V/A House of Distraction (Schematic) lp 14.98
"House of Distraction" is the latest compilation of IDM elitism from Schematic - Miami's answer to Warp and Skam. This compilation appears to be a series of remixes / reinterpretations of older Schematic tracks by the current roster of artists, such as Jake Mandell contributing a track called "Plays With Devine's Balls." Push Button Objects' rehashing of Takeshi's "Gutta Percha" is one of their best cuts with a strong futuristic hip hop groove (like a pumped up DJ Vadim) with intertwining synth bass / piano lines. Matmos (performing plastic surgery on Richard Devine) is still in top form with a gritty shuffling groove topped off with various coughs, motorik whirrings, and REM state flashbacks. The rest of the compilation (with tracks from Dino Filipe, Delaroas & Asora, Jake Mandell Freeform, Otto Von Schirach, Richard Devine, 09, Mannequin Lung, Phonecia, and Radio Boy) fits within the standard Schematic fare of Autechre / Aphex electronica algorithms and disjointed breakbeats.

V/A How Low Can You Go? (Dust To Digital) 3cd 58.00
We hadn't been able to get these for a while, but recently managed to get a few back in, just in case you missed it the first time around...
Dust-To-Digital is quickly becoming one of the most important reissue labels going, and most definitely one of the most impressive, with every one of their releases, most extravagant box sets, a marvel not only of musical archaeology, but of ingenious design and impeccable selection.
How Low Can You Go is not actually brand new. It's a little over a year old, but it's one we've been meaning to list for ages, and are finally getting around to it. As the title alludes to, the focus of this three disc set, is the low end, the oft overlooked bass player, the band member who typically hangs in the back, but who holds everything together. For the purpose of this particular compilation, it's the string bass players, those who wielded the upright bass, an instrument that helped define the sound of jazz and dance bands in the early twentieth century.
Like all Dust-To-Digital releases, there's a huge book, with plenty of information, on the development of the string bass, its roots in 15th century Western European music, and how it supplanted the TUBA as low end provider of choice. It's a fascinating story, but it's the music that really tells the story. The focus is mostly on jazz, big band, ragtime, with brief forays into other sounds like gospel and bluegrass, but it's all fantastic, the hiss of old 78's wrapped lovingly around festive jazzy joints, folky funereal twang and soaring spirituals, smokey rhythm and blues and bustling big band jams.
Two discs packed with mostly recordings from New York City, while the third disc focuses almost exclusively on William Manuel Johnson, a ragtime and jazz pioneer, and master of the string bass. There's plenty of text on his life and musical exploits, which is great reading, but like the other two discs, the music speaks volumes, and will most likely have you wanting more.
Three discs in printed sleeves, a 100 page perfect bound book, with tons of essays and liner notes, notes on each track and every performer, a whole section just on William Johnson, tons of amazing photos, reproductions of old lp and 78 sleeves, newspaper ads and articles and lots more, all housed in a hardback book sized cardboard box.
MPEG Stream: BOBBIE LEECAN'S NEED-MORE BAND "Wash-Board Cut Out"
MPEG Stream: CHARLES PIERCE AND HIS ORCHESTRA "China Boy"
MPEG Stream: JIMMIE RODGERS "Waiting For A Train"
MPEG Stream: FLETCHER HENDERSON AND HIS ORCHESTRA "Chinatown, My Chinatown"

V/A How Many Bands Does It Take To Screw Up A Blondie Tribute? (Sympathy For The Record Industry) cd 11.98
We were quite surprised by how rocking these renditions of classic (and already perfect) Blondie tunes were. Tough sounding girl vocals and chunky guitar sounds amke this sort of great. Bands from all over the place: North Carolina, Japan, L.A., Detroit, Canada, Italy. (most of which we've never heard of): Oh and the art work is an awesome cutey pie watercolor painting.
RealAudio clip: SQUATWEILER "Call Me"
RealAudio clip: TEH EXCESSORIES "In The Flesh"

V/A How To Destroy The Universe (Mobilization) cd 4.98
There's another festival goin' on right now here in festival-healthy SF... and L.A., San Diego, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, and Calgary too. It's the How To Destroy The Universe Festival of extreme art and music featuring performances by artists such as Blixa Bargeld, The Living Jarboe, and F-SPACE. In case you aren't able to attend, the organizers (Mobilization Records) didn't want you to completely miss out so they've released this compilation of recordings by select participants - the abovementioned as well as Savage Republic, Soriah, The Centimeters, The Sixteens and Black Ice. Come to think of it, for those of you who are attending, this'll make a cool nicely priced souvenir, won't it?
MPEG Stream: LIVING JARBOE, THE "This Is Life"
MPEG Stream: SAVAGE REPUBLIC "Mobilization"

V/A Human Breakdown of Absurdity: MSR Madness Vol. 3 (Carnage Press) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The series that started with the classic "Beat of the Traps" lp continues, with dozens more examples of "amateur lyrics ground through the song poem mill". Rodd Keith fans will weep with joy.

V/A Human Element - The World's First Human Beatbox Compilation (108) cd 14.98

V/A Hustle! Reggae Disco (Soul Jazz) cd 21.00
The latest Soul Jazz comp gives us eight reggae covers of disco hits originally by the likes of Sugarhill Gang, Chaka Khan, Diana Ross, Michael Jackson and others. While not as essential as the string of great Soul Jazz reggae comps (like the Studio One and Dynamite collections), there are a couple nice tracks here. The Blood Sister's rendition of "Ring My Bell" is the highlight, featuring dubbed out drums and bass and sweet vocals that get the echo treatment toward the end of the track. Latisha's soulfull take on "I'm Every Woman" seems more earthy and convincing than Chaka Khan's (or, uh, Whitney Houston's) version; the darker, richer sound somehow provides a more complex angle on femininity despite the same lyrics. The main stumbling point is Xanadu and Sweet Lady's extremely faithful cover of "Rapper's Delight." It's not like it's bad -- it sounds a lot like Sugarhill Gang's version but with female vocals -- but it's not particularly "reggaefied," and no new angle is provided, it's just a cover of a hit song that probably went over pretty well on the dance floor. Other tracks do give their targeted hits a reggae makeover, which is usually something of an improvement, but nothing super amazing. Hustle! also lacks the extensive, insightful liner notes of other Soul Jazz releases. Maybe that's because "reggae covers of disco hits" is about the extent of what you need to know.
RealAudio clip: BLOOD SISTERS "Ring My Bell"
RealAudio clip: LATISHA "I'm Every Woman"

V/A Hustle! Reggae Disco (Soul Jazz) 2lp 24.00
The latest Soul Jazz comp gives us eight reggae covers of disco hits originally by the likes of Sugarhill Gang, Chaka Khan, Diana Ross, Michael Jackson and others. While not as essential as the string of great Soul Jazz reggae comps (like the Studio One and Dynamite collections), there are a couple nice tracks here. The Blood Sister's rendition of "Ring My Bell" is the highlight, featuring dubbed out drums and bass and sweet vocals that get the echo treatment toward the end of the track. Latisha's soulfull take on "I'm Every Woman" seems more earthy and convincing than Chaka Khan's (or, uh,Whitney Houston's) version; the darker, richer sound somehow provides a more complex angle on femininity despite the same lyrics. The main stumbling point is Xanadu and Sweet Lady's extremely faithful cover of "Rapper's Delight." It's not like it's bad -- it sounds a lot like Sugarhill Gang's version but with female vocals -- but it's not particularly "reggaefied," and no new angle is provided, it's just a cover of a hit song that probably went over pretty well on the dance floor. Other tracks do give their targeted hits a reggae makeover, which is usually something of an improvement, but nothing super amazing. Hustle! also lacks the extensive, insightful liner notes of other Soul Jazz releases. Maybe that's because "reggae covers of disco hits" is about the extent of what you need to know.

V/A Hyphy Hitz (TVT) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Living in the Bay Area, we've obviously been hearing all about Hyphy for about a year now, a distinctly Bay Area sound, not all that dissimilar to Crunk or the chopped and screwed sound of the Dirty South, but with a vibe that was distinctly, well Hyphy (a mix of hyper and fly btw). A sound that supposedly just sort of sprouted up in the beginning of 2006. We'd heard tracks by all the main movers in the scene, Keak Da Sneak, Mac Dre, E-40, and while we dug it, it didn't really sound all that different from the Bay Area hip hop we'd been hearing for years, and it sort of smacked of the great hype machine, coming up with a catch phrase to make something old and tired sound new and fresh again. But maybe we weren't hearing the right tracks, cuz we got our hands on this comp, featuring all the best Hyphy bangers from the first year, and HOLEEEEEEEEE SHIT, is this stuff amazing. Fucked up and funny, funky and fun and so totally over the top. Absolutely irresistible. In fact we sold one to a customer, who called us from his car ten minutes later FREAKING OUT about how great it was, and how every track was so good, he'd skip to the next one, expecting it to be a dud, only to discover it was even better. We had the exact same experience. We listened to a few minutes of each track, constantly skipping forward, not believing that every track could be that fucking great. But they were, and they are!
We've been freaking out about grime for ages, a killer UK hybrid of hip hop and jungle (Dizzee Rascal, Lady Sovereign, Wiley...), we can't get enough of that grimey sound, so fucked up with killer beats and weird loops, and some of the funniest freaked out flows we've ever heard, dense and tongue twisting. With our new found love of grime, we had been lamenting the sad state of US hip hop, the same beats, the same boring gangster rap, the same glossy MTV stuff, but damn if these tracks don't push the exact same buttons that grime does, sounding fresh and thrilling all over again.
But what does Hyphy actually sound like? It's kind of hard to pinpoint, it may be about location as much as sound, the scene as much as the music, but most of the tracks have some common elements. Synths for one. Lots of synths, thick and fuzzy, often the main hook is just a massive buzzing synth melody over a shuffling laid back rhythm. And the rhythms, they don't bang and pound as much as sort of slink. And the rapping, some seriously strange flows, from marble mouthed mumbles, to urgent whispers to Lil' Jon style hollerin' but it's not just the delivery, it's the actual words, a confusional mix of Hyphy slang that has you scratching your head as often as laughing out loud. Check out "I Got Grapes", the main lyric being a wailed "I got graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaapes" over a super stripped down beat. Or "Yadadamean" where the main hook is a strangely affected "Yadadamean" repeated over a weirdly epic cinematic synth line. WTF?!? So amazing.
I wish we could describe it more explicitly, but you just gotta hear it. If you're anything like us, you'll be grabbed in the first 30 seconds and won't be able to stop. Normally we're pretty skeptical of 'hits' collections like this, but it's hard to argue with a comp this jam packed with stunners, and we're not about to. Did you dig the B'more Music comp? The Science Faction: Grime comp? The Rio Baile Funk comps? The Warrior Dubz comp? The Razor X Productions comp? Well, you just might have a new favorite. THE dance party record of the year. Whether you're slow rolling with the top down, cranking it through the headphones, or bumpin' and sweatin' up the dancefloor, this disc is THE ONE.
MPEG Stream: THE A'Z "Yadadamean"
MPEG Stream: MESSY MARV "Get On My Hype"
MPEG Stream: NUMP "I Got Grapes"
MPEG Stream: THE TEAM "Hyphy Juice"

V/A I Am A Photographer (Plain) cd 14.98
Now available on cd! (No, nobody told us it would be.) A tribute to Antonioni's 1966 classic film "Blow-Up". Features a wide range of contributors including Matmos, Sun City Girls, Starfuckers, Dean Roberts, Richard Youngs, Arthur Doyle, Loren Mazzacane Connors, William Parker, Amy Denio, Dorgon, Mushroom and Birdsong's Air Force. Everything from free jazz to electronics to free rock is represented. Cool.
RealAudio clip: MATMOS "Despite Its Aesthetic Advances, In Its Policing of the Sexuality of Public Space Antonioni's Film Perpetuates Misogyny and Homophobia"
RealAudio clip: SUN CITY GIRLS "Rolled-Up Collar"
RealAudio clip: DAWSON PRATER "Walking Around"

V/A I Am A Photographer (Plain) 2lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A tribute to Antonioni's 1966 classic film "Blow-Up". Features a wide range of contributors including Matmos, Sun City Girls, Starfuckers, Dean Roberts, Richard Youngs, Arthur Doyle (!), Loren Mazzacane Connors, William Parker, Amy Denio, Dorgon, Mushroom and Birdsong's Air Force. Vinyl only.

V/A I Am Sam (OST) (V2) cd 17.98
The soundtrack to this Sean Penn / Michelle Pfeiffer tearjerker is comprised entirely of Beatles covers, and I'm sorry to say that it's pretty dire, except for the wonderfully earnest Rufus Wainwright rendition of "Across the Universe". Wainwright's voice just does not lie! Aimee Mann and Michael Penn romantically croon "Two of Us", and Paul Westerberg wails "Nowhere Man, and those're pretty good. But the rest of this stinks, including Grandaddy's version of "Revolution" and Nick Cave's embarrassing "Let It Be". Sigh. Other perpetrators include Eddie Vedder, Black Crowes, Sheryl Crow, Sarah Maclachlan, Ben Harper, the Wallflowers, Ben Folds, etc.
RealAudio clip: RUFUS WAINWRIGHT "Across the Universe"
RealAudio clip: AIMEE MANN AND MICHAEL PENN "Two of Us"
RealAudio clip: GRANDADDY "Revolution"

V/A I Am The Resurrection: A Tribute To John Fahey (Vanguard) cd 16.98
Paying tribute to one of the greatest musical beings of our lifetime is a pretty hefty challenge but luckily M. Ward, who put together this comp, did a really nice job of bringing together artists who have been greatly influenced by Fahey's guitar playing and legacy. You can hear in the these covers how deeply felt Fahey's music has been to the next generation of musicians who use guitar as their tool of expression. This is one of those rare tributes that doesn't feel like a haphazard hack job. Fahey's music is so spiritual and pure that there is no doubt everyone on here was honored to pay their respects and came through with excellent versions of Fahey originals. With people like Devendra Banhart, Lee Ranaldo, Howe Gelb, Sufjan Stevens, Calexico, Pelt, Cul De Sac, Currituck Co. and more all contributing covers, it's so nice to hear how they each came to a Fahey song with their own aesthetic at hand. Released on Vanguard who put out many of Fahey's classic albums, the packaging is really nice with each artist contributing a blurb about their relationship with Fahey's music. Tribute records aren't usually this thoughtful and well executed and we're so glad that for John Fahey it was done right because he deserves nothing less then excellence in his honor!
MPEG Stream: FRUIT BATS "Death of the Clayton Peacock"
MPEG Stream: PELT "Sunflower River Blues"
MPEG Stream: DEVENDRA BANHART "Sligo River"

V/A I Am Vengeance (OST) (Meteor City) cd 13.98
The long-awaited "stoner rock/doom metal" soundtrack to the perhaps equally long-awaited psychedelic splatter/gore flick "I Am Vengeance" by low-budget underground director Richard R. Anasky, who, inspired in his filmmaking by both '80s slasher movies *and* '80s doom metal like Witchfinder General, hooked up with Meteor City to put together this soundtrack, featuring the likes of Sheavy, Count Raven, Eternal Elysium, The Quill, Bloodfarmers, Space Probe Taurus, Naevus, Lowrider, Las Cruces, and others. I thought that doom legends Pentagram were supposed to be doing the theme song (it's on their last album), but here it's done by Doomsday Gouvernment (ex-members of Count Raven, who appear all over this comp). Anasky's liner notes seem to indicate that the Pentagram track will appear on a *second* volume of songs from the film to be released by doom label Game Two, but I haven't heard about a release date for that. Anyway, this is a fine comp of mostly-new (or hard-to-find) material by some excellent, if obscure, bands -- almost all of whom seem to have singers vying for the "Sounds Most Like Ozzy Osbourne" award!
RealAudio clip: BLOOD FARMERS "Bullet In My Head"
RealAudio clip: COUNT RAVEN "Scream"

V/A I Belong To This Band: Eighty-Five Years Of Sacred Harp Recordings (Dust-To-Digital) cd 15.98
Initially we were thrown for a puzzlacious loop by the title. Sounds a lot like the Pamela Des Barres autobiography! Then, admittedly not being familiar with the phrase 'Sacred Harp', we also thought the subtitle might be somewhat misleading. We did a little homework though, and found out that it is a traditional choral singing style originating in the Southern states, gospel folksong with a repertory of pre-Civil War vintage. Whew, glad we got it all figured out. Anyways, confusion and definitions aside, the strength of this compilation is something far less complicated. An amazing document of both individual vocalists and congregations singing en masse, it exemplifies the power of the human voice, in concert with spiritual belief. Quite a force to behold, at once both humbling and uplifting. This disc is the aural companion to the documentary film Awake, My Soul, which we're now eager to see, after having spun this numerous times since it showed up here!
The absolutely wonderful Dust-To-Digital label (responsible for the massive, wooden Goodbye, Babylon box set, and the Fonotone one too, among other treats) has again done a great job with the compiling and packaging of these olde timey treasures. The 30-track cd is housed in a handsome cardboard foldy kind of pack, and of course in the cd booklet there's an expert essay on sacred harp singing, as well as individual track notes. As the subtitle indicates, this is a recorded tradition going back 85 years. The earliest recording here dates from 1922, with plenty more from the '20s, '30s, '40s and '50s -- along with several from 2006. We like the timbre of the older recordings best, of course (and the scratchier the recording, the better in our view!), but they're all pretty awesome (an appropriate word to use in this context, in its deepest meaning!). Majestically eerie, moving, and powerful are these songs raised to heaven. As voices overlap and merge, some of these tracks begin to almost sound like some avant-garde 20th century, prog choral piece or something. Others have more of a hillbilly, homey appeal. It's all quite beautiful, and highly recommended!!
MPEG Stream: DENSON'S SACRED HARP SINGERS 1928 "The Christian's Hope"
MPEG Stream: HENAGAR-UNION SACRED HARP CONVENTION 2006 "Antioch"
MPEG Stream: THE ORIGINAL SACRED HARP CHOIR 1922 "The Christian Warfare"

V/A I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore 1927-1948 (Mississippi) lp 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
These sold out lickety split the first time around, but for those of you who missed out, the kind folks at Mississippi have repressed it one more time. Not sure how many there are, but these things go fast, rightfully so, cuz they're incredible!
Amazing compilation of lost folk and blues from this relatively new Northwestern label (even though they're called Mississippi), who have tons more killer comps on deck and coming soon. We can hardly wait! But for now, we're perfectly pleased to just dig into this one, a gorgeous chunk of dusty, sepia toned old timey blues, recorded between the years 1927-1948, all of it fantastic. Like a modern day Folkways, Mississippi has gathered up a gorgeous and varied collection of lost music, from campfire fiddles, to tap dance rhythms, to smokey night club joints, to brassy big band, to amazing yodeling, to Latin flavored rhythm and blues, to back porch stomps, to soft and shimmery crooned blues, it's all fantastic, the recordings raw and emotional, immediate, fuzzy and lo-fi, straight from the original 78's. Absolutely essential. The perfect vinyl addendum to your Smithsonian Folkways' Anthology of American Folk Music box set.

V/A I Gotta Be Me (Who Needs Tomorrow Vol.2) (Psychic Circle) cd 17.98

V/A I Love Bollywood (Manteca) cd 14.98

V/A I Love Dubstep (Rinse) 2cd 17.98
Based entirely on how much a record gets played in the store, this double cd dubstep comp is probably just about the most popular record we have in stock these days. No matter who's working, it seems to get played practically nonstop, and every time it's on, we find ourselves going up to see what's playing. EVERY time. Makes perfect sense, this comp is jam packed with THEE JAMS, every single "hit" from the birth of modern dubstep, until NOW. Dubstep obsessives will still probably find tons of stuff here they're missing, especially considering that most of these tracks have never been on cd before now, and newbies, holy shit, you cannot do better than this as an intro to dubstep. Over two hours of stripped down dubbed out beats, every possible permutation of that dubstep warbly bassline, raga like toasting, murky mumbling vocals, fuzzed out synths, some tracks playful and fun, others dark and sinister, so much glorious glorious bass, buzzing and rumbling, throbbing, pulsing, pounding, all beneath skittery beats, and laid back grooves, abstract funk and dark moody ambience. Just have a look at the lineup: Skream, Caspa, Loefah, Benga, Distance, Headhunter, Pinch, Shackleton, Digital Mystikz, The Bug, Kromestar, 2562, Kode 9, Burial and loads more. We've raved about pretty much every dubstep record we've managed to get in, but of all of them, this one is definitely THE one to get. Even if you already have all the other ones, ESPECIALLY if. And if you're a big fan of classic dub, but have yet to check out this modern permutation, you owe it to yourself to give it a try, definitely pushes lots of the same buttons, but ups the lowend bigtime, making it darker, and heavier, much more physical, and WAY bassier, which is never a bad thing.
MPEG Stream: CASPA "Rubber Chicken"
MPEG Stream: LOEFAH "Mud"
MPEG Stream: BENGA "Crunked Up"
MPEG Stream: HEADHUNTER "Descent"
MPEG Stream: PINCH "Punisher"

V/A I Love Guitar Wolf... Very Much (Narnack) cd 13.98
Everyone loves Guitar Wolf!
Lightning Bolt loves Guitar Wolf!
J Mascis + The Fog loves Guitar Wolf!
Jim O'Rourke loves Guitar Wolf!
Puffy Amiyumi loves Guitar Wolf!
Snuff loves Guitar Wolf!
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion loves Guitar Wolf!
Cato Salsa Experience loves Guitar Wolf!
Fast Fourier loves Guitar Wolf!
The Hellsquad loves Guitar Wolf!
The Wildhearts loves Guitar Wolf!
Porch Ghouls loves Guitar Wolf!
Autoramas loves Guitar Wolf!
Total Dork loves Guitar Wolf!
Yes, very much! And they show it in spades on this tribute to the beloved Japanese band! If you've yet to experience the wild wonder that is Guitar Wolf, there's Golden Black which is a rad new best of and rarities collection that Narnack also just released. It completely encapsulates their greatness!
MPEG Stream: LIGHTNING BOLT "Planet Of The Wolves"
MPEG Stream: PUFFY AMIYUMI "Can-Nana Fever"
MPEG Stream: J MASCIS + THE FOG "Cyborg Kids"

V/A I Love Metal (Triple Crown) cd 15.98
Simply put, this is a covers album by indie-kids of '80s metal classics... with Reggie & The Full Effect doing Slayer (imagine "Raining Blood" with zippy new wave keyboards--it's amazing!), The Get Up Kids reworking Motley Crue, Jejune covering the Scorpions, and the much sought-after really weirdo experimental acoustic country rendition of Slayer's "South of Heaven" by Modest Mouse + Califone! Electric Frankenstein, Supernova, Less Than Jake, and others also contribute. Yeah, it's basically a fun, joke record, yet at moments kind of incredible (like The Killingtons' strange, unrecognizably spaced out take on W.A.S.P.'s "F**k Like A Beast"). It makes me wish that there were bands that actually sounded like this all the time! Put it this way: Allan never ever thought he'd have any desire to own a record containing a track by Modest Mouse, let alone a band with a name like 'Mephiskapheles', until he heard this one. (Mephiskapheles do a horn-free version of Celtic Frost's "Necromatical Screams" by the way).

V/A I Remember Syria (Sublime Frequencies) cd 16.98
That it's the first double disc in the Sublime Frequencies series says something about I Remember Syria. Recorded by Mark Gergis (Monopause / Neung Phak, Porest) in 1998 and 2000, I Remember Syria is an impressive collection of sounds, interviews and music from a country that's essentially unknown to the western world. Vilified by Bush, Rumsfeld et al. There's really no access to the wonderful culture of Syria. Gergis successfully attempts to alleviate that with the two plus hours presented here. Recorded using a stereo mic. and minidisc recorder, and subsidized with excerpts from television and radio. Disc one focuses on the city of Damascus, while disc two features recordings from throughout Syria. Along with recordings of street musicians, wedding processions, prayers, mosque interiors and open air markets are brief interviews with Syrian citizens reflecting on the US Govt. and the west in general. I Remember Syria is an impressive and unique audio documentary of a country that deserves more positive exposure.
MPEG Stream: I REMEMBER SYRIA "Multi-Interior"
MPEG Stream: I REMEMBER SYRIA "Debis"
MPEG Stream: I REMEMBER SYRIA "Homo Aleppo"
MPEG Stream: I REMEMBER SYRIA "Youth Radio of the Syrian Arab Republic"

V/A I Walk The Lonely Night (Psychic Circle) cd 16.98

V/A I Woke Up One Morning In May (Mississippi) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
MISSISSIPPI Alert! MISSISSIPPI Alert! MISSISSIPPI Alert!
Thankfully there is someone putting out these killer comps of little heard blues and gospel on vinyl, the way they were made to be heard. Such loving attention paid to selection, flow and packaging, so thoughtfully put together. Songs so lost, coated in light crackle that only adds to their warm, melancholic and far-off mystery. We can't get enough of these records, and this one is no exception! Another amazing compilation of rare, obscure southern blues dealing with sex, death and loss. Featuring Cryin Sam Collins, Henry Spaulding, Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe McCoy, Buster Johnson, Little Hat Jones, Robert Wilkins, Willie Baker, Blind Blake, Louie Lasky, Charlie McCoy, and Joe Callicott. Our favorite cuts are by the female singers including the incomparable Memphis Minnie, two tracks by Lottie Kimbrough (The Kansas City Butterball), and a sad lament by Elvie Thomas. Plenty of tracks brim with sexy suggestiveness and fast living, such as "Can't I Do It For You?" " How You Want Your Rolling Done?", "Wayward Girl Blues" and "Keep It Clean", while others deal with loneliness and dying: "Lonesome Road", "Undertaker Blues", "Motherless Child Blues" "Rope Stretchin' Blues" and "Fare Thee Well Blues". Only in the blues do living and dying interweave with such incredibly sublime intensity! Go Mississippi!

V/A I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive (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.
Newest offering from Germany's Trikont label. Yet another genre spanning collection of music, this time devoted to Hank Williams. Featuring covers by such disparate artists as The Residents, Hasil Adkins, Killdozer, Isaac Hayes, Link Wray, Freddy Fender, Mekons, Al Green, Buckwheat Zydeco, Jad Fair, Charlie Feathers and much more!

V/A I'm a Good Woman (Harmless) cd 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
You know how everyone thinks they can be a DJ now, right? Maybe one of the unlooked-for benefits of this trend is that there are that many more people sifting through dusty ole record bins in dusty ole record stores worldwide, searching for the good breaks to sample and scratch. And perhaps that explains the sudden number of recent, very tasteful, well-done compilations that have graced the shelves here at Aquarius, comps filled with original source material utilized during or created for the breakbeat era's heyday (mid to late '70s). And hey, now that these amazing tracks are collected in one place on cd or vinyl, we can listen to them in the safety of our own living rooms -- instead of having to brave yuppies and cigarette smoke and $6 drinks to hear perfectly good tunes mangled by DJs of mediocre skills.
Raw funk compilation with all the tracks done by women, including Betty Davis (Miles' wife), James Brown protege Lyn Collins, Gladys Knight, Cold Blood (the Pointer Sisters were the backup singers in this band!), etc. Extensive liner notes put each song into context and provide gossipy mini-biographies of each artist. Example: the initials in Vera Hamilton's "But I Ain't No More (G.S.T.S.K.D.T.S.)" refer to the lyric "I used to be a Genuine, Stomped on, Twenty Karat, Sure 'nough, Knocked down, Dragged out, Turned down, Strung out Fool for you... but I ain't no more!" Cool! On UK label Harmless.
RealAudio clip: BETTY DAVIS "Anti Love Song"
RealAudio clip: VERA HAMILTON "But I Ain't No More (G.S.T.S.K.D.T.S.)"

V/A I'm A Good Woman 2 (Harmless) cd 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

V/A I'm Just The Other Woman: MSR Madness Vol. 4 (Carnage Press) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The series that started with the classic "Beat of the Traps" lp continues, with dozens more examples of "amateur lyrics ground through the song poem mill". Rodd Keith fans will weep with joy.

V/A I, Mute Hummings: A Collection Of Drone Music And Dulcet Atmospheres (Ex Ovo) cd 21.00
We were first struck by the title. I, Mute Hummings. Very mysterious and provocative. Dark and abstract. But what really sealed the deal was the subtitle: "A Collection Of Drone Music And Dulcet Atmospheres" and the lineup: Keith Berry, Fear Falls Burning, Dronaement, Troum, Paul Bradley, Richard Lainhart and more. You had us at 'collection of drone music'...
So with that sort of high caliber collection of dronelords, we hardly need to tell you what a gorgeously dark, ominously rumbling, dreamily whirring selection of tracks this is, but what the heck, we will anyway.
Keith Berry starts things off with a warm, black tinted shimmer, densely layered, but seemingly weightless, a dark subterranean drift, laced with barely there, almost recognizable field recordings buried way down in the mix. Next up is maybe the greatest Fear Falls Burning track ever. Weird spacious affected guitars, not heavy or distorted, but instead glistening and prismatic, caught in a dreamy delay drenched loop, floating like some disembodied fragment of a long lost Morricone spaghetti western soundtrack, and nestled amidst long golden tendrils of lazy late afternoon fuzz.
Dronaement offer up a lengthy soundscape of simulated field recordings, record crackle and murky glimmer underpinned by a distant rhythmic whir and wrapped in a gauzy dreamlike atmosphere. Then AQ faves Troum take over with one of their most ominous pieces yet, a gurgling bass heavy cavernous trawl through some dark hellish underworld, still shimmery and soft focus, but with an ominous undercurrent and some super distorted, deconstructed riffing roiling amidst thick swells of foghorn low end, and all manner of abstract black ambience.
And the rest of the record is just as beautiful, continuing on in a similar darkdronedoom fashion, even the folks we didn't recognize (Jeffrey Roden, Steve Jolliffe, Column One) offer up some gorgeous slabs of bleak black drone dreaminess, so much so that it had us immediately seeking out more material by all of them...
MPEG Stream: KEITH BERRY "The Crossing"
MPEG Stream: FEAR FALLS BURNING "Everything Was Wrong"
MPEG Stream: DRONAEMENT "Phonorecord III"

V/A id/cd (on/off) cd 15.98
This collection of live recordings at the Ideenshop in Berlin from last year is an intriguing compilation of techno minimalism that as a whole seems to hold much more of an affinity to the angular electronic funk of Cabaret Voltaire than the elegant sheen of Pan Sonic or Goem. Kotai / Baader has produced a complex sequence of minor chord tones hovers above a nearly bassless drum machine for a monochromatic techno groove that sounds as eerie and minimal as the earliest acid house from the mid-80s. Patrick and Casio Kid collaborate for a deep immersive Francisco Lopez drone. Monolake offers a smattering of Schnitzler cosmic electronics that is driven by a Chain Reaction house shuffle. Don't Dolby, Automato, Felix Kubin, and 100Records also make appearances. In the end this is much more interesting than the average electronica compilation featuring Kid 606.

V/A If Deejay Was Your Trade (Blood & Fire) cd 15.98

V/A Ikiteru Kachi Ari: A Tribute To Jojo Hiroshige (Alchemy) cd 21.00
Maybe only John Zorn's Tzadik label devotes as many releases as the Japanese (Kansai region) Alchemy label does to stuff to do specifically with the activity of the label-boss! It seems like almost every recent Alchemy disc has been a Jojo Hiroshige project of some sort, whether it be a solo DVD or a best-of or the current series of reissues of his seminal noise band Hijokaidan. Of course, we're all for it, we love his stuff, diverse as it is, from full-on noise assault to spacey drone to folky melodiousness...
So, perhaps no surprise that this latest Alchemy release is a various artists TRIBUTE compilation to the "King Of Noise", the very same Jojo Hiroshige. And no surprise (or maybe a little bit of one) that it's so very diverse too! These ten cover tracks by ten different artists range from shambolic pop to frenzied punk to blissed out psych to harsh industrial mayhem. Several familiar faces from the Alchemy roster show up -- "Love Love Love" as performed by female psychsters Doodles is particularly lovely, while Solmania's contribution of psychedelic guitar drone is uncharacteristically calm and beautiful. And as an appropriate finale, Masonna chimes in with some full-on noise as is his trademark, the first new recording from the hopping one in a long, long time. A lot of the contributors seem to be making a definite Kansai / Kraut konnection here in paying tribute to the admittedly Krautrock influenced oeuvre of Alchemy bossman Jojo. Recommended to all fans of out-there Japanese psych, rock, and noise action.
MPEG Stream: SOLMANIA "track 6"
MPEG Stream: YOSHIHARU KAKOI "track 7"

V/A Ikon Records Story (Frantic) 2cd 26.00
'60s garage rock from Sacramento label Ikon.

V/A Imaginational Anthem (Tompkins Square / Fontana) cd 15.98
Dang, we've got a good one here for followers of the whole "Wooden Guitar" crowd -- Wooden Guitar being the name of another compilation on another label, devoted to guitarists doing acoustic solos in the tradition of John Fahey and the other folky folks on his classic Takoma label roster. That's more or less the idea here too, except that in addition to contemporary flame-keepers of the form like Pelt's Jack Rose and Cul de Sac's Glenn Jones, this comp features quite a few veteran string pickers who were part of the '60s scene -- some of 'em just recently been coaxed out of retirement. There's a few archival cuts dating from decades back, but a lot of this is newly recorded, and much of it is as yet otherwise unreleased, live and studio tracks both. Not all the names are familiar but when you hear 'em you'll want to hear more. The line-up includes the aforementioned Rose and Jones, along with Sandy Bull, John Fahey, Harry Taussig, Harris Newman, Brad Barr, Bern Nix, Steve Mann, Janet Smith, Terry Riley and his son Gyan, Suni McGrath, Bob Hadley, Kaki King, and Max Ochs (whose Fahey-dedicated track "Inspirational Anthem" gives this collection its title, and appears here twice, once in a version recorded in '69 and another from just last year). Moods and techniques vary, from the more old timey to the Eastern-tinged to the jazz-flecked. But it's all totally entrancing, hypnotic, transportational music. Several generations of adventurous American acoustic guitarists are represented here and it's nice to know that this musical movement looks to be going on strong into the future. A fine comp indeed!
MPEG Stream: SUNI MCGRATH "Train Z"
MPEG Stream: HARRIS NEWMAN "Lake Shore Drive (Slight Return)"

V/A Imaginational Anthem Volume Three (Tompkins Square) cd 14.98
Looking at the line-up of Tompkins Square's new Imaginational Anthem volume, you would think they were focusing on the more experimental side of the solo guitar genre. Featuring R. Keenan Lawler, Shawn David McMillen, banjo mystic George Stavos, electronic musician Greg Davis, Ben Reynolds, Steffen Basho-Junghans, Berkeley guitarist Matt Baldwin, and Richard Crandell amongst others, we were half-expecting (hoping for?) a more way out approach towards the instrument. But alas that's not the case and that isn't really a bad thing either. While the sounds are more in line with the previous volumes, and other compilations of solo guitar work, this compilation stands up amongst the best of the genre with some fine finger-picking by some unexpected sources. Though props go to Lawler, McMillen, and Stavos for pushing the envelope the most. LIMITED ADDED BONUS! The first ten purchasers get a free bonus 7" of two songs by Max Ochs from 1969, featuring the tracks "Imaginational Anthem" and "Oncones".
MPEG Stream: R. KEENAN LAWLER "High Tower Bells For Loren Connors"
MPEG Stream: GEORGE STAVOS "Goblins"
MPEG Stream: CIAN NUGENT "When The Snow Melts and Floats Downstream"

V/A Imaginational Anthem Volume Two (Tomkins Square) cd 15.98
Second Volume of American Primitive guitar explorations from both the old and new schools, showcasing the diverse styles of its strongest players. While the patron saint of this movement is still John Fahey, the resonant strains between generations exemplify how far the movement has grown while allowing each artist to retain their own voice. Representing the old school this time around are Billy Faier, Michael Chapman, Peter Lang (re-doing a piece from the early '70s), Fred Gerlach and a rare live recording of Robbie Basho from the Venus in Capricorn era. The New school is represented by James Blackshaw, Jose Gonzalez. local Berkeley muscian Sean Smith, Christina Carter from Charalambides, Jack Rose (also featured on Vol. 1), Jesse Spearhawk, and British Banjo player Sharron Kraus. From traditional Americana, to eastern inflected ragas, shimmering 12 string washes to minimalist banjo odes, this is a fine set of excursionary guitar.
MPEG Stream: JAMES BLACKSHAW "River of Heaven"
MPEG Stream: SHARRON KRAUS "Looking for the Hermits Cave"
MPEG Stream: ROBBIE BASHO "Kowaka D'Amour"

V/A Impact! (Universal Sound / Soul Jazz) cd 21.00
Universal/Soul Jazz release of recordings from the influential second string father/son production team of Vincent and Clive Chin. Vincent was responsible for starting the labels Randy's and Impact in the late sixties and, with his son, subsequently started their own recording studio -- Randy's Recording Studio 17 -- which was so successful that other producers on the island often used it as well. This compilation gathers together 15 of the best reggae, soul and funk tracks the pair produced between 1969 and 1975. Allan particularly likes the Skin Flesh And Bones' instrumental version of the BT Express's funk classic "Do It Til You're Satisfied". Booklet includes a several page interview with Clive Chin conducted in 2002 and several archival photos.
RealAudio clip: SKIN, FLESH & BONES "Do It Til You're Satisfied"
RealAudio clip: MITTOO, JACKIE "30-60-90"
RealAudio clip: RANDY'S ALL STARS "Guns In The Ghetto"

V/A Impact! (Universal Sound / Soul Jazz) 2lp 24.00
Universal/Soul Jazz release of recordings from the influential second string father/son production team of Vincent and Clive Chin. Vincent was responsible for starting the labels Randy's and Impact in the late sixties and, with his son, subsequently started their own recording studio -- Randy's Recording Studio 17 -- which was so successful that other producers on the island often used it as well. This compilation gathers together 15 of the best reggae, soul and funk tracks the pair produced between 1969 and 1975. Allan particularly likes the Skin Flesh And Bones' instrumental version of the BT Express's funk classic "Do It Til You're Satisfied". Booklet includes a several page interview with Clive Chin conducted in 2002 and several archival photos.

V/A Improvised Music From Japan (Improvised Music From Japan) 10cd box 165.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Oh boy, this is nice. A roughly 6"x6"x2" wooden box, housing a thick booklet and five beautiful colored cardboard double cd sleeves, containing ten cds amongst them. On the cds (and described in print in the booklet): work by 34 Japan-based improvising musicians, musicians documented on the Improvised Music From Japan website (www.japanimprov.com). Some names: Michihiro Sato, Tamaru, Michiyo Yagi, Seiichi Yamamoto, Kazuhisa Uchihashi, Aki Onda, Kazuo Imai, Incapacitants, Toshimaru Nakamura, Taku Sugimoto, Otomo Yoshihide, Utah Kawasaki, Sachiko M, Yoshimitsu Ichiraku, Hoahio, Happiness Proof, Haco, Ground Zero, Marginal Consort, Junji Hirose, Shoji Hano. There's many more besides. A few Westerners who live/work in Japan, like Brett Larner and Annette Krebs are also included, often in collaboration with Japanese musicians.
These folks do everything from improvising on tradtional instruments (Michihiro Sato's shamisen, Michiyo Yagi's koto) to full on electronic noise (Incapacitants) to avant-pop (Hoahio) to jazz to minimalist experimentation (Yoshimitsu Ichiraku's "Cymbal Orchestra"). Some tracks are long enough to be full releases in and of themselves.
We could provide further description, but figure that either those names mean something to you or they don't, and if they don't, you probably aren't curious enough to blow $160 for a crash course in the world of underground Japanese jazz/electronic improv music (or are you?). And if you have this box in your future, you probably know it already. We'll just say, it really is pretty nice package, worth the investment of time and money if you already have and enjoy more than a few discs by any of the artists documented. Three of us here at AQ bought copies!
But, be warned, we only have TWO of these...no wait, ack, damn, someone just bought one. We now have ONE copy! And we won't be getting any more (it's limited to 500, and these are are last we were able to get). So, the customer who stops by or gets their order in first will be in luck.

V/A Improvised Music From Japan Extra 2006 Special Issue Berlin (IMJ) magazine + 2cd 28.00
Before you go get goin' too excited about this new issue of IMFJ, we gotta tell you a couple things. First the good news, yes this does come with not one but two full cds crammed with cutting edge music for you to check out. Lots of cool avant-garde experimentation. But, none of it's by Japanese artists. This is the "Special Issue: Berlin" and so it focusses on that European scene, including folks like Axel Dorner, Christof Kurzmann, Annette Krebs, Phillip Sollmann, F.S. Blumm, Tony Buck, Jason Forrest, Joe Williamson, Andrea Neumann, and many others (Germans, Italians, Americans, etc... just no Japanese!). Japanophiles thereby be warned. People who like minimal electronics and out-there improvised music in general though should still be quite interested! But (another but), also a bit frustrated, unless fluent in Japanese. Because unlike previous issues of IMFJ, this one has no English text -- the interviews, articles and reviews are all in Japanese. Kind of a bummer for us, eh? But, you still get the two discs of music, and some pictures and stuff to look at, so it might still be worth it if you're interested in hearing what these cats are up to in Berlin.

V/A In A Cloud: New Sounds From San Francisco (Secret Seven) lp 14.98
Killer new collection jam packed with aQ faves, a vinyl only primer on the San Francisco underground. Most folks won't need to know much more than this:
EXCLUSIVE TRACKS FROM THEE OH SEES, TY SEGALL, THE FRESH & ONLYS, SONNY 7 THE SUNSETS, KELLY STOLTZ, TIM COHEN, THE SANDWITCHES...
But there's way more, there's also Hannah And Raven of Grass Widow, the Trainwreck Riders, the Exray's, Paula Frazier (of Tarnation), Dylan Shearer, Jacques Butters, and Donovan Quinn + The 13th Month (he of the Skygreen Leopards), a pretty stellar collection, and it sounds as good as you might imagine. Sonny & The Sunsets' offer up some warm summery jangle, the Fresh & Only's get all new wave with a song that sounds at first like Devo's version of "Working In A Coalmine", before getting all twangy and reverby, Thee Oh Sees track is a twisted garbled-vocal sixties shuffle, a twisted murky Monster Mash groove, Tim Cohen offers up a bit of classic Beatles-esque pop, haunting and stripped down, the Ty Segall track is a snotty noisy garage rock dirge that RULES, and we could go on.
Needless to say, fans of any or all of the above outfits are gonna want this, and it just might introduce you to some other local combos that could very well become new favorites...
MPEG Stream: SONNY & THE SUNSETS "Heart Of Sadness"
MPEG Stream: FRESH + ONLYS "You Owe Your Life To The Streets"
MPEG Stream: THEE OH SEES "Contraption"
MPEG Stream: TY SEGALL "Hey Big Mouth"

V/A In Conspiracy With Satan: A Tribute To Bathory (Hellspawn) cd 16.98
Norse black metal pioneers Bathory are honored by some of Nordic black metal's finest bands, including Marduk (2 songs), Emperor, Ophthalamia, Gehennah, Dark Funeral (2 songs), Satyricon, and many more.

V/A In Formation: A Tribute To Throbbing Gristle (ADR) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Features the Melvins, Noisegate, The Spacewurm, Lesser, Concentrick, MSBR, Radiosonde, Non, Lockweld, 5/5/2000, Zipper Spy, Abdomen, Erik Core, Wizards Of War, Psywarfare, 3 Bloody Monkeys, and Deerhoof.

V/A In His Own Sweet Way: A Tribute To Dave Brubeck (Avant) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Jazz legend Dave Brubeck gets the tribute treatment courtesy of John Zorn's Avant label, who have gathered together a bunch of the usual suspects to cover Brubeck's compositions. For me, the highlight is the Ruins' version of "Blue Rondo A La Turk", a piece tailor-made for their hyper, heavy, and humorous delivery, but we also hear from the likes of Bill Frisell, Uri Caine, Dave Douglas, Joey Baron, Eyvind Kang, Erik Friedlander, Anthony Coleman, and Medeski, Martin, & Wood among others. Quite enjoyable.

V/A In Memoriam: Gilles Deleuze (Mille Plateaux) 2cd 26.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
With Alec Empire, Oval, Jim O'Rourke, Scanner, DJ Spooky, Trans Am, Atom Heart, etc. German import in a nice matte slipcase.

V/A In Memoriam: Jhonn Balance (Fulldozer / Nocharizma) 2cd 16.98
Coil as a musical entity had such a profound affect on modern music, and on the majority of bands and artists we love and listen to every day. So when Jhonn Balance of Coil died after an accidental fall, underground musicians worldwide were stunned and heartbroken. And what better way to channel rage, and disappointment and sadness than through music. So thus we have In Memoriam, a sonic tribute and memorial to the memory and the musical legacy of Jhonn Balance.
The lineup is chock full of unknowns, but sonically most of them are definitely channeling the sprit of Coil and are pretty fantastic. Enough that it had a few of us wanting more from some of the groups. Some of the names are recognizable, and a few are definite AQ faves: Coh, Alec Empire, Alva Noto, Scanner, KK Null, Thighpaulsandra, Chris Connelly and Pomassl. But the rest, wow! Usually a comp with mostly unknowns bodes poorly for the quality of the collection, but somehow, most of these groups end up being really cool, and perfect in their own way, demonstrating their love and affection for Balance and Coil in their quite varied musical homages. And they hail from ALL over. Pretty amazing actually. The list had us pretty excited before we even got the discs in: The Threshold Houseboy's Choir (Thailand), Theodor Bastard (Russia), Kotra (Ukraine), Spies Boys (Russia), 2/5 BZ (Turkey), Biblioteka Prospero (Ukraine), Phillip Klingler (USA), EU (Russia), Darling Kandie (USA), Alexei Borisov (Russia), Schlammpeitziger (Germany), Goodiny & PCP (Russia), Brompton's Cocktail (Russia), Mystified (Sweden), hhtp (Belarus), Noises Of Russia & Olga Komok / Nikolay Rubanov (Russia), Kryptogen Rundfunk (Russia), A. Vorodeyev (Ukraine), Serge Tereshkine (Russia), Volga (Russia), I.L.I. (Russia) and M.R.F. / Elena Voynarovskaya (Ukraine)! Wow, heavy on the Eastern Europe for sure, which might have to do with the fact that this was released on a Russian label.
Regardless, eyes closed, this almost plays like an actual Coil album. Heavy on the electronics, lots of processed rhythms, strange voices, creepy soundscapes. Some are sort-of-covers, others are loose interpretations, while still others are original pieces of music, more in the spirit of Coil than emulating the actual sound. But for such a massive comp, the sound is surprisingly cohesive and flows wonderfully. Some of our favorite tracks: Alec Empire's stripped down fuzzed out beatscape. The dreamy otherworldly abstract folk of 2/5 BZ. The faux gamelan of Thailand's Threshold Houseboy's Choir. The murky new wave industrial of Biblioteka Prospero. The dreamy minimal glitchscape of EU. We could go on and on. Needless to say, it's all pretty dang great. Even the folks who don't actually dig Coil all that much have been liking a whole lot of this comp and playing it all the time!
Quite possibly essential listening for Coil freaks, but definitely a kick ass experimental electronic compilation worth checking out for folks into that sort of stuff!!
MPEG Stream: ALEC EMPIRE "Tribute To Coil (Short Version)"
MPEG Stream: KK NULL "Scatovator"
MPEG Stream: COH "No Balance"
MPEG Stream: ALVA NOTO "Odradek"

V/A In My Living Room (Kim Chee) cd 12.98
Featuring solo turns by members of Buffalo Tom, Helium, Karate, The Secret Stars, plus the Richard Davies band, Ida, and more.

V/A In Prison: Afroamerican Prison Music From Blues To Hip Hop (Trikont) cd 16.98
There is such a rich history of prison music in this country, with the roots of blues easily traced to the incarceration and slavery of African American, and with so much hurt, pain and suffering comes some of the most gripping, raw, and honest music ever made. This compilation collects all sorts of sounds created behind bars from old blues, R+B, soul and modern sounding hip-hop. From the direct and hard hitting blues of Fred McDowell to the righteous empowerment of Nina Simone, the thoughtful anger of 2 Pac to a surprisingly political and subversive soul number from The Temptations. Brand Nubian, James Russell, Dead Prez, Curtis Mayfield and The Last Poets are just a few others featured on this amazing compilation. As is the case with all Trikont releases there is an extensive and informative booklet with great essays including one on how the U.S. continues to be a prison state to this day. We can imagine this being in heavy rotation on the stereos of Spike Lee, Angela Davis and Noam Chomsky, and we can't stop listening to this ourselves. So smart, relevant and powerful!
MPEG Stream: THE TEMPTATIONS "Run Charlie Run"
MPEG Stream: JAMES RUSSELL "I Had Five Long Years"
MPEG Stream: DEAD PREZ "Behind Enemy Lines"
MPEG Stream: NINA SIMONE "Work Song"

V/A In the Beginning There Was Rhythm (Soul Jazz) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Wow. The London based Soul Jazz label does it again. They've already documented the global history of funk and soul in several astonishingly well-executed collections including the universally loved "100-500% Dynamite" series of Jamaican soul, rocksteady, and reggae; the Philadelphia Roots collection; the Nu Yorica albums; that ESG reissue, and even an Art Ensemble of Chicago album. Yet none of these albums has been as highly anticipated or so spot-on timely as this new one from Soul Jazz, "In The Beginning There Was Rhythm."
This compilation succeeds in encapsulating that heady time between the years 1978 and 1982, when the "second wave" of British punk bands found inspiration in both the musical and political power of reggae. As the situationist propaganda of Malcolm McLaren and the Sex Pistols spawned a global theater of anarchist shock tactics, even such right-wing idiots as the skinhead, white power, and neo-Nazi parties dared to embrace punk's celebration of chaos. Thus, those (mostly white) musicians within the punk movement who were *opposed* to such unsavory politics stood in solidarity both politically and aesthetically with their black brothers in Jamaica. Incited by the offbeat attack of The Clash and the huge dub bass production from Public Image Limited, the late '70s punk movement began a vast exploration into possibilities of bridging dance music with the revolutionary anthems of punk.
While neither The Clash nor PIL are included in this compilation, "In The Beginning There Was Rhythm" does collect some of the best tracks from the huge vaults of post-punk, many of which might have gone forgotten had it not been for this album! Even 20 years after their initial releases, the bands here -- including Gang of Four, Cabaret Voltaire, 23 Skidoo, The Pop Group, A Certain Ratio, The Slits, This Heat, Human League and Throbbing Gristle -- still sound fresh, often melding choppy rhythms with angular slash-and-burn guitar, spit out vocals, rubbery bass, and nascent forms of electronica.
We'll say it again -- the music here is simply perfect -- the punk holds back dance music's tendency to get too mechanical 'n boring, while the dance elements impart melody and groove to the punk. Highlighting the compilation are A Certain Ratio's urgent amphetamine funk on "Shack Up" and "Knife Slits Water", melding the unlikely combination of Joy Division's grim urgency with a George Clinton funk arrrangement. Gang Of Four's "To Hell With Poverty" marks their transition from the agitated punk grooves found on their classic (but sometimes difficult to find) debut "Entertainment" into a smooth dancefloor-friendly attack punctuated by Marxist rhetoric. The Human League -- who are unfortunately best known for their chart topping new wave singles -- had incredibly adventurous beginnings on the often forgotten punk label Fast (also early home for The Mekons and Gang of Four). Their early offering "Being Boiled" is a primitive piece of spartan electronics loaded with theatrical tension and dark arpeggiations more expected from people like Coil and Throbbing Gristle (who contribute their perverse fascination with ABBA in the subversive aesthetics of "20 Jazz Funk Greats").
But, why is this compilation so short? Judging from how few people today remember or even have heard Section 25, Tunnelvision, DAF, or Fad Gadget, there's plenty more work for Soul Jazz to do in compiling more compilations of this sort! Not just recommended, this is *required* listening. Strongly recommended to any and all!
RealAudio clip: POP GROUP "She Is Beyond Good And Evil"
RealAudio clip: HUMAN LEAGUE "Being Boiled"
RealAudio clip: GANG OF FOUR "To Hell With Poverty"
RealAudio clip: A CERTAIN RATIO "Knive Slits Water"

V/A In the Beginning There Was Rhythm (Soul Jazz) 2lp 24.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Wow. The London based Soul Jazz label does it again. They've already documented the global history of funk and soul in several astonishingly well-executed collections including the universally loved "100-500% Dynamite" series of Jamaican soul, rocksteady, and reggae; the Philadelphia Roots collection; the Nu Yorica albums; that ESG reissue, and even an Art Ensemble of Chicago album. Yet none of these albums has been as highly anticipated or so spot-on timely as this new one from Soul Jazz, "In The Beginning There Was Rhythm."
This compilation succeeds in encapsulating that heady time between the years 1978 and 1982, when the "second wave" of British punk bands found inspiration in both the musical and political power of reggae. As the situationist propaganda of Malcolm McLaren and the Sex Pistols spawned a global theater of anarchist shock tactics, even such right-wing idiots as the skinhead, white power, and neo-Nazi parties dared to embrace punk's celebration of chaos. Thus, those (mostly white) musicians within the punk movement who were *opposed* to such unsavory politics stood in solidarity both politically and aesthetically with their black brothers in Jamaica. Incited by the offbeat attack of The Clash and the huge dub bass production from Public Image Limited, the late '70s punk movement began a vast exploration into possibilities of bridging dance music with the revolutionary anthems of punk.
While neither The Clash nor PIL are included in this compilation, "In The Beginning There Was Rhythm" does collect some of the best tracks from the huge vaults of post-punk, many of which might have gone forgotten had it not been for this album! Even 20 years after their initial releases, the bands here -- including Gang of Four, Cabaret Voltaire, 23 Skidoo, The Pop Group, A Certain Ratio, The Slits, This Heat, Human League and Throbbing Gristle -- still sound fresh, often melding choppy rhythms with angular slash-and-burn guitar, spit out vocals, rubbery bass, and nascent forms of electronica.
We'll say it again -- the music here is simply perfect -- the punk holds back dance music's tendency to get too mechanical 'n boring, while the dance elements impart melody and groove to the punk. Highlighting the compilation are A Certain Ratio's urgent amphetamine funk on "Shack Up" and "Knife Slits Water", melding the unlikely combination of Joy Division's grim urgency with a George Clinton funk arrrangement. Gang Of Four's "To Hell With Poverty" marks their transition from the agitated punk grooves found on their classic debut "Entertainment" into a smooth dancefloor-friendly attack punctuated by Marxist rhetoric. The Human League -- who are unfortunately best known for their chart topping new wave singles -- had incredibly adventurous beginnings on the often forgotten punk label Fast (also early home for The Mekons and Gang of Four). Their early offering "Being Boiled" is a primitive piece of spartan electronics loaded with theatrical tension and dark arpeggiations more expected from people like Coil and Throbbing Gristle (who contribute their perverse fascination with ABBA in the subversive aesthetics of "20 Jazz Funk Greats").
But, why is this compilation so short? Judging from how few people today remember or even have heard Section 25, Tunnelvision, DAF, or Fad Gadget, there's plenty more work for Soul Jazz to do in compiling more compilations of this sort! Not just recommended, this is *required* listening. Strongly recommended to any and all!