ZEPH, DJ s/t (Wide Hive) 2lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Bay Area hiphop turntablist action from DJ Zeph with additional beats & scratches from fellow DJ's Quest (Live Human), Imperial, and others. There's lots of live playing from local jazz cats, with flavors like flute, sitar, and trombone in addition to upright bass, drums, and electric piano, etc. Several tracks have lyrics from local rapper Azeem (Spearhead), but most are funky instrumental grooves. Live Human fans take note.

ZEPPI Zeppi (Nadirean Extensions SF) cd 10.98
Local luminaries pay homage to the guitar. Aggro, spindly freaked-out psychedelic space-rock.

ZERO 7 The Garden (Atlantic) cd 14.98
Joining many of their contemporaries who've hooked into that smooth '70s soft rock revival, Zero 7's third full length takes the UK duo of Sam Hardaker and Henry Binns further away from their early downtempo groovi-tronica leanings. The Garden is a lush, silken (but not overly slick) production with much more focus on traditional song structures, not to mention more engaging personality courtesy of guest vocalists Jose Gonzalez and Sia Furler. For folks who dig the distinct breezy Euro-mellowness of artists such as Air, Kings Of Convenience and Nicolai Dunger.
MPEG Stream: "Future"
MPEG Stream: "Seeing Things"

ZERO 7 When It Falls (Elektra) cd 16.98

ZERO ZERO AM Gold (Jade Tree) cd 12.98
Not to be mistaken with Zero nor Zero Zero Zero! Imagine the B52s frolicking in your backyard with the Olivia Tremor Control and Takako Minekawa. Sounds like a fabulous fun time to me. How 'bout you? Plus, y'know nothing warms my heart like a lil' farfisa cheeeez organ - of which there's plenty here.
RealAudio clip: "Pink And Green"
RealAudio clip: "True Zero"

ZEROCROP "On Tape" (The Tapeworm) cassette 7.98
Three new releases on weirdo UK cassette label The Tapeworm, one a sort of anti-remix of the Fennesz Tapeworm cassette Szampler, one a gorgeous selection of deep kosmische dronemusic played on just intonation toy organs and boomboxes, and this, the latest from Zerocrop, the solo project of a UK musician called simply Parker, whose music is described by the label as "hypnotic mix of complex vocal melodies and spoken word sequences on unsettling themes, set against a rich backwash of pedal steel, guitars and electronics", but to us sounds more like some old school eighties cold/new wave, at least on the first of the four tracks here, old analog synths, primitive programmed beats, deep crooned vocals, propulsive rhythms. The second track begins to sound more like the label description, getting a lot trippier, deep dark synth swells, beneath echo drenched spoken word, super cinematic and haunting, creepy and otherworldly.
The sound then veers right back into something more new wavey, a sort of eighties electronic pop, that fits perfectly alongside the new wave of new wave revivalists.
But then things switch gears again on the side long single track B side, which is somehow a mix of the two, warm whirring new age, wrapped around swoonsome deserty lap steel, laced with samples, all laid atop softly pulsing synths, almost like some weird hybrid of Zombi and Scenic, a sort of Carpenter-y synthscape set amidst ghost towns and tumbleweed, the ranting female preacher religious sample just makes it sound even more cinematic and like some strange transmission you might stumble across on cable access at 4am in a motel room off the interstate somewhere in the middle of nowhere.
LIMITED TO 250 COPIES!!

ZEVON, WARREN The Wind (Artemis) cd 16.98

ZIDANE: A 21ST CENTURY PORTRAIT (MOGWAI) OST (Play It Again Sam (PIAS)) cd 16.98
How many times have you heard us muse that Mogwai's epic, evocative music is like a soundtrack for some imaginary film? Many many times. Too numerous to mention. Sorry, didn't mean to sound like a broken record! Well, now it has finally come to pass that their music has indeed found its cinematic match not once but twice with their recent performances for Darren Aronofsky's movie The Fountain and for Zidane, a documentary about the soccer player of the same name. Worry not, you won't be hearing sound effects of soccer balls or referee whistles on this soundtrack. In fact, there aren't any great departures from Mogwai's trademark epic atmospheric post-rock sound whatsoever. What this all means for you, dear Mogwai fan is more of the richly expressive, sweeping instrumentals you know and love.
MPEG Stream: "Black Spider"
MPEG Stream: "I Do Have Weapons"

ZIEGENBOK KOPF The Architecture Of Dark Dance (Toyo) tp 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Our in store entertainment wunderkind John Dwyer is apparently unstoppable in his never ending series of releases and this new, ultra-low fi, hiss ridden cassette may be his best yet. 'The Architecture Of Dark Dance' comes after many weeks of research by Dwyer into the fecund techno scene from the city of Unterschleissheim in the state of Bavaria, Germany. Though it took John only a few weeks to become saturated by hundreds of hours of Unterschleissheimian techno before generating his own, albeit American version of the genre, it sure seemed like months here at Aquarius. We're pretty used to Dwyer coming in on a daily basis to entertain / harrass us, but the period during which he was working on this cassette was an unending daily test of endurance for us at times. At first it was humorous: John walked in one morning about a minute after we'd opened up the store and insisted that we play this twelve inch he'd picked up at the Community Thrift Store down the street. After being informed that the needle on our turntable was busted, John slapped the record on the counter and ran out of the store. It was then with surprise that we watched John return three hours later pulling a Forsell "Air Reference Turntable" on a stainless steel cart and heave the immense beast onto the counter (don't even ask where the hell he 'found' the thing.) After much jimmy-ing with our system, John got the twelve inch playing over our stereo. By the time first distorted snare hit sounded over our speakers Dwyer's eyes were as big as pluots. "FUCK YEAH!!!! THIS IS THE SHIT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO TELL YOU GUYS ABOUT!!!!" Turns out that a local German D.J. that had been living in the city had had to give up his entire collection of dance twelve inches when he was deported for an expired visa as a result of strict immigration rules in our post 9/11 environment. The always pennywise and poundthrift John Dwyer seized his opportunity and ended up buying the entire lot from the store for a mere $20 (instead of the $30 they were asking) after three intense hours of haggling with the clerk. After a period of absorption Dwyer began testing out his own covers, reworkings and even original compositions on us here at Aquarius. Most of these tracks hadn't yet had the vocals laid down, so Dwyer would simply sing them impromptu for us and whoever happened to be shopping in the store at the time. The final result is a lot like a more fucked up version of the Jones Machine's "I'm The Disco Dancing" combined with the manic punk energy of the best DHR releases out there. Songs like "Dance You Idiot" capture the immediacy of dance music as well as its subtle political underpinnings and "I'm At The Club" recreates the common folly of answering one's cellular phone on the dance floor. The 11 songs on this cassette are both boorishly satyrical and strangely addictive. It's the type of joke you know you shouldn't be laughing to but there's no use in resisting. Dwyer says it's not a joke, and he says it's not him. He has nothing to do with the mysterious Ziegenbok Kopf. Who ya gonna believe?!?!
RealAudio clip: "Dance You Idiot"
RealAudio clip: "I'm At The Club"

ZIG ZAGS Scavenger (Mexican Summer) 7" 5.98

ZIM-ZIMS, THE Go Where You Are EP (Mann-Made) cd-r 5.98
SF trio The Zim-Zims have returned with a new five song cd-r! The opening track "The Moon" initially struck us as being quite reminiscent of Screaming Trees (circa Uncle Anesthesia) and the fourth "Monticello Song" reminded us of Echo & The Bunnymen's "The Killing Moon". This perhaps is in part due to the fact that the vocals have gained a bit of bristliness and the guitars are considerably darker. However, the rest of the tunes are more like those of their self-titled debut in 2003. That is, buoyant, jangleful indie rock that brings to mind Guided By Voices and Beulah.
MPEG Stream: "The Moon"
MPEG Stream: "Monticello Song"

ZIM-ZIMS, THE s/t (self-released) cd 9.98
Bay Area trio The Zim-Zims make that kind of boyish pop full of crunchy 'n' jangly guitars and lilting slightly melted male vocals. Sorta like a cross between Beulah, Nothing Painted Blue and Young Fresh Fellows. These fellows have been in the Bay Area pop punk underground scene for many years playing in scads of bands such as Monsula, 10 Francs, Spitshine and the Delightful Little Nothings. The first few snappy songs'll have ya bouncin' around your living room in no time. They don't stop there though, they throw in a trippy twist or two -- whether it be a reverb-y tremoloed guitar, a graceful segue into a slower tempo, a vocalist switcharoo or what have you -- every so often for good measure. A dandy debut.
MPEG Stream: "Consumed"
MPEG Stream: "The Same"

ZIMMER, HANS Sherlock Holmes OST (Waterworks Music) cd 17.98
We recently braved the horror of cellphones and incessant chatter that is our local theater (spoken like true grumpy old men) to see the latest Guy Ritchie movie Sherlock Holmes, and while we were prepared to be disappointed, we were actually pretty blown away. Classic Ritchie, as in the best thing since Snatch and Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, it was stylized, the sets were incredible, it was funny, clever, Downey Jr. was hilarious, so was Jude Law, there was really very little to not like (except maybe the NON ending / set up for a sequel), but more than anything, we were taken by the score, a strange mix of old timey cabaret, and strange solo violin plucking. Throughout the movie, Holmes is holed up in his dingy dirty apartment, clinging to an old violin, which he nervously plucks, unfurling some truly haunting melodies, that perfectly suit the dour grey skied Victorian setting, not to mention Holmes' fragile mental state. We were sort of hoping there would be lots of that on the soundtrack and nothing else, and there is a bit, but listening to the soundtrack removed from the movie, we're struck by how awesome it is. Zimmer is no slouch, although most of us probably remember him most for composing the awesome "Spider Pig" song from the Simpsons Movie, but here, he weaves am entrancing spell, dark and emotional and moving, and as most soundtrack fans know, coming up with a theme is key, and Holmes' theme is a little 7 or 8 note figure that is repeated in various permutations, but it's weirdly pretty and distinctly haunting. Lots of pizzicato strings, moaning violins, shimmering steel strings, weeping horns, what sounds like dulcimer, old timey and Victorian sounding for sure, the closer, the nearly 7 minute "Catatonie" is the perfect finish, spare and creepy, with that theme popping up again and again, but with plenty of orchestral flourish, ominous creep, and just a dash of bombast. Way recommended. As is the film...
MPEG Stream: "Is It Poison, Nanny?"
MPEG Stream: "He's Killed The Dog Again"
MPEG Stream: "Marital Sabotage"
MPEG Stream: "Catatonie"

ZIMMERS HOLE When You Were Shouting At The Devil... We Were In League With Satan (Century Media) cd 12.98
Joke metal from Canada but it's pretty bad ass nonetheless. And funny.

ZION I Deep Water Slang V 2.0 (Raptivism) cd 14.98
We raved and raved about these local boys' debut a few years back. And it still stands as one of the best local hip hop records, hell hip hop records period, in recent memory. So we were pretty excited about the prospect of a new record. A lot has changed in three years, some not for the better. The bones of what made the first record are still essentially in place, weird loops and samples, killer flow, and fucked up beats. But gone are the super damaged, off kilter, hiccupping loops, and in their place is a more 'smooth' and booty-bumpin' top-down boomin' system sort of sound. Not that I'm complaining, I was bobbing my head just listening to it on my computer. But it definitely makes it less weird and warped and more accessible. This time around the vocals seem more high pitched and whine-y. In fact, my housemate thought i was listening to some Anticon record. Which is actually a good thing! We love Anticon! The worst change comes in the form of the dreaded female "diva" vocals which are ALL OVER the record. They sort of thematically tie the songs together, but end up adding a horrible, weak R+B sheen to the whole thing. But nitpicking aside, this is a pretty wicked record. Not as good as their first maybe, but definitely better than the new Fabolous, the new Eve, and about a million other records all over MTV that don't hold a candle to ZION I.
MPEG Stream: "The Drill"
MPEG Stream: "Warriors Dance"

ZION I Mind Over Matter (Ground Control) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is the hip hop record of the year without a doubt. Fuck that Common record (yawn). This record even manages to outshine the completely excellent Dead Prez record. Hard to believe that a record this fucked can sound so good. Even the bad bad cover art can't keep this record from shining. Stuttering hiccupping beats, bizarrely off time loops, smooth but rapid fire vocal delivery. This is the first record in a while to take the 'old skool' formula, nothing but loops and beats, and turn it inside out, making it completely off kilter, but still keeping it funky and totally catchy.
RealAudio clip: "Revolution (B-Boy Anthem)"
RealAudio clip: "Critical"

ZION I Mind Over Matter Instrumentals (Nu Gruv Alliance) 2lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The instrumental version of one of Andee's favorite hip hop records of the year. Removing the vocals just makes the music seem even more amazing. Stuttering hiccupping beats, bizarrely off time loops, smooth but rapid fire vocal delivery. This is the first record in a while to take the 'old skool' formula, nothing but loops and beats, and turn it inside out, making it completely off kilter, but still keeping it funky and totally catchy.

ZION I True & Livin (LiveUp) cd 15.98

ZIPPER s/t (Way Back Records) cd 17.98
Awesome garagey/glammy '70s hard rock that sounds like a demented Led Zeppelin some of the time, featuring frontman Fred Cole, future co-founder of the legendary Pacific NW punks Dead Moon! For as big of proto-metal, '70s rock nerds as we are here at aQuarius, we don't understand how we'd somehow NEVER heard of this band until quite recently. And it's not like this is a new cd reissue, in fact, it apparently dates from 1994! When we got clued in to Zipper, we tracked it down, thankfully one of our distributors still had a supply in stock, so here it is, gotta share it with those of you who haven't heard Zipper either. Well, it's nice to know there's always some new but old gem out there we haven't yet heard.
So, Zipper's sole album, originally released as a private pressing (by the Cole's own "Whizeagle Records") in 1975, features nine cuts of high energy ramalama and bluesy grunge. The album opens with a bang, the song "Bullets" being the one that immediately made us think Led Zeppelin, with extremely lewd & lascivious lyrics delivered in what sounds like an exaggerated parody of a lemon-squeezin' Robert Plant. The sexual innuendo here is pretty outrageous / hilarious if you pay attention ("wanna stuff my face in your swimming hole, stroke it so hard I'm gonna break my pole", for example) and the guitars riff it up with wild abandon.
Cole's over the top vocals are big part of Zipper's sound, for sure, and at first (before we realized it was Fred Cole singing) we were kind of taken aback by his style, sneering and screeching, part Percy, part Mick Jagger, often doing a scrappy, campy falsetto that makes us think of Wayne Kramer warbling "Rambing Rose" on the MC5's Kick Out The Jams! Overwrought and ridiculous, but damn it works, with the downer epic "Face Of Stone" ferinstance being truly emotional wrenching. Some big influences are probably late '60s Stones, Zeppelin of course, perhaps early Detroit-era Alice Cooper, and maybe a bit of Black Sabbath. There's some sweet aching ballads, some lumbering blues rawk blasters, some glammed-up punkers, and even a '50s style raver. Good stuff - for raunchy, kickass, low-budget heavy jams from the garage circa '75, look no further!
(Sometime soon, we'll also have to review the reissue of the excellent album by Fred Cole's even earlier band from the sixties, The Lollipop Shoppe, a band whose cutesy name belies their seriously gloomy vibes.)
MPEG Stream: "Bullets "
MPEG Stream: "Born Yesterday"
MPEG Stream: "Let It Freeze"

ZIPPO ZETTERLINK s/t (Psycho-Path) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Back in stock at last! Compact disc reish of a 1971 private press LP from Krautrock obscurity Zippo Zetterlink, who play wacked-out, damaged hippy blooze rawk like the they thought their kraut contemporaries Ash Ra Tempel, Guru Guru, and even German Oak were too, uh, polished and tight...yup this sure is raw, loose, "crude and demented" (according to the Crack In The Cosmic Egg authorities, and we must concur). The album starts off with the side-long "Zippo Zetterlink In The Poor Sun At Sunday Night In The BLOW UP" (at least, I *think* that's the title...who knows!). Twenty minutes of broken-down electric blues acid excess, the band a wrong-track train(wreck) chugging along at 15mph, spewing a black/purple/yellow cloud of steam and smoke with a sweet musty smell. Following that, four more tracks, equally jagged, meandering, and messed-up. Mainly this melts rather than fries, if that makes any sense to you. There's some comic relief from ZZ's drug-induced instrumental claustrophobia in the form of some actually decipherable bogus blues vocals at one point, and a sample of a news report on Beethoven's birthday that surfaces in the last track. Maybe just maybe these guys thought they sounded like Cream, but if so they were insane (or more like, way too high) 'cuz this is the sort of blues rock that closer in spirit to Michael Yonkers or Keiji Haino than Eric Clapton that's for sure! This is sure gonna sound *wrong* to most folks, but that's where you come in, the discerning kraut/acid/psych fan who just wants the worst (wurst?) 'cuz the best won't do, or already did.
MPEG Stream: "track 2"
MPEG Stream: "track 5"

ZIZ Sjo (Merz Tapes) cassette 8.98

ZM73 And There Is Only Sky Above You (self-released) cd 14.98
The duo of ZM73 (pronounced Zed Em Seventy-Three) have been making music for nearly two decades, but this is their first recorded output and it has the slow-cooked feeling of something both familiar yet hard to categorize. Utilizing both found media snippets and composed pop structures, the songs of ZM73 fall between industrial collage of early Tones On Tail and Cabaret Voltaire as well as the left-field funk of post-Can Holger Czukay and Art of Noise filtered through an angular sheen of more recent indie rock and electronica tropes. The collage element adds an interesting Burroughs-ian cut-up technique that suggests an underlying narrative of media-saturation and cultural alienation, yet tempered by a warm instrumental playability that draws the listener in deeper.
MPEG Stream: "Dubnohead"
MPEG Stream: "Receda"
MPEG Stream: "Wrapped Around"

ZMRZLINA Himalayan Mess Tent cd-r 6.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The quirky indie-rock of locals Zmrzlina, on a brand-new cd-r release. No artwork at all, it's packaged in one of those clear plastic clam-shell cases a la the 20' to 2000 series.

ZMRZLINA Katastrophe vol 3 (Incidental) cd 13.98
We argue a lot about digipaks here. Most folks here are down on the digipak. They're too easy to break, and once they're broken you can't really fix them. Sadie thinks they just seem less substantial than jewel cases. But Allan loathes digipaks. To the point where he will rebuy a cd in order to have it in a jewel case. It's true. I, on the other hand, really like digipaks. But there's just one problem, that annoying little stripe between the tray and the front flap, the reverse of the spine. It's where the white underside shows through. Pull a digipak from your collection and check it out, you'll see what I'm talking about. Not a big deal, I hear you say. But it kind of is. Think about it. We get all of these cds that are ultra designed, where an enormous amount of time and energy was put into the artwork, especially the minimal beep and click cds, where the beautiful photo or the expanse of blackness is interupted by a completely intrusive stripe of white cardboard. You think more people would consider this a problem and do something about it, or manufacturers would make it more affordable to print on both sides. The first time we saw the problem rectified was with those Miles Davis double cd reissues a while back. When you unfolded the digipak all the way, it was a gorgeous live photo spread out over all three panels and both stripes. Both stripes forsooth!! But apparently, printing on both sides and eliminating the dreaded white stripe is way too expensive most of the time. So you can imagine my excitement to see the cool 'circuit diagram' artwork on the inside of this digipak continue right on over the stripe and under the tray. No white stripe. Awesome. Obligatory musical comment: newest record from popular local indie artrockers on AQ-buddy Brad's Incidental Music label, who last brought us the Rovo cd.
(Thanks to Beer Frame 'zine for the borrowed review format!)
RealAudio clip: "Schoolgirls"
RealAudio clip: "Supermarket Radio"

ZMRZLINA s/t cd 11.98
Too busy/lazy too see live shows anymore, I have repeatedly missed seeing this local group who have been playing around the Bay Area for a couple of years already. This is a really WONDERFUL debut which sounds like Capt. Beefheart crossed with the Thinking Fellers. Packaged in a beautiful mini menu!

ZODIAC FREE ARTS CLUB Floating World (Permanent Vacation) cd 16.98
This is some seriously blissed out cosmic exploration. No doubt named after the Zodiak Free Arts Lab, ground zero in late '60s Berlin for the burgeoning experimental art/music scene that would blossom into the sounds of Krautrock. All these years later the amazing sounds of many who emerged out of the Zodiac Free Arts Lab, like Ash Ra Temple, Popul Vuh, Cluster, and Harmonia have had such a huge influence on a new generation eager to get lost in that cosmic trance.
Zodiac Free Arts Club, who hail from Berlin themselves, nails that sound and vibe spot on. In fact every single time we've played this in the store someone has asked what Brain Records reissue we were playing. Using analog synths with warm perfection, one can close their eyes and think they're listening to wonderful outtakes from Harmonia's Deluxe sessions. Reaching the same level of excellence in capturing this sound as folks like Arp, Jonas Reinhart and Majeure, this is some authentic modern day kraut-tronica indeed. The kosmische glow is alive and well in 2011!
MPEG Stream: "Celephais"
MPEG Stream: "Iridescent Love Triangle"
MPEG Stream: "Sonntags In Altona"

ZODIAC FREE ARTS CLUB Floating World (Permanent Vacation) lp 17.98
Now available on vinyl.
This is some seriously blissed out cosmic exploration. No doubt named after the Zodiak Free Arts Lab, ground zero in late '60s Berlin for the burgeoning experimental art/music scene that would blossom into the sounds of Krautrock. All these years later the amazing sounds of many who emerged out of the Zodiac Free Arts Lab, like Ash Ra Temple, Popul Vuh, Cluster, and Harmonia have had such a huge influence on a new generation eager to get lost in that cosmic trance.
Zodiac Free Arts Club, who hail from Berlin themselves, nails that sound and vibe spot on. In fact every single time we've played this in the store someone has asked what Brain Records reissue we were playing. Using analog synths with warm perfection, one can close their eyes and think they're listening to wonderful outtakes from Harmonia's Deluxe sessions. Reaching the same level of excellence in capturing this sound as folks like Arp, Jonas Reinhart and Majeure, this is some authentic modern day kraut-tronica indeed. The kosmische glow is alive and well in 2011!
MPEG Stream: "Celephais"
MPEG Stream: "Iridescent Love Triangle"
MPEG Stream: "Sonntags In Altona"

ZODIAC MINDWARP AND THE LOVE REACTION Tattooed Beat Messiah (Special Collector's Edition) (Rock Candy) cd 17.98
Another killer hard rock reissue from the UK's Rock Candy label. See elsewhere on the list for the other one, the legendary debut, and only release from SF's own Sea Hags, a classic slab of gritty hard rock glam brilliance. But this one, this one is something extra special.
Some of you might remember a short lived musical movement in the eighties in the UK, affectionately called Grebo. A bunch of greasy bastards (which is where the name came from supposedly), in leather and spikes, long hair, wielding big guitars, even bigger riffs, and singing songs about sex and drugs, and well, yeah, rock and roll. Some other Grebo bands included Pop Will Eat Itself and Crazyhead but it was Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction who carried the Grebo torch most proudly. The lineup: Zodiac Mindwarp, Cobalt Stargazer, Flash Bastard, Thrash D. Garbage and Slam Thunderhide, the sound, equal parts glam rock, seventies hard rock, and obviously lots and lots of camp and theater.
This is over the top, wild and wooly heavy metal rock and roll. As much about getting laid and getting high as it is rocking. And it shows in the songs. "Backseat Education", "Bad Girl City", but it's the opening track, the kick ass "Prime Mover" that was their biggest hit, and definitely their best song. Beginning with a goofy messianic bout of testifying some sort of utter nonsense, but when that main riff kicks in, you're hooked. Thankfully the rest of the record is just as kick ass. Every track a perfect little pop song, wrapped in glammed out riffs, sing along choruses, wild leads, and killer drumming.
This is another one of those records, that isn't weird or fucked up enough to appeal to anyone other than folks who dig this kind of shit. So we won't try to convince dronenerds or popkids, or avant garde elitists to check it out. But anyone into glammy, punky, hooky hard rock and roll will go nuts for this, that is if they weren't already waiting for the reissue anyway. Just check out the sound samples, you'll know in a matter of seconds if you're the kind of greasy bastard this stuff was meant for.
As with all the Rock Candy reissues, the packaging and presentation are amazing. If only ALL reissues were this well done. Jewel case wrapped up in a full color slipcase. Bonus tracks, all the 12" B-sides, tons of photos, extensive liner notes, interviews with Zodiac himself, as well as an extensive band history.
MPEG Stream: "Prime Mover"
MPEG Stream: "Skull Spark Joker"
MPEG Stream: "Backseat Education"
MPEG Stream: "Tattooed Beat Messiah"

ZODIACS Gone (Holy Mountain) cd 13.98
The Zodiacs unleash sweeping storms of feedback-filled, blown-out, freeform psych-guitar rawk on their debut album Gone, as if they're out to prove that this sort of thing (extreme, deviant Crazy Horse worship?) isn't the exclusive province of Japanese heavies like Up-Tight, LSD-march and Fushitsusha. And prove it they do on these four long, drugged-out tracks of guitars-pressed-to-amplifiers orgiastic volume dealing. Great late night listening that will definitely wake the neighbors. Don't worry, they'll be too scared to complain.
This power trio -- stage names Zodiac Speedcreep, Ezekiel Blackouts III, and Grim Jim Gypsy -- are apparently members of such hippy-folk-drone outfits as Sunburned Hand Of The Man, Wooden Wand, and Hush Arbours. Here though they cranking it up, letting the cosmic Hawkwind howl loud and long through their instruments, burying their blues based jamming under a holy mountain of distortion and pounding cymbal crashes. Speaking of Holy Mountain, it's no wonder the Zodiacs are on that label, also home to Residual Echoes and the David Redford Triad amongst likeminded others.
They've got a sixties motorcycle gang concept going on here, image-wise, and we'd imagine they're even more inspired by the sound of their hogs' engines roaring than they are by biker bands of the era like Blue Cheer...
MPEG Stream: "Born Free"
MPEG Stream: "Road Star Blues"

ZOFFY Live! (Acid Mothers Temple) cd 21.00
Ah, Zoffy. Times change, eh? Isn't it weird that the classic rock band responsible for such hoary hits as "Smoke On The Water", "21st Century Schizoid Man" and "Stairway To Heaven" would be playing at little clubs in Tokyo, Japan, and putting out limited edition cd-rs? Er, wait a sec. This isn't an example of the "still big in Japan" phenomenon. Turns out that Zoffy didn't write those songs at all! They're just a very tongue-in-cheek unit formed by members of Acid Mothers Temple (specifically, Kawabata Makoto and Tsuyama Atsushi), who play very krautrocky originals and a whole lotta classic rock covers in a loose, silly, folky, psychedelic style, using quite an assortment of acoustic and ethnic instrumentation. Tsuyama's underwater-sounding vocals on "Purple Haze" are a good example of the goofy fun they're having here with these '60s and '70s rock chestnuts. But when they're not yukking it up, this can be really beautiful too... a weird blend of laffs and serious psychedelic feeling. The material here was recorded live over the course of several years (1999-2003) and was first released in a 100 copies only cd-r edition, now it's on a real cd with 3 bonus tracks. Oh, and one unexpected cover choice bears mention, to Ruins fans anyway: "Hyderomastgroningem"! That one, definitely NOT a '70s radio staple...
MPEG Stream: "Purple Haze"
MPEG Stream: "Bananes Mecaniques"

ZOFFY Thou Shalt Not Mess With Zoffy!! (Acid Mothers Temple) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We just got a few more of these in, so it's time for another *Acid Mothers Temple alert* *Acid Mothers Temple alert* *Acid Mothers Temple alert*
Here's one of them limited edition cds on the AMT's own label, this one the work of the band Zoffy, otherwise known as the duo of key AMT players Kawabata Makoto and Tsuyama Atsushi, armed with electric and acoustic guitars, bouzoukis, saz, violin, electric sitars, percussion, electronics, raygun (?), and more. Though the title is Thou Shalt Not Mess With Zoffy!!, Zoffy don't seem to mind messing with other people's music, with some or all of the lucky 13 tracks on here being deliberately fucked covers of songs like "Smoke On The Water" and "21st Century Schizoid Man". Utterly retarded, wrong, and noise-infused messes are made. But maybe that's the only way you could cover "Smoke On The Water" these days? Then again, there's always the option not to cover it at all... And although several other tracks here have ring-a-bell titles ("Hocus Pocus", "Heart Break Hotel", "Mysty Mountain Hop", "I Talk To The Wind") not all remain recognizable in any way when you hear 'em. It's just acid-psych-ethno-freakout-playtime for these guys, like Maher Shalal Hash Baz, Sun City Girls or Reynols huffing glue in the boys room at Classic Rock School. But persevere in listening, and all of Zoffy's wacky highjinx somehow add up to something more than just a joke. For instance, I really really like their take on the oft-covered "21st Century Schizoid Man" -- it's a new song all of a sudden, if you know what I mean. And elsewhere on here, the noisy bits subside and there are moments of real beauty.
MPEG Stream: "Smoke On The Water"
MPEG Stream: "Kanzenon"

ZOHROB, DAVE Twelve: A Series - E (Tell-All) 3" cd-r 2.98
What do you do when the rules are simply: compose a piece of music using only one note? Well, the folks at SF label Tell-All Records decided to explore the possibilities with a 3" cd-r series titled "Twelve". Each of the participants was assigned (or perhaps chose for themselves) one note of the 12-note scale. Here's one of the first two volumes released thus far, it's Dave Zohrob in 'E' (the other is Liam Singer's compositions in 'F').
While Singer's treatment of his note is quite an active and rhythmic affair, Zohrob takes a very different approach. There are no hard lines in these aural sketches. Zohrob draws out his 'E' in a fog of drones. Solemn and calming.

ZOLA JESUS Conatus (Sacred Bones) cd 14.98
As we enter fall on our way to winter, we anxiously await some new records from some amazingly strong female forces of musical nature, records that will most certainly be by our side as the cold begins to overtake us. With both Bjork and Kate Bush releasing new albums in the upcoming weeks, it's so fitting Zola Jesus join that elite pantheon, as she's proven to be one of the newer generation's most singular and stunning artists. Taking ideas from goth, industrial and post-punk as launching points, yet making music that transcends any one genre, scene, or aesthetic. After two amazing ep's, including former aQ record of the week, Stridulum, Zola Jesus returns with her first full length in a few years. It's filled with an intensity and sense of purpose that makes so many other releases we dig just seem sort of frivolous and forgettable. Zola Jesus hits you in the gut with her music. There's no fluff, no excess fat, she gets right in there and twists, turns and reaches deep inside, extracting sounds and songs that grab you by the throat as they seduce and scare you at the same time.
Conatus is like a continuous sonic pulsation, a field of sound waves that soothe and envelop, penetrating to the core of your soul and forcing you to look deep into the sound's clear vision of intensity, where it then has this magical ability to make you feel that you can finally face ghosts that have been haunting you and conquer the night no matter how cold and alone you may be. Simply stunning.
MPEG Stream: "Avalanche"
MPEG Stream: "Ixode"
MPEG Stream: "In Your Nature"

ZOLA JESUS Conatus (Sacred Bones) lp 14.98
As we enter fall on our way to winter, we anxiously await some new records from some amazingly strong female forces of musical nature, records that will most certainly be by our side as the cold begins to overtake us. With both Bjork and Kate Bush releasing new albums in the upcoming weeks, it's so fitting Zola Jesus join that elite pantheon, as she's proven to be one of the newer generation's most singular and stunning artists. Taking ideas from goth, industrial and post-punk as launching points, yet making music that transcends any one genre, scene, or aesthetic. After two amazing ep's, including former aQ record of the week, Stridulum, Zola Jesus returns with her first full length in a few years. It's filled with an intensity and sense of purpose that makes so many other releases we dig just seem sort of frivolous and forgettable. Zola Jesus hits you in the gut with her music. There's no fluff, no excess fat, she gets right in there and twists, turns and reaches deep inside, extracting sounds and songs that grab you by the throat as they seduce and scare you at the same time.
Conatus is like a continuous sonic pulsation, a field of sound waves that soothe and envelop, penetrating to the core of your soul and forcing you to look deep into the sound's clear vision of intensity, where it then has this magical ability to make you feel that you can finally face ghosts that have been haunting you and conquer the night no matter how cold and alone you may be. Simply stunning.
MPEG Stream: "Avalanche"
MPEG Stream: "Ixode"
MPEG Stream: "In Your Nature"

ZOLA JESUS In Your Nature (Sacred Bones) 7" 5.98
It seems like only yesterday that Nika Rosa Danilova was thrilling us with her outsider gothic basement recordings. Now, she's a full-fledged international pop diva working with none other than David Lynch! Danilova seems to be dealing with her new recognition well. Her live shows have gotten consistently better and better, her songwriting has become more focused and has not lost its edge, despite losing most of its reverb. The Zola Jesus aesthetic - the beauty within the noise, the darkness behind the veneer - seems to fit right in with Lynch's work, both sonic and visual, without much of a struggle. The A side here is a head-bobbing, booty shaking synth-pop classic: one of those songs that no matter how shitty your day was, it'll make you tap your feet and/or dance like crazy. For the B side, David Lynch slows the tempo a bit and adds a bit of dreaminess. The drums are smoother and less frenetic. Lynch's (now somewhat trademark) reverb-laden guitar replaces some of the synth pads. A must have for any Zola Jesus fan and a good starting place for those (few) of you who haven't yet fallen in love.

ZOLA JESUS Stridulum (Sacred Bones) cd ep 11.98
This is one of those reviews that's both so exciting yet daunting to write. Trying to describe in mere words how a record has totally taken over our ears and left us in awe of its power, intensity, not to mention its incredible sound. We have always loved what we've heard from Zola Jesus in the past. But something has changed and the bar has been raised seriously high with this new ep. Without a doubt, one of the most mesmerizing and entrancing records we've heard all year. Zola Jesus has left behind the layers, noisiness and muddled sound of her past efforts and found her way to something much more clear, emotional, epic, haunting and so precisely focused.
There is definitely something to be said for quality control. The six songs on Stridulum are all practically perfect, not a wasted note, not a throw away line, each and every one has already seemed to seep into our subconscious, to get stuck in our head, and to resonate at such a deep level. With a sound like classic '80s Siouxsie revamped for the oughts, dark and ominous with soaring and strong vocal that leave no room for doubt. She means every single note, every single word, every single sentiment , that she expresses with such undying spirit on this record.
In lots of ways this transition to a new more focused and intense sound reminds us a lot of the leap that John Maus made when he released Love Is Real. While his past outings were eccentric, cool and weird, Love Is Real felt like a statement, a totally unique vision that had the ability to capture your attention right away and keep you coming back for more. That's what Stridulum is like, Zola Jesus demonstrates that her music doesn't rely on some sort of noise / FX aesthetic or trendy sound (lo-fi, washed out, layered drones, etc.) but that she is an artist with a truly unique and special vision. Don't get us wrong, we loved her past records and we love so much of the music that has come out in the last few years that is aligned with many of the aforementioned musical trends but there comes a time when you want to hear something that really feels like it has weight, strength and something true to say. More songs than sound, more music, than art.
There is no other way to say it, we have been totally intoxicated by this record. It's under our skin, on the tip of our tongues. It's made its way into our heads and every part of our body. It's both so physically moving and emotionally present. We also think its one of those records that could appeal to so many different folks. People who dig all sorts of sounds: Kate Bush, Fever Ray, Chromatics, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Bat For Lashes, Nico, PJ Harvey, The Creatures, Diamanda Galas, John Maus, Joy Division, Blessure Grave, Jarboe, Bjork, White Magic, Cold Cave, Bauhaus, Patti Smith, etc. With Stridulum, Zola Jesus has really carved out her own unique niche, positioning herself as one of the most interesting, original and exciting music makers in the underground these days. What makes it even more impressive is that she is barely twenty one years old and somehow manages to find time to go to school when not creating these sublime sounds. We're almost scared (in a good way) of what her future holds. This is the sound of someone truly coming into their own and owning their moment with such fierce clarity and hypnotic power. Absolutely stunning!
MPEG Stream: "Trust Me"
MPEG Stream: "I Can't Stand"
MPEG Stream: "Manifest Destiny"

ZOLA JESUS Stridulum (Sacred Bones) 12" 14.98
This is one of those reviews that's both so exciting yet daunting to write. Trying to describe in mere words how a record has totally taken over our ears and left us in awe of its power, intensity, not to mention its incredible sound. We have always loved what we've heard from Zola Jesus in the past. But something has changed and the bar has been raised seriously high with this new ep. Without a doubt, one of the most mesmerizing and entrancing records we've heard all year. Zola Jesus has left behind the layers, noisiness and muddled sound of her past efforts and found her way to something much more clear, emotional, epic, haunting and so precisely focused.
There is definitely something to be said for quality control. The six songs on Stridulum are all practically perfect, not a wasted note, not a throw away line, each and every one has already seemed to seep into our subconscious, to get stuck in our head, and to resonate at such a deep level. With a sound like classic '80s Siouxsie revamped for the oughts, dark and ominous with soaring and strong vocal that leave no room for doubt. She means every single note, every single word, every single sentiment , that she expresses with such undying spirit on this record.
In lots of ways this transition to a new more focused and intense sound reminds us a lot of the leap that John Maus made when he released Love Is Real. While his past outings were eccentric, cool and weird, Love Is Real felt like a statement, a totally unique vision that had the ability to capture your attention right away and keep you coming back for more. That's what Stridulum is like, Zola Jesus demonstrates that her music doesn't rely on some sort of noise / FX aesthetic or trendy sound (lo-fi, washed out, layered drones, etc.) but that she is an artist with a truly unique and special vision. Don't get us wrong, we loved her past records and we love so much of the music that has come out in the last few years that is aligned with many of the aforementioned musical trends but there comes a time when you want to hear something that really feels like it has weight, strength and something true to say. More songs than sound, more music, than art.
There is no other way to say it, we have been totally intoxicated by this record. It's under our skin, on the tip of our tongues. It's made its way into our heads and every part of our body. It's both so physically moving and emotionally present. We also think its one of those records that could appeal to so many different folks. People who dig all sorts of sounds: Kate Bush, Fever Ray, Chromatics, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Bat For Lashes, Nico, PJ Harvey, The Creatures, Diamanda Galas, John Maus, Joy Division, Blessure Grave, Jarboe, Bjork, White Magic, Cold Cave, Bauhaus, Patti Smith, etc. With Stridulum, Zola Jesus has really carved out her own unique niche, positioning herself as one of the most interesting, original and exciting music makers in the underground these days. What makes it even more impressive is that she is barely twenty one years old and somehow manages to find time to go to school when not creating these sublime sounds. We're almost scared (in a good way) of what her future holds. This is the sound of someone truly coming into their own and owning their moment with such fierce clarity and hypnotic power. Absolutely stunning!
MPEG Stream: "Trust Me"
MPEG Stream: "I Can't Stand"
MPEG Stream: "Manifest Destiny"

ZOLA JESUS The Spoils (Sacred Bones) cd 13.98
Sacred Bones is turning into the go-to-label for rad vinyl (and cd's!) from both up and coming bands s well as a bunch of way deserved obscure reissues. In the last year they've put out stuff by Blank Dogs, Gary War, Cultural Decay, 13th Chime, and a whole bunch more. We first heard Zola Jesus on a split with Burial Hex but with this full length we've been fully engrossed with her much needed female take on warped bedroom psychedelia. You can't just sight one easy reference for the sound of Zola Jesus and that's a good thing. From the dark and brooding elements of Siouxsie & The Banshees, the haunting spirit of Lydia Lunch, hints of the mystical world of a way lo-fi Kate Bush, layers of haze and echo that would be at home on records by folks like Valet and Pocahaunted. She offers up a much needed scuzzier, moodier, more dense version of what slicker folks like Bat For Lashes and Cocorosie have gotten quite famous for recently. The Spoils is a record filled with dark psychedelic explorations that are able to manifest that aura into really compelling songs that we find ourselves coming back to again and again.
MPEG Stream: "Six Feet (From My Baby)"
MPEG Stream: "Sink The Dynasty"
MPEG Stream: "Clay Bodies"

ZOLA JESUS The Spoils (Sacred Bones) lp 16.98
Sacred Bones is turning into the go-to-label for rad vinyl (and cd!) from both up and coming bands s well as a bunch of way deserved obscure reissues. In the last year they've put out stuff by Blank Dogs, Gary War, Cultural Decay, 13th Chime, and a whole bunch more. We first heard Zola Jesus on a split with Burial Hex but with this full length we've been fully engrossed with her much needed female take on warped bedroom psychedelia. You can't just sight one easy reference for the sound of Zola Jesus and that's a good thing. From the dark and brooding elements of Siouxsie & The Banshees, the haunting spirit of Lydia Lunch, hints of the mystical world of a way lo-fi Kate Bush, layers of haze and echo that would be at home on records by folks like Valet and Pocahaunted. She offers up a much needed scuzzier, moodier, more dense version of what slicker folks like Bat For Lashes and Cocorosie have gotten quite famous for recently. The Spoils is a record filled with dark psychedelic explorations that are able to manifest that aura into really compelling songs that we find ourselves coming back to again and again.
MPEG Stream: "Six Feet (From My Baby)"
MPEG Stream: "Sink The Dynasty"
MPEG Stream: "Clay Bodies"

ZOLA JESUS Tsar Bomba (Troubleman Unlimited) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Here's the second pressing of the 2009 EP by Zola Jesus, whose neo-goth theatrics have made quite a big splash around these parts, especially with her 2010 Stridulum EP. Zola Jesus (born Nika Roza Danilova) had been trained in her formative years as an opera vocalist, but she's far more interested in taking a similar path as Siouxsie Sioux and Diamanda Galas by grafting her powerful vocals onto a grim post-punk latticework of cold, almost no-wave electronics. The arrangements are skeletal with little more than mechanical drum programming and simple atonal melodies, performed with a naive panache more in keeping with the anti-aesthetic of early Ariel Pink or John Maus. There's tons of lo-fi, energy negating reverb and swaths of blackened noise (after all she did have a split LP with Burial Hex on Aurora Borealis!) that splatter throughout the seven tracks on Tsar Bomba (the title alludes to the world's largest nuclear bomb held in the Russian arsenal... ah, nihilism!). The dichotomy between her vocals and the arrangements shouldn't work; but against the odds, it works magically, coming across like an early Cabaret Voltaire fronted by Lydia Lunch. As with the first pressing, there's 500 of these in print.

ZOLA JESUS Valusia (Sacred Bones) cd 12.98
Crescendo. That's the word that most aptly fits Valusia, the latest ep by wunderkind Nika Rosa Danilova, aka Zola Jesus. Building layer upon layer upon layer of synths and drums and vocals, Valusia, honestly, gets better the more times we spin it. Her career is on the upswing as well, with no signs of a de-crescendo: tours with Fever Ray, Wolf Parade, among other big names. The four songs on this 18 minute record stand with the best Zola Jesus has released. The "cleaner" sound of the Stridulum ep carries over into this new recording, with some slight throwbacks into the dirtier drum machine sounds of The Spoils. "Poor Animal" opens the ep with swishy synths that jump straight into a pulsing four-on-the-floor kick drum beat. This expands into something a bit bouncier, and the layers of synths and vocals just keep coming until it's almost overwhelming. Just when your head rolls back in sonic ecstasy, however, she pulls back a bit, only to punch back in with a perfectly timed and executed outro. The sounds on "Tower," the synths especially, sound closer akin to The Spoils: a bit gothier, crunchier, less poppy, her voice drenched in reverb. A slow dirge dedicated to gothic loneliness. The chorus of "Sea Talk" is so catchy and sad it hurts to listen to it, but it hurts more NOT to listen to it. Finishing out the four songs is "Lightstick", what one aQ-er has affectionately dubbed "goth girl piano recital." Almost droney, it bangs out the same basic piano riff for four minutes, with layers of synths and vocals fading in and out to provide the landscape. Any fan of Zola Jesus' work to date needs this record. Any of you that haven't heard of her (really?), this release is an excellent introduction to one of the most talented young songwriters working today.
MPEG Stream: "Sea Talk"
MPEG Stream: "Poor Animal"

ZOLAR X Timeless (Alternative Tentacles) cd 14.98
Wow. A while back a friend of ours at Alternative Tentacles told us that Jello Biafra was all keen on reissuing some ultra-obscure '70s LA punk/glam band who apparently dressed up like space aliens and pretended they were from another planet (it helped that all the band members happened to be fairly short). Sounds, uh, interesting we said, we'll be curious to hear it... Well now we've heard that band -- this band, Zolar X -- and we've gotta say, Jello, thank you! This is freakin' awesome!
Brimming with extra-terrestrial energy, this collection compiles twenty tracks (fewer on the LP version) from three different recording sessions and Zolar X line-ups. Memphis 1976, LA 1979 and San Francisco 1980. All are great. Jello considers Zolar X to be "the missing link between Chrome and the Stooges"...and indeed some of this has that vibe, sorta like Simply Saucer. But the '60s pop background and Bowie-worship of Zolar X's prime movers Zory Zenith and Ygarr Ygarrist Lazor really results in something that was both more bubblegum and yet more metal too. Zolar X's collision of punk and glam, though totally underground, had definite classic, commerical rock pretensions...the vocals sound just a little bit like Geddy Lee of Rush, and the arena-rock guitars and epic songwriting remind us of Thin Lizzy, Queen, and Blue Oyster Cult as well. You'll even hear a little "Cat Scratch Fever" in their song "Moonbeams" we think...and the Beatles in "Blues On Blue".
Now, tongue in cheek it all may be: what to make of a song (a great song!) entitled "I Pulled My Helmet Off (I'm Going To Love Her)"? The lyrics are worthy of Jack Black/Tenacious D! Or a 19-minute rock opera called "Plutonian Elf Story" (this disc's final, amazing track)?? Well you gotta stop thinking like an Earthling and get with the Zolar X program! Yeah, costume-rock bands normally invite skepticism as to their musical worth -- I mean, would you wear spacesuits and Martian antennae if you had *songs*? KISS may or may not be a good counter example, but Zolar X sure is. Silly haircuts, outfits and names aside, they ROCKED. I think the secret is, that they seemed to take themselves seriously. This was no joke band. At least, not outwardly. Reportedly, they even stayed in character when off-stage. Seeing them live must have been incredible, if the color photos in the cd booklet -- and the stories told in the lengthy liner notes -- are anything to go by. It's hard to tell why they never "made it". You'd have thought that the old "take me to your leader" routine would have worked. Oh well. They picked the wrong planet I guess.
And as a side note, we're proud that our record store actually played some small, entirely random part in getting this reissued, as Jello mentions in his liner notes that he bought his first copy of the Zolar X LP out of the bargain bin here at Aquarius, doubtless years and years ago. Maybe we weren't recommending it then, but we sure are now! Timeless indeed. Shoulda been huge. It's time now though...get this!!
MPEG Stream: "Energize Me"
MPEG Stream: "I Pulled My Helmet Off (I'm Going To Love Her)"
MPEG Stream: "Nativity"

ZOLAR X Timeless (Alternative Tentacles) lp 10.98
Wow. A while back a friend of ours at Alternative Tentacles told us that Jello Biafra was all keen on reissuing some ultra-obscure '70s LA punk/glam band who apparently dressed up like space aliens and pretended they were from another planet (it helped that all the band members happened to be fairly short). Sounds, uh, interesting we said, we'll be curious to hear it... Well now we've heard that band -- this band, Zolar X -- and we've gotta say, Jello, thank you! This is freakin' awesome!
Brimming with extra-terrestrial energy, this collection compiles twenty tracks (fewer on the LP version) from three different recording sessions and Zolar X line-ups. Memphis 1976, LA 1979 and San Francisco 1980. All are great. Jello considers Zolar X to be "the missing link between Chrome and the Stooges"...and indeed some of this has that vibe, sorta like Simply Saucer. But the '60s pop background and Bowie-worship of Zolar X's prime movers Zory Zenith and Ygarr Ygarrist Lazor really results in something that was both more bubblegum and yet more metal too. Zolar X's collision of punk and glam, though totally underground, had definite classic, commerical rock pretensions...the vocals sound just a little bit like Geddy Lee of Rush, and the arena-rock guitars and epic songwriting remind us of Thin Lizzy, Queen, and Blue Oyster Cult as well. You'll even hear a little "Cat Scratch Fever" in their song "Moonbeams" we think...and the Beatles in "Blues On Blue".
Now, tongue in cheek it all may be: what to make of a song (a great song!) entitled "I Pulled My Helmet Off (I'm Going To Love Her)"? The lyrics are worthy of Jack Black/Tenacious D! Or a 19-minute rock opera called "Plutonian Elf Story" (this disc's final, amazing track)?? Well you gotta stop thinking like an Earthling and get with the Zolar X program! Yeah, costume-rock bands normally invite skepticism as to their musical worth -- I mean, would you wear spacesuits and Martian antennae if you had *songs*? KISS may or may not be a good counter example, but Zolar X sure is. Silly haircuts, outfits and names aside, they ROCKED. I think the secret is, that they seemed to take themselves seriously. This was no joke band. At least, not outwardly. Reportedly, they even stayed in character when off-stage. Seeing them live must have been incredible, if the color photos in the cd booklet -- and the stories told in the lengthy liner notes -- are anything to go by. It's hard to tell why they never "made it". You'd have thought that the old "take me to your leader" routine would have worked. Oh well. They picked the wrong planet I guess.
And as a side note, we're proud that our record store actually played some small, entirely random part in getting this reissued, as Jello mentions in his liner notes that he bought his first copy of the Zolar X LP out of the bargain bin here at Aquarius, doubtless years and years ago. Maybe we weren't recommending it then, but we sure are now! Timeless indeed. Shoulda been huge. It's time now though...get this!!
MPEG Stream: "Energize Me"
MPEG Stream: "I Pulled My Helmet Off (I'm Going To Love Her)"
MPEG Stream: "Nativity"

ZOMBI Cosmos (Relapse) cd 15.98
If there was ever a band more "AQ" than Zombi I'd be hard pressed to think of it. Take two guys, both obsessed with horror movies, particularly those by director Dario Argento, and even more specifically the Argento soundtracks by Italian prog outfit Goblin. Give these two guys a drumkit and a massive arsenal of synthesizers, and sign them to Relapse. And what do you get? Basically, a record we just can't stop listening to. And songs that are just BEGGING to accompany some gruesome footage of disemboweled corpses, dark stormy nights, windows covered in flies, and screaming barefoot girls in nighties running through graveyards in the pouring rain. Not that the music of Zombi is THAT scary, it's just so evocative, and SO reminiscent of Goblin, it's hard not to try to envision what kitschy eighties European horror movie these tracks might have come from. Sonically, the simplest description and the one that should have most of you rushing out to pick this up straight away, would be Goblin meets Tortoise. Yep, post rock horror movie soundtrack music swathed in ominous synthesizer buzz and electronic drone. Maybe a more accurate description though might be: long lost Goblin tracks performed by AQ faves Heldon, with all the requisite swooshing spaciness, haunting minor key melodies, propulsive krautrock rhythms and thick fuzzy synths. The synth soundtrack music of John Carpenter is also an obvious influence, but again, put to use in a post rock context. Whichever way, you NEED this!
MPEG Stream: "Cetus"
MPEG Stream: "Serpens"

ZOMBI Cosmos (Aesthetic) 2lp 28.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now available on lp! Ultra thick vinyl, super heavy weight gatefold sleeve, and most importantly, AN EXCLUSIVE BONUS TRACK!!!! Limited to 1000 copies, so these probably won't be around for long. Here's our review of the cd from when we first reviewed it a few years back:
If there was ever a band more "AQ" than Zombi I'd be hard pressed to think of it. Take two guys, both obsessed with horror movies, particularly those by director Dario Argento, and even more specifically the Argento soundtracks by Italian prog outfit Goblin. Give these two guys a drumkit and a massive arsenal of synthesizers, and sign them to Relapse. And what do you get? Basically, a record we just can't stop listening to. And songs that are just BEGGING to accompany some gruesome footage of disemboweled corpses, dark stormy nights, windows covered in flies, and screaming barefoot girls in nighties running through graveyards in the pouring rain. Not that the music of Zombi is THAT scary, it's just so evocative, and SO reminiscent of Goblin, it's hard not to try to envision what kitschy eighties European horror movie these tracks might have come from. Sonically, the simplest description and the one that should have most of you rushing out to pick this up straight away, would be Goblin meets Tortoise. Yep, post rock horror movie soundtrack music swathed in ominous synthesizer buzz and electronic drone. Maybe a more accurate description though might be: long lost Goblin tracks performed by AQ faves Heldon, with all the requisite swooshing spaciness, haunting minor key melodies, propulsive krautrock rhythms and thick fuzzy synths. The synth soundtrack music of John Carpenter is also an obvious influence, but again, put to use in a post rock context. Whichever way, you NEED this!
MPEG Stream: "Cetus"
MPEG Stream: "Serpens"

ZOMBI Digitalis - Limited Edition Tour EP (Relapse) cd ep 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Just like the subtitle says -- it's a limited edition tour ep from everyone's favorite horror-movie obsessed synths n' drums instrumental post-rock duo from George Romero's hometown of Pittsburgh, Zombi! There's three tracks on this disc, the title track taken from their upcoming album Surface To Air (out May 2nd) plus two non-album tracks exclusive to this ep, performed soley by the non-drumming half of Zombi, Steve Moore, and his array of synths, drum machines, etc. "Digitalis" makes us look forward to the full-length, while we found the two other tracks to be quite worthwhile reasons to pick this up on their own, being the big Zombi fans we are. There's the droning and ominous but sort of angelic "Sibera" which sets churchy synthvox against a slow, steady, martial drum beat. It's like Zombi's beloved John Carpenter teamed up with funereal doom band Skepticism. The mood then changes to something much more bright and dare we say dancey with the 9+ minute "Sapphire", an electro-tinged epic that brings back memories of Miami Vice and yet gets Gobliny enough to fit in with Zombi's other material.
MPEG Stream: "Siberia"
MPEG Stream: "Sapphire"

ZOMBI Escape Velocity (Relapse) cd 15.98
Zombi must feel like Neurosis did back in the day. Returning after a few years with a brand new record, only to gaze out on a sea of bands who sounded just like them. And discovering that their sound, in their brief absence, had become an actual genre, and a ridiculously overpopulated one at that. But like Neurosis, Zombi return as royalty, their cinematic space psych and soundtracky synthscapes untouchable, even by the legions of wannabes, fellow Carpenter / Goblin worshippers all, Umberto, Applehead, Zander Harris, Gatekeeper, Dylan Ettinger, Nightsatan, Roll The Dice, Soft Metals and all the rest, as good as they may be, and as much as we dig all of them, still bow before this dynamic duo, whose epic stretches of spaced out synths are wrapped around REAL drums, propulsive and powerful, the sound a perfect hybrid of washed out retro-futuristic synth swirl, and churning kraut flecked post rock, the tracks extended trancelike epics, the pulsing synth bass looped and mesmerizing, peppered with warm melodic swells, the drums pounding out equally mesmerizing tribal rhythms. The opening title track here sounds almost too short at 7 minutes, and like it could erupt at any moment into a second, even more epic movement, but instead, remains locked tight, cyclical and hypnotically repetitive.
The next few tracks slip closer to the cosmic dancefloor, wild squalls of tangled synths, woozy, melancholy melodies, but again, the real drums make all the difference, on "Slow Oscillations" adding some awesome rapidfire fills and flecking the grooves with little bits of double kick filigree, while on "DE3" twisting up a classic disco rhythm into something a bit more fierce, anchoring the new age swirl, all building to a seriously epic sci-fi climax. "Shrunken Heads" is a minimal groover, the synth buzzy and distorted, but the rhythm more programmed sounding, a looped chase scene soundtrack, tense and intense and darkly propulsive.
"Time Of Troubles" finishes things off, beginning with a hazy cloud of softly swirling sun dappled synth shimmer, and then big ominous low end, the perfect ending, especially if Escape Velocity was actually an eighties soundtrack, you can almost imagine the credits rolling as the hero and his motley gang of intergalactic misfits walk off off into the alien sunset, the sound majestic, but minor key and a little bit melancholy, the drums adding a sort of kraut/post rock vibe, totally mesmerizing, and definitely making us wish the deliriously over the top cover art (replete with running naked women and, yes, a Delorean, gull wing doors wide open, on what appears to be the floor of a sauna floating in a blue sky) was in fact a real film, and this was the soundtrack!
MPEG Stream: "Escape Velocity"
MPEG Stream: "Slow Oscillations"
MPEG Stream: "Shrunken Heads"

ZOMBI Escape Velocity (Relapse) lp 17.98
Zombi must feel like Neurosis did back in the day. Returning after a few years with a brand new record, only to gaze out on a sea of bands who sounded just like them. And discovering that their sound, in their brief absence, had become an actual genre, and a ridiculously overpopulated one at that. But like Neurosis, Zombi return as royalty, their cinematic space psych and soundtracky synthscapes untouchable, even by the legions of wannabes, fellow Carpenter / Goblin worshippers all, Umberto, Applehead, Zander Harris, Gatekeeper, Dylan Ettinger, Nightsatan, Roll The Dice, Soft Metals and all the rest, as good as they may be, and as much as we dig all of them, still bow before this dynamic duo, whose epic stretches of spaced out synths are wrapped around REAL drums, propulsive and powerful, the sound a perfect hybrid of washed out retro-futuristic synth swirl, and churning kraut flecked post rock, the tracks extended trancelike epics, the pulsing synth bass looped and mesmerizing, peppered with warm melodic swells, the drums pounding out equally mesmerizing tribal rhythms. The opening title track here sounds almost too short at 7 minutes, and like it could erupt at any moment into a second, even more epic movement, but instead, remains locked tight, cyclical and hypnotically repetitive.
The next few tracks slip closer to the cosmic dancefloor, wild squalls of tangled synths, woozy, melancholy melodies, but again, the real drums make all the difference, on "Slow Oscillations" adding some awesome rapidfire fills and flecking the grooves with little bits of double kick filigree, while on "DE3" twisting up a classic disco rhythm into something a bit more fierce, anchoring the new age swirl, all building to a seriously epic sci-fi climax. "Shrunken Heads" is a minimal groover, the synth buzzy and distorted, but the rhythm more programmed sounding, a looped chase scene soundtrack, tense and intense and darkly propulsive.
"Time Of Troubles" finishes things off, beginning with a hazy cloud of softly swirling sun dappled synth shimmer, and then big ominous low end, the perfect ending, especially if Escape Velocity was actually an eighties soundtrack, you can almost imagine the credits rolling as the hero and his motley gang of intergalactic misfits walk off off into the alien sunset, the sound majestic, but minor key and a little bit melancholy, the drums adding a sort of kraut/post rock vibe, totally mesmerizing, and definitely making us wish the deliriously over the top cover art (replete with running naked women and, yes, a Delorean, gull wing doors wide open, on what appears to be the floor of a sauna floating in a blue sky) was in fact a real film, and this was the soundtrack!
MPEG Stream: "Escape Velocity"
MPEG Stream: "Slow Oscillations"
MPEG Stream: "Shrunken Heads"

ZOMBI s/t (Wabana) lp 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A while back we had a cd entitled The Zombi Anthology, that compiled the pre-Relapse debut demo releases from this rad instrumental post-rock duo from the zombie filmmaker George Romero's hometown of Pittsburgh. They're into horror film soundtracks, that's for sure -- director/composer John Carpenter being a big influence, especially so on their demos.
The Anthology cd is now sold out, out of print, but Wabana has stepped in with these vinyl reissues of Zombi's two demos, which are unfortunately on the pricey side 'cause Wabana stuff is made in England and the pound is clobbering the dollar right now. But they're limited and all (we've just got a dozen of each) and we figure Zombi fans will be fighting over them regardless.
This 33+ minute, self-titled record features the nine tracks (one more than appeared on the Anthology cd) from their demo recorded in 2001, originally released by the band in a 150-copy cd-r edition. It's mostly all electronic, with drum machine instead of live drums. Zombi admit the major Carpenter and Fabio Frizzi soundtrack influence on this one, and it's so obvious from the stark, quietly menacing droning synthwork and ticking drum machine percussion, oozing with horror film atmosFEAR.
MPEG Stream: "Sequence 1"

ZOMBI Sapphire (Throne Of Blood) 12" 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
While we have always loved Zombi's proggy and tense synth thrillers, we've secretly wished they would cut loose a bit, add some hi-hat fills and give us the dark and sexy slow euro-disco we always knew they were capable of. The actively atmospheric sounds of John Carpenter's Escape From New York and French disco pioneers, Cerrone were really baby steps apart from each other in the first place, so we weren't surprised (but we were elated!) when a Zombi track, "Sapphire" showed up on Swedish DJ Prins Thomas's awesome compilation, Cosmo Galactic Prism, that really honed in on that late seventies / early eighties coke-mirror sound. "Sapphire" had earlier appeared on Zombi's out of print, tour-only ep Digitalis. Well, we finally have the 12" single release of "Sapphire" in its entire extended nine+ minute glory, and it's killer!! The vibe is definitely inspired by Cerrone's Frankenstein fantasy, "Supernature", with its vaguely sinister build-up, but it expands in interesting ways taking us into trancey rhythmic shifts and changes that never let up the dirty space disco late-night groove. The b-side features a track, "Long Mirrored Corridor", that ups the dark druggy disco perversions of Black Devil Disco Club, while the Escort Remix of "Sapphire" distills the long version's twists and turns into a more digestible dancefloor friendly version. So good!!!
Only the second release on this new The Rapture-run label, and doubtless limited in edition.
MPEG Stream: "Sapphire"