WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS In The Pit Of The Stomach (Fatcat) lp 16.98
A few years back, there seemed to be a glut of dour angular new wave combos, many of which we dug like crazy, band after band of sharply dressed, angular hair-ed rockers kicking out some of the hookiest jams in ages, Maximo Park, Franz Ferdinand, Frightened Rabbit, The Editors, Interpol and the like, and however much of a glut there may have been, we could never get enough. And We Were Promised Jetpacks, not only benefited from having a bad ass band name, but they also seemed to up the ante on guitar crunch, and heavy buzz, and they wedded that extra muscle to some killer songs, often ditching the whole short sharp new wave thing for brooding slow build post rock epics, all underpinned by a distinctly dark, low slung Joy Division gloomy undercurrent, it's like they read our minds and took Mogwai, Godspeed and Maximo Park and created some sort of Frankensteinian epic hook filled new wave band just for us, and then to top it off gave said band an awesome ridiculous name.
Needless to say we were pretty psyched for this new one, and the opening track instantly convinced us that the wait was not in vain, a wild progged out epic post rock opening with tumbling drums and crashing chords, all woven into some dizzying stop start mathiness, then the riff comes in, and it's a killer, and then the band come in and sound crazy heavy, the song shifting to bass / drum verse, peppered with bursts of crunchy guitar jangle, there's even a crazy majestic epic post rock crescendo finishing off in a blaze of new wave buzz and pound. And while we're tempted to proclaim that the best track here, pretty much everyone we listen to becomes our favorite, at least until we move on to the next one, "Through The Dirt And The Gravel", is some seriously heavy noisepop, with some thick buzzing bass, and a hook to die for, and closer "Pear Tree" is dark and heavy and brooding, the perfect new wave slow build post rock hybrid, the sort of song that sans vocals would sound right at home on a Mogwai record, but as is just might be the perfect finish to a nearly perfect record.
Fans of the above mentioned bands, as well as other sonically similar outfits like Kaiser Chiefs, Futureheads, Arctic Monkeys, Art Brut, Bloc Party and the like will go crazy for this. And if you've yet to hear these guys, this is the perfect place to start, just check out that first sound sample, odds are you'll be as smitten as we are.
MPEG Stream: "Circles And Squares"
MPEG Stream: "Medicine"
MPEG Stream: "Through The Dirt And The Gravel"

WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS These Four Walls (Fat Cat) cd 14.98
Another killer brooding angular guitar-ed dour-ish hook filled modern new wave record from Scotland, this time from the awesomely monickered We Were Promised Jetpacks, whose sound will no doubt by now be familiar to fans of outfits like Maximo Park, Frightened Rabbit, Franz Ferdinand, Interpol and the like, and while WWPJ don't necessarily revolutionize -that- sound, they do know their way around a pop song, managing to wind taut chiming guitars, muscle-y drumming, buzzy synths, and yowled emotional vocals into slow burning epics, rife with crunchy guitars, epic post rock swells, some bursts of almost metallic heft, and plenty of low slung bass heavy grooves. The first song alone was enough, we were sold within seconds, a woozy muted dark riff, looped beneath a weary croon, building and building for nearly half the song, the guitars growing ever more insistent, tinkling chimes joining the nearly percussionless jam, before the track finally explodes into a massive Mogwai-ish blowout.
And so it goes. Crunchy guitars, anthemic choruses, a gloomy Joy Divisiony rhythm section, hooks like crazy, some songs hushed and intimate, but others wrapped in huge gauzy streaks of Godspeed / Mogwai / Sigur Ros epic post rock haze (and one of the songs even has a Conet Project sample!). Heavy and hooky, dark and jangly and a new favorite for sure.
MPEG Stream: "It's Thunder And It's Lightning"
MPEG Stream: "Ships With Holes Will Sink"
MPEG Stream: "Roll Up Your Sleeves"

WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS These Four Walls (Fat Cat) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another killer brooding angular guitar-ed dour-ish hook filled modern new wave record from Scotland, this time from the awesomely monickered We Were Promised Jetpacks, whose sound will no doubt by now be familiar to fans of outfits like Maximo Park, Frightened Rabbit, Franz Ferdinand, Interpol and the like, and while WWPJ don't necessarily revolutionize -that- sound, they do know their way around a pop song, managing to wind taut chiming guitars, muscle-y drumming, buzzy synths, and yowled emotional vocals into slow burning epics, rife with crunchy guitars, epic post rock swells, some bursts of almost metallic heft, and plenty of low slung bass heavy grooves. The first song alone was enough, we were sold within seconds, a woozy muted dark riff, looped beneath a weary croon, building and building for nearly half the song, the guitars growing ever more insistent, tinkling chimes joining the nearly percussionless jam, before the track finally explodes into a massive Mogwai-ish blowout.
And so it goes. Crunchy guitars, anthemic choruses, a gloomy Joy Divisiony rhythm section, hooks like crazy, some songs hushed and intimate, but others wrapped in huge gauzy streaks of Godspeed / Mogwai / Sigur Ros epic post rock haze (and one of the songs even has a Conet Project sample!). Heavy and hooky, dark and jangly and a new favorite for sure.
MPEG Stream: "It's Thunder And It's Lightning"
MPEG Stream: "Ships With Holes Will Sink"
MPEG Stream: "Roll Up Your Sleeves"

WEAKENER, THE What Do You Know About It (WordSound) cd 14.98
Mick Harris is no longer Scorn, he is the Weakener--but Scorn fans won't mind 'cause Mick is still making his trademark kind of scary bass-heavy electronica that WordSound makes a good new home for.

WEAKERTHANS Left And Leaving (Sub City) cd 13.98
Causing quite a stir with our neighbours to the north, it's the Weakerthans featuring former Propagandhi member John K. Samson. Don't be expecting any fiery political punk though, this is coming from quite a different direction. However, let it be known the attention and accolades are very deserved - often-brittle vocals convey poetic narratives from and about a depressed region around Winnipeg, Manitoba (a central province of Canada). Samson is a fantastic lyricist, nailing the most achingly personal sentiments and weighty political commentaries. Desolate, intimate and filled with heartache. From the first strains of "Everything Must Go!" to the final chord of "Slips And Tangles", this is some damn fine, melancholic, hook-laden emo pop. An all-time Cup fave, 'Left and Leaving' is their second full length and it stands head and shoulders above the rest... of their own releases and any other emo band's for that matter. Very very recommended.

WEAKERTHANS Reconstruction Site (Epitaph) cd 15.98
Record number two from John Samson and his not-so-merry band of bittersweet pop punk minstrels. Samson cut his teeth in political punkers Propagandhi, but left to follow his own particularly personal pop path of minor key jangle, dreamy melody, not-overtly-catchy hooks (but hooks nonetheless) and lyrics that you could never imagine fitting comfortably in a pop song. But they do. Sort of. Like poems by Pynchon or Vollman set to music. Hyper literate but still personal and affecting. Samson's vocals are reminiscent of Robyn Hitchcock, as is his wordplay and penchant for meandering tales of love and loss, while the sound is like a punkier popppier version of recent AQ faves, the Decemberists. A dense and tangly first listen, but as you dig deeper, it grows and grows and starts to feel like a record you just can't live without.
MPEG Stream: "(Manifest)"
MPEG Stream: "The Reasons"
MPEG Stream: "Reconstruction Site"

WEAKERTHANS, THE Reunion Tour (Epitaph) cd 15.98
On a regular basis, Andee and Cup armwrestle over which is the best Weakerthans album. Her heart has a special velvet rope spot for their second one, Left And Leaving. Their subsequent releases (including this one) are very good, no question. Yet they just pale in comparison to the greatness of one of her all-time favorites. Almost every one of its songs nails you right in the heart with their crushworthy emotive boy vocals, big guitars, irresistible hooks and near-anthemic refrains. John K. Samson's bookish yet immensely heartfelt lyrics appeal to all ages -- imagined highschool sweetheart scrawlings on looseleaf, latenight brutal and sweet bedroom ruminations, non-heavyhanded social/political commentaries, brainy academia -- and they never fail to trigger a yearning ache in the chest and pit of the stomach.
On the other hand, Andee opts for Reconstruction Site. It's a little more power poppy he thinks, but heck, as both Cup and Andee can agree, they're both pretty dang awesome.
Now four years later, their fourth full length enters the ring (fyi: it's not actually a reunion, they never broke up!), and it's aiming for our hearts right from the get go! Without a doubt, Reunion Tour is far more immediately engaging than Reconstruction Site, and is almost as endearing as Left And Leaving. In fact, it fits in comfortably and warmly familiar right between those two albums. Samson's voice is sounding its strongest, most self assured, and the rest of the band is right there with him. If we had our way, this band's songs would be on every highschool movie soundtrack and every bestfriend/sweetheart mixtape. Go on, shyly shuffle your feet, slouch your shoulders in a wellworn vintage cardigan sweater, and bob your head along to these fine tunes!
MPEG Stream: "Tournament Of Hearts"
MPEG Stream: "Sun In An Empty Room"

WEAKLING Dead As Dreams (tUMULt) cd 11.98
The posthumous debut from (and, thus, swansong of) San Francisco's most cult black metal act, Weakling. Despite their local, non-forested, non-wintry origins, Weakling was a band capable of destroying the best Scandinavia has to offer (as we witnessed upon two occasions, when Weakling had the honor of opening the San Francisco shows by Norwegians Mayhem and Enslaved, and proceeded to make both bands look like punk rockers in comparison! Weakling were so much more epic and intense). All this without any of the ignorant posturing or hackneyed corpsepaint of their peers.
Ghastly, anguished vocals and bloodchilling keyboards combine with dual trebly buzzsaw guitars and inhuman trance inducing drumming to create an atmosphere of utter grinding grimness. Weakling draws upon '90s black metal in the Norwegian tradition (especially the raw and primitive likes of Darkthrone, Burzum and Immortal) and then creates uniquely fucked song structures of epic length (20 minutes per, in some cases).
And, like the best music, Weakling also transcends genre. In some ways, "Dead as Dreams" possesses elements that can be considered akin to the avant garde, experimental creations of the Swans, Skullflower, Steve Reich, or even Yoko Ono. Imagine an extensive, utterly mesmerizing Hermann Nitsch piece, composed for black metal band.
It's a suffocating soundscape of riffing and drone. Subterranean satanic art rock that equals metal. Nihilistic, depressive and never ending.
Featuring Josh formerly of The (Fucking) Champs as well as drummer Lil' Sunshine from local death metallers Sangre Amado (R.I.P) and Saros. And of course, John Gossard of...well, John Gossard. (And The Gault / Asunder / Iron Vegan / Dispirit) Local black metal maniac/death rocker extraordinaire. Weakling is largely the result of his devotion to black metal dementia.
We are not engaging in baseless hyperbole when we say: this should be crowned black metal album of the year. Any year. EVERY YEAR! FOREVER!!!! Seriously. Essential.
MPEG Stream: "Cut Their Brains And Place Fire Therein"
MPEG Stream: "This Entire Fucking Battlefield"
MPEG Stream: "No One Can Be Called As A Man While He'll Die"

WEAKLING Dead As Dreams (tUMULt) 2lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Finally, after countless setbacks and delays tUUMULt is finally ready to unleash the posthumous debut from (and, thus, swansong of) San Francisco's most cult black metal act, Weakling.
This record was cursed from day one, with the gods conspiring to keep it buried and forgotten (not to mention Weakling's initial insistance that only one copy be pressed, and that copy be given to some kid in Europe, and tUMULt's initial plan of burying all the copies, and selling maps, forcing customers to dig up their copy of the record...anyone who wants to get their copy this way can contact Andee here at the store and arrange something along those lines with him). However, we have overcome the production gremlins, and the record is now available!
Despite their local, non-forested, non-wintry origins, Weakling was a band capable of destroying the best Scandinavia has to offer (as this author witnessed upon two occasions, when Weakling had the honor of opening the San Francisco shows by Norwegians Mayhem and Enslaved, and proceeded to make both bands look like punk rockers in comparision!). All this without any of the ignorant posturing or hackneyed corpsepaint of their peers.
Ghastly, anguished vocals and bloodchilling keyboards combine with dual trebly buzzsaw guitars and inhuman trance inducing drumming to create an atmosphere of utter grinding grimness. Weakling draws upon 90's black metal in the Norwegian tradition (especially the raw and primitive likes of Darkthrone, Burzum and Immortal) and then creates uniquely fucked song structures of epic length (20 minutes per, in some cases).
And, like the best music, Weakling also transcends genre. In some ways, 'Dead as Dreams' possesses elements that can be considered akin to the avant garde, experimental creations of the Swans, Skullflower, Steve Reich, or even Yoko Ono. Imagine an extensive, utterly mesmerizing Hermann Nitsch piece, composed for black metal band.
It's a suffocating soundscape of riffing and drone. Subterranean satanic art rock that equals metal. Nihilistic, depressive and never ending.
Featuring Josh from The Champs (new record on Drag City in the fall) as well as drummer Lil' Sunshine from local death metallers Sangre Amado.
This is the super limited double lp version (the cd will be out in three or four weeks). It is a double lp on high quality black veined, red vinyl, housed in a breathtaking black and blood red gatefold. Everyone who bought that Earth LP off the last AQ List should seriously consider investing in this as well, that is if you think you are no weakling. We are not engaging in baseless hyperbole when we say: this should likely be crowned black metal album of the year.
Essential.
MPEG Stream: "Cut Their Brains And Place Fire Therein"
MPEG Stream: "This Entire Fucking Battlefield"
MPEG Stream: "No One Can Be Called As A Man While He'll Die"

WEAPON Drakonian Paradigm (Ajna) cd 14.98
We were initially intrigued by this Canadian black metal horde after discovering that they recorded their first few records in Bangladesh, of all places, before band leader Vetis Monarch returned to Canada, and the band went on to create this blackened monster, Drakonian Paradigm, which is interesting for several reasons. Besides the strange Bangladeshi angle, the fact that this was released on Ajna might have you imagining something much more buzzing and black, and while some buzz and black is definitely present, Weapon's sound is way more classic metal, a little thrash, a little death, a little NWOBHM, killer riffs, loads of melody, harmonized leads, the vocals are guttural and growly, and the band do offer up brief bursts of blast beats here and there, but just as often, the band will lock into some super melodic, but still super heavy chug fest, the drums locked in with the guitars, while over the top, leads soar and squeal, in fact guitar solos are everywhere, and they're awesome, adding all sorts of wild frenetic melody to the proceedings, and the vocals are just not grunts, there are weird chanted bits, strange almost falsetto parts, the vocals are often stereo panned super hard too, so they seem to swoop from speaker to speaker.
But when the band do decide to get all black metal, they offer up some seriously intense blasting and buzzing, the riffs gnarled and frenzied, the drums chaotic and on the verge of collapse, which only adds to the classic metal feel, no triggers or sampled drum bullshit, these guys sound like a rock band rocking out, and rocking out hard, and even at its fiercest, the band will infuse some particularly grim segment with some serious minor key melody, or they'll slow things down and get all woozy and psychedelic, adding synths, underpinning the slow building crunch, sometimes they even ditch the metal all together and weave together some almost noise rock sounding heaviness, again held together by awesomely melodic guitar leads, and some unlikely harmonies, or they might slip into some fluttery, folky psychedelia, all dreamy and acoustic, but before too long, the sound transforms into something mower power metal or Iron Maiden than Darkthrone or Beherit. At first we were a bit thrown off by Drakonian Paradigms, maybe we were expecting something more Nightbringer-y, something more overtly black, perhaps based on the Ajna connection, but after a couple listens, we forgot all about that, and just dug this more and more, for what it is, not black, not thrash, not death, just METAL, and this is in fact, fast becoming one of our new favorite metal records.
MPEG Stream: "Weapon"
MPEG Stream: "Cacophony! Black Sun Dragon's Tongue!"
MPEG Stream: "Serpentine Ayat"

WEAPON Drakonian Paradigm (Ajna) lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We were initially intrigued by this Canadian black metal horde after discovering that they recorded their first few records in Bangladesh, of all places, before band leader Vetis Monarch returned to Canada, and the band went on to create this blackened monster, Drakonian Paradigm, which is interesting for several reasons. Besides the strange Bangladeshi angle, the fact that this was released on Ajna might have you imagining something much more buzzing and black, and while some buzz and black is definitely present, Weapon's sound is way more classic metal, a little thrash, a little death, a little NWOBHM, killer riffs, loads of melody, harmonized leads, the vocals are guttural and growly, and the band do offer up brief bursts of blast beats here and there, but just as often, the band will lock into some super melodic, but still super heavy chug fest, the drums locked in with the guitars, while over the top, leads soar and squeal, in fact guitar solos are everywhere, and they're awesome, adding all sorts of wild frenetic melody to the proceedings, and the vocals are just not grunts, there are weird chanted bits, strange almost falsetto parts, the vocals are often stereo panned super hard too, so they seem to swoop from speaker to speaker.
But when the band do decide to get all black metal, they offer up some seriously intense blasting and buzzing, the riffs gnarled and frenzied, the drums chaotic and on the verge of collapse, which only adds to the classic metal feel, no triggers or sampled drum bullshit, these guys sound like a rock band rocking out, and rocking out hard, and even at its fiercest, the band will infuse some particularly grim segment with some serious minor key melody, or they'll slow things down and get all woozy and psychedelic, adding synths, underpinning the slow building crunch, sometimes they even ditch the metal all together and weave together some almost noise rock sounding heaviness, again held together by awesomely melodic guitar leads, and some unlikely harmonies, or they might slip into some fluttery, folky psychedelia, all dreamy and acoustic, but before too long, the sound transforms into something mower power metal or Iron Maiden than Darkthrone or Beherit. At first we were a bit thrown off by Drakonian Paradigms, maybe we were expecting something more Nightbringer-y, something more overtly black, perhaps based on the Ajna connection, but after a couple listens, we forgot all about that, and just dug this more and more, for what it is, not black, not thrash, not death, just METAL, and this is in fact, fast becoming one of our new favorite metal records.
MPEG Stream: "Weapon"
MPEG Stream: "Cacophony! Black Sun Dragon's Tongue!"
MPEG Stream: "Serpentine Ayat"

WEAPON Embers And Revelations (Relapse) cd 14.98
Full length number three from this black metal horde (from Canada, via Bangladesh), whose black metal is more of a sort of blackened death/classic metal, and whose sound gets more and more polished with every release, not just production wise, but songwriting too, the opening track here pretty much lays it all out, beginning with a moody atmospheric intro, before some blackened riffing rolls in, midtempo tribal drumming, some almost death metal vokills, a loping tranced out churn, and then some chugging harmonics-laced crunch, before a totally classic metal guitar melody swoops in, a gloomy almost death rocky bassline, then the song splinters into a murky sprawl of pounding furious blackened death metal, slipping from roiling murk to soaring majesty and back again, progged out and intricate, with little Eastern flourishes here and there. As always, we're reminded of Absu, Melechesh, Bathory, old Morbid Angel, the sound simultaneously modern and totally retro, some of the tracks impossibly catchy (like the bridge on "Vanguard Of The Morning Star") sounding almost like some At The Gates part, which leads to a second bridge that's even still more epic and hook heavy, others are weirdly chuggy and churny, like the awesomely titled "Crepuscular Swamp, Unhinged Swine", which unfurls like some weird swaggery slo-mo death metal stomp, and still others, like "Disavowing Each In Aum" and "Shahehshah" are super layered, and ultra melodic, the group's downtuned death metal churn, wreathed in all sorts of near psychedelia, lush textures, and impossibly lovely melodies, which are all somehow deftly fused to Weapon's classic sounding DM, creating a twisted hybrid that manages to reinvigorate the tired tropes while pushing all our classic blackened death metal buttons!
MPEG Stream: "The First Witness Of Lucifer"
MPEG Stream: "Crepuscular Swamp, Unhinged Swine"
MPEG Stream: "Disavowing Each In Aum"

WEAPON Embers And Revelations (Relapse) lp 21.00
Full length number three from this black metal horde (from Canada, via Bangladesh), whose black metal is more of a sort of blackened death/classic metal, and whose sound gets more and more polished with every release, not just production wise, but songwriting too, the opening track here pretty much lays it all out, beginning with a moody atmospheric intro, before some blackened riffing rolls in, midtempo tribal drumming, some almost death metal vokills, a loping tranced out churn, and then some chugging harmonics-laced crunch, before a totally classic metal guitar melody swoops in, a gloomy almost death rocky bassline, then the song splinters into a murky sprawl of pounding furious blackened death metal, slipping from roiling murk to soaring majesty and back again, progged out and intricate, with little Eastern flourishes here and there. As always, we're reminded of Absu, Melechesh, Bathory, old Morbid Angel, the sound simultaneously modern and totally retro, some of the tracks impossibly catchy (like the bridge on "Vanguard Of The Morning Star") sounding almost like some At The Gates part, which leads to a second bridge that's even still more epic and hook heavy, others are weirdly chuggy and churny, like the awesomely titled "Crepuscular Swamp, Unhinged Swine", which unfurls like some weird swaggery slo-mo death metal stomp, and still others, like "Disavowing Each In Aum" and "Shahehshah" are super layered, and ultra melodic, the group's downtuned death metal churn, wreathed in all sorts of near psychedelia, lush textures, and impossibly lovely melodies, which are all somehow deftly fused to Weapon's classic sounding DM, creating a twisted hybrid that manages to reinvigorate the tired tropes while pushing all our classic blackened death metal buttons!
MPEG Stream: "The First Witness Of Lucifer"
MPEG Stream: "Crepuscular Swamp, Unhinged Swine"
MPEG Stream: "Disavowing Each In Aum"

WEAPON From The Devil's Tomb (Ajna) cd 14.98
Latest blast of classic/black/death metal from this Canadian-by-way-of-Bangladesh metal horde, and as much as we loved their debut, Drakonian Paradigms, From The Devil's Tomb is even better. Heavier, better riffs, better production, more epic and intense and intricate songwriting, and most importantly, at least to us, WAY weirder. Not as in twisted damaged weird, just way more creative and strange, riffs, arrangements, the whole thing. The first song along should make things perfectly clear, after some strange tinkling chimes and swirling backwards FX, the guitars come in, filthy and distorted, and then the song proper kicks in, and the guitars are huge, a lurching, lumbering doomy plod, laced with some strange little super distorted high end squalls, until finally, the frantic black riffing swoops in, and the band explode into a blast of murky, muddy, downtuned death metal churn, that SLAYS. The song plays out, flitting back and forth between classic metal riffage, complete with squiggly leads, doomy crush, and blackened blast. The second song is just as gloriously twisted, with a super dynamic mathy start/stop opening, that leads into a woozy post rocky drift, with gorgeous harmonized guitars, the sound moody and minor key, before again spitting out more DM fury. And that's basically what makes Weapon so interesting is how they infuse their blackened blasting and DM grind with classic melody, old school riffage, wah guitars, leads, Eastern melodies, sitar, organ, whatever the fuck they feel like tossing in, it all somehow works, and serves the greater good, that good being pure evil, evil attained via furious fucked up blackened heaviness. Probably our favorite track though would have to be the final jam, "Towards The Uncreated", which mixes some galloping blackness, with some surprisingly melodic midtempo post rockisms, not to mention some super emotional, melancholic leads, creating a strangely moody metallic bit of doom flecked mystery, bookended of course by blasts of gnarled black crush.
Recommended for anyone who digs Absu, Bathory, Melechesh, Mayhem, Morbid Angel and the like, or any sort of blackened death metal / deathlike black metal.
MPEG Stream: "From The Devil's Tomb"
MPEG Stream: "Vested in Surplice and Violet Stole"
MPEG Stream: "Furor Divinus"

WEAPON From The Devil's Tomb (Ajna) 2lp 17.98
Now available on vinyl.
Latest blast of classic/black/death metal from this Canadian-by-way-of-Bangladesh metal horde, and as much as we loved their debut, Drakonian Paradigms, From The Devil's Tomb is even better. Heavier, better riffs, better production, more epic and intense and intricate songwriting, and most importantly, at least to us, WAY weirder. Not as in twisted damaged weird, just way more creative and strange, riffs, arrangements, the whole thing. The first song along should make things perfectly clear, after some strange tinkling chimes and swirling backwards FX, the guitars come in, filthy and distorted, and then the song proper kicks in, and the guitars are huge, a lurching, lumbering doomy plod, laced with some strange little super distorted high end squalls, until finally, the frantic black riffing swoops in, and the band explode into a blast of murky, muddy, downtuned death metal churn, that SLAYS. The song plays out, flitting back and forth between classic metal riffage, complete with squiggly leads, doomy crush, and blackened blast. The second song is just as gloriously twisted, with a super dynamic mathy start/stop opening, that leads into a woozy post rocky drift, with gorgeous harmonized guitars, the sound moody and minor key, before again spitting out more DM fury. And that's basically what makes Weapon so interesting is how they infuse their blackened blasting and DM grind with classic melody, old school riffage, wah guitars, leads, Eastern melodies, sitar, organ, whatever the fuck they feel like tossing in, it all somehow works, and serves the greater good, that good being pure evil, evil attained via furious fucked up blackened heaviness. Probably our favorite track though would have to be the final jam, "Towards The Uncreated", which mixes some galloping blackness, with some surprisingly melodic midtempo post rockisms, not to mention some super emotional, melancholic leads, creating a strangely moody metallic bit of doom flecked mystery, bookended of course by blasts of gnarled black crush.
Recommended for anyone who digs Absu, Bathory, Melechesh, Mayhem, Morbid Angel and the like, or any sort of blackened death metal / deathlike black metal.
MPEG Stream: "From The Devil's Tomb"
MPEG Stream: "Vested in Surplice and Violet Stole"
MPEG Stream: "Furor Divinus"

WEATHERALL, ANDREW Nine O'Clock Drop (Nuphonic) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Truth in advertising? Well, not here. This is not a new Andrew Weatherall (of AQ faves Two Lone Swordsmen) album, but a compilation of his favorite tracks from the early 80s with the electro-club / death-disco hits by Dominatrix, 23 Skidoo, A Certain Ratio, 400 Blows, The Normal, Chris & Cosey, and more.

WEAVE! s/t (Pacific Reasons) cd ep 9.98
Cool new/no wave inspired rock jams. Angular and infectious.
MPEG Stream: "Mouthpiece Hysteria"
MPEG Stream: "Little Liar"

WEAVE! s/t (Pacific Reasons) lp 11.98
Cool new/no wave inspired rock jams. Angular and infectious.

WEAVER, JANE The Fallen By Watch Bird (B-Music / Finders Keepers) cd 15.98
With guests including Wendy from Wendy & Bonnie!

WEBB BROTHERS Maroon (Atlantic) cd 12.98
Ah, nepotism. And oh, to be the son or daughter of famous parents, guaranteeing you at least a shot, a movie, a record deal, whatever. So it's always nice when the offspring don't drop the ball and embarass themsleves and their folks. Such is the case with the Webb Brothers, yes, Webb as in the sons of Jimmy Webb. Not sure if the elder Webb would have dug 'Maroon', but he definitely would've been proud. Not much twang here though, just lush, carefully crafted modern (and retro!) pop. Think Jellyfish, Beach Boys, Posies, Boxtops, Bigstar, High Llamas, Supertramp. That sort of thing. While the boys may not have Jimmy Webb-caliber voices, the songs pretty much make up for it. A little dark. A little sexy. But really weird (especially lyrically) and really catchy. My favorite track has to be 'All The Cocaine In The World', as a huge angelic chorus sings the title in breathtaking harmony (and in case you were wondering, all the cocaine in the world... is not enough to bring you back or something likr that). One of my favorite new pop records!!!
RealAudio clip: "The Liar's Club"
RealAudio clip: "I Can't Believe You're Gone"
RealAudio clip: "All The Cocaine In The World"

WEBER, REINHOLD Elektronische Musik (Red Lounge) cd 18.98
Early electronic compositions from Karlruhe native and Stockhausen pupil Reinhold Weber. 2 long pieces inflected with oscilating bloops and bleeps, sirens and a delayed German narration.


MPEG Stream: "Schopfung"
MPEG Stream: "Musica Mundana 1969"

WEBER, WINDY I Hate People (Blue Flea) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We love music. But even so, it's not like we love everything. Here at the store, we've all got different tastes and enjoy different things to varying degrees. Regular readers will notice there are only a few unanimous picks, but pretty much everyone here loves Windy & Carl!
This release veers into way different territory than might be expected, but will still please plenty of W&C's more adventurous fans. Before hearing the record, rumors were circulating about how harsh it supposedly was, and how it sounded nothing like what we'd expect. Well, after checking it out, that's true, and then again it's not. Many of the same sonic qualities are present: warm drones, whispy guitars, etc. But it's in the melodies where this really diverges from the norm. Whereas W&C typically go for major-key, pretty drones, this work has a truly sinister quality to it. To really engage with the music, you need to at least become acquainted with the general concept.
On the surface, I Hate People sounds very unlike what we'd expect from the kindhearted dog-lover, musician, and Michigan record store owner we've come to know and love. So let's talk more about this specific release. Well, the cover sports her 1987 passport photo, which shows a very Siouxsie and the Banshees-esque, punk-meets-goth Windy. On the inside there is a short musing on Sirens, which can be summed up by one particular line: "at one point or another, we've all wanted an island." I Hate People is a record that openly paints human relationships as being a Self versus Other paradigm, and then juxtaposes that with the relationship between sailors and sirens. Windy hates people because people are the only thing that can truly hurt us. Okay, you get it. We don't want to get all pedantic. So what does it sound like? Sonically, the release definitely reflects a musical exploration of those ideas. At times more or less frustrated, but throughout it evokes a certain feeling of anxiousness and alienation, but never apathy. This record maybe be best suited for Windy & Carl fans who can stomach the idea of truly disturbing drones, or possibly even fans of leftfield, ambient black metal. Yeah. So if none of that scares you, dare to delve in! This is a great release, and we hope to see more solo work from both Windy AND Carl! Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 1"
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 2"

WEBER, WINDY I Hate People (Kenedik Records) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We love music. But even so, it's not like we love everything. Here at the store, we've all got different tastes and enjoy different things to varying degrees. Regular readers will notice there are only a few unanimous picks, but pretty much everyone here loves Windy & Carl!
This release veers into way different territory than might be expected, but will still please plenty of W&C's more adventurous fans. Before hearing the record, rumors were circulating about how harsh it supposedly was, and how it sounded nothing like what we'd expect. Well, after checking it out, that's true, and then again it's not. Many of the same sonic qualities are present: warm drones, whispy guitars, etc. But it's in the melodies where this really diverges from the norm. Whereas W&C typically go for major-key, pretty drones, this work has a truly sinister quality to it. To really engage with the music, you need to at least become acquainted with the general concept.
On the surface, I Hate People sounds very unlike what we'd expect from the kindhearted dog-lover, musician, and Michigan record store owner we've come to know and love. So let's talk more about this specific release. Well, the cover sports her 1987 passport photo, which shows a very Siouxsie and the Banshees-esque, punk-meets-goth Windy. On the inside there is a short musing on Sirens, which can be summed up by one particular line: "at one point or another, we've all wanted an island." I Hate People is a record that openly paints human relationships as being a Self versus Other paradigm, and then juxtaposes that with the relationship between sailors and sirens. Windy hates people because people are the only thing that can truly hurt us. Okay, you get it. We don't want to get all pedantic. So what does it sound like? Sonically, the release definitely reflects a musical exploration of those ideas. At times more or less frustrated, but throughout it evokes a certain feeling of anxiousness and alienation, but never apathy. This record maybe be best suited for Windy & Carl fans who can stomach the idea of truly disturbing drones, or possibly even fans of leftfield, ambient black metal. Yeah. So if none of that scares you, dare to delve in! This is a great release, and we hope to see more solo work from both Windy AND Carl! Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 1"
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 2"

WEDARD Einsamer Winterweg (Regimental) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

WEDDING PRESENT Mini (Cooking Vinyl) cd 11.98

WEDDING PRESENT Singles 1995-97 (Spin Art) cd 14.98
All gathered up here on one cd, odds and ends from the Wedding Present vault including acoustic versions, live tracks, and covers of Tom Waits and Butterglory. Dave Gedge and co. even take on the theme from Cheers. Is this a good thing? We're not sure, but fans of Mr. Gedge's furry muppet voice and pop song polish will surely want to round out their WP collection.

WEDDING PRESENT Take Fountain (Manifesto) cd 14.98
This is indeed the first Wedding Present album in eight years! While it's not like David Gedge has been sitting on his hands all this time -- he's had his share of other irons in the fire, one of them being the glorious band Cinerama -- but to that we still say, "Holy smokes!" The first AQ customer to buy it had this to say, "Gloriously heartbreaking. Makes me want to drink expensive liquor & sleep around." And to that we say, "Oh my!" While we didn't have quite the same reaction, we can wholeheartedly confirm that all of you Wedding Present devotees have certainly been rewarded for your admirable patience. Mr. David Gedge delivers his trademark top-notch pop goods with Take Fountain. Somewhat darker and more subdued than the WP of old, but no less captivating -- he's definitely brought a great deal of the smooth elegance of his other group Cinerama into the mix, and it blends super well. Happy to hear that even after eight years, Wedding Present pop songs continue to snap, sparkle and soar in that unmistakable Gedge fashion. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Ringway To SeaTac"
MPEG Stream: "Larry's"

WEDDING PRESENT, THE Search For Paradise: Singles 2004-5 (Manifesto) cd+dvd 16.98
In case you're a Wedding Present completist who missed 'em when they were originally released as imports over the last coupla years OR in case you're a bit of a neat freak who wants everything in one tidy package, here's a cd/dvd set of U.K. singles (released on the band's own label Scopitones) and videos from 2004 and 2005. Eleven of the fourteen songs were previously unreleased in the U.S., and three of the six videos were previously unavailable anywhere!
MPEG Stream: "Bad Thing"
MPEG Stream: "The Girl With The Curious Smile"

WEDNESDAY, ASH (AND FRIENDS) Love And Other Numbers 1980-1984 (The Omni Recording Corporation) cd 17.98
Some of these tracks have been floating around on blogs for ages, it was only a matter of time before someone would gather them all up and release a killer compilation, shouldn't be too surprised it ended up being Omni! This Australian synth pioneer is probably best known for the bubbly synth pop classic "Love By Numbers", with its near literal lyrics, the verses simply AW reciting numbers from 1 to 100 (and then some, but it fades out around there), in a thick weirdly Teutonic accent, his count interrupted here and there by a dreamy girl pop chorus of "It Must Be Love", before it's right back to the counting, all over some terrific minimal wave electro pop. Originally released with the awesomely titled B-side "Boring Instrumental", which is a glorious little chunk of stripped down lilting electronic pop, not boring in the least. And then it gets really weird. Check out "Sex II", which lays down a groovy squelchy minor key electro groove, over which AW, and his female counterpart, recite what sounds like a strange not especially sexy, grocery list, from avocado, to rare beef finely sliced, aspirin, a kumquat, three floral toilet rolls, a pork sausage, a cantaloupe, a jar of Vaseline, chicken giblets, crumpets, mayonnaise (this one delivered in a near orgasmic croon, as is chopped liver, rump steak and Listerine!), the whole thing laced with little electronic squiggles, the boy / girl vocals delivering their various items extremely passionately/seriously, more so as the list continues, the track occasionally also augmented by breathless panting, all over a sort of chorus of thick soaring majestic synth swirl and some crunchy fuzz guitar. Might be the most replayed track here. But that's only the beginning, there's a twisted cover of the Count Five's "Psychotic Reaction" which is nearly unrecognizable, made all woozy and fuzzy and soft focus, there's the VERY Elvis-y electro-rockabilly of "Boom Boom Baby", which also predicts the sound of eighties big haired synth weirdos Sigue Sigue Sputnik, there's the woozily psychedelic "The Galvanized Garden Of Inner Peace", that also has a little rockabilly swagger to it, there's another version of "Sex II", instrumental this time, the music even more playfully exaggerated and the sounds super dubbed out, there's the dark bloopy, distorted guitar driven, electro slither of "Do-Do" replete with some weird deep vocals intoning "GET OFF THE FLOOR!!", everything reverbed and drenched in echo, there's "The Ballad Of A Metronome", which is classic eighties pop, but with some truly strange sung/spoken vocals, there's also the warped piano ballad "Radiation Injection", which is more goofy and playfully silly than the title might suggest, but with some snarly almost Suicide like vox tethered to the bleepy bloopy music. Pretty much every track here is a twisted gem, covering all of AW's outfits, from his solo single, to his stints fronting the Metronomes, Thealonian Music and Modern Jazz. He would later go on to record with Nina Hagen, he's actually STILL a live member of Einsturzende Neubauten, the liner notes, as with all Omni releases, are extensive, and detail AW's musical life, and of course there are lots of rare photos and reproductions of original record sleeves. But give a listen to the sound samples, we're guessing you'll be immediately hooked!
MPEG Stream: "Love By Numbers"
MPEG Stream: "Boring Instrumental"
MPEG Stream: "Sex II"
MPEG Stream: "Boom Boom Baby"
MPEG Stream: "Psychotic Reaction"
MPEG Stream: "The Ballad Of A Metronome"

WEE You Can Fly On My Aeroplane (* (Asterik)) cd 14.98
The latest from the *(Asterik) label run by the Numero Group folks should perk up the ears of all those who have kept up with their great Eccentric Soul series. In fact one of the earliest releases in that series put the spotlight on the

WEE HAIRY BEASTIES (KELLY HOGAN & JON LANGFORD) Animal Crackers (Bloodshot) cd 15.98
You might recall Bloodshot Records' rollicking frolicking children's music compilation The Bottle Let Me Down from a few years back. 'Twas fun for the whole family! Well, they've jumped back into the playpen for another go 'round. This time, the indisputable lord and lady of the label Jon Langford and Kelly Hogan have teamed up for this delightful collection of off-kilter kiddies' tunes. With songs like "A Newt Called Tiny", "Flies On My Taters", Ragtime Duck" and "Lightnin' The Turtle", who can resist? Hmmmm, wonder if they're available for babysitting.
MPEG Stream: "Flies On My Taters"
MPEG Stream: "Ragtime Duck"

WEED s/t (Revisited / Phillips) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Obscure, awesome 1971 krautrock proto-metal reissued! And they're called Weed. Need we say more? As always, we will say more, 'cause we've got to mention that the heavy electric organ bombast on this album is cranked out by none other than Ken Hensley of Uriah Heep fame, over in Germany on vacation or something. He appears here under the fairly transparent pseudonym of "Ken Lesley"! Having mentioned that, we realize we should probably review some actual Uriah Heep albums on our site one of these days, but this did just get reissued so we're writing about it now. (Sooner or later we will write up some Heep, but suffice to say that their first five albums RULE, circa '70-'73, though they go downhill pretty steeply after that. If you dig Deep Purple and haven't checked out the early Heep, you should.)
Anyway, back to Weed. Thanks to Hensley/Lesley, they DO sound a bit like Uriah Heep, especially on the killer opener "Sweet Morning Light". Despite (sarcastic?) lyrics about "sun shining bright, on everything in sight" and other seemingly positive things, the singer's depressed delivery and the downer dirginess of the heavy, groovy music creates a much darker, doomier mood! It's kinda brilliant, that contrast. Elsewhere, this album features the more mellow, melancholic acoustic balladry of "Loney Ship", one blues rocker, "Slowin' Down", and several other sorts of organ-ornate melodic kraut prog jams. It ends with another heavy highlight, the song "Weed" itself, the album's longest track at 7:14. And it's an instrumental. With a crunching, exceedingly Sabbathy main riff, or is it Led Zep? Kicks ass anyways. For the first and last tracks alone, this disc is something anyone interested in proto-doom should hear.
Also, Weed should get some sort of award as one of the earliest overt "stoner rock" bands ever, just based on their name, right? Them and Leaf Hound.
MPEG Stream: "Sweet Morning Light"
MPEG Stream: "My Dream"

WEED DIAMOND Carry On + Sweater Kids (Bridgetown Records) cd-r 8.98
Weed Diamond is an upstart, lo-fi outfit from Denver, which has grown out of the cracked bedroom project of songwriter Tim Perry into a full band that's just as wonderfully sloppy in the delivery of some pretty awesome melodic jangle. The Sweater Kids recordings originally appeared as a cassette in 2009, but the origins of the Carry On ep is not all that clear. It could be that Perry had some new material with his full band in tow when Bridgetown asked to reissue that cassette as a cd-r. In any case, the differences between Weed Diamond, the one-dude-holed-up-in-apartment, and Weed Diamond, the four-piece ensemble, are pretty minor, as everything has been recorded on a shitty 4-track with any given channel totally overblown and given ample doses of the cheapest reverb one can find. Weed Diamond revel in their untidy trimmings and primitive hiss; but on pretty much every track, there's an effortless, utterly catchy vocal melody that rises out of the noise-pop chaos. If this brings to mind The Oh Sees or Wavves, you're definitely on the right track with the mischievousness of those two projects occasionally begetting the wistful, downer paisley pop underbelly of Deerhunter or Beach Fossils. Really fantastic stuff that speaks well for the future of Weed Diamond!
MPEG Stream: "Carry On"
MPEG Stream: "Chelsea Koral"
MPEG Stream: "Blurry Afternoon"
MPEG Stream: "All Of Denver Is Wasted"

WEED IN THE HEAD / GORILLA MONSOON Suicide Feelings / A Lesson In Darkness (Grimm Grinner) 10" 9.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
This is a downtuned stoner sludge face off between two German outfits, who tackle their Sabbath obsessions in slightly different ways. Weed In The Head start things off with delicate clean guitar figures, which are interrupted by ULTRA distorted blasts of metal riffing, the kind of distortion that is so fuzzed out the sounds are almost crumbling into pieces. Doesn't take long before the clean guitar disappears under an avalanche of groovy sludge, pounding Cromagnon drums and wailing sort of Ozzyish vocals. A weird blend of Sabbathy groove and Kyuss-y desert rock, heavy but most definitely stoney and groovy. Things occasionally slow down into almost Eyehategod territory and eventually bliss out into a druggy trippy Monster Magnet style space jam. Cool!
Gorilla Monsoon (named for the wrestler we presume) counter with their own stoner psych sludge groove, starting out with a gorgeous bit of hazy ambience, all guitar distortion and feedback, before the main riff powers through, kicking up all that ambience into a swirling sonic dust storm. Dark and murky, but a bit more rocking than WITH, and much harsher vocals, that swoop wildly from a King Fowley type growl to a near Khanate like hellish shriek. There are some sludgy Eyehategod moments, lots of loping midtempo fuzz and groove, but like Weed In The Head, Gorilla Monsoon are ultimately channelling the spirit of the mighty Sabbath (heck, the singer's nom du rock is even Jack Sabbath) and there ain't nothing wrong with that.
Packaged in a nice fullcover foldover sleeve and pressed on nice thick vinyl

WEEDEATER God Luck And Good Speed (Southern Lord) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Even being the sort of person who knows almost nothing about drugs, I do know the usual preferred delivery method for pot is inhalation, not ingestion (to the lungs, not the stomach). Not that you can't cook it up in a brownie, but the guys in Weedeater sound like they just shovel handfuls of weed straight into their gaping jaws, like some sort of drug crazed harvesting machine, or like a stoner rock engineer dumping coal into the engine of a locomotive, which makes sense, as it's obvious these guys need enough weed to power the relentless, downtuned, full bore stoner metal crush found on God Luck And Good Speed.
A relative stoner rock institution, Dixie Dave and company have been spewing their filthy, crusty, blown out, drug rock for going on 10+ years now, and before that Dixie fronted the equally heavy and even crustier Buzzov-en, so this man knows his way around a stoney riff and a druggy groove, and this shit sounds just as good now as it did a decade ago, and I don't even smoke pot. So I can only imagine how amazing this must sound highÉ
But even NOT high, Weedeater destroy! Like some impossible crossbreeding experiment gone hellishly wrong, one part Eyehategod, one part Sleep, one part Corrosion Of Conformity, one part Bongzilla, guitars tuned so low the strings drag along the ground, amps stacked so high, they need a ladder to crank those knobs to 11. The vocals a harsh demonic mewl, almost more black metal than stoner metal, the drums simple but massive.
Recorded mostly by Steve Albini, except for one track by CoC's Mike Dean, and that track is the weirdest of the bunch, just bass, banjo and baritone crooning, a creepy stoner country ballad, which somehow sounds right at home amidst the crushing low slung heaviness surrounding it on all sides.
Plus song titles like "Wizard Fight", "Weedmonkey" and they even cover Skynyrd's "Gimme Back My Bullets"!
Packaged in a cool mini gatefold lp-style sleeve, the art embossed and printed in gold metallic ink, with a little hymnal inside with all the lyrics, just like a mini stoner bible.
MPEG Stream: "God Luck And Good Speed"
MPEG Stream: "Alone"
MPEG Stream: "Gimme Back My Bullets"

WEEDEATER God Luck And Good Speed (Southern Lord) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
NOW AVAILABLE ON VINYL!!!
Even being the sort of person who knows almost nothing about drugs, I do know the usual preferred delivery method for pot is inhalation, not ingestion (to the lungs, not the stomach). Not that you can't cook it up in a brownie, but the guys in Weedeater sound like they just shovel handfuls of weed straight into their gaping jaws, like some sort of drug crazed harvesting machine, or like a stoner rock engineer dumping coal into the engine of a locomotive, which makes sense, as it's obvious these guys need enough weed to power the relentless, downtuned, full bore stoner metal crush found on God Luck And Good Speed.
A relative stoner rock institution, Dixie Dave and company have been spewing their filthy, crusty, blown out, drug rock for going on 10+ years now, and before that Dixie fronted the equally heavy and even crustier Buzzov-en, so this man knows his way around a stoney riff and a druggy groove, and this shit sounds just as good now as it did a decade ago, and I don't even smoke pot. So I can only imagine how amazing this must sound highÉ
But even NOT high, Weedeater destroy! Like some impossible crossbreeding experiment gone hellishly wrong, one part Eyehategod, one part Sleep, one part Corrosion Of Conformity, one part Bongzilla, guitars tuned so low the strings drag along the ground, amps stacked so high, they need a ladder to crank those knobs to 11. The vocals a harsh demonic mewl, almost more black metal than stoner metal, the drums simple but massive.
Recorded mostly by Steve Albini, except for one track by CoC's Mike Dean, and that track is the weirdest of the bunch, just bass, banjo and baritone crooning, a creepy stoner country ballad, which somehow sounds right at home amidst the crushing low slung heaviness surrounding it on all sides.
Plus song titles like "Wizard Fight", "Weedmonkey" and they even cover Skynyrd's "Gimme Back My Bullets"!
MPEG Stream: "God Luck And Good Speed"
MPEG Stream: "Alone"
MPEG Stream: "Gimme Back My Bullets"

WEEDEATER Jason... The Dragon (Southern Lord) cd 15.98
Like some warped children's fairytale designed for seriously stoned adults, all sitting around on dirty couches, bongs in hand, following along in their little storybooks, a strange voice begins to deliver the tale of Jason... The Dragon (oof, a bad pun for sure, and perhaps a vague reference to that other stoner dragon Puff?), but before the voice finishes with his tale, a thick ominous buzz begins to surface, and suddenly everything seems just a little bit more (in)tense, as if the sun was suddenly blotted out by huge black winged shadows, and before you know it, the sky begins to fall, and the ground opens up, unleashing a torrent of impossibly thick, buzzing bass, and pounding skull splitting drum damage, and a harsh demonic rasp, all woven into some seriously blown out sludgey groove, and so begins the latest chunk of drugged out tarpit heaviness from stoner sludge doomlords Weedeater, and if you weren't sold already, give it one more track, cuz "Mancoon" is a seriously ripping slab of ultra heavy downtuned in-the-red sludgeblues groove, with a guitar sound so blown out it sounds like your speakers melting, and that's what these guys do pretty much better than anyone, melding swinging grooves to abject sludge drenched heaviness, stumbling from Eyehategod style feedback soaked death march doom buzz trudge, to almost Southern rock sounding stoner rock, but everything oozing with grit and filth, and wrapped in the sonic version of a halo of flies, every track a lumbering and crushing, slo-mo stoner doom juggernaut, oh that is except for the weird acoustic tracks, like "Palm And Opium" a strange twang flecked lo-fi hoedown, all acoustic guitar, and woozy slide, augmented by thick distorted buzz, and some seriously creepy Buttholes style processed vox, or the record closer "Whiskey Creek", with it's chirping crickets, Deliverance style banjo, the sound or rain falling, some rumbling bass, creepy and strangely beautiful, and then after a few moments of silence, some strange old timey saloon sounding barrelhouse piano, definitely a bizarre way to finish of a bizarre record, but these guys have always been a bit cracked, and fans of slow and low ultra heaviness, and swinging Sabbathy stoner crush, like Sleep, pre-Weedeater outfit Buzzov*en, Eyehategod, Electric Wizard, Dozer, Dopethrone, Bongripper, Acrimony, and the like, it seriously doesn't get much better than this.
MPEG Stream: "Hammerhandle"
MPEG Stream: "Jason... The Dragon"
MPEG Stream: "Whiskey Creek"

WEEDEATER Sixteen Tons (Berserker) cd 15.98
Our friend Adam at Crucial Blast does it again (after his release of Finnish thrashers Katastrofialue from last week's list) with this new slab of blues-scum-metal from North Carolina's Weedeater. Featuring Dave from the mighty Buzzoven, Weedeater basically inhabit the same sonic (outer) space as Buzzoven, crusty, sludgy, stumbling, stoned, pummelling and relentless. Think a 'more rocking' Eyehategod or something. Filthy and furious and fucking awesome. A split release with Colorado's Berserker Records. Fans of sludge (Boris, Corrupted, Eyehategod, Melvins, Harvey Milk) and stoner rock (Kyuss, Electric Wizard, Eternal Elysium) will eat this up!
RealAudio clip: "Bull"
RealAudio clip: "Potbelly"

WEEKEND All-American / Youth Haunts (Mexican Summer) 10" 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The smoking hot Mexican Summer label unleashes another new great band to the world, this one actually resides right here in San Francisco. Weekend blast out two songs on this 10" overflowing with a refreshing lo-fi rocking and shoegazey vibe. Kind of like a Woodsist band doing covers of Nowhere era Ride, or a less monochromatic Crystal Stilts letting loose on Unrest covers, or The Chills crossed with early My Bloody Valentine. They also remind us a bit of a more ramshackle and raw version of Desolation Wilderness who have also recently been creating great songs from a similar sonic perspective but with a bit more polish and fleshed out production. Weekend keeps things fuzzy and blown own and a bit raw which for sure works in their favor and also aligns them well with the likes of Wavves, Pearl Harbor, Grass Widow, etc.
Both songs on here are fucking great! But we wouldn't feel right if we didn't mention that it is only two songs (one of which will be on their forthcoming full length) which makes the $20 pricetag seem a bit, well, outrageous. Of course this is extremely limited and will be gone before the blink of an eye, and we really do love all the music Mexican Summer has been putting out but we do think the cost might be getting a little out of hand. That being said when it comes to the music in these grooves, we're totally sold!

WEEKEND End Times (Slumberland) 7" 6.98
Brand new blast of shoegazey fuzz pop jangle from this SF outfit, the A side just a slightly abbreviated 'radio' edit of the track "End Times" from their Sports full length, and while we're happy to hear that song again and again and again, for fans it's the B-side that's the big attraction here, which finds Sports' opening jam, the 6+ minute "Coma Summer", a blast of summery jangley shoegaze pop bliss, here transformed into something much murkier and gloomier, the sounds washed out and echo drenched, lots of softly swirling effects, the drums almost krautrock sounding in their motorik simplicity, while the vocals seem to have been transformed into streaks of high end sound, blurred into the whirling washed out background, the sound distorted and lo-fi, sounding more like something you might find on an Ariel Pink / John Maus record, that same sort of alien FM radio broadcast, via fucked up 4 track, and while it definitely sounds NOTHING like anything else on Sports, as a brief blast of warped lysergic weirdo krautpop, it's pretty goddamn great.
Comes with a download coupon as well.
MPEG Stream: "Coma Summer (Speculator's Subconscious Mix)"

WEEKEND La Variete (Cherry Red) cd 17.98
If you ever wondered what happened to Alison Statton from Young Marble Giants, then you might want to check this out. Early eighties jazz-lounge pop with saxophone in the vein of early Everything But The Girl, Antena, Carmen, and The Marine Girls.
Not as compelling as Colossal Youth, but really not that bad either.

WEEKEND Red (Slumberland) cd ep 8.98
Brand new ep from these SF shoegaze / jangle poppers, and it's a doozy, taking up right where their aQ beloved Sports album left off, launching right into it with the hazy, dirgey, dreamy "Sweet Sixteen", with its slow pounding beat, low slung bassline, reverbed ethereal vocals, and thick grinding swaths of guitar, which are soon joined by lush chiming melodies, the sound epic and expansive, moody and brooding, we've found ourselves playing it over and over and over. Which means it took us a while to get to "Hazel", which is a bit more propulsive, and very eighties sounding, almost like their take on this whole retro new wave thing, but holy shit is it the sort of song that would be a massive hit in a perfect world, a killer hook surrounded buy weirdly effected guitars, crunchy riffs, all wed to a killer groove, thick fuzzy bass, the sound occasionally exploding into sweetly psychedelic squalls. The rest of this 5 song ep follows suit, dipping into druggy dark shoegaze crunch on "Your Own Nothing", the sound thick and dark and fuzzy, but still rife with melodies and another wicked hook, or bouncy retro fuzz pop on "The One You Want" that sounds like it should be on the soundtrack to a modern John Hughes style teenage classic, and finally, the oddly titled "Golfers", with its thick, downtuned dirgey riff, echoey vox, tribal drumming, and melancholy guitar melody, a dreamy chunk of minimal gloom pop, that might be this ep's real gem.
MPEG Stream: "Sweet Sixteen"
MPEG Stream: "Hazel"

WEEKEND Red (Slumberland) 12" 10.98
Brand new ep from these SF shoegaze / jangle poppers, and it's a doozy, taking up right where their aQ beloved Sports album left off, launching right into it with the hazy, dirgey, dreamy "Sweet Sixteen", with its slow pounding beat, low slung bassline, reverbed ethereal vocals, and thick grinding swaths of guitar, which are soon joined by lush chiming melodies, the sound epic and expansive, moody and brooding, we've found ourselves playing it over and over and over. Which means it took us a while to get to "Hazel", which is a bit more propulsive, and very eighties sounding, almost like their take on this whole retro new wave thing, but holy shit is it the sort of song that would be a massive hit in a perfect world, a killer hook surrounded buy weirdly effected guitars, crunchy riffs, all wed to a killer groove, thick fuzzy bass, the sound occasionally exploding into sweetly psychedelic squalls. The rest of this 5 song ep follows suit, dipping into druggy dark shoegaze crunch on "Your Own Nothing", the sound thick and dark and fuzzy, but still rife with melodies and another wicked hook, or bouncy retro fuzz pop on "The One You Want" that sounds like it should be on the soundtrack to a modern John Hughes style teenage classic, and finally, the oddly titled "Golfers", with its thick, downtuned dirgey riff, echoey vox, tribal drumming, and melancholy guitar melody, a dreamy chunk of minimal gloom pop, that might be this ep's real gem.
MPEG Stream: "Sweet Sixteen"
MPEG Stream: "Hazel"

WEEKEND Sports (Slumberland) cd 12.98
Finally! The full length debut from these SF jangle noisepoppers, and it's as good as their two song Mexican Summer 10" had us hoping it would be.
Fuzzy, jangly, shoegazey, reverby, a little new wavey, a little droney, super catchy and buzzy and dreamy, pretty much everything we want a new pop record to be.
The first song "Coma Summer" is a dizzying collision of sounds and styles, that displays everything we love about these guys. Jangly Unrest style guitars chime beneath distant crooned oooooh's, eventually buzzy crunchy guitar rock wraps itself around the original guitar, the bassline buzzy and Joy Division-y, the sound repetitive and trancey, then still MORE guitars come in, some seriously MBV worthy buzzsaw blur, over which vocals keen in the distance, then the vocals proper come in, all deep and dramatic and new wavey, accompanied by woozy washed out warped sounding melodies that seem to melt before our ears, and so it goes, shifting from loping brooding jangle to soaring bleary psychedelic bliss to fuzzy minimal new wave pound, and it's not just that it sounds amazing, but that the amazing sounds have been crafted into a killer song, hooky and hazy and damn near perfect.
The second song is more of the same, we heard "Youth Haunts" on that Mexican Summer 10" which we then described as something akin to "a Woodsist band doing covers of Nowhere era Ride, or a less monochromatic Crystal Stilts letting loose on Unrest covers, or The Chills crossed with early My Bloody Valentine" and that pretty much still totally applies, and not just to this track, but to the whole record. Lush yet lo-fi, broody and propulsive, but also noisy and blown out, sunshiney and poppy here and there, but just often, dark and melancholy, easily one of our new favorite records, from one of our new favorite local outfits.
MPEG Stream: "Coma Summer"
MPEG Stream: "Youth Haunts"
MPEG Stream: "Monday Morning"

WEEKEND Sports (Slumberland) lp 17.98
Finally! The full length debut from these SF jangle noisepoppers, and it's as good as their two song Mexican Summer 10" had us hoping it would be.
Fuzzy, jangly, shoegazey, reverby, a little new wavey, a little droney, super catchy and buzzy and dreamy, pretty much everything we want a new pop record to be.
The first song "Coma Summer" is a dizzying collision of sounds and styles, that displays everything we love about these guys. Jangly Unrest style guitars chime beneath distant crooned oooooh's, eventually buzzy crunchy guitar rock wraps itself around the original guitar, the bassline buzzy and Joy Division-y, the sound repetitive and trancey, then still MORE guitars come in, some seriously MBV worthy buzzsaw blur, over which vocals keen in the distance, then the vocals proper come in, all deep and dramatic and new wavey, accompanied by woozy washed out warped sounding melodies that seem to melt before our ears, and so it goes, shifting from loping brooding jangle to soaring bleary psychedelic bliss to fuzzy minimal new wave pound, and it's not just that it sounds amazing, but that the amazing sounds have been crafted into a killer song, hooky and hazy and damn near perfect.
The second song is more of the same, we heard "Youth Haunts" on that Mexican Summer 10" which we then described as something akin to "a Woodsist band doing covers of Nowhere era Ride, or a less monochromatic Crystal Stilts letting loose on Unrest covers, or The Chills crossed with early My Bloody Valentine" and that pretty much still totally applies, and not just to this track, but to the whole record. Lush yet lo-fi, broody and propulsive, but also noisy and blown out, sunshiney and poppy here and there, but just often, dark and melancholy, easily one of our new favorite records, from one of our new favorite local outfits.
MPEG Stream: "Coma Summer"
MPEG Stream: "Youth Haunts"
MPEG Stream: "Monday Morning"

WEEKEND The '81 Demos (Vinyl Japan) cd 7.98
These four tracks are some of the few post-Young Marble Giants songs that we've heard from YMG singer Alison Statton. Not surprisingly, the arrangements by the Weekend don't stray far from the immensely catchy art-pop minimalism of the aforementioned Young Marble Giants, but with pastoral guitar work pushing the Weekend into a territory occupied by early Durutti Column.

WEEKS, GREG Awake Like Sleep (Ba Da Bing!) cd 14.98
This is record number three for Greg Weeks, and the one that's really finally gotten our attention. His previous disc on Ba Da Bing! was a stripped down, boy-and-his-guitar folky singer-songwriter kinda record, and while he is still essentially playing folk music, on "Awake Like Sleep" he has begun to experiment with electronics and synthesizers resulting in a sound completely alien but warm and familiar at the same time: a sort of lilting chamber folk with electro-baroque flourishes, reminiscent of sixties and seventies folk-rock bands from England. Indeed, he's been compared to AQ-faves Comus, and while we don't think his stuff really sounds like those pagan freaks, there is a certain parallel, maybe as if one of the Comus dudes went solo. Where Comus was all maniacal and relentless, Weeks imbues his music with tension and a more subtle mania, borne of sadness and loneliness. These emotions manifest themselves as haunting melodies, dreamy flutes, church organs, discordant keyboards, spooky theremins, distorted bass, and warbling melodies that sound as if they were being played on a broken old turntable. It's all under a gauzy cloud of antiquated synth sounds and gently plucked guitars, invoking an alone-in-an-old-dark-house-on-a-moor kind of melancholia. The lyrics are simple and emotional, delivered in a plaintive almost whispered tenor that occasionally slips into a damaged falsetto that is completely heartbreaking. The most surprising aspect of what is essentially a folk record, besides the use of electronics and synthesisers, is the occasional spaced out psychedelic jam, with booming Bonham beats and swirling acid leads which build to moments where the song threatens to burst wide open, positively seething with barely restrained fury, like a huge black storm cloud threatening to unleash its violent storm. "Awake Like Sleep" never really gets all that heavy, but it's still really "heavy", if you know what we mean. People into the current strain of lo-fi bedroom folk-damaged indie-pop (for instance, Tower Recordings, P.G. Six, Neutral Milk Hotel and other Elephant Six stuff, or even a less twee Magnetic Fields) should like this!
RealAudio clip: "Made"
RealAudio clip: "Past Four Corners"
RealAudio clip: "These Days"

WEEKS, GREG Bleeker Station (Keyhole Records) cd 14.98

WEEKS, GREG Blood Is Trouble (Ba Da Bing!) cd 13.98
It's been a long couple years since we've had a Greg Weeks record proper. But those years weren't spent idle, not at all, instead he spent that time recording and performing with his group Espers, a much folkier and much more ethereal affair than his solo stuff. The Espers record was absolutely breathtaking, sweet and druggy and folky, with angelic female vocals alongside cellos, dulcimers and flutes. Thankfully Weeks' new record takes some of that more ethereal wispiness and weaves it into the darker, tenser psych-doom-folk he records under his own name. Fuzzy keyboards and warbling synths lay down ominous drones as a prickly sonic bed for delicately fingerpicked minor key guitars, moaning cellos, swooning mournful melodies, distant spacey blips, suffling understated drumming, heartfelt, multitracked vocals, all very hazy and druggy and otherworldly. Not quite as 'weird' as his previous full length Awake Like Sleep, Blood Is Trouble sounds, as much as I hate to say it, more mature. Which is not a bad thing at all. The songs are more fully realized, and don't rely as heavily on weird instrumentation. Beautiful and heartfelt, in different hands this could have been a classic singer songwriter sort of record, but Weeks manages to transform it into a hazy psychedelic gem, equal parts Incredible String Band, Low and Nick Drake. Or something like that. You get the drift. This is just an amazing and beautiful record. Psych folk fans will love it for sure, but it's just accessible enough to maybe 'turn on' the rest of you!
MPEG Stream: "Day For Night"
MPEG Stream: "Dusted"

WEEKS, GREG Slightly West (Acuarela) cd 9.98
New ep from AQ fave Greg Weeks, on the tiny Spanish label Acuarela. "Slightly West" takes up right where Weeks' totally amazing "Awake Like Sleep" record left off. More lonely low key psychedelic folk (ala P.G. Six, Charalambides, Tower Recordings, etc.), wrapped in a wash of thick warm analogue-sounding synths, making for a sort of dark and melancholy, alien folk music.
Dreamy and gauzy, ethereal and wispy, warm and summery, but not in a Beach Boys-surfing-USA-fun-in-the-sun sort of way, more like a last-day-of-summer-before-the-girl-you've-spent-the-past-two-weeks-falling-in-love-with-leaves-forever-late-nights-wrapped-in-blankets-in-front-of-a-roarin-fire-crashing-surf-moon-reflected-on-the-water-broken-hearted sort of way. Gently plucked guitars and mournful sad-boy vocals (with occasional angelic female background vocals) weave gorgeously simple tales of love and loss, while tinkling pianos glisten on the surface and gossamer keyboards, sustaining on 2 or 3 notes, turn simple pop songs into dreamy late night psychedelic soundscapes (the same way keyboards transformed Yo La Tengo's "Painful"). Also features some really disturbing/amazing/sexy/demented cover art by Tracy Nakayama, featuring naked young people and a woman strangling an ostrich with a belt!
MPEG Stream: "One Summer Night"
MPEG Stream: "Unsettled (By The Sun)"