[ aquarius records new arrivals list #105 ]
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NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
Mass Romantic
(Mint) cd 15.98
Amazing pop maestro Carl Newman (Zumpano, Superconductor) heads the star-studded cast of what is, to AQ's collective ears, simply THE BEST POP ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2000. When was the last time the AQ staff and our wildly differing tastes happened to *unanimously* agree on a single album's brilliance? Maybe Neutral Milk's second record? The Soft Bulletin or Conet Project? Suffice to say that this happens very rarely, and that's how good this New Pornographers record is. "Mass Romantic" is absolutely shiningly great power pop, with influences as wide-ranging as Big Star, the Zombies, Eno, the Beach Boys, Cheap Trick, and Built to Spill. Not since, well, the last Zumpano record (or Silver Sun's debut) has a pop record emerged that's this powerful, kickass, well-crafted and totally complex. Really. Each of the twelve tracks is a fully realised pop creation unto itself. Intelligent, infectious, and uplifting, with truly flawless arrangements (the key to pop greatness). In a sparkling non-country spin, the wonderful Neko Case lends her vocal gusto to complete the soaring FOUR-PART vocals on such gems as "Letter From An Occupant" not to mention the title track. And the four other members of the New Pornographers are super talents in their own right: Daniel Bejar (the enigmatic figure behind the very Nilsson-influenced combo known as Destroyer), John Collins (bassist/engineer for the Nardwuar the Human Serviette-lead freakos the Evaporators, garage-pop stalwarts Smugglers, and the rock army known as Superconductor), Kurt Dahle (drummer for Canadian college popsters Limblifter), and indie filmmaker Blaine Thurier. Recommended for everyone -- even if you only buy one pop or rock record this year, this should be it.
RealAudio clip: "Letter From an Occupant"
RealAudio clip: "The Fake Headlines"
RealAudio clip: "The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism"
RealAudio clip: "To Wild Homes"
!!! s/t
(GSL ) cd 12.98
Heads up, this is the highly anticipated full-length from current indie sensations !!! ("chik chik chik"). The band (composed of the guys from Sacramento's beloved Outhud as well as 3 or 4 other blokes) play a groove-addicted blend of (mostly) instrumental art-punk-funk that is so catchy and bouncy you will not believe it. Scene reports from all over the country have been afire with stories of !!! live shows wherein EVERYONE, including staid white emo boys, peels off their sweaty t-shirts to dance the night away. People who say they've NEVER danced at a show before simply could not restrain themselves in the face of !!!, who mix Gang of Four style angular guitar tension with the irresistible bass groove of Liquid Liquid, the fuzzy vocals of Joe Strummer (in fact it's sort of amazing and weird how often !!! sounds like "Casbah"-era Clash), and the kind of energy that just doesn't stop. There's only a couple of cringe-inducing moments (like when the singer goes "I learned a lot / from smoking pot / but I don't remember / what I forgot", but all in all this is a record that will have your hips moving wildly independent from the rest of yer body, like Byram's butt is doing right now... Go Byram go! (Then again, Byram has been known to shake his butt to Merzbow and Ryoji Ikeda, so maybe he's not the best litmus test of butt shaking music. Although our little dancing Santa in the window is certainly wagging his behind as we speak.)
RealAudio clip: "Intensify"
RealAudio clip: "Feel Good Hit of the Fall"
!!! s/t
(GSL ) lp 9.98
Heads up, this is the highly anticipated full-length from current indie sensations !!! ("chik chik chik"). The band (composed of the guys from Sacramento's beloved Outhud as well as 3 or 4 other blokes) play a groove-addicted blend of (mostly) instrumental art-punk-funk that is so catchy and bouncy you will not believe it. Scene reports from all over the country have been afire with stories of !!! live shows wherein EVERYONE, including staid white emo boys, peels off their sweaty t-shirts to dance the night away. People who say they've NEVER danced at a show before simply could not restrain themselves in the face of !!!, who mix Gang of Four style angular guitar tension with the irresistible bass groove of Liquid Liquid, the fuzzy vocals of Joe Strummer (in fact it's sort of amazing and weird how often !!! sounds like "Casbah"-era Clash), and the kind of energy that just doesn't stop. There's only a couple of cringe-inducing moments (like when the singer goes "I learned a lot / from smoking pot / but I don't remember / what I forgot", but all in all this is a record that will have your hips moving wildly independent from the rest of yer body, like Byram's butt is doing right now... Go Byram go! (Then again, Byram has been known to shake his butt to Merzbow and Ryoji Ikeda, so maybe he's not the best litmus test of butt shaking music. Although our little dancing Santa in the window is certainly wagging his behind as we speak.)
RealAudio clip: "Intensify"
RealAudio clip: "Feel Good Hit of the Fall"
ABBC Tete a Tete
(Wabana) cd 14.98
What happens when you combine equal parts Calexico and Amor Belhom Duo? A darker, sparser sound than either of the two groups. Raw, uneffected guitar, deep, rich strings and accordion, some french lyrics. We got a mere hint at the melancholic conspirings of these four men on their 7" entitled "Elevator Baby" which is also the lead off track on this album. And on the other end, closing the cd is a very lengthy, atmospheric, almost sinister track. The unsettling sounds of a hot arid eve in Arizona (where, by the way, this was recorded).
RealAudio clip: "La Valse des 24 Heures"
RealAudio clip: "Gilbert"
AISLERS SET / THE FAIRWAYS Yeh Yeh / The Rain Fell Down
(Yakamashi Records-Chocolate Bars & Crashing Cars) 7" 3.50
Split single from two beloved local groups doing the noisepop so well. The Aisler Set track is a version of the French pop classic. Lovely artwork and foldout poster by comic book artist Adrian Tomine of Optic Nerve fame.
B.G. Checkmate
(Cash Money) cd 16.98
Latest from the Bling Bling guy, with Cash Money guests Juvenile, etc.
BEAUTIFUL SKIN Revolve
(Gold Standard Laboratories) lp 10.98
Channelling the early strains of Joy Division, Wire, and maybe a bit of Cabaret Voltaire and PiL are these two men. Nick Forte (ex-Rorschach!) and Rossano Totino churn the moody new wave machine. And they do it so well. Fans of Trans Am take note. A very very cool album with some very very cool cover art.
BEAUTIFUL SKIN Revolve
(Gold Standard Laboratories) cd 12.98
Channelling the early strains of Joy Division, Wire, and maybe a bit of Cabaret Voltaire and PiL are these two men. Nick Forte (ex-Rorschach!) and Rossano Totino churn the moody new wave machine. And they do it so well. Fans of Trans Am take note. A very very cool album with some very very cool cover art.
BISK Moonstruck Parade
(Quatermass) cd 16.98
Poppy and bright electronica from this Japanese artist. Low-attention span stuff (but not frenzied) cutting from one thing/loop and back again...like having a tv playing old reruns on in one room, a ballroom dancing class in the other, and a dj in the middle mixing the two, whilst adding beats from her crate of contemporary trip hop and whatnot. Nice (if inexplicable) Levi's Red Tab reference in the artwork, by the way.
C.O.C.ASPAR Grand Mal 2
(Epileptic Recordings) lp 14.98
C.O.C.aspar is a Geman conceptual / sound artist who seems to have been quietly making interesting and puzzling work over the past three decades. "Grand Mal 2" is based around a series of live-recordings made inside a partially submerged fuel tank left over from the German occupation of a Norwegian harbor. C.O.C.aspar treats the metallic clangs and deep resonant vibrations with an excess of flanging electronics to sound like some fictional remix project between Leif Elggren and Maeror Tri.
CAMPBELL, NEIL Itinerant String Section
(Freedom From) cd-r 11.98
Founding member of the A Band, Sunroof, and Vibracathedral Orchestra, Campbell has been a stalwart in the British campaign for tinnitus alongside Matthew Bower and Simon Wickham-Smith. "Itinerant String Section" certainly falls into the catagory of amorphous gritty tonal screeches recorded with questionably wired equipment. The first track is dominated by a backing tape of one of the more noxious examples of shortwave radio jamming upon a morse code numbers station. Top it all off with Campbell scraping a rusty can across his pick-ups and some cheap effects boxes, and the result is some fine noise / grate / drone work. Yup, it's a cd-r.
CONVOCATION OF... s/t
(Gold Standard Laboratories) cd 12.98
While this full-length doesn't venture into any new territory for this angstful, dissonant rock trio from Baltimore, it will surely be a welcome addition to the record collections of the Gold Standard Laboratories label fanatics (a legion that is growing at an accelerated rate). A dark tension binds and builds in each of these eight songs. If you like The VSS, Treepeople, or perhaps The Fall, this just might be for you.
RealAudio clip: "Moments Escape"
CONVOCATION OF... s/t
(Gold Standard Laboratories) lp
While this full-length doesn't venture into any new territory for this dissonant rock trio from Baltimore, it will surely be a welcome addition to the record collections of the Gold Standard Laboratories label fanatics (a legion that is growing at an alarming rate). A dark tension binds each of these eight songs. If you like The VSS, Treepeople, or perhaps The Fall, this just might be for you.
CORN SISTERS The Other Women
(Mint) cd 15.98
When Neko Case isn't out breakin' hearts with her country combo The Boyfriends or popping up with the New Pornographers, she gets together with her pal Carolyn Mark to become the Corn Sisters. Two beautiful, gutsy gals fueled by a love of country and yes, corn. Together they're a wild hayride of hilarity breaking out into song or story at the drop of a hat. They can wind a beautiful tale of love lost and in the next breath hoot out a gutbusting tale of the rawest humour. These songs were recorded live at a cool little cafe known as Hattie's Hat in Seattle, WA.
RealAudio clip: "Too Many Pills"
CRAUSE, IAN Elemental
(Tugboat) cd 9.98
In the mid-90s, Ian Crause had fronted Disco Inferno, one of those difficult to pigeonhole entities that led Simon Reynolds to coin the term post-rock. Crause had also helped out on the fantastic Piano Magic album "Low Birth Weight." Those two elements would make you think that a solo outing should make for an interesting listen... unfortunately not. Instead of experimenting with fractured melodies or electronic treatments on guitars, Crause turns in two tracks of '80s college rock sounding much like The Church.
EARTHRIDE s/t
(Earth Brain ) cd ep 5.98
Four-song ep from the bass player of Spirit Caravan's other stoner rock/doom metal project. With his rough, cigs-and-whisky damaged voice (like a rawer version of Spirit Caravan singer Wino's doom-croon) and heavy riffing, this should be an almost mandatory buy for those into that band and others of this genre...
ELECTRIC WIZARD Dopethrone
(TMC) cd 12.98
These British lads have the distinction of being, as far as we know, the first (and perhaps last!) *metal* band ever reviewed in the hallowed pages of that popular cutting-edge new music magazine The Wire. But if that makes you expect that the album in question, "Dopethrone" (now available as a domestic US release), is some sort of pretentious electronica-leaning, intellectual-metallic curiosity worthy of much beard-stroking, you'd better think again! Take a look at the album title, dude! Electric Wizard play super-heavy sludge metal, taking the appellation "stoner rock" very seriously indeed. Satan's even seen smoking a bong on the album cover. Doomy sub-Sabbath riffs, toked-up vocals, spacey fx -- this is primal stuff. This band seems to just keep getting better and better (meaning, they don't change much!). The lyrics celebrate their interests in pulp fantasy fiction (HP Lovecraft and RE Howard both get referenced) and of course the Sweet Leaf: "Dopethrone in this land of sorcery/Dopethrone vision through T.H.C./Dopethrone feedback will free/Dopethrone three wizards crowned with weed." No, not brilliant literature, (and the music's not avant-garde composition for that matter, not intentionally anyway) but "Dopethrone" is still thoroughly enjoyable even by those of us (Andee and Allan for example) who aren't potsmokers (in fact, Andee and Allan are definitely the biggest fans of this record and other "stoner rock" at Aquarius anyways--I wonder what that means?!). No, you just have to like the sheer heaviness and killer-hippie aura ("Legalize Drugs and Murder" is their slogan, and they're at least half serious)... But if I (Allan) *were* ever to decide to take up pot-smoking as a casual hobby, I have promised several friends (& Electric Wizard fans) that this album will definitely be the soundtrack to my first "experience". I'm tempted...
RealAudio clip: "I, The Witchfinder"
ELLIS, ROB Music For The Home
(Leaf) cd 16.98
Rob Ellis spends a lot of time as PJ Harvey's full time producer and drummer. He's talented. But this solo album is another thing entirely. Not rock at all, it's pseudo-20th century new music for the synthesizer-inclined. So I listened to this at home like the title says, and have to say rather than being good home listening, it'd be better titled Music for Walking Around Staring at Bare Trees in the Winter. Stark synthesized piano/harpsichord, tinkling electronic chimes, typewriters, and programmed percussion all add up to a dreary minor key case of seasonal affective disorder suffered by Claude Debussy.
RealAudio clip: "Parade in Your Palm"
FAUST The Land of Ukko & Rauni
(Ektro) 2cd 17.98
Wow! Krautrock/Faust fans have had a lot to be thankful for these past few weeks. First we are presented with the instantly-essential "Wumme Years" 5-cd box set (see AQL #104) of old Faust classics and rarities, and now we are blessed with this double cd set of new Faust material! San Francisco Faust fans disappointed by the legendary krautrock band's last SF performance (a lackluster jam-filled session at the Great American Music Hall a year or two ago) may find their faith in Faust's live abilities renewed by this album, released on our new favorite label, Ektro (run by Jussi Lehtisalo of Circle). No, they're not doing old Faust songs from "So Far" or "Faust IV", but their current improvisational efforts are very effective in a dark and droning way. As well, they do at least two songs derived from their last studio album, 1999's pretty great "Ravvivando" -- the line-up of which, minus only one guy, performs on this set. "The Land of Ukko and Rauni" (Ukko and Rauni being ancient Finnish gods, of course) documents a Faust show in Helsinki on April 20th, 2000, beginning with sub-aquatic dirge-rumble, like music for whales -- you get the sense of large, intelligent beings moving fluidly in the darkness. Soon the band is engaged in some exploratory, but quite propulsive, psych-rock, with keys, guitar (courtesy of the Davis Redford Triad's Stephen Wray Lobdell), and Zappi's drums, augmented by additional mysterious sounds (Faust's trademark proto-industrial sound effects). The textures and rhythms of this mostly-instrumental set (there's a few moments of nonsense word-blurt but nothing much) are unmistakably Faust-ian, and worthy of a double discs' investment in listening. Faust, even thirty years on, remain a potent outfit, one from which today's crop of supposedly trend-setting spacey post-rock bands could learn a thing or two.
RealAudio clip: "Wir Brauchen Dich no#7"
RealAudio clip: "Vagary"
FIREBIRD s/t
(TMC) cd 12.98
British death-metal icons Carcass have, since their break-up, spawned a whole bunch of bands, as their ex-members pursue their own projects. Strangely, none stuck with the gore-grind that made Carcass famous. Instead, you've got Jeff Walker's death-n'-roll band Blackstar, Michael Amott's several projects, among them the Deep Purplish Spiritual Beggars, and now, Bill Steer's Firebird, who, like the Spiritual Beggars, seem more at home in the '70s than in today's "extreme metal" scene. Both band's use of organ is the tip-off, I guess. Totally retro "stoner rock", almost too perfectly '70s (they even cover a Steve Winwood song!!), with Bill's guitar and (rather surprisingly good & authentic) vocals backed up by friends from the bands Cathedral and (hey!) Spiritual Beggars. Not super-heavy or anything, but really well-done and able to satisfy anyone's laid-back, retro rock needs.
GET UP KIDS / COALESCE
(Second Nature) 7" 3.98
Now back in stock...Two bona fide indie sensations happen to be from Kansas City -- the grindpop stars Get Up Kids and grindcore stalwarts Coalesce. See them rock with two new songs.
GHAZALA, Q.R. Threnody To the New Victims of Hiroshima
(Realization) cd 12.98
Finally back in stock, one of the AQ-staff's all time favorite drone recordings! This came out in '95, but we thought we'd list it anyway, after ordering a batch directly from the label 'cause we like it so much. Electronic instrument inventor Q.R. Ghazala (you may remember him from the instrument-inventor compilation "Gravikords, Whirligigs...") presents his "first insect symphony", performed on his "Vox Insecta" -- a synthesizer than specializes in simulating insect voices! The beautiful instrument (depicted on the cover, it looks like some sort of Art Deco stenographer's machine) may or may not always sound like a swarm of insects, but it certainly produces some gorgeous drones... Dark stuff, with keening higher-end tones supported by bass-y undulations. Creepy and beautiful. For fans of Tony Conrad and Lustmord and that sort of thing. So totally recommended!
RealAudio clip: "Lullaby"
GOBLIN The Best of Goblin Vol.1
(Cinevox) 2cd 17.98
Everyone's favorite Italian horror-film soundtrack rock band Goblin gets a handsome "best of" treatment on this import double cd. The first disc is the "best of" portion, concentrating on the Goblin's spooky prog-funk contributions to the '70s gore-thriler classics of Dario Argento (with tracks like "Profundo Rosso", "Death Dies", "Tenebre", "Suspiria", "Mad Puppet"...) that will be familiar to fans of the films and/or the band. Now maybe you already have Goblin cds with those tracks (if not, you should, or get this!) but even then true fans will be intrigued by disc two, a live Goblin concert recording from 1979, never before released. The sound quality is ok, and the music of course is great -- and even features a lot of vocals, something normally absent from Goblin's better known soundtrack material!
GRUBBS, DAVID The Coxcomb / Avocado Orange
(Blue Chopsticks) cd 10.98
The Coxcomb was first released as a pretty 12" picture disc on the French Rectangle label (we have a copy or two left). It's a nice, simmering, seventeen minute adaptation of a short story by Stephen Crane, in musical form. Drag City has decided to release The Coxcomb stateside, and have backed it with a previously unreleased full-band version of the previously-solo Grubbs piece Onion Orange (called Avocado Orange in its new form). With guests Noel Akchote, John McEntire (Tortoise) etc.
RealAudio clip: "The Coxcomb"
HOYRY-KONE Huono Parturi
(Ad Perpetuam Memorium) cd 17.98
One of the absolute standout tracks on the recent "Slave To The Power" double cd Iron Maiden covers collection was the version of "The Trooper" by an obscure Finnish chamber-rock combo called Hoyry-Kone. It was certainly the weirdest inclusion on the comp, as they were the only band to pay tribute to Maiden with trombone, cello and saxophone! We'd never heard of them before, but resolved to find out more. Now we've tracked down this reissue of their second album, from 1997. Hopefully their upcoming third album won't take 'em too much longer, 'cause this one is pretty great! They play an eclectic sort of progressive rock, starting the disc off with a lulling, beautiful, quasi-religious six-minute mostly-vocal piece that suggests Nordic folk influences, before erupting into a hard-hitting classical rock attack that combines Naked City-style dynamics with "Eleanor Rigby" strings. From there, we hear echoes of everything from prog greats King Crimson and Area to cabaret music and even a little metal riffing (hence their interest in Maiden I guess)... For fans of Uz Jsme Doma, Samala Mammas Manna, Borknagar, Bondage Fruit, Arcturus, and other international exemplars of complex, melodic, progressive, and (last-but-not-least) *bizarre* rock. Recommended!
RealAudio clip: "Laahustaja"
HRVATSKI Raume
(Tonschacht) 7" 5.50
Not cheaply made floppy vinyl on this seven inch. No sir. Hrvatski wouldn't think of it. This has some of the fattest, heaviest vinyl we've ever seen on a seven inch. "Raume" sounds much like early / non-jazz Squarepusher, where the complexity of the drum programming meant more than being true to drum & bass tropes. In other words, mind-boggling.
IKEDA, RYOJI Matrix
(Touch) 2cd 21.00
"Matrix" completes the trilogy of releases that Japanese electronica-experimentalist Ryoji Ikeda has put out through the Touch label (also including "0ôC" and "+/-"). Inspite of what the title may imply, Ikeda hasn't taken to computer-assisted wire stunts, battling Keanu Reeves in a kung fu competition for the title of Cyber-Christ, though we think that the first half of "Matrix" could use a little more high-flying, ass-kicking action...of which, thankfully, there's plenty on the second half! Let's explain: "Matrix" is a double cd that explores a conceptual relationship between the body and architecture within a controlled sonic field. Disc one concentrates on the architectural metaphor as Ikeda unleashes two closely matched sine wave frequencies which quickly fill up any enclosed space which can offer body-cavity-churning standing waves or warm blissful drones, depending on where you stand in that room. An interesting conceptual piece but one that you might not listen to too many times... Disc two, on the other hand, is the reason to pick this up. Ikeda explores the idea of broadcasting his sine waves through the much more complex architectural system of the body, which with its amorphous surfaces and natural electical field reacts in a much more interesting way than a boxy cube. Ikeda begins the second half of "Matrix" with some amplifications of his own heart pulse, then phases in top quality Raster / Noton digital rhythms in only the low and high frequencies, sounding much closer to Mika Vainio's earlier recordings. So, focusing on disc two, this turns out to be a pretty exceptional release! Regard disc one as a bonus disc of conceptual-ambient stuff, with the main disc (disc two) being completely amazing and powerful clicking and humming "dance music". His tones are so pure and his sense of dynamics, contrasts and rhythms so exciting that this is already Allan's favorite "party" album of the year... Joking about "The Matrix" aside, one can imagine that this style of "techno" should have been used on the soundtrack to it (or better yet, "Run Lola Run") but I don't know if theatre audiences would have survived. Certainly the action on the screen would have taken on secondary importance!
RealAudio clip: ".matrix (track 5)"
KID 606 PS I Love You
(Mille Plateaux) cd 16.98
It's hard to keep up with the Kid, but here's his (for the moment) latest release. And it's certainly different from the distorted drill & bass workouts found on his recent "Down With The Scene" opus. Instead, "PS I Love You" has found a very comfortable home on the abstract electronica label Mille Plateaux, with its blend of almost chill out swirling cybernetic ambience and glitch driven rhythms. Just beautiful!
RealAudio clip: "whereweleftoff"
KRAFTWERK Expo Remix
(Kling Klang) cd 10.98
The requisite remix single of Kraftwerk's comeback last year's single features Orbital, Francois K, DJ Rolando, and Underground Resistance. Maybe if you really dig UR records, this would do it for you.
LETHARGY Discography '93-'99
(Watchmen Records) 2cd 15.98
A while back we came across a demo tape by this New York band, who play an excellent sort of math-core metal, and whose members eventually formed one of the recent (and since replaced) Today Is The Day line-ups (the one that recorded the punishing "In The Eyes Of God"). Now, finally that demo and a bunch of other equally hard-to-find (and equally heavy and chaotic) stuff by the band makes it to compact disc, two of 'em in fact.
LEVY, MIKE Fireflies
(Parasol) cd 14.98
Singer songwriter fare from local talent, who used to be in the Sneetches. Piano and voice-driven material that reminds us of Alex Chilton, with guests Alison Faith Levy and Jonathan Segel of Camper van Beethoven who contributes lush violin.
LOST SOUL Scream of the Mourning Star
(Relapse) cd 14.98
Straight from the Relapse "Polish Assault" compilation to their debut full-length, these blasphemous death metallers from the burgeoning Polish metal scene (Behemoth, Vader, Decapitated, Yattering, etc.) are out to kill.
MACLAURIN, ANGUS Glass Music
(Bubble Core) cd 14.98
Angus MacLaurin (a piano-tuner and pipe-organ builder who lives in a log cabin in Maine), has been a member of various indie-rock ensembles that we're not super-familar with...but here he's all on his own, recording his "finely-tuned glasses" (wine glasses, judging from the indistinct photos) onto five different reel-to-reel machines, and then carefully splicing and mixing the tapes. A bit of theremin, kalimba and bass is added on two of the tracks as well. The results are varied and beautiful, a kind of ghost music. Gently haunting, chiming, ringing, glistening drones. Occasional backwards voices are heard, adding further to the ghostly effect... And I just noticed that one of the songs is called "Ghost Ship". Nice!
RealAudio clip: "4th of July part I"
MARCLAY, CHRISTIAN / THURSTON MOORE / LEE RANALDO Fuck Shit Up
(Victo) cd 15.98
Fuck shit up, man. Yeah, fuck it up real good! Two Sonic Youth guitarists and their pal, NYC turntable artist Christian Marclay team up for this live performance from the Victoriaville "Jazz" Festival. While it's not, as the title suggests, a purely aggro-punk noisathon, the lengthy improvisation documented here does do some destruction to highbrow art pretense.
MDK A Friend Is A Stranger You Haven't Met
(Spymania) cd 16.98
British electronica maverick MDK starts "A Friend Is A Stranger You Haven't Met" on the evil side of things, with a digitally hacked collage of industrial strength thrash metal. Before you begin to think about Francisco Lopez or Alec Empire and their digital synthesis of metal, MDK makes a quick left turn into beautifully Oval-esque passages for laptop processed string samples. This trend of quick genre edits continues through hip hop, Mego noise, house grooves, etc... Fortunately, MDK has enough sense to retain a common thread to his work -- an undefined sentiment of sadness. This is an album that is strangely seductive, and superior to his previous full-length.
MF DOOM / MF GRIMM MF Doom / MF Grimm ep
(Landspeed) cd 10.98
Seven new tracks and seven new instrumentals from ex-members of the now legendary KMD. Some of the freshest hip hop we've heard in a little while.
MINEKAWA, TAKAKO Maxion
(Emperor Norton) cd 11.98
With every new record casiopop auteur Takako Minekawa gets miles better, her sampling and arranging techniques more sophisticated and varied. She's so clever to balance her sweetness with smarts! As this 7-song cd begins we wonder if Takako has hijacked "Peter Gunn", but soon we are soothed by the return to the light, dreamy electronic pop she is more known for. Still in full possession of sweet-sweet, breathy child vocals, playful samples and pretty melodies, she adds doses of solemnity and darkness to make for possibly her best record yet. With a guest sitar appearance by Keigo Oyamada (aka Cornelius).
RealAudio clip: "Brioche"
RealAudio clip: "Picnic at Loose Rock"
MUSLIMGAUZE Inspirational Sounds of
(Universal Egg) cd 14.98
As you may know Bryn Jones (the mastermind behind the hyper-prolific Muslimgauze) died in January, 1999 of complications from a rare fungal infection. In spite of his passing, the huge backlog of material that he left behind ensures that the constant stream of Muslimgauze releases continues to remain, well, constant. With that said, "The Inspirational Sounds Of Muslimgauze" is not anything new, rather it is a 'best of' compilation from his late period Staalplaat recordings - including tracks from "Mullah Said," "Izlamaphobia," "Fatah Guerilla," and "Azzazin." While those four albums do not constitute a broad cross-section of Muslimgauze's 150 records, they do provide an excellent introduction (or refresher course) into this period of work. With sly production techniques, Muslimgauze deftly transforms a variety of Arabic percussive instruments into complex dub electronica grooves that mostly steer clear of recognizable rhythmic structures. One caveat: while Universal Egg did pick some great tracks, their graphic design aesthetic leaves a lot to be desired...
OOIOO Gold and Green
(Shock City/Polystar) cd 29.00
This is the third album from OOIOO (say "oh oh eye oh oh"), the Osaka based, all-female quartet masterminded by Yoshimi P-We (drummer/trumpeter/vocalist for the Boredoms, et al.) At times playful and childlike, "Gold and Green" abandons the grating, no-wave dissonance of earlier albums for a more textural, atmospheric and melodic experience. "Mountain Book" (which seems to be the musical accompaniment to the lovely artwork for this record) is the beautiful standout track on which they are joined by many guests including Seiichi Yamamoto (Boredoms), Yuka Honda (Cibo Matto) and even Sean Lennon: epic, hypnotic, dreamy psychedelia with piano, dulcimer, and tabla. As expected with any Shock City release, this comes in a stunning package, a gatefold complete with a booklet of children's psychedelic fantasy artwork by Yoshimi herself! You can expect a domestic release of this (sans the amazing packaging) someday in 2001 or 2002, perhaps...
RealAudio clip: "Mountain Book"
RealAudio clip: "Grow Sound Tree"
ORGANUM Submission
(Complacency) cd 14.98
This isn't anything new, though we have picked up a bunch of this Organum record not only because it is fantastic but also to give further insight into the earliest drone work from AQ-favorite Andrew Chalk (who also has been quite active in Mirror and the recently defunct Ora). While Chalk kept his residency in Organum for only a few records, his presence added patience and delicacy to Organum's textural actions for bowed cymbals, motorized vibrations, and scraped metal. With his lengthy tonalities from sampled bells and field recordings of birds, Chalk made an excellent addition to Organum's collective which for "Submission" includes the curmugeonly ringleader David Jackman, Dinah Jane Rowe (no relation to AMM's Keith Rowe), and Nurse With Wound's Stephen Stapleton on the production knobs. This incarnation of Organum provides the most elegant ensemble that Jackman has been able to arrange - with his own breathy flutes and aerated wisps of sound bathed in a glistening reverberation and surrounded by the complex textures of the aforementioned scraped / bowed metals. "Submission" was originally released on vinyl for United Dairies in 1988 and in 1994 Illusion of Safety's Dan Burke reissued it on his Complacency label.
PARKER, EVAN & KEITH ROWE Dark Rags
(Potlatch) cd 15.98
British improv legends in a live duo, Evan Parker's sax meeting up with Keith Rowe's guitar and electronics. There's two long tracks (both around forty minutes), that feature both delicate interplay and cacophonous outbursts. Mainly Parker takes the foreground, with Rowe providing a textural background.
PATAPHONIE Le Matin Blanc
(Gazul/Musea) cd 17.98
Some heavy, mostly instrumental French prog-rock from '78, newly reissued. A generally spooky atmosphere with moments of prettiness, with influences ranging from jazz to classical to (of course!) fellow French jazz-classical progsters Magma... This reissue includes over thirty minutes of live material. Not up there with Magma, Heldon, or Shub Niggurath, but still some second-tier stuff worth checking out for fans of that genre/scene.
PECCATUM Amor Fati
(Candlelight) cd 16.98
Second full-length from this operatic black metal outfit featuring guitarist/vocalist Ihsahn of black metal overlords Emperor and his wife Ihriel (plus her brother Lord PZ and drummer Per Eriksen)... They construct dark convoluted castles with spires of gothic female vox and electronic ambience, and foundations of labyrinthine metal rifferama. More ridiculous than sublime, to be sure, but fans of Emperor will no doubt appreciate this, perhaps even those who might not have gotten into Peccatum's debut (as this is a lot less heavy on Ihriel's vocals than past efforts). The new AND improved Peccatum, we should say.
PERRY, LEE Magnetic Mirror Master Mix
(Trochanter Major Records) cd-r 16.98
Although the first six tracks of this disk can be found on the Voodooism collection, the remaining tracks are all unreleased and, since the release of the recent biography of Lee Perry in which they were praised to the utmost as crucial tracks, highly sought after. We apologise that it is not only a mere cd-r, but so pricey as well. And though I don't quite see the crucialness of the unreleased tracks here, the higher authorities on dub still argue its validity and, needless to say, it's an extremely limited issue.
PHARCYDE Plain Rap
(Edel) cd 16.98
Latest from these Cali non-gangsta-rappers is a laid back and jazzy affair, advanced hiphop stuff for fans of Del and the Roots (whose Blackthought guests on one track).
RealAudio clip: "Trust"
PIG DESTROYER 38 Counts of Battery
(Relapse) cd 14.98
Pig Destroyer is the raging grind band lead by Scott Hull (Agoraphobic Nosebleed, ex-Anal Cunt), and this 38-track collection is documents the band's progress to date, featuring 18 tracks (including their Melvins cover) from their debut album "Explosion In Ward 6" (here remastered), two Carcass covers from a split 7" with Isis, a Dark Angel cover from an as yet-unreleased thrash tribute comp, and other stuff from a 7" and demo tape... So, even if you already have "Ward 6", it might be time to trade that in for this disc...
PREWITT, ARCHER Gerroa Songs
(Carrot Top) cd 11.98
For his third solo album Archer Prewitt (Coctails, Sea and Cake) heads down to Gerroa in Australia's New South Wales. In a sprawling building surrounded by the sea, cliffs, kangaroos and dolphins he made this new record (and there's photos to prove it). It's the most mellow, doleful music he's done, filled with restrained melodies and quiet intimacies, but some of the songs feel somewhat unfinished, more like fragments of songs that might've been really fleshed out had nature, perhaps, not called the musicians outdoors so often in Gerroa. That said, there's a lot here to like: instrumentals, Archer's soft vocals, sweet violin, coo-ing female oohs and aahs. Fans of Badly Drawn Boy, Sea and Cake, Halifax Pier may like this.
RealAudio clip: "Waves Waltz"
RealAudio clip: "Tell Me Now"
RANDOM INDUSTRIES Selected Random Works
(Ritornell) cd 16.98
Random Industries is the work of Sebastian Meissner (ex-Autopoieses). For "Selected Random Works," Meissner has constructed 99 very short digitally sharp pieces - mostly of crystalline glitches and stochastic / erratic rhythms, but others have incidental melodies that inconsequentially pass through soap operas. As you can probably guess, the idea is to set your cd player to random and let the machine construct new patterns each time you hear it. There are some post-digital / post-structuralist ideas mentioned in the liner notes about creating non-linear space and the subversion of interactivity through indeterminancy... all fine ideas, but ones that can not possibly be found on this disc. First of all, the random function of the cd player will simply collate the 99 pieces into different patterns... not reconstruct the fluidity of time. A cd player is not a time machine, no matter how many drugs you take. Second, all of the 99 pieces have a very similar timbre (quite charming and glistening), making it impossible to not listen to it as mere fragments of a larger whole. Pay no attention to the theoretical silliness, as this is a fine collection of powerbook glitch fuckery.
REQUIEM FOR A DREAM OST
(Nonesuch) cd 17.98
The music from the new movie by Darren Aronofsky, director of Pi (the soundtrack to which is sadly, and strangely, unavailable)...this one features the Kronos Quartet playing music by composer Clint Mansell.
RODEN, STEVE Four Possible Landscapes
(Trente Oiseaux) cd 16.98
Steve Roden's "Four Possible Landscapes" was initially presented as a conceptual challenge to Bernhard Gunter. Roden sent this piece to Gunter for consideration to be released on Gunter's Trente Oiseaux without explaining that this record was composed only using transformed elements from Gunter's delicate whisper of an album "Details Agrandis." While listening to "Four Possible Landscapes," I really can't hear any concrete references to Gunter's recordings, which certainly puts these two records into the now oddly anachronistic theoretical space of the simulacrum -- defined as 1. a network of semiological reflections and refractions which only point to references and never state meaning; 2. a buzz word that art theorists liberally slung around in the '80s, and more than a decade later may possibly be used to actually define something. The mirroring that Roden applies to Gunter's work could be viewed as a brilliant haiku that gets the words rearranged into a sparse yet metaphorically loaded lullaby. The emphasis is thus placed on the major differences between these two 'lowercase' artists: Gunter with his Morton Feldman-esque approach to the decontextualized domestic sound, Roden with his beautifully delicate application of melody and rhythm. Roden composes "Four Possible Landscape" with repeating motifs of digital bell tones (which may have origins in a tiny moment of Gunter's sine-wave feedback) and distant tidal washes of static (which could be from anything). Where Roden succeeds is, of course not due to the conceptual endgame but rather because of compositional prowess.
ROOT The Revelation
(Sheer) cd 14.98
Czech bizarro-black metallers Root present the previously unreleased *English* version of their excellent "Zjeveni" opus, as "just a document of ability and lust of the Root original musical ideas"!
SAPPINGTON s/t ep
(n/a) cd 5.98
Four quietly dreamy numbers from this young San Francisco trio. Two voices slowly weave their way around the often-subdued guitar, sampled dialogue and twinkling space sounds. For fans of For Stars or Tarentel.
SMITH, STEVEN R. Death Of Last Year's Man ep
(Emperor Jones) cd 8.98
New, old material from AQ fave Steven R. Smith (Mirza & Thuja). Four covers done by Mr. Smith that were released previously only on vinyl, two from a now out of print 7" and two never before released tracks. If you've heard Steven R. Smith's other recordings you're probably aware that he knows the art of whiskey soaked, tape saturated drone rock. His cover of Leonard Cohen's "I Tried To Leave You", which starts off the disk is certainly no exception. All the best moments of the Dirty Three, but with the balls of the Velvet Underground and somehow wrapping into it all the garage psychedelia of Six Organs of Admittance or Vibracathedral Orchestra. Along with the Cohen' track are covers of the Smiths (Death of a Disco Dancer), the Grateful Dead's old standby "Morning Due" (equally brilliantly liberated a la Einsturzende Neubauten's version) and a cover of Muzsikas' "Regen Volt, Soka Lesz." And, I might add, all done as instrumentals. For those of you who haven't heard his albums yet, this is a really good, low priced place to start.
RealAudio clip: "Death of a Disco Dancer"
SMOG 'Neath the Puke Tree
(Drag City) cd 10.98
5 song EP from the lo-fi kingdom's own antihero Bill Callahan who's been recording for over a decade as Smog. Just as imploded and hard-to-talk-to as ever, with a lushness we've missed in his other recent recordings. Augmented with some nice slide guitar and the Dirty Three's drummer Jim White. Recorded in Australia. Three new songs, plus one song from Red Apple Falls and one reworked from Smog's very first album Sewn to the Sky. This makes two, count 'em TWO eps we now have in the store featuring indie rock stars photographed in Australia next to sea cliffs. The other being Archer Prewitt.
RealAudio clip: "I Was a Stranger"
SMOG 'Neath the Puke Tree
(Drag City) lp 9.98
5 song EP from the lo-fi kingdom's own antihero Bill Callahan who's been recording for over a decade as Smog. Just as imploded and hard-to-talk-to as ever, with a lushness we've missed in his other recent recordings. Augmented with some nice slide guitar and the Dirty Three's drummer Jim White. Recorded in Australia. Three new songs, plus one song from Red Apple Falls and one reworked from Smog's very first album Sewn to the Sky. This makes two, count 'em TWO eps we now have in the store featuring indie rock stars photographed in Australia next to sea cliffs. The other being Archer Prewitt.
RealAudio clip: "I Was a Stranger"
SONOVAC Raw
(Output) cd 17.98
Sorta like a more electronically haywire Stereo-Total or maybe the bratty kid sister of the Flying Lizards (circa "Top Ten"). If Chicks on Speed weren't such a mess, perhaps this is what they would sound like. Quirky, weird and fun.
TAKEMURA, NOBUKAZU Sign
(Thrill Jockey) 12" 9.98
Powerbook maestro Nobukazu Takemura's been compared to Oval a lot, and side 2 of The Sign 12" proves this comparison still holds water. The entirety of side 2 is Takemura along with Tortoise veterans Bundy Brown, Doug McCombs, and John McEntire, starting off rather like lame recent Tortoise, but soon evolving into prime Takemura powerbook layering of digital murmuring, clicks and whirrs. But it is side 1 of this nice slab o' wax that holds the gems. The title track is bubbly electronica with attention to texture -- very reminiscent of Moebius' and Roedelius' work in krautrock legends Cluster and thereafter (lazier comparisons might mention Mouse on Mars and Muziq), with even some dorky frankly-fake casio-rendered vocals thrown in to add to the fun. (You even get the tried and true 12" cliche of a capella vocals as the last track on the record!) Another great piece is trebly, tinny electro along the lines of Doctor Rockit. Wonderful! I wish we had sound clips for you but we haven't quite figured out yet how to make Real Audio samples from vinyl.
TROYER, ULI Nok
(Mego) 3"cd 9.98
The jurors for the 2000 Ars Electronica competition were so generous to Carsten Nicolai that they handed down an honorable mention to his aesthetic twin Uli Troyer. "Nok" is the first release for Uli Troyer and is dominated by a simple incremental building of crystalline sinewave tones, quick algorithmic glitch sequences, and slow moving bass booms -- offering a near complete mimesis of Carsten Nicolai.
UFOMAMMUT Godlike Snake
(Beard Of Stars) cd 14.98
The stoner rock just don't stop! But this Italian band is a good 'un, taking a way spacier route to the Dopethrone than most. Wonderfully heavy and mesmerizing, with loads of effects, Moog, and (pardon the expression) "fat" churning drone-grind-groove. Includes a trippy video track for the song "Where?" for those with computers. Ufomammut is supposedly soon to do a split release with fellow doomadelic stoners Electric Wizard, and that makes perfect sense upon hearing this album. A new fave for us in the stoner/doom realm. Especially recommended for those that miss the old Monster Magnet sound, or relish the idea of a heavier Hawkwind.
ULTRA MILKMAIDS Peps
(Whole) cd 16.98
I've always wanted to give Ultra Milkmaids the benefit of the doubt. They've started out on the wrong foot by acquiring such a horrible name, but like Terminal Cheesecake, have been able to transcend their crappy moniker. Their contribution to the Drone Records singles series was a beautiful cascading guitar drone rippling with subtle melodies. I wish I could say the same for "Peps," but honestly I can't. Ultra Milkmaids has joined the increasing exodus of post-industrialists to the powerbook set (another example Mikael Stavostrand). This is Oval without the detail. Then a questionably used lounge sax solo adds that lost detail. Hmmm... But, that aside, much of this is quite lovely, just nothing super new.
V/A Club Africa 2
(Strut) cd 16.98
Another stunning collection of mid-'70s Afrofunk, culled from well-loved albums to impossibly rare 7"s and lost treasures. Raw, fiery, melodic, sheer exuberance in sound! From such countries as Lagos, Cameroun, Guadeloupe, South Africa, Nigeria. From famous musicians such as Hugh Masekela (his track is one of the most gorgeous pieces of sunshine I've ever heard), Roy Ayers (who toured with Fela for a spell), and the legendary percussionist Babatunde Olatunji, to lesser knowns such as Letta Mbulu (who caterwauled that amazing opener "What is Wrong with Groovin'" on the equally excellent "Ouelele" comp) and Max B. Recommended.
RealAudio clip: MAX B "Bananaticoco"
RealAudio clip: HUGH MASEKELA "A Long Ways from Home"
RealAudio clip: LETTA MBULU "Mahlalela"
V/A Contaminated 3.0
(Relapse) 2cd 6.98
Two cds at a bargain price, it's death/grind label Relapse's 10 year anniversary "multi-death" compilation. Fifty-one tracks (!), including a handful of previously unreleased ones, from the whole Relapse roster, everyone from Nile to Neurosis, Amorphis to Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Dying Fetus to Dillinger Escape Plan. Certainly a cost-effective way of dabbling in the realms of death.
V/A Crying Man Free Festival August 19, 2000
(Accidente Feliz) cd-r 6.98
A document of the SF experimental noise underground answer to Burning Man that took place this past August. Featuring Satosonic, Symplx and Planet-Size: Clit. Plenty of tangled wires, creative circuitry, and fire hazards.
V/A Golden Age: Eurock, A History of European Progressive Music
(Eurock) cd-rom 22.00
Where to begin with a review of a cd-rom that includes over 1,500 articles and reviews? Well, this is what I can tell you upon first examination of this disc, but many many hours could be spent exploring the material to be found here. Basically, this is an cross-platform (Mac and PC) cd-rom archive of every issue of Archie Patterson's Eurock fanzine, from 1973 to today, 45 issues worth. Eurock, as you might guess, specializes in European progressive rock sounds (although you'll also find coverage of scenes in Japan, Mexico, and other non-European places). Beginning in '73, it was initially focused on the contemporary krautrock scene (with features on Can, Amon Duul, Tangerine Dream in issue #1!), but as you browse through the issues you'll find stuff on Magma, Kraftwerk, RIO, Guru Guru, and then soon you'll be reading about Franco Battiato, Nektar, Lars Hollmer...it's endless. The Wire review of this of course bagged on the exclusion of much UK prog-rock (as if you'd rather read about Gentle Giant than Le Orme), but Patterson could hardly go back in a time machine and add stuff to the old issues of his zine -- what they wrote then is what you get now, and that's the beauty of it, the sense of "being there", of discovery, and all that...I almost wish that the magazine had been archived PDF fashion, so that you could actually see the original page layout and funky fonts. At least there's a gallery of cover art (unfortunately not viewable at full-size), for fans of the '70 underground press aesthetic. Oh, and there's some bonus video material as well, an Urban Sax concert (sorry, haven't investigated that yet...) and a cut each from Amon Dull II ("Eye-Shaking King", goddamn!) and Popul Vuh from German TV. Very cool! Oh, and then the regular audio portion of this cd is some inoffensive New Agey symphonic music from one Hiro Kawahara, which might have its uses when trying to relax after several hours of computer-screen staring eyestrain that this cd-rom will surely cause. A fantastic item for folks interested in this sort of stuff (you know who you are)!
V/A Jack Ruby Presents: The Black Foundation
(Heart Beat) cd 14.98
Though he was most known for being the producer behind Justin Hinds & The Dominos and Burning Spear, Jack Ruby was quite a prolific roots reggae producer throughout the seventies and eighties. This compilation features a sampling of some of his best, including: Burning Spear, Big Youth, The Black Disciples, The Heptones, Justin Hinds & The Domninos, and more -- plus a large amount of unrealeased tracks.
V/A Pop-Shopping Volume 1
(Crippled Dick Hot Wax) cd 16.98
Another collection of sugary sweet pop from the sixties & seventies. This time the focus is aimed specifically at German television ads that aired between 1960 and 1975. Featuring Gert Wilden (Schulmadchen Report), Klaus Doldinger, Johnny Teupen, Christian Bruhn and many others. Would fit snugly in any record collection between Stereolab and the High Llamas.
V/A Reproductions
(March) cd 14.98
Human League. Tribute. Covers. Stephen Merritt (come on, who else's voice --- other than Phil Oakey --- is more suited to sing these songs?). More Stephen Merritt (Future Bible Heroes do "Don't You Want Me?"). More Stephen Merritt (The Sixths do "Human"). More. Lali Puna. Momus. Ladytron (doing a very bubbly version of "Open Your Heart"). Optiganally Yours. The Aluminum Group. And still more. Some very very faithful renditions. Some very hi-energy and danceworthy just like the originals. Some go in a very new and different directions (the dreamy wash of Lali Puna on "Electric Dreams", the slow strangeness of Momus).
RealAudio clip: FUTURE BIBLE HEROES "Don't You Want Me?"
V/A Schaffelfieber
(Kompakt) cd 16.98
It doesn't seem right that Wolfgang Voigt would drive a motorcycle. He seems more like a guy who would cruise around Cologne in a sleek Mercedes, cut off from the physicality of driving by the incessant pulse of a 909 kick. But Mr. Voigt has seen to covering the "Schaffelfieber" compilation with fetishized photos of motorcycles, drawing comparisons to Kenneth Anger's "Scorpio Rising," the cult art-film that articulated the rituals and fetishes of leather boy culture of the early '60s. If there is anything sexual about the Kompakt sound (which Voigt helped consecrate), it is a very mechanical sexuality, grinding through very cold structures and swinging techno pulses - almost as if the sweaty house grooves of Sylvester (responsible for the majority of the sounds which emanate from the Castro's gay bars) had been distilled into a pure albeit sterile rhythm, with gritty residues of the corny synth lines still lingering around the technist stomps. Voigt appears on the compilation as M:1:5 and Galoppmusik and alongside Sensorara, Bolz Bolz (whose "Groupies" is a wonderfully stupid techno gem!), Sascha Funke, Christian Morgenstern, and a few others.
V/A Shake Sauvage
(Crippled Dick) cd 17.98
We've seen a lot of trippy, groovy compilations of soundtrack music from '60s and '70s Italian and German thriller and romance flicks, but now Crippled Dick provides a look at the world of French cinema orchestrations, and it's as sexy and swinging as you'd imagine. The booket provides notes on each track and full-color poster art, etc. There's many a lush, psychedelic, funky gem to be found on this disc! Nice. The cd has three extra tracks not on the vinyl.
RealAudio clip: PHILLIPE SARDE "Jukes boxes chez Saidani"
RealAudio clip: CLAUDE BOLLING "Full Speed"
V/A Shake Sauvage
(Crippled Dick) lp 13.98
We've seen a lot of trippy, groovy compilations of soundtrack music from '60s and '70s Italian and German thriller and romance flicks, but now Crippled Dick provides a look at the world of French cinema orchestrations, and it's as sexy and swinging as you'd imagine. The booket provides notes on each track and full-color poster art, etc. There's many a lush, psychedelic, funky gem to be found on this disc! Nice.
RealAudio clip: PHILLIPE SARDE "Jukes boxes chez Saidani"
RealAudio clip: CLAUDE BOLLING "Full Speed"
YOUNG, NEIL Road Rock Volume One
(Reprise) cd 16.98
A collection of music performed live on tour, all pre-1975 classic Young material such as Tonight's the Night, Motorcycle Mama, an 18 minute version of Cowgirl in the Sand (from Windy's favorite Young album Everybody Knows This is Nowhere) and a ferocious version of All Along the Watchtower (with guest Chrissie Hynde).
Z-TRIP / TERRACOTTA TROUPE / DEL Dynasty/Monster
(Revolg) 12" 6.98
Shingo does it again. The local via Japan producer/rapper has brought together Del and the amazing DJ Z-Trip for an excellent hip hop party. Del raps on the straight up hip hop Dynasty track, while Z-trip offers a remix of Dynasty that strips out everything but the super loopy bass and heavy percussion. Shingo raps on the distortion-guitar-laced Monster, and the record also features instrumental versions and some bonus Z-trip breaks for scratching with. The packaging is excellent, as with all of Shingo's productions. Remember his first cd that came gorgeously packaged like a hardcover book, then there was his video that was made of cardboard not plastic (it still works), now there's this 12 which comes in a clear vinyl sleeve and includes a sticker sheet so you can apply the circle labels yourself to the record, plus stickers of a cartoon version of Del, and other characters. So cute, so good.
ZORN, JOHN Cartoon/S&M Chamber Music
(Tzadik) 2cd 22.00
Several respected chamber music ensembles put their strings to the test playing John Zorn's cartoon-music inspired music (disc one) as well as the even wilder and much darker compositions from Zorn's Naked City/"Torture Garden" period (disc two)!
RealAudio clip: "The Dead Man part 9"
ZORN, JOHN Filmworks IX: Trembling Before G-d
(Tzadik) cd 16.98
Organist Jamie Saft, clarinetist Chris Speed and percussionist Cyro Baptista play John Zorn's compositions (including a few from his Masada project) for this soundtrack to a documentary (controversial, we're told) about the Gay Hasidic Jewish community...