LANSING-DREIDEN The Dividing Island (Kemado) cd 14.98
At first we weren't sure what to make of this band, with their awkward name, their super spare black and white artwork, their well crafted mystery, a seemingly complete lack of any sort of pertinent information, no photos, no real liner notes, no mention of individual band members. All very alluring most certainly. We had heard them described as "dreamy space rock... with a psychedelic metal twist" which definitely sounds good. And as some sort of heavy metal / new wave hybrid, which as good as -that- sounds, it most definitely seems like something that would work better in theory than in practice. In actuality, Lansing-Dreiden are neither of those, and end up being way more interesting than any of that would have led us to believe.
Lansing-Dreiden are not just a band either, no, they're a sort of arts collective: musicians, sculptors, artists, writers, film makers, replete with the requisite gallery showings, Artforum writeups, film premiers and rock shows. The lines between each of these disciplines are so blurry they might as well not exist. Their vibe, both visually and sonically is warm and washed out, a gauzy soft focus shapshot of pop culture past, the sound on The Dividing Island is both dizzyingly bizarre and dreamily overwhelming, a pastiche of all sorts of disparate pop elements, loads of instantly recognizable hooks, sweet harmony vocals, squiggly synths, horns, soft whispery crooning, bi arena rock drums, jangling guitars, huge sheets of fuzzy reverb, hand claps, cheesy electronic drums, It's almost like it's 1985 and we're watching MTV in some alternate universe. This is definitely some sort of (old) new wave, no trace of metal to be found (well mostly, more on that in a minute), no space rock really either, although there is plenty of spaced out trippiness. But even with bits of spaciness, and some space rock swirl here and there, that stuff is just window dressing for L-D's passion, which seems to be cracked eighties pop. Lansing-Dreiden is some sort of weird musical time machine, skipping lazily from 1982 to 1985 to 1989 and back again. Where Ariel Pink took seventies AM radio, and turned it into his own disheveled, cracked demented pop vision, Lansing-Dreiden instead take eighties FM radio and classic eighties MTV and gives them their own warm and warped, precious and polished spin. Imagine a hip NY art rock band channeling everything you loved and loathed about ABC, Style Council, Talk Talk, Spandau Ballet, the Fixx, Kajagoogoo, Thompson Twins, Culture Club, Fun Boy Three, Naked Eyes, Psychedelic Furs, The Call, Modern English, etc. There are some moments where the band dips its toes into the more rollicking contemporary NY new wave redux sound of bands like Interpol and the Strokes, and there are stretches of moody near ambient post rock, but for the most part this is a dead ringer for some lost eighties 'classic'. Mix tapes, John Cusack, Say Anything, Breakfast Club, it's like our teenage years revisited, albeit with a slightly more twisted and sinister bent.
There may seemingly be nary a trace of any metal on The Dividing Island, but best stick around for the final track, metallically titled "Dethroning The Optimyth", quite possibly the greatest (only) song ever to mix eighties MTV pop and crushing death metal! As much as we dig the rest of the record, we almost wish the whole record sounded like "Dethroning The Optimyth", although to be totally honest, the thought of a whole album of eighties pop death metal is almost too much to bear! Pounding double bass drumming, and chugging downtuned riffs collide with soft sweetly swoony pop, soaring synthesizers, airy breathless vocals, like laying on your bed, beneath your Kiss and Slayer posters, listening to your favorite metal record while your sister is in the next room BLASTING the soundtrack to the Breakfast Club through your thin walls. SO weird but SO COOL!
Comes in a gorgeously designed black and white cardboard sleeve that opens like a gatefold, the inside a series of alternating black and white triangles, and then the gatefold opens again with two more triangular panels, one black and and one white, all very austere and mysterious looking.
MPEG Stream: "Dividing Island"
MPEG Stream: "Cement To Stone"
MPEG Stream: "A Line You Can Cross"
MPEG Stream: "Dethroning The Optimyth"

STROTTER INST. Monstranz (Everest) cd 15.98
The turntable has to be the greatest instrument ever invented. At least the greatest instrument that was never actually intended to -be- an instrument, or to be -played- at all. What was a revolutionary breakthrough in the playback of popular music, eventually became the ultimate plunderphonic device, with a sonic palette only as limited as your record collection, and then not even limited by that. Broken records, shards of different records glued together, discs made out of wax, or sand paper, or stone, or plastic, or even no records at all, just the sounds of the turntable and the needle. We're not talking DJ's playing records either. Sure we dig that stuff too, but we're talking about people MAKING music out of bits and pieces, scraps and shards, creating whole new worlds of sound. Hard to say what it is exactly about the sound of a needle on vinyl that moves us so, it's warm, and fuzzy, and imperfect, maybe it's the sound of our childhoods, our early musical discoveries, but whatever it is, we love that sound, the whir and hiss, the pop and crackle, for all the striving for pristine perfect digital sound, we can't help but lean in the exact opposite direction, loving our music to be rough and murky, thick with warm warble and rain like static, a hiss that is all age and character and texture.
A small group of like minded artists have been exploring the possibilities of the turntable for years, the early experiments of Milan Knizak and his broken music, the grand and gorgeous soundscapes of Phillip Jeck, the vinyl sculptures of Christian Marclay and Martin Tetreault, the rhythmic playfulness of Pierre Bastien, Otomo Yoshihide's turntable explorations in Ground Zero, the minimal compositions of Institut Fuer Feinmotorik, utilizing the runoff grooves, and between song ambience to construct their pieces, and on and on.
For over a decade Swiss sound artist Christoph Hess had been experimenting with turntables, tape loops, skipping records, before deciding to jettison any and all music made by other musicians, and instead using just the turntable itself to create sound. Thus was born Strotter Inst. Five customized turntables, each rigged up with pieces of metal, strings and wires, elastic bands, allowed to spin at different RPMs, each turntable contributing a subtle element, creating dense tangled soundscapes of rhythm and texture. Loping and hypnotic, repetitive and mesmerizing. Low rumbling reverberations, slow stuttering twangs, these modified turntables sound remarkably like some sort of long stringed instrument with strings tightened just enough to stay on, but loose enough that they sort of buzz and rumble, pulse and throb. The framework for each track is a sort of lowend turntable riff, the wires and bands and cords are struck and plucked by the revolving turntable, creating slow slithery rhythms, within each a very subtle muted melody, everything slowly morphs and shifts as the various turntables sync up and then drift apart. Imagine the sound of five bass players, all playing simple slow melodies on primitive one string basses, and imagine them playing similar parts, but at slightly different tempos. A slow moving, motorik soundscape of thump and thrum. And around these loping rhythms are soft fuzzy clouds of crackle and hiss, the sound of the needles scraping the surface of the turntables, or skidding across pieces of metal, these contrasting sounds are dense and rich, sounding almost like super distorted vocals at one moment, thick washes of feedback the next. The sound may be simple and subtle, but it's also intense and overwhelming, like Jeck spinning Skullflower, or Marclay armed with only some Mingus bass solo dubplates, or a Tiermes / Bastien soundclash. So dark and mysterious and totally pure and primal sounding. This is SOUND as much as it is music. This is the turntable as musical instrument. This is rhythm and rhythms, this is machine music, but a machine freed from it's shackles, a new instrument, born, loosed, unleashed. Amazing.
Amazingly packaged in a die cut cardstock digipak, a large circular hole cut in the front, a smaller hole in the back, so you can see straight through. The front cover has imbedded in it an actual piece of plastic with record grooves etched into it, playable on your turntable! In fact when you listen to the cd you'll notice the first track is all silence, that's because the first track is actually on the sleeve, while the final track is only downloadable from the Strotter website, managing to subtly connect our history of recorded music, a release that is only complete as a record, a cd and an mp3.
MPEG Stream: "#2"
MPEG Stream: "#3"

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1900S, THE Plume Delivery (Parasol) cd 10.98
Wonderful breezy pop very much in the vein of Belle And Sebastian that also reveals a moodier side. Dare we say that this 6-song ep by Chicago sextet The 1900s almost makes for a better B&S follow-up to Dear Catastrophe Waitress than The Life Pursuit! Yes, we do. Much like those Scots' last few lush albums, The 1900s' Plume Delivery comes fully decked out with organs, harpsichord, violin, keyboards, horns. Of course, that alone wouldn't mean much if the bountiful instrumental palette wasn't put to good use, but it certainly is. The 1900s incorporate it all seamlessly into such lovely melodies and glorious arrangements. But the super dreaminess comes from the vocal department, Caroline Donovan and Jeanine O'Toole's voices alternately remind us of Isobel Campbell and Laetitia Sadier, while mainman Edward Anderson's voice can easily be compared to Belle And Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch. If you dig the sounds of the abovementioned bands as well as The Delgados, Call And Response, Young & Sexy and Mates Of State, you might also take a shine to The 1900s. A super delight from start to finish!
MPEG Stream: "Bring The Good Boys Home"
MPEG Stream: "Whole Of The Law"

AVARUS Vesikansi (Secret Eye) cd 14.98
Once again these wide eyed Finnish forest freaks crawl out from under their mossy stones, from inside their firelit caves, out of their huts made of pine needles and sticks and twigs, set up around a campfire, under a full moon, dressed only in fur and animal bones, and conjure up the woodland spirits with their tribal free folk juju. Okay, so maybe it's actually just a bunch of music nerds like you or me with killer record collections and a bunch of old amps and guitars, but to us, it sure sounds like the glorious din these folks whip up could only be the product of some drug fueled ancient forest ritual. Which is precisely why we love Avarus and their Finnish underground rock brethren (and sistren!). The music they make sound not of this world. And we don't mean "Oh Finland's like a whole other world!" we mean, space, or an alternate dimension or even that huge hollow area at the center of the earth. The music of Avarus is that unique and that strange, exactly what we picture one might hear, stepping off of an interstellar transport, realizing for the first time that the atmosphere is breathable, and the vegetation is strangely lush and very Earth-like, that sound, "like music?" that lures us and our team deep into the alien forest. Or in the heart of South America, at an archaeological dig, strange markings on the rocks we've been unearthing from the very lowest levels of the lost temple, finally there's some sort of portal, a huge iron door, and... wait, is that... music? But what is it? It's like nothing we've ever heard, those sound like guitars, and voices, but so... strange....
For those of you who need more musical references, imagine a little Dead C, a little No Neck Blues Band, some Sunburned Hand Of The Man, Faust, Can, The Wickerman, all sorts of tribal musics, Parson Sound, Tower Recordings, Taj Mahal Travellers, even fellow countrymen Circle, Keukhot, Uton, Tivol and of course lots of drugs and lots and lots of space. This newest Avarus is a bit heavier on the guitar than previous outings, almost like they dug up a couple ancient fuzzboxes and ran their dang whole freaked out jam through 'em. There are lots of creepy krautrock bits, some blown out near noise parts, and lots of fuzzy disembodied psych, gurgling synths, splattery percussion, thick washes of feedback, primitive electronics, and loads of grungey guitar grit, it's all woven together into a crazy perfect psychedelic patchwork.
More crazy random collage artwork, this time no Garfield, but plenty of walruses, a map and an octopus. Half the record was recorded live in Dublin with Tara Burke of Fursaxa as a special guest!Ô
MPEG Stream: "Lapsivesi"
MPEG Stream: "Loylyvesi"

BLACK HEART PROCESSION The Spell (Touch And Go) cd 14.98
Oddly enough, we were just musing aloud about the whereabouts of these ol' AQ faves, and -Poof!- like magic, The Spell appeared before us.
The last album by this San Diego band saw them taking a few detours from their trademark velvet-tapestried funereal march. The aptly titled Amor Del Tropico toyed with cocktail 'n' bossanova themes to good effect, but on The Spell they've found their way back into the shadowy folds. And we welcome them back with open arms 'cause while we certainly enjoyed Amor, it's been far too long without a full dose of the somber beauty that Pall Jenkins and Tobias Nathaniel do best. Once you've been bitten by that intoxicating old BHP (if you haven't already!) you'll know what we mean. Their bleakly despairing yet utterly beautiful second album, released in 1999 and simply titled 2, still succeeds in captivating virtually everyone within earshot. From the opening track "The Spell" offers a more straightforward rock feel with more prominent muscular electric guitars and hence a bit more momentum, but still maintains their trademark sense of utter desolation. Thumbs up on this downer!
MPEG Stream: "Tangled"
MPEG Stream: "The Letter"

BLACK HEART PROCESSION The Spell (Touch and Go) lp 16.98
Oddly enough, we were just musing aloud about the whereabouts of these ol' AQ faves, and -Poof!- like magic, The Spell appeared before us.
The last album by this San Diego band saw them taking a few detours from their trademark velvet-tapestried funereal march. The aptly titled Amor Del Tropico toyed with cocktail 'n' bossanova themes to good effect, but on The Spell they've found their way back into the shadowy folds. And we welcome them back with open arms 'cause while we certainly enjoyed Amor, it's been far too long without a full dose of the somber beauty that Pall Jenkins and Tobias Nathaniel do best. Once you've been bitten by that intoxicating old BHP (if you haven't already!) you'll know what we mean. Their bleakly despairing yet utterly beautiful second album, released in 1999 and simply titled 2, still succeeds in captivating virtually everyone within earshot. From the opening track "The Spell" offers a more straightforward rock feel with more prominent muscular electric guitars and hence a bit more momentum, but still maintains their trademark sense of utter desolation. Thumbs up on this downer!
MPEG Stream: "Tangled"
MPEG Stream: "The Letter"

COURT AND SPARK, THE Hearts (Absolutely Kosher) cd 13.98
This week marks the welcome release of a few new albums by a few old AQ faves including this fine Bay Area combo Court & Spark (others include Matmos, Black Heart Procession, Jolie Holland, Enslaved and Longmont Potion Castle!). Hearts finds the band taking even more of a '70s classic country rock direction than on their 2004 album Witch Season (which was already knee deep in that vibe and sound). That said, somehow they've struck what in our opinion is a better balance between their earlier roughhewn selves and their more recent luminously polish recordings.
There are two types of songs on Hearts, although the differences are subtle shades of grey. There are the dark brooding soulful introspective numbers, with glistening guitars, lush instrumentation, and MC Taylor's velvety croon, much more polished now than whiskey soaked, but it definitely suits their constantly maturing sound. Then there are the slightly more rocking tracks, channeling the Eagles and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, with foot stomping rhythms and wah guitar. But even when the band is kicking up a rocking fuss, this is still more of a late night early afternoon stroll, definitely on the dark introspective side, all warm breezes and rustling leaves, looking inward with eyes cast earthward, hearts on sleeves, lumps in throats. So nice.
And if you're looking for a listening companion, this fits quite nicely alongside Calexico's most recent album Garden Ruin.
MPEG Stream: "Let's Get High"
MPEG Stream: "Your Mother Was Lightning"
MPEG Stream: "We Were All Uptown Rulers"

DEAD REPTILE SHRINE A Journey Through The Darkest Of Forrests (Werewolf) cd 14.98
When it comes to black metal, our tastes most definitely runÔ toward the damaged, the demented, the fried and freaked out, the totally baffing, the weirder the better. And there's no shortage of black metal misanthropes, holed up in their caves, or their cabins, or their flats, or their grandfathers' basements, meticulously crefting, ultra personal, maddeningly idiosyncratic outsider black metal. And we are constantly digging for more. The bar has been set pretty high, Benighted Leams obviously, the reigning champions of damaged outsider black metal, then there's Furze and hisÔ'cogent black metal necrosis', let's not forget Emit, Rehtaf Ruo, Necrofrost, Hidden, Vorak, Contra Ignem Fatuum and the elusive Striborg, whose releases have been so difficult to track down we have yet to list a single one. Phew. That's a pretty heady constellation of bizarre black metal royalty, the bar has been set pretty high. So you know, that it is not without some serious soul searching that we would dare declare a record quite possibly the weirdest black metal record ever. But we have searched, and it is thus. Dead Reptile Shrine, from Finland, the record is A Journey Through Darkened Forests and it does indeed sound just like that.
We had practically given up on getting these for the store, Andee had even contacted the band about re-issuing the disc in the states, but luckily we discovered a distributor in Australia who had 30 copies and we took all of them. Hmmm. Finland to Australia to the United States, a long journey but it was well worth it we think. Everything about this band is bizarre, the name obviously, the song titles: "A Cave Full Of Corpse Lanterns", "The Snakes Of The Earth Pt. II", "Exekutioner Of The Final Solution", "Above The Ziggurat They Dance", "Clouds Of Doom Gather..." and of course "A Beastcults Procession", the artwork, an appropriately illegible band logo and album title, both peppered with eagles and stars and scorpions as well as loads of squiggles, the band photo of DRC, in a an army jacket, head hung low, hair obscuring his face, in front of what appears to be a huge mound of mud and sticks, with a waving hand emerging from a tiny hole in the mound, and the music, oh the music, so warped and lo-fi, buzzy and doomy and just plain freaky and far fucking out. Wrest from Leviathan bought a copy, and even he could barely handle the Dead Reptile Shrine, which speaks volumes!Ô
A stumbling, staggering black metal buzz, struggling through walls of haze and fuzz, sounds a bit like a Burzum record with someone constantly fiddling with the pitch control, a warbly seasick black droning whir, with splattery drums, clanging super loud cymbals, and some of the weirdest vocals ever, going from the evil black metal rasp, to an atonal Jandekian croon, to a strange falsetto, to a warm whiskey soaked growl, often within the same song, sometimes within the same line! The entire record is murky and thick with oozing black atmosphere, some songs are loping doom dirges, others race along at breakneck (for DRS at least) speeds, threatening to fall apart completely, riffs sometimes stumble to a halt, before lurching back into action, rhythms, stutter, pause, leap forward, the vocals a chaotic swirl around the rickety song structures, minor key melodies and woozy guitars tangle and untangle as the songs slither and slide, leap and careen wildly, there are warbly mumbly soundscapes of droning rumble and otherworldly creaks and groans, tracks of spoken word over chanting monks, an electronic beatscape with garbled growls and haunting clean vocals, even a coupleÔbizarre acoustic tracks, one with throaty crooned vocals and deliberately stummed steel string guitar, some sort of Jandekian forest folk, with a riff that almost sounds like Nirvana. In fact the forest folk tag is not that far off really. Must be something in the Finnish atmosphere, but without the vocals, huge swaths of Dead Reptile Shrine could be some lost Uton or Avarus recording, or a furtively captured Tivol live session, and yet even with the vocals it still retains some haunting wild woods feral feeling. A Journey Through The Darkest Of Forests is indeed a fearful traipse through a black forest, the overhanging trees blotting out the moonlight, the sounds of the forest a murky buzz, insects and demons, wild beasts and lost souls. A baffling and frightening sonic world that should appeal to metalhead and free folkie alike.Ô
This was super limited (500 copies, each disc is hand numbered) and seems to be out of print. We have a whole bunch, but we're not sure we'll ever be able to get more.Ô
MPEG Stream: "Bones In The Dungeon"
MPEG Stream: "A Cave Full Of Corpse Lanterns"
MPEG Stream: "Fire And Flame"

DUNCAN, JOHN & CARL MICHAEL VON HAUSSWOLFF Our Telluric Conversation (23five, Inc.) cd 21.00
Before we get into the amazing sounds that John Duncan and C.M. von Hausswolff have created for this album (which we have to say is pretty fucking incredible), we have to drool over the artwork. Sure, it's always nice to get one of those hand-made packages, loving assembled by the musician from scraps of wallpaper or gesso smeared across heavy card stock; where the investment is paid through blood and sweat. But at the same time, it can sometimes be pretty fascinating to go all the way to the other end of the spectrum, to see what happens when money is no object, and thus nearly any vision can be realised. The recent Tool record is one example (reviewed elsewhere on this list) with its incredible built in lenses and stereoscopic booklet. And then there's Our Telluric Conversation, which employs a seriously and gloriously reckless design sensibility. Unfotunately, jpeg reproductions of this cd's cover will never translate how amazingly cool the packaging is. The white O-card / slipcover which wraps around the CD and the accompanying 40-page booklet is printed on a rubberized paper dotted with braille, making it strangely tactile, and thus not a little unsettling just to touch the album! Which is appropriate considering the musical content...
John Duncan and Carl Michael von Hausswolff have made an dark and unsettling album in Our Telluric Conversation, the second collaboration between these two AQ-favorite sound artists, opening with ominous bleeping, sort of sounding like sonar or a life support system barely keeping someone alive. An electronic turbulance gradually swarms around these mechanized pulses and explodes in a torrent of furious magneto noise, sounding very similar to the recent Duncan collaboration with Mika Vainio and Ilpo Vaisainen. Abruptly, the track comes to a halt as the whispering voice of Hausswolff begins reciting a presumably fictional tale in which the protagonist has been infected with maggots and tries to rid his body of the parasites by communing with lizards and snakes through a combination of occult rituals. Hausswolff's whisper is all that one hears, with his lips closely pressed up to the microphone making saliva, lips smacking, and teeth gnashing all audible. Upon the conclusion of Hausswolff's spoken excerpt, the two proceed with a long-form construction for brilliantly shimmered drones and flickering sinewaves that's as good as anything by Phill Niblock, Mirror, or The Hafler Trio. Our Telluric Conversation concludes with another extended composition that bridges the signature aesthetics of the two artists, with a deadened monotone of processed 60-cycle hums (that's Hausswolff) and a seductive processing of shortwave static (that's Duncan). By themselves, Duncan and Hausswolff have crafted amazing records; but together, these two have really tapped into something eerie, psychologically instable, and sublimely beautiful. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Like A Lizard"
MPEG Stream: "Entry (Enhanced)"
MPEG Stream: "Yet Another (Very) Abridged And Linear Interpretation"

FASSETT, JIM Symphony Of The Birds (EM Records) cd 25.00
We recently discovered a completely amazing Japanese label called EM Records. Pretty hard to pin down what exactly it is that they specialize in but that's precisely why we're so smitten. From not one, but -several- singing saw records, to acid psych reissues, long lost singer songwriters, early experimental tape music, bizarre robot disco, fifties rock and roll, Australian dub, Isophonic boogie woogie (?) and tons more. We've only begun to dip into the wonderful world of EM, but we're going to start listing them one at a time. This record was initially the release that convinced us to get in touch with EM. Jim Fassett's Symphony Of The Birds is bizarre and beautiful and had AQ written all over it. The liner notes are mostly in Japanese so it's hard to know too many of the details, but Symphony Of The Birds is an amazing example of early tape music, it just so happens that all the tapes used were recordings of songbirds, which Fassett chopped, and cut, spliced and sequenced into a totally unique symphony of bird calls.
The record opens with Fassett's explanatory comments featuring our favorite line: "But keep in mind, as you listen, that nothing has been added. If you think you hear something that sounds like a particular musical instrument, or a human voice, or anything else other than birdcalls, YOU'RE WRONG." The first movement is definitely the best, whistles and chirps, chopped and stretched into dense swirls of psychedelic sound, if you weren't paying close attention, you'd be hard pressed to hear that it was birds making these sounds. Very trippy and spacey and alien sounding, like some crazy analog synthesizer freakout. The second movement involves a lot more itch shifting and changes in tape speed, resulting in sort of clunky purposeful melodies, the same bird call in different pitches to assemble very simple sing songy melodies. The third movement gets back on track, with some of the bird call slowed WAY down so they becomes rumbling drones, while others are sped up and repeated rapidly making impossible trills that almost sound like some blast of Sunroof!-y skree.
The last three tracks feature Fassett narrating an imaginary trip through a meadow, allowing us to study closely the bird song of each different bird isolated from the others, with some deft mixing and stereo panning, and the affect is actually quite stunning, with each bird getting 30 seconds to a minute right up on the mic! Cool!
The whole thing comes packaged in a super tough oversized (to accommodate the massive booklet) jewel case. The booklet contains lots of great photos, liner notes in Japanese, transcriptions of Fassett's spoken word segments on the disc, the album's original liner notes, and strangest of all, a pictorial guide to various and random birdcall records, separated by theme it seems: whistling accompaniment of instruments or big band, field recordings, canary training, instrumental, experimental happening (?) etc. Weird!
MPEG Stream: "Explanatory Comments"
MPEG Stream: "First Movement"
MPEG Stream: "Second Movement"

HEADS, THE Under The Stress Of A Headlong Dive (Invada) cd 15.98
Hailing from Bristol, England, the ultra-powerful power trio known so appropriately as The Heads are here to freak you out again. We've been waiting for, like, three years for a new full-length album from these guys, who are just about our favorite heavy-psych-stoner-garage-rawk band currently existing in this blessed world. Under The Stress Of A Headlong Dive is finally here and we are NOT disappointed. Totally chuffed is more like it.
This, their seventh album, contains 19 new tracks, some of them weird under-a-minute droning FX interludes, others fuzz-fueled manic marathons lasting upwards of a quarter hour. Oh god the fuzz! This is some heavy, heavily distorted wailing swirling insanity indeed. Comets On Fire can't even compare. You have to go to Japan, maybe, and stick your head right next to the amps of a band like High Rise or Mainliner to approximate The Heads' in-the-red, pedals-to-the-metal, flyin' high, inner eye stare down acid energy sound. But we also have to imagine that they think of themselves as a pop band of sorts. The Fall would be one reference (the vocals do remind us of Mark E. Smith). And the Stooges were a pop band too, let's remember, and along with Hawkwind must be one of The Heads biggest sources of inspiration. But The Heads ain't a retro act, this is future/now rock action we're glad to be around to witness (on disc, that is, never seen 'em live but would love to!!).
Punkishly menacing and kind of metallic (with bongos, though!), or spacey and mantric, this never lets up and never gets dull. Over the course of this 72 minute platter they always seem to have a new trick up their sleeves, or a new pedal to step on... all heads should agree that The Heads have outdone themselves with this one!!
MPEG Stream: "Earth / Sun"
MPEG Stream: ""Pass, The Void""
MPEG Stream: "Return Of The Bemmie"

HOLLAND, JOLIE Springtime Can Kill You (Anti) cd 14.98
Yes, along with the first blossoms of May the highly anticipated new Jolie Holland album has arrived! Definitely less mysterious than her previous two albums, but no less magical. There's not so much of the 'from where did this antique gramophone recording get unearthed?' kind of feel that characterized both Catalpa and Escondida. While Springtime Can Kill You still maintains a foundation of old country petticoats, the recordings sound quite contemporary. Very full, fleshed out and crisp... so much so in fact that the brushes played on the snare drum effectively conjure the crunch of frost beneath your boots or the first bite into a freshly picked apple. It might be a bit of an overstatement, but it seems Holland's evolved from porchswing peasant gal into more of a composed chanteuse. No complaints here tho'. This is a beautiful album with captivating songs and fine performances by all involved. Guest players include multi-instrumentalist Ara Anderson of Iron And The Albatross, and singer/songwriter David Dondero. Sure to cause extensive bouts of swooning.
MPEG Stream: "You're Not Satisfied"
MPEG Stream: "Ghostly Girl"

ITAVAYLA s/t (Rikos Records) cd 13.98
Last list we highlighted a newer album, entitled Itavalta, by this Finnish band, and now we've got their equally recommended debut, available on either cd or LP (with the vinyl lacking the bonus remix track found on the cd, though). This four-song (+ remix) debut of theirs is the real reason that Circle guitarist Janne Westerlund told us that Itavayla is the "boogie rock band" he plays in. On their second disc, they took off on some other tangents beyond the barroom boogie blues. But here, that's what it's all about, sort of. Not what you'd think, though, or maybe it is. Remember, these guys are from Finland (land of weirdness) and feature a member of Circle. And sound a lot like Circle as a result, although Janne joined Itavayla -after- this recording, so they didn't get the idea from him. Circle channeling ZZ Top, that is. And we're talking ZZ Top from the '80s on, after they embraced technology and got all computerized and robotic. Thus the progged up arsenal of Roland and Yamaha synthesizers listed here, the synth-drum sounds, and even the robot voices (on "Future Boogie"). And, the minimalist, cyclic structure of these loooong hypnotic tracks (in the Circle style that we love) of repetitive slide guitar riffs, shuffling drums and honking keys.
The first track, "Black Diamond Express" appears to be built around a sampled voice (that guy can't be Finnish!) from an old time blues recording or something. Itavayla provide the backing, blending past and future both, which leads to the organ-riffed, electro-boogie overload of the next track, "Tesco". And on it goes, mesmerizing sci-fi, space age boogie blues from Finland, reaching a tranced-out peak with the 13+ minute "Jesus Kristus". So, crack open a cold Miller beer (or the Finnish equivalent, whatever that is) and kick back to these Circular, futuristic gutbucket grooves!! Seriously, Allan can't stop listening to it. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Tesco"
MPEG Stream: "Black Diamond Express"

ITAVAYLA s/t (Rikos Records) lp 13.98
Last list we highlighted a newer album, entitled Itavalta, by this Finnish band, and now we've got their equally recommended debut, available on either cd or LP (with the vinyl lacking the bonus remix track found on the cd, though). This four-song (+ remix) debut of theirs is the real reason that Circle guitarist Janne Westerlund told us that Itavayla is the "boogie rock band" he plays in. On their second disc, they took off on some other tangents beyond the barroom boogie blues. But here, that's what it's all about, sort of. Not what you'd think, though, or maybe it is. Remember, these guys are from Finland (land of weirdness) and feature a member of Circle. And sound a lot like Circle as a result, although Janne joined Itavayla -after- this recording, so they didn't get the idea from him. Circle channeling ZZ Top, that is. And we're talking ZZ Top from the '80s on, after they embraced technology and got all computerized and robotic. Thus the progged up arsenal of Roland and Yamaha synthesizers listed here, the synth-drum sounds, and even the robot voices (on "Future Boogie"). And, the minimalist, cyclic structure of these loooong hypnotic tracks (in the Circle style that we love) of repetitive slide guitar riffs, shuffling drums and honking keys.
The first track, "Black Diamond Express" appears to be built around a sampled voice (that guy can't be Finnish!) from an old time blues recording or something. Itavayla provide the backing, blending past and future both, which leads to the organ-riffed, electro-boogie overload of the next track, "Tesco". And on it goes, mesmerizing sci-fi, space age boogie blues from Finland, reaching a tranced-out peak with the 13+ minute "Jesus Kristus". So, crack open a cold Miller beer (or the Finnish equivalent, whatever that is) and kick back to these Circular, futuristic gutbucket grooves!! Seriously, Allan can't stop listening to it. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Tesco"
MPEG Stream: "Black Diamond Express"

LONGMONT POTION CASTLE Longbox Option Package (D.U.) 4 x cd-r, 3 x cd, 1 x DVD-r (7 discs!) 60.00
Holy shit! This is the crank call mother lode. By now if you don't immediately start to giggle at the mere mention of Longmont Potion Castle, you are truly missing out. This one man prank call juggernaut has spent almost the last 20 years torturing unsuspecting folks, shop keepers, Radio Shack employees, old ladies, testosterone fueled jerks and pretty much everybody else with his totally surreal, unbelievably hilarious phone calls. This box set collects EVERY Longmont recording ever, including a whole disc of unreleased stuff, as well as the long out of print and barely available VHS tape on DVD for the first time! You think the calls are crazy, you should see the havoc this man can wreak on a call in talk show. This is absolutely essential for any one onto bizarre recordings, found sounds, prank calls, all around weirdness.
Included in this box set is LONGMONT POTION CASTLE (originally released in 1988), LONGMONT POTION CASTLE II (originally released in 1992), LONGMONT POTION CASTLE III (originally released in 1995), LONGMONT POTION CASTLE 4 (originally released in 2002), LATE EIGHTIES-VEIN (originally released in 2003), LONGMONT POTION CASTLE 5 (originally released in 2005), a bonus disc that includes a lot of the metal interludes that were cut when the original cassettes were transferred to cd, and the original LONGMONT POTION CASTLE VHS tape, now on DVD(-r) for the first time with tons of extra footage. Also includes a massive set of liner notes, with detailed track listings and the story behind each disc, as well as a custom LPC magnet. Each one personally signed by Mr. LPC himself!
Here's some of our past raves about all things LPC:
How can you not love a guy who gets off on torturing the clerks at radio shack and is obsessed with Tandy products?! A guy who spits out the most retarded and baffling products/names/etc: gugliata, voltor, leprechanjulius!! And on one disc, he continually harasses a foul mouthed cantakerous old man, but by the end of the disc, they become buddies, with the old man asking how the tape was going and LPC promising to send him a copy. FUCKING HEARTWARMING! How often do you get that on a crank call record?!!? Stupid and silly and once in a while totally inspired. This is still to this day constantly in the stereo on all of our road trips and so much Longmmont verbiage has become vernacular for us and all of our friends.
Longmont Potion Castle is the master of deadpan confusional telephone terror. Mr. Longmont no longer practices his art, having hung up his phone (hee hee... sorry) several years ago. But we can still listen and laugh. This stuff never stops being funny. The cool thing about LPC, is he's not an asshole, and he doesn't necessarily set out to piss people off, even though it's obviously inevitable. And when he does get in a tough guy "I'll kick your ass" sort of verbal sparring match, his choice of threats are so ridiculous and nonsensical, you find yourself almost embarassed for him, like the little tiny kid who is oblivious to his mortality and insists on standing up to the bully and always gets his ass whupped. Then add in his obsession with squid meat and an amazing litany of bizarre items / objects / names / services he invokes or offers or pretends to be looking for: Spencer Zebra, Aqualamb, Chowder Julius, Wovenloaf, Frickey Weaver, Chimp Giraffe Loop (making us laugh just typing those!). Wow! It really is amazingly funny. And bizarre. I
Easily the best, funniest, most bizarre series of crank calls ever. There's the always popular picking fights with strangers, but Mr. LPC does it so much better than most with his Steven Wright deadpan and his ridiculous non-sequiters. Constant references to deliveries of peacocks from Lithuania, offers of free manure, and an endless litany of nonsensical recommendations, bizarre suggestions, and problematic overtures, all delivered in that likeable guy-next-door deadpan. Always does raise the question WHY DON'T PEOPLE JUST HANG UP?!?! Lucky for us they don't. We also get a dose of Longmont's metal obsession with the occasional freaked out death metal interludes. So dumb and funny and brilliant. Be sure and keep your ears peeled for a truly distrubing call, that goes from funny to really fucking sad in a matter of minutes, between LPC, a depressed suicidal goth teen and his overbearing fucked up dad. Wow. these discs are full of magic moments like that, a few sad, lots of them just plain demented, but most of them so completely bust a gut hilarious!!
So buy this or we'll start talkin' whip, and may even bring a tennis racket toyaleyup!!!
MPEG Stream: "Syop Playing Harmonica"
MPEG Stream: "Goat"
MPEG Stream: "Levi"
MPEG Stream: "Peacock"
MPEG Stream: "UPS Freakout 1"
MPEG Stream: "Spencer Zebra"
MPEG Stream: "Aqualamb"
MPEG Stream: "Loud Tones"

LYE, LEN Composing Motion (Atoll) cd 17.98
Len Lye was a staple of the 50's and 60's art scene in Greenwich Village and a leading figure in the burgeoning field of kinetic art. He designed and built a series of large scale metal sculptures that not only moved, but also created sound. Just to look at, the sculptures are breathtaking, very sleek and modern, simple and stunning, large sheets of steel, strange little metallic antennae, long twisted metal strips, all hanging or spinning or vibrating. Like some alien machines, whose function can not be discerned. So mysterious and lovely. This disc is the first time the sounds of Lye's sculptures have been recorded and released commercially. And they are just as haunting and beautiful as the strange pieces of metal that produced them. The sounds are quite varied, depending on the piece, from reverberating pulses, like a struck spring, whirring metallic drones, the overtones shifting in pitch as the metal bends and twists, warm subterranean whirs, musicbox like melodies, simple subtle chimes, clattery clang and crash, subtle almost industrial rhythms, like a sprinkler or the blades on a helicopter, scraping metallic soundscapes, like a million little metal bugs rustling alongside one another, and then there's some full on spaced out swirl and hiss and shimmer like wires whipping in the wind, which sounds like Merzbow or Total, way too dense and weird to be the work of nothing but a big piece of metal, but it is. Magical, mysterious and pretty darn amazing.Ô
Comes with a big book of linernotes, text about the performances / recordings as well as lovely photos of each of Lye's sculptures.
MPEG Stream: "Blade"
MPEG Stream: "Universe"
MPEG Stream: "Roundhead"

MATMOS The Rose Has Teeth In The Mouth Of A Beast (Matador) cd 15.98
San Francisco's darling electronic conceptualists Matmos have crafted an ambitious collection of audio portraits for their 6th full album, allowing their baroque sampling tricknology to articulate the metaphors in mapping out the complexities of each of the portraits. The collection of audio portraits represents the inspiration pantheon for Matmos, ranging from the ivory tower of academia to far reaches of underground culture. Hence, there's analytical philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, the scabrous feminist Valarie Solanas, New York house legend Larry Levan, Germs' frontman Darby Crash, homoerotic photographer James Bidgood, eccentric producer Joe Meek, gay chronicler Boyd McDonald, countercultural godfather William S. Burroughs, and noir-thriller novelist Patricia Highsmith. Matmos' work has always been a cavalcade of electro-acoustic stunts directed within a studied and adventurous reading of contemporary electronica tinged with comedic overtones, ranging from black humour to slapstick antics. The Rose Has Teeth In The Mouth Of A Beast is no different, romping through wah-wah splattered porno funk, mutant disco beats clipped with diva-house vocals, noirish concrete-collages, and tracks literally wrapped in semen stained sheets. As Matmos deconstructs and compresses the dense histories of each of their portrait subjects into the context of a six to ten minute electronica tracks, it's the details that Matmos amass that give each of their portraits such charm and pleasure. Very well done, indeed!
MPEG Stream: "Steam And Sequins For Larry Levan"
MPEG Stream: "Semen Song For James Bidgood"
MPEG Stream: "Solo Buttons For Joe Meek"

MATMOS The Rose Has Teeth In The Mouth Of A Beast (Matador) 2lp 16.98
San Francisco's darling electronic conceptualists Matmos have crafted an ambitious collection of audio portraits for their 6th full album, allowing their baroque sampling tricknology to articulate the metaphors in mapping out the complexities of each of the portraits. The collection of audio portraits represents the inspiration pantheon for Matmos, ranging from the ivory tower of academia to far reaches of underground culture. Hence, there's analytical philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, the scabrous feminist Valarie Solanas, New York house legend Larry Levan, Germs' frontman Darby Crash, homoerotic photographer James Bidgood, eccentric producer Joe Meek, gay chronicler Boyd McDonald, countercultural godfather William S. Burroughs, and noir-thriller novelist Patricia Highsmith. Matmos' work has always been a cavalcade of electro-acoustic stunts directed within a studied and adventurous reading of contemporary electronica tinged with comedic overtones, ranging from black humour to slapstick antics. The Rose Has Teeth In The Mouth Of A Beast is no different, romping through wah-wah splattered porno funk, mutant disco beats clipped with diva-house vocals, noirish concrete-collages, and tracks literally wrapped in semen stained sheets. As Matmos deconstructs and compresses the dense histories of each of their portrait subjects into the context of a six to ten minute electronica tracks, it's the details that Matmos amass that give each of their portraits such charm and pleasure. Very well done, indeed!
MPEG Stream: "Steam And Sequins For Larry Levan"
MPEG Stream: "Semen Song For James Bidgood"
MPEG Stream: "Solo Buttons For Joe Meek"

MOOLAH Woe Ye Demons Possessed (EM Records) cd 23.00
YESS!!! Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod! Those are direct quotes from Allan the day he discovered, totally out of the blue, that this album had been reissued on cd by the Japanese label EM Records (same folks who put out the Symphony of the Birds reish reviewed elsewhere this list). Kerry and Andee were both in the office that day and can attest that Allan just about jumped out of his skin, his voice positively yelping with excitement. And now we're ALL going ohmigod, ohmigod too since the box from Japan that Allan ordered arrived and Moolah is among us.
Ok, so what the heck is Moolah?? Well we're talking a super-obscure psychedelic/experimental Holy Grail album here. Allan only knew about it 'cause he'd heard some of it on a cd-r burn that our pal Loren Chasse had gotten from Jan Anderzen of Finland's Kemialliset Ystavat. Totally weird, damaged, krautrocky cosmic psych with electronic drones, haunting classical piano, and fucked up rhythms! According to Anderzen, it was an ultra rare LP from the '70s by a band called Moolah, entitled Woe Ye Demons Possessed. Wow. Allan found it hard to believe that was really true, and that it wasn't just something recorded by some genius Finnish forest freak friend of Anderzen's directly for the cd-r. But some diligent research revealed that the mysterious Moolah was indeed a band from New York who released an album on what was probably their own label, Druidstone (!), in 1974. But it was still pretty much unknown and almost utterly unobtainable. It didn't seem to have ever been reissued. And even our most '70s knowledgable psych-rock reissue supplier in Sweden hadn't heard of it at all. But we never lost hope. And now, thanks to the extremely strange and cool Japanese label EM Records, here at last we present to you Moolah on cd! We're still left in the dark about a lot of the details of this mysterious record's history (EM's sales info is mostly in Japanese) but from the album cover notes reproduced in the cd package we can tell you that the men behind Moolah were a duo named Walter Burns and Maurice Roberson, who recorded this, "their paranormal concertwork ...a cosmic rock relaxation creation" at a "secret studio in New York's Greenwich Village". There's also some amazing pagan poetry on the sleeve, here's a few lines: "Licking BLOOD Drinking TEARS Sacrificing LOVE on the Altar of Tomorrow Eating FRUITS of Stolen Vineyards With Withered Young Mouthes That Sing The OLD SONGS WHICH WERE FORBID".
And the music is as amazing as what Allan remembered. Dreamy, beautiful ambience -and- disturbingly chaotic, claustrophobic sounds. Shimmery, murky, distorted, primitive... is it even rock music? For the day, about as far out as you could get. Indeed, ahead of its time. Such tracks as "Crystal Waters", "Terror Is Real" and "The Hatd Hit" are lo-fi jams full of dubby echo effects, indistinct voices intoning New Age ideas, crazy backwards percussion, and insectoid squiggles of electronics. And we think we heard a purring cat in there too. The question is: did the Moolah duo simply inhabit their own, messed-up, mystical little world (which seems likely, judging by those sleeve notes of theirs), or had these guys heard records by early Kraftwerk, Amon Duul, Kluster, and Neu!? We wonder. But either way, the krautrock scene's freakiest had nothing on Moolah. File with such rare, eccentric, outsider psych artifacts as the Cromagnon's Orgasm, Yahowha 13's Penetration, and Comus' First Utterance. What a find. If you like weird, lost, lovely, maybe a bit frightening music THIS IS FOR YOU.
MPEG Stream: "Crystal Waters"
MPEG Stream: "Courage"
MPEG Stream: "Mirror's"

MOUNTAIN GOATS, THE Babylon Springs (4AD) cdep 7.98
Babylon Springs is a short five song follow-up to John Darnielle's achingly beautiful Mountain Goats album The Sunset Tree. From the sounds of this EP Darnielle's on a roll, continuing his trademark deeply personal storytelling that lays bare his heart and his scars in an increasingly polished and produced setting. A definite highlight is the fourth song "Sometimes I Still Feel The Bruise" which could easily appeal to a much broader audience. Really really good!
MPEG Stream: "Ox Baker Triumphant"
MPEG Stream: "Sometimes I Still Feel The Bruise"

REICHEL, ACHIM & MACHINES Echo / A.R. IV (New Amos Records) 2cd 31.00
Oh boy. A red-letter day at AQ when we got this in. You see, several years ago, we'd stocked an amazing "best of" collection called Echoes Aus Zeiten Der Grunen Reise by this krautrock artist, A.R. & Machines (turns out the A.R. stands for Achim Reichel) that in itself was a far out minimalist psychedelic electronic masterpiece years ahead of its time -- and it was just a "best of"! Everybody here loved it. It's been out of print for years, though, and we'd never come across any other reissues, until now! Hence our excitement about this, a double cd containing TWO of Reichel's albums in their entirety, Echo and A.R. IV.
If you're familiar with that "best of" cd, you'll recognize a few of the songs, but transformed, extended and built upon -- like you're finally experiencing the entire complex film, not just the titillating preview. If you're not familiar with that "best of," then expect a hypnotic, meandering cream dream that any lover of Eno, Cluster, Can, Neu, Bo Hansson, Kraftwerk, and even Wendy Carlos Williams shouldn't miss. Completely groovy.
1972's Echo, which takes up the largest portion of the two cds, is the highlight here. Long before the re-issue, Julian Cope made it a record of the month on his website and it's not hard to see why. It's a meandering four part -- well, we wouldn't even say "piece," it's more like a realized world -- made up of journeying guitars and plodding percussion with the occasional wailing vocals in English that take it well into the stratosphere. At times low-key, at other times frenzied, but always with an intensity that moves it along steadily. By the time you get to the freakout vocal jam of that acts as the come down of Echo, you've been led through so many emotions and states of mind, that you're spent.
Take a break between the two albums since A.R. IV (1973) is another, separate adventure -- still groovy and rhythmic, but a little funkier, a little louder and more focused -- like he's revisiting the territory he covered in Echo but he's more familiar with the place & can take you directly to all the cool places.
Actually, this re-issue would have been a shoo-in for Record Of The Week if only we thought we could get more. But according to our supplier, the forty or so copies we have now might be the last we'll get, as this is apparently an all-too-limited reissue. Ah well. Get it while you can!
MPEG Stream: "Das Echo Der Gegenwart"
MPEG Stream: "Vita"

REIGNS We Lowered A Microphone Into The Ground (Jonson Family Records) cd 14.98
From the same UK label that brought us that great Hey Colossus album listed recently, here's something also really cool but VERY very different.... where Hey Colossus was brutally heavy and rhythmic, this band, Reigns, is so pleasantly pretty and placid. Utterly gorgeous, really, and mysterious. We're reminded of such artists as Stafraenn Hakon, Eluvium, Sonna, and Sigur Ros. It's that sort of gauzy, mellow, melodic post-rock, with songs constructed from gentle guitar and piano figures, operating in a zone of beautiful ambience, infused with indistinct electronic detritus. Swells of live percussion or electronic beats sometimes appear, too, but the mood remains blissful, if almost somber. But not really somber since there's a strange, very subtle sense of humor afoot, part of the weird conceptual framework that Reigns have invented for this album. Yes, it's a concept album! And a mostly-instrumental one at that, with no real singing to speak of, though you will occasionally hear voices drifting in the mix, including a computer voice (a la Radiohead) on the fourth track, "Translating".
The concept? It's intentionally vague and sort of surreal, but first off we're told that this was supposedly "recorded on location by Reigns operatives A & B". The title We Lowered A Microphone Into The Ground, taken literally, provides an imaginary scheme for the album. Each track is assigned a depth, ranging from 23 meters to 1 mile. Thus, track 2: "Corners & The Straights (102 metres)". Or track 9: "The Fattest Goose Shall Be The Soonest To The Spit (1460 metres)". Inside the handsome digipack you'll find the "Original Site Transcript" giving notes on what was encountered at each depth by the two Reigns operatives. Some examples:
"(102 metres) First subterranean voice. Operative B suffers small breakout of hives on ungloved hand."
"(416 metres) Foul smelling miasma rises from hole. Surrounding grass visibly pales."
"(1001 metres) Sudden rise in static. Recording levels unchanged. Operative B demands that A stop pinching at nape of B's neck. A denies any such activity."
More events and phenomena, both mundane and peculiar, are documented. But this is all in the liner notes -- you'll hear the voices mentioned but otherwise this isn't at all meant to -sound- like any sort of static-y, subterranean field recording...it's just very lovely music. Pretty nifty, as most more ordinary post-rock efforts don't exhibit such imagination! We like.
MPEG Stream: "Buried Chandelier (416 metres)"
MPEG Stream: "Pentecost (1001 metres)"

RIGOR SARDONICOUS Risus Ex Mortus (Endless Desperation) cd-r 10.98
Ah, nothing like a glacially slooooooooow blast of ultra mega doooooooooooooom to calm the nerves, at least that's the way it seems to work around the mail order department for the boys (and girls!) who work back in "the Tombs" of AQ. Rigor Sardonicous - one of our all-time favorite "apocalyptic doom" bands - sent a package recently containing their latest CD, "Risus Ex Mortuus" along with some stickers and a hat...we all fought over the hat a bit, but Andee doesn't like to mess up his "drummer hair" and Jason already sports a bitchin' Rigor Sardonicous glow-in-the-dark print T-shirt, so Allan scored the new lid. Besides, we see him wearing that hunter's orange/camo cap a bit too often lately and - where were we - oh yeah - Risus Ex Mortuus!!!
Once again, Rigor Sardonicous is back, and on this CD we get a bunch of re-recorded versions of early tracks from long out-of-print releases, an unreleased track, and even a Kiss cover! You haven't heard "God Of Thunder" until you've heard it Rigor-ized, a thick syrupy sludge-y Sunn-y crawl, with the vocals belched out in impossible guttural grunts. The CD even somehow sports some beautiful "Rigor Sardonicous" Old English script printed on the UNDERSIDE of the CD - SICK !!!
Also back again is the signature drum machine (who has occupied the throne since 1991) and the return of 'the most evil cymbal in the world', tha clanged-out trash can lid of a cymbal that we have been totally obsessed with and completely transfixed by since we first heard RS. It's like nothing you've ever heard in the realms of dark murky doomy sludge-pyre music (except on the other RS records obviously). It is back and better (and louder) than ever - way out in front where it constantly rears its ugly head again and again, crashing forth with a clanging clattery crash, before quickly fading back into the sludge. Sounds like Sunn 0))) playing Moss covers at the bottom of a giant sewer pipe while someone drops metal garbage cans from above... a strange kind of beautiful.
Mr. drum machine also seems to be taking it up a notch rhythmically with more blast beats, faster and louder, while somehow not actually making the music sound any faster, just weirder and heavier. And there's no mistaking the downtuned, strings-so-slack-they-touch-the-floor, buzzed-out slow sludge rumbling roar coming from the guitar. Like the sound of low-flying aircraft "strumming" overhead power lines... And again those vocals, spread all over the proceedings like some viscous black paste, a subsonic curdle / gurgle that is hardly human. If you close your eyes, you can't help but picture some goo spewing giant lizard ready to consume you whole, or some creepy Hellraiser / Pinhead style hellbeast declaring your doooom. WE LOVE IT.
The AQ dark lords, sit upon their throne of skulls, surrounded by fire and burning flesh, demons swooping through the murky skies, the earth trembling, the ground littered with the dead, gazing cooly at the scorched landscape that stretches forever in all directions, before looking to the sky and letting out a blood curdling cry of "MORE EVIL CYMBAL !!!"
(The band claim that these are indeed actual cd's, although, we're pretty sure they're cd-r's, but who the hell cares, you can't go wrong for $10.98, and you can't print bitchin' olde English band logos on the playing side of a real cd... or can you?)
MPEG Stream: "Prooemium"
MPEG Stream: "Rigor Sardonicous"
MPEG Stream: "God Of Thunder"

SHORA Malval (Conspiracy) cd 16.98
It's been a struggle to figure out what to write about this record. It's a gorgeous moody slab of blissed out mathy post rock. We love that stuff. A lot. But it's really difficult to explain exactly why this record is somehow WAY more than just a post-rock record. It's maybe MORE, more moody, more mathy, more blissed out, but there's still some ineffable thing that turns Shora into a whole other proposition. Similar to the way that Fuehler and Turing Machine in the past took the sound of their post rock forefathers to whole new realms, Shora, breathe new life, breathe fire even, into what has become the sound du riguer of the indie underground. How exactly is a bit tougher to pin down. It's very repetitive, some riffs practically become loops, repeating over and over, inducing some serious mesmeric listening, each looped post-rock-scape is underpinned by dense but complex krautrocky rhythms, that occasionally explode into spikey tangles of free jazz mathrock octopoidal polyrhythms before settling back into dreamy head nodding grooves. The guitars are like chameleons, snakey smokey tendrils one second, huge jagged metallic shards the next, turning from bell like chimes into slinky slippery smears of sound all within a matter of seconds. Majestic, haunting, repetitive and completely fascinating. That's just the first three tracks too, 24 minutes of dense, layered, experimental instrumental rock music perfection. Then there's the very strange final track, which starts out as a soft focused dreamscape, all gauzy and shimmery, before out of the blue, down comees a blast of bizarre pounding Gary Glitter sounding glam rock stomp, right there in the middle of the song! The stomp quickly gives way to some organ drenched Goblin worship before slipping softly back into dark droney ambience. But that's not all, suddenly there are female vocals, and not wispy soft ones, no we're talking a throaty belt, more PJ Harvey than Grouper or Paavoharju, at first it's a little bit jarring, but after a few moments it makes perfect sense. But it only lasts a few moments. Which is maybe indicative of why this band is so great. Putting that much thought into a tiny part, and finding a vocalist, coming up with melodies, lyrics, all for the last minute or two of the last song on your record. Few bands would bother. Which is precisely the point wethinks. It's easy to tell that the same sort of meticulous preparation and deep thought went into every part of this record. But without sacrificing any of the passion or immediacy that makes music so vital. Which is a rare thing indeed.
MPEG Stream: "Parhelion"
MPEG Stream: "Arch & Hum"

URFAUST / CIRCLE OF OUROBORUS Auerauege Raa Verduistering (Target:Earth) cd 14.98
In our neverending quest to unearth the weirdest and wildest, most evil and grim, most damaged and baffling black metal there is, we not too long ago stumbled upon Urfaust. And we were immediately smitten, as were all of you judging from how difficult it was to keep those discs in stock. Well, all bow down and thank the dark lord, for now we have the latest offering from the strange hunting world of Urfaust! And if that wasn't enough, on this split they're teamed up with an outfit called Circle Of Ouroborous, who are even stranger than Urfaust, if that's even possible.
What is it about Urfaust that has us so in a tizzy. Well, imagine a loping buzzing midtempo black metal, raw, and thick and fuzzed out, but then add in a vocalist that croons and wails and sounds quite a bit like Ethel Merman, his vocals drenched in reverb, a huge thick cloud of croon, so weird but so goddamn amazing! These new tracks find Urfaust getting... you guessed it, even stranger. The first track is a whirl of huge blown out synths or guitars, big swells, distorted and warm and fuzzy, with a strange almost bouncy drum beat. By track two, the old Urfaust is back in effect, a huge wall of Burzumic guitar, a galloping midtempo drum beat, and those ridiculously remarkable vocals. We get so used to shrieking and howling vocals, that we were completely taken aback byt Urfaust's vocals, so much more emotional and passionate, strange indeed, but strange and mysterious and absolutely unlike anything you've heard in black metal. The third track is a creaking industrial soundscape, footsteps, breathing, clattering metal, atonal strings, very 20th century music concret. Really cool. The final ten minutes is a fuzzed out seasick waltz, huge guitars, super dramatic vocals, the guitars a thick whirring drone, the melody so melancholy and intense. Awesome. Definitely still one of our favorite metal bands for sure.
But wait. We've also got the mysterious Circle Of Ouroborus to contend with, and wooh boy, is this one cracked outfit. Half of CoO's six tracks are murky almost punky black metal blasts, super lo-fi, practice space production, the guitar a mumbly warble, the drums tinny and buried in the mix, and as you might expect for a band paired up with Urfaust, the vocalist is totally demented, a growling cracked croon, WAY up in the mix, shouting and howling, almost talking sometimes, making CoO sound a bit like a black metal Fall. The rest of the tracks are even more unlikely, all acoustic, with atonally strummed acoustic guitars and menacing sung / spoke vocals, even some harmonica! Some hellish campfire sing along, Bob Dylan channelled through some musical demon. It sounds a bit like a blackened Jandek, or the black metal folk of Dead Raven Choir, and actually quite a bit like AQ faves Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat (albeit much more low fidelity) or even a little like a more garage-y Current 93. But WOW! Not at all what we were expecting at all. This is something that could definitely pass for some freaky outsider folk record with passages of black buzz instead of the other way around. We never though any band could hold their own agains the mighty Urfaust, but Circle Of Ouroborus pull it off big time. Another damaged and demented black metal (sort of) band to keep an eye on for sure!
MPEG Stream: URFAUST "Der Halbtoten Dichters Schein-Existenz"
MPEG Stream: URFAUST "Zur Winter-Wanderschaft Verflucht"
MPEG Stream: CIRCLE OF OUROBORUS "Dream Of Death"
MPEG Stream: CIRCLE OF OUROBORUS "Mouldering Leaves"

V/A Ho!: Roady Music from Vietnam (Trikont) cd 16.98
We can not tell you how psyched we are to have this back in stock. We've been listening to this like crazy. We had almost forgotten how totally far out and mind blowing this collection was. Since we first carried this years ago, there have been tons of diverse and eclectic collections of musics from all over the world, psych rock compilations (Love, Peace & Poetry, Thai Beat A Go Go, etc.), the Sublime Frequencies series, and loads more, but as good as those are, they can't hold a candle to Ho!: Roady Music From Vietnam! So completely fascinating and fun, wild and so so weird! Everytime this gets played in the store, customers and employees alike have to check to see what the heck it is we're listening to!
Ho! is an amazing collection of pieces from Vietnamese street musicians. The folks that travelled to Vietnam and recorded these pieces gave themselves the tongue-in-cheek name Nuoc Mam Dirndl'n, evidence of their humor in the light of collecting the sort of music they suspect the Vietnamese government would perhaps NOT appreciate as a representation of Vietnam. Ho! ranges from raucous, percussion-heavy funeral songs played at midnight by 'young people provided with drugs' to traditional material played on the one-stringed dan bau to melodramatic love songs favored by the son of the owner of the hotel the folks stayed at. There's even a 'tasteful schmaltzy song' which is what the Vietnamese record-store saleswoman played for them when they asked for some traditional Vietnamese music! Check out the following excerpt from the fascinating liner notes, and, like us, marvel at the freshness inherent in the refusal to adopt the omniscient voice-of-authority tone taken by so many ethno-compilers: "We are stunned by the Vietnamese 'Lebensgefuhl' actually corresponding to our western idea of 'subculture': lively, anarchic, loud, dense, hearty; the people are living working, eating, sleeping, and holding their funeral ceremonies between house and street. We don't know yet if there is any subculture in Vietnam; if there is e.g. (organized) political counterforces to the one-party regime -- nobody talks about politics (with us) -- maybe there is no need for it, because everybody can do whatever he/she wants: though street trading is prohibited everybody does it -- under the hardly vigilant eyes of the law -- raids are very rare, then the stands are carried away quickly and when the mischief is gone it goes on... What matters is that people LOVE TO SING which, like in our part of the world, hide in gloomy basements and play till the ears/souls are ringing: every band in Vietnam needs a license for its existence, for every gig, every song. And because there is no basements in Vietnam, people like to use the karaoke machines in their homes, bars and special karaoke houses. Saigon's street musicians are rather despised by the yuppies of Vietnam: 'shit music.' The yuppies prefer Sting and western style in general." Highly highly highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: DAN BAU VIETNAM "Rider In The Sky"
MPEG Stream: DEAD MEN'S ORCHESTRA "Totencombo"
MPEG Stream: EO SINH + NAMH HAO "VC Love Song"
MPEG Stream: THU HIEN "Hoa Cau Vuon Trau"

V/A Trap Door (Dis-Joint) cd 11.98
Latest in the recent spate of killer international funk / soul / psych reissue collections. The trick here being that these tracks are SO obscure (and so densely mixed together), that the folks at Dis-Joint are counting on most folks not knowing ANY of these. SO much so that there is no track listing on the disc at all, and they are having a contest on their website, the first one who can name all the tracks will get a nice cash prize!!! We've got to admit it, we're stumped for the most part (although we did recognize part of one track, it's San Ul Lim from Korea!). But that doesn't mean we aren't loving all this fun and funky and bizarre music. A chaotic blend of sixties and seventies psych rock, funky soul, soulful psych, and funky rock from all over the world, Turkey, Korea, Italy, Israel, China, Spain and loads more. Any one who has been loving the Love Peace & Poetry comps, the Steam Kodok collection, the In-Kraut compilation or, especially, any of the Andy Votel mixes definitely NEED this. From groovy laid back porno movie / action adventure funk, with lots of bolero guitars, and sound effects, like a Morricone Western mixed with some Euro sleaze flick soundtrack, to fluttering folk with super distorted psych rock guitar and everything in between, with plenty of borrowed hooks from popular songs, fuzzy organs, lots of James Brown style yelping and whooping, squiggly little guitar licks, funky drumming, carnivalesque analog synthesizers, tons of breaks hip hop headz would kill for, a bunch of bizarre movie snippets pertaining to hippies, wiggly wavy spaced out ambient warble, jazzy horns, skronky and otherwise, wheezing harmonicas, tablas and sitars, wild Santana-like leads, cocktail pianos and tons and tons of very strange sound effects. A wickedly wild, mind blowing, head spinning party record if there ever was one!
MPEG Stream: "Two"
MPEG Stream: "Three"
MPEG Stream: "Four"

V/A Trap Door (Dis-Joint) lp 11.98
Latest in the recent spate of killer international funk / soul / psych reissue collections. The trick here being that these tracks are SO obscure (and so densely mixed together), that the folks at Dis-Joint are counting on most folks not knowing ANY of these. SO much so that there is no track listing on the disc at all, and they are having a contest on their website, the first one who can name all the tracks will get a nice cash prize!!! We've got to admit it, we're stumped for the most part (although we did recognize part of one track, it's San Ul Lim from Korea!). But that doesn't mean we aren't loving all this fun and funky and bizarre music. A chaotic blend of sixties and seventies psych rock, funky soul, soulful psych, and funky rock from all over the world, Turkey, Korea, Italy, Israel, China, Spain and loads more. Any one who has been loving the Love Peace & Poetry comps, the Steam Kodok collection, the In-Kraut compilation or, especially, any of the Andy Votel mixes definitely NEED this. From groovy laid back porno movie / action adventure funk, with lots of bolero guitars, and sound effects, like a Morricone Western mixed with some Euro sleaze flick soundtrack, to fluttering folk with super distorted psych rock guitar and everything in between, with plenty of borrowed hooks from popular songs, fuzzy organs, lots of James Brown style yelping and whooping, squiggly little guitar licks, funky drumming, carnivalesque analog synthesizers, tons of breaks hip hop headz would kill for, a bunch of bizarre movie snippets pertaining to hippies, wiggly wavy spaced out ambient warble, jazzy horns, skronky and otherwise, wheezing harmonicas, tablas and sitars, wild Santana-like leads, cocktail pianos and tons and tons of very strange sound effects. A wickedly wild, mind blowing, head spinning party record if there ever was one!
MPEG Stream: "Two"
MPEG Stream: "Three"
MPEG Stream: "Four"

VALENCA, ALCEU & GERALDO AZEVEDO s/t (Discos Mariposa) cd 17.98
One of the best reissues we've stumbled across recently, of a record we haad never heard of. Alceu Valenca & Geraldo Azevedo were Brazilian musicians and composers from the Pernambuco region of Brazil who created a distinct style that mixed elements of psychedelic folk/rock with native northeast rhythms of freco, maracatu, xote, etc. There is something so totally sensual and sexy about this record. It's in their voices and playing and the glimmering recording. With mixing and arrangements in the talented hands of Rogerio Duprat (Gal Costa, Gilberto Gil, Os Mutantes) this has some trademark elements of some of the best and most creative elements of Tropicalia but for sure with their own unique and varied stylings. Totally not a one trick pony at all. What we love so much about this record is that it takes lots of twists and turns but everywhere it goes we more than willingly go right along with it. When it's sweet and sultry it succeeds by not being too polished and by subtly seducing you into its sounds. Almost like what Serge Gainsbourg would sound like at his prime if he was living in Brazil. We also can't stop thinking about how the folks in Blonde Redhead may borrowed a bit from this record as their sensual and compelling melodies seem to have their roots in this recording. Maybe. Just in time for summer, this has proven to be the perfect soundtrack for days filled with sun, romance and adventure. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Planetario"
MPEG Stream: "Ciranda De Mae Nina"

WALDRON, M.S., STEVEN STAPLETON, SIGTRYGGUR BERG SIGMARSSON, JIM HAYNES, & R.K. FAULHABER The Sleeping Moustache (The Helen Scarsdale Agency) cd 15.98
You know it's gotta be an amazing record when we start a review by stating "we don't know where to begin with this record" and then we blather on and on for another 500 words pretty much demonstrating that while we may not where to begin, we certainly have a lot to say. And that totally applies to The Sleeping Moustache, the latest release from the enigmatic Helen Scarsdale Agency. The most well known of these five audio contortionists is Steven Stapleton who is the brains behind Nurse With Wound, who convolutedly reconstitute Surrealism, avant-garde aesthetics, and krautrock expressivity, resulting in some of the most profoundly brilliant and disturbing records we've ever heard. Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson is one of the drunken pilots of Stilluppsteypa, an Icelandic project of electro-absurdity capable of magnificent minimalism. M.S. Waldron is responsible for irr. app. (ext.), (an unwieldy moniker for sure) which has produced an amazing body of post-Surrealist expressivity in recent years. When he's not manning the fron counter here at Aquarius, Jim Haynes has developed a peculiar knack for rust-inflected dronescaping. and finally R.K. Faulhaber, who is the mystery man amongst the bunch, although we've been told his unpublished works offer a byzantine array of mutilated sonic collages. The album that these five produced is a weighty proposition to say the least, with detours a plenty within this mangled concoction of delirious dronescaping punctuated with glossalaic vocalizations. Delicate plinks and plonks sprinkled across sublime, gaping tones which transition to a convulsive beauty with mechanical spasms and nightmarish creakings. Throughout The Sleeping Moustache, ghostly reminders of each of the contributors' refined aesthetics emerge as a Gordon knot of convoluted logic, unsettling shifts between horror and comedy, psychological instability, and disquieting soundscapes. If you're even remotely a fan of Nurse With Wound or irr. app. (ext.) or Stilluppsteypa, this album is not just recommended... it's absolutely required.
MPEG Stream: "Sprawled Naked Across A Piano"
MPEG Stream: "A Few Items Known As Children"
MPEG Stream: "Oh Sir, I'm Scared"

ZOMBI Surface To Air (Relapse) cd 14.98
For those of you who already know and like Zombi, the appearance of this, their second proper full-length album, is pretty much a no-brainer purchase-wise, we can assure you. You've already had a pleasant taster for it in the form of the Digitalis cdep released earlier this year. But if you've never checked out Zombi before, an introduction is in order (and this album will do nicely...but we'll also write something here). You might assume from their name, and presence on mostly metal label Relapse, that they're some sort of metal band, into zombie movies. Well the later part is true. They love their horror flicks -- they're from Pittsburgh, home of George Romero after all. But they're not really a metal band. More of a post-rock or math-rock outfit, Zombi is an all-instrumental duo on drums and synth (and bass), heavily influenced by Goblin, the legendary Italian prog band responsible for scoring all those Dario Argento films back in the '70s and '80s -- including the Italian cut of Romero's Dawn Of The Dead, aka Zombi. Other film soundtrackers from that era are also inspirations for Zombi the band as well, in particular John Carpenter. Then there's all the cosmic electronic space music of the '70s too, like that of Klaus Schulze. And Magma, the bass player has got to be into Magma. All that gets stirred into Zombi's witch's cauldron (oops, is that a mixed metaphor?) and the resulting potent concoction could serve as the soundtrack to the most schlocky, suspenseful, arty horror film of your imagination... It's an elixir that exudes subtle menace without, for the most part, being overtly "scary music", much like those Goblin soundtracks. Really it's kind of New Agey... New Agey with tension!! MASSIVE tension on Surface To Air's spookiest track, the album-closing 18 and a half minute "Night Rhythms", filled with ominous drones that eventually give way to powerful bass-heavy grooves... it's an epic tour-de-force of tension and release and very very cinematic. But all the tracks here pulsate mesmerizingly and moodily, with bright n' airy synth tones, dominating bass, and repetitive Circle-like hypno-rock rhythms. If that sounds good, check it out. And if you're already a fan, like we said, you'll be well pleased with Surface To Air!!
MPEG Stream: "Challenger"
MPEG Stream: "Surface To Air"
MPEG Stream: "Night Rhythms"

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----* BORIS BORIS BORIS BORIS BORIS :
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BORIS The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked Vol. 2 (Conspiracy) 12" 23.00
Feels like only yesterday, that we reviewed Volume One, with this same proviso, but here we go AGAIN.... ULTRA LIMITED, VINYL ONLY RELEASE FROM THE MIGHTY BORIS. WE HAVE ABOUT 50 COPIES. GORGEOUS PACKAGING, SAME AS THE FIRST VOLUME. THICK ORANGE VINYL! ONCE THESE ARE GONE WE WON'T BE ABLE TO GET MORE!
Okay, now that we got that out of the way, we can describe the actual record, although by the time most of you read this far, it could very well be sold out.
Much like the first volume, Volume 2 of Boris' 3 part epic vinyl trilogy The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked somehow manages to sound totally new, and like classic Boris at the same time. Three massive tracks of freaked out droney psychedelic nirvana! The lp starts off with some of that glorious ultra distorted guitar crumble, which soon explodes into some insane Hendrixian / Santanian space psych freakout, all soaring leads and swirling reverbed ambience. Really noisy, but in a warm, soft, head in the clouds sort of way. The second track starts with some chugging Stooges-y sludge, that slowly loses momentum and trances out into some super druggy Hawkwinderful space bliss! Side two is a single twenty minute long track and sounds like the heaviest, noisiest most epic Boris track ever, but with all the structure melted away, leaving just a huge mind melting smear of growling glacial Merzbow / Skullflower style black hole wall of guitars. Awesome!

BORIS The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked Vol. 3 (Conspiracy) 12" 23.00
Feels like only yesterday, that we reviewed Volume One, with this same proviso, but here we go AGAIN.... ULTRA LIMITED, VINYL ONLY RELEASE FROM THE MIGHTY BORIS. WE HAVE ABOUT 50 COPIES. GORGEOUS PACKAGING, SAME AS THE FIRST VOLUME. THICK ORANGE VINYL! ONCE THESE ARE GONE WE WON'T BE ABLE TO GET MORE!
Okay, now that we got that out of the way, we can describe the actual record, although by the time most of you read this far, it could very well be sold out.
Much like the first and more recent second volume, this third volume of Boris' 3 part epic vinyl trilogy The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked somehow manages to sound totally new, and like classic Boris at the same time. Four lengthy tracks of freaked out droney psychedelic nirvana!Ô
The proceedings begin with a barely there microscopic drone, with soft Pink Floyd guitar swells, a washed out, staring at the night sky sort of ambient post rock dreaminess. Beneath, there is a slow bass throb, like a beating heart, while above a soft see through gauze of whispered high end guitar and gentle folky strum. The next track immediately tramples all over what ever dreaminess was still lingering with a pounding slow motion trudge slowly morphing into a torrent of high end feedback fallout and rumbling guitar grrr, with soaring guitar leads, drenched in reverb and bursting like fireworks in the sky, the framework provided by a simple clanging cymbal rhythm. Side two begins with a wallop, a face melting wall of guitar-against-the-amps dronedirge stun, a slow shuffling glacial grind of guitar crumble and amp growl, like SUNNO))) or Earth with even less riffery, very reminiscent of the Boris of old. Then, almost imperceptably, we've segued into the final track, that dronedirge gets more and more blown out, with the guitars getting hotter and hotter until they're absolutely blinding like sonic solar flares, white hot sheets of feeding back guitars, a churning, roiling, blinding, deafening swirl of glorious sludgey psychedelia! Wow.

BORIS Pink (Southern Lord) cd 14.98
Alright!! Finally, the most recent release from Japan's mighty masters of Orange Amped sludge groove drone rawk 'n' roll gets a more affordable, domestic release, but don't fret Boris nerds! There are plenty of reasons to hang on to your Japanese version, or heck, even own both. The new version does NOT replicate the mindblowing pink-plastic-see-through artwork of the import version, but the -new- design, courtesy of the ubiquitous Stephen O'Malley, ain't so shabby either, with some washed out pink and white imagery, some of his distinctive repeating shapes collages and a cool art deco font. The nicest part, is probably the sheets of 'acid tabs' inside, three of 'em, each printed on one side with that same pink and white geometric motif, the other sides with cool old fashioned woodcuts and oil paintings. Wow.
The one big difference (why must they always do this?!?!) is that -this- version, is about 8 or 9 minutes LONGER than the import version -- one track's got some extra drone tacked on. The music is the exact same as the super limited and now out of print double lp version. Hard to keep track of Boris sometimes, what with all their different releases and versions and limited editions, but we have to say, Boris are so good it just might be worth it.
Here's what we had to say about Pink first time we laid ears on it:
Some of us are still reeling from the mighty ass kicking delivered by Boris on their recent US tour. And before our ears have even stopped ringing, it's time for yet another new blast of ultra hyper space psych sludge rock n' roll in the form of Pink. Continuing to hone their rock chops, having shed their doom sludge past for the most part now, Boris continue to sound like some MC5 / Hendrix hybrid, albeit supercharged and drenched in LSD and lit on fire and launched into space. Big old fuzzy riffs, churning basslines, and wild spastic drumming underneath Wata's wailing sixties styled leads. You can almost imagine these strange Japanese rockers wandering into the Fillmore in the sixties, like some bell bottomed aliens and proceeding to melt the minds and ear drums of everyone in attendance. Pink starts off with some fuzzed out ultra distorted post rock (reminiscent of some of the stuff on Mabuta No Ura) wrapped in a spacy psychedelic haze, but then it's immediately back to the full on, overblown distorto RAWK that has become THE SOUND of Boris. This is easily their most lo-fi, most blown out recording yet, almost like Boris is channelling Guitar Wolf or something. The drums and cymbals sizzle as the needle goes into the red on almost every track, and the guitars are so drenched in distortion they become huge squirming smears of fuzz. A couple tracks harken back to the slow motion sludge of Flood or Amplifier Worship, and there is the dreamy ambient drift of the second to last track "My Machine", but those are just brief respites, time to catch your breath before hurling yourself back into the fray, an endless maelstrom of head banging, fist pumping, guitar smashing, drumset destroying, hair swirling, sweating, bouncing, pounding pummeling ROCK AND ROLL.
MPEG Stream: "Song One"
MPEG Stream: "Pink"
MPEG Stream: "Song Two"

BORIS Mabuta No Ura (Brazilian Version) (Essence)