PURITAN, THE Lithium Gates (Spinefarm) cd 16.98
The demise of legendary doomlords Reverend Bizarre had two strange but positive after effects, first, there seemed to be a flood of posthumous RB releases, more we think than when they were actually a band, a from-beyond-the-grave release schedule to rival Biggie or Tupac, as is further demonstrated by yet another new Reverend Bizarre release reviewed elsewhere on this week's list! The second outcome was the more inevitable one, a whole slew of new projects from RB mainman S.A.Hynninen (aka Albert Witchfinder), whose voracious need to rock would obviously need a new outlet, and thus we have The Puritan and Opium Warlords. Both born of Hynninen's newfound obsession with ultra doom, with sludge, especially of the Japanese variety, Boris, Corrupted, Solar Anus, Hynninen set forth on a mission to create some serious Japanese style ultra doom sludge. We'll have the Opium Warlords disc for next list, but for now, we shall celebrate The Puritan, and Lithium Gates, which compiles two previously released, now out of print vinyl lps, one of which we never had, the other which we had in extremely limited numbers.
We've become convinced, that Hynninen must be somehow related to Circle's Jussi Lehtisalo. They're both Finnish, they both front or fronted kick ass heavy rock bands, and both have totally twisted senses of humor, which finds its way, however subtly (or not) into their music. So while the Puritan was originally inspired by Japanese doom and sludge, by the time it worked its way through Hynninen's cracked Finnish filter, it had been transformed into something else entirely. Something heavy and brutal, but warped and far out and brilliant.
This is no ordinary doom. And is far removed from the doom of Reverend Bizarre. Although on first listen, maybe not so far removed after all, beginning with the first Puritan lp, The Untitled, the sound is ultra heavy, downtuned, spaced out, melodic, with a distinctly classic strain of classic doom running through it, the opening intro could indeed be the opening salvo from some doom classic, and the follow up too does not sound that far our, awesomely epic and troo vocals over a lumbering slow motion dirge, but then the record shifts gears, and "The Sulphur - Coloured Clouds Are Hurrying Through the Lithium Gates" explodes like some nineties noise rock juggernaut, loping bass, crumbling guitars, jagged riffing, only to gradually slow to a nearly complete halt, before slipping back into slow motion ultra doom dirgery. "The Sepulchral God Holding a Speech for the Moribund" sounds almost like some extra heavy slowcore, with some dramatically crooned Slough Feg like vox, before a strangely haunting outro, with clean guitars, whirling ambience, mysterious sampled voices, including a classic Charles Manson rant, all hovering beneath thick washed out guitars and lilting sweetly sorrowful melodies. Then it begins to get even weirder.
The second half of Lithium Gates contains the entirety of The Black Law, the second Puritan lp, which begins with some old timey organ, wheezy and lo-fi, some lost in time parlor music, lilting and melancholy, until everything is flattened by a massive wall of downtuned guitars, exploding into a plodding doomic dirge, which is not really funereal, or even all that slow, a plodding lurching doom that reminds us of Midwestern pigfuckers Killdozer more than anything, which as far as we're concerned is good news for sure. The chuggy midtempo crunch pounds and churns while the vocals howl and bellow, there's a distinctly AmRep / Touch And Go vibe to the doom on display, the main riff locked into a loop that seems to go on and on and on, giving the proceedings a sort of Gore vibe as well. The riff eventually gives up the ghost leaving a tranquil, almost ambient fade out, all soft streaks of feedback, delicate melodies, distant slabs of slow moving sludge, all smeared into a weirdly dreamy drift.
From there on out, the record continues to devolve gloriously with some bizarre gnarled super distorted guitar weirdness, completely panned so it careens from speaker to speaker, ear to ear, until the riff finally kicks in, a big ol' filthy doomy dirgey riff, the drums and guitar locked tight, while in the background, the WHOLE time, the moans and groans of a lady seemingly in the throes of violent passion(!), the whole track endlessly looped and cyclical, the only variation being the woman's voice, here the Gore vibe is undeniable, a killer riff, just pounding away, over and over, very hypnotic and strangely minimal, but that's only the first track. The second revolves around a muted chug, spread out over a layer of seemingly constant buzz, with more deep crooned dramatic vocals, the production reverby and very new wave sounding, a little like Joy Division or the Cure but way heavier and dripping with doooooom, the wind-down at the end laced with bursts of super epic and melodic drama, turning the outro into some sort of doomic Godspeed.
Needless to say, fucking awesome! And essential listening for any one into sounds slow and low, doomy and heavy, fucked up and far out.
MPEG Stream: "Opposite the Fireplace - The Wall of Shotguns"
MPEG Stream: "The Stars Above Us Are all Evil"
MPEG Stream: "The Sulphur - Coloured Clouds Are Hurrying Through the Lithium Gates"
MPEG Stream: "The Blue and Purple Lesson in Love"

JUTE GYTE Old Ways (Jeshimoth) cd-r 11.98
We should all be very grateful to the mailmen who serve aQ. Without them, the aQ list would be a very different beast. They come by almost every day, through sleet and rain if necessary. Usually bearing gifts of strange sounds transported from all corners of the globe. And often, some mysterious unmarked package will contain something special, a gorgeous ambient lp, or some obscure otherworldly folk record, or in many cases, some bizarre twisted chunk of black metal. And often those records will go on to be big time aQ faves, which is bound to be the case with this strange disc from a mysterious black metal horde called Jute Gyte, that just showed up one day in the mail.
The package we got was jammed with records by bands with names like Night Troll, Tremor Of The Black Manx, Pumpkin Buzzard, Testikill, but we were strangely drawn to this Jute Gyte record, weird name, cool oversized dvd style packaging, and once we threw it on we understood why. The description on the label's website introduces us to Jute Gyte with these words:
"A bipedal humanoid rat releases a sandpaper-throated screech as most of its internal organs exit through a huge hole in its furry back. Large and small intestines launch forth in whip-like arcs, briefly straightening into perfectly even ropy lines. A massive snail-demon explodes into fragments of confetti: red, green, blue."
And as weird as that reads, once you immerse yourself in the blown out crumbling ultra raw industrial tinged synth laden black metal of JG, maybe it'll make more sense. Then again, maybe not.
The guitar sound is so fierce and fucked up. Ultra distorted, super saturated and fuzz drenched, not so much chuggy or abrasive as massive and blown out, as if a tiny bit more of anything and the riffs would just crumble to pieces, the drums mechanical and machinelike, the vocals a demonic shriek, howling and anguished, everything wreathed in washed out synths and what sounds like a million layers of distortion. The melodies are super catchy, the sound is impossibly warm and lush, even though in every other way it seems harsh and heavy.
Things slow down here and there, the music transformed into a lurching industrial stomp, all gnarled guitars and new wave synths, almost like some crazy blackened Six Finger Satellite jam. There's a cool abstract mandolin interlude (apparently there's mandolin throughout the whole record too!), that's all super spare and skeletal, before a thick warped and warble synth comes in and obliterates the mandolin, leading directly into the second half of the record, the guitar comes back in and is again sop distorted and heavy, that it almost sounds like a synth, the chords ringing out crumble and distort and cause the speakers to nearly implode. Locked into a churning low end psychedelic blow out, the track just throbs and pulses, not so much metal or industrial as some sort of drone music unleashed, the various tones and notes expanding like miniature supernovas.
After a bout of woozy twisted detuned-guitar post rock drift with harsh vokills, burbling underwater synths, and tangled atonal melodies, like Khanate heard through a funhouse mirror, the record closes with another massive and epic dose of in-the-red blackdrone buzz, like Nadja, if they decided to throw in with the dark lord, another heaving wall of crumbling blackness, wrapped around a surprisingly catchy melody, the drums buried in the mix, just a distant throb, with a lurching stop start arrangement, like some sort of slowed down black metal math rock, but dripping with distortion and effects, infused with spaced out synths, and again on the verge of total implosion. And like the rest of the record, impossibly warm and fuzzy and melodic, while simultaneously being one of the most distorted and blown out things we've ever heard.
This isn't brand new, it's maybe a year old, but we only just discovered it, and figured it was something we had to share with the loyal aQ. Quickly becoming a new black metal favorite, just in time for our year end lists...
MPEG Stream: "Waves"
MPEG Stream: "Teeth"
MPEG Stream: "Round"

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3 LEAFS Space Rock Tulip (self-released) lp 14.98
It's been a few years since we reviewed anything from these local spaced out psychrockers, and there have been at least a couple releases since Inward Sun, the last one we reviewed way back in 2007. Listening to Space Rock Tulip now, we're kicking ourselves big time. This stuff is awesome. Blissed out, effects flecked krauty space rock, heavy on the drift and shimmer and meander. Strings buzz, sounds swoop and stutter backwards, the drums are simple and motorik, synths whir, flutes flutter, the group slips from full on heart of the sun space jam, to Circle-esque hypnorock, to ethereal almost ambient groove, to Eastern style ur-drone to Santana sounding Latin tinged psychedelic rock to heavy tripped out metallic sounding stoner rock freakouts to full on trippy dubbiness, all woven into one extended and nearly seamless druggy outrock sprawl.
Anyone into The Heads, White Hills, Monster Magnet, Expo 70, White Hills, Burnt Hills, Titan, Gunslingers, Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound, or any of that kraut/space rock bliss, will definitely flip for these guys. Features a whole mess of local luminaries, who do or have done time in other bands like: the Fresh And Onlys, Tussle, Citay, Amocoma, Horn Of Dagoth, Black Fiction, Subarachnoid Space, Six Eye Columbia and more...
MPEG Stream: "No Control"
MPEG Stream: "Acorn"

ALL HAIL THE TRANSCENDING GHOST s/t (Cold Spring) cd 13.98
We knew this was gonna be good. Long time aQ fave Henrik Nordvargr Bjorkk (MZ.412, Toroidh, Folkstorm, etc.), who is responsible for some of the most haunting and unsettling dark ambient drones we've ever laid ears on, teams up with his countryman Tim Bertilsson (Fear Falls Burning, Switchblade) for a record of extreme minimal heaviness and gorgeously abstract and bleak grimness.
Mysterious and cinematic, every track here is immersive and overwhelming, like stepping through a portal into some hellish otherworld, a soundtrack to the subterranean depths, an endless expanse of charred remains and crumbling ruins, a bleeding black sky and an ash covered landscape, voices drift like lost memories, tones rumble and whir, melodies are pulled apart, their remnants left to float among the dead leaves and detritus. The deep low end slips from crystalline hush, to super distorted crunch, often ground into a wavering black streak, sometimes allowed to melt into oozing pools of reflective layered hum.
Organum like bowed metal underpins fragments of riffs, shards of guitar, engulfed in slow motion swirls of distant hiss, the various elements sometimes tamped down into a muted crawl, lit up from within by lightning like crackle, obscuring the strange incantations drifting up from below. Here and there the guitars do emerge from the roiling blackness nearly unscathed, offering up a handful of truncated riffs, before they are quickly subsumed by the surrounding darkness. The record culminates in an explosion of psychedelic skree, a chaotic confluence of brittle crunch and smeared high end clang, only to slip into an outro of ultra minimal hushed tectonic rumbles.
Gorgeous and grim, harrowing and heavy, dense and dark and so recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Intornator"
MPEG Stream: "Untilted"
MPEG Stream: "Untitled"

ANIMA MORTE Face The Sea Of Darkness (Dead Beat Media) cd 12.98
We're always talking about how much we love '70s Italian horror soundtrack prog maestros Goblin. If you share our passion, then we've got a(nother) band for you!
Not too long ago, we highlighted a cd-r by an artist called Umberto, who did a highly synth based, DIY take on the Goblin / giallo soundtrack sound. Everyone dug that one so much, we figured we'd also better list this, something else we just discovered, a band from England called Anima Morte who are obviously in love with Goblin too. Like Umberto, this is laced with plenty of buzzing, sinister synth. But unlike Umberto, Anima Morte are an "actual" band, a four-piece, and as such has a bit more of a proggy, rock sound, with guitars that are almost metal in parts. It's almost entirely all instrumental, with (synthesized?) vocal choirs wordlessly haunting the proceedings now and then. There's calm, delicate moments, with placid piano melodies and electronic drone, and other parts that are a lot more frantic, driven by busy bass and mathy yet grooving drums, getting almost into Magmoid, "Zeuhl" territory. Fans of the likes of Guapo, Zombi, and especially Crime In Choir - as well as Goblin - should be interested!
Now, anyone familiar with the sort of soundtrack music that this is inspired should know that there's often a grandiose & romantic, perhaps slightly cheesy element to it that's also part of the charm, and Anima Morte don't shy away from incorporating that aspect of their influences too. After all, Goblin wasn't really "scary" music all the time, or at least they demonstrated that '70s discofunk can be as suspenseful as more obvious atmospheres of gloom! But in any case, Anima Morte are more creepy than kitschy, though of course the two can go together.
While Anima Morte might not be making the most original music on this week's list, it's very enjoyable, if you're into the same spooky stuff they revere. It's done with plenty of verve and sincerity all right, and boy does it sound like the real deal, some lost soundtrack to a '70s Argento or Fulci flick.
MPEG Stream: "A Decay Of Mind And Flesh"
MPEG Stream: "He Who Dwells In Darkness"
MPEG Stream: "Devoid Of Soul"

ASTATKE, MULATU New York - Addis- London: The Story of Ethio Jazz 1965-1975 (Strut) cd 14.98
If there was an actual way to measure the warmth of music, the sounds Mulatu Astatke created in the '60s and '70s would be at the top of the thermometer, his incredible and rich Ethio-Jazz sounds drifting right from the speakers and melting into your ears, permeating every cell of your body. Strut strike gold once again, coming up a killer collection of some of Astatke's finest material, recorded between 1965-1975.
After leaving Ethiopia as a teen, Astatke studied music in different parts of the globe and it's wonderful to hear how he subtly infused those various outside influences into his classic Ethiopian groove based sound. Some of the tracks here will stand out as being the classic Astatke tracks we are all familiar with, culled as they are from the amazing Ethiopiques 4 collection, but Strut digs deeper as well, exploring some of the lesser known songs and sides, many of which show an awesome Afro-Latin jazz influence, as well as some tracks that find Astatke teaming up with vocalists like Muluken Melesse and Menelik Wossenatchew.
Astatke really does belong in that divine elite class of musicians like John Coltrane, Alice Coltrane, Ravi Shankar, John Fahey, Duke Ellington, Moondog, etc. - the sounds he creates are universal in their appeal. Infused with so much soul and emotional warmth, these are sounds that transcends genre or geography, plain and simple, this is amazing music!
MPEG Stream: "Shagu"
MPEG Stream: "Emnete"
MPEG Stream: "Wubit"
MPEG Stream: "Kasalefkut Hulu"

BARWICK, JULIANNA Sanguine (self-released) cd 12.98
Julianna Barwick makes the kind of music that totally transports us into that sort of hazy spaced out daydream we wish would stretch out into infinity. Using just her voice and assorted manipulated loops, Barwick creates an hypnotic environment of sound that conjures up images of standing all alone in a huge cathedral, lit with washed out light filtered through ornate glass windows, reflecting off silver and gold sculptures. There is something so totally otherworldly and church-gone-cosmic to the sounds on Sanguine, like floating in a pristine sky, high on codeine as you swirl amongst fallen angels and mysterious creatures. Self released back in 2006, we are so happy to finally get this in the store as it really is one of the most mesmerizing and beautiful records to come out in the last several years. Because of the lack of its distribution the first time around, Sanguine didn't get the attention it deserved, which is too bad, because it most likely would have enjoyed the same sort of praise and popularity that groups like Grouper have so rightfully received, creating sounds from a similar template. And while the Grouper comparisons are inevitable, there really is something unique and singular about the way Barwick channels the most psychedelic and ethereal 4AD inspiration into a totally DIY hypnotic state of sound. Blissed out to perfection!
MPEG Stream: "Unt5"
MPEG Stream: "Sanguine"
MPEG Stream: "Unt8"

CANNABIS INDIA SWF Session 1973 (Long Hair) cd 27.00
Holy shit! Some of the heaviest, most bad ass organ driven kraut-prog you will ever hear. Seriously, the four tracks that make up the bulk of this release, totally destroy. They're complex and heavy, epic and melodic, and totally rocking. Anyone who digs ELP or the New Trolls or most of the Italian prog we're always raving about, will flip for these guys too.
It's hard to believe a record this amazing never got released, but these tracks are indeed culled from some radio sessions that remained unreleased, until now.
Bandleader / organist Oliver Petry started playing organ after hearing Keith Emerson and it shows, his group is total ELP worship, but somehow, they manage to push it even further, upping the speed and intensity, like a supercharged ELP in their prime. Hell, they even do a 12 minute progged out version of Beethoven's 9th symphony, which needless to say also rules. Just listen to the sound samples. If within a matter of seconds you're not flipping out and hammering the add to cart button, you might as well just consider your prog cred REVOKED.
This reissue tacks on two tracks by post Cannabis India outfit Universe, which definitely has the same vibe, but the organ takes more of a supporting role, with the buzzing bass driving the first track, and the second track adding vocals, resulting in some classic seventies pop prog. But fear not, even with the organ dialed back, it's still pretty prog-tastic.
MPEG Stream: "Hand Of The King"
MPEG Stream: "Revolver"

CIRCLE Triumph (Adverse-Effect) 2cd 22.00
This killer sprawling epic live set, recorded on WFMU back in 2007 and previously available as a super limited double lp (though amazingly we still have a handful), now available as a less limited, but equally swank double cd!! Here's what we said about the vinyl version earlier this year:
Certain bands around these parts don't really need much more than a "NEW RECORD OUT NOW" style announcement to get their fans all in a tizzy. Those groups engender a certain sort of slavish worship and maniacal obsession, that used to be reserved for top 40 bands and their teenage minions. But heck, what's wrong with loving a band enough to want it all?! Everything they do, every cd, ep, lp, 7", whatever. A list of those bands will probably look mighty familiar to most of you, and will quite possibly elicit that record nerd Pavlovian response that even we can never quite seem to shake. SUNNO))), Boris, Corrupted, Earth, and yes of course Circle. Longtime readers of the aQ New Arrivals list are well aware of our obsession with Circle, odds are most of them share it, as well as a certain obsession with Finnish music in general, but Circle are for sure our favorite group of musical Finns. And for good reason.
Going on two decades, Circle have managed to take a simple sound, and twist it all up, keeping it fresh and exciting and surprising, a sort of hypnotic and yes CIRCULAR sound, simple arrangements, repetitive riffing, motorik drumming, a little kraut rock, a little space rock, but Circle have taken those sounds and run them through the wringer, transforming them into murky mantra like hypno rock for one record, bombastic eighties style metal for another, long brooding dronescapes for one disc, majestic triumphant over the top prog for another, and never hesitating to mix and blur and blend their various sounds and personas to suit their whim and whimsy.
For those folks who have seen Circle live, they understand the magic of this band, the improvisation, the incredible stage presence, the killer riffing, we never would have thought a weirdo space-kraut-prog rock band from Finland could get US audience losing their shit, but we've seen it. Heck at one show, bass player Jussi Lehtisalo ripped his shirt off midsong, and we were nearly deafened by a gaggle of shrieking girls right in front of us.
But we digress, Circle rule. You know it. We know it. Live especially, which is why there are so many live records in their discography, because those songs that you've listened to a million times, sound totally different live. Thus we have Triumph, a vinyl only double lp documenting Circle's second time performing live on WFMU (the first was released as Arkades back in 2006).
Triumph was recorded in New Jersey, in 2007, on Brian Turner's show on WFMU, and finds the band tackling a couple live Circle classics, and offering up a bunch of new stuff to boot. The record begins with "Virsi", which some of you may remember from Rakennus, another live album, a total live set staple, "Virsi" finds Circle at their bombastic prog rock epic best, totally dynamic and majestic, Mika Ratto's vocals even more unhinged than usual, slipping into an almost black metal shriek, when not crooning dramatically, such a killer part, you kind of want it to go on forever, but the band slip smoothly into a super minimal circular groove, with atonal piano, and the bass and drums locked tight, sounding like some cocktail jazz combo gone krautrock, before returning to the opening bombast to finish it off.
The shorter second track is so awesome, and is either a new song, or a dramatically reworked version of an old one, but finds the band unfurling lush strings and shimmering effects, simple drumming, very proggy and dramatic but understated and smokey, very Scott Walker or Serge Gainsbourg, like some lost sixties ballad, albeit slightly tweaked.
The next song is all spidery guitars and skittery jazzy percussion, with wild speaking-in-tongues vocals, a massive tripped out psychedelic drift, super spare and minimal, but with a relentless groove hovering right below the surface.
The second disc begins with a gorgeous deep resonant shimmery drone, laced with delicate melodies, whispered vocals, spacey FX, the vocals eventually getting deeper and more dramatic, the whole thing building to an abstract almost free jazz sounding climax, a bit like a space rock torch song gradually going haywire.
Which is followed by what might be our new favorite Circle song, a looped music box melody (or maybe a toy piano), all tangled up with soft flurries of real piano, a strange push and pull between the fluid melodies of the piano, and the mechanical loop of the toy piano, the end result sounds a bit like some strange hybrid of Lubomyr Melnyk and Pierre Bastien. Machinelike, meditative, repetitive and hypnotic, the various notes and tones building into a gorgeous swirl of melodic fragments and splintering sonic overtones. So awesome.
And finally, the band finish off with another live staple, "Murheenkryyni", also found on Rakennus, but again, it's a whole 'nother beast here, the heaviest of the bunch, a total classic rock prog rock dirge, with crunchy distorted guitars, bombastic drums, and Mika's operatic howl. Yowza!
Packaged in a beautifully designed gatefold mini lp style cd jacket (a smaller version of the original's wicked packaging), with all the liner notes printed on the full color inside cd sleeves, including a brief missive from Jussi of Circle about how he's worried that Brian Turner might just be losing his mind haha....
MPEG Stream: "Virsi"
MPEG Stream: "Rykmentti"
MPEG Stream: "Dungeon"

COLLINS, NICOLAS Devil's Music (EM) 2cd 26.00
Some experimental music is more experimental than other experimental music. Nicolas Collins' Devil's Music, it's safe to say, was (and is) an Experiment. One that tests a theory described in the liner notes: "I have long assumed the radio to be the world's cheapest, yet most powerful synthesizer: you can find any sound out there; the only question is, can you find the sound you want when you want it?" Naturally, the results of this experiment fall into that realm of unusual sounds that would be reissued by Japan's ever-eccentric EM Records label, and glad we are of EM's diligent efforts to dig up such artifacts!
Devil's Music hails from the heyday of sampling music (late '80s), so it bears some similarity to the works of Christian Marclay and Steinski, but Collins is (as per his theorizing) using radios, not turntables. It also reminds us of stuff by John Oswald, the Tape-Beatles, and other "plunderphonic" artists, but in John Cage like fashion, Collins has introduced an element of chance into the genre of sample-basic music making. Inspired also by hip hop DJs, Collins' music here is performed live, in a spontaneous, improvisatory mode, at the mercy of whatever he can snatch from the local airways at that very moment to weave into his stuttery sound-collages. Every performance was thus very different in audio content, if not structure and rhythm.
Further explanation, from the liner notes to the original Devil's Music LP (1986): "[F]ragments of radio broadcasts are digitally sampled, looped, re-triggered and occasionally reversed or de-tuned. All material is taken from FM and AM transmissions occuring at the time of the performance. The performer plays off of certain musical ground-rules intrinsic to the sampling system (which consists of two modified inexpensive effect devices) to develop the quirky rhythmic interplay that characterizes the piece."
Conceptually (and chaotically) interesting, definitely, but difficult listening too. You know best your own tolerance for this sort of thing. People into rhythmic noisiness ought to like it. The density of this "music", and the element of repetition, makes it mesmeric, maybe. But for many, it might be maddening - ferinstance, hearing some anonymous announcer man say "outdoor swimming pool" over and over and over again, nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nineteen style, amidst a barrage of (drum machine?) beats, before the track shifts, ADD-like, to another non-sequitur sample randomly snatched from the airwaves, is sure to drive some folks nuts!
Though the first side of Devil's Music is supposed to be "dance" oriented (he tuned into his favorite of New York's urban dance stations, like a DJ looking for breaks), the inclusion of voices from radio advertising tends to dominate. The second side of Devil's Music is maybe a bit more, um, musical seeming in its source material. "More rock, less talk" would be the motto, except it's not rock, actually easy listening and classical radio stations being plundered. Both sides are featured on the first disc of this two disc set, along with a previously unreleased 1988 tape music piece utilizing lots of voices scanned from police band radio, ship-to-shore transmissions, taxi dispatch, etc., which aren't all cut up and stuttery like on Devil's Music, but patched together into more of a "narrative" exercise.
The second disc here consists of yet more delirious variations on the Devil's Music concept, realized at live concerts in Europe and the USA, originally released on a 1987 cassette release entitled Real Landscape. And also, in addition, on this disc you'll find a computer program Collins wrote recently that's essentially a software "recreation" of his original hardware set-up and compositional strategy so that YOU can plug a radio into your computer and try making the Devil's Music yourself!! There's both Mac and PC versions provided. (Not included on the vinyl format, obviously.)
And there's extensive liner notes (complete with footnotes) from Collins about his ideas, methods, and equipment (with color photos of the latter, for all you tech geeks). EM, as always, has certainly done a thorough job with this release, which deserves the attention. Difficult listening it may be, but put into historical context, you can see how some consider Collins a bit of a techno pioneer, and certainly hear how his work foreshadowed the digital "glitch" music of Oval and Lesser and the like later on.
MPEG Stream: "Devil's Music A"
MPEG Stream: "Devil's Music B"

COLLINS, NICOLAS Devil's Music (EM) 2lp 32.00
Some experimental music is more experimental than other experimental music. Nicolas Collins' Devil's Music, it's safe to say, was (and is) an Experiment. One that tests a theory described in the liner notes: "I have long assumed the radio to be the world's cheapest, yet most powerful synthesizer: you can find any sound out there; the only question is, can you find the sound you want when you want it?" Naturally, the results of this experiment fall into that realm of unusual sounds that would be reissued by Japan's ever-eccentric EM Records label, and glad we are of EM's diligent efforts to dig up such artifacts!
Devil's Music hails from the heyday of sampling music (late '80s), so it bears some similarity to the works of Christian Marclay and Steinski, but Collins is (as per his theorizing) using radios, not turntables. It also reminds us of stuff by John Oswald, the Tape-Beatles, and other "plunderphonic" artists, but in John Cage like fashion, Collins has introduced an element of chance into the genre of sample-basic music making. Inspired also by hip hop DJs, Collins' music here is performed live, in a spontaneous, improvisatory mode, at the mercy of whatever he can snatch from the local airways at that very moment to weave into his stuttery sound-collages. Every performance was thus very different in audio content, if not structure and rhythm.
Further explanation, from the liner notes to the original Devil's Music LP (1986): "[F]ragments of radio broadcasts are digitally sampled, looped, re-triggered and occasionally reversed or de-tuned. All material is taken from FM and AM transmissions occuring at the time of the performance. The performer plays off of certain musical ground-rules intrinsic to the sampling system (which consists of two modified inexpensive effect devices) to develop the quirky rhythmic interplay that characterizes the piece."
Conceptually (and chaotically) interesting, definitely, but difficult listening too. You know best your own tolerance for this sort of thing. People into rhythmic noisiness ought to like it. The density of this "music", and the element of repetition, makes it mesmeric, maybe. But for many, it might be maddening - ferinstance, hearing some anonymous announcer man say "outdoor swimming pool" over and over and over again, nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nineteen style, amidst a barrage of (drum machine?) beats, before the track shifts, ADD-like, to another non-sequitur sample randomly snatched from the airwaves, is sure to drive some folks nuts!
Though the first side of Devil's Music is supposed to be "dance" oriented (he tuned into his favorite of New York's urban dance stations, like a DJ looking for breaks), the inclusion of voices from radio advertising tends to dominate. The second side of Devil's Music is maybe a bit more, um, musical seeming in its source material. "More rock, less talk" would be the motto, except it's not rock, actually easy listening and classical radio stations being plundered. Both sides are featured on the first disc of this two disc set, along with a previously unreleased 1988 tape music piece utilizing lots of voices scanned from police band radio, ship-to-shore transmissions, taxi dispatch, etc., which aren't all cut up and stuttery like on Devil's Music, but patched together into more of a "narrative" exercise.
The second disc here consists of yet more delirious variations on the Devil's Music concept, realized at live concerts in Europe and the USA, originally released on a 1987 cassette release entitled Real Landscape. And also, in addition, on this disc you'll find a computer program Collins wrote recently that's essentially a software "recreation" of his original hardware set-up and compositional strategy so that YOU can plug a radio into your computer and try making the Devil's Music yourself!! There's both Mac and PC versions provided. (Not included on the vinyl format, obviously.)
And there's extensive liner notes (complete with footnotes) from Collins about his ideas, methods, and equipment (with color photos of the latter, for all you tech geeks). EM, as always, has certainly done a thorough job with this release, which deserves the attention. Difficult listening it may be, but put into historical context, you can see how some consider Collins a bit of a techno pioneer, and certainly hear how his work foreshadowed the digital "glitch" music of Oval and Lesser and the like later on.
MPEG Stream: "Devil's Music A"
MPEG Stream: "Devil's Music B"

COLOSSLOTH Antipathy (Doom-Mantra) lp 17.98
Another entry in the ever expanding field of sound making we've dubbed doomdronedirge, from a group called Colossloth. It's a sound we've come to love, we just can't get enough of that creepy downtuned crawl, that sprawling rumbling ambience, it's doomy, but not metal, heavy, but not riffy, it's more like dronemusic infused with a degree of menace, an ominous blackness, think Blue Sabbath Black Cheer, Wicked King Wicker, R.Y.N., Amort, Haptic, Grief No Absolution, and yeah even SUNNO))) to a certain degree.
Colossloth add their own twist to the proceedings, injecting their sound with a hit of industrial ambience, and some haunting piano, the result is entrancing, totally bleak and beautiful, a single epic doomscape, split into two side long drifts, all simple looped pounding rhythms and layered feedback, laced with muted bits of crunch and whir, rumble and creak, while throughout, a piano plays out a mournful melody, strings are plucked, melodies surface and unfurl before slipping back into the miasma, a mysterious minor key sonic dirge, some sort of funereal martial industrial doom drone trudge, mesmerizing and cinematic, this would be the perfect soundtrack for some Italian horror film, with the main character, in some sort of fugue state, hallucinating, wandering through an old empty house and out into the black forest...
Gorgeous and creepy and intense, but also weirdly pretty, the hushed melodic creep constantly battling with the crunch and hiss of the gloomy industrial drift, woven into a perfectly ominous dirgedronedoomdreamscape. AWESOME.
LIMITED TO 300 COPIES!!!!

COWLEY, PATRICK & JORGE SOCARRAS Catholic (Macro) cd 17.98
While the late great Patrick Cowley is best known for his amazing disco and hi-NRG production for folks like Sylvester and the Megatone label he started, very much like his east coast counterpart Arthur Russell Cowley wore many different musical hats. It hasn't been until the recent unearthing of literally hundreds of reels of tape from his archives that the world is getting a glimpse of all the way-ahead-of-its-time synth/electronic music he was madly creating before and during his reign as San Francisco's most respected disco maestro.
In the late '70s Cowley appeared on a record by his friend Jorge Socarras' band, the way left-field post-punk group Indoor Life (one of their great tracks was recently featured on the Finders Keepers comp, Cross Continental Record Raid Road Trip). During those same years the two were also collaborating on a project together which sadly never got released, which turned out to be Catholic, and is the first record to get unearthed from those deep vaults of Cowley's that have only just begun to be explored.
Recorded between 1976-1979, Cowley and Socarras really found a way to create charged synth-wave/post-punk that was very much in line with what other forward minded San Francisco folks like The Units and Tuxedomoon were making. With Cowley handling the bulk of the instrumentation (synth, guitar, bass, drums, drum machines, etc.) and Socarras delivering dramatic and ice cold vocals falling somewhere between Gary Numan and Public Image Ltd. Catholic displays lots of range, from more slow burning grooves to full throttle attacks, New Romantic leanings to proto-Industrial crunch. It's cool to hear what people think is actually playing when we have this on, we've heard everything from Foetus to Ultravox to Cabaret Voltaire. We can't wait to hear so much more of the amazing music that Cowley created in his much too short of life (he passed away in 1982, one of the earliest casualties of the AIDS epidemic) but luckily for all of us he left an incredible musical legacy that will live on forever!
MPEG Stream: "Robot Children (Do You Love Your)"
MPEG Stream: "You Laugh At My Face"
MPEG Stream: "Hurdy Gurdy Man"

DRY SPELLS, THE Too Soon For Flowers (Antenna Farm) cd 13.98
Gorgeous psychedelic folk from right here in SF, featuring members of aQ faves Citay, which will make sense once you hear this. Lush, eerie, dreamy and haunting, gorgeous vocal harmonies, minimal percussion, equal parts seventies British folk and seventies Laurel Canyon pop, woven into a witchy gothic brew that is totally enchanting.
Strings soar, unfurling melancholy melodies, and guitars jangle, but it's the female vocals that seal the deal, a la Sandy Denny, Jacqui McShee of Pentangle, Bobbie Watson from Comus, Stevie Nicks, you get the idea, bewitching and ethereal, raw and powerful and emotional, and the harmonies, so captivating and otherworldly, wow. The Dry Spells manage to sound so timeless, this record definitely sounds contemporary, but if the lush production was dialed back just a little, this could easily have been some lost seventies psych folk reissue. Absolutely stunning.
Most definitely for fans of Pentangle, Incredible String Band, Comus, as well as modern groups channeling that sound like Citay, Vetiver, Fleet Foxes...
The lp includes a download of the whole record, including a killer bonus track, a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon", which is included on the cd version as well.
MPEG Stream: "Lost Daughter"
MPEG Stream: "Black Is The Color"
MPEG Stream: "Sruti"

DRY SPELLS, THE Too Soon For Flowers (Empty Cellar) lp 13.98
Gorgeous psychedelic folk from right here in SF, featuring members of aQ faves Citay, which will make sense once you hear this. Lush, eerie, dreamy and haunting, gorgeous vocal harmonies, minimal percussion, equal parts seventies British folk and seventies Laurel Canyon pop, woven into a witchy gothic brew that is totally enchanting.
Strings soar, unfurling melancholy melodies, and guitars jangle, but it's the female vocals that seal the deal, a la Sandy Denny, Jacqui McShee of Pentangle, Bobbie Watson from Comus, Stevie Nicks, you get the idea, bewitching and ethereal, raw and powerful and emotional, and the harmonies, so captivating and otherworldly, wow. The Dry Spells manage to sound so timeless, this record definitely sounds contemporary, but if the lush production was dialed back just a little, this could easily have been some lost seventies psych folk reissue. Absolutely stunning.
Most definitely for fans of Pentangle, Incredible String Band, Comus, as well as modern groups channeling that sound like Citay, Vetiver, Fleet Foxes...
The lp includes a download of the whole record, including a killer bonus track, a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon", which is included on the cd version as well.
MPEG Stream: "Lost Daughter"
MPEG Stream: "Black Is The Color"
MPEG Stream: "Sruti"

EMERALDS What Happened (No Fun Productions) cd 12.98
FINALLY REPRESSED!!!
In their brief career beginning in 2006, the Ohio based trio Emeralds has associated themselves with the grit and rust-stained noise that has erupted in the mid-western underground, often sharing the stage with Aaron Dilloway, C Spencer Yeh, and Hive Mind. Their two major releases have come by way of Dilloway's Hanson Records and No Fun Productions, which typically rank as releasing some of the most aggressive and brutal pieces of noise of the contemporary era. While live performances have reportedly embraced the noise community's full-force fury of maximum volume, Emeralds instead favors a sound that harkens back to the era of Cluster, Manuel Gottsching, Fripp & Eno, and Klaus Schulze.
Last year's Solar Bridge was a spectacular lazer blast of cosmic droning and inner-space meditation; but with that album clocking in less than 30 minutes, we were left wanting more. Fortunately, more is what Emeralds bring on What Happened. Collected from their seemingly non-stop sessions of improvisations for guitar, Moog, and Korg plus ample effects boxes, these 5 tracks spiral and snake around the same deep-space psychedelia found on Solar Bridge, pushing their sound beyond the two extended crescendos which populated that album. Monochord guitars pulse hypnotically against the overlapping tapestries of the sawtooth hum and modulating tones from the analogue synths. Throughout What Happened, Emeralds shift in mood from alien percolations of '60s sci-fi sound design to graceful swells of tonefloat majesty to purely physical vibrations which rip through the nervous system and strike numbly at the bone. There is beauty to be found here, but also a sublime unease that haunts these recordings. Yup, this one comes highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Up In The Air"
MPEG Stream: "Living Room"
MPEG Stream: "Disappearing Ink"

FAR OUT Nihonjin (Phoenix) cd 17.98
Japanese '70s psych alert! Grab yer Japrocksampler and look this one up, you want it!! (It's number eleven on Julian Cope's list of his top 50 Japanese psych faves.)
Having reissued the Far East Family Band's Nipponjin, we were hoping that Phoenix would turn their attentions to that band's original incarnation. They made one album as Far Out, and rarely has a band name been better chosen. Their 1973 lp is a stone classic, from that iconic white glove hanging on a clothes line in front of a blue background album cover to the two side long tracks of tripped out, heavy psychedelic music within. Well, Phoenix have granted our wish, which is awesome 'cause we've always wanted to list/review this album but previous cd reissues have been expensive and hard to come by.
Track one/side one, "Too Many People", eases the listener into things gently, with an echoing heartbeat pulse, some ambient Moog drone, and sad and mellow vocals, accompanied by delicately grooving guitar/bass... by the halfway point (8 minutes or so in) the track has gotten a lot more menacing, with plodding, heavier beats, thicker bass, adorned with "Eastern" sounding guitar licks and distorted acidic soloing. Yeah! 'Tis something that Flower Travellin' Band fans will find to their liking for sure! Towards the end of the song, when the vocals come back in, it's built up into a rather majestically progtastic piece of work that, when it all too suddenly ends, will leave you, the listener, wondering where your epic Nipponese longhaired fantasyland went, what's with all this boring, non-cosmic, not-so-grandiose reality you've so rudely been reacquainted with?
To fix that, at least temporarily, put the headphones back on, and cue up track two/side two, "Nihonjin", another similarly massive trip that can only be described as "far out"... this cut was later reworked a couple years later for the Far East Family Band's Nipponjin opus, though the original here is rawer, less Klaus Schulzified and symphonic.
Like we said, Cope had this up at #11, but for us it might nudge right into the top 10...
MPEG Stream: "Too Many People"
MPEG Stream: "Nihonjin"

GARET, RICHARD Four Malleable (And/OAR) 2cd 14.98
Richard Garet is a multimedia artist who has been quite active in and around New York for many years now. Our only exposure to his work was by way of an excellent if under-appreciated collaboration with perennial AQ-favorite Brendan Murray entitled Of Distance, which came out earlier in 2009. Unfortunately, we missed out on a couple of Garet's earlier recordings on NonVisualRecordings and Winds Measure, but when And/OAR announced an album from Mr. Garet, we were quite intrigued. Given the strength of this recording, he's definitely making us reconsider going back and digging up those earlier records. This double disc set is a fantastic collection of hushed drone music, cracked silences, stacked tape hiss, controlled feedback, and stoic masses of gray noise.
The four extended pieces date from 2004-2009, and all exhibit a restrained aesthetic balancing an environmental stillness from various field recordings with the grandeur of minimalist strategies in composition. In many ways, it makes a lot of sense that Garet would be drawn to work with Brendan Murray, as both generate work that oozes with a hypnotic, wholly monochromatic sound design that could act as the soundtrack to a sandstorm as viewed from the otherside of the Sahara Desert or to missile tests that are supposed to be hidden from public view. Something ominous is at hand in Garet's work, and the mystery as to what exactly 'it' is works to his advantage. Amidst these accumulations of layered textures and slow gravitational orbits of sonic detritus, Garet alludes to the swells of oceanic currents, the nocturnal buzzing of amassed insects, and reverberant echoes bellow from the depths of some underground bunker. All of which falls somewhere near Joe Colley, Tarab, John Duncan, and Coelacanth. So yeah, we dig it. Limited to 300 copies.
MPEG Stream: "Nocturne"
MPEG Stream: "From Modified Tapes"

GIROUX, ANNICK Hellbent For Cooking: The Heavy Metal Cookbook (Bazillion Points) book 27.95
The lucky few who managed to snag a copy of Canadian metal mag Morbid Tales #6, also got a glimpse of something pretty spectacular, strange and unexpected: a heavy metal cookbook, recipes from famous rockers, their own peculiar and particular metal food faves, compiled by Morbid Tales editrix Annick "Morbid Chef" Giroux, who has now taken her love of metal, and food, and that little cookbook supplement, and expanded it to a full on, honest to goodness cookbook.
And it's awesome. We really can't imagine a metalhead who wouldn't want this, even if they never planned on actually making all the recipes. Pretty much the perfect gift for the metaller in your life, and who knows, maybe this cookbook will be the catalyst for some homemade meals. Although some of these recipes might have you thinking twice. Some sound delicious for sure, and the pictures are appropriately appealing, but others maybe not so much, and some seem to be purposefully disgusting, something only a very drunk metalhead would eat. But that's part of the fun of the book. We wanted to make a bunch of these before we reviewed it but ran out of time. We will though, already have a few bookmarked.
For all her troo metal cred, editor Giroux is just too cute, on the cover in her metal patch-ed apron and huge knife, or on the dust cover chowing down on a sausage, heck the book is even dedicated to her grandmother, but let's get to the meat of this here cookbook. Every recipe features a full color photo (which at first glance seem like standard cookbook photos, until you begin to notice various metal items in the background, leather jackets, spikes, album covers, beer cans, wine bottles, etc.), the band logo and bio, the ingredients and instructions from the chef, as well as a little note from the Morbid Chef, her own take on each recipe. Some highlights include: Mummified Jalapeno Bacon Bombs from Chris Reifert of Autopsy/Abcess, Candied Sweetbreads On A Bed Of Sacred Heart from Balsac The Jaws Of Death from Gwar, Fried Egg Rigor Mortis Cure from Ustumallagam Of Denial Of God, Devil's Porridge from Montalo of Witchfynde, Welfare Nachos from Jason Decay of Cauldron/Goathorn, Bull Testicle Surprise from Tomas 'Necrocock' Kohout of Master's Hammer (and while many of the recipes have funny metal names and in fact are something else entirely, this one is in fact bull testicles!), The Stew Of True Doom from Karl Simon of Gates Of Slumber, Thundering Beef Brisket from Lips of Anvil, Doro's Black Forest Cake from Doro of Warlock, Beer Pizza Crust from Olaf Zissel of Tankard, New Orleans Blood Red Beans And Rice from Mike IX Williams of Eyehategod, Shellfish Crossfire from King Ov Hell of God Seed/Gorgoroth, and we could go on and on...
More than 100 recipes from more than 30 countries, other bands contributing their favorite delectables include: Abigail, Accept, Amebix, Anthrax, Tygers Of Pan Tang, Uriah Heep, Thin Lizzy, Trouble, Electric Wizard, Destruction, Mayhem, Melechesh, Death SS, Judas Priest, Budgie, Impaler, Brutal Truth, Mutiilation, Lord Vicar, The Lord Weird Slough Feg, Piledriver, Pentagram, Rigor Mortis, The Rods, S.O.D, Stiny Plamenu, Warpig, Kreator and more more more.
Separated into sections for: appetizers and side dishes, beef, pork, lamb, poultry, seafood, vegetarian, desserts, even drinks (of course - and many of the food recipes include instructions to drink beer WHILE MAKING the food, not just when eating it), with lots of awesome illustrations, photographs, record covers, it's pretty epic, and totally metal, and we really can't recommend this enough. As Giroux says in her intro, making a meal is a great excuse for drinking and listening to metal! INDEED!!!

HOLCOMB, ROSCOE The High Lonesome Sound (Smithsonian Folkways) cd 16.98
Now this is what we're talking about. Smithsonian Folkways continues to bless us with great compilations of various classics originally recorded in the '60s, and we couldn't be more pleased. We've had this on cd before, it's a steady seller, but now it's on vinyl too! So time to list both formats. As indicated by the title, Roscoe Holcomb epitomizes what came to be known as the "high lonesome sound" in Appalachian folk music, and you'd be hard pressed to find music more real than this. Holcomb was born in Kentucky in 1912 and his first recordings in 1958 arrived at an interesting point in history, one where the strange new sounds of electric music began to take prominence over that of the old timers. While he may have struggled to make sense of these innovations, you cannot hear a trace of them in these recordings. Holcomb was from another chapter altogether, and that much is abundantly clear. His songs speak of hard times, boozing it up, and years of backbreaking work as a miner and laborer. There is a tragic beauty to them, and Holcomb's powerful reedy voice cuts through remarkably - it's amazing to think of such a voice coming from the old man you see on the cover, but it also makes total sense. His banjo playing is both rhythmic and propulsive and perfectly fitting for his voice and the songs. To hear it from Holcomb himself, music was a spiritual force, and it's clear that what you hear is representative of a specific time and place in American history. Simply put, there will never TRULY be anything like this again.
Strangely, and frustratingly, there are some pretty drastic differences in track selection between the cd and vinyl versions, despite having the same title. But that's just a minor quibble, because either way you can't go wrong, and you know this one is coming HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
MPEG Stream: "Wandering Boy"
MPEG Stream: "Hook And Line"
MPEG Stream: "Married Life Blues"

HOLCOMB, ROSCOE The High Lonesome Sound (Smithsonian Folkways) lp 16.98
Now this is what we're talking about. Smithsonian Folkways continues to bless us with great compilations of various classics originally recorded in the '60s, and we couldn't be more pleased. We've had this on cd before, it's a steady seller, but now it's on vinyl too! So time to list both formats. As indicated by the title, Roscoe Holcomb epitomizes what came to be known as the "high lonesome sound" in Appalachian folk music, and you'd be hard pressed to find music more real than this. Holcomb was born in Kentucky in 1912 and his first recordings in 1958 arrived at an interesting point in history, one where the strange new sounds of electric music began to take prominence over that of the old timers. While he may have struggled to make sense of these innovations, you cannot hear a trace of them in these recordings. Holcomb was from another chapter altogether, and that much is abundantly clear. His songs speak of hard times, boozing it up, and years of backbreaking work as a miner and laborer. There is a tragic beauty to them, and Holcomb's powerful reedy voice cuts through remarkably - it's amazing to think of such a voice coming from the old man you see on the cover, but it also makes total sense. His banjo playing is both rhythmic and propulsive and perfectly fitting for his voice and the songs. To hear it from Holcomb himself, music was a spiritual force, and it's clear that what you hear is representative of a specific time and place in American history. Simply put, there will never TRULY be anything like this again.
Strangely, and frustratingly, there are some pretty drastic differences in track selection between the cd and vinyl versions, despite having the same title. But that's just a minor quibble, because either way you can't go wrong, and you know this one is coming HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
MPEG Stream: "Wandering Boy"
MPEG Stream: "Hook And Line"
MPEG Stream: "Married Life Blues"

HOLY SONS Criminal's Return (Important) cd 14.98
Drummer about town Emil Amos (Om, Grails) is back with Criminal's Return, his second Holy Sons full length of '09 (by our count at least; apparently there are something like 5 other full lengths out there). As was the case with that last album, Drifter's Sympathy, some folks familiar with Emil's other groups may be a little surprised when hearing this stuff, but not in a bad way at all. It's just that you may find yourself expecting skull crushing stoner jams, or maybe some lush, brooding post-rock. Well, you get neither, as Holy Sons, more than anything, showcases Emil's songwriting and his skill at instruments other than the skins (he plays everything here, and damn well we might add). The overall sound is mellow but tense, pretty dark at times, and totally awesome. The vocals are a hushed drawl, and the impressive instrumentation has definite nods to folk, jazz, and psychedelia. Maybe even the blues, probably, and the songs that feature old analog drum machines give things a touch of classic bedroom indie rock. Not sure how much of this stuff is home recorded, as there is a nice intimate feeling, but the interesting production techniques definitely bring things to the next level. This is perfect music for hanging out alone, walking through the woods under headphones (also alone), and just getting lost in your own mind. Kind of like the hooded figure on the back lounging with a giant green geometric orb in front of massive rock forms and expansive irrigation ditches (is that what they are?). That said, it's not too "weird", and at times it gives off the vibe of some dusty lost classic or obscure private press lp that you might stumble across if lost classics were still easy enough to stumble across. The songs are dramatic and flow perfectly, though we're still trying to piece together the narrative. Whatever that may be, Criminal's Return is another winner, and even better than Drifter's Sympathy as far as we see it. The best thing here is that Emil has arrived at a sound that is clearly his own. The strength of these songs should be apparent to anyone who hears this. Really awesome stuff.
MPEG Stream: "Arranged Release"
MPEG Stream: "Fermenting Mind"
MPEG Stream: "Cruel + Unusual"

JAWBOX For Your Own Special Sweetheart (De Soto / Dischord) cd 13.98
When it comes to classic nineties indie rock, you pretty much had to love Jawbox. Along with Sunny Day Real Estate and Drive Like Jehu and Hum and a handful of others, that was the long drive mixtape unattainable crush soundtrack of our twenties, big muscular crunchy guitars, killer melodies, unforgettable hooks, big pounding drums, and songs that KILLED. In fact, speaking of songs that killed, Jawbox's "Savory" is probably one of those songs we've listened to about a million times. A minor hit, even had a video on MTV, but rightfully so, with its killer start stop riffing, awesome lyrics, amazing solo, it's definitely one of the best jams of the nineties, and thus it's saying a lot that most of the other tracks on For Your Own Special Sweetheart are nearly as good. It's definitely emo, but so much more, post punk, post rock, math rock, pop even, with super unique arrangements, seriously fierce chops, and above all SONGS, incredible unforgettable songs. Some folks here think Jawbox sounds like Steve Albini gone pop, with that throbbing bass and big dry drum sound, angular guitars, and anthemic choruses, but really, these guys (and gal) helped define a sound, and an era, and it still sounds fresh and amazing more than 15 years later. If you somehow missed out on this back in the day, do yourself a favor and pick this up, you don't know what you've been missing.
Includes all of the B-sides from the "Savory" single, all of which are as good as anything on the record proper.
MPEG Stream: "Savory"
MPEG Stream: "Breathe"
MPEG Stream: "Chicago Piano"
MPEG Stream: "68 (Bonus Track)"

JAWBOX For Your Own Special Sweetheart (De Soto / Dischord) lp 14.98
When it comes to classic nineties indie rock, you pretty much had to love Jawbox. Along with Sunny Day Real Estate and Drive Like Jehu and Hum and a handful of others, that was the long drive mixtape unattainable crush soundtrack of our twenties, big muscular crunchy guitars, killer melodies, unforgettable hooks, big pounding drums, and songs that KILLED. In fact, speaking of songs that killed, Jawbox's "Savory" is probably one of those songs we've listened to about a million times. A minor hit, even had a video on MTV, but rightfully so, with its killer start stop riffing, awesome lyrics, amazing solo, it's definitely one of the best jams of the nineties, and thus it's saying a lot that most of the other tracks on For Your Own Special Sweetheart are nearly as good. It's definitely emo, but so much more, post punk, post rock, math rock, pop even, with super unique arrangements, seriously fierce chops, and above all SONGS, incredible unforgettable songs. Some folks here think Jawbox sounds like Steve Albini gone pop, with that throbbing bass and big dry drum sound, angular guitars, and anthemic choruses, but really, these guys (and gal) helped define a sound, and an era, and it still sounds fresh and amazing more than 15 years later. If you somehow missed out on this back in the day, do yourself a favor and pick this up, you don't know what you've been missing.
Includes all of the B-sides from the "Savory" single, all of which are as good as anything on the record proper.
MPEG Stream: "Savory"
MPEG Stream: "Breathe"
MPEG Stream: "Chicago Piano"
MPEG Stream: "68 (Bonus Track)"

KAHN, JASON & RICHARD FRANCIS s/t (Monochrome Vision) cd 15.98
Richard Francis is one of the quieter musicians to hail from New Zealand. His sparse productions opt for a restrained set of grey noises and tactile field recordings that softens the archetypal gnarled NZ distortion of folks like Michael Morley, Antony Milton, or Campbell Kneale. He's also not nearly as prolific as those three, which is a shame as Francis' work has proven to be amazingly consistent over the years.
Here, he's presenting a collaborative body of work in collusion with a man who is nothing but prolific, the Swiss-based sound artist Jason Kahn. Given Kahn's studious use of particular noises (white, pink, blue, brown, etc.), Francis has certainly proven to be one of the more complementary musicians that Kahn has worked with over his lengthy career.
The eponymous record presents four extracts from live performances the two managed in both Switzerland and New Zealand in 2007 and 2008. Kahn's set-up often involves pushing particular, restrained noises and synthesized frequencies through the body of a floor tom, and controlling the feedback that can accumulate within that small architectural space; and Francis goes for the virtual systems through the computer interface. But the two can achieve rather similar results with different tools. These gravely, tactile sounds percolate, scrape, and vibrate their way into shifting sedimentary layers which ultimately form a meditative set of broken minimalism. The opening track features a gong-like set of metallic reverberations that billow against an agitated data-stream, which builds through accreted layers of deep low-end drones. Elsewhere, similarly subterranean tones softly rupture with a low-impact distortion grating clouds of grey static. Like on Kahn's groundbreaking album Vanishing Point, fragmented melodies quietly ripple well below the surfaces of noises, occasionally breaking through the hiss in oceanic swells of drone. Very nicely done!
MPEG Stream: "1"
MPEG Stream: "2"
MPEG Stream: "4"

LE SYNDICAT Timespace Losses 1982-1987 (Monochrome Vision) cd 15.98
The mid-'80s were very productive for Le Syndicat, the French industrial noise outfit that formed in 1982 with the noble intention to make the most noise possible. The bulk of the tracks from Timespace Losses has been culled from various cassette compilations Le Syndicat contributed to during that time period, with the final track on the album being a rare live recording. These works defined their earlier noise bruitism before iron-fisted rhythms locked down Le Syndicat's latter-day panzerbeat aesthetics. Overblown screams and garbled vocalizations dissolved amidst the acrid feedback, mottled distortion and blackened noise which seeped out of Le Syndicat's repurposed consumer electronics (e.g. shortwave radios, televisions, walkmen, etc.), inspired by the mediated chaos of SPK, Merzbow, Ramleh, Whitehouse, Controlled Bleeding, and other early practitioners of power electronics. Not surprisingly, Le Syndicat managed to land their work on tape compilations released by Broken Flag, ZSF Produkt (run by Masami Akita back in the day), Placebo, and Beast 666. This collection splatters itself as a very primitive, nasty set of recordings. Conet Project fans should take note that the Swedish Rhapsody numbers station is featured heavily in the very John Duncan like collage of shortwave transmissions from the Le Syndicat live track concluding the album. Recommended for all of you noise freaks out there!
MPEG Stream: "Sex Und Vomit"
MPEG Stream: "Suck The Putrified Kaiser 3"
MPEG Stream: "All Armi"

LONESUMMER / MARSH Split (Starlight Temple Society) cd-r 5.98
This awesomely confusional weirdo black metal split now available on cd (cd-r actually), in a dvd case with printed insert and black and white cover art, the digital version of the tape we listed a while back (we still have a couple of those left if anybody wants one before they're gone)...
Second missive from black metal weirdo Lonesummer, whose What We Were cd-r from last list was a huge hit around here. A twisted blend of strange samples, totally blown out black metal buzz, and weird sun dappled melodic pop, all wound into a massively confusional, incredibly fucked up bit of blackened avant noise pop, or something, tough to know exactly how to describe this. We have to imagine that most black metallers would find Lonesummer just way too damaged and freaky, but for us, it's exactly the sort of weirdness we've been dying for.
The opening track sums it up pretty nicely, beginning with some sample conversations, street noise, a hushed minimal drone, which explodes into a crumbling in-the-red almost white noise blow out, the sound so saturated, it's impossible to pick out instruments, the sound just a thick cloud of swirling buzz and skree, as the track progresses, riffs seem to materialize out of the ether, but instead of taking the form of a proper BM jam, it seems more than anything to add a sense of rhythm, creating a fucked up, looped bit of buzz drenched mesmer, before, the buzz fades out, leaving some sampled African music, which eventually fades out. Phew. The next song is just s far out, beginning with some new age swoosh, some sampled wind (or is it tape hiss?), a delicate chiming melody, before a tiny bit of drum skitter leads into another explosion of impossibly distorted, but weirdly pretty and shoegaze-y blacknoise. 4 tracks total from Lonesummer, and goddamn we already want more!!!
Lonesummer are paired up here with Marsh, a one man band from Minneapolis, whose take on black metal is much more primitive and raw, a bit punky, with a definite D-beat vibe, so folks into Akitsa, Malveillance, Bone Awl, this is definitely your cup of tea, but Marsh manage to infuse their own vibe, the repetitive almost looped sounding arrangements, the cool hazy washed out production, loads of effects and like Lonesummer, a weirdly off kilter pop element too. Need to hear more from these guys as well.
MPEG Stream: LONESUMMER "Our Father's Father"
MPEG Stream: LONESUMMER "1135 mg"
MPEG Stream: MARSH "Canvas"

LOTUS EATERS Mind Control For Infants (Taiga) 2lp 42.00
Long out of print on cd, now available again as a super deluxe double lp, and we mean DELUXE, incredible heavy gatefold jacket, like a cloth covered hardcover book, printed in gold metallic ink, tip on cover image and inside gatefold, printed inner sleeves, so fantastic looking, hence the price. Here's our review of Mind Control when we first listed the cd way back in 2002:
With an avant-metal / metalcore membership of superstar proportions with Stephen O'Malley (SUNNO))), Burning Witch, Teeth Of The Lion Rule The Divine, Khanate, etc.), James Plotkin (Old, Atomsmasher / Phantomsmasher, Khanate, etc.), and Aaron Turner (Isis, Old Man Gloom, HydraHead Records, etc.), the Lotus Eaters locate themselves quite far away from the archetypes of metal. Actually, their sound is more of re-contextualization of remnants from the disintegration of metal into fragments of ominous spectres of atmosphere, distant orchestrations of acousmatic sound, and slivers of guitar drones. With very Spartan arrangements, the Lotus Eaters' first cd (after a couple of super limited vinyl only releases) invokes the archaic ritualist behavior, gnostic alchemical symbolism, and dark ambient transgressions of the post-industrial work of Troum, Cranioclast, and even Coil's "How To Destroy Angels" album. However, throughout the suitably nightmarish activities, the trio of guitarists reveal very simple two or three note melodies; and on more than one occasion, "Mind Control For Infants" loosens its iron fisted grip on a dark atmospheres, exploring some pristine, glistening bell tones, rich acoustic guitar fingerpicking, and gossamer threads of feedback. This album makes for wonderful late-night listening, and is certainly recommended!

LUSIFERIININ ARMOSTA Nuolee (Ektro) cd 14.98
This new release on Ektro, the debut from Lusiferiini Armosta (which means just what exactly??? we forgot to ask, though it sounds like something to do with Lucifer, doesn't it?) is yet another remarkable side project of the already quite prolific Finnish band Circle, featuring featuring Circle leader/bassist Jussi Lehtisalo (here playing guitar and singing) along with a rhythm section comprised of Circle's sound engineer Tuomas Laurila on drums, and Eetu Henttonen on bass. Well as you know we're really into Circle and all the various Circle related bands as well, so the more the merrier we say. And, unlike many recent Circle side projects, such as the Steel Mammoth highlighted last list, this ISN'T another entry in their own burgeoning "NWOFHM" movement (though you might guess otherwise from the t-shirts the trio are wearing in the cd booklet photos: Anvil, Motorhead, and Pharaoh Overlord). Nope, though it's plenty heavy and rockin', this isn't any sort of metal, instead Lusiferiini Armosta are a band inspired by '80s and '90s noise rock and punk, with influences ranging from Flipper to Scratch Acid to Drunks With Guns to the Strangulated Beatoffs to obscure Finnish bands we've never heard of before. They also cite both Pissed Jeans and Polvo, and we can hear those, as well.
The band describe themselves as having "one foot on the throbbing jugular of distorted Finnish rock, the other in the tumble dryer of the noise scene of 1980's New York", that works too. The vocals are all in Finnish (with lyrics printed in the cd booklet we can only puzzle over) and sometimes soar in that monkish chant way that Circle like to do, especially in their earlier days. The first track here, for instance, reminds us of older Circle (circa Meronia) mixed with the more angular attack of something like Lubricated Goat, perhaps. The nine cuts here are all pretty darn catchy, Jussi's singing deep and melodic (when not harsh and guttural), alongside chiming and choppy guitar riffs, poppy but powerful, the whole record heavily infused with feedback whine and chaotic psychedelic guitar soloing, the songs often building into noisy, shoegazing blowouts. We could draw comparisons to both Japan's White Heaven and New York's Television.
Imagine if Circle had somehow moved to NYC, in the '80s, jamming with Sonic Youth, hanging with Unsane, maybe eventually putting out records on AmRep or SST. That's Lusiferiini Armosta. Pretty f'n cool! Jussi & Co. never cease to amaze...
MPEG Stream: "Silmat Meikatut"
MPEG Stream: "Kolme Matalaa"
MPEG Stream: "Kultainen Keinutuoli"

MAGIK MARKERS / SIC ALPS split (Yik Yak) 12" 11.98
A new record from Sic Alps is always cause for celebration, especially if you dig washed out, reverb drenched, stumbling noise pop, which is precisely what you get on these three new tracks, the first, an abstract drift of angular clang, murky crooning, barely-there rhythm, dark and a little dirge-y, but with a gorgeous streak of melancholy melody. The second track is way less abstract, still tweaked and a bit off kilter, with some tangly Eastern sounding guitar melodies WAY up in the mix, but right below, a simple drum part, some sad boy singing, mumbly one second, and belting out a little falsetto the next, a pretty pop song subverted, and transformed into a gorgeous staggering lo-fi sprawl. The last of the three is maybe the prettiest, total classic fuzzy pop, lilting and catchy, but again wrapped in a warped woozy haze, that makes the song sound like it's subtly changing speed throughout. Tweaked and twisted, but still so goddamn catchy.
Magik Markers Counter with three tracks of their own, forgoing most of the pop for something much more tripped out and psychedelic, clouds of swirling psych guitar over almost krautlike drumming, the vocals formless and all tangled up with flurries of wah guitar, everything looped and stretched out and blurred into a full-on unhinged, reverb drenched, washed out, dreamy and druggy space rock trip out, some of our favorite MM stuff for sure.
Super swank, thick glossy jackets, and most likely limited...

MELT-BANANA Lite Live: Ver.0.0 (A-Zap) cd 13.98
It's been WAY too long since we've seen Melt-Banana live, they are definitely one of THE raddest live groups ever, sonically brutal and precise and manic and impossibly complex, their stage presence unbeatable, the whole band bouncing around wildly non stop, the guitarist perpetually clad in surgical mask, the vocalist a tiny whirling dervish, it's pretty awe inspiring, and wild pogo pit inspiring too.
So this killer live set might tide us over, the sound is incredible, you would never know it was a live record unless you were told, and might not even believe it then! They are in fine form, the record opener is awesome, about as slow as they get, a killer midtempo jam, all freaked out effects and processed vox, lots of buzz, squiggly guitar weirdness, all set to the frenetic drumming, before the band launch into a burst of lightning fast hypergrind, insanely manic and frantic and frenzied, the vocals a staccato chirp, the drums spastic and chaotic, the guitar though, spitting out incredible riffs, then all sorts of impossibly tangled squelches and glitchy fragmented melodies. The songs blow by in a blur, which makes the slower tracks all the more powerful. "Cat And The Blood" is a droned out prog jam, all wooshing synths, and surprisingly restrained vocals, and muted guitar squiggles, before once again spitting out a handful of manic metal grind microjams before finishing off with two epics (4 and 5 minutes respectively), first "Last Target On The Last Day" a gorgeous tripped out space jam, super atmospheric and heavy, long drones, and warm swirls of synth underpinning an almost doomic groove, finishing off with the super atmospheric and cinematic "Humming Jackalope, Waiting For The Storm", all Theremin-like melodies, clouds of cymbal sizzle, washed out bass rumble, and streaks of total Tangerine Dream like synth shimmer before finishing off with a burst of white noise crunch. Phew. Epic and incredible and heavy and wild and wonderful. Definitely don't miss MB next time they come to your town, and check this out to remind yourself what you've been missing.
MPEG Stream: "Feedback Deficiency"
MPEG Stream: "T For Tone"
MPEG Stream: "Slide Down"
MPEG Stream: "One Drop, One Life"

MOEBIUS Tonspuren (Bureau B) lp 17.98
Moebius's first solo album from 1983 is also one of our favorites of the post-Cluster universe. We first heard this when it was recently reissued on cd via the Japanese import label Captain Trip (along with Zero Set and Rastakraut Pasta), but it was much too expensive to list. Thankfully, the Bureau B label has come to the rescue and we're able to share this gem with you.
Moebius has always been the more elusive and ornery of the Cluster duo. By 1983, Roedelius already had 5 solo albums under his belt, but Moebius always seemed to prefer working with groups or one-off projects, where he could entertain his curious sonic predilections against the grain of other performers. Surprisingly for his first actual solo release, he turns in an intriguing and engaging pop record. Not "Pop" in the commercial sense, but Tonspuren is surprisingly big on melodic but idiosyncratic precise miniatures with songs sounding like they were made by tiny but giddy machines.
Yet unlike Roedelius, Moebius allows no willful excursion or baroque tangent to intervene with the concise construction of his compositions, keeping them reduced to as essential compositions as possible, though much warmer and more fluid than, say, the compositions on Cluster's Curiosum (reviewed elsewhere on this list). Tellingly, this was made at the height of German New Wave, and one wonders how much of that may have played an influence. If you liked Cluster's Zuckerzeit, then check this out! Highly recommended!

MUSIIKKIVYORY Tulemme Sokeiksi (Ektro) cd 14.98
Total "Arctic Hysteria" here people! We liked this a lot when we first listened to it, before we even knew what it was. Well, we knew it was Finnish (always a plus), and released on Circle's Ektro label (also a reliable indicator of quality). It's not another "NWOFHM" band though, or even any sort of Circle side project, or even really a band at all. As it turns out, the quasi-Industrial DIY soundscapes of noise and drone created by Musiikkivyory ("Music Avalanche") are the work of one person, Mika Taanila, who was all of 15 years old when this was first released as a homemade cassette - back in 1981! That's right, a Finnish teenager in the early '80s making monstrous noise/drone tapes, contemporaneous with the likes of Maurizio Bianchi. How cool is that? Pretty cool we think.
The 12 tracks here (resurrected from a couple of super rare tapes, circa '80-'81) are a wonderful witches' cauldron of throbbing rhythmic chaos, fractured grinding drones, strange voices, field recordings, and DISTORTION, lots of distortion... it's a playful sort of isolationist music, if that makes sense. And as an evidently artistically inclined kid he had every reason to want to express himself in such a fashion. Imagine being a teen with fears of nuclear war, living up near the Arctic Circle. The dark postpunk music (Cabaret Voltaire, This Heat, The Normal, Dome...) you were able to tune in to on the BBC's John Peel show might make a lot more sense than the "normal" happy Christian adults who surround you!
So Mika began messing around with tape recorders, cast-off band instruments, radio static, toys, primitive percussion, etc., and pretty soon had generated enough material to fuel his own bedroom cassette label (of which it's hoped that Ektro will eventually reissue more releases), which issued limited runs of tapes not just by his own Musiikkivyory project but also by other likeminded Finnish friends... and, in fact, one by Italy's M.B. himself! (A reminder that international networking was possible before MySpace came around.)
Ektro has colorfully packaged this in a fashion up to their usual spiffy graphic standards, the cd cover insert folding out into a large sheet with photos and liner notes (in both English and Finnish) on one side, the other a poster depicting one of the original cassette releases at larger-than-life size.
Crude, creative, and compelling, this is quite an interesting surprise, thanks Ektro!! We'd definitely like to hear more from this corner of '80s cassette culture, hint hint.
MPEG Stream: "Tulemme Kreivin Luota [We Come From Count's Place]"
MPEG Stream: "Tulemme Sokeiksi [We're Becoming Blind]"
MPEG Stream: "Deutschland"

NECKS, THE Silverwater (ReR) cd 17.98
Hot damn. A new Necks album. They're one of our favorite bands EVER, and this is (one of the many reasons) why. Silverwater provides 67 minutes of the Necks' unique, hypnotic, keys/bass/drums bliss, all one track of course as is their wont. Over the course of those 67 minutes, though, the music made by this Australian trio varies quite a bit. Their trademark trance-iness is present, always, but at the same time this new album (their first studio record in, like, 3 years) seems more programmatic and propulsive than we're used to from these guys, taking off in directions we haven't necessarily heard from them before, but still sounding more like the Necks than anything else. Yet, parts could be mistaken for an underground ambient psychedelic jam from the likes of Sylvester Anfang, almost. And we'd say this is the Necks record to get Bohren & Der Club Of Gore fans into 'em. Other comparisons we've perhaps made before would be to Circle (in their non-metallic Miljard mode), Supersilent, Alice Coltrane, and AMM... anything that can elicit references to the likes of those is, obviously, amazing.
Eerie wavering drones delicately unfurl near the start, quiet and pretty... that gives way to a section that's almost ceremonial, like some percussive ritual. Sparse and deliberate, drums-only for a stretch, to be joined by deep, plucked bass notes... it could be some kinda krautrock jazz... and it does get "jazzier", sort of, with electric organ coloration, and cyclic piano plinkings, but also electronic-y gritty glitchiness overdubbed... Silverwater's shimmering textures and minimalist pulsations are simply beautiful, enthralling. It's a glorious 67 minutes, all right.
If you know the Necks, you know you need this. If you're new to the Necks, please do yourself a favor and check this out. Next to seeing them live (which some of us have been lucky enough to do, oh my god they were good), this will demonstrate quite effectively why we hold them in such high regard.
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 1"
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 2"
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 3"

NIHILIST ASSAULT GROUP & BLUE SABBATH BLACK CHEER Planned Obsolescence (Gnarled Forest Recordings) lp 14.98
This one is definitely for the noise crowd. Doomlords might find this latest joint from Northwester dronedoomdirge duo (now trio apparently) Blue Sabbath Black Cheer a little too punishing. We can only assume it's the influence of Nihilist Assault Group, not that BSBC didn't have noisy tendencies before, but here, the two combine forces to unleash a blackened Merzbowian beast, two side long blowouts of grinding white noise drenched hiss and glitch and howl and buzz. At low volume, like much of this ilk, one might mistake this for TV static, or a vacuum cleaner, or the needle slipping off the record and scraping over the label, a cacophony of crunch and scrape and gristly fuzz, blurred into heaving clouds of NOISE.
Strap some headphones on though if you dare, and there's definitely more going on than meets the ear, some churning almost rhythms, cool textures, tangled strands of drone and rumble and whir, but that's all buried underneath an avalanche of satanic hiss and skull caving, amp destroying white noise brutality.
Awesome stuff, if your ears can handle it. Again, very little in the way of doom, or even low end to be found here, but if you like to sit back, and relax to some Incapacitants, dine to a little Merzbow, or entertain to the strains of Hijokaidan, then heck, this might be the perfect soundtrack for your next nihilistic dinner party.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES. Gorgeous black and white jackets, with a thick printed insert.

NOTWIST, THE Music For Storm (OST) (Alien Transistor) lp+cd+book 24.00
The Notwist have displayed quite a range of sounds and styles over their lengthy career, morphing from a more experimental outfit into a powerhouse band crafting some of the most scrumptious and infectious songs that have been in heavy rotation around these parts going on years now.
In so many ways their range and breadth of sound position them as true kindred spirits to Radiohead. The same sort of pop / experimental music hybrid. While they have definitely demonstrated that they can really get to the heart of melodic avant-pop, we're sure this opportunity to score a film by Hans-Christian Schmid was an exciting prospect, allowing the band to once again zero in more on ambience and texture. Their score for Music For Storm is moody and brooding and could easily sound right at home on a record by The Necks, Sylvain Chaveau, Arve Henriksen, or any of our favorite hypnotic mood peddlers on labels like Miasma, Root Strata, Rune Grammofon and Type. Utilizing bowed xylophone, effects laden glockenspiel, minimal electronics and accordion, The Notwist have proven once again they are group who understand how to evoke and create strong moods and suspenseful sounds. This LP comes in a striking silk-screen print cover, with a 24-page photo booklet and a cd version to boot!
MPEG Stream: "Sarajevo 1"
MPEG Stream: "Storm 1"
MPEG Stream: "Prayer"

OMIT Tracer (The Helen Scarsdale Agency) 2cd 16.98
BACK IN PRINT!!!
Given the recent wealth of post-noise, analogue synth excursions from the likes of Emeralds and Oneohtrix Point Never, we're revisiting one of the best records from one of our all-time favorite electronic artists - Omit.
Over the years, we have made quite a fuss over the free-noise / dronescraping scene out of New Zealand, as perennially great artists such as the Dead C, Birchville Cat Motel, Flies Inside The Sun, Surface Of The Earth, RST, Eso Steel, Seht, Peter Wright, and many others form a population that is proportionally way larger than countries many many times the size of New Zealand. Amongst all of those NZ artists we mentioned, there is another artist who gets name-checked from time to time: Omit. At one time back in the mid-'90s, Clinton Williams - the sole knob twiddler and tape-splicer behind Omit - put all of today's hyper-prolific cd-r artists to shame with his own stream of releases through his own cassette and lathe-cut imprint Deep Skin. An artist whose paranoiac aesthetic was completely wrapped up in the bunker mentality of '70s analog electronics, Omit never really made the logical transition by updating from cassette to cd-r, having only re-released a fraction of his old tapes on disc, the Rejector reissued on Anomalous, the Quad boxset released on Corpus Hermeticum and now the monumental double disc set Tracer, rescued from obsolescence by The Helen Scarsdale Agency.
While Williams calls the tiny farming community of Blenheim, New Zealand his home, there is very little in his work that latches upon the gristled noise and feral folk tunes heard in many of his fellow New Zealanders. Instead, his work sprawls from the sci-fi bleakness that ran through the post-psychedelic explorations of German electronics, most notably Klaus Schulze, Conrad Schnitzler, and Cluster. At the same time, Omit's kosmische homage stands as an eerie parallel to the Raster-Noton sound that ripples with Omit's millennial horror, albeit through the sterility of digital production. Comparisons have also been made to early '80s Cabaret Voltaire, but Omit is infinitely better in executing his ideas than CV ever were. It could be said that Mr. Williams is a man in the wrong time, in the wrong part of the world; and all things considered, Mr. Williams would probably like it that way. Perhaps the best way to make the world's most isolating music is to be thoroughly isolated oneself.
Following his previous work on Anomalous and Corpus Hermeticum, Tracer demonstrates a finely crafted execution in these bleak, isolationist recordings. The slow moving synth sweeps, creeping electric atmospheres, unnerving loops of mechanized clamor, and low-slung rhythmic austerity have all of the trappings of industrial culture strategies in using technology to critique technology's alienation over mankind; yet, Omit has never really stated what this is about, instead leaving hints that Omit is merely a reflection of Clinton Williams' soul expressed through blighted electronic hypnosis. Emotive expressionism isn't something you think of when it comes to Cabaret Voltaire or Throbbing Gristle, but that's the ground where Williams has consistently tread. You would be hard pressed to find an electronic album as majestic, melancholy, and profoundly human as Tracer. Totally amazing!!!
MPEG Stream: "Sequester"
MPEG Stream: "Syn Flex Dump"
MPEG Stream: "Clicker"

OPHIDIAN FOREST I: Redbad (Ziekte) cd 11.98
Sometimes you can tell what you're gonna get just by an album cover. Rarely is that more true than with metal records, and the stern looking bearded dude with the winged helmet on the cover of I: Redbad is a pretty good indication of what lies inside - furious, overblown pagan black metal that buzzes and rages like a fucking war. Ophidian Forest is a trio with members stationed in the Netherlands, Croatia, and right here in San Francisco - imagine that. They conceive their music through file swapping online, and the liner notes explain that the three band members have never communicated through phone and wouldn't even recognize each other in person. So how are the results so amazing? Dark forces are surely at work with this one, not only is the music way more "natural" (not to mention totally awesome) than you might expect from such a lack of formal communication, but it may even work in the group's favor; with nothing to focus on except the creation of thrashing metallic glory with an extra heaping of mythological nihilism, the project has taken on a greater meaning than if it would have been defined in the traditional sense of what a band should be. Obviously these three are connected on some higher plane in the realm of black metal, because I: Redbad is a perfectly realized vision, a take no prisoners onslaught of filth and transcendental power. It's also a well thought out concept record focusing on the life and times of the Frisian King Redbad (c. 680-719), who in true metal fashion resisted the Christian onslaught of the Merovingian dynasty while maintaining the pagan ways of his people, who lived near the North Sea extending along the borders of the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark.
But this is hardly just for you history buffs out there. The guitars remain firmly in the red, the drums keep things blasting relentlessly, and the atmospheric keyboards add a nice touch of otherworldly ambience. And then of course, you get the singer's hateful, distorted screeches, adding a nice witchy element to the affair. Things are as filthy as you could hope for in a metal band, but the songs are also so punky and catchy that you might be surprised to find these sticking in your head for quite some time. To top things off, the band members all look like nefarious forest dwelling wizards, which certainly adds to the mystical vibe they have effortlessly obtained. One can only hope these guys keep up with the collaborations, because this stuff definitely covers everything we love about our black metal.
MPEG Stream: "A Herald On Silver Wings"
MPEG Stream: "Savage Day Rising"
MPEG Stream: "Shamanic Visions"

OPHTHALAMIA Via Dolorosa (Peaceville) cd 13.98
A nice reissue of this cult classic Swedish black metal album, another one of those things that it seems that we should have reviewed when it first came out, but didn't, probably 'cause back in 1995 the AQ "list" was just getting started. And we were also only just then getting into the black metal as well, come to think of it. But we did love this album, and still do. It's especially majestic, melodic, quite unusual black metal, on the slower side, with epic progressive atmospheres reminding us of early Opeth perhaps, and also Dissection, with which this band has some connection. The winding guitar lines are what stands out for us, as played by none other than the infamous "It", also a key member of Abruptum, Vondur, and War. Unlike those other band of Its, this isn't so primitive and noisy. It's more about the guitar, which weeps melancholically over martial but sorta jazzy drumming, playing insidiously catchy, sorta folky riffs that are woven into doomy, sorrowful, and sinuous compositions. What we really like is when it gets kind of frantic, as in the middle of "Slowly Passing The Frostlands/A Winterland's Tear" (all the songs have the two-part names, by the way), all twisted and tangled, and the song starts to sound a heck of a lot like a Black Flag instrumental or something from one of Greg Ginn's first two Gone albums!!
Raspy vokills and weird whispers factor into the mix as well, along with a "practice space" production vibe, making this sound more black metal than it might otherwise, given that the herky-jerky, never ending guitar riffage also sounds more like rollicking '70s heavy rock on occasion. Making sure there's no question about it (and It) being black metal, though, if the band's medieval/gothic/ridiculous painted portraits weren't enough, along with their pedigrees in other bands (Abruptum, Marduk, Pan-Thy-Monium, Swordmaster, etc.) this ends with a bonus track (as did the original cd), that's a cover of the great "Deathcrush" by Mayhem.
Ophthalamia made several albums, but this - their second, strangest, and we think most memorable - is our favorite, and also one of our favorites among Its entire discography. Glad it's back in print, a great reminder of all the fantastic, original albums we were discovering back in the '90s coming from the Scandinavian metal scene...
MPEG Stream: "Black As Sin, Pale As Death/Autumn Whispers"
MPEG Stream: "Slowly Passing The Frostlands/A Winterland's Tear"

ORCHESTRE POLY RYTHMO DE COTONOU Echos Hypnotiques: 1969-1979 (Analog Africa) cd 24.00
We nearly wore out our copies of the first volume of singles and jams from the amazing Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou, a previously little known but highly prolific Afro-beat group from the tiny western Africa country of Benin. Now they're one of our top favorite groups! The Analog Africa label was practically founded on their discovery and other groups who recorded for the Albarika Store Label and its elusive producer, Adissa Seidou. That discovery yielded enormous riches. Over 500 tracks from this legendary group in its many incarnations were unearthed, nearly half were recorded for the Albarika Store Label and this collection focuses on that period. The previous volume was a collection of singles from smaller labels that the band made on the sly while Seidou was out of town. All lo-fi recordings often only using one microphone for the singer as well as the band. The recordings on this collection were made with higher quality recording equipment, and while the songs here have less of that urgent funk made by a band on the run, they are much more composed, varied and altogether stranger. Some of this is in fact seriously nuts! Lots of fuzzed out and wah'd guitar, layers of distorted percussion, horns and spacey organs. Though there are tracks that continue the Voudon funk vibe of the first volume, tracks like "Noude Ma Gnin Tche De Me" bring some head-boppin' Go-Go garage stomp, while tracks like "Gan Tche Kpo" are mind-melting Afro-psych. Others have more Latin flavor similar in vibe to Konono No.1's infectious dance rhythms, which makes sense as the OPRDC are one of the featured groups on the latest Honest Jon's comp, Africa Boogaloo (reviewed elsewhere on this list) that traces the influence of Latin rhythms on West Africa. The Analog Africa Label has yet to disappoint, and if you liked any of the labels other releases, or are new to this group/label, right here is a fine place to start!!
MPEG Stream: "Azon De Ma Gnin Kpevi"
MPEG Stream: "Noude Ma Gnin Tche De Me"
MPEG Stream: "Gan Tche Kpo"
MPEG Stream: "Mede Ma Gnin Messe"

OUR LOVE WILL DESTROY THE WORLD Blondesummer Snowqueen (Don't Fuck With Magic) cd-r 15.98
Brand new track from Mr. Campbell Kneale, formerly known as Birchville Cat Motel, now working under the monicker Our Love Will Destroy The World, and like the last few OLWDTW records, Blondesummer Snowqueen is a gorgeous nearly half hour noisedrone blow out, which on the surface sounds pretty cacophonous, with streaks of feedback all over the place, everything grinding and crunching and buzzing and howling, and it is a pretty serious chunk of chaos, but as we've learned over Kneale's many releases, there's definitely a method to his madness, but don't bother trying to figure out what it is, cuz it IS madness, just sit back and let these sounds envelop you, headphones help, and get lost in this swirling whirling dervish of sound. Imagine a huge cement mixer, filled with notes and drones and feedback, and fractured riffage, and disembodied voices, and buzzing synths and crumbling distortion, and now imagine that huge drum rotating, the various elements colliding and careening, now imagine getting that drum to spin fast, REALLY fast, then opening up the hatch, and plunging your head inside. It's like that. Sort of. But all filtered through Kneale's flair for taking noise and cacophony and skree and twisting them all up into one twisted warped whole, and getting the whole thing to sound, well, fucking AWESOME.
This is definitely on the difficult side, but fans of OLWDTW and Birchville, will feel right at home.
On Kneale's Don't Fuck With Magic label, ultra limited, and mostly only available at aQ!
MPEG Stream: "Blondesummer Snowqueen (Excerpt)"

PEOPLE Ceremony - Buddha Meet Rock (Phoenix) cd 17.98
Yay! Back in print! New label, new packaging, and also now on vinyl!
1971 strikes again! Here's a new cd reish of this beautifully freaky album by a Japanese "Buddhist-psych" band called People, featuring guitarist Kimio Mizutani (who played with Love Live Life + 1, Hiro Yanagida, and others, and did a solo album called A Path Through Haze). There's monk-like chanting and resounding gongs, field recordings of birds and street sounds, and even, strangely enough, samples from soulful psych-funk producer David Axelrod's classic 1968 album Song Of Innocence. And of course heavy wah wah guitar action. The album is a real 'trip', much of it indeed very ceremonial-sounding, venturing from blissful grooves with tick-tock rhythms ("Shomyo Part 2") and placid, lovely droniness ("Prayer Part 1") to sheer pounding electric fuzz riffage laced with screams of orgasmic ecstasy ("Prayer Part 2"). The puzzling use of those lush, orchestral Axelrod samples on the first and last tracks just helps to make this somehow both very much of its time and also way ahead of it (since Axelrod is heavily sampled by folks today as well!). Quite recommended.
This was previously reissued by Teichiku, but that one's been gone for a while. This new reissue on Phoenix is the same price, with the cd packaged in one of their usual "wallet" style cardboard sleeves - and they also did vinyl.
MPEG Stream: "Flower Strewing "
MPEG Stream: "Prayer Part 2"

PEOPLE Ceremony - Buddha Meet Rock (Phoenix) lp 24.00
Yay! Back in print! New label, new packaging, and also now on vinyl!
1971 strikes again! Here's a new cd reish of this beautifully freaky album by a Japanese "Buddhist-psych" band called People, featuring guitarist Kimio Mizutani (who played with Love Live Life + 1, Hiro Yanagida, and others, and did a solo album called A Path Through Haze). There's monk-like chanting and resounding gongs, field recordings of birds and street sounds, and even, strangely enough, samples from soulful psych-funk producer David Axelrod's classic 1968 album Song Of Innocence. And of course heavy wah wah guitar action. The album is a real 'trip', much of it indeed very ceremonial-sounding, venturing from blissful grooves with tick-tock rhythms ("Shomyo Part 2") and placid, lovely droniness ("Prayer Part 1") to sheer pounding electric fuzz riffage laced with screams of orgasmic ecstasy ("Prayer Part 2"). The puzzling use of those lush, orchestral Axelrod samples on the first and last tracks just helps to make this somehow both very much of its time and also way ahead of it (since Axelrod is heavily sampled by folks today as well!). Quite recommended.
This was previously reissued by Teichiku, but that one's been gone for a while. This new reissue on Phoenix is the same price, with the cd packaged in one of their usual "wallet" style cardboard sleeves - and they also did vinyl.
MPEG Stream: "Flower Strewing "
MPEG Stream: "Prayer Part 2"

PETIT MAL Liquid Dispersion: 2 April 2009, Live SF (self-released) 3" cd-r 5.98
This live recording from the East Bay denizen Petit Mal (aka J. Kaiser) is much better once removed from the performance space in which it was recorded. Not that there's anything wrong with the Luggage Store per se, but that these dark subterranean rumbles, distance bits of radio transmission, and echoes persisting in a damp gloominess contradict the Luggage Store gallery's crisp white walls and huge windows overlooking San Francisco's Market Street. It's better to consider this performance some apocalyptic ritual recorded out in the industrial wastelands elsewhere in the Bay Area, maybe out near Suisun Bay where the US Navy sends its old World War II era ships to slowly leach their heavy metals into the water and soil.
As on many of Kaiser's projects (NF Orchest, French Radio, and his collaborations with Angela Hsu), the sounds are generated through a reel-to-reel tape, a shortwave radio, and his well-worn bicycle wheel which he plays with a violin bow, achieving similarly dissonant bellows that Organum produced through an ensemble of bowed cymbals. Kaiser's work is more Spartan than Organum's, though with these mournful tones which emit through the metallic shimmer, drone, and scrape, resonating really as if they were transmitting through the hull of one of those rusting ships in Suisun Bay. Limited as is always the case with Kaiser's series of 3" discs.
MPEG Stream: "Liquid Dispersion: 2 April 2009, Live SF"

REAL ESTATE s/t (Woodsist) cd 13.98
Finally a full length from these guys. Up until now, all we'd heard was a two track 7" and a couple tracks on that Underwater Peoples Summertime Showcase 2009 compilation, but what we heard we liked, A LOT. And this full length is more of the same. Bucking the trend of lo-fi murk, tropical psychedelic haze and noise drenched weirdness, these guys offer up something much more classic and timeless sounding. A little fuzzy, a little jangly, a bit psychedelic, and super catchy, Real Estate sound a bit like long time aQ faves the Dodos, with a pinch of Pavement, and a definitely a little of that current crop of hazy reverby garage pop.
But again, the sound of Real Estate is barely even lo-fi, or underground for that matter, this is pure sparkly pop perfection, summery and sunshiney, with just a hint of melancholy, with nods of course to the Beatles and the Bee Gees (baroque pop BG, not disco BG), but also Sebadoh, Built To Spill, Death Cab, although not nearly as 'pro' as any of those groups. Rough around the edges, definitely more raw and immediate, but still earnest and emotional, the songs catchy and hooky and fun, definitely about as mainstream as most Woodsist stuff gets, which is not a bad thing AT ALL really. We're loving this record, been playing it non stop, and we have a feeling a lot of you might just feel the same.
FYI: Real Estate just so happens to include Matthew Mondanile, aka aQ faves Ducktails!!
MPEG Stream: "Beach Comber"
MPEG Stream: "Pool Swimmers"
MPEG Stream: "Suburban Dogs"

REAL ESTATE s/t (Woodsist) lp 14.98
Finally a full length from these guys. Up until now, all we'd heard was a two track 7" and a couple tracks on that Underwater Peoples Summertime Showcase 2009 compilation, but what we heard we liked, A LOT. And this full length is more of the same. Bucking the trend of lo-fi murk, tropical psychedelic haze and noise drenched weirdness, these guys offer up something much more classic and timeless sounding. A little fuzzy, a little jangly, a bit psychedelic, and super catchy, Real Estate sound a bit like long time aQ faves the Dodos, with a pinch of Pavement, and a definitely a little of that current crop of hazy reverby garage pop.
But again, the sound of Real Estate is barely even lo-fi, or underground for that matter, this is pure sparkly pop perfection, summery and sunshiney, with just a hint of melancholy, with nods of course to the Beatles and the Bee Gees (baroque pop BG, not disco BG), but also Sebadoh, Built To Spill, Death Cab, although not nearly as 'pro' as any of those groups. Rough around the edges, definitely more raw and immediate, but still earnest and emotional, the songs catchy and hooky and fun, definitely about as mainstream as most Woodsist stuff gets, which is not a bad thing AT ALL really. We're loving this record, been playing it non stop, and we have a feeling a lot of you might just feel the same.
FYI: Real Estate just so happens to include Matthew Mondanile, aka aQ faves Ducktails!!
MPEG Stream: "Beach Comber"
MPEG Stream: "Pool Swimmers"
MPEG Stream: "Suburban Dogs"

REVEREND BIZARRE Death Is Glory... Now (Spikefarm) 2cd 16.98
Along with the post-Reverend Bizarre project we just got in and made our Record Of The Week (Sami "Sir Albert Witchfinder" Hynninen's ultra-doomy The Puritan, you already read about it above, right?), we also were finally able to get some copies of this, a MUST HAVE for all fans of these now defunct Finnish true doom metal legends. In fact, it's so good we would not hesitate to recommend it to any curious persons who have yet to hear ANY Reverend Bizarre. It's not an official "best of", actually this posthumous collection consists of uber rarities from various vinyl split ep's and other obscure sources, but it does still have some of their best stuff on it. And, since Rev. B. had fashioned themselves into one of the best "traditional" doom metal bands around (in part by not being TOO traditional) that means this is one of the best double discs of doom we've heard since, well, the LAST Reverend Bizarre album, the 2cd swansong that was III: So Long Suckers.
There's 15 tracks here, leading off with "Demons Annoying Me" from a long vanished split 12" with Orodruin, which happens to be a NON-boring nearly 18 minute epic, a true masterwork of heedless heaviness, built from raging riffs, distorted noise, and cathartic screams, one of the tracks that transcends this band's obvious influences and definitely deserves pride of place as the first track on this altogether awesome double disc. Other standouts abound, from the anthemic "Blood On Satan's Claw" (boasting some King Diamond-y falsetto in the vocal dep't.), to the brief and bludgeoning "Odinn's Men", to the seemingly Current 93 influenced "Apocalyptic Riders", to the also pretty darn epic eleven and a half minute "From The Void II", complete with slo-mo drum solo...
Then there's the two killer cover songs included here, both from a long out of print 7" we once stocked: Judas Priest's "Deceiver" and Saint Vitus' "Dark World". As the liner notes put it, it's as if Saint Vitus wrote that song for RB to cover. And while Albert's vocals are quite impressive throughout this entire collection, it's really amazing how well his wildly over the top "impersonation" of Rob Halford comes off on "Deciever", and with Vitus such a huge influence on RB to begin with, it's no surprise that Albert channels Scott Reagers perfectly on "Dark World" (heck he channels Reagers perfectly all the time, check out the track "The Tree Of Suffering" for another very good example). Wow.
RB's music can get pretty trancey, doing a dirgey drone at a creepy crawl, with the likes of the gloomy "Bend" (an unlikely "cover" of a track by Finnish electro artist Mr. Velcro Fastener, by the way, from a split they did!) and a bunch of others bringing in hints of black metal grimnity. But also some tracks are fairly uptempo and succinct, like the '70s Sabbatheque rockin' of "Broken Vows", which any Witchcraft fan is gonna love. And if you get at all bothered the Devil in your music (why are you reading this then?), beware the backwards shit going down on "The Gate Of Nanna" at the end of disc 2, that's Satan worship if we've ever heard it. So cool.
The cd booklet deserves mention as well, they didn't neglect the liner notes that's for sure. There's many pages of text in tiny tiny type discussing the what/when/where/why of each track in great depth.
R.I.P. Reverend Bizarre... and doom on brothers, Doom On!!
MPEG Stream: "Demons Annoying Me"
MPEG Stream: "Dark World"
MPEG Stream: "Broken Vows"

ROEDELIUS Wenn Der Sudwind Weht (Bureau B) lp 17.98
Roedelius's fourth solo record from 1981 has obvious connections to his first record, Durch Die Wuste as evidenced from the similar album covers involving feet and water. But while his first record was a head-first dive into exploring the palatable possibilities of mixing acoustic and electronic instruments, Wenn Der Sudwind Weht is all about the tranquil relaxed after-glow, drying off in the afternoon sun. Limiting the instruments to just organ, synthesizers and piano, Sudwind is surprisingly rich and layered and arguably the most stunning of his solo records, reminding us of the pastoralism of Popol Vuh and early Deuter, but never succumbing to new age music's typical lack of focus. In fact it's the most focused Roedelius record of the last couple that have been reissued. While the Cluster-Harmonia catalog with all its off-shoots and solo projects can be quite unwieldy especially in the middle of its currently aggressive reissue campaign, but this may be the most essential Roedelius reissue of the bunch. Highest recommendation!

RUSSIAN CIRCLES Geneva (Suicide Squeeze) cd 14.98
We've never actually reviewed a record by these guys for some reason, but at least some of us here have been fans for a while. Listening to this now, all we can think is that we don't remember these guys being so heavy. Or so metal. But for math rock / post rock, this is some seriously brutal and fierce stuff. It's definitely melodic and mathy, the band definitely finding inspiration in Mogwai, Godspeed, Explosions In The Sky, Pelican, Jesu, but rather than aping those groups, Russian Circles definitely make that sound their own. And one of the ways they do that is by making it HEAVY. They spend a good amount of the record chugging ominously, or locked into some epic riffing, the drums pounding, the bass an incredible grinding crunchy low end, the songs often following the sort of post rock template of slow build to explosive chorus, but just as often not, sometimes locking into long contemplative drifts, other times pounding away relentlessly on a single riff, and still other times exploding into a full on frenzied psych metal blow out.
In the time it took to write the above paragraph, two people came over to see what was playing, and when they were told it was Russian Circles, both responded by saying they didn't remember Russian Circles being so metal. Which is not a bad thing at all really, in fact, they've kind of out-Pelican-ed Pelican, the same sort of general sound, but RS are now the heavier of the two. But they still get pretty post rock and pretty, "Hexed All" is a gorgeous super mellow string laden meander, "When The Mountain Comes To Muhammad" spends much of it's time slithering and brooding all Slint style, and record closer "Philos" is a long sprawling post metal drift, spending much of its time hushed and abstract, and building briefly, but never to a full on metallic climax, but in between all this prettiness is "Malko" is a sort sharp blast of melodic heaviness, and even some of the pretty tracks are peppered with bits of crunch and pound.
Regardless of whether you think this is metallic post rock, or post metal, or if you even care, this is some seriously good shit, and anyone into ANY of the above mentioned bands, who might be looking for some melodic heaviness, should for sure check this out.
MPEG Stream: "Fathom"
MPEG Stream: "Geneva"
MPEG Stream: "Melee"

SKITLIV Skandinavisk Misantropi (Season Of Mist) cd 14.98
The first proper release from these Swedish metal misanthropes. Their last release, Amfetamin, while quite excellent, was more of a compilation, with only two studio tracks, the others recorded live, and thus wasn't super cohesive.
But that's not a problem here. We weren't sure what to expect really, considering our only exposure to Skitliv previously was the aforementioned Amfetamin, but whatever it is we thought we might here, this is way better, heavier, darker, catchier and creepier, which shouldn't be that much of a surprise really, after all, guitarist Kvarforth plays in Shining, Ondskapt, Manes, Den Saakaldte among others, and the band features Mayhem's Maniac on vocals, and this record in particular features a pretty bad ass set of guests, Gaahl, formerly of Gorgoroth, Attila (also of Mayhem, as well as Aborym and Tormentor), and of course David Tibet from Current 93, who also guested on the first record.
On Amfetamin, Skitliv trafficked in a sort of stumbling abstract doom, and that doom vibe is definitely present here, but the sound is at once more blackened, and more melodic, the grim riffing and harsh vokills wrapped around almost Lifelover style minor key melodies, the songs super catchy, almost like a black metal My Dying Bride or a more well produced Hypothermia, some of the tracks slipping into minimal moody drifts, creeping black ambience, and almost post rock sounding skitter, while all around, clouds of strange effects and processed electronics swirl and swoop, giving the proceedings a definite spaced out vibe.
David Tibet's contribution is immediately recognizable, his track sounding like a black metal Current 93, haunting and otherworldly, his manic vocals over clean guitars, even some piano, before the song explodes in a frenzy of howling buzz.
Elsewhere the tracks occasionally burst into full on blasting blackness, but just as often splinter into a swirling hazy almost pop sounding plod, with cool harmonized guitar leads, and more melancholic melodies. The record closes with the epic "ScumDrug", a smoldering gothic doomscape, all clean guitar, tinkling pianos, growling demonic vocals and distant distorted riffage, a woozy cabaret crawl that eventually morphs into a freaky collaged outro, all garbled voices and rumbling low end pulses, squalls of white noise hiss, and mysterious gurgles, an appropriately twisted ending to a seriously twisted record.
MPEG Stream: "Slow Pain Coming"
MPEG Stream: "Hollow Devotion"
MPEG Stream: "Skandinavisk Misantropi"

SOUND PROJECTOR 18th Issue magazine 11.98
One of the first things we turn to in any music magazine is the reviews section. Yup, when we're not writing record reviews, we just love to read 'em. Go figure. So of course, that makes Ed Pinsent's Sound Projector one of our favorite mags around, seeing as how it mostly consists of reviews - well-written, expert ones, hundred and hundreds of them, covering all sorts of underground sounds we like, from field recordings to free improv to acoustic folk to electronic drone to black metal, and more!
With its trademark black/red/white cover color scheme intact, and expected massive bulk as well, the Sound Projector's 18th issue is here, straight from England, and we've really only just skimmed its 180 pages 'cause we're too busy right now with our own reviews (but we can't wait to dig into it this weekend!). The reviews are as usual grouped into several sections (International Surveys, Evil Noise and Rock, Art Music, Vinyl and Books, Melodic), those divided into even more precise (?) smaller groupings with designations like "Atoms Of Pure Noise", "Japan", "Touch Sevens", "The Droning Ones", "Stoner And Doom", "Tape Maschines Maken Klang"... Some labels get their own sections, some reviewers do too. There's an index in the back, in tiny tiny type, so you can find individual reviews alphabetically by artist if you like, but browsing through seems best.
Of course, more than a few of these records we've reviewed already (but it's nice to get a second opinion... and the SP crew don't always agree with what we said), and there's plenty more here we've been meaning to get to, or definitely will once we track 'em down on the basis of the Sound Projector's say. One thing we've always liked about the Sound Projector (and that we try to do too) is that they don't limit themselves to reviewing the -newest- of releases, so even if something's 2 or 3 or 5 years old, it might get written up here anyway, just 'cause someone's been listening to it and gotten enthused, regardless of when the record in question was released.
Like we said, it's mostly reviews (yay) but there IS some other content here too, including in-depth interviews with Industrial percussionist/composer Z'ev, English avant-folk guitarist C. Joynes, and '70 San Francisco synthpunks The Units!! Also, this issue comes with a download code for a free special Sound Projector mp3 compilation, English Wildlife, highlighting some unknown to us UK underground acts.
Basically, next to our own website, this is pretty much essential reading for all devoted AQ customer-types in our opinion!

SUNBURNED HAND OF THE MAN Loose Bugs (Spirit of Orr) cd-r 14.98
It's been ages since we've heard from these guys, maybe the second most referenced band on the aQ list when we're trying to describe stumbling tribal avant free rock, after the the No Neck Blues Band, both bands pretty much rule that world, each an ever shifting collective with a few core members, able to conjure up super epic clattery free folk, and droned out abstract minimalism, dipping liberally into noise rock, free jazz, 20th century classical, infusing their lo-fi chaos with a sense of art.
No Neck definitely drifted in the artier direction, releasing super limited editions, deluxe lps, performing in art spaces, playing with dancers, mysterious vocalists, while Sunburned Hand stayed more sort of punk rock, releasing an endless series of home made cd-r's, their sound remaining relatively consistent, a gorgeous, cracked, grimy and gritty anti rock, as much about noise as jazz, the players connected on some other level, their performances amazing, their recordings equally so, slipping from buzzing ragas, to strange clattery soundscapes, to full bore free rock roar, to hushed and contemplative drift, to spidery post rock minimalism, to skronky almost free jazz, to foresty free folk all detuned guitars and fluttery horns and stumbling drums, to a sort of avant Appalachia, all of that and more are touched on here, a killer recording from way back in 1998, only now seeing the light of day, packaged in a cool hand stamped origami style sleeve, with pasted on front cover art, and a printed poster / insert. LIMITED to 999 COPIES... (hmm, that's a lot for a cd-r!)
MPEG Stream: "Concentric Species"
MPEG Stream: "Meeting With Seed At The Gates Of Chance"
MPEG Stream: "Whale Bone Whistle"

TENHORNEDBEAST My Horns Are A Flame To Draw Down The Truth (Cold Spring) cd 13.98
It's been quite a while since we've heard from Tenhornedbeast, one of our favorite purveyors of deep blackened ritualistic dronemusic, but as always, it was well worth the wait.
Like past releases My Horns Are A Flame To Draw Down The Truth is grand is scope, unlike much of the ambient music and dronemusic we hear, the sounds here sound deliberate, the songs composed. We can only assume that the years between releases are due to a certain meticulousness, one can almost imagine Mr. THB as a mysterious cloaked figure, in his subterranean lair, hunched over a workbench of strange assemblage of electronics and burbling cauldrons, a lone alchemist working by torchlight, crafting these elegant dronescapes, equal part dark shimmer and caustic buzz, cinematic creep and smoldering sinister doom-ed minimalism.
The opener is a softly cacophonous slow build of cavernous tones and groaning low end rumbles, but these sounds are not smooth at all but raw and rough around the edges, an organic thing, something musical, but removed from 'music' as we know it, a sort of synesthesia, like shadows flickering in firelight, THB deftly assembles layers of drone, and weaves together barely there melodies, into massive dreamy drifts of delicate ambience, that slowly shifts from grim shimmer to ethereal hush.
The appropriately titled "My Horns..." takes what does indeed sound like a horn, and slows it way down, and loops it into a gorgeously textured hypnotic low end mantra, playing on and on and on, while all around, various other sonic shadings surface, and lilting melodies seem to peek from behind the heavy black shades of sound.
The final track begins with distorted guitar, a riff slowed down to near stasis, a plodding doom rendered in a washed out muted blur, a doomdronedirge that builds to a soft roar, the whole time gradually letting the light swallow the dark, the heaviness and riffiness gradually receding, while the song begins to glimmer and shimmer and glow with an otherworldly warmth, as if emerging from some blackened captivity, but all of that is cut short, as the moaning groaning minor key melodies that opened the track return, swaddling the fading shimmer in their ominous embrace.
MPEG Stream: "Ruins Son"
MPEG Stream: "Black Walls Rising/Black Stars Falling"

THROBBING GRISTLE Gristleism (Black) (Throbbing Gristle) battery operated soundbox 30.00
Finally, the long rumored Gristleism soundbox from Throbbing Gristle is here, and it's just about as cool as we hoped. Regardless of your feelings on Throbbing Gristle as a band, Gristleism is another must have for music obsessives and weird gadget freaks, like FM3's Buddha Machine, Gristleism is a small compact battery powered soundbox that plays loops, it has a volume and a pitch control, and a button to switch between loops, but UNlike the Buddha Machine, which until recently came in the generic Asian packaging that all similar machines came packaged in (originally these boxes contained prayers and were used for mediation), and finally got a minimal but stylish upgrade, the Gristleism box is all about the packaging, in fact, we balked at the price before we saw these, but now that we've seen one and held one, WOW. Totally worth it.
The outside sleeve is gorgeously printed shiny on matte on one side, elaborately diecut on the other, that immediately recognizable TG pattern, the bottom is printed in metallic silver ink. But that's just the outer slipcover. Once that is removed, the inside cover is revealed, again, shiny ink on matte paper, some of the details in shiny metallic silver, the credits, the tracklisting, then inside that is a small printed insert, on thick reflective paper, and then finally the soundbox itself, which even has the Throbbing Gristle logo pressed into the plastic. As an object, this thing is breathtaking, totally striking and even if you never listened to it, would look smashing on your shelf. But you WILL want to listen to it.
Thirteen TG loops, the bulk of which seem to harken from the classic late '70s period of Throbbing Gristle, before the project split into Psychic TV, Chris & Cosey, and Coil.
The low synthetic dirge of "Persuasion" (from 20 Jazz Funk Greats) is the first loop on the box, complete with those unsettling female vocalisations which may be screams of fear, ecstacy, horror, or somewhere in between. The seasick distorted swells and atonal melodica trilled with tremolo come next, culled from the TG classic "Hamburger Lady" (from D.o.A. The Third and Final Report), all that's needed is for you to fill in Genesis' vocals about encountering a charred human body still alive in a hospital ward. Similarly effective is the alien slow-motion grooviess of the title track from 20 Jazz Funk Greats, with Cosey's bleating trumpet hanging in the distance. The windswept eeriness and foghorn blurts on "Thank You Brian" seem to be a loop that's unique to the box, or at least we're not sure where it might have come from. But the proto-acid squiggliness and disembodied vocals of "Maggot Death" reprise a particularly great snippet from TG's Second Annual Report. The "Wimpy Bar" loop doesn't seem to come from one of TG's records either but is one that sounds really familiar with Cosey's knife-on-the-guitar-strings scraping and squiggled electronics, perhaps from one of the many live cassettes? The tenth loop reprises the darkly hallucinatory echoes and atonal blurts from "Heathen Earth". The shepherd tone crustiness of the "Industrial Intro" could have been an experiment that Chris and Sleazey worked out for Second Annual Report. Everything actually sounds pretty awesomely crappy through the little speaker, apparently the band worked quite hard to enhance the sound of these little boxes, according to their website, Gristleism has almost twice the frequency range of the original Buddha Machines, but it's definitely a pretty perfect encapsulation of the TG aesthetic. Low brow high art. We would have liked to have seen a chunk from United or the rhythm from Discipline added into the box, but hey save those for the next one. Please?
The one bummer is that there's no output / headphone jack, so there's really no way to hook this up to an amp or your stereo. Unless... you go to the band's website, where they provide specs for certain mods, insert a jack, do a little circuit bending, so you can add your own twist to TG's Gristleism box.
Needless to say, odds are you're probably gonna want one of these. Or two. If you loved the Buddha Machine, or the recent Black Box variation, then this one's gonna blow your mind. Available in black, red, and chrome (although, as of this moment, the chrome version is not available yet, it should be in a couple weeks). And be warned, these are super limited, we have a bunch, but we may not be able to get more, or if we can, it might not be all that many...

THROBBING GRISTLE Gristleism (Red) (Throbbing Gristle) battery operated soundbox 30.00
Finally, the long rumored Gristleism soundbox from Throbbing Gristle is here, and it's just about as cool as we hoped. Regardless of your feelings on Throbbing Gristle as a band, Gristleism is another must have for music obsessives and weird gadget freaks, like FM3's Buddha Machine, Gristleism is a small compact battery powered soundbox that plays loops, it has a volume and a pitch control, and a button to switch between loops, but UNlike the Buddha Machine, which until recently came in the generic Asian packaging that all similar machines came packaged in (originally these boxes contained prayers and were used for mediation), and finally got a minimal but stylish upgrade, the Gristleism box is all about the packaging, in fact, we balked at the price before we saw these, but now that we've seen one and held one, WOW. Totally worth it.
The outside sleeve is gorgeously printed shiny on matte on one side, elaborately diecut on the other, that immediately recognizable TG pattern, the bottom is printed in shiny black ink. But that's just the outer slipcover. Once that is removed, the inside cover is revealed, again, shiny ink on matte paper, some of the details in shiny black ink, the credits, the tracklisting, then inside that is a small printed insert, on thick reflective paper, and then finally the soundbox itself, which even has the Throbbing Gristle logo pressed into the plastic. As an object, this thing is breathtaking, totally striking and even if you never listened to it, would look smashing on your shelf. But you WILL want to listen to it.
Thirteen TG loops, the bulk of which seem to harken from the classic late '70s period of Throbbing Gristle, before the project split into Psychic TV, Chris & Cosey, and Coil.
The low synthetic dirge of "Persuasion" (from 20 Jazz Funk Greats) is the first loop on the box, complete with those unsettling female vocalisations which may be screams of fear, ecstasy, horror, or somewhere in between. The seasick distorted swells and atonal melodica trilled with tremolo come next, culled from the TG classic "Hamburger Lady" (from D.o.A. The Third and Final Report), all that's needed is for you to fill in Genesis' vocals about encountering a charred human body still alive in a hospital ward. Similarly effective is the alien slow-motion grooviess of the title track from 20 Jazz Funk Greats, with Cosey's bleating trumpet hanging in the distance. The windswept eeriness and foghorn blurts on "Thank You Brian" seem to be a loop that's unique to the box, or at least we're not sure where it might have come from. But the proto-acid squiggliness and disembodied vocals of "Maggot Death" reprise a particularly great snippet from TG's Second Annual Report. The "Wimpy Bar" loop doesn't seem to come from one of TG's records either but is one that sounds really familiar with Cosey's knife-on-the-guitar-strings scraping and squiggled electronics, perhaps from one of the many live cassettes? The tenth loop reprises the darkly hallucinatory echoes and atonal blurts from "Heathen Earth". The shepherd tone crustiness of the "Industrial Intro" could have been an experiment that Chris and Sleazey worked out for Second Annual Report. Everything actually sounds pretty awesomely crappy through the little speaker, apparently the band worked quite hard to enhance the sound of these little boxes, according to their website, Gristleism has almost twice the frequency range of the original Buddha Machines, but it's definitely a pretty perfect encapsulation of the TG aesthetic. Low brow high art. We would have liked to have seen a chunk from United or the rhythm from Discipline added into the box, but hey save those for the next one. Please?
The one bummer is that there's no output / headphone jack, so there's really no way to hook this up to an amp or your stereo. Unless... you go to the band's website, where they provide specs for certain mods, insert a jack, do a little circuit bending, so you can add your own twist to TG's Gristleism box.
Needless to say, odds are you're probably gonna want one of these. Or two. If you loved the Buddha Machine, or the recent Black Box variation, then this one's gonna blow your mind. Available in black, red, and chrome (although, as of this moment, the chrome version is not available yet). And be warned, these are super limited, we have a bunch, but we may not be able to get more, or if we can, it might not be all that many...

TIA CARRERA The Quintessential (Small Stone) cd 14.98
Hopefully you already are familiar with this Texas heavy psych band with the not-so-heavy name. We've reviewed a couple of their releases before - most recently, a way-cool 7" of all Lungfish covers, and previously, their massive November Session (we still have a handful of that cd in stock, so go read our review of it and snatch one up!).
THIS new disc comes to us via the Small Stone label, who've been getting much props from us lately (for the likes of Obiat, Iota, Sons Of Otis, and Los Natas) though we already knew the Tia Carrera was gonna be good. And it is. Freeform jammin' blown out psychedelic wahwah'd guitar wailin' freakdom here that we wouldn't hesitate to recommend to fans of Boris and Earthless and Pearls & Brass. And ol' Jimi Hendrix for that matter. Of course, if you're already into TC, we need only say that this new disc is another slab of dizzy distorted genius from them.
Oh yeah, if you're partial to Earthless in particular, by the time you're in the middle of the 22 minute "Unnamed Wholeness", the second track of The Quintessential, you'll have a new favorite band. Those into Tokyo Flashbacking acts like LSD-march and Up-Tight might think so too.
But then, surprise! While most of the album is all electric and instrumental, the fifth and final track is a strummed acoustic number, melodic and gentle, with stoned effected vocals and pretty guitar pickin', like Led Zep in the sunshine on the backporch getting baked. Really nice!
MPEG Stream: "Unnamed Wholeness"
MPEG Stream: "Gypsies"
MPEG Stream: "Hazy Winter"

TWINSISTERMOON The Hollow Mountain (Blackest Rainbow) cd 16.98
Soon to be out of print, soon to be only available on eBay, the latest slab of blissed out psychedelic dreamfolk from Twinsistermoon aka Mehdi Amaziane aka one half of underground darlings Natural Snow Buildings, and you know what that means, grab these while you can, cuz pretty much everything NSB releases turns to gold, but not before selling out in a heartbeat. Which, as we've gone on at length about in the past, is a huge shame, as the music they create is positively enchanting. Together as NSB and separately as Twinsistermoon and Isengrind. This here record was originally released as an lp limited to 105 COPIES!! WTF? Thankfully, this cd reissue is limited to 1000, so this will hopefully be around for a while.
The music of Twinsistermoon, while definitely its own entity, is closely linked sonically to the Natural Snow Buildings mothership, from thick washed out drones, to delicate sun dappled folk, to haunting collaged soundscapes, Amaziane is an old hand at conjuring up sweeping cinematic vistas of sound, her voice angelic, her guitar playing lovely, her arrangements ethereal and otherworldly, all the various elements blurred and woven into slow burning and divine dreamscapes. The Hollow Mountain is heavy on the folk, with more than half the songs consisting of super stripped down, just voice and guitar numbers, delicate, crystalline, often wreathed in some sort of subtle sonic glow, or backed by some swirling textural ambience, but just as often stark and spare and simple. The other few tracks here are warm woozy meditative drones, with wheezing organs locked into cyclical melodic loops, various field recordings, and thick corrosive muted hiss and sitar like buzz.
And that's not counting the massive 44 minute 'bonus track', which essentially amounts to an entire extra Twinsistermoon record tacked on to the end of this one. Beginning with another darkly delicate bit of folky drift, the 'track' moves from there to clattery Avarus style free folk jangle, to garbled distorted lo-fi soundscape, to thick blown out sun dappled Sunroof! like ur-drone, to gorgeous soft skeletal Appalachia, to whirring soft focus slowcore, to barely-there hushed ambience. So goddamn lovely. Let's hope this one stays in print longer than the last few releases. 1000 COPIES. Remastered. And as always, super swank packaging, a printed full color sleeve, with a bunch of new artwork as well as the original lp art, housed in an oversized full color jacket / booklet...
MPEG Stream: "Druids"
MPEG Stream: "Sun Snaring"
MPEG Stream: "Walhalla"

V/A Africa Boogaloo: The Latinization Of West Africa (Honest Jons) cd 17.98
The last Honest Jon's compilation we carried focussed on the roots of Congolese Rumba through a wave of Latin influence on the region from the thirties to the fifties. The latest Honest Jon's compilation, Africa Boogaloo, expands upon that concept by tracing Latin music's influential trajectory from the fifties to the seventies all along Africa's Western Coast from the Congo to Senegal.
Culled from rare recordings by both celebrated artists as well as the little known, this compilation focuses not so much on the single artist but the bigger dance bands like Orchestra Baobab, Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou, Orchestre OK Jazz, and one of the major stars of Afro-beat, Manu Dibango (here performing the title track with Le Grand Kalle and Don Gonzalo). Boogaloo being a hybrid style of soul, R&B, mambo and various other forms of Afro-Cuban music, it makes sense that not only would it be popular in Africa whose various indigenous musical styles inspired Latin music in the first place, but that it would proliferate further into modern fusions of various African musical forms. The constant cross-cultural influence is amazingly uncanny as well as delightfully infectious!
MPEG Stream: LE GRAND KALLE, DON GONZALO, MANU DIBANGO "Africa Boogaloo"
MPEG Stream: CHARLES LEMBE "Quiero Wapacha"
MPEG Stream: ORCHESTRA BAOBAB "On Verra Ca"

V/A Africa Boogaloo: The Latinization Of West Africa (Honest Jons) 2lp 22.00
The last Honest Jon's compilation we carried focussed on the roots of Congolese Rumba through a wave of Latin influence on the region from the thirties to the fifties. The latest Honest Jon's compilation, Africa Boogaloo, expands upon that concept by tracing Latin music's influential trajectory from the fifties to the seventies all along Africa's Western Coast from the Congo to Senegal.
Culled from rare recordings by both celebrated artists as well as the little known, this compilation focuses not so much on the single artist but the bigger dance bands like Orchestra Baobab, Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou, Orchestre OK Jazz, and one of the major stars of Afro-beat, Manu Dibango (here performing the title track with Le Grand Kalle and Don Gonzalo). Boogaloo being a hybrid style of soul, R&B, mambo and various other forms of Afro-Cuban music, it makes sense that not only would it be popular in Africa whose various indigenous musical styles inspired Latin music in the first place, but that it would proliferate further into modern fusions of various African musical forms. The constant cross-cultural influence is amazingly uncanny as well as delightfully infectious!
MPEG Stream: LE GRAND KALLE, DON GONZALO, MANU DIBANGO "Africa Boogaloo"
MPEG Stream: CHARLES LEMBE "Quiero Wapacha"
MPEG Stream: ORCHESTRA BAOBAB "On Verra Ca"

V/A Forge Your Own Chains: Heavy Psychedelic Ballads and Dirges 1968-1974 (Now-Again) cd 17.98
As elemental to psychedelic music of the sixties and seventies as fuzz-fueled freakouts and surreal mystical lyricism, was the dirge! Those slow and heavy head-nodding anthems of bittersweet self-reflection often replete with powerful descending chord progressions and moody and soulful angst-laden vocal crooning.
The amazing folks at the Now-Again label (who usually focus on the funk side of the psychedelic equation) have assembled quite a tour-de-force with these rare heavy-hitters from around the globe, including long-time aQ favorites as well as plenty of new discoveries. Here's the line-up: Top Drawer (Kentucky), Sensational Saints (Cleveland, OH), East of Underground (USA via Germany), D.R. Hooker (New Haven, CT), Shin Jung Hyun & The Men (Korea), T. Zchiew & The Johnny (Thailand), The Strangers (Nigeria), Damon (Los Angeles, CA), Ellison (Montreal), Morly Grey (Cleveland, OH), Shadrack Chameleon (Dakota City, IA), Ofege (Nigeria), Ana Y Jaime (Columbia), Kourosh Yaghmaei (Iran), and Baby Grandmothers (Sweden)! Focusing not only on the rare, but also the rather unconventional modes of the ballad, this compilation doesn't just cover heavy psych territory, but also crosses currents with gospel, soul and downbeat international funk by obscure artists who sought after their own kind of sound. Just in time for those cold winter months, this is perfect fireside listening. In fact, it's the perfect, sad and beautiful companion to the energetic exuberance of that Psych Funk 101 compilation, we raved about a couple of lists ago. Meaning, it's a total must-have!
The cd comes with a beautiful booklet of album covers and notes about each band.
MPEG Stream: TOP DRAWER "Song of A Sinner"
MPEG Stream: D.R. HOOKER "Forge Your Own Chains"
MPEG Stream: THE STRANGERS "Two To Make A Pair"
MPEG Stream: DAMON "Don't You Feel Me"
MPEG Stream: MORLY GREY "Who Can I Say You Are?"

V/A Forge Your Own Chains: Heavy Psychedelic Ballads and Dirges 1968-1974 (Now-Again) 2lp 21.00
As elemental to psychedelic music of the sixties and seventies as fuzz-fueled freakouts and surreal mystical lyricism, was the dirge! Those slow and heavy head-nodding anthems of bittersweet self-reflection often replete with powerful descending chord progressions and moody and soulful angst-laden vocal crooning.
The amazing folks at the Now-Again label (who usually focus on the funk side of the psychedelic equation) have assembled quite a tour-de-force with these rare heavy-hitters from around the globe, including long-time aQ favorites as well as plenty of new discoveries. Here's the line-up: Top Drawer (Kentucky), Sensational Saints (Cleveland, OH), East of Underground (USA via Germany), D.R. Hooker (New Haven, CT), Shin Jung Hyun & The Men (Korea), T. Zchiew & The Johnny (Thailand), The Strangers (Nigeria), Damon (Los Angeles, CA), Ellison (Montreal), Morly Grey (Cleveland, OH), Shadrack Chameleon (Dakota City, IA), Ofege (Nigeria), Ana Y Jaime (Columbia), Kourosh Yaghmaei (Iran), and Baby Grandmothers (Sweden)! Focusing not only on the rare, but also the rather unconventional modes of the ballad, this compilation doesn't just cover heavy psych territory, but also crosses currents with gospel, soul and downbeat international funk by obscure artists who sought after their own kind of sound. Just in time for those cold winter months, this is perfect fireside listening. In fact, it's the perfect, sad and beautiful companion to the energetic exuberance of that Psych Funk 101 compilation, we raved about a couple of lists ago. Meaning, it's a total must-have!
The cd comes with a beautiful booklet of album covers and notes about each band.
MPEG Stream: TOP DRAWER "Song of A Sinner"
MPEG Stream: D.R. HOOKER "Forge Your OWn Chains"
MPEG Stream: THE STRANGERS "Two To Make A Pair"
MPEG Stream: DAMON "Don't You Feel Me"
MPEG Stream: MORLY GREY "Who Can I Say You Are?"

V/A Freedom Rhythm & Sound: Revolutionary Jazz & The Civil Rights Movement 1963-82 (Soul Jazz) 2cd 25.00
Another incredible collection from Soul Jazz, this one focusing on jazz from the sixties, seventies and early eighties and how that music, and the lives of the performers intersected with the civil rights movement.
As jazz developed and radicalized in the sixties, African American artists began to rebel against the stereotypical image and role of the jazz musician, reimagining their music, the sounds, looking to Africa for inspiration, turning their back in the mainstream, and approaching their music more as art than entertainment, resulting in some of the most revolutionary music made in America, and producing all manner of musical hybrids as well as all sorts of musical and cultural organizations. The booklet is super informative, and will most likely have you wanting to read and learn more. And the music here perfectly captures all the energy, confusion, turmoil, pain, suffering, anger, despair, sadness, hopefulness and joy of the era. Lots of familiar faces: Archie Shepp, Sun Ra, Joe McPhee, Gato Barbieri, Philip Cohran, Art Ensemble Of Chicago, Joe Henderson, but also tons of amazing groups we'd never heard before. And the sounds are all over the map, straight up post bop jazz, wild skronky free jazz, groovy Shaft style jazz funk jams, wah wah guitars, soulful vox, intense tribal drum workouts, smokey late night grooves, some spoken word, some jazz almost verging on dub, lots of African influences for sure, in the instrumentation, the chant like vocals, the arrangements, some amazing flute action, some seriously intense and unique sounds and songs, and we're now on the hunt for records by most of the artists we heard here for the first time, which is always the sign of a great compilation, and this is most certainly a great compilation.
Gorgeous packaging, with a massive booklet packed with tons of photos and extensive liner notes... a great companion to the rad coffee table book of album cover art Soul Jazz also released under this title, reviewed last list.
MPEG Stream: OLIVER LAKE / NTU "Africa"
MPEG Stream: STEVE COLSON & THE UNITY TROUPE "Lateen"
MPEG Stream: JOE HENDERSON "Foregone Conclusion"
MPEG Stream: PHEEROAN AK LAFF "3 In 1"
MPEG Stream: RALPH THOMAS "Big Spliff"

V/A Ghana Special: Moderns Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Ghanian Blues (Sound Way) 2cd + book 25.00
After wonderfully tackling the amazing sounds of 1970's Nigeria in their stellar Nigeria Special series, the folks at Sound Way now have applied their refined crate digging skills to the sounds of Ghana, assembling an amazing collection of tracks from 1968-1981. It took almost a decade to painstakingly track down the 37 tracks that make up this double disc and damn all that work was so worth it! We have always been huge fans of so many of the sounds that have come out of West Africa, and this comp is only fueling that fire even more. We can honestly say we had not heard of just about any of the artists here but they have all grabbed our attention as every track on this collection has something special going on, whether it's the hypnotic guitar playing, or the unique emotive vocal delivery, we find ourselves madly scrambling to see what track is playing to find out who the artist is so we can try to track down anything else by them. While not quite as outwardly flashy as some of their Nigerian counterparts, the songs on Ghana Special unfold with a distinct richness in songcraft and so many totally beautiful psychedelic and entrancing moments.
Once again Sound Way demonstrate that they not only have impeccable taste but that they also understand how to make compilations that flow, and feel like proper albums from start to finish instead of just a haphazard collection of tracks.
The double-disc cd set also comes with a 44-page booklet of photos and liner notes, including a history of this amazing musical era. School is in session and we're in the front row taking notes cause this shit is just so damn good! FYI there's also vinyl version comes in a monstrous box, the songs spread out over 5lp's, and includes two bonus tracks not available on the cd, but we happen to be out of it today, maybe we'll get a couple more in next week...
School is in session and we're in the front row taking notes cause this shit is just so damn good!
MPEG Stream: T.O. JAZZ "Owuo Adaadaa Me"
MPEG Stream: HEDZOLEH SOUNDZ "Omusus Da Fe M'musu"
MPEG Stream: BIG BEATS "Mi Nsumboo Bo Donn"
MPEG Stream: OSCAR SULLEY'S NZELE SOUNDZ "Bukom"

V/A Steppas' Delight 2 (Soul Jazz) 2cd 23.00
The first Steppa's Delight dubstep comp on Soul Jazz totally knocked our socks off. We're so desperate for new dubstep and grime all the time, and we have such limited access to limited 12"s and white label dubplates, that we anxiously await the release of comps, hoping they'll compile some of the best jams, and usually offer up a bunch of new tracks as well.
Since the last Steppa's Delight comp though, a funny thing happened, dubstep continued to mutate and transform and is now something totally different than it was 18 months ago. The core sounds and structure remains the same, THAT beat, and THAT groove, the deep wobbly bass, but the sounds aren't so dark, or sinister, instead, the sound of dubstep has gotten a bit dancier, looking back to jungle and even house, incorporating more melody, more vocals, the sound almost more electro, with buzzy synths wrapped around that rumbling wobble. That said, there's still some darkness lurking in the grooves, and as much as we dig almost everything here, we can't help but lean toward those darker jams, Kutz's "Hardbody" is buzzy and bleak and ominous, "Purple City" by Joker & Ginz starts out all skittery and dancey, but then explodes with some of the fiercest most distorted bass on the comp.
A bunch of the tracks are super stripped down and skeletal, reminding us of some of the Skull Disco 12"s, all barebones and minimal, and some of the tracks are super atmospheric and ethereal. Killer stuff for sure, but be warned, if you're looking for stuff like Kode9 or Burial, you won't find much of that here, but if you're looking for big stuttery beats, thick throbbing bass synth wobble and can't get enough of that dubstep 'step, then this should definitely hold you over until the next comp...
MPEG Stream: JOKER & GINZ "Purple City"
MPEG Stream: SULLY SHANKS "Give Me Up (LD Remix)"
MPEG Stream: KUTZ "Hard Body"

V/A Texas Metal Archives Vol. 1 (Brainticket / Metal Rising) cd 14.98
Wow, is this ever cool! We kinda took a chance on ordering one in, 'cause what do we know about '80s underground metal from down in Texas? Well now we know it RULES. At least, the stuff they picked to put on this cool comp sure does. So, we ordered a bunch more copies to share with y'all. 15 tracks here from 13 bands, recorded circa 1983-1987. When metal was at its zenith, really, 'cause this stuff is so killer yet so obscure - by underground, we mean, really underground. All this stuff is from self-released demo tapes, none of these bands ever got past the demo stage to get signed or make a "real" album. So, unless you're an '80s metalhead from Texas (with a good memory), or perhaps someone who was fanatically into the tape trading scene back then, you've never heard of these bands, ever.
Thus, there's no Pantera on here - though some of these tracks were recorded at the Pantera dudes' dad's studio, and one of the bands features a guy who sang for Pantera before Phil Anselmo joined 'em. Here's the lineup: Battalion, Sentinel, Valkyrie, Death Tripper, Necrovore, Baron Steele, Warlock, Heavens Force, Wicked Angel, Forced Entry, Scythian Oath, Morbid Termination, and Rotting Corpse.
You're really not metal if that list of names doesn't sound cool to you, just the names themselves, so totally typically metal aren't they??
While each band is in fact different, you can pretty much say it's all galloping old school heavy metal action, with tons of raging youthful energy, displaying then-current influences from England, Germany, and the Bay Area, some bands more melodic than others (Baron Steele and Wicked Angel ferinstance), most of 'em in the edgier thrash and speed metal style of the day, often pushing the envelope of speed and technique, and taste! Some tracks get even more extreme, witness the protogrindpunk of Death Tripper, and the early black/death belchings of Necrovore. Vocally, while there's some punkish hardcore growls here and there (courtesy of the latter two bands mentioned, mainly), most of these acts go for clean, high pitched screaming vocals, some of 'em really over the top. Countering that, the frontman of Forced Entry (the one who had the Pantera gig, briefly) has a sneering Dave Mustaine-like voice. And by the way, if you're an Absu fan, it's interesting to guess if any of these bands were an immediate (local) influence on 'em growing up, we'd imagine some might have been, we can kind of hear it.
Sound-wise, this is all pretty decent for 20+ year old demos, really. This is metal, nothin' wrong with a little distortion! The typically lo-fi production of a track like Scythian Oath's "Shadow Of The Torturer" is actually kinda cool, the way it's kind of fucked up, it almost gets weirdly psychedelic, the mixing strangely schizophrenically "active", elements fading in and out, up and down. (If you've heard that Wicked Witch record on EM, imagine them playing metal instead of funk!). Other tracks aren't necessarily so bizarre. Raw, yes, but that's nothing to complain about.
The thick, full color cd booklet contains super detailed liner notes, plenty of graphics, photos, old fliers, logos, etc. Our favorite pic has got to be the one of Morbid Termination, their singer posing in his stage regalia, modified football shoulder pads with spikes sticking out, very homemade looking gear indeed! And there's a lot of super detailed liner notes, written by compiler John Perez (Brainticket label owner and Solitude Aeturnus guitarist), who knows his '80s Texas metal for sure, having been a part of the scene back then himself. Very obviously this whole thing is a labor of love, and the packaging reflects that. Similar, really, to that excellent Swedish Death Metal collection we highlighted recently.
Heck we're not counting on selling a ton of these, but it would be cool if we did, just 'cause it you really do dig metal, we absolutely know you'll get a kick out of this! Looking forward to volume 2!! (And wondering if Texas was so special, or were there bands this rad in the places we grew up, too?)
MPEG Stream: MORBID TERMINATION "Metal Child"
MPEG Stream: FORCED ENTRY "Stacked Deck"
MPEG Stream: DEATH TRIPPER "Canis Major"

V/A This Infernal Love Of Life (Monochrome Vision) cd 15.98
Here's something that we didn't think we would ever see resurface. Topyscan (The Scandinavian chapter of the Temple of Psychic Youth) originally released an LP showcasing the wares of Sweden's electronic, darkwave, and experimental scenes, with some of the earliest work we had encountered from Zbigniew Karkowski and Phauss (featuring CM von Hausswolff) as well as cuts from Eld-Omala (some of whom had worked with Wire's Graham Lewis on a handful of recording) and White Stains. As a piece of vinyl, it worked quite well with gloomy electronic work sharing one side and skeletal minimalist crackling on the other. On cd, there's a bit of a disconnect between the two aesthetics, but considering how good all four tracks are, it matters little.
Eld-Omala opens the album with a minor-key piano melody hanging above a grim atmosphere of disembodied voices and dark ambient passages all set to heavy drums and distorted guitars that could easily be an out-take from Coil's Horse Rotovator. The White Stains piece is miles above anything else that this typically underwhelming project has ever done. Again Coil seems to be template, through a occultish ritualism built around a heartbeat pulse, wooden flutes soaked in reverb, and an excellent use of Shepherd tones (an auditory illusion created by several tones being layered in such a way as to give the impression the pitch is in constant descent). The scatter-shot minimalism of Phauss switches gears entirely through a wavering sci-fi tone smothered in electrical static treated with ring modulation and broken by some weird radio transmissions. Definitely a precursor to Hausswolff's recent work with radio, satellite, and EVP communication. The Karkowski piece again is one of the finer compositions that we've heard from him, although undoubtedly he would disagree 'cuz it's not punishing, violent, or masculine enough. The spiralling electronics and tight vibrations aspire to all of those attributes which Karkowski has been known for, but without the excess of distortion, his work has remarkable subtly and dynamism. Very nice!
MPEG Stream: ELD-OMALA "The Halidom / Oh My God"
MPEG Stream: WHITE STAINS "Underworld Initiation"
MPEG Stream: PHAUSS "Supreme Bliss"
MPEG Stream: ZBIGNIEW KARKOWSKI "I Fell In Love With An Evil Witch..."

WICKED KING WICKER God Is Busy... Save Yourself (Cold Spring) cd 13.98
More planet crushing doom drone blackness from these two axe wielding alchemists, one of which just so happens to run the bad ass Noiseville label, whose bad assness most definitely extends to his work in WKW, a juggernaut of low end brute force, ultra doom, plodding, trudging, lumbering heaviness, slowed down to an absolute crawl, 4 bpm never sounded so harsh and harrowing, which is saying a lot....
WKW take the slow and low template laid out by Khanate, and fill up all the extra space with crumbling distortion, howling feedback, garbled grunted vokills, fractured riffs, churning anti-rhythms, filthy and blackened and grim, a sprawling black cloud of sound, that seems to teeter on the edge, right between doom metal and pure drone, the two elements fused into some impossibly brutal and punishing sonic beast.
The awesomely titled "Call My Name Sweet Demon, So I Know I Am Not Alone" find WKW dipping into Wolf Eyes' bag of tricks, infusing their apocalyptic metallic creep with all sorts of industrial flavor, looped mechanical rhythms, stuttering processed electronics, sheets of feedback, thick shards of caustic buzz, layered and tangled, swooping from rhythmic throb to on-the-verge-of-collapse noise meltdown to muted damaged chug. The final epic track (all three tracks are just shy of 20 minutes long) is another strange assemblage of sounds, some abstract riffage, some swooping swirling high end streaks, plenty of hiss and skree and crunch, the whole thing twisted and tweaked, sometimes stumbling to a near halt, other times sprawling into a caustic crumbling jagged drone, and other times soaring into a near Merzbowian psychnoise blow out.
MPEG Stream: "Those Who Bear Responsibility"
MPEG Stream: "Call My Name Sweet Demon, So I Know I Am Not Alone"

WICKED KING WICKER Outer Bounds Of Sound (Noiseville) lp 17.98
One of two new releases from this East Coast ultra doomdrone duo, the latest in Noiseville's Outer Bounds Of Sound lp series, which in the past has featured Burnt Hills, Kleistwahr. Skullflower... And Wicked King Wicker fits just find in that esteemed noise making company.
Much like their sonic compatriots Blue Sabbath Black Cheer, WKW seem to be a doom band in noise's clothing, or maybe it's the other way around. Ostensibly a doom outfit, WKW are just as likely to unfurl a burly glacial downtuned riff as they are to releases a swirling cloud of washed out psychedelic drift, which is what they do here, the root of their sound is still a downtuned buzz, a sort of murky riffage, but it's transformed into a looped dronescape, whatever riffage there was has been blurred and smeared into a softly pulsing, roiling blackened sprawl, peppered with gorgeous bits of electronic glitch, or synthy shimmer, it's hard to discern what it might be, but it adds a cool melodic component to the band's heaving abstract heaviness, the result something much more atmospheric and dreamy, that's pummeling and punishing, while still managing to sound heavy and intense and pretty epic.
The B-side sounds like it might have started life as a throbbing lumbering dooom jam, but was somehow subverted into an almost Fennesz sounding stretch of intense muted heaviness, glazed with flecks of crackle and crunch, wreathed in a psychedelic blur, the main component remains some sort of transformed guitar, all pulsing throbbing rumble and whir, finally finishing off in a blaze of abstract, super distorted Sunroof! like psychguitar ur-drone.
LIMITED TO 300 COPIES, housed in cool metallic foil stamped jackets...

YE OLDE MAIDS God Blesses Us, Mother Dresses Us (Art Fag) lp 17.98
!!!COLD CAVE ALERT!!!!
Hopefully that got your attention, not only because the world seems to be going totally batshit for minimalist synth poppers Cold Cave, but ALSO because we only have a scant 15 COPIES of this pre-CC group, and it's looking like that will probably be it for all of history, or until someone else decides to come along and reissue it. So you probably want to act now or miss out.
Ye Olde Maids follow a similar path as Cold Cave, in fact you might be hard pressed to tell the difference. But hey, we're not complaining, because like everyone else, we're too busy digging these propulsive, gloomy as hell lo-fi jams. Like Cold Cave, you might want to compare this to New Order or the Cure in terms of atmosphere and in their overall approach. It's easy to see that this is where Wes Eisold began to solidify all his new wavey inclinations after years of playing in hardcore bands, though the songs definitely stand strongly enough on their own. Things are probably a little more noisy and disjointed than what has been perfected with Cold Cave, but for those who can't get enough CC, you will definitely want to grab this one fast. Did we mention that we had only 15 copies?

ZELIENOPLE Give It Up (Type) cd 15.98
Another fantastic disc of gauzy, shimmery otherworldly dronemusic, from the seemingly infallible Type label. Long time aQ faves, Chicago's Zelienople moved to Type, after a handful of releases on PseudoArcana, Digitalis and Root Strata, and it was a pretty perfect match. Rameses III, Alps, Goldmund, Grouper, Xela, North Sea, Helios, Svarte Greiner, Black To Comm, it's not difficult to see that maybe this was where Zelienople belonged all along.
On Give It Up, the group deftly mix light and dark, weaving softly smoldering dreamscapes, all muted and hushed, with sun dappled dronefolk, all chiming soft focus guitars, and minimal percussion, hazy and gauzy and slightly blurred, vocals surfacing here and there throughout. A sort of ethereal slowcore, pop songs pulled apart and set in amber, this record a shadow produced by the muted sunlight shining through.
Some tracks are brooding and doomy, laced with ominous creaks and deep moaning low end tones, wheezing organs, and layered ambience, others are folky and reverbed, strummed guitars wreathed in a patina of muted thrum, spread out over some almost Neil Young sounding vox, but buried way down in the mix, still others are skeletal and barely there, voices drifting in the ether, over spare tendrils of melody, only to slowly shift, and get lost in a cloud of prismatic chordal hum.
Absolutely gorgeous, the perfect blend of minimal doom folk, hushed slowcore and abstract dronemusic.
The lp version comes with a bonus cd (NOT a cd-r, an actual pressed cd), featuring Zelienople's soundtrack for a film called Gone, stunningly beautiful, even more minimal than the record proper, the first half of the disc all gauzy drones, the second half, bleary eyed slow motion chamber music. Be careful removing the cd from the lp, it's attached by a little dollop of glue or something, but a quick pull will take some of the lp sleeve with it...
MPEG Stream: "Aging"
MPEG Stream: "Can't Stop"
MPEG Stream: "All I Want Is Calm"

ZELIENOPLE Give It Up (Type) lp + cd 22.00
Another fantastic disc of gauzy, shimmery otherworldly dronemusic, from the seemingly infallible Type label. Long time aQ faves, Chicago's Zelienople moved to Type, after a handful of releases on PseudoArcana, Digitalis and Root Strata, and it was a pretty perfect match. Rameses III, Alps, Goldmund, Grouper, Xela, North Sea, Helios, Svarte Greiner, Black To Comm, it's not difficult to see that maybe this was where Zelienople belonged all along.
On Give It Up, the group deftly mix light and dark, weaving softly smoldering dreamscapes, all muted and hushed, with sun dappled dronefolk, all chiming soft focus guitars, and minimal percussion, hazy and gauzy and slightly blurred, vocals surfacing here and there throughout. A sort of ethereal slowcore, pop songs pulled apart and set in amber, this record a shadow produced by the muted sunlight shining through.
Some tracks are brooding and doomy, laced with ominous creaks and deep moaning low end tones, wheezing organs, and layered ambience, others are folky and reverbed, strummed guitars wreathed in a patina of muted thrum, spread out over some almost Neil Young sounding vox, but buried way down in the mix, still others are skeletal and barely there, voices drifting in the ether, over spare tendrils of melody, only to slowly shift, and get lost in a cloud of prismatic chordal hum.
Absolutely gorgeous, the perfect blend of minimal doom folk, hushed slowcore and abstract dronemusic.
The lp version comes with a bonus cd (NOT a cd-r, an actual pressed cd), featuring Zelienople's soundtrack for a film called Gone, stunningly beautiful, even more minimal than the record proper, the first half of the disc all gauzy drones, the second half, bleary eyed slow motion chamber music. Be careful removing the cd from the lp, it's attached by a little dollop of glue or something, but a quick pull will take some of the lp sleeve with it...
MPEG Stream: "Aging"
MPEG Stream: "Can't Stop"
MPEG Stream: "All I Want Is Calm"

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BLACK TO COMM The Soba Noodle Shop Incident / The Convenience Store Incident (Trensmat) 7" 5.00
Another cool single, discovered lurking in the nooks and crannies of aQ hQ, last copies, available one more time, sale priced too!!
One of two new seven inches from Irish label Trensmat, who most recently brought us those bad ass Hawkwind tribute 7"s. Elsewhere on this list you'll find the brand new Expo 70 "Sunglasses" 7", and this here's a new two tracker from German experimental dronelords Black To Comm, two mesmerizing loopscapes, strangely titled "The Soba Noodle Shop Incident" and "The Convenience Store Incident", both seemingly linked sonically and thematically, each crafter from a dense flurry of looped and repeated Reich / Riley style dronescapes.
The A side is like Riley doing Sunroof!, a high end symphony of overlapping tones, locked and looped, mesmerizingly repetitive, all underpinned by strange percussive bloops and blurred streaks of creak and squeak, eventually, the sound of whirring machinery surfaces and transforms the track into an almost Boards Of Canada bit of squelch and skitter.
The B side begins as another stretch of looped stuttering tones, faster and more frenetic this time, and within those looped tones, another series of strange sounds lurks, a fragmented melody, an off kilter counterpoint, playing out beneath, also chopped and looped, but strangely vocal sounding, as if it was some weirdly processed alien voice, the result is equally hypnotic and mesmerizing.
Cool stuff for sure, a dizzying hybrid of Sunroof!, Boards Of Canada and Terry Riley, meditative and space-y, but dense and very very layered and kinetic.
Packaged in cool full color sleeves, super LIMITED of course, already sold out at the label, so these are likely the last copies we'll see.

BODY HAMMER Jigoku (The Path Less Traveled) cd 9.98
BACK IN STOCK!!
We're not entirely sure where we first heard about Body Hammer, and we're not really sure if it's a band or a guy, what we do know, is that this is some seriously fierce and fucked up hypergrind / math metal / black drone weirdness. 18 songs, all but 6 less than a minute long, some of those as short as a matter of seconds, every one an awesome chunk of sonic mayhem. The 1:41 opener is all creep and creak, moan and drift, downtuned guitars and tinkling melodies, some sort of Wolf Eyes / Goblin hybrid, which leads right into 31 seconds of ultra technical, super distorted, gnarled and chaotic noise drenched metallic grind that should hit the spot for Discordance Axis fans and anyone who digs all that drummachinegun grind. The 14 second follow up is a brief white hot squall of harmonized guitars and malfunctioning drum machines, which leads directly into another industrial drone drift.
The first 2/3 of the records pass in a blur, lurching from haunting droney ambience to chugging churning grinding metal madness and back again, stopping for brief forays into blacknoize, dreamy lo-fi ambient drift, as well as some under 20 second hypergrind workouts, all tweaked FX and lightspeed blast beats, high end feedback laced dronescapes, and rumbling guitardronebuzzandblur.
With 5 songs to go, Body Hammer lets the songs sprawl, and pushes the sound in even more fractured and fucked up directions, a super distorted in-the-red, lurching black doom trudge through a haze of glitched out distortion and howled vokills, thick crumbling post industrial dirgescapes, all reverbed clank and clatter, thud and pound and crunch, hypnotic static guitar drifts built from layered drones and laced with clean guitar twang, warped bass, and buried vox, until the final 7+ minute track, a harrowing blackened doomic dirge, groaning guitars, and distant vocals, which leaves 5 minutes of silence, before a minute or so of white noise hiss and intercepted voices from the ether.
Fucked up and fucking awesome. Packaged in a dvd case, with a printed insert, and while they last we have the super limited deluxe version that comes with a bunch of extra goodies and is wrapped in a sumo cloth and sealed with a sticker.
MPEG Stream: "Severe Aural Torture"
MPEG Stream: "The Bystander Effect"
MPEG Stream: "Red Pyramid"
MPEG Stream: "When Mental Anguish Exceeds the Physical Capability For Pain"

CLUSTER Curiosum (Bureau B) cd 17.98
We listed the vinyl reissue of this the other week, now it's also available again on cd!
It seems like the Bureau B label is bravely (and thankfully) treading all the murky Cluster corners that the Water label sadly deemed non-essential.
Curiosum from 1981 definitely is a curiosity being the last Cluster record before the duo took a 10 year hiatus, and if you're looking for classic Cluster, this isn't necessarily where you would want to start. The sound is more minimal, cold and less exploratory than their previous effort, Grosses Wasser. You might even call it difficult, not that it's noisy, grating or indulgent, but it tends not to over-elaborate the compositions with dynamic structures instead reducing the compositions into essential forms. Taking a less is more approach, seemingly inspired by the then current sound of post-punk and no wave, Cluster use plodding and lurching rhythmic motifs in shorter compositions with more subtle, purposely meandering, and oft-kilter melodic nuances: whirring sounds like a toy low on batteries, discombobulated waltzes, Radiophonic Workshop-like tape manipulations and loping loops. The last song "Ufer" (also one of the longest) plays up on Eno's Discreet Music, as an exercise in listening through near-silence. It almost seems like Curiosum was a missing link recording between Cluster II and Zuckerzeit as it sort of bridges those two sensibilities of formless composition and melodic structure with just enough form and just enough melody, but not too much that one would engage with it in mindless pleasure. Instead it dares you to feel it in the present but at a removed distance.
MPEG Stream: "Oh Odessa"
MPEG Stream: "Proantipro"
MPEG Stream: "Tristan In Der Bar"

DECIBEL #63 January 2010 magazine 4.95
Mastodon makes the cover, also there's features on Nile, Pelican, Marduk, Rammstein, Krallice, Katatonia, and more. Decibel's "top 40 albums of 2009" are selected, and the top spot goes to Baroness, as predicted on the cover of issue #61.
There's the usual load of reviews, news, funny columns, and, oh, we're stoked to see Watchtower's 1989 tech metal masterpiece Control And Resistance enter the Decibel Hall Of Fame.

DRUMM, KEVIN Impish Tyrant (Dagda) cd 14.98
Holy shit! Drumm's back with the noise! The last two releases we had from Chicago's Kevin Drumm had shifted focus toward an introspectively bleak set of drone recordings on Imperial Distortion and Imperial Horizon; but with this redux of a 2004 cassette, the full-blown excess of noise abrasion returns. Yeah, those watershed noise albums, Sheer Hellish Miasma and Land Of Lurches, are the clear comparisons in Drumm's noise assaults. The album has a pedal driven quality that seeks a constant series of explosions, not in the continuous jet engine roar that you would get from a Zbigniew Karkowski construct or even the psychedelic excess of Merzbow; no, this is constantly pounding against the ear with short, sharp blasts that never let up, nor do they leave any breathing room whatsoever. Whew!
MPEG Stream: "Impish Tyrant 1"
MPEG Stream: "Impish Tyrant 2"

EXPO '70 / I AM SEAMONSTER split (Short Forest / Small Doses) 7" 6.50
Back in stock!! Probably the last copies we'll see...
Another gorgeous chunk of spacey tripped out downtuned space kraut doom from aQ faves Expo '70. This time they're sharing a 7" with another favorite of ours, the droney, drifty I Am Seamonster.
Expo '70's track begins super minimal and SUNNO))) like, a slow motion riff, the guitar thick and heavy and distorted, riding a single chord, while all around effects whirl and swirl and streak, very mantra like and hypnotic, spaced out and druggy, part way through a second guitar offers some melodic counterpoint, some woozy spidery lysergic minor key leads that sound sun baked even as they drift through the inky blackness, the sound managing to somehow sound both desert and space-y simultaneously.
We hadn't heard anything from I Am Seamonster since their (sadly) now out of print Nebulum cd-r. The track here seems to expand on the IAS sound on Nebulum, crafting a gorgeous landscape of deep guitar swells, each one wreathed in different effects, crumbly and buzzy, blown out and blurred, the sound at its peak is white hot, but occasionally drift back to something cooler and washed out. Layers of high end settle atop the undulating rumbles and whirs, deep percussive guitars chime and ring out, everything bathed in a blurry shoegazey haze, the guitars slipping and shimmering, the result almost orchestral. So so nice.
Beautiful packaging too, silk screened, metallic blue and silver on black, the back side die cut to reveal the record and sleeve.

FATHER MURPHY Live At Club Veb (UHU) cassette 5.98
A while back we went kind of nuts for these Italians, selling tons of their And He Told Us album. We've been hankering for more, and here we do indeed have more, sadly, we managed to get just TEN copies of this, a super limited live release, limited in fact to a mere 50 copies. Needless to say, this is already sold out at the label and out of print. But we figured folks who dug the full length might want to grab one of these, or folks who somehow missed out completely, might find this inexpensive live set a good introduction. Either way, we only have 10 copies, so act fast.
They're pro silver cassettes, and they're housed in cool hand stamped recycled sleeves.
So what's the deal with Father Murphy, let's revisit out review of And He Told us, and our description of FM's sound:
It's a bit like folk, a little bit like post punk math rock, a little avant noise, but stripped way down into something skeletal, they definitely sound a little bit like one of the new breed of freak folk psych folk cd-r outfits, but at the same time, they sound like NOTHING you've ever heard. Detuned guitar plod, spaced out rhythmic thump, lots of deep shimmery ambience and FX drenched drifts, wavery falsetto crooning, warbly organs, and the occasional bursts of feral yowling, wow. Unhinged, fractured, freaky, passionate, super intense and awesome.
Comparisons have been made to Robert Wyatt, This Heat, Samla Mamas Manna, we also hear plenty of Marc Ribot in the guitars, all angular and off kilter, there's also some mysterious female vocals, all beneath weepy mournful Morricone-ish twang, a sound both woozy and ominous, dreamy and dense, a glorious deathlike dirge, part Dirty Three, part fluttery forest folk, a little wheezy organ dirge pop, some slooooooowed down Blonde Redhead, like we said this is super hard to describe, but what we do know is we love it.

FLAMING LIPS Embryonic (Warner Bros) 2lp + cd 27.00
Now available on deluxe double colored vinyl, packaged with cd of the full album!
Okay, we love the Flaming Lips. We have for ages. We recently revisited In A Priest Driven Ambulance, Oh My Gawd!, Telepathic Surgery, and Hear It Is, and we were struck by just how awesome those records still sound, and how amazingly and brilliantly fucked up that band was, and basically still are. Every record, we were just waiting, dying to see what the band would do next, what kind of skewed pop brilliance they would cook up, or what sort of deafening noise weirdness they might smother perfect pop songs with. Live was even better. One of their early shows here, involved more Christmas lights than we had ever seen, then there was the whole Zaireeka unmixed 4cd set meant to be played simultaneously. Who would have thought that a band like that would achieve mainstream success. Who would headline Lollapalooza, Treasure Island, that they would be the kind of band your PARENTS WOULD LIKE. But they did, and we were cool with it. The Soft Bulletin was a genius record, and with the release of that record, they moved up and on. And everything they got they deserved and THEN SOME. But then a weird thing happened, they stopped experimenting so much. Sure they had strings, and unique production techniques, and live they had the big plastic ball and people in furry suits, but the records began to run together and sound the same. Still great, and by modern pop standards, plenty strange, but by FLAMING LIPS standards, they were getting closer and closer to becoming one of those bands that required the word 'old' when describing them as a band you dug. "Yeah, I was pretty into OLD Flaming Lips".
So we weren't all that hopeful about this new record, even when we heard rumblings of how weird it was, we figured it was just mainstream pop weird, not Flaming Lips weird. But whattayaknow? It is weird. FLAMING LIPS WEIRD! And wonderful, and twisted, still poppy and sort of catchy, but way more NOT. In some ways, it seems like commercial suicide. A band that popular, purposefully making a record, that most normal festival goers would NEVER blast in their SUV on the way to Whole Foods. But fuck it, if anyone can pull it off, and come out the other side smelling like roses, it's the Lips. Listening to Embryonic, it's exciting to think about these obtuse fractured jams blasting through the same PA as Kanye or Lady GaGa. And obtuse and fractured they are. Tripped out, druggy, psychedelic, rhythmic and layered. effects everywhere, sounds careening all over the stereo field, vocals distorted, guitars twisted and mangled, chiming and screaming and buzzing, the vocals more mantra like than ever. Sure it's not like the old OLD record, but hell c'mon, these guys are in their 40s and 50s, and their making some seriously challenging freaky avant space rock drone pop what-the-fuck.
But don't get us wrong, there's plenty of prettiness, lovely melodies, lilting vocals, warm whirring instrumentation, but it's surrounded on all sides, by strange samples, fuzzed out bass lines, warbly synths, long stretches of staticky drift, super distorted drums, wild psychedelic guitar freakouts, it's the kind of record, that will most likely deter plenty of casual listeners, but those who dig deep. let the sounds wash over them, who get lost with the band, in whatever fucked up mysterious world music like this exists in, well, then, those folks are the chosen ones, and will discover something magical, melodic and fucking genius.
MPEG Stream: "The Sparrow Looks Up At The Machine"
MPEG Stream: "Aquarius Sabotage"
MPEG Stream: "Powerless"
MPEG Stream: "Worm Mountain"
MPEG Stream: ""

GIRL TALK Night Ripper (Illegal Art) lp 26.00
NOW ON VINYL!!!
Wow, this is ballsy! Mining ultra-familiar pop from the late '70s to last week's number one hit, Girl Talk has fashioned an infectious dance record completely out of supposedly unauthorized samples. The plundered artists who include Elton John, XTC, The Yin Yang Twins, Madonna, Amerie, Smashing Pumpkins, The Verve, among hundreds of others. While this is neither a conceptual Plunderphonic cluster fuck nor merely just an illegal mix of mash-ups, Girl Talk fashions cleverly dance-y compositions using the flotsam and jetsam of pop music's collective unconscious. By the time you get to recognition, new sample juxtapositions occur just in time to throw your head into a tailspin. This is definitely a good party-starter, Girl Talk being very aware that it is the girls who get the dance party started, but usually only if something familiar and fun is playing. And there is enough of that incredible stuff on this album to guarantee a nasty but well worth it hang over. Crafty!
MPEG Stream: "Once Again"
MPEG Stream: "Bounce That"
MPEG Stream: "Overtime"

KINGS OF CONVENIENCE Declaration Of Dependence (Astralwerks) lp 16.98
NOW AVAILABLE ON VINYL!
One of our favorite features in Mojo magazine is this small section where they ask musicians a series of questions about records they love for certain moments/days, and one of the questions they always ask is what's your perfect Sunday morning record, and when we think about that question Kings Of Convenience is always one of the first bands that comes to mind.
No one makes more fragile and delicate sounds that are so perfect for the slow and quiet start of a lazy sun dappled morning. It's easy to forget, but Kings Of Convenience were crafting their mellow, Nick Drake tinged style of folk/pop before that sound would make such a huge resurgence, spawning bands and folks like Iron & Wine, Jose Gonzalez, Taken By Trees, Jens Lekman, El Perro Del Mar, Vetiver, Camera Obscura, etc.
It's been five years since this great Norwegian duo gave us the fantastic Riot On An Empty Street, though they have been keeping busy with a multitude of side and solo projects, including Erlend Oye's band The Whitest Boy Alive, which is also pretty great btw!
Declaration Of Dependence finds the duo as perfectly bittersweet as ever, both of their voices melding together with such ease, and the sparse and pastoral instrumentation keeps the breeze flowing with just the right hints of memory, sadness and introspection. Unlike many who have come after, nothing here feels forced or heavy handed, to the contrary, their songs really do feel like the slight rush of air blowing on a crisp autumn day, and this is becoming our perfect fall sweater soundtrack. So good!
MPEG Stream: "24-25"
MPEG Stream: "Boat Behind"
MPEG Stream: "Freedom And Its Owner"

KRAFTWERK Autobahn (Kling Klang / Mute) lp 21.00
Now reissued on vinyl too!
It's about time. Dusseldorf's most famous export, the Godfathers of electronic pop music, Kraftwerk, finally see their classic albums remastered and reissued for the 21st century (although, unfortunately, not yet their EARLIEST classics, the ones with the traffic cone covers). Given the group's notoriety for demanding nothing but absolute perfection, you can safely bet that these sound AMAZING after years of tireless mixing and mastering in Kling-Klang studios. That's probably the main selling point here, as Kraftwerk was never really a "bonus material" kind of band, and there is none of that here; if it was released, it pretty much meant it was labored upon until being deemed suitable for public exposure. These reissues have also got some pretty fancy expanded artwork, with simple but bold slip covers housing the actual cds. Of course, if you don't already have these albums in some form or another, you should probably do yourself a favor and purchase every single one of them immediately.
Autobahn was originally released in 1974, and it was in most cases the band's introduction to the rest of the world with the surprise hit single of the title track, edited down significantly for airplay. It was also the point where Kraftwerk began to combine a classic pop approach with their intense Teutonic experimentation (which remains considerable here). What was seen by some people in the mid-1970s as somewhat of a novelty (which is total bullshit, but it was the '70s...), however, laid the foundation for one of the most innovative music groups to ever exist. Clocking in at almost 23 minutes, "Autobahn" may be one of the most evocative songs ever, especially considering how minimal it really is. Synthesizers give you the impression of traveling throughout Germany by car, through many different environments and observational states, as the vocal melody classically apes the Beach Boys "Fun, Fun, Fun". The song also marked the beginning of the band's reliance on vocoders and drum machines, which would from this point forward would play an integral role in defining Kraftwerk. The other songs here retain many of the sonic qualities of earlier Kraftwerk, but it's now plainly apparent where things are heading: Pop Immortality!
MPEG Stream: "Autobahn (excerpt 1)"
MPEG Stream: "Autobahn (excerpt 2)"
MPEG Stream: "Kometenmelodie 1"

KRAFTWERK Radio-Activity (Kling Klang / Astralwerks) lp 21.00
Now reissued on vinyl too!
It's about time. Dusseldorf's most famous export, the Godfathers of electronic pop music, Kraftwerk, finally see their classic albums remastered and reissued for the 21st century (although, unfortunately, not yet their EARLIEST classics, the ones with the traffic cone covers). Given the group's notoriety for demanding nothing but absolute perfection, you can safely bet that these sound AMAZING after years of tireless mixing and mastering in Kling-Klang studios. That's probably the main selling point here, as Kraftwerk was never really a "bonus material" kind of band, and there is none of that here; if it was released, it pretty much meant it was labored upon until being deemed suitable for public exposure. These reissues have also got some pretty fancy expanded artwork. Of course, if you don't already have these albums in some form or another, you should probably do yourself a favor and purchase every single one of them immediately.
1975's Radio-Activity is the first album where Kraftwerk REALLY became Kraftwerk as history knows them. It introduced their classic lineup and did away all acoustic instrumentation (believe it or not, there were actually some guitars on Autobahn), and is the perfect precursor to Trans Europe Express, arguably their finest moment. Like all Kraftwerk albums, this one is highly conceptual, with a dual emphasis on radio-activity from a scientific standpoint AND the emergence of the new(ish) culture based around the radio. How Kraftwerkian of them. Even with its moments of darkness, Radio-Activity may also be one of Kraftwerk's most "fun" albums, with the joyful pop propulsion of "Airwaves" and the playful minimalism of "Transistor". Then there is the title track, a masterpiece of slowly brooding German melancholy if there ever was one. This is the album where the boys truly found themselves able to consolidate their more experimental tendencies into a solidly pop format, resulting in some of the most imaginative and original music, well, EVER. It's strange that as the group became more poppy, they also became weirder and developed a sound that was pretty much unprecedented. But hey, that's how Kraftwerk does things.

KRAFTWERK The Man-Machine (Kling Klang / Astralwerks) lp 21.00
Now reissued on vinyl too!
It's about time. Dusseldorf's most famous export, the Godfathers of electronic pop music, Kraftwerk, finally see their classic albums remastered and reissued for the 21st century (although, unfortunately, not yet their EARLIEST classics, the ones with the traffic cone covers). Given the group's notoriety for demanding nothing but absolute perfection, you can safely bet that these sound AMAZING after years of tireless mixing and mastering in Kling-Klang studios. That's probably the main selling point here, as Kraftwerk was never really a "bonus material" kind of band, and there is none of that here; if it was released, it pretty much meant it was labored upon until being deemed suitable for public exposure. These reissues have also got some pretty fancy expanded artwork. Of course, if you don't already have these albums in some form or another, you should probably do yourself a favor and purchase every single one of them immediately.
The Man-Machine was originally released in 1978, a year after the artistic and commercial triumph of Trans-Europe Express. Obviously there was a lot to live up to following TEE, and Kraftwerk had little difficulty doing so. The Man Machine is likewise a genre-defining masterpiece, containing at least two of their most well known songs with "The Robots" and "The Model". It also features one of their strangely overlooked songs, the too-awesome-for-words "Spacelab". The cold, mechanical approach Kraftwerk had been striving for is perfected on this record, also expertly conveyed from a visual standpoint on the cover, where the group appears all angular and unsmiling in their matching red shirt/black tie getup. It's pretty crazy to imagine the reaction this must have received right in the middle of the punk explosion. As the rest of the world reveled in sloppy, wide-eyed rock n' roll, Kraftwerk became more precise and jettisoned the most recognizable traces of human emotion usually reserved for the pop market. Still, though the most noteworthy traits here bring to mind a glum, dystopian future, like on the title track and the ominous "Metropolis", there is also a good deal of humor and an implied human warmth, as Kraftwerk themselves, more than anything, take the role of detached observers in a world that defines itself more and more through technological progress. Sound familiar?
MPEG Stream: "Spacelab"
MPEG Stream: "Metropolis"
MPEG Stream: "Neon Lights"

KRAFTWERK Trans Europe Express (Kling Klang / Astralwerks) lp 21.00
Now reissued on vinyl too!
It's about time. Dusseldorf's most famous export, the Godfathers of electronic pop music, Kraftwerk, finally see their classic albums remastered and reissued for the 21st century (although, unfortunately, not yet their EARLIEST classics, the ones with the traffic cone covers). Given the group's notoriety for demanding nothing but absolute perfection, you can safely bet that these sound AMAZING after years of tireless mixing and mastering in Kling-Klang studios. That's probably the main selling point here, as Kraftwerk was never really a "bonus material" kind of band, and there is none of that here; if it was released, it pretty much meant it was labored upon until being deemed suitable for public exposure. These reissues have also got some pretty fancy expanded artwork. Of course, if you don't already have these albums in some form or another, you should probably do yourself a favor and purchase every single one of them immediately.
Arguably, Kraftwerk's best recording, Trans-Europe Express from 1977 marries the Kosmiche minimalism of the Ralf and Florian record with the technological sublime sound of Autobahn while at the same time foreshadowing the robotic dance pop of The Man-Machine and Computer World. We also see for the first time, the image of the band as a uniform commodity dealing with post-modern themes of surface, reflection, repetition and reproduction that would thoroughly dominate their later output.
MPEG Stream: "Europe Endless"
MPEG Stream: "Showroom Dummies"
MPEG Stream: "Trans Europe Express"

MIST AND MAST Action At A Distance (self-released) cd 6.98
Hurrah, here's the sophomore self-released album from Mist And Mast, fronted by Mr. Jason Lakis (formerly of The Red Thread and Half Film)! Action At A Distance almost sounds like it was plucked from some secret lost treasure trove of '90s college radio ready indie rock. We say "almost" because the very tastefully embellished and very modern recording production gives its true age away. Still, the strummy electric guitars, slightly elliptical and mathy melodies, and slouchy boyish vocals feel cozily familiar like a well-worn and beloved sweater. Some things are simply untethered to trendiness, and genuine heartfelt earnest indie rock songwriting is one of them! That's why Lou Barlow, Joe Pernice, Rob Crow and Jason Lakis and his crew are still goin' strong. Definitely recommended...
MPEG Stream: "In Public"
MPEG Stream: "Elm Street"
MPEG Stream: "X-Ray"

NEON INDIAN Psychic Chasms (Lefse) lp 14.98
NOW ON VINYL!!!!
There's a lot of '80s inspired indie pop coming out these days, and sometimes it's really run of the mill pop, doused in distortion and lo-fi weirdness simply to sound like the other hip-at-the-moment popsmiths (Ariel Pink, Ty Segall, Kurt Vile, etc.). And that can be ok. But, when a new band's delivery sounds natural and not so contrived, when the music is rife with subtle unique elements, creating a sound that is not easily removable from the song, then we are ALL ears.
Such is the case with Neon Indian, who have a sonic vibe similar to current blog phenomenon and Mexican Summer buzz maker Washed Out, among others, with their ability to take the colorful and catchy side of '80s electro-tinged pop and bring in a slightly warped yet totally contagious and psychedelic sound palette that taps into a parallel universe where Ariel Pink stole Daft Punk beats and stripped them down a bit to make the kind of swirling effortless sounding pop that's just pretty damn impossible to resist. The lush, skillful production gives these songs such a nice timeless feel, while it definitely is a record that speaks to this moment in time in its reflection and reassembling of pop's past, their sample of Todd Rudgren's "Izzat Love" in one of their songs is proof that Neon Indian mastermind Alan Palamo has a good understanding of the kind of pop production that pulls from varied sources to create such a satisfying, and unique sound. This one is proving to be one of our favorite fall jams of '09! Lots of other folks favorite too, and with good reason!
MPEG Stream: "Should Have Done Acid With You"
MPEG Stream: "Deadbeat Summer"
MPEG Stream: "Mind, Drips"
MPEG Stream: "Psychic Chasms"

OUR LOVE WILL DESTROY THE WORLD / BARK HAZE split (Krayon Recordings) 7" 7.00
Another killer 7" we just discovered tucked away, blowing out these last copies at a reduced price!! Grab one quick...
One of two new mini-missives from Our Love Will Destroy The World, the project of ex-Birchville Cat Motel kingpin Campbell Kneale, who it seems might be positioning his OLWDTW project to eventually be as prolific as the sadly defunct BCM. Elsewhere on this list you'll find a new cd-r from Our Love, but this 7" matches up Kneale with Bark Haze, the duo of Gown's Andrew McGregor and Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth.
The Bark Haze side is pretty fantastic, noisy, but soft noise, and more drone-y than anything, warm processed guitars, looped and layered, thick and textured, wrapped in warped and warbly effects, pretty mesmerizing and dreamlike, at least until the very end, where the duo shut it down with a bit of high end tangled psych guitar skree.
Our Love Will Destroy The World have crafted a sound, that takes the divine ur-drone of Birchville, and tosses in more of everything, a maximal swirling assemblage of sound upon sound upon sound, drone-y and noisy, but also space-y and groovy, and tripped out and psychedelic. The track begins with buzzing backwards sitars, stuttering acoustic guitars, keening high end riffage, plenty of muted crunch, a super spare abstract 'beat', definitely employing OLWDTW's more is more compositional strategy, adding layer after layer, which in other hands might end up being too much, but the cacophony is softened by Kneale's deft arrangement. The result is like sticking your hand in a sonic supercollider, your ears being bombarded by a million musical particles, an atomic shower of shards and fragments of amps and guitars and samples and synths and effects. So good!

SOUNDCARRIERS, THE Harmonium (Melodic) lp 22.00
Now available on vinyl!
We're always up for really well executed and super engaging psych-pop. The UK's Soundcarriers are hitting the spot so perfectly this summer, updating '60s psych-pop (a la Stereolab) and creating new sounds with a totally timeless feel. Everything about this album is so flawlessly executed. Recorded with such deep flowing warmth we wouldn't be surprised if these songs were all captured to analog tape, as each instrument sounds so rich and full. Armed with a strong pop sensibility, the Soundcarriers remind us of a bit more muscular Belle & Sebastian, with nice doses of pastoral psychedelic undertones that bring to mind a more pop minded version of Dungen. They also know how to tap into a slight groove with just the right touches of breezy effervescence and have us hearing hints of a wide range of folks like Sergio Mendes, Alceu Valenca, Galaxie 500, American Analog Set, The Free Design, and The Elephant's Memory who some of you might remember from their role as the stand-in-band for the Velvet Underground in Midnight Cowboy. There is a fluidity to these songs and a flow to this album that proves that The Soundcarriers have found a way to bring strong influences of the past to create something modern, yet timeless, of their own. So nice!
MPEG Stream: "Time Will Come"
MPEG Stream: "On That Line"
MPEG Stream: "Harmonium"

SPIN December 2009 magazine 4.99
Latest issue, with Radiohead on the cover, yawn, but the cover STORY is actually pretty funny, all your favorite rock myths, true or false? Hair metal was killed By Nirvana? Rod Stewart had a gallon of semen pumped from his stomach? No one will miss the cd? Frank Zappa eats poop? Alice Cooper bit the head off a chicken and drank its blood? Keith Richards has a complete blood transfusion? And on and on...
Plus, Tegan And Sara, a rad feature on metal in Savannah: Baroness, Kylesa, Unpersons, Blacktusk, etc., Band Of Skulls, Vampire Weekend, and of course the usual columns and reviews...

STARVING WEIRDOS Absolute Freedom (Abandon Ship) 7" 5.00
Doing some Spring (umm, Late Autumn?) cleaning, and discovered a little stash of these, so figured we'd list them again, and what the heck, let's put em on sale too, last few copies, now at a WAY reduced price, and beyond that, a pretty bad ass 7"...
A brand new record from the Starving Weirdos, two old old tracks, resurrected and pressed onto what we're pretty sure is the SW's very first 7". The group's sound changes so much, that these two archival tracks, while entirely different from anything we've heard from them, still sound very much at home in their constantly shifting body of work. And unlike the more recent material, is much more lo-fi and looped, giving the sound a very rough, lo-fi, sort of Jeck / Tim Hecker vibe, which obviously we love!
The A side begins with a murky processed pulse, with propulsive krautrock drumming but before it gets more than 10 seconds in, there's a strange backwards swoop, and the track seems to skip back to the beginning, which takes up almost the whole side, a gorgeously fragmented tribal drone krauty loop, until right near the end, when the track shifts, the guitar builds to a chaotic squall, the drums blown out, the cymbals sizzling distortedly, a serious freaked out psych jam, with strange spoken word vocals, bits of feedback, and tons of distorted murk.
The flipside is also loop based (or sounds like it), a militaristic snare, rat-a-tat-tat's out an insistent beat, over which a cool shimmery loop, cycles over and over, while in the background deep rumbles pulse and swell, until the drums drop out and the track finishes off with some moody washed out Jeckian ambience.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES! Pro printed black and white covers, with printed inserts.

STONE GARDEN s/t (Shadow Kingdom) cd 13.98
Not '80s metal, not '70s metal, this is '60s metal. Or at least, heavy hippie psychedelic garage rock to be more precise. The Shadow Kingdom label, who seem to go for cult current metal bands and even more obscure reissues, reached pretty far back for this one, all the way back to the late sixties (the recordings collected here date from between '65-'70 as far as we can tell). Stone Garden were from the Pacific Northwest, predating the Seattle grunge scene by a couple decades... But if they'd been born later, we could almost imagine 'em on Sub Pop, playing shows with Mudhoney and, uh, Soundgarden, yeah.
Pounding drums and bass, wild jamming organ, and plenty of throbbing distorted guitar, that's what you get from Stone Garden. No, it's not Black Sabbath (it never is) but this ought to appeal to heavy psych, proto-metal heads into Blue Cheer, Bubble Puppy, Sir Lord Baltimore, Iron Butterfly, Fraction, Negative Space and the like. For the era, and considering their age (in the pictures here, Stone Garden are really young looking, though shaggy-haired, teenage kids still in high school), this was on the HEAVY side of the blues rock spectrum most definitely. Not all of it, but enough of it. "Assembly Line", ferinstance, is an appropriately grim lament, laced with acid guitar soloing. They were into Cream and Hendrix, you can tell.
Throughout these 15 tracks, production quality varies, some material was recorded in a real studio, others in a basement home studio, still others in a living room, or live on stage. So this collection has got a patchwork production vibe for sure, but that doesn't stop Stone Garden from rockin'. And when they did make it into a studio, they took advantage of it, you gotta love the freaky tape speed manipulation studio shenanigans that make "Grayworld Forest" an even weirder place to wander than the title suggests.
Stone Garden's music has been reissued before, originally on a limited edition (long out of print) vinyl by Rockadelic in the '90s, and also on compact disc by Gear Fab, but this Shadow Kingdom cd edition is the best, with a bunch of previously unreleased bonus tracks and a nice booklet full of liner notes, vintage photos and, on the back, what we're guessing was the b&w flower power sleeve of their sole 7" release, circa 1969, with the boys looking really REALLY young on it. Which means you can flip the booklet around and have it as a the cd cover instead of the crappier looking "Stonehenge" cover inherited from the Rockadelic lp version, if you like.
MPEG Stream: "Oceans Inside Me (Ripcord Version)"
MPEG Stream: "Assembly Line"

TROUM Nargis (Viva Hate) 7" 5.00
Another back room find, last few copies of this dark gem, good time to grab one of these too, cuz while they last, they're marked down to nearly 50 percent off the original price, so grab one before they're gone for good...
Latest slab of guitar based whir and drift from these masters of the drone (they do in fact run the DRONE record label after all). Formerly Maeror Tri, Troum embody the drone, they live, breathe, eat and sleep drones. And it shows. Their records are gorgeous and epic, but seem so effortless, as if the sounds they create are simply channeled through their corporeal forms, but have been created in some fiery forge at the center of an alien planet. 
The first half of this single still sounds like Troum, but is unlike anything we've heard from them, strange looped high end guitar, what sounds like backwards chords, almost choral vocals, dramatic and haunting and cinematic, very much like some super stylized horror movie music almost, warbled and wavery, over a distant grinding low end tone drifting way off in the background, washed over by epic sweeping swells...
The other side is a bit more raw and intense, a seriously corrosive guitarscape, distorted and crumbling chordal buzz, looped and layered into a strange glacial riff, strewn over deep dark swirls of slow shifting sound and haunting minor key melodies. It manages to be intense and fierce but also gloriously washed out and blissful.
Super swank, full color covers, full color inserts, and pressed on nice thick vinyl. And of course limited, just not sure -how- limited...

XABEC Feuerstern (Drone) 7" 6.00
Last copies! Sale priced...
Another installment from Germany's drone records, as always gorgeously packaged, super limited, and some of the deepest, darkest, loveliest and most mysterious dronemusik around.
This one comes from a group called XABEC, whose installment comes pressed on thick maroon vinyl, and housed in a gold embossed 7" cardboard box, with a printed cardstock insert. As always, it's a first edition and is thus limited to only 300 copies.
The A side begins as two simultaneous drones, one soft and shimmery and static, the other more buzzy and distorted, a hissing rumble, wrapping itself all around the main drone. Later on, creepy footstep-like percussion drifts in, and distant keening metallic melodies. Whirring distortion underpins bits of clatter, and various random sounds, all woven into a darkly undulating sonic tapestry.
The B side is a piece from a performance based on music and fireworks, and thus ends with field recordings, captured by Mnortham, the track opens with a flurry of fireworks a cloud of skittery pop, like an army of tiny machine guns, quickly giving way to a wash of deep resonant metallic drones, and a strange alien groove over the top, some sort of squeaky looped rhythm that sounds a bit like Drone meets Kompakt. Weird but quite cool.

YOUNGS, RICHARD Under Stellar Stream (Jagjaguwar) lp 16.98
Also now here on vinyl!
We talk a lot about music that puts us in a spell, or drones that elevate us to some hypnotic state of mind, but what's much even more rare, is to achieve one of those states, while also tapping into something more personal and immediate and intimate and haunting. Richard Youngs is a sonic shamen, conuring up musical rituals that never fail to entrance and ensorcell us, we've raved about so many of his records in the past and his newest outing is definitely another winner, and is striking such a deep chord with us. His use of vocal repetition transforms these songs into otherworldly mantras, that we find ourselves NEEDING to listen to on a daily basis. With hazy instrumentation and hypnotic loops as the musical bed, Under Stellar Stream sounds like a magical collaboration between Robert Wyatt and William Basinski, as Youngs manages to merge a deep emotional impact with shimmery, softly nuanced dreaminess.
Listening to Under Stellar Stream evokes the sensation of watching an incredibly intense and beautiful film. Understated and emotional piano fluttering delicately, the sound restrained, yet expansive, the last two tracks if stripped of the vocals would sound right at home on an Andrew Chalk record. While Youngs definitely has a large devoted following we really think folks who might not have heard his records, but love the more haunting side of folks like Bonnie Prince Billy and Smog, might find muc to love in the mysterious sound world of Richard Youngs. So fitting that the day we got this it was pouring outside as these are sounds so perfect for grey skies and rainfall, just standing beneath the bruised sky letting the raindrops fall where they may. Totally moving and gorgeous!
MPEG Stream: "All Day Monday And Tuesday"
MPEG Stream: "The Bells Of Spring"
MPEG Stream: "Broke Up By Night"

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----* Compilations :
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V/A R. Crumb Presents - Hot Women: Women Singers From The Torrid Regions (Kein & Aber) cd 16.98
So stoked to have this awesome collection back in print!
Here's an interesting collection. Put together by Robert Crumb, at the behest of his wife Aline, from his personal collection of 78's. The collection moves across the globe by continent, starting in Louisiana, USA moving south through Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America; then touching down in Europe (Spain, Sicily, Greece and Turkey), moving south through Africa, on to India and South East Asia (Burma & Vietnam), and finally resting in the South Pacific. Most of the recordings come from the 30's (with a few from as early as 1927 and as recent as 1950) and are quite likely to be tracks you've never heard before in your life. Some artists, like Greek singer Rita Abadzi, first lady of Cajun Cleoma Falcon and Norteno musician Lidya Mendoza are well known, and have plenty of recordings assuring their place in history. But of much of the others on this disc, very little is known. In a typically erudite, but self deprecating and witty form that is unique to himself, Robert Crumb leads us through his recordings armed with what little knowledge he's been able to glean about each performer (mostly from the internet and, Crumb insists, with the help of others who understand such modern technology).
MPEG Stream: GRUPO DE "LA ALEGRIA" "El Tambor De La Alegria"
MPEG Stream: MABOUDANA AND BADOLO "Chant d'Invitation A La Dance"
MPEG Stream: CO BA-THINH, KHAM-THIEN "Hat Du"

V/A Skulls Without Borders... V/A Sampler (Siltbreeze) 10" 25.00
The home silkscreened sleeves make this 10" Siltbreeze sampler seem like it could have been just some old record discovered in a beat up cardboard box in the corner of some musty warehouse, the ink a little smeary, the sleeves a little rough around the edges, hand stamped, simple black on black skull cover, but have a peep at some of the names, Sic Alps, Kurt Vile, Dan Melchior... as well as some new to us outfits like Chickins, Tommy Jay Band and of course Puffy Areolas.
This is primo Siltbreeze lo-fi garage rock / sludge pop / whatever, from the super distorted garage murk of Dan Melchior, to the reverby stomp of Chickins, to the super distorted atonal stumbling groove of the Tommy Jay Band, to the surprisingly catchy lo-fi power pop of the Puffy Areolas, to the dreamy bedroom folk strum of Sic Alps, to the big classic rock via druggy garage pop blowout of Kurt Vile and his Violators, we're digging ALL of this. Big time.
What we're NOT digging though is the price, oof, but what can you do? It's probably crazy limited, 300 copies we think, we got all we could and that's not that many, plus they seem to have all been hand screened and stamped, and hell, the songs are pretty bad ass, and they're are all exclusive tracks as far as we can tell, so your call, for some folks, $25 won't be that steep a price to pay for these jams, and considering how fast these have been selling, you might not have to worry about that for long anyway...

V/A The Harmonic Series - A Compilation Of Musical Works In Just Intonation (Important) cd 14.98
As the title truthfully advertises, this is a compilation of avant-garde compositions all incorporating Just Intonation in some way, shape, or form. While the liner notes go into great detail as to the specifics that define Just Intonation, the trademark sound of Just Intonation is the harmonized buzz that's found equally in Tony Conrad's abraded viola and the angelic choirs of Gregorian chants. Many 20th Century composers had incorporated such tunings as a stance against the Twelve-Tone tuning practice which had become the standard operating procedure for Western composition during the previous 200 years or so. We won't go too much into the musicological details, but we will say that this is a nice primer, featuring Pauline Oliveros, Michael Harrison, Ellen Fullman, Charles Curtis, Greg Davis, Zachary James Watkins, and others.
The highlights are found in Greg Davis' very nice Andrew Chalk impersonation through his network of low-end frequencies, Michael Harrison's extract of buzzing piano chords (which, it must be said, is an extract from his amazing Revelation album), and the bellowing horns which ground Zachary James Watkins' track. Curated by Duane Pitre.
MPEG Stream: GREG DAVIS "Star Primes (For James Tenney)"
MPEG Stream: PAULINE OLIVEROS "The Beauty Of Sorrow"
MPEG Stream: ZACHARY JAMES WATKINS "Country Western"

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----* In Stock, Not Yet Reviewed :
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If you want to order one of these, just search for the item, then click on the buy button and it will be added to your cart!

AHAB "The Divinity Of Oceans" (Napalm) cd 16.98
AMBARCHI, OREN "Intermission 2000-2008" (Touch Tone) cd 15.98
ANDUIN "Abandoned In Sleep" (SMPG Limited) lp + cd 16.98
ANTI-POP CONSORTIUM "Fluorescent Black" (Big Dada) cd/2lp 15.98/23.00
ANVIL: THE STORY OF ANVIL (VH1 Films) dvd 28.00
ASTATKE, MULATU "Mulatu Of Ethiopia" (Worthy) lp 16.98
BLACK BREATH "Razor to Oblivion" (Southern Lord) cd 12.98
BRAINSTORM "Smile A While" (Lion Productions) cd 14.98
CANT / ARTHUR RUSSELL "Ghosts / Come To Life" (Terrible) 7" 8.98
CAPTAIN BEYOND "Captain Beyond & Sufficiently Breathless" (Raven) cd 22.00
CASPA "Everybody's Talking, Nobody's Listening!" (Fabric) cd 11.98
DEKHA JAYE GA / UF YEH BEVIAN "OST" (Finders Keepers) cd 23.00
DYLAN, BOB "Christmas In The Heart" (Columbia) cd 15.98
EARTH AND FIRE "s/t" (Esoteric) cd 23.00
GODS GIFT "Pathology: Manchester 1979-84" (Messthetics) cd 12.98
GR & FULL-BLOWN EXPANSION "s/t" (World Sound) cd 23.00
HERMAN'S ROCKET (JEAN-PIERRA MASSIERA) "Space Woman" (Mucho Gusto) lp 21.00
KELLY, R "Untitled" (Jive Aces) cd 15.98
LA IRA DE DIOS "Apus Revolution Rock" (World In Sound) cd 23.00
LITMUS "Aurora" (Metal Blade / Rise Above) cd 14.98
MASTER'S APPRENTICES "s/t" (Aztec Music) 2cd 29.00
MENCHE, DANIEL "Kataract" (Editions Mego) cd 17.98
MILLER, LLOYD "A Lifetime In Oriental Jazz" (Jazzman) cd 17.98
MOONDOG "A New Sound Of An Old Instrument" (Kopf / Roof Music) cd 17.98
MOONDOG "In Europe" (Kopf / Roof Music) cd 17.98
NGOZI FAMILY "45,000 Volts" (No Smoke) lp 32.00
NIGHT TROLL / TREMOR OF THE BLACK MANX "Circle Of Witches / Armor" (Jeshimoth) 3" cd-r 5.98
NIRVANA "Live At Reading" (DGC) cd/dvd + cd 16.98/36.00
ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER "Rifts" (No Fun Productions) 2cd 16.98
ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER "Russian Mind" (No Fun Productions) lp 15.98
RADIAN "Chimeric" (Thrill Jockey) cd 15.98
RATTO, MIKA "Polkupyoralla Vuokkopenkereelle" (Ektro) cd 14.98
RITA J "Artist Workshop" (All Natural Inc.) cd 13.98
SACRED STEEL "Carnage Victory" (Massacre) cd+dvd 17.98
SCROTUM POLES "Auchmithie Forever" (Dulc-I-Tone) lp 15.98
SEVENTH DAWN, THE "Sunrise" (Bella Terra / Riverman) cd 17.98
SHRINEBUILDER "s/t" (Neurot) 2lp 22.00
SIGUR ROS "Gobbledigook" (Kompakt) 12" 13.98
SIX FINGER SATELLITE "A Good Year For Hardness" (Anchor Brain) lp 14.98
SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE / JOSEPH MATTSON "Empty The Sun" (Drag City) lp + book 17.98
SLAYER "World Painted Blood" (American) lp 25.00
SPARKS "Seduction Of Ingmar Bergman" (Lil' Beethoven) 2lp 34.00
SPIRAL STAIRS "The Real Feel" (Matador) cd/lp 13.98/16.98
STARVING WEIRDOS WITH TOM CARTER & SHAWN DAVID MCMILLEN "Live At The Accident!" (Blackest Rainbow) lp 24.00
SUN RA AND HIS ARKESTRA "Rocket Ship Rock" (Norton) cd/lp 14.98/14.98
SUN RA AND HIS MYTH SCIENCE SOLAR ARKESTRA "The Antique Blacks" (Art Yard) cd 21.00
TEGAN + SARA "Sainthood" (Sire) cd 14.98
TONY TEARS "Voci Dal Passato" cd 22.00
ULTRABUNNY "Outer Bounds Of Sound" (Noiseville) lp 17.98
V/A "All Tomorrow's Parties" (Warp Films) dvd 35.00
V/A "D-Funk: Funk, Disco & Boogie Grooves From Germany 1972-2002" (Marina) cd 17.98
V/A "In The Christmas Groove" (Strut) cd 14.98
V/A "International Skwee Vol.2" (Harmonia) lp 28.00
V/A "Messthetics #107" (Hyped To Death) cd 14.98
V/A "More Andergraun Vibrations" (Hundergum) cd 25.00
V/A "Mutant Disco Volume 3: Garage Sale" (Ze) cd 16.98
V/A "Ouled Bambara" (Twos & Fews / Drag City) cd + dvd 17.98
V/A "Panama! 3 : Calypso Panameno, Guajira Jazz & Cumbia Tipica On The Isthmus 1960-75" (Sound Way) cd 16.98
V/A "The BYG Deal" (B-Music / Finders Keepers) cd 15.98
VAINIO, MIKA "Vandal EP (Ununquadium 114)" (Raster-Norton) 12" 14.98
VAN WISSEM, JOZEF "Ex Patris" (Important) lp 22.00
VHS HEAD "Video Club" (Skam) cd 9.98
VOIVOD "Infini" (Relapse) cd 14.98
WARMTH "Original Warmth" (Turgid Animal) cd 12.98
WAX POETICS "Issue #38" magazine 9.99
WHILE HEAVEN WEPT "Vast Oceans Lachrymose" (Cruz Del Sur) cd 16.98
XENO & OAKLANDER "Sentinelle" (Wierd) cd/lp 11.98/14.98
YOUNGS, RICHARD "High Sun Energy" (Dull Knife) 7" 8.98

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Please place your order via our website.

[1] We will contact you to verify your order and let you know when it will be shipped. Please note that occasionally it may take a day or two for us to reply. We are not a faceless bunch of computers replying to your order -- we are human beings!

[2] If we are out of some of your items and we think we will get them within the same week, we can wait to ship. Or... If it's going to be more than a few days to complete your order, we will ship what we have and then will contact you as the remainders arrive.

[ note ] Due to the everchanging nature of the independent record business, we are not responsible for listed price changes (due to supplier price changes) and often cannot update our site fast enough to reflect these changes, but we will always try to let you know of any differences.


DOMESTIC SHIPPING :
--------------------------------

1-2 items    $5.00 USPS Priority Mail
3+ items    $7.50 UPS Ground

Further Explanation (Please Read!):
Within the USA, an order of 3 or more items will be shipped via UPS ground for a flat fee of $7.50. These packages are automatically insured and trackable.

However, if your package contains just 1 or 2 items, we will ship your order via USPS Priority Mail, and charge you $5.00 for shipping. These packages are NOT insured or trackable, sorry. So if you desire those safeguards, please request UPS delivery at the $7.50 rate. You must mention this in the comments field of our online order form.

Also, please note that UPS will not ship to PO Boxes. If you only have a PO Box, we can ship packages of 3+ items via US Postal Service at the $7.50 rate. Special shipping needs (e.g. UPS Next Day) are also do-able, just ask.

Another important note: box sets DON'T (usually) count as one item. Sorry. A box set will generally bump you up into the "three or more items" category. Y'know, they're big. Boxes.


INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING :
-------------------------------- For foreign customers we ship via US AIRMAIL ("First Class International"). Your price is based on the actual cost of shipping plus $1. You can check the US Postal Service international rate calculator: http://ircalc.usps.gov/. (Use the "Package" category and see the price for "First Class International". 1-3 cds is usually 1 pound.)

We highly recommend insurance for your international package, but it is very expensive! You can check the US Postal Service international rate calculator: http://ircalc.usps.gov/. (Use the "Package" category and see the price for "Priority Mail International". 1-3 cds is usually 1 pound. 1 lp is usually a little over 1.5 pounds.)


INTERNATIONAL INSURANCE :
-------------------------------- You are hereby forewarned that Aquarius is not responsible if your international package gets lost in the mail. Insurance is your only recourse if your records never show up. Since the terrible events of 9/11, mail service has been slow and undependable... and while we haven't experienced any *confirmed* permanently lost mail, insurance might provide some additional piece of mind in this time of upheaval. We strongly recommend it. But yes, it is very expensive. It's your choice. Again: Aquarius is not responsible for lost mail, so if you aren't willing to take a (slight but real) risk, please buy the insurance.

International insurance is very expensive! In fact often the insurance costs more than the value of your package, in which case it obviously does not make sense to insure it. You can check the US Postal Service international rate calculator: http://ircalc.usps.gov/. (Use the "Package" category and see the price for "Priority Mail International", which is the way insured packages are sent. 1-3 cds is usually 1 pound. 1 lp is usually a little over 1.5 pounds.)

For example: for a one-pound package worth $18 going to England, shipping without insurance is about $11.00. But with insurance, the shipping / insurance total is over $26.00!

It is your reponsibility to check the international rate calculator in order to determine whether or not you want international insurance. If you tell us you want international insurance, we will add it to your order no matter how much it costs!


PAYMENT :
-------------------------------- We accept the following credit cards: Visa, MC, Discover, and Amex. We will not charge your credit card until your order is ready to ship.

Money orders are accepted, but only in $USD. International customers please note that they must be international postal money orders purchased at a post office. Additional processing fees may apply. 

If you wish to pay by money order, you must confirm the order with us through email or phone BEFORE you send any payment. It's best to just use the secure order form on the website, and when checking out mark money order as your payment choice. We will then process your order and respond with all the crucial payment info.

We also accept payment by Paypal. If you opt for this payment method, we will send you a paypal total and payment instructions as soon as we've confirmed your order with you. Please do not send payment until you have received human contact from our mailorder department.

Unfortunately, we cannot take personal checks for mailorder, sorry!


QUESTION?
-------------------------------- Email the mailorder department: mailorder@aquariusrecords.org
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SOME SELECTED UPCOMING RELEASES

----} on the way/or soon
Expo 70 "Sonic Messenger" 2cd on Beta-Lactam Ring
Worm Ouroboros "s/t" cd on 20 Buck Spin
Horna "Musta Kaipuu" cd on Moribund
King Khan & BBQ Show "Invisible Girl" cd/lp on In The Red
Felix "You Are The One I Pick" cd on Kranky
Papercuts "Where Are The Waves" cd on Gnomonsong
The Roots "How I Got Over" cd
Max Richter "Memory House" cd
Bert Jansch vinyl reissues on Drag City
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & The Picket Line "Funtown Comedown" lp on Drag City
Astra "The Weirding" vinyl lp version on Rise Above
The Gates Of Slumber "Hymns Of Blood & Thunder" vinyl lp version on Rise Above

----} also upcoming sooner or later or sooner or later
Crispy Ambulance "Plateau Phase" cd reissue on LTM
Vampire Weekend "Contra" cd
Ocean "Pantheon Of The Lesser" 2lp version on Important
Grumbling Fur (Guapo + Jussi from Circle) cd
Combat Astronomy "Earth Divided by Zero" cd
Rosetta "Wake/Lift" vinyl version
Anton Batagov "Passionate Desire To Be An Angel" cd on Long Arms Records
Japancakes "If I Could See Dallas"
Sean Smith "Eternal" cd on Ultra Hard Gel
Jazzfinger "The Sun's Golden Blood" cd on Beta-Lactam Ring
v/a "Noise Room" cd on Soniq
Country Teasers / Ezee Tiger split lp on Holy Mountain
Erase Errata TBA cd on Kill Rock Stars
Xiu Xiu TBA cd on Kill Rock Stars
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists TBA cd/lp on Touch And Go
Rodan TBA cd/lp on Quarterstick
Deftones "Eros" cd on Warner Bros.
Swell Maps "International Rescue" clear vinyl LP reissue on Alive
Black Lips "We Didn't Know..." green vinyl LP on Bomp!
Loss "Despond" cd on Profound Lore
Celestiial "Where Life Springs Eternal" cd on Bindrune
Blood Of The Black Owl "A Banishing Ritual" cd on Bindrune
Trans Am "What Day Is Tonight" cd on Thrill Jockey
Boduf Songs "Strait Gait" cd/lp on Latitudes
M. Holterbach + Julia Eckhardt cd on Helen Scarsdale
AFCGT "s/t" lp on Sub Pop
Beach House "Teen Dream" cd on Sub Pop

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Our Love Will Destroy The World
(Campbell Kneale of Birchville Cat Motel, Black Boned Angel)
Evolution Control Committee
Kreamy 'Lectric Santa
Chen Santa Maria
January 9, 2010
5lowershop, San Francisco
http://www.5lowershop.org/ _______________________________________________________________________
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Sunday, December 13, 2009. 11am-10pm $10 all day access

Underground - Experimental - Unstoppable:
Celebrating 25 years of Artists' Television Access!(992 Valencia st,SF)


Please help us get ready for another 25 years and join us as we celebrate
ATA's 25th anniversary with a day full of live music, performances,
installations, bbq, and a raffle with great prizes!

Tasty BBQ outside ATA: 11am-2pm


SCHEDULE:

1pm - THE LAMBS
Melodramatic Popular Song / Soul - SF

2 pm - Jeremy Dalmas and Friends
Indie / Experimental / Classical - SF

3pm - Young Prisms
SF

4pm - Bare Wires
Garage / Punk - OAK

5pm - Ash Reiter
Indie / Folk / Jazz - SF

6pm - Kacey Johansing
Healing & EasyListening / Folk / Soul - SF

7pm - Jefre Cantu-Ledesma and Paul Clipson
Electronic & Ambient / Super 8 film - SF

8 pm - EATS TAPES
Techno / Experimental / Other - SF

9 pm - Psychic Reality
Lyrical / Live Electronics - SF

10pm - RANK/XEROX
Punk - SF
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UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US

Now showing in NY, Providence and Grand Rapids, expands to LA Dec 11th, and continues on throughout the country. GO SEE IT!

UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US is the award winning film that tells the
story of black metal, made by Aaron Aites of the band Iran and Audrey Ewell. The film chronicles the music scene and the cultural uprising, the suicides, murders, and church burnings, the controversy as well as the explosive artistic growth and output of this music scene. Until The Light Takes Us goes behind the highly sensationalized media reports of "Satanists running amok in Europe" and constructs a portrait of the scene's seminal surviving members, Varg Vikernes of Burzum, and Fenriz from Darkthrone, charting the course of their friendship and the dissolution of it, as black metal morphed into something very different than what it started as. As intimate a look as you're likely to get at the complex and largely misunderstood principles and beliefs and personalities that led to this rebellion against both Christianity and modern culture. Featuring Varg Vikernes, Gylve "Fenriz" Nagell, Hellhammer, Harmony Korine, as well as members of Immortal, Ulver, Emperor and more. With music by Black Dice, Boards of Canada, Darkthrone, Burzum, Gorgoroth, Mayhem, Mum, Emperor, Thorns, and original soundtrack music by LSR.

KQED San Francisco called it "A provocative and intelligent film" and LA Weekly made it a Critic's Pick, calling it both "richly compelling and artfully shot." Variety went for "morbidly fascinating." Not to be missed.

For Trailer and More Info, Please Visit:
WWW.BLACKMETALMOVIE.COM


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Lots of love from your devoted AQ staff

Andee Cup Jim AllanIrwinScottNickSallyJonandAndrew