's underground hip hop troop The Living Legends, including a simple yet arduous analog synth melody rolling over boosty drum patterns to accompany Murs' simple yet catchy raps. Along with Spankrock's rap appearance on the indie-rave thriller "Back it Up" by Feadz, as well as new predominately hip hop label signees DSL, who deliver a new twist to French rap with "Find Me a World". But of course the majority of the artists shine most with their dancefloor thrashers and grinding synth driven tunes that we've grown to love. Veteran Mr. Oizo cooks up more of his signature punchy and spastic sample chopping techniques, horns and all, with everything in its right place to produce a bouncy yet fun rhythm. Then of course there's Sebastian who delivers a mind fuck of a track, "Dog", sampling, yes, a black metal tune and cutting it to shreds, guitars, screams and all, delivering a punishing yet addictive, sweatdriven "banger" that we like to call "metal house" if we may...(yeah we said). While Dj Mehdi delivers his blissful disco composition "Pocket Piano", not necessarily for the dancefloor but amazing "groove" music nonetheless! Simply put, Ed Rec 3 is a well rounded hype machine that's bound to work wonders at any given party. Truly one to check out!
MPEG Stream: KRAZY BALDHEAD "No Cow No Pow"
MPEG Stream: SEBASTIAN "Dog"
MPEG Stream: BUSY P "To Protect and Entertain"

V/A Ed Rec Vol. 2 (Ed Banger) cd 14.98
We often feel like we're totally out of the loop when it comes to dance music. And as if to prove that point, every once in a while we'll randomly stumble across a disc that totally kicks our ass, only to realize, that the world at large had already been hyping said disc to death. Such is the case with this second comp of far out futuristic electro weirdness from Ed Banger Records. We sort of just picked it up on a whim (some AQ folks were already hip to it, we're not all dance music squares) and were immediately smitten. Wild and fun, funky and funny, heavy and fuzzy and if the person writing this review actually danced, this disc would have had him out of his seat like a shot.
No need to do a total track by track run down, as every single song here is a killer, a few names we knew, most we didn't, but the sound is crazy. And fucking awesome. It's like the music of LCD Soundsystem, Daft Punk, Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, but supercharged, injected with youthful energy and punk rock snottiness, peppered with more distortion and buzz, fucked up beats, off kilter loops and samples, but remaining totally hooky and danceable.
Some of the best tracks:
The killer dis track "Dismissed" from Uffie, a killer slab of seriously foul mouthed electro nastiness using a bastardized version of what sounds like Herbie Hancock's "Rockit" as the main loop, but it's all about the vitriolic invective, what sounds like a nasty teenage white girl awkwardly rapping and spitting all sorts of goofy playground insults.
Ultra hyped next big things Justice who do their best Daft Punk, and offer up a super damaged cop-show block rockin' beat workout with machine like rhythms and cool crumbling synthy bass lines and awesome glitched out buzz drenched synthesized riffage.
Krazy Baldhead who come closest to Jones Machine for sheer mindless electronic bliss, throbbing synths, bouncing bass, another track that sounds like some futuristic chase scene.
Sebastian, who offers up a blast of ultra distorted beats, weird blown out fuzzy loops, the whole thing chopped and hiccuping like some radio with bad reception or a turntable with fuzz all over the needle.
We could go on and on. Needless to say, every time we play this in the store folks go nuts for it, and even some of the dance music phobic we know have been rocking this like crazy! Some of the other folks on the comp: Mr. Oizo, DJ Mehdi, Mr. Flash, Feadz, Busy P, Klaxons, Fancy and Vicarious Bliss.
Way recommended.
MPEG Stream: UFFIE "Dismissed"
MPEG Stream: JUSTICE "Phantom"
MPEG Stream: KRAZY BALDHEAD "Strings Of Death"

V/A Edition Kunst Plays (Edition Kunst) lp 23.00
Fact 1. This album was recorded in two hours. Fact 2. This album does not feature any music from Terre Thaemlitz, Ekkehard Ehlers, Thomas Brinkmann, DJ Spooky, Scanner, or Noto. Fact 3. This album represents the 'idea' of those artists as reduced down to 'one-trick musicians.' Fact 4. This is crap. Fact 5. Assholes at ArtForum will probably try and tell you otherwise.
It would be one thing if the anonymous 'artist' behind this atrocity of post-modern posturing had decided to parody electronica or legitimately attempt to translate one form of music into another (i.e. Zeitkratzer's orchestral recapitulation of John Duncan's shortwave compositions). Instead, "Edition Kunst Plays" is a collection of hurried audio scribblings that may have begun as a sarcastic comment on the ubiquity of these artists; but these re-interpretations are so clumsy, so clunky, so unlistenable as to render any dialogue with the original artists irrelevant. For example, Noto's work has been reduced down to an unprocessed sinewave firing at regular intervals and aimless pitched up and down for a couple minutes. Any sense of Noto's sublime use of rhythm with a perfectly controlled post-techno context? Any sense of the beauty within crisp lines and sharp turns? No fucking way. Sure DJ Spooky, Terre Thaemlitz, et al. deserve to be mocked and humiliated for their own insipid post-modern posturing. But they can do that on their own.
One of the worst albums of the year.

V/A Eight Acts Of Origin (Raging Bloodlust) lp 18.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Killer black metal comp featuring exclusive tracks from a few big time aQ faves, the mere mention of which should probably have most of you metalheads frothing at the mouth. Which is good since we only got 20 of these and apparently it's already out of print. So check it out. AKITSA. ASH POOL. WOODS OF INFINITY. Yep, that's all we needed too, to know we had to get some of these. But there are also tracks from Darkest Grove, Pagan Hellfire, Morker, Gaszimmer and Nasheim. Indeed. Here's a quick rundown of the bands and their tracks:
Akitsa: A surprisingly plodding dirgey jam, filthy and blackened, raw and grim, with an awesome woozy main riff.
Darkest Grove: Some seriously primitive thrashing blackness, the drums buried beneath a layer of relentless old school black metal, grunty growly vocals and soaring epic choruses.
Pagan Hellfire: Another blast of brittle lo-fi black metal, plenty raw and buzzy, with a cool loping bridge, and some crazy wheedly guitar shreddery.
Ash Pool: Fuck yeah. Been far too long since we've gotten some Ash Pool. Totally fucked up and genius. A damaged gnarled main riff, so killer, woven into a dense mathy arrangements with some lurching start stops, the drums muffled and thumpy but plenty chaotic, the vocals howled then shrieked, and like all Ash Pool, a weird undercurrent of unlikely poppiness.
Morker: Super epic, ultra melodic midtempo black metal, that reminds us of Lifelover, melancholy, almost poppy, with an explosion of frenzied blackness near the end of the track.
Gaszimmer: These guys give up some WAY lo-fi, practice space, demo tape black metal pound, muted, muffled, the guitars buzzy and brittle, but with an awesome vocalist, who has a sort of maniacal froggy croak, which balances the other, cleaner chantlike vocals.
Nasheim: Super abstract and cinematic, and seemingly barely even black metal, epic, sweeping, melodic, like the music that would be playing during the credits of some black metal anime. So weird, but really awesome.
Woods Of Infinity: A lurching, tripped out damaged blackened dirge from these weirdos. Mournful guitars laced with off kilter electronics, dueling tortured vocals, howling and crooning and wailing, the whole thing warped and wacked and awesome.
Comes with a huge 4 page, 12" x 12" booklet, with band logos, liner notes and lyrics. And fair warning, there is some NSBM action happening here, Gaszimmer is the only blatantly NS band of the bunch, but the title with all the 88 symbolism, and one or two of the tracks, definitely problematic, so if you can look past that stuff, or ignore it, and maybe just get it for Ash Pool and Akitsa and Woods Of Infinity, or just dig the music and pay no heed to whatever lame politics are happening, or maybe just skip/ignore the Gaszimmer track, definitely an awesome collection, otherwise, you have been warned, steer clear.
LIMITED TO 488 COPIES, each one hand numbered. Already sold out, last copies ever.

V/A Ein Wigwam Steht In Babelsberg (Cinesounds) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Disturbing and baffling, but pretty amusing collection of music from German "Indianerfilmen" - an entire genre of German films about Native Americans. No, not cowboys and indians, just indians. Yes, there's a lot that's just plain WRONG about this genre - the cover features a buffed out topless German man in Indian drag, replete with long black wig, feather & rifle. The music on this disk, which spans from 1966 to 1978 (must have been a popular genre), ranges from faux-Indian psych-rock (sung in both English and German), country, cabaret, lieder and instrumental scores which, when not actual Morricone covers, sound as though they could accompany a Sergio Leone film. Includes two pages of liner notes in German if you can read it. Supply limited.

V/A Einigen Wir Uns Auf Die Zukunft cd 14.98
Speaking of Couch, they're featured on this compilation of the best bands from the German Kollaps, Kitty-Yo, and Payola labels. You'll find art rock on one track, electronica the next, or more likely some combination thereof--these are bands that apparently draw inspiration from both This Heat and Bjork, Can and Locust...such as Subraum Kader, Tarwater, Potawatomi, Tied & Tickled Trio, and more.

V/A Electric Gypsyland 2 (Ryko) cd 16.98

MPEG Stream: TUUNG VS. TARAF DE HAIDOUKS "Homecoming"
MPEG Stream: ANIMAL COLLECTIVE VS. KOCANI ORKESTER "Oi Bori Sujie"

V/A Electric Ladyland (Force Inc./Mille Plateaux) cd 20.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

V/A Electric Ladyland II (Force Inc./Mille Plateaux) cd 20.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
"Electric soul for rebels" -- two volumes of electronica. Contributors include Zulutronic, Alec Empire, Techno Animal, DJ Vadim, and plenty more.

V/A Electric Ladyland III (Force Inc./Mille Plateaux) cd 15.98
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Abstract hip hop operated by Alec Empire, DJ Spooky, Spectre, DJ Vadim etc.

V/A Electric Ladyland IV (Mille Plateaux) cd 14.98
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The fourth in Mille Plateaux' series of advanced electronica comps, and you can't argue with the lineup: Techno Animal, DJ Spooky, Alec Empire, Panacea (thrice!), Spectre, and more. "Electric soul for rebels."

V/A Electric Ladyland IV (Mille Plateaux) 2lp 12.98
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The fourth in Mille Plateaux' series of advanced electronica comps, and you can't argue with the lineup: Techno Animal, DJ Spooky, Alec Empire, Panacea (thrice!), Spectre, and more. "Electric soul for rebels."

V/A Electric Ladyland: Clickhop Version 1.0 (Mille Plateaux) 2cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is another Reader's Digest compendium from Mille Plateaux that inevitably features Kid 606 and brings together the diaspora of the contemporary electronica spectrum under a singular heading. Here it's "ClickHop" (ugh), a term to describe the Hip Hop equivalent of MicroHouse, in which all of the breakbeats have been vacated of their funk and low-end for a far more clinical and ironic approach towards Hip Hop. Many of the artists like Safety Scissors, Andreas Tilliander, AGF / DLAY, MRI, Captain Comatose, Kid 606, and Jetone follow close to the working definition of ClickHop, with others like Spectre, I-Sound, and Alva Noto staying true to their signature sounds.
RealAudio clip: SAFETY SCISSORS "Mr. Blister Is Connected To My Fingers"
RealAudio clip: SPECTRE "Infra-Red (Danse of the Dead Pt. 2)"

V/A Electric Losers 2 cd 17.98
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"The Story of Volkslied Into Krautrock Goes On"...yes, the third and fourth volumes of the previously vinyl-only "Pre-Kraut Pandaemonium" series are compiled onto cd. 29 tracks of crazee German '60s beat music.

V/A Electrically Induced Vibrations (Anomalous) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The presence of Edward Ka-Spel and Silverman will undoubtably cause the tiny pressing of this compilation to sell-out to the legions of Legendary Pink Dots fans. But even without them, "Electrically Induced Vibrations" makes for a pretty good listen, populated with an LPD-like aesthetic of dark grandeur, conceptually minded artfulness, idiosyncratic production, and arcane mythologies. Along with Ka-Spel and Silverman, there's Cylobe (featuring ex-Coil members Stephen Thrower and Steve Norris offering an abstraction of glitched electronics with downwardly spirally clarinet bleetings), Colin Potter (Ora and Nurse With Wound collaborator doing quiet dronework), Omit (AQ's favorite NZ misanthrope producing a restrained version of wooden loops and synthetic washes), and Mistress of Strands (mixing vibrato electronics with lifting female vocalizations that sounds very Projekt records), as well as Steve Thomsen, Arkkon, and Fibrillation. Anomalous pressed up a mere 428 copies of this album, so be quick. Housed in a nicely silkscreened Siwa cover.
RealAudio clip: OMIT "Consumption"
RealAudio clip: EDWARD KA-SPEL "Burdon"

V/A Electrick Loosers: The Story of Volkslied Into Krautrock cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The cd edition of the"Pre-Kraut Pandaemonium" lps vol. 1 & 2, crazy German beat music from the late 60's, before the punks went cosmic, the same scene that spawned the Monks (who appeared on a later edition in the Pre-Kraut Pandaemonium series). Cryptic liner notes indicate that there's indeed some pre-Can (then called Inner Space), pre-Amon Duul etc. musicians on here.

V/A Electro Grind Gore Compilation (Alarma Recs) cd 14.98
Back in stock! (And, also, when we reviewed this a few weeks ago, we spaced out and somehow listed it under the title of Electro Grind Holocaust, which is a totally different comp on the same label, whoops!)
For those of you who just flipped over our recent Record Of The Week selection the Drum>MachineGun compilation, and want MORE crazed drum machine grindcore insanity, this other collection entitled Electro Grind Gore Compilation should also be of interest! It's slanted a bit more toward the underground and obscure than the Drum>MachineGun comp, and also more towards the porno/gore obsessed side of this bizarre metal/punk subgenre -- a subgenre that features, as displayed here, razor sharp spastic guitar riffage, techno dance beats, belching death metal grunts and growls (some so subsonically extreme that they sound like bubblings from below the earth), non-sequitorial samples (often offensive and, um, humorous), and lots of bleepy bleepy bleargh distortion and noise. There's a unexpectedly high catchiness quotient, in spots, but these tracks are definitely utterly maddening at the same time. It's kind of a "chocolate-in-my-peanut-butter" deal with the electro danciness and the harsh splattermetalgrindnoise in collision. In fact, it's kind of unclear just who this sort of music is supposed to appeal to: we can't imagine techno fans digging all the noise and gore, and we didn't think so many metalheads liked techno-dance beats -- but I guess we were wrong! Of course we like it, so...
Electro Grind Gore contains 28 tracks from 17 bands, most of whom we'd never heard of before. Some names: Atomik Surfing, Shunt Incision, Basket Of Death, Vomitrone, Skrotum, 666.Porn.Star, SMES, Posthuman Worm, Absurd God, Tourette Syndrom, Firbrosarcoma... A very international line-up indeed, the bands hailing from Brazil, Japan, Mexico, France, Croatia, Holland, Germany, Panama, Spain, Australia, and Italy. It's a veritable World Cup of sick underground electro grind! While here at Aquarius we're better versed in black metal, doom, and "true" metal, if we ever do decide to turn this drum machine fueled electronic grindcore deviancy into an AQ specialty, we'd definitely start by tracking down more stuff by the bands on this comp!
MPEG Stream: TOURETTE SYNDROM "Giggle Geriatric Gypse Giggolo"
MPEG Stream: FIBROSARCOMA "Angiokeratoma"
MPEG Stream: SKROTUM "I Wanna Rock 'n' Roll"

V/A Electroacoustic Music #5 (Electroshock Records) cd 21.00

V/A Electronic Toys 2 (cd) Normal / QDK Media 15.98
The second in the series of squiggly early electronic pop rarities from the 60s from Bruce Haacke, The Mindexpanders, Harry Breuer, Gil Tryhall (featuring a cut from his "Switched On Nashville" album of electronic hillbilly weirdness), Fred Weinberg, amongst others. Just like the "Love Peace & Poetry" series, "Electronic Toys" is packaged with the idiosyncratic pin-up photos of Bunny Yeager; after all sex sells.

V/A Elephant Tracks (Asian Improv) cd 14.98
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The local improv jazz label - Asian Improv - presents this benefit compilation of West Coast hip hop for the Asian Pacific Islander Student Alliance. Featuring Latyrx, Encome, Mista Sinsta, Mountain Brothers, DJ Rhettmatic, Medusa, KNT, Zion I, 427, Anomalies, DJ Vinroc, Visionaries, and more.

V/A Elsie+Jack+Chair (Elsie and Jack Recordings) cd 13.98
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New Michigan based label with a strange name, and stranger music on this compilation--noise, electronic, & experimental sounds from some obscure and more-than-obsure artists (Crawl Unit, Rampoon, Tabata of Zeni Geva with Tatsuya Yoshida of Ruins, Totemplow and Brume being among the better-known). An excellent collection that causes us to look forward to more from this label (such as an upcoming Tabata solo disc).

V/A Emanated (Emanate) cd 11.98
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Here's Forced Exposure's apt description:
Debut release on a new CA-based IDM label, focusing on that sparkling electronic machine crinkle that can sound just right. OST's track, "August" is a legitimate classic, that could easily fit somewhere within the Warp "Artificial Intelligence" series. Many other tracks are of similar vintage & emotional quality. The CD features obscure US artists such as: Solenoide (aka Office Products, aka Mr. Pharmacist; currently been doing work with Mark Hosler of Negativland, while having escaped an earlier life of hacking, sits behind the door and thinks about asthetic pranks'), Lillianthal (Arrow Kleeman, NYC, has performed with the Silver Apples, before becoming Lillienthal, "hoping that his search for sound found and personal mood will set him aside from the even flow of contemporary electronic dance music, this is his debut'), If.Then.Else. ('playing bass, playing jazz, discovers the synthesizer all hell break loose; not to be seen until now, he hides with the machine in attempts to beat it at it's own games'), Sybarite (aka Xian Hawkins, who has also performed and recorded with Simeon of the reformed Silver Apples), O.S.T. (aka Rook Vallade, has recorded on Switch Records, Plug Research, Worm Interface, remixed Spacetime Continuum, etc.).

V/A Emanated (Emanate) lp 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Here's Forced Exposure's apt description:
Debut release on a new CA-based IDM label, focusing on that sparkling electronic machine crinkle that can sound just right. OST's track, "August" is a legitimate classic, that could easily fit somewhere within the Warp "Artificial Intelligence" series. Many other tracks are of similar vintage & emotional quality. The CD features obscure US artists such as: Solenoide (aka Office Products, aka Mr. Pharmacist; currently been doing work with Mark Hosler of Negativland, while having escaped an earlier life of hacking, sits behind the door and thinks about asthetic pranks'), Lillianthal (Arrow Kleeman, NYC, has performed with the Silver Apples, before becoming Lillienthal, "hoping that his search for sound found and personal mood will set him aside from the even flow of contemporary electronic dance music, this is his debut'), If.Then.Else. ('playing bass, playing jazz, discovers the synthesizer all hell break loose; not to be seen until now, he hides with the machine in attempts to beat it at it's own games'), Sybarite (aka Xian Hawkins, who has also performed and recorded with Simeon of the reformed Silver Apples), O.S.T. (aka Rook Vallade, has recorded on Switch Records, Plug Research, Worm Interface, remixed Spacetime Continuum, etc.).

V/A Embryo 4: Homemade Music By Bay Area Musicians (Cubby Control) cd 8.98
Bay Area indie band The Cubby Creatures make home-spun crafty pop music, and their homebase label Cubby Control run by bassist/vocalist Brian Weaver also puts out compilations of other likeminded Bay Area and beyond artists. This is the fourth and final volume of the series which began back in 1997 as a celebration of 4-track home recordings. This volume differs from its lower-fi predecessors in that it is comprised of twenty completely exclusive tracks by exclusively Bay Area artists. There's quite a variety of styles from acoustic folk to funk-a-booty, from loopy psych-pop to minimal dub-tronic, from an off-kilter carnivalesque theme to a more urban soundscape. A charming lil' something for everyone! The participants include Thee More Shallows, The Slow Poisoner, Dax Pierson, Jai Young Kim, The Andy Peters Show, Mos Eisley, Thee Druggles, Brian Weaver and The Cubby Creatures or course.
MPEG Stream: THEE MORE SHALLOWS "Phineas Bogg"
MPEG Stream: THE ANDY PETERS SHOW "La Chanson De Jacky"

V/A Embryo Compilation: 03 Adventures In Homemade Music (Cubby Control) cd-r 8.98
An assortment of tracks by 19 very disparate SF indie artists. The most odd is probably the inclusion of Lower Forty-Eight, who contribute a rumbling stoner rock track that bursts forth amid the much more abundant, low-key melodicism. The other 18 songs range from percolating electronic whirs to folky acoustic to perky pop. Highlights: the soothing "De Quel Planete Es tu?" by Brian Weaver (the man behind this compilation and member of mish-mash popsters The Cubby Creatures), Minmae's "Bluebird" a shadowy Howe Gelb/Giant Sand-ish track, the shifting soundscape of "The Aerialist's Tiara" by That Hideous Strength (aka Benjamin Tinker), and the young moody post-rock combo known as Shackleton (now sadly defunct).
RealAudio clip: SHACKLETON "Yo, Terminator... Meet The Album That Killt Me"
RealAudio clip: BRIAN WEAVER "De Quel Planete Es Tu?"

V/A Eminem Presents The Re-Up (Shady / Interscope) cd 15.98

MPEG Stream: "You Don't Know"
MPEG Stream: "Smack That (Remix)"
MPEG Stream: "Get Low"

V/A Encyclopedia Asthmatica Vol. 1 (Asthmatic Kitty) dvd 15.98
Whoops, how'd this one slip under our radar? Encyclopedia Asthmatica Vol. 1 presents 32 playful, whimsical visuals from the ultra blissed out indie label's roster of gentle folk and electronic pop - Sufjan Stevens, The Curtains, Castanets, Shapes And Sizes, Half-Handed Cloud, Rafter, Bunky, Liz Janes, My Brightest Diamond! A hi-fi and lo-fi mix of animation, live clips, found footage and more, the dvd's probably worth nabbing for the Stevens clips alone, but the rest are super dreamy delights too!

V/A Entering The Levitation: A Tribute To Skepticism (Foreshadow) 2cd 18.98
In honor of the first new Skepticism record in 5 years, we figured we oughta relist this tribute to Skepticism, easily one of the best tribute albums we've heard in ages, some of the covers are just as good if not better (okay, maybe not better, but damn close) than the originals! Some of our favorite doom bands take on their masters, as well as a whole mess of new bands we hadn't heard until this here collection...
The world may be full of doom and gloom, and your shelves may be bursting at the seams will all manner of slow motion sludge and funereal dirges, but there was a time, when true doom wasn't so easy to come by, the world wasn't prepared for slow motion misery and abject musical miserablism, but we were, and we hunted and searched, and thus we discovered Finland's Skepticism. The heaviest, most beautiful, most perplexingly atmospheric music we had yet encountered. It was so washed out and dreamy it was barely metal. So slow and pretty it almost sounded choral. We described the music of Skepticism as sounding like sitting in a church, while a doom metal band practiced in the basement, the huge thudding crush, barely audible through the floor, the sounds intertwining with the warm whir of the church organ, some strangely spiritual sonic confluence, that was as magical as it was mysterious.
And it wasn't just us. The sound of Skepticism spoke to all sorts of people, metalheads, doomlords, drone freeks, weirdo music obsessives, and it made perfect sense, as it was all those things, metal, doom, drone, weird. Add to that, lovely, haunting, creepy, ominous and absolutely fucking brilliant.
So here we have a double disc tribute to the masters of slow motion doomed beauty, from a handful of bands, as with most comps, many we'd never heard of, a few we were already big fans of. And also with tributes, how do you pay tribute to a music that is already so perfect? Do you try to sound as much like it as possible, or change it into something else entirely? Somehow, all of the bands here have managed a little bit of both, enough that this is a gorgeous and epic funereal doom record all the way through. Pretty enough to appeal to folks who just like their music dark and dreamy, but heavy enough to mesmerize the blackest hearted of metalheads.
Right out of the gate, Nest (who we'd never heard of) offer up a 14 minute version of a track off the first Skepticism, and do their own sort of blissed out reverential dronedoom version which might be our favorite track on the comp. Stretches of lilting acoustic guitars over rumbling drones, separated by shimmering keyboards and slow plodding muted riffs, so soft it's barely metal at all, more a sort of droning slowcore. Much like the original, but even more soft and shimmery.
The rest of disc one, offer up more traditional doom versions of Skepticism classics, but each twisted and tweaked enough to be a good fresh listen. The final track on disc one, "The Organium" by Oktor, might be the weirdest, a sort of industrialized, mechanical stumbling doom lurch, with sung / spoken deep crooned vocals. Weird but super cool.
The highlight of disc two is of course Rigor Sardonicous, who we of course LOVE, and who do a killer version of "Chorale", beginning with backwards guitars, which eventually morph into a massive downtuned dirge, with that mournful melody buried in the mix, and the strangely loud cymbals we love so much (see some of our other RS reviews about that). The other groups on the second disc definitely take their liberties, Calmsite, turn their track into almost death metal, Aarni give Skepticism a folky makeover, and It Will Come, start out slow and sludgy, but then slip into some sort of drifting post rock slowcore. It's all pretty awesome. How bad could it be starting with Skepticism songs after all?! But either way, this is an awesome collection of intense and beautiful, slow sad heavy dooooooooom, that most definitely does Skepticism proud.
MPEG Stream: RIGOR SARDONICOUS "Chorale"
MPEG Stream: MONOLITHE "Edges"
MPEG Stream: SHROUD OF BEREAVEMENT "Forge"

V/A Espanola (Khmer Rocks) cd-r 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Along with putting out the three Cambodian Rocks compilations that have rendered the original Parallel World label comp of the same name virtually obsolete, Khmer Rocks also has a plethora of other khmer music compilations that we're only just beginning to scratch the surface of. While every bit as great as the three Rocks comps we reviewed previously, they're also not marketed as much for the greater population... ie: these are more for the Khmer community. To this end, there's no translation of the song titles or artists. Additionally this collection is on CD-R, but we can't complain because it's also only 9.98. You're probably wondering what a Spanish title is doing on a collection of Cambodian rock music and, well, so were we. The first track, with the word "espanola" featured prominently in the lyrics, clears all that up: yes, it's Cambodian Cha-Cha and Latin tinged Cambodian rock. There are even trumpet flourishes and string sections lifted straight out of a bolero. Not to give you the wrong idea however, only a handful of the tracks on Espanola are actually Latin influenced. Like the Cambodian Rocks series, there's plenty of good old fashioned go-go and garage rock make up the bulk of the collection. Plus the closer, a fuzzed out "hard rock" encore of a track is about as unlike anything in the previous comps. For those of you who already own the other anthologies, as far as we've been able to tell from listening -- another downside to not having English liner notes -- there's no overlap with any of the previous Cambodian collections we've been selling. Muy bien Khmer Rocks!
MPEG Stream: UNKNOWN "Track 1"
MPEG Stream: UNKNOWN "Track 9"
MPEG Stream: UNKNOWN "Track 20"

V/A Estrus 100% Apeshit Sampler (Estrus) cd 6.98
Year after year Dave Crider (formerly of the Monomen) slings out heaps of primo-garage releases from around the world on his Bellingham, WA label Estrus. This is the second volume of rough rawk nuggets culled from his extensive catalog. Starring The Monkeywrench, The Insomniacs, Estrella 20/20, The Von Zippers and twenty more trashy garage wonders! Plus a super-duper price!

V/A Ethiopia: Air Polyphonies (Ocora) cd 21.00

V/A Ethiopiques Vol. 1 (Buda Musique) cd 15.98
Following the beautiful funk / rocksteady / Ethiopian folk fusions on the first compilation, AQ has stocked the full catalogue of the "Ethiopiques" series. Here's a shortened version of what Windy wrote in her Bay Guardian review of the albums. I recommend you pick up #3 and the stunning instrumental volume #4, then #1. Volume #2 is from the 1990s, not the 1970s as are the other three, and is good but very different.
"From 1969 to 1975, spanning an astonishly short six years, a fascinating set of factors contributed to the golden age of modern Ethiopian music. Unless you're already a Mahmoud Ahmed fan or own the sadly out-of-print 'Ethiopian Groove' compilation, then this is some of the most amazingly beautiful music you've never ever heard. Ethiopia, unlike the rest of Africa, was never deeply colonized. Thus the institutional bands, like the Imperial Body Guard Orchestra and the Police Band, used conventional western instruments without regard for western song forms; the music sounds at once familiar and strange, a tantalizing combination. Alternately wistful and eerie arpeggios in pentatonic scales are warbled by the vocalists and horns. Rhythm guitar and jazz-like drums wreak havoc on a westerner's sense of time (once you think you're tapping toes along with the beat, you realize you've lost it.) And American sixties soul-type guitar follows its own melody above it all."
MPEG Stream: MELLESSE, MULUQEN "Hedetch Alu"
MPEG Stream: METEKU, TESHOME "Hasabe"

V/A Ethiopiques Vol. 10 : Tezeta - Ethiopian Blues & Ballads (Buda Musique) cd 15.98
The literal translation of the word "Tezeta" is memory, or nostalgia and as it applies to music in Ethiopia it is akin to the American genre known as the blues, hence the subtitle of this collection. But don't worry, you won't hear any imitations of western blues progressions here. When I first put this on though, I instantly got a feeling of nostalgia before I realised that I'd heard these songs before. In fact, over half of the material on this disc has already been released by Buda in previous collections of Ethiopiques. Four tracks appeared on Ethiopiques #1 (three if you count Getatchew Kassa's split "Tezeta" slow/fast as one track) and two tracks were present on the instrumental collection of Ethiopiques #4. If you've got those two comps already, then you'll be paying a hefty price for the six new tracks you get on this collection. So is it worth it? Well, I may be a sucker, but the extra tracks are pretty damn impressive. Mahmoud Ahmed's 12 and a half minute version of "Tezeta" is absolutely dreamy and all three of the previously unissued cuts by Alemayehu Eshete are excellent. The general feel of this collection shares a lot with volume 4 in the series. Along with the two tracks that were already on Ethiopiques #4, the one instrumental track from Ethiopiques #1 is included here, and the remaining vocal tracks on the disc are all down tempo, sorrowful ballads that'll jerk the tears from your eye sockets. In a way, you could see this collection as a sort of "best of" Ethiopiques and more than recommending it to owners of the rest of the series I would suggest it as a great place to start for those who've still not taken the plunge into Ethiopia's wonderful and unique musical treasure chest. [Note to all the Santa's out there: great stocking stuffer for the un-initiated.]
RealAudio clip: ESHETE, ALEMAYEHU "Teredtchewalehu"
RealAudio clip: AHMED, MAHMOUD "Tezeta"
RealAudio clip: ESHETE, ALEMAYEHU "Man Yehon Telleq Sew"

V/A Ethiopiques Vol. 12 : Konso Music And Songs (Buda Musique) cd 15.98
Like volumes 2, 5, and 11, Ethiopiques 12 is a collection apart from the fuzzed out groove music of Amha and Kaifa records which make up much of the material in the series. This volume features the various traditional musics found in the Konso province in the Southeastern part of Ethiopia. Choruses, flute solos, and songs accompanied by various lutes and bells. Comes with 31 pages of liner notes in French and English.
RealAudio clip: TEDESSE DEYASA "Wattatra"
RealAudio clip: KAHANO "Hoppa"
RealAudio clip: CHOIR "Kirba Yoqaa"

V/A Ethiopiques Vol. 13 : Ethiopian Groove (Buda Musique) cd 15.98
While not as famous as Amha Eshete (Amha Records), Ali Abdella Kaifa and his Kaifa records was still a heavyweight in Ethiopia's golden age of record production. Kaifa essentially took up the slack from Eshete when the latter went into exile in 1975 due to the country's increasingly hostile military government. Entering the music business in 1973 with the release of the first 45s on his label, Kaifa didn't just materialize in Eshete's absence. But it was the release of Mahmoud Ahmed's legendary "Ere Mela Mela" -- the album that would become the first Ethiopian recording to be released in Europe -- that really put Kaifa on the map. He was also the one who discovered Aster Aweke (who later fled Ethiopia to build a successful career as a world beat artist in the late eighties.) All but two tracks in this collection were recorded between 1976 and 1977 at the tail end of of Ethiopia's record industry, which was squashed in 1978 (at which point Kaifa continued to produce music on cassettes.) Along with the usual collection of male vocalists (Alemayehu Eshete, Hirut Bekele, Ayalew Mesfin and Tamrat Ferendji) there are four tracks featuring female vocalists (unfortunately underrepresented in this series) Bzunesh Beqele and the duo of Asselefetch Ashine & Getenesh Kebret. Ashine & Kebret must be heard to be believed, their unearthly parallel harmonies sharing the limelight wonderfully with the Army Band's flautist and arranger Teshome Sissay.
Longtime readers of AQ's list might have caught notice of this volume's title "Ethiopian Groove", as we had once stocked an album of the same name many years ago (see AQL #42). Indeed this album is the very same as the now out of print one on Blue Silver (in fact Ethiopiques series editor Francis Falceto was the one who compiled the earlier release), but with a few differences. While Ethiopiques #13 is unfortunately missing three of the Aster Aweke tracks that graced the original Ethiopian Groove CD, it is supplemented by the addition of two tracks by saxophonist Seyoum Gebreyes, two by vocalist Muleqen Mellesse and greatly expanded liner notes & photos. We can only hope that Buda Musique is intending to issue an entire CD dedicated to Aster Aweke and her earliest recordings for Kaifa. Until then, those of you with the original Ethiopian Groove should hold onto it.
RealAudio clip: MULUQEN MELLESSE & DAHLAK BAND "Djemeregne"
RealAudio clip: ASSELEFETCH ASHINE & GETENESH KEBRET & ARMY BAND "Metche New"