CHESNUTT, VIC Silver Lake (New West) cd 16.98
We (along with a who's who of indie and not so indie luminaries) have been Vic Chesnutt fans for years now, ever since his first album Little dropped way back in 1990. Wheelchair bound and ornery as a beehive, Chesnutt's dusty downtrodden tales are suffused with a warm sweetness that contrasts well with the gruff attitude. And since Little, Chesnutt's albums have each gotten more mellow -- in a good way, like aged whiskey. At some points on this record he reaches Neil Young-strata levels of confidence and maturity. Wow.
Compared to earlier works, Silver Lake is less willfully eccentric, and worlds more focused and POWERFUL. Recorded in some mansion above Silver Lake in LA with a full band and a nice complement of additions to your regular rock guitar bass drums formula. It's, for example, delicate with lonely tambourine, autoharp, poignant piano, pedal steel, lush backup vocals... but it's also heavy with majestic climaxes and downright wild guitar noisiness. A wonderful combination and then, of course, on top of that is Vic's unique vocal style, his gravelly, southern-accented growl/howl. Fantastic!
Perhaps indicative that he's not completely abandoned his peculiarities, the third song "Band Camp" made Cup think Mr. Chesnutt was doing his best Paul Simon impression (circa Graceland) while making wry references to the movie American Pie. Plus he also gets bonus Scrabble points for fitting the word "transmogrified" into his lyrics. For fans of Neil Young, Howe Gelb, Uncle Tupelo, Jayhawks.
MPEG Download: "Stay Inside"
MPEG Stream: "Stay Inside"
MPEG Download: "2nd Floor"
MPEG Stream: "2nd Floor"
MPEG Download: "I'm Through"
MPEG Stream: "I'm Through"

HECKER, TIM Radio Amor (Mille Plateaux) cd 16.98
As commonplace as glitched electronica is these days (even rock bands are now 'glitching things up' to sound more avant garde), a handful of these abstractionists have dedicated themselves to understanding the parameters of their tools and attempting to improve upon that which has come before. For several years now, this elite has included Fennesz and Stephan Mathieu, with Ekkehard Ehlers often exhibiting glimmers of similar electronic brilliance; however, Canadian electron wrangler Tim Hecker has come into his own with an equally strong aesthetic and a series of amazing releases. Outside his microhouse moniker Jetone, Hecker has released three records to date under his own name, beginning with the exceptional Fennesz worship of "Haunt Me, Haunt Me Do It Again" and the shellshocked obliteration of Van Halen (quite literally!) on "My Love Is Rotten To The Core", however, "Radio Amor," Hecker's third album, may be even his best yet. Through an immensely rich set of reverb and granular synthesis patches, Tim Hecker has rendered the digital blip into a blissed out field of electric drones and warm, white noise. Throughout "Radio Amor," Hecker has ripped apart clustered notes from a piano and suspended them in the ether of an electricity, and occasionally the warm buzzings of analogue distortion emerge from the rippling, digitized vibrations. Half melodies, algorithmic ping-pong tones, and hard disc skips are all bathed with a radiant luster of electrified golds and coppers. Totally gorgeous.
MPEG Download: "(They Call Me) Jimmy"
MPEG Stream: "(They Call Me) Jimmy"
MPEG Download: "I'm Transmitting Tonight"
MPEG Stream: "I'm Transmitting Tonight"
MPEG Download: "The Star Compass"
MPEG Stream: "The Star Compass"

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AIR + BARICCO City Reading (Astralwerks) cd 16.98
This grew out of a performance where Air provided instrumental backing for Allessandro Baricco reading from his novel, City. Baricco is a well-known contemporary Italian author, and City is about a young Mathematician with a vivid fantasy life.
Baricco reads his stories while Air play soothing, kind of creepy soundscapes. Baricco has a deep, lovely voice and the music of the Italian language makes this something strangely soothing to put on in the background. Dark and dreamy with lots of rumble and warm sonic blur, with field recordings of wind and chimes and all sort of other atmospheric ephemera. Nice.
MPEG Download: "Bird"
MPEG Stream: "Bird"
MPEG Download: "Pat Cobhan Ride"
MPEG Stream: "Pat Cobhan Ride"
MPEG Download: "Il Primo Giorno"
MPEG Stream: "Il Primo Giorno"

ANAAL NATHRAKH When Fire Rains Down From the Sky, Mankind Will Reap As It Has Sown (Mordgrimm) cd ep 11.98
A new half hour, six-song blast of total fucking necro mayhem from these UK metal maniacs. A blast it is, a worthy follow up to their godlike The Codex Necro album that was one of our favorite records of 2002. On this ep, the duo of VITRIOL and Irrumator seem to have shed the overtly weird bits that made The Codex Necro so instantly distinctive, production-wise. No studio fuckery, no space-y ambience, no found sounds, no samples. Just 100%, furious, lightspeed, grim black metal. Which is just fine -- the songs and performances speak for themselves in sinister tongues, without the need for sound fx to tweak things further. This is simply some seriously sick, blazing fast, dark and damaged black metal indeed, with insane blast beats, all sorts of off-kilter stops and starts, maniacal leads, and last but not least, a litany of ghostly howls, anguished screams and cries of utter and abject fury -- some of which are provided by guest cult black metal vocalist Attila Csihar (of Mayhem, Aboyrm, and Tormentor infamy)! We also like the fact that there are photos of the band members on the inside and they look like librarians! Necro librarians that is.
MPEG Download: "Cataclysmic Nihilism"
MPEG Stream: "Cataclysmic Nihilism"
MPEG Download: "Never Fucking Again"
MPEG Stream: "Never Fucking Again"

ANTIPOP CONSORTIUM Antipop vs Matthew Shipp (Thirsty Ear) cd 16.98
Seems like this would be the perfect AQ hip hop record. Minimal stream-of-conciousness rappers Antipop Consortium rapping over modern/free jazz courtesy of AQ fave Matthew Shipp. Initially we thought/hoped it would be some sort of live improv/jam thing, which would seem ideal as far as tapping into both groups' strengths. But Antipop simply sample Shipp tunes. While it is cool and few groups sample 'modern' jazz, rap songs based on chopped and looped jazz tunes are really nothing new. And the result just doesn't sound as inspired as we had hoped, with the rapping sounding sort of tossed off and stilted, and the 'jazz' sounding a little too lite, ala dinner jazz. Fans of both will may find something to like, but I think maybe we just had our sights set too high.
MPEG Download: "Staph"
MPEG Stream: "Staph"
MPEG Download: "Slow Horn"
MPEG Stream: "Slow Horn"

APHEX TWIN 26 Mixes For Cash (Warp) 2cd 19.98
During the early '90s, the remix became a new marketing tool to help salvage or lend credibility to A&R debacles -- signings that otherwise would have been relegated to bargain bins and been tax write-offs. With the unexpected explosion of Nirvana on one side of the world and grassroots fervor of rave culture spreading out of the UK, the confusion of A&R reps was somewhat understandable. This is exactly the context in which Richard D. James (aka Aphex Twin) was approached to remix The Lemonheads! Perhaps the mythology behind this remix is true -- that James had forgotten all about his commission and when the courier came around to pick up the remix, he randomly grabbed a DAT which obviously had nothing to do with the Lemonheads. When the label protested, James argued that he had sped the entire song up to build one of the snare fills! Or so the myth goes. Regardless, Aphex came away with the cash, and fans of Lemonheads' heart-throb punk image were confused if not irritated by a jackhammered blast of 909 discomfort!
Accused of rank cynicism, or of the post-ironic facade of cynicism, or of an inability to render any consistent conceptual agenda, James remains cryptic as to his intent: "I like doing it sometimes. Basically, I'll take a song and make it into something that I like. The original comes to me in a form that I hate, then I have to do a serious bit of alteration to it, and sometimes I don't even bother. I just give them a track that has nothing to do with the song."
Thus, "26 Mixes For Cash" is what it is, a collection of unrelated projects branded with the Aphex Twin trademarks: slippery ambience, klanging breakbeats, and mercurial electronic melodies. True to his own admission, the songs vary in degrees to his attachment; and those that he feels most passionately about (either love or hate -- e.g. Baby Ford, Curve, St. Etienne, and Seefeel) are rendered with the greatest panache, and others are delivered with an offhanded nonchalance (e.g. Buck Tick, Nav Katze, and Nobukazu Takemura). Certainly, this is not for Aphex neophytes. For those readers out there new to Aphex, please check out his albums "Richard D. James" or "I Care Because You Do." However, completists will be more than happy with this batch of tracks.
MPEG Download: CURVE "Falling Free, Aphex Twin Remix"
MPEG Stream: CURVE "Falling Free, Aphex Twin Remix"
MPEG Download: BABY FORD "Normal, Helston Flora Remix by AFX"
MPEG Stream: BABY FORD "Normal, Helston Flora Remix by AFX"

BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE Black Earth (Wonder) 2lp 17.98
Now on (double) vinyl. "Black Earth" is the dark as night new album from an old AQ fave. Is it the heaviest album on this list? It is if you understand Bohren's concept of "quiet heaviness", using their self-described "horror jazz" instrumentation of subtly-brushed drums, down-tuned double bass, sparse piano, Fender Rhodes, mellotron, and melancholic saxophone to create an atmosphere of heaviness "which is otherwise only achieved using distorted guitars and lots of noise."
Our appetite was whetted for his release by an email from Bjoern Eichstaedt (of Caacrinolas), our German friend who originally introduced us to Bohren. He described a recent Bohren concert in which the band played in a cubic room, the walls painted completely black, on a black stage, without light -- all wearing black suits. Live, they used two basses for maximum bottom end. He spoke to them afterwards and learned that black metal is their main influence, noticing also that they were all wearing t-shirts from such bands as Immortal. Yet Bohren's music is far from loud and fast. Metallic or not, it's certainly DOOM. Creeping, plodding, yet gorgeously, sleepily melodic. Each note played on the piano, each hit of the snare, carries great weight, and beauty. Their music falls like thick drops of liquid into a still, dark, black pool, rippling the surface with unknown echoes. Foreboding, and entrancing. Certainly more than deserving of this disc's black on black, skull embossed packaging.
The sultry, smoky saxophone introduced on their previous album "Sunset Mission" is still in evidence, though not so much as before. When it's present, it only adds to the noir-ish vibe, great for wandering the rainy streets of night-time San Francisco with this playing in your Walkman, let me tell you. And compared to "Sunset Mission", this new album definitely extends Bohren's methods to further extremes: slower, moodier, dronier, lovelier: "heavier". Quite quietly heavy, indeed.
RealAudio clip: "Midnight Black Earth"
RealAudio clip: "Skeletal Remains"
RealAudio clip: "The Art Of Coffins"

BUZZCOCKS s/t (Merge) cd 14.98
Who doesn't love this band? Who can resist those rapid-fire hooks or that relentless energy? Unlike many other veteran bands who've either continued sloggin' on long past their prime, or conversely broke up early only to reform in recent years, the Buzzcocks haven't stuck with the safe, the tried and true, nor have they become a tired, lackluster version of their former selves. They came together in 1975, kicked pop punk ass (and to this day have had an immeasurable influence on countless bands), split in 1981, reformed in 1989, and here they are fourteen (!) years later with a new super-charged album on Merge Records. As a band, they've not withered nor have they rested on their punk rock laurels. On the up side, the songs are still filled with lots of crunch, but they're also much beefier - often more reminiscent of the Husker Du/Bob Mould fuzzy wall of roaring guitars. On the down side, unfortunately the vocals are buried a bit deeper in the mix which somewhat obscures their wry lyrical wit. Actually come to think of it, this also adds to the Husker Du-iness. However, one thing's for certain, the tip of Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle's songwriting pen sure hasn't dulled over the years. Trademark Buzzcocks' hooks galore. Given that though, we would like to draw your attention to one song here that rang rather familiar not as a Buzzcocks tune but instead as one by the Gin Blossoms - weird! The Diggle penned "Sick City Sometimes" = "Hey Jealousy". Really! Give it a listen. This is definitely much less raw and immediate sounding that the Buzzcocks of old, but this is not at all troublesome nor disappointing, as they've successfully moved onto a much more refined and fleshed out presence. If you want the rambunctious, rough'n'tumble lower-fi pop-punk energy of yesteryear, don't waste another moment, revisit their classic Singles Going Steady. If you want to hear a band who've aged very very well, check out this self-titled album.
MPEG Download: "Jerk"
MPEG Stream: "Jerk"
MPEG Download: "Sick City Sometimes"
MPEG Stream: "Sick City Sometimes"

CALEXICO Feast of Wire (Quarterstick) lp 15.98
Ah yes, we do have this on vinyl now too! Right out of the starting gate, this new Calexico album rings with a fond familiarity, perhaps leaning a little more towards traditional country than their past mariachi-drenched sound. However, from that point on John Convertino and Joey Burns take a winding path away from both the sound and style that have defined them for three superb albums, returning only every so often to their trademark lushly reverbed slinking twang with horns. It's a bold move with results that are both successful and refreshing for the group. That's not to say they're unrecognizable, nor sounding like a completely different band. Not at all, each song is most certainly distinctly Calexico. Still very cinematic and expansive. However, there's subtly executed shifts and additions that build gloriously upon their work to date. The simmering second song "Quattro" has an almost Fleetwood Mac "Tusk" rhythmic feel, and oddly enough the sixth is called "Not Even Stevie Nicks" a surprisingly sunkissed '70s-ish pop rock song. High strings slide and soar through the atmosphere of "Black Heart". Mid-album, hushed backing vocals grace the chorus of "Woven Birds". The Convertino-penned "The Book And The Canal" is a brief hushed interlude centered around misty piano melody. For those of you itchin' for some more familiar moments, there's still plenty on songs like "Guero Canelo" and "Close Behind" (both written by Burns). Something new for old Calexico fans and a great introduction for those who've yet to experience this fabulous group. Wonderful, and very recommended.
RealAudio clip: "Quattro"
RealAudio clip: "Black Heart"
RealAudio clip: "Not Even Stevie Nicks"

CJA Armada (Pseudoarcana) 3" cd-r 8.98
CJA is one half of the NZ noise rock outfit Armpit that we raved about a few lists back. This 3" twenty minute blast starts off with a Sunn-ish slow-motion guitars-against-amps-feedback drone and soon dissipates into ambient shimmer, buzzing guitar hum with metronomic cymbal splatters, slow dour jangle, and strummed and miserable song fragments reminiscent of eighties NZ pop. Really nice.
MPEG Download: "Track Two"
MPEG Stream: "Track Two"

CRADLE OF FILTH Damnation And A Day (Sony) cd 15.98
It's hard to know what to say about a band whose sound stays pretty consistent throughout its relatively lengthy career. On the one hand, it's sad when a band makes the same record over and over again. But one could argue that if one was great then 5 or 6 would be even greater! I think most of us fall somewhere in between. We want bands to explore and expand, but we don't want their sound to change so dramatically that all the stuff we loved about them in the first place is changed or gone. With Cradle Of Filth, and maybe black metal in general, there's only so far you can go and so many ways you can experiment. This may just be the best Cradle Of Filth record since their career defining Dusk And Her Embrace album. Not because this record is a whole new sound, and not because it's that familiar sound we already love. but because CoF have mastered two elements that in the past have wholly determined the hit/miss ratio of their albums. The first is the production. CoF have been cursed with a thin, and thus entirely unheavy production in the past. And while it is maybe understandable, trying to fit all those guitars, drums, keyboards, double kicks, female background vocals, dreamy atmospheres, and of course vocalist/black metal pinup Danni Filth's dog whistle shrieks and guttural growls, that still didn't keep some old records from sounding like they were recorded on an 8-track and mastered with tin cans and twine. This is definitely the heaviest CoF record in a long time; the guitars are thick and brutal, the drums are pummelling and the vocals are settled just right in the mix. Things are still marred by that wimpy keyboard sound, but I think that's more an aesthetic issue than one of recording/production. The other element that makes Damnation one of Cradle Of Filth's best is the SONGS. THE GODDAMNED RIFFS! In the past, CoF have occasionally lapsed into sound over song, sonics over substance. Where it all sounded great, but...were there any actual songs?! This time around the riffs are wickedly catchy and the songs follow suit. Complicated enough to withstand repeated listens, but hooky enough to leave you humming the riffs days later. Cradle Of Filth are still silly and over the top and dramatic and goofy, that's their schtick. But the fact that the songs are so weird and convoluted and actually pretty fucking heavy, makes the goofy vampire/creatures of the night/goth nightmare side of their band a welcome relief from the glut of TRUE blazing fast, monochromatic, grim, primitive and humorless black metal. Think of it as some sort of black metal opera, Immortal meets Devil Doll, and it all makes some sick sort of sense.
MPEG Download: "Hurt And Virtue"
MPEG Stream: "Hurt And Virtue"
MPEG Download: "An Enemy Led The Tempest"
MPEG Stream: "An Enemy Led The Tempest"

DANIELL, DAVID Sem (Antiopic) cd 14.98
The guitarist from the understated post-rock / improv group San Augustin, David Daniell presents his first solo album of microsound compositions that have much more in common with lowercase artists like John Hudak and Richard Chartier than the skeletal rockisms of Loren Mazzacane Connors. Having treated field recordings from the southern regions of the US through a number digital processes (probably using Max / MSP to run treated samples at very slow speeds), Daniell arrives at a similar restraint as his San Agustin project; however, he's realized his music through muted errata of unspecified pops and clicks floating amidst gentle electrical tones, deep bass flickerings, and lots of silence. "Sem" certainly captures the sense of meditation and the methodological hermeticism that his more well known lowercase contemporaries have produced. Headphones required.
MPEG Download: "Sem 2"
MPEG Stream: "Sem 2"
MPEG Download: "Sem 1"
MPEG Stream: "Sem 1"

DARKTHRONE Hate Them (Moonfog) cd 12.98
Album number ten from perhaps the most revered (or as the band prefers, most hated) of black metal's old guard, the dynamic duo of Fenriz and Nocturno Culto. Clocking in at just over a half an hour and according to the liner notes, recorded AND mixed in a mere 26 hours, Hate Them is the latest installment in more than a decade of Christ crushing, poser smashing, misanthropic, grim and buzzy black metal. Emperor are gone, Mayhem are old news, Immortal are cartoons, Satyricon are techno, which leaves Darkthrone to carry the torch of simple, hateful, aggressive and virtually-unchanged-since-1990 black metal. You don't fix what ain't broke! Howling barbed wire guitars, bloodied vocal chords, and Fenriz's 'unique' mostly midtempo drumming, thrashy and sloppy. The blast beats may be 1/10 the speed of other black metal bands, but what Darkthrone lack in speed and finesse they make up for in grim atmosphere and raw aggression. Possibly the only true black metal band left.
MPEG Download: "Rust"
MPEG Stream: "Rust"
MPEG Download: "Det Svartner Na"
MPEG Stream: "Det Svartner Na"

DEADBOY AND THE ELEPHANTMEN If This Is Hell Then I'm Lucky (Elephantmen Recording Co.) cd 14.98
Three years ago, the big rock n' roll sleeper hit here at Aquarius had to be the awesome Agents Of Oblivion album, featuring two crucial ex-members of the late lamented cult band Acid Bath. Heavy, poppy, psychedelic rock with vocalist Dax Riggs crooning beautifully over it all. We shoulda made it record of the week, we all thought in retrospect. Windy had it in heavy rotation in her Trans Am for ages! We were really bummed to hear that the Agents, like Acid Bath before 'em, broke up not long after the album's release. But, fortunately, there's more to the story. Rumors filtered in that Dax and a new crew of New Orleans n'er-do-wells had formed a new band with the unlikely name of Deadboy and the Elephantmen to carry on where the Agents left off. Allan confirmed this when he happened to visit N.O. two years ago and was lucky enough to catch a live performance from this new band. They had a demo out then, and we anticipated a full album release on some big label to appear soon...we waited...and waited...and now, *finally*, here's the Deadboy debut, a self-released cd 'cause those big labels dropped the ball apparently. Mystifiying, 'cause Dax is a rock star if ever there was one, and these guys should be HUGE. Totally accessible yet morbidly underground, we hear everything from some voodoo Alice Cooper darkness and drama, to a little Aerosmith swagger, to the heaviness and angst of Alice In Chains of course -- Acid Bath was always a AIC meets EHG (Eyehategod) hybrid, in a really good way. Radiohead's "Ok Computer" is hinted at too, and Jeff Buckley, as the music combines weirdly sensitive melodicism and dark atmosphere inspired by their hometown's swamps and cemeteries. Dax is as impressive as ever, he really *sings*, drawing out vowels over a dozen notes. His vocals are oddly warm and comforting but also anguished and intense. While the songwriting on this album does not quite match the relatively flowery yet heavy tunesmithery of the Agents of Oblivion album, and neither does the instrumentation call attention to itself, that's not necessarily a bad thing as it lets Dax' voice take center stage and he... just... wails. Sometimes despairing, sometimes incantatory. Oh the angst! For fans of Alice in Chains, Acid Bath/Agents of Oblivion (of course), Mark Lanegan of Screaming Trees, and Woven Hand.
MPEG Download: "Graves Beyond Windows"
MPEG Stream: "Graves Beyond Windows"
MPEG Download: "Like the Dead would Laugh"
MPEG Stream: "Like the Dead would Laugh"

DELETIST, THE s/t (Entartete Kunst) cd 8.98
The Deletist (aka Bitter Pie) is a member of the SF Entartete Kunst arts collective. While conveying the group's socio-political ideas, she also makes some beautifully aquatic sounding music. Using both acoustic and electronic sources, she blends her dark processed experimentations with airier, delicate melodic lines. The latter is particularly notable on tracks like "Sans Toi" and the "The Lure Of War" in which waves of obscure/effected vocals flow in and around tapped woodblock-y rhythms, acoustic string, keyboard or harpsichord (?) sounds, programmed beats, distorted hiss and sputters. There's also a number of heavier passages that bring to mind the Cold Metal Perfection album by Atari Teenage Riot's Nic Endo. The result is a sharp, effective contrast between The Deletist's enveloping, almost-soothing tracks and her moodier, more abrasive ones.
MPEG Download: "Sans Toi"
MPEG Stream: "Sans Toi"
MPEG Download: "The Lure Of War"
MPEG Stream: "The Lure Of War"

DELETIST, THE / DROWNING DOG split (Entartete Kunst) 7" 4.98
A new split single by two artists from the Bay Area Entartete Kunst collective - a diverse group of outspoken artists who address social and political issues via word and sound. As they state it, they produce "no-field electronica, radical literature and propaganda that promotes positive social change". The Deletist offers the looming "Americans Eye Aeroplanes" filled with shadowy effected strings (note: this track also appears on her new album). On the flipside, Drowning Dog's "Crimson" is a track of sampled spoken word with an ominous backdrop of tactile drones and digital bleep.

DJ SCUD Ambush! (Rephlex) cd 14.98
Oh man, have we been waiting for this!! Scud is the master of dirty, noisy, fuck-shit-up, big beat hardcore dancehall/digital hardcore/gabber. And his label Ambush has been the place to look for forward thinking, speaker shredding, ass kicking electronic mayhem. Grungy and lo-fi and totally addictive. Funky enough to make you want to dance your ass off, but hard enough to make you want to beat the crap out of EVERYBODY! From the old school, two-step drum-and-bass-recorded-on-a-four-track of V.I.P Pressure Pt. 1 to the pounding, super distorted dancehall jungle of Kill Or Be Killed to the ghetto blaster dance party drum and bass of Jungle Warrior to the freaked out Lesser meets Panacea noise clash of New World. This is the only shit that matters anymore. Vibrant and exciting, fucked up and totally pummelling. Puts Alec Empire's by-the-numbers digital hardcore to shame.
Major complaint: Nine tracks?!?!? C'mon. There's at least five or six 12"s and three or four 7"s that are just begging to be collected all in one place. Why choose nine songs from random comps when there could've been a wicked double or triple complete Ambush collection?!?! Bitching aside, this is THE SHIT!
MPEG Download: "Kill Or Be Killed"
MPEG Stream: "Kill Or Be Killed"
MPEG Download: "New World"
MPEG Stream: "New World"

DJ SCUD Ambush! (Rephlex) 2lp 15.98
Oh man, have we been waiting for this!! Scud is the master of dirty, noisy, fuck-shit-up, big beat hardcore dancehall/digital hardcore/gabber. And his label Ambush has been the place to look for forward thinking, speaker shredding, ass kicking electronic mayhem. Grungy and lo-fi and totally addictive. Funky enough to make you want to dance your ass off, but hard enough to make you want to beat the crap out of EVERYBODY! From the old school, two-step drum-and-bass-recorded-on-a-four-track of V.I.P Pressure Pt. 1 to the pounding, super distorted dancehall jungle of Kill Or Be Killed to the ghetto blaster dance party drum and bass of Jungle Warrior to the freaked out Lesser meets Panacea noise clash of New World. This is the only shit that matters anymore. Vibrant and exciting, fucked up and totally pummelling. Puts Alec Empire's by-the-numbers digital hardcore to shame.
Major complaint: Nine tracks?!?!? C'mon. There's at least five or six 12"s and three or four 7"s that are just begging to be collected all in one place. Why choose nine songs from random comps when there could've been a wicked double or triple complete Ambush collection?!?! Bitching aside, this is THE SHIT!

DRIZZOLETTO Live At KXLU (self-released) cd 8.98
Drizzoletto is a quirky quartet of wonderful Bay Area veteran musicians, namely Ralph Carney, Ted Savarese, Danny Frankel and Ashley Adams. After the joyfully off-kilter first song "Shakin'", things settle into a more conventional (albeit still quite unconventional) country-rootsy tone. Just under a half hour of highly engaging music. Recorded live at KXLU.
MPEG Download: "Shakin'"
MPEG Stream: "Shakin'"
MPEG Download: "Hot Stove"
MPEG Stream: "Hot Stove"

EMPEROR Scattered Ashes: Decade of Emperial Wrath (Candlelight) 2cd 15.98
This is the inevitable 'greatest hits' collection from the undisputed masters of hyper-technical, super proggy, grim and frosty Norwegian black metal EMPEROR!! Disc one is heavy on the covers as almost half is culled from tributes to Darkthrone, Mercyful Fate, Mayhem, etc... and is filled out with EP tracks and a few tracks from the amazing Thorns Vs. Emperor album. Disc two is all album tracks spanning their whole career. There's nothing here unreleased. About as "rare" as it gets is an Ulver remix that was a bonus track from the limited version of IX Equilibrium. So consequently, there's not much essential here for those of you who have been loyal subjects from day one, but definitely a great introduction for the uninitiated.
Random note: The disc comes with the official Emperor merchandise catalog and holy shit! No less than 8 cds, 1 DVD, 7 posters, 20 shirts, 12 badges, 2 knit caps, 2 baseball hats, 1 jacket, 1 patch, 1 mouse pad and 1 silver pendant!! Phew.
MPEG Download: "Curse You All Men!"
MPEG Stream: "Curse You All Men!"
MPEG Download: "Sworn (Ulver remix)"
MPEG Stream: "Sworn (Ulver remix)"

G-FRENZY Eel Creek (Pseudoarcana) cd-r 12.98
The Pseudoarcana website describes G-Frenzy as "White trash hip hop and drunken country." Don't let that turn you off though, this is actually quite a cool weird record. Weird lo-fi rhythmic pop, with lots of samples (mostly 'borrowed' from other Pseudoarcana releases!). Think Sebadoh, slowed waaaaay down, buried in a hole for a month, then dug back up and slapped on the tape machine, dirt and worms and all. Mumbly, wavery, distorted vocals step hesitantly through a series of sonic backdrops, from gentle piano riffs smothered in ambient noise, to loping fuzzy rhythms and warm gauzy atmospheres. Cool.
MPEG Download: "From The Stars"
MPEG Stream: "From The Stars"
MPEG Download: "Black Goat Of The Wood"
MPEG Stream: "Black Goat Of The Wood"

GO-BETWEENS, THE Bright Yellow, Bright Orange (Jetset) cd 15.98
From the first note to the very last, the follow-up to The Friends Of Rachel Worth (and to the celebrated reissues of their first three albums) is quite simply more glorious, intelligent pop of the highest grade from this Australian group. Always comfortingly familiar, yet also very fresh and vibrant. Robert Forster and Grant McLennan create the finest of pop songs that are ever sweet, lush and sentimental, but never overly so. What more can be said? Legions of Go-Betweens fans already know, and those who've yet to discover them should get the lead out, goshdarnit!
MPEG Download: "Caroline & I"
MPEG Stream: "Caroline & I"
MPEG Download: "Old Mexico"
MPEG Stream: "Old Mexico"

GUENTNER, MARKUS Audio Island (Ware) cd 14.98
Following the electro-ambient hush of "In Moll" which was released on Kompakt in 2001, Markus Guentner hits us with another album of pleasant tech house grooves that beefs up the drum machine and the Moroder-esque arppegiations for ample dancefloor booty shaking, but doesn't entirely remove the silken 'pop ambient' sub-genre that Kompakt has been pushing for the past 18 months or so. While a few of the tracks are pretty standard in their four-on-the-floor drum machine progressions, Guenter mixes things up with occasion nods to electro revivalism and to Shitkatapult shuffletime grooves, as well as an Ibiza house cover of Talk Talk's "It's A Shame"!!!
MPEG Download: "Sunset"
MPEG Stream: "Sunset"
MPEG Download: "Such A Shame"
MPEG Stream: "Such A Shame"

HAFLER TRIO The Moment When We Blow the Flour From Our Tongues (Crouton Music) 10" 16.98
"The Moment When We Blow the Flour From Our Tongues" is another round of electro-crytography from the Hafler Trio, housed in an oblique cross pollination of sound, image, and text. This has been a consistent strategy for The Hafler Trio, leaving many of the allegories, metaphors, and signifiers so abstract as to render them beyond the scope of communication. Text and image form an obtuse narration in the booklet that accompanies the vinyl, vaguely articulating a dialogue between two characters caught in some unknown existential dilemma. The sound is even harder to decipher (if that's the correct activity for experiencing the Hafler Trio), as a series feedback fluctuations build into a dense ambient field occasionally marred by digital synaptic pops and shortwave signal interference. Very nicely realized, but strictly limited to 500 copies on a thick slab of clear vinyl.

HWYL NOFIO Hymnal (HWYL) cd 14.98
Here we go again. Another record that I am totally obsessed with, that I listen to like mad, that I try to get all my friends to buy, but that when it comes time to review, I can't figure out how to describe in words that do justice to just how great this record is. Since we first got this in, the second release from strangely named Hwyl Nofio, a UK collective fronted by AQ pal Steve Parry, I would just fumble with superlatives and end up spitiing out something like "I don't know. It's just great. Buy it!!!" But I figure I would try to do a little better than that for the list. While the mood is similar to the first record, there seems to be a more sort of 'rock' influence. Not rock like Van Halen, but rock in the sense that there are guitars (lots of em) and really identifiable instruments. Where the first album blurred the instrumentation into a dark and dreamy wash of subterranean rumble, Hymnal achieves the same basic effect but by keeping the edges a little more distinct. Not to say this won't appeal to your droning side becaue it certainly will. But it also just might appeal to your slow motion, instrumental slow-core side as well! A very dark and sinister record. Dreamy and hypnotic, but sort of aggressive and threatening at the same time. The entire record is a nightmarescape set on a foundation of rumbling, swelling, washes of thick warm low end shimmer. Basses, and guitars and organs and horns all settle into a cloying fog of glacial downtuned thrum, slowly shifting, melodic flourishes barely visible below the surface. While pianos and guitars supply abstract melodies, their notes dropped delicately one by one, creating a pointillist map of some haunting afterlife/ghost world. Equal parts Stars Of The Lid, Sunn 0))), Jonathan Coleclough, Maeor Tri, Starfuckers, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Labradford, Morton Feldman and all the music that frightens us when we're awake, and soothes us when we're not. Definitely one of the most beautiful, haunting and original records of the year!
MPEG Download: "A Brutality Of Fact"
MPEG Stream: "A Brutality Of Fact"
MPEG Download: "All You Knew Were Doomed"
MPEG Stream: "All You Knew Were Doomed"
MPEG Download: "Children Are"
MPEG Stream: "Children Are"

IMITATION ELECTRIC PIANO Trinity Neon (Drag City) cd 14.98
... is the band led by Mr. Simon Johns. His musical resume boast the fact that he played bass on Stereolab's Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night album, and there are definite shades of the 'Lab here as well as Aluminum Group and the Sea & Cake. This is some delightfully pretty, smooth post rock with light, jazzy moments that sound strongly influenced by composer Kryzstof Komeda (known for among other things, his film soundtracks to Roman Polanski's Cul De Sac, Rosemary's Baby, Knife In The Water). Strolling along at a spritely step, the oft-arpeggiated organ, harpsichord and yes, electric piano melodies and gentle pulses cycle over and over as muted horns and the odd strum from an electric guitar step in every now and then to break the repetition. Steady goes the rhythm section with rounded bass lines and light hi-hat taps while soothing vocals very akin to Sam Prekop of the aforementioned Sea & Cake pop in for a visit every so often.
MPEG Download: "King's Evil"
MPEG Stream: "King's Evil"
MPEG Download: "It Sounds Like A Party"
MPEG Stream: "It Sounds Like A Party"

JR EWING Ride Paranoia (GSL) cd 13.98
Apart from their moniker, there's nary a hint of the '80s TV show Dallas in JR Ewing's music. They are in fact an aggressive quintet from Oslo, Norway whose second album has found a perfect home on Gold Standard Laboratories. Hard rockin' chunks of crunchy guitars, pounding bass and drums with scream-sung vocals. Amid all the thrashing, there hides a hook or two which made me think of a heavier more abrasive Hives. However, these guys are far more hardcore than garage punk, and they've got a trick or two of their own up their sleeves which occasionally take shape via the addition of electronics and noise detailing. While nudging at the boundaries of hardcore, Ride Paranoia just might take out an eye or cause blistering on tender eardrums.
MPEG Download: "Repetition Is Failure"
MPEG Stream: "Repetition Is Failure"
MPEG Download: "An Introduction To..."
MPEG Stream: "An Introduction To..."

KATATONIA Viva Emptiness (Peaceville) cd 15.98
Swedish doom metal / doom pop band Katatonia are established by now as big AQ faves. Their signature sound -- morose metallic heaviness that's utterly melodic and catchy, like some unholy marriage of The Cure and Opeth, or Tool and My Dying Bride -- is in full force on this, the follow-up to their last three brilliant albums ("Last Fair Deal Gone Down", its Aquarius Record Of The Week predecessor "Tonight's Decision", and stateside breakthrough "Discouraged Ones"). Fans of those albums won't be disappointed with "Viva Emptiness", indeed, this may be a case of sticking a little too close to the formula, but heck that's how they're perfecting it. We're not complaining. And we can say that perhaps this rocks a bit more, and faster, overall than some of those others, though the harder metallic assault still leaves plenty of room for quieter piano dirge ballads... Definitely sheer ear candy for those of us who like suicidal heaviness that's also totally radio-ready. Not that we can imagine actually hearing this on the radio, but you know what we mean. If you haven't gotten addicted to Katatonia yet, go ahead and check this one out. And if you have, then you're gonna have to get it!
MPEG Download: "Ghost Of The Sun"
MPEG Stream: "Ghost Of The Sun"
MPEG Download: "Wealth"
MPEG Stream: "Wealth"

LIMITED EXPRESS (HAS GONE?) Feeds You! (Tzadik) cd 16.98
John Zorn and his Tzadik label have yet again come up with another unknown (to us) Japanese avant-rock band to feature in their "New Japan" series! Previous entries have included Melt Banana, Ruins, Rovo, Mono, Ground Zero and Hoahio, among others. This weirdly-named trio hails from Kyoto and specializes in quirky, oft-noisy, sometimes quite poppy rock that comes closest to Melt Banana (or Deerhoof, for an American comparison -- they definitely remind us of Deerhoof). Yelping female vocals are of course part of the equation, along with totally pretty parts, skittery guitars, schizoid changes, energetic drums, and mucho distortion and heavy skree (with light-speed dynamic shifts into lighter territory and back again). Super fun, executed to perfection. True, this type of thing isn't as bizarre and groundbreaking to Western ears as it once was, but it's still really good. Definitely a new name to watch, one for fans of Melt Banana, OOIOO, Boredoms and the like to check out. So, chalk another one up for Tzadik!
MPEG Download: "Aloha!"
MPEG Stream: "Aloha!"
MPEG Download: "Spy"
MPEG Stream: "Spy"

MALKMUS, STEPHEN & THE JICKS Pig Lib (Matador) cd 16.98
Actually very nice new indierock album from former Pavement frontman. His half spoken / half sung delivery is, for some reason, not nearly as annoyingly eccentric as on later Pavement records (hey it's just my opinion!). This is an album strong on songwriting and hooks, immediately accessible and inoffensive. Cool in a happy-go-lucky sort of way. I know this review sounds like I was totally expecting the worst, and ok I *was*, but then, how nice that it turns out to be so good. Recommended.
Limited edition first pressing comes in digipak with extra disc containing five bonus tracks. If you want this extra edition, don't wait!
MPEG Download: "(Do Not Feed the) Oyster"
MPEG Stream: "(Do Not Feed the) Oyster"
MPEG Download: "Water and a Seat"
MPEG Stream: "Water and a Seat"

MEANING OF LIFE, THE s/t (Narbin Deeber) cd-r 9.98
"The first thing is that time travel has been going on forever." The second thing is that, at Aquarius, this cd-r has been causing a bit of consternation as no one seems to know why they should be the one assigned to write about "the meaning of life". Yeah, real funny. What we DO know, according to what is written on the back cover, is that the recording captured here comes from a cassette mysteriously labeled "The Meaning of Life" which was found lying on a roadside and eventually passed along to the producer of this disc. The recording is of a very agitated man apparently talking on the phone. Whether he's actually talking on the phone is anyone's guess. He repeatedly gets so angry with whoever is on the other end that he works himself into a frenzy screaming "Shut UP!!!" repeatedly, his voice breaking up from his strained frustration. What is clear about this man is that he's not playing with a full deck of cards. None the less, the monologue is at once disturbing and entertaining. To top it off the recording is made not using an answering machine or anything else which might actually pick up whoever would be on the other end of the conversation, but with a microphone placed in the room with the caller. The added benefit from this method is that we're treated to the rumbling ambiance of a thunder storm. The equipment used is not the best, so at times it's hard to tell whether that is indeed a thunderstorm in the background or someone banging on a giant dumpster. Whatever the sound is, it gets so loud at times that it drowns out the man's ranting. So what is he talking about? Well, that's a fair question. However, it's hard enough to follow a spoken word disc in the store as it is, dealing with all of our daily tasks, but when the monologue is that of a raving lunatic, it's even more challenging. There are time traveling Android/Angels, including a Christ Android that will descend to the earth from the 12th planet. Plus there's also a great deal here about mind control, Stalin, and Donna Summer (ie: the devil). Our narrator, who has a superior knowledge of physics, puts it best perhaps when he tells his silent friend that he knows so much shit that if he "were to say it all at once to anybody they'd go fucking stark raving crazy at light speed." One theory is that the person on the other end of the line is actually the narrator himself in the past. The disc ends, oddly enough, with some random music snatches attributed to Donna Summer and then some short audio samples from the rant tagged on at the very end so that -- I suppose -- you can pull off your own Kathy McGinty or Arnold Schwarzenegger style prank calls.
"If I say the wrong thing over the phone I get a horrible Huey attack"
MPEG Download: "CPU's of the 25th Century"
MPEG Stream: "CPU's of the 25th Century"
MPEG Download: "12th Planet"
MPEG Stream: "12th Planet"

MUSLIMGAUZE Maroon (Staalplaat) cd 16.98
This is a third and unlimited pressing of "Maroon" which had previously enjoyed rather fancy, strictly limited packaging in its previous incarnations back in 1995. "Maroon" remains one of the stronger Muslimgauze albums, or at least representative of some of Muslimgauze's strongest work. Vast ambience culled from sitar and organ drones tuned to Arabic cadences, dappled with indeterminant Arabic radio samples and dub inspired techno crafted from tabla rhythms and thick hovering basslines.
MPEG Download: "Track 7"
MPEG Stream: "Track 7"

NAKAMURA, TOSHIMARU Vehicle (Cubic Music) cd 15.98
More glitch follies from Japanese electronic composer Toshimaru Nakamura and his now-famous No-Input Mixing Board! Utilizing "internal feedback" from looping the input and output of a mixing board through itself. More active that the near-silence of many other "onkyo" efforts from Nakamura and his contemporaries, each of the nine tracks here are full of abstract throbbing buzzing sounds. Some tumble along, approximating minimalist Chain Reaction style "techno" "beats". Others drone and hiss without any rhythmic structure at all. With these fluttering bleeps and crinkly soundscapes, Nakamura has crafted another compelling, sometimes even pretty, album for those interested in the strange, defective-sounding sounds of "empty" electronic equipment.
MPEG Download: "nimb#37"
MPEG Stream: "nimb#37"
MPEG Download: "nimb#33"
MPEG Stream: "nimb#33"

NECKS, THE Aether (ReR Megacorp) cd 14.98
We've gone cuckoo for the Australian trio The Necks, and this is the third album we're gonna enthuse over. More brilliance, in other words! Again, the Necks play a hard-to-categorize blend of jazz and rock that's "experimental" yet totally accessible, making use of insanely evocative piano, drums and bass in a hypnotically repetitive, circular, subtly shifting manner. It brings to mind everything from Philip Glass to Stars of the Lid to Miles Davis. That's right.
Aether begins as if it is finishing, with long minor key chords and shimmering cymbals that wait until fading from the audible before the next set s-l-o-w-l-y emerges. As with The Necks' relatively more active Hanging Garden album, they set down that evocative sonic foundation for a full twenty minutes before single piano notes sail out surprisingly, hesitatingly stating a melodic line. It's over an hour long and not for a second does it become boring -- despite its stillness there's a warmth, no chill. The piece's closing section (another healthy 20 minutes) is a muted flourish, with the cymbals unendingly shimmering, the piano notes echoing and repeating like the tide is coming in. This is the perfect and only soundtrack to a Sunrise. Amazing.
MPEG Download: "excerpt 1"
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 1"
MPEG Download: "excerpt 2"
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 2"

PELICAN Untitled (Hydra Head) cd ep 8.98
Four massive tracks of instrumental heaviness here, folks. Chicago's Pelican debut with this untitled document of dirge (actually this Hydra Head version is a reissue of their self-released debut from last year). Teetering on the cusp betwixt being a melodically melancholic and rhythmically clever post-rock band and being a punishing doom metal behemoth, Pelican don't let down either side. This is HEAVY. Epic, intense, and always interesting. Slow, trancey sludge riffs and chugging rhythms are interlaced with kinda pretty melodies and sudden tempo shifts. The result is a LOUD, almost psychedelic listen that should be very satisfying to fans of similarly droney and heavy outfits like 5ive, Tarantula Hawk, Boris, Pharoah Overlord... Gore and the Melvins and Harvey Milk too.
Pelican are the kind of band that plays shows with Isis and High On Fire, and reference La Monte Young and Ash Ra Temple in interviews...i.e. our kinda band! Kudos to Hydra Head for picking 'em up, and we look forward to their upcoming full-length on that label.
MPEG Download: "Pulse"
MPEG Stream: "Pulse"
MPEG Download: "Forecast For Today"
MPEG Stream: "Forecast For Today"

POLYPHONIC SPREE, THE The Beginning Stages of... (Good) cd 14.98
This comes with a fervent endorsement from AQ pal and man-of-many-hats Kevin Clarke, a man with pop smarts you can certainly trust. Following the break-up of Tripping Daisy, TD mainman Tim DeLaughter shifted his attention to assembling The Polyphonic Spree, quite an unusual musical group from Dallas, TX. What's so odd about them? Well, there's over two dozen members for one thing! And they're all clothed in long flowing white robes for another. Their music is a supremely uplifting gospel pop complete with vocal chorus a la Up With People backed by a pit orchestra of sorts (with woodwinds, brass, percussion, strings, and theremin). Very out of step with the times. There's so little these days that exhibits such a mass vocal outpouring, and it's all lushly and trippily composed in grand Brian Wilson and Flaming Lips-y fashion. Actually the latter is reinforced by Delaughter's ultra-sensitive lead vocals which closely resemble Wayne Coyne's. Just imagine an enormous musical embrace, and you'll be close.
MPEG Download: "Track 2"
MPEG Stream: "Track 2"
MPEG Download: "Track 4"
MPEG Stream: "Track 4"

PUMICE Sexual (Live) (Pseudoarcana) cd-r 12.98
Re-release of two out of print cassettes from 1998-2202. Indie rock, but of the fuzzed out, buzzy and drone-y, ramshackle EXTREMELY LO-FI variety. Jangly at moments, sparse and damaged at others, noisy and spastic at others. Cool and weird and pretty fucked up. Includes a handful of extra live tracks!
MPEG Download: "The Lady Of The Pitch"
MPEG Stream: "The Lady Of The Pitch"
MPEG Download: "Tank In The Hole"
MPEG Stream: "Tank In The Hole"

PUNY HUMANS No One Will Ever Understand Our Genious cd 9.98
What kind of an album would feature on its back cover a still from "The Big Lebowski" with Jeff Bridges, Steve Buscemi, and John Goodman sitting at a bar in a bowling alley -- all wearing black metal corpse paint??!? And feature music that kinda actually *sounds* like that picture might sound?? One by the notorious Steven Schultz (of The History Of Vats, Stalin Claus Superstar!, Busuchan, and I Forgot To Get A Rap Name! infamy) and fellow musical mastermind/masturbator Jason Kocol, of course! "No One Will Ever Understand Our Genious" is a more than apt album title for this duo's output. Genious [sic] put to questionable use. Embarrassing but stoopid funny music nerd indulgence, with the boys' sick chops in metal, jazz, dance music and whatever else they choose to abuse making the likes of Mr. Bungle and Estradasphere and Frank Zappa seem like mere puppies next to these Puny Humans. A silly genre-shift every 1.5 seconds or so, with blasting metal giving way to kazoo blues interrupted by circus music then back to the metal but with tinkling bells and sampled interjections from Flava Flav and house beats and skits and the quiet storm etc. etc. etc. Good grief! The mind reels, the throat chortles. This is really over the top. There's skits (y'know, the producers talking like on a rap record) and they even stoop so low as to sample the Benny Hill Theme at one point. Yes, the dumb humor driving this is SO dumb and relentless that it might even be brilliant. I mean, can you argue with songs that actually live up to song titles like "Deicide At Their Mom's House", "Sweep-Picking The Flugelhorns", and "Wouldja Look At The Ass On That Mummy?". Nope, or at least you wouldn't want to waste your time. Of course, without the dumb humor this mighta been the best ridiculous meta-metal ever, like if they were Japanese or something and we didn't "get" the jokes. But with the humor, it still shows Mr. Bungle where to get off. We really can't help but like it despite ourselves. Trying too hard to be insane -- and succeeding!!
MPEG Download: "Thorax, Ho!"
MPEG Stream: "Thorax, Ho!"
MPEG Download: "Hey, There's Always Urine!"
MPEG Stream: "Hey, There's Always Urine!"

RED THREAD, THE After The Last (Badman) cd 13.98
Jason Lakis of local band Half Film has a new band, The Red Thread. This debut album is lovely, unhurried, and consistently engaging. Mixes the hushed languor and downtrodden vocal delivery of Red House Painters, the clean, pure melancholy of Scud Mountain Boys, some Fahey-like exploratory guitar. Doesn't scream for attention but attention is nonetheless rewarded, as it is with the abovementioned bands, or groups like Low and Tindersticks. And Steely Dan, *that's* who Red Thread reminds me of. An overall minor key tone never becomes cloying, there's occasional subtle harmonizing and sprightly pedal steel. Very nice! Recommended.
MPEG Download: "Subject to Change"
MPEG Stream: "Subject to Change"
MPEG Download: "All In"
MPEG Stream: "All In"

SAMARTZIS, PHILIP Mort aux Vaches (Staalplaat) cd 16.98
Since the late '80s, having spent time in the avant-noise project Gum, Australian sound artist Philip Samartzis has been exploring the technological residue that most sound engineers spend lifetimes trying to eliminate. Not surprisingly, indeterminant buzzings, electrical disturbances, crossed wire interference, tape hiss, and the surface noise of vinyl are the current source materials for Samartzis' electro-acoustic compositions. While there have been plenty of examples involving the tactility of technological residue with as many conceptual agendas (e.g. Loren Chasse's "Hedge Of Nerves," C.M. von Hausswolff's "An Operation of Spirit Communication," Christian Marclay's "Record Without A Cover," etc.), Samartzis has developed a unique signature that favors a clincally precise compositional technique that is typically affiliated with the Raster-Noton and 12K camps of electronic music. However, within those tightly controlled sets of sound, Samartzis allows for all of the haptic blemishes and residual sounds to continue unchecked by any controlling mechanisms.
Recorded as part of Staalplaat's stellar "Mort Aux Vaches" series of radio broadcasts for VPRO radio, these three lengthy pieces may be Samartzis' best work to date. While many of the sounds (i.e. miniature clatterings, run-out groove vinyl crackle, and irritable strains of gossamer feedback) have been recycled from previous recordings, Samartzis has greatly improved upon the contextualization of those sounds, providing an open-ended arena for a number of phenomenological events and metaphoric disconnects.
While maintaining the same packaging principles as all of the earlier "Mort Aux Vache" releases with a single tri-folded piece of paper holding the cd in place with a brass fastener, the paper in question is a beautiful iridescent, 'shark-skin' paper.
MPEG Download: "Variable Resistance"
MPEG Stream: "Variable Resistance"
MPEG Download: "Soft And Loud"
MPEG Stream: "Soft And Loud"

SCHAEFER, JANEK Black Immure (SIRR) cd 14.98
Before his commissioned performance at the Casa de Serralves in Porto, Portugal in 2002, Janek Schaefer spent several days accruing sounds from the surrounding areas. While collecting his usual armload of antiquated vinyl for his avant turntablist collages, Schaefer also made recordings of a Steinway piano as well as a series of gestural actions that made use of the building's natural reverb. The manipulation of that natural reverb -- both in the electronic manipulation of the pre-recorded sounds and in physical actions made during the performance -- were the crux of Shaefer's performance. The electronic aspect of "Black Immure" follows a similar path as his last couple of records "Pulled Under" and "Le Petit Theatre De Mercelis," with divergent currents of mysterious sounds abstracted into innumerably bleak surfaces. Schaefer punctuates his atmospheres with looped samples from those old records and the piano recordings, using a technique similar to Philip Jeck's, crafting those sonatas into oblique fragments of memory that have been faded beyond all recognition. Within these portions of the performance, the natural reverb of the space does blur the edges of each sound ; however, when Schaefer creates dense metallic clattering from slamming all of the windows shut in the space and dragging chains throughout the space, the reverb takes on an Industrial din. Altogether, "Black Immure" is an impressive piece of work.
MPEG Download: "Excerpt 03"
MPEG Stream: "Excerpt 03"
MPEG Download: "Excerpt 05"
MPEG Stream: "Excerpt 05"

SEEN THROUGH Extant (Pseudoarcana) cd-r 12.98
Seen Through is the duo of Pseudoarcana head honcho Antony Milton and one half of the group Empty Mirror, whose now out of print cd-r we reviewed and raved about a while ago. Dreamy spaced out guitar scrapes and slides. Lots of plink and twang, creak and moan. Hazy melodies stretched out in fields of tape hiss and amp buzz with a wild burst of good old NZ noise rock guitar squall right at the end!
MPEG Download: "Insect Darkens"
MPEG Stream: "Insect Darkens"
MPEG Download: "Systems Down"
MPEG Stream: "Systems Down"

SLOUGH FEG, THE LORD WEIRD Traveller (Dragonheart) cd 14.98
AQ's favorite cult true heavy metal band, The (one and only) Lord Weird Slough Feg, are back with their fourth (can it be?!) compact disc of chaos and conquest, this time conjuring visions of cosmic adventure in a galaxy-spanning science-fictional Imperium of the sixth millenium AD, rather than the battefields of the Celtic fantasy world which inspired such previous Slough Feg albums as "Down Among The Deadmen" and "Twilight Of The Idols", though they've taken some of their trademark Celtic-tinged riffs with 'em into the future.
Yep, the Feg boys have come up with a full-on scifi concept album here, each song contributing to a space opera story of far-future genetic warfare. It's convoluted and not just a little bit absurd (we'd expect nothing less from the Lord Weird) involving a megalomaniac mad scientist, dangerous alien spores, a hybrid race of sentient dogs known as Vargr (as pictured on the cover), asteroid miners, and a space pirate named Baltech Budapest who develops psionic powers after being turned into a dog-man! Huh? Well, all this is an excuse for Slough Feg to flex their collective metal muscles, showing off with dueling shredding guitar solos, majestic harmonies, dramatic vocals, shuddering doom riffs, and so forth. The European power metal legions traffic in such wares as well, but none with such flamboyant eccentricity and sheer insanity as the Slough Feg crew. Lost Horizon, Rhapsody, Blind Guardian, Hammerfall and the like might be more polished and synthesized, but for indomitable metal spirit and over-the-top anything-goes chutzpah you've got to hand it to San Francisco's Slough Feg, they'll take on all comers musically while upping the bizarreness quotient to impossible extremes. Raw, bombastic heaviness gives way to acoustic guitars, adrenalized thrash collides with show-tune catchiness, and the story of course is completely fucked. With their two Les Pauls going full bore, this is perhaps the last word in galloping, epic, multi-tracked guitar harmony metal... Their forbears like Iron Maiden, Queen, and Thin Lizzy should be proud (and a little confused). What Drunk Horse are to '70s boogie rock these guys are to '80s metal, except... Slough Feg really mean it! Even when it's hard to figure out *what* they mean.
Fans will probably agree that the grandiose "Traveller" is the Slough Feg album most similar to "The Bastard" by their sister band Hammers of Misfortune -- both being continuous narratives ("Traveller" having but one vocalist to handle all the roles however). But while the Hammers' masterful metal operetta seemed all Dungeons & Dragons, this concept record is actually specifically based on -- and named after -- a once-popular science fiction role playing game called Traveller, D&D's spacefaring cousin. The cover design, and some of the lyrics, will make a lot more sense if you're familiar with that game!
MPEG Download: "High Passage/Low Passage"
MPEG Stream: "High Passage/Low Passage"
MPEG Download: "Asteroid Belts"
MPEG Stream: "Asteroid Belts"

SPARO, FRANKIE Welcome Crummy Mystics (Constellation) cd 14.98
The third release from Canadian singer/songwriter Frankie Sparo presents another collection of his weight-of-the-world-on-his-shoulders songs. Always seeming slightly unhinged and on the verge of emotional collapse, he sings each song as if clawing for his last shred of hope. His is a deeply anguished delivery - often to the point of crackly hoarse shouting or the most brittle whisper - which bear more than a passing resemblance to early Vic Chesnutt. On the songs featuring very spartan piano or guitar accompaniment, all is laid open with each word hanging in the air. However, this album marks some new developments in the realm of Mr. Sparo. One is the addition of an official second band member, N. Moss brings backing vocals and keyboards into the fold. Another is the full band (which surely includes a few GYBE friends) presence on a few songs contributing to a more expansive and dramatic, but no less intimate sound. Once again, recorded by Godspeed's Efrim.
RealAudio clip: "City As It Might Have Been"
RealAudio clip: "Hospitalville"

SPECTRUM Geracao Bendita (Shadoks) cd 15.98
Spectrum always makes me realize that if music stopped being made today, we would never fail to keep on finding gems and hidden treasures from the past. There's just so much gorgeous music that has already been made that you could only listen to stuff from the past and still always be listening to greatness. I mean, that's what I'm feeling -- my top ten list from last year has four records in it made in '74 or earlier, and this Spectrum record is from 1971. (This band is also not related to the Sonic Boom / Spacemen 3 project of the same name just so you know.)
Second of all I have to say that for the entirety of 2003 so far I (Windy) have listened to this record more than any other. It rewards repeated listening. Next I have to say that this Spectrum album comes the closest, yes, even among Gal Costa, Caetano Velosos, Gilbert Gil, to conjuring up the sweet 'n gutsy psychedelic pop that Os Mutantes did so well. Yes, the soundtrack to Geracao Bendita is that good. Spectrum's got melodies as bittersweet, compulsively hummable and pure 'n simple as the Beatles (whose catalog the boys in Spectrum reputedly could replicate perfectly), jangly 12-string as flowery and metallic as the Byrds, singing dressed with long drawn out vowels and harmonies worthy of the Mamas and the Papas, acid guitar riffing strongly reminiscent of their faves Steppenwolf. The stellar arrangements just take it over the top, just like with Os Mutantes, where the emphasis is less on verse chorus verse and more on sections. You never know where it's going but with the first notes of the record, which sound so good, you just sorta trust 'em. All this from a band whose average age was 21, from the city of Nova Friburgo in the state of Rio, Brazil. A band who never performed this soundtrack live even! The film, a celebration of peace & love taking place in a hippie wonderland was banned upon its release in 1970 and the soundtrack died a similar death.
MPEG Download: "Concerto do Pantano"
MPEG Stream: "Concerto do Pantano"
MPEG Download: "Mother Nature"
MPEG Stream: "Mother Nature"
MPEG Download: "Quiabo's"
MPEG Stream: "Quiabo's"

SUNBURNED HAND OF THE MAN Jaybird (Qbico) lp 21.00
This is a limited lp version of Jaybird, one of the handmade SHotM cd-r's, the one in fact that was singled out for much praise on Julian Cope's Head Heritage website (check it out here: http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/reviews/index.php?review_id=667)
And while maybe not my favorite Sunburned Hand record, it's definitely still great. This is SHotM at their most straight ahead and their most 'rock'. Stoned, psychedelic, spcaed out and downright groovy. Simple static beats, wah guitars and sprited yelps and hollers. This is still a slice of heavenly seventies krautrock, but HEAVY on the hippy vibe. Imagine a weird supergroup jam with a super-damaged Grateful Dead, the Dead C, Phish, Jandek, Santana, Reynols, John Spencer (on horse tranquilizers at 16rpm) and the No Neck Blues Band. Bluesy psychedelic rock, rambling and meandering and filtered through the aethetic of modern noiseniks. Toward the end of side two things start to stretch out, more echo, more delay, upping the freakout quotient considerably as the record blisses out and winds down. Nice.

TIETCHENS, ASMUS Adventures In Sound / Nachtstucke (Die Stadt) 2cd 23.00
This is the first in a massive 18 CD reissue campaign from Die Stadt of the German electronic music composer Asmus Tietchens.
"Adventures in Sound" documents some of the earliest recordings from Tietchens dating from 1965-1969. To the best of my knowledge, these had only been released in tiny private editions back in the day; but Tietchens may have transformed some of these on his seminal album "Formen Letzter Hausmusik" released by United Dairies in 1984. Working with two close friends Otto Becker (who to this day still helps with Tietchens' productions) and Hans Deiter Wohlmann, Tietchens offers a messy explosion of freeform experimentation into anti-structuralist streams of sound, playing both with the concepts of free jazz through loose psychedelic improvisations with guitar, flute, bass, piano, trumpet, drums, toy pianos, rubber bands, etc. and through primitive tape machine tricks (i.e. backwards masking, varispeed manipulation, rudimentary splicing, etc.). While not as well developed as Nurse With Wound or H.N.A.S., "Adventures In Sound" sounds not dissimilar to those projects' improv aesthetics, predating them by a good decade.
Originally released in 1980, "Nachtstucke" was the first major album for Tietchens despite his experimentations with music dating back to 1965. It was his one and only album for Egg Records, the shortlived division of Barclay in France specializing in progressive music (i.e. Christian Vander, Conrad Schnitzler, Popul Vuh, Vangelis, Roedelius, Heldon, etc.). This was the beginning of his 'pop' phase which lasted 4 albums, before announcing a dramatic shift towards electro-acoustic experimentation. With "Nachtstucke," he used rudimentary pop structures of simple one-finger keyboard melodies and arpeggiated electronic repetitions to build his obtuse electronic compositions, that fall somewhere between ice-rink music, Vangelis, and the Dr. Who theme.
MPEG Download: "Cripple Story (from Adventures In Sound)"
MPEG Stream: "Cripple Story (from Adventures In Sound)"
MPEG Download: "Falter-Lamento (from Nachtstucke)"
MPEG Stream: "Falter-Lamento (from Nachtstucke)"

TROUM Darve Sh (Beta-lactam Ring) 10" 14.98
While always flirting with post-Industrial references through the mechanical resonance of ominous drones, on this limited 10", Troum further explores post-Industrial rhythms as the template for a 'pure emotional expression'. The thick swarms of guitar drones, which dominate the aesthetic of both Troum and their previous group Maeror Tri, are present; however, the a-side to "Darve Sh" is centered on a dense drum machine loop that rumbles forward like a hydraulic engine and has been engulfed in Troum's signature density of miasmic sounds. If my memory serves me right, this track is very similar to (if not taken from) one of the tracks performed at the Edinburgh Castle in San Francisco during their first tour of the US, although there is no information supporting this claim on the record itself. The b-side to "Darve SH" mutes the drum machine, but doesn't remove the rhythm structure, as delay loops and hypnotic samples drive through the buzzing, multi-verb laden guitar drones. Limited and numbered to 500 copies.

ULVER 1993-2003: 1st Decade In The Machines (Jester) cd 14.98
Lupine Norwegian tricksters Ulver have been around for 10 years now, and mark the occasion with this invitational remix album, something very appropriate for a group whose whole career has been about morphing and reinventing themselves, remaining weirdo outsiders in whatever genre they visit. A decade ago they started out (and still have some residual allegiance to) the Nordic black metal genre, but today we're not sure what genre they claim, certainly it's not metal anymore. Glitchy electronica and downtempo beats took over from buzzing guitars and blast beats, but there's a definite connection between the two as this project proves.
Remixers include Ulver themselves (whose track goes way back to their Vargnatt demo tape from '93 for source material) and an international cast of experimentalists: Merzbow, Fennesz, Stars Of The Lid, Neotropic, Bogdan Raczynski, Third Eye Foundation, Information, Upland, Pita, V/Vm, Jazzkammer and a few others. An impressive and unusual line-up, certainly not entirely what we expected. Some do drones, some delve into beat-scapes, while others go for the raw black stuff, such as Merzbow (of course) whose ten-minute "Vow me Ibrzu" is one of the highlights, being a properly scary and noisy trawl through the evil riffage of Ulver's metallic past. Quite a few of the mixes are drawn from Ulver's more recent electronica efforts (Perdition City, the Silence eps, and the Lycantropen Themes soundtrack), but not all -- early stuff from Ulver's classic lycanthropian "Trilogie" of black metal albums (Bergtatt and Nattens Madrigal specifically) makes it on here as well. Several more mixes derive from Ulver's industrial version of William Blake's Marriage of Heaven and Hell, the double cd that was an early signpost of Ulver's willingness to violate genre norms and musical categorization. Like it says here, wolves evolve...
MPEG Download: FENNESZ "Only The Poor Have To Travel"
MPEG Stream: FENNESZ "Only The Poor Have To Travel"
MPEG Download: UPLAND "Lost In Moments Remix"
MPEG Stream: UPLAND "Lost In Moments Remix"
MPEG Download: MERZBOW "Vow me Ibrzu"
MPEG Stream: MERZBOW "Vow me Ibrzu"

VANDER, CHRISTIAN Les Cygnes Et Les Corbeaux (Seventh) cd 21.00
Magma fans, here's a qualified heads up. Magma maestro Christian Vander does a bird-themed "orchestral" release (voices, piano, percussion, and keyboards -- no real orchestra, unfortunately, but it sounds loads better than Glenn Danzig's orchestral synth effort, remember that?). The vocals are definitely the thing here most in the Magma vein, totally over the top at parts, Vander and his wife Stella taking the lead but with plenty of choral back-up from their zeuhl cohorts. Musically, it has got its massive and majestic moments, with pretty piano interludes linking big, stirring emotional passages.
So, the big question: without the Magma connection, would I really be listening to this sort of thing? Well, and this is tough for a guy with a Magma wristwatch to admit, but, probably not... it's a bit too Peter & The Wolf at times. The vocals are awesome, the fake flutes aren't. Still, I bought one!
We really have to quote the label's press release on this, just for kicks: "Fifteen years in composition (1982 - 1997) and more than four years in the making, this music is something entirely new, bridging the compositional efforts of the 20th Century post Schoenbergian greats to create a 21st Century music which grasps the essence of the vast interior stillness behind all sound and pierces the intensity of silence behind all noise. Disavowing all mechanical tempos, this free-flowing masterpiece reveals itself through the formless form of vortices and spirals, cascading, recursive, ineffable. 65 minutes of fluttering wings, of song, of cries, of absolutely different sensations, this is a neo-impressionist composition of revolutionary proportions and aspirations." "I have found in the motion of swans and crows a parallel with the inner motion of the Kosmos itself. Or, at least, this is what I perceive in it."--Christian Vander, 6th March 2002
Wow. Dunno about all that, but as a bird-inspired cosmic keyboard symphony from the mastermind behind one of the most astounding '70s prog rock rock bands ever, this will tempt diehard Magma fans, though it is quite a bit more expensive that other Seventh label releases we've got, probably due to the fancy mini-lp sleeve style packaging this boasts, which unfortunately bears a graphically kinda crappy looking cover painting (of course, as is so often the case, there's some really nice artwork to be found in the cd booklet that could have made for a wonderful cover instead of what they chose...oh well, just look in the booket not at the cd sleeve when you're listening to this).
MPEG Download: "Sahiss Siiaaht"
MPEG Stream: "Sahiss Siiaaht"
MPEG Download: "Les Cygnes Et Les Corbeaux Sont Venus"
MPEG Stream: "Les Cygnes Et Les Corbeaux Sont Venus"

WHITE STRIPES Elephant (V2) cd 16.98
Ahhh the new long awaited White Stripes major label debut! At first listen I was scared that this was gonna be too slick n' radio friendly but I thought it would grow on me, and it did. It's really great. I can appreciate the tough position the band must have been in what with all the hype and expectations, and really they did a good job of keeping their charming qualities yet moving forward and doing new stuff, ya know 'evolving'. My (Sadie's) favorite record is still De Stijl for the stripped down bluesiness of it, but I am listening to this one over and over cuz its new, and damn good too. The songs range from stadium rockesque guitar wankyness to simple simple stripped down rawness. The lyrics are clever and sweet yet mean as always. One song is sung by a girl whom I assume is Meg. Then there's this really funny track with both Meg and Jack White and guest Holly Golightly doing this lil' conversational piece. Kinda silly but I still eat it up. And a Bacharach cover, "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself". There's not much more to say really, if you are a White Stripes fan, and there are so many of us you probably are one, you won't be disappointed!
MPEG Download: "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself"
MPEG Stream: "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself"
MPEG Download: "I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother's Heart"
MPEG Stream: "I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother's Heart"

WILCO I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, A Film About Wilco By Sam Jones (Plexifilm) 2dvd 24.00
I think the best part about this movie is the serendipity involved. It was meant to be just your typical "making of our record" documentary. But during the filming, band members were dismissed, the band was dropped, the label that dropped them ended up paying for the record AGAIN and re-signing them, and the record went on to unbelievable commercial and critical success. Which all contributes to making this film, as well as the extra goodies, emminently watchable. Windy thought it was trifle too contrivedly arty, filmed in black and white, very stylized, but I think it really suits the music, and the mood of much of the film. What should have been this exciting joyous occasion, making the best record of their careers, was marred by depressing setback after depressing setback. But as we all know, that makes for good watching!! The film itself is beautiful and slow paced. Lots to take in, but easy to be lulled by the music and the scenery. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Helps that I do love the record as well. The extras are what make this essential. A documentary on the making of the film, the theatrical trailer, a bunch of funny outtakes, some really ridiculous stage banter ("Your Mom is cock!"), some annoying outtakes of Jim O'Rourke hamming it up, meeting with fans and a bunch of other stuff. But it's all the extra music that makes this a must have. 17 additional Wilco songs, some unreleased, some different versions of songs from the album, performed live, in the studio, even in Jeff Tweedy's home while the cameraman's phone keeps ringing. And if I rememeber correctly there's even one or two Uncle Tupelo songs! Also comes with a big booklet full of liner notes, photos and the film maker's diary. And a pretty good deal at 24.00 for 2 DVDs! For anyone who loved Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, or loves Wilco, or loved Uncle Tupelo or who just wants to see a cool movie about a great band making a great record.

WRIGHT, PETER The Broken Kawai (Pseudoarcana) cd-r 12.98
After some initial clang and crash and general futzing about and plugging in, Peter Wright gives the drone-heads everything they've been jonesing for. Rich deep drones with drifting, wailing feedback offering up minimal melody, shimmery industrial soundscapes, and noisy expanses of raw sound that alternately wrap your ears in sandpaper of velvet. Instrumentation includes guitar, clarinet, percussion, bicycle (!), and of course the broken Kawai.
MPEG Download: "The Broken Kawai"
MPEG Stream: "The Broken Kawai"
MPEG Download: "Sugar Train"
MPEG Stream: "Sugar Train"

YETI issue #2 magazine + cd 9.95
This magazine (or what they like to call a book, 'cause it's square bound and BIG, 182 pages) is the second sighting so far of Mike McGonigal's Yeti. Yep, it's big and fulla art and writing well worth your time. Music and comix are two of Yeti's main interests, so there's an eclectic array of interviews with the likes of Laura Cantrell, Aceyalone, Richard Thompson, Ben Katchor and Steffen Basho-Junghans...plus a miscellany of features on everything from Alfred Jarry to early Blues (by Luc Sante) to, uh, unicorns!
Plus this comes with its own soundtrack, a 25 track cd compilation with Steffen Basho-Junghans (2 tracks), Iron & Wine (2 also, one being a Flaming Lips cover), Keith Fullerton Whitman, live Death Cab For Cutie (doing a Stone Roses song), Califone, live Shins, a Pell Mell outtake, Six Organs of Admittance, and loads more!!
MPEG Download: IRON & WINE "Waiting For Superman"
MPEG Stream: IRON & WINE "Waiting For Superman"

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 Download: "The Drill"
MPEG Stream: "The Drill"
MPEG Download: "Warriors Dance"
MPEG Stream: "Warriors Dance"

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V/A A Lowtides Rising (Explorations Around The Theme Of NZ Acoustic Music) (Pseudoarcana) cd-r 12.98
A sampling of New Zealand acoustic music, covering EVERY possible permutation of 'acoustic' you can imagine, from rumbles to shrieks to soundscapes to actual songs. Features a veritable who's who of AQ faves: Birchville Cat Motel, Antony Milton, Seht, 1/3 Octave Band, Sleep, Peter Wright, Pumice and a bunch more. A VERY liberal interpretation of acoustic, but all the more appealing for it!
MPEG Download: BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL "Lithe Mansions"
MPEG Stream: BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL "Lithe Mansions"
MPEG Download: 1/3 OCTAVE BAND "Walk Towards The Moon"
MPEG Stream: 1/3 OCTAVE BAND "Walk Towards The Moon"
MPEG Download: SEHT "We Can Talk Quite Freely"
MPEG Stream: SEHT "We Can Talk Quite Freely"

V/A Classic Blues From Smithsonian Folkways (Smithsonian Folkways) cd 12.98
Smithsonian continues their semi-low price sampler series with this collection of blues recordings from the label. Like the others in this series, this is a good introduction to the label's prolific catalog and includes tracks dating back to the forties and fifties and even includes a few more recent recordings. This collection brings together Delta, St. Louis, Southwest, and Chicago blues from such notables as: Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Big Bill Broonzy, Leadbelly, Son House, Reverend Gary Davis, Lightnin' Hopkins, Elizabeth Cotten, Champion Jack Dupree, Etta Baker, Roosevelt Sykes and much more. Includes extensive liner notes with bios on the performers as well as pertinent discographical information to facilitate the urge to delve deeper into the catalog.
MPEG Download: BIG BILL BROONZY "Mule-Ridin' Blues"
MPEG Stream: BIG BILL BROONZY "Mule-Ridin' Blues"
MPEG Download: ELIZABETH COTTEN "Vastapol"
MPEG Stream: ELIZABETH COTTEN "Vastapol"

V/A Mahagita: Harp and Vocal Music of Burma (Smithsonian Folkways) cd 16.98
Another classical tradition on the verge of extinction, thankfully immortalized to some degree on this disc from Smithsonian Folkways. The repertoire of the Burmese harp long considered the zenith of Burmese cultural expression has, like most art forms in this world which require vast study and patience, been on the losing side of a battle with popular music for many years now. It's maybe somewhat ironic that the current repressive government of Burma (since renamed Myanmar) is responsible for the attempted resurgence in the instrument's place in society. The efforts have apparently been too little, too late as the master harpist featured on this recording, Inle Myint Maung, passed away shortly after these recordings were made. Whether he was able to impart enough of his knowledge onto his students and whether they take it to heart to continue the tradition remains to be seen. On these recordings Inle Myint Maung is accompanied by vocalist Daw Yi Yi Thant. The pair mix and mingle their melodic lines in a melodic counterpoint with the vocalist's sustained notes punctuated by percussive embellishments from the harp. As you've come to expect from all Smithsonian Folkways releases, this comes with extensive and well written liner notes.
MPEG Download: INLE MYINT MAUNG & YI YI THANT "The Glory of the King"
MPEG Stream: INLE MYINT MAUNG & YI YI THANT "The Glory of the King"

V/A Pull Up The Paisley Covers: A Psychedelic Omnibus (Aether) cd 14.98
Our pal Stan at Aether Records put together this comp of modern-day psychedelic bands paying tribute to the psych greats of the past. Like most comps, it's got its winners and losers, but the concept works out pretty well, and it makes for a good introduction to both the contemporary acts doing the cover versions and the '60s/'70s era artists being covered, who range from Woodstock-era big shots to obscure artists mainly known today only to psychedelic record collector freaks, here's some of 'em: The Doors, The Stones, Jefferson Airplane, The Who, The Pretty Things, The Fox, Apple, The Syn, Linda Perhacs, The Churchills, The Incredible String Band... Meanwhile, the international array of artists doing the covers are *definitely* obscure, with the best-known to AQ customers probably being the Bevis Frond, P.G. Six (doing the ISB cover of course!), Abunai!, and SF's own Mushroom. Then there's Israel's psych-popsters Rockfour (who tackle a track by Israel's premiere '60s psych export, The Churchills), Japan's Kaminumada Yohji (whose 'cover' of AQ-fave UK pagan weirdos Comus is actually more of an improvisatory interpretation inspired by Comus, sorry to say) and ten others, some of which Terrastock types will doubtless recognize. Fortunately, Stan provides plenty of background in his detailed liner notes on every band/track. Generally you can't tell past from present with these covers, one exception being female-fronted LA duo Senseri who start things off with what's maybe a too modern-sounding (and cheesy) take on The Doors' "Peace Frog". After that though you're totally in the realm of retro nirvana though, geared towards fans of the genre. Of course fans will have their own ideas of what bands shoulda been on here (both old and new)...
MPEG Download: BEVIS FROND "Grounded"
MPEG Stream: BEVIS FROND "Grounded"
MPEG Download: P.G. SIX "My Name Is Death"
MPEG Stream: P.G. SIX "My Name Is Death"

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If you want to order one of these, just cut and paste the info into the comments area on the order form, or just email mailorder@aquariusrecords.org.

1349 RYKKINN "Brown Ring Of Fury" (Jester) cd 14.98
ADULT. "Anxiety Always" (Ersatz Audio) cd/2lp 12.98/12.98
AJATTARA "Kuolema" (Spikefarm) cd 14.98
AKIYAMA, TETUZI "Resophonie" (A Bruit Secret) cd 16.98
AMBARCHI, OREN "Triste" (Idea) 2lp 26.00
AMBARCHI, OREN / GUNTER MULLER / VOICE CRACK "Oystered" (Audiosphere) cd 15.98
AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD "The Secret of Elena's Tomb" (Interscope) cd ep 6.98
AYLER, ALBERT "Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe" (Impulse) cd 12.98
BARNES / KAJIWARA / ROSENFELD "A Water's Wake" (Locust) cd 14.98
BASHO-JUNGHANS, STEFFEN "Rivers And Bridges" (Strange Attractors Audio House) cd 13.98
BATHORY "Nordland II" (Black Mark) cd 14.98
CALIX, MIRA "Skimskitta" (Warp) cd 17.98
FAINT, THE "Danse Macabre Remixes" (Astralwerks) cd 16.98
FARMERS MANUAL "RLA" (Mego) dvd 32.00
FLYNT, HENRY "Hillbilly Tape Music" (Recorded) cd 16.98
GESCOM "SS SA" (Skam) cd ep/12" 8.98/9.98
HOLCOMB, ROSCOE "An Untamed Sense of Control" (Smithsonian Folkways) cd 16.98
HORRORS, THE "Vent" (In The Red) cd 13.98
JACKMAN, DAVID "Flak" (Die Stadt) 10" 16.98
LIFEGUARDS "Mist King Urth" (Recordhead) cd 15.98
MARDUK "World Funeral" (Regain) cd 12.98
MURS "The End Of The Beginning" (Definitive Jux) cd 17.98
OLD MAN'S CHILD "In Defiance of Existence" (Century Media) cd 15.98
STAVIS, GEORGE "Labyrinths" (Arkama) cd 16.98
STEREONERDS, THE "HD Endless" (Rather Interesting) cd 15.98
SUBARCHNOID SPACE "Also Rising" (Strange Attractors Audio House) cd 14.98
TELEVISION "Marquee Moon" (4 Men With Beards) lp 15.98
TROLLHEIMS GROTT "Bloodsoaked and Ill-Fated" (Viking Musiiki) cd 14.98
V/A "Replay Debussy" (Auraton / Universal) cd 17.98
V/A "Return of the Fight Club" (Tigerbeat 6) 12" 7.98
XEROPHONICS "Copying Machine Music" (Seeland) cd 14.98



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MARCY'S HAVING HER BFA FILM SHOW AT CCAC IN OAKLAND


Marcy's having her BFA film show at CCAC in Oakland! The evening will consist of a few films made over the last couple years at CCAC, including the new-wave rip-off "Mexico," looking for airplane graveyards in the desert in "1,020 Nautical Miles," and a work-in-progress about a ghost town sinking into a South Bay salt marsh. Plus: a special presentation of Greta Snider's excellent 16mm short "No-Zone," just for fun.

Monday, April 14th, 7pm
Nahl Hall @ CCAC Oakland
5212 Broadway (where Broadway meets College)
more info: email Marcy rrose_selavy@angelfire.com



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SELECTED UPCOMING RELEASES


----} April 8th
Yo La Tengo "Summer Sun" cd/lp on Matador
Soft Pink Truth (Drew Daniels of Matmos) "Do You Party?" cd
Yoshimi and Yuka "Flower With No Color" cd on Ipecac
Autechre "Draft 7.30" cd/2lp on Warp
Stereolab "ABC Music...The Radio One Sessions" 2cd domestic release on Koch
The Bug "Pressure" cd on Tigerbeat6
1926 "Last But Not Leased" cd on Siltbreeze
Portastatic "The Summer Of The Shark" cd on Merge
Tommy Guerrero "Soul Food Taqueria" cd/lp on Mo'Wax
Set Fire To Flames "Telegraphs in Negative/Mouths Trapped in Static" cd on Alien8
Nobukazu Takemura "Songbook" cd/lp on Bubble Core
Peter Brotzmann Group "More Nipples" cd on Atavistic
The Stratford 4 "Love & Distortion" cd on Jetset
Sahara Hotnights "C'mon Let's Pretend" domestic cd version of their debut on Jetset
v/a "Autechre Presents All Tomorrow's Parties 3.0" cd on All Tomorrow's Parties
Mouse On Mars "Glam" cd reissue on Thrill Jockey
Nobukazu Takemura "Assember/Assembler 2" cd on Thrill Jockey
Mono (Japan) "One More Step You Die" cd on Arena Rock
Cryptopsy "None So Live" cd on Century Media
Toadliquor "Hortator's Lament" cd on Southern Lord
Amebix "Make Some Fucking Noise" live cd on Arson

----} April 15th
ZZ Top "Mescalero" cd on RCA
Monade (Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab) "Socialism Ou Barbarie: The Bedroom Recordings" cd/lp on Drag City
Neil Hagerty And The Howling Hex cd/2lp on Drag City
Alasdair Roberts "Farewell Sorrow" cd/lp on Drag City
The High Llamas "Retrospective Rarities And Instrumentals" cd on V2
Daniel Johnston "The Complete Early Recordings" cd on Dualtone
v/a "Trojan Reggae Brothers" 3cd box set on Trojan
Whirlwind Heat "Do Rabbits Wonder?" cd on V2

----} April 22nd
Sunn0)))) "White 1" cd/2lp on Southern Lord
Opeth "Damnation" cd on Koch
Blithe Sons "We Walk The Young Earth" cd on Family Vineyard
Arab Strap "Monday at the Hug & Pint" cd/lp cd on Matador
v/a "Wild Dub: Dread Meets Punk Rocker Downtown" cd on Select Cuts
Leviathan "10th Sublevel of Suicide" cd on Moribund
Sleep "Dopesmoker" cd/2lp on Tee Pee
Sigur Ros "Untitled 1" 10"/3"cd/dvd on Fat Cat
v/a "Classic Old-Time Music" cd on Smithsonian Folkways
John Zorn "Chimeras" cd on Tzadik
Adachi Tomomi Royal Chorus "Yo" cd on Tzadik (New Japan Series)
Kaoru Abe "Last Recording 1978.8.29" cd on DIW
Pole "45/45" cdep/12" on Mute
Timesbold "s/t" cd domestic on Blue Sanct
Julie Doiron "Broken Girl" cd on Jagjaguwar
Evan Dando "Baby I'm Bored" cd on Bar None
Amy Rigby "Til The Wheels Fall Off" cd on Signature Sounds
Big Star "Big Star Story" anthology cd on Ryko
Rahsaan Roland Kirk "Compliments Of The Mysterious Phantom" cd on Hyena
RJD2 "The Horror" 2cd on Def Jux
Cult of Luna "The Beyond" cd on Earache
Ved Buens Ende "Written In Waters" reissue on Candlelight
Culper Ring "355" cd on Neurot Recordings (Kris Force, Mason Jones, and Steve Von Till)
Curl Up And Die "We Can Be Through With The Past" cdep on Status Recordings
Boom Bip "From Left To Right" 12" on Lex
Push Button Objects "Ghetto Blaster" cd/2lp on Chocolate Industries

----} also in April
Wolf Eyes/Viki/Mammal LP on Toyo

----} May 6th
New Pornographers "The Electric Version" cd/lp on Matador
Belle & Sebastian dvd on Matador
Turbonegro "Scandinavian Leather" cd on Epitaph/Burning Heart
Soilwork "Figure Number Five" cd on Nuclear Blast
Gorgoroth "Twilight Of The Idols" cd on Nuclear Blast
Four Tet "Rounds" cd/lp on Domino
Tomahawk "Mit Gas" cd on Ipecac
Goldfrapp "Black Cherry" cd/lp on Mute
Fog "Ether Teeth" cd/2lp on Ninjatune
Broadcast "Pendulum" cdep/12" on Warp
Lamb "What Sound Deluxe Edition" domestic cd on Koch
Prefuse 73 "One Word Extinguisher" cd/2lp on Warp
v/a "Ikebana: Merzbow's Amlux Rebuilt, Reused and Recycled" remix cd on Important (w/Mouse on Mars, Alec Empire, Cornelius, Kid 606, Negativland, Kawabata Makoto, Nobukaza Takemura, Plug, EAR, Chicks On Speed, DJ/Rupture, Kim Hiorthoy, Lasse Marhaug, John Wiese, and more)

----} May 13th
Wire "Send" cd on Pink Flag

----} May 20th
Enslaved "Below The Lights" cd (also, a DVD called "Live Retaliation" is coming out too, soon)
Joe Pernice "Yours, Mine and Ours" cd on Ashmont
Inspectah Deck "The Movement" cd on Koch
The Holy Modal Rounders "Good Taste Is Timeless" cd reissue on Sundazed
Yamamoto Seiichi "Nu Frequency" cd on Tzadik
Pink & Brown "Shame Fantasy II" cd on Load
Noxagt "Turning It Down Since 2001" cd on Load

----} May 27th
The Vanishing "Songs for Psychotic Children" cd/lp on GSL
Led Zeppelin 2dvd and "How The West Was Won" 3cd on Atlantic

----} also in May
Surface of Eceon tba cd on Strange Attractors Audio House
20 Second Compilation cd on Toyo
The Vanishing "Songs for Psychotic Children" cd/lp on GSL
Surface of Eceon tba cd on Strange Attractors Audio House
v/a "20 Second Compilation" cd on Toyo

----} June
The Locust tba cd on Anti/Epitaph
Dead Meadow TBA cd/2lp on Matador
Cocteau Twins remastered domestic reissues on 4AD

----} some other future 2003 releases to look forward to
Guapo "The Five Suns" cd on Cuneiform
Troum "Sigqan" cd on Desolation House
Reynols "Rampotanza Ronil Remplante" cd on Locust
Van der Graaf Generator "Live 1971" DVD
Halana magazine issue number 5!
Coelecanth "The Glass Sponge"
Cul de Sac "The Strangler's Wife" OST cd on Strange Attractors Audio House
P.G. Six "The Well of Memory" cd on Amish
Dan Matz (Windsor for the Derby / Birdwatcher) "Carry Me Over" on Amish
Gossip tba cd/lp on KRS
Six Organs of Admittance tba cd on Strange Attractors Audio House



"The first couple days were really exciting," Bush said. "I was having all sorts of cool strategy meetings with these high-level military men I don't usually talk to, and it all felt very historic. But now, it's gotten to be kind of a monotonous grind. It's always, 'The line has advanced this much.' 'We need to wait for backup here.' 'We're making good progress, but it's been complicated by blah blah blah.' It's all these tedious, same-sounding details. Can I hear something new for a change, like 'They surrender,' or 'Saddam's dead'? Something„anything but more stupid reports of sandstorms."

"I don't think my dad's war took this long, and we've got much better weapons now."

-- http://www.theonion.com/onion3912/bush_thought_war.html



Windy Byram Cup Allan Jim Andee Marcy and Sadie