A s/t (Die Schachtel) cd 18.98
Previously the Die Schachtel label has brought us several very cool reissues of some very obscure '70s art/prog/avant music from Italy -- such as Luciano Cilio, Prima Materia and Insiememusicadiversa. Weird and wonderful stuff. Now, they've got a brand new band for us, not a reissue (though it totally seems to fit in with their "thing"). It's apparently the first in a new series called Zeit devoted to the current-day Italian underground, and comes from a trio calling themselves A (actually, an A with what looks a little circular diacritical mark above it, which we can't reproduce on our website easily. Maybe we should write Aa, that might be the correct way to do it. Furthermore, Wikipedia tells us that in Norwegian, Danish and Swedish it's a word meaning rivulet or stream.). They've got a lot in common with fellow Italians (and AQ faves) Larsen, 3/4hadbeeneliminated, and Sinistri/Starfuckers, playing a sort of mysterious, mostly instrumental, deconstructed, experimental post-rock music. No wonder in iTunes it comes up as genre = "unclassifiable". They're definitely carrying on the tradition established by those '70s artists Die Schachtel has documented.
The percussive beat-booming and crackling drone of the disc's longest track, the sixteen minute "Something A Long Time Ago. And There Are No Buttons Either, Because" brings to mind This Heat. There and elsewhere Aa also conjure suggestions of Village Of Savoonga, Richard Youngs, Dean Roberts, and even Bohren & Der Club Of Gore, among other good things. Additionally, we'll mention that this was mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi, which isn't a bad reference point either if you've heard his music. We just can't resist this sort of semi-abstract, organic post-rock, with its rainy day piano, meandering guitar, tinkling clock-ticking textures, dreamy violin sawing, wordless (?) floaty vocals, glitchy electronics, and birdlike horn warble... all woven together gorgeously and with a sense of the dramatic. Very very nice. As is the packaging too!
By the way, the wordy song titles are all sentence fragments taken from a paragraph belonging to Mark Haddon's novel The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-time.
MPEG Stream: "My Memory Is Like A Film. That Is Why"
MPEG Stream: "I Am Really Good At Remembering Things, Like The Conversation I Have Written Down In This Book, And What People Are Wearing, And What They Smelled Like, Because My Memory Has"
MPEG Stream: "A Smell Track Which Is Like A Soundtrack, And When People Ask Me To Remember Something I Can Simply"

A CAMP s/t (Stockholm) cd 27.00
Debut solo album from The Cardigans' Nina Persson produced / recorded by AQ fave Mark Linkous from Sparklehorse. Not as catchy and poppy as the Cardigans and not as delicate and hyper-produced as Sparklehorse, but still really really good. We loved the Cardigans and were completely bummed when they called it quits, but this just might fill the gap. The Cardigans were led by their guitarist, a metal obsessed pop songwriting genius, so his absence is quite noticeable. But what Persson lacks in songwriting skill she makes up for with -that- voice and a pretty great grasp of sparkly, shimmering, melodic and melancholic pop. Includes one of the best versions we've heard of Daniel Johnston's oft-covered 'Walking The Cow'. Unfortunately high priced import. No word yet on a domestic release.
RealAudio clip: "I Can Buy You"
RealAudio clip: "Walking The Cow (Daniel Johnston)"

A CERTAIN RATIO B-Sides, Sessions and Rarities (Soul Jazz) 2x10" 22.00
Essentially this limited double 10" set collects all of the tracks that didn't make it on the ACR "Early" vinyl but were featured on the cd.

A CERTAIN RATIO Early (Soul Jazz) 2cd 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A Certain Ratio, who took their name from a lyric off Brian Eno's flawless pop album Taking Tiger Mountain, began their career alongside fellow Mancunians Joy Division back in the late '70s, crafting a sound that evolved through the bleak references of punk into a groove-oriented, party-funk band by the mid-'80s. Strangely enough, the band's first ventures (including their first single "All Night Party" which is featured on this Soul Jazz compilation) were drumless, until the self-professed Funkadelic fan Donald Johnson filled in A Certain Ratio's rhythmic lack with an explosive prowess that matched the band's original proclivity for militant death disco grooves that were as good as anything on the first two Public Image Limited albums. A Certain Ratio rounded out their earliest incarnation with the eerie baritone vocals of Simon Topping, who shared more than a few of the theatrical affectations of Joy Division's Ian Curtis. Throughout the early '80s albums on Factory, Topping's vocals took a less central role, as A Certain Ratio began focusing upon the rhythmic dynamic of Jeremy Kerr's increasingly overactive use of slap bass and Johnson's explorations into jazz and Brazillian rhythms. Like Joy Division's transformation into New Order, A Certain Ratio re-created themselves within the context of the mid-'80s UK club culture.
In addition to the first disc which collects many of their best songs (although hardcore ACR fans might take issue with some of the selections), what's extra nice about this reissue are the b-sides and rarities that comprise the second disc. Those of us who missed out the first time around and are perhaps only familiar with the ACR tracks on the wonderful In the Beginning There Was Rhythm compilation will be surprised to hear that the driving dance-iness of those tracks were balanced out by the decidedly more gloomy sound typical of Joy Division's dark and angular choppiness. Far more punk than dance. Another fine case of a band's demos and rarities being a valuable good listen, instead of being collected for collectors' sake. Highly recommended!
RealAudio clip: "Do The Du"
RealAudio clip: "Choir"
RealAudio clip: "Life's A Scream"
RealAudio clip: "Touch"
RealAudio clip: "All Night Party (7" mix)"
RealAudio clip: "Knife Slits Water"

A CERTAIN RATIO Early (Soul Jazz) 2lp 24.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A Certain Ratio, who took their name from a lyric off Brian Eno's flawless pop album Taking Tiger Mountain, began their career alongside fellow Mancunians Joy Division back in the late '70s, crafting a sound that evolved through the bleak references of punk into an groove-oriented, party-funk band by the mid-'80s. Strangely enough, the band's first ventures (including their first single "All Night Party" which is featured on this Soul Jazz compilation) were drumless, until the self-professed Funkadelic fan Donald Johnson filled in A Certain Ratio's rhythmic lack with an explosive prowess that matched the band's original proclivity for militant death disco grooves that were as good as anything on the first two Public Image Limited albums. A Certain Ratio rounded out their earliest incarnation with the eerie baritone vocals of Simon Topping, who shared more than a few of the theatrical affectations of Joy Division's Ian Curtis. Throughout the early '80s albums on Factory, Topping's vocals took a less central role, as A Certain Ratio began focusing upon the rhythmic dynamic of Jeremy Kerr's increasingly overactive use of slap bass and Johnson's explorations into jazz and Brazillian rhythms. Like Joy Division's transformation into New Order, A Certain Ratio re-created themselves within the context of the mid-'80s UK club culture.
In addition to the first disc which collects many of their best songs (although hardcore ACR fans might take issue with some of the selections), what's extra nice about this reissue are the b-sides and rarities that comprise the second disc. Those of us who missed out the first time around and are perhaps only familiar with the ACR tracks on the wonderful In the Beginning There Was Rhythm compilation will be surprised to hear that the driving dance-iness of those tracks were balanced out by the decidedly more gloomy sound typical of Joy Division's dark and angular choppiness. Far more punk than dance. Another fine case of a band's demos and rarities being a valuable good listen, instead of being collected for collectors' sake. Highly recommended!

A CERTAIN RATIO Live - America 1985 (Melodic) cd 14.98

A CERTAIN RATIO The Graveyard and the Ballroom (Universal Sound) cd 19.98
Ah now this is more like it! The ACR retrospective that Soul Jazz / Universal Sound released a year or two ago was an honest, if partially flawed overview of ACR's occasionally problematic sound, developed during the height of the post-punk movement in the late '70s up through the mid '80s. Where I believe ACR really succeeded was in their earliest recordings documented here on The Graveyard and The Ballroom, which was originally released as a cassette on Factory and later through the Rev-Ola subsidiary of Creation. On these early recordings, A Certain Ratio struggled to balance the two dominant personalities of the group. On one hand there was Simon Topping with his grim poetry barked in a desperate baritone voice, on the other was self-professed Parliament fan Donald Johnson behind the drum kit. Johnson may have ultimately won whatever aesthetic battle took place ACR, but during these early recordings the band thrived on the tension between Topping's bleak vocals and Johnson's amazingly deft grooves. During that time period, ACR -- like many Factory bands including Section 25, The Wake, and Crispy Ambulance -- was accused of being Joy Division imitators. The skeletal Martin Hannent production and the similarity bewtixt Topping and Joy Division's singer Ian Curtis certainly enflame such accusations; yet the music of ACR with its choppy guitar angularity and percussive dexterity lent itself far closer to comparison with the post-punk grooviness of James Chance or ESG. Explosively groovy tracks like "Do The Du," "Crippled Child," and "All Night Party" put all the current roster of post-punk enthusiasts to shame.
This has long been one of my favorite recordings, and I'm very glad it's been reissued. That said, the choice of bonus tracks are a bit disappointing -- the first of which the excellent "And Then Again" appeared on The Old and The New, and the second of which "The Thin Boys" is a throw-away demo track.
MPEG Stream: "Crippled Child"
MPEG Stream: "All Night Party"
MPEG Stream: "Strain"

A CERTAIN RATIO To Each... (Universal Sound) cd 19.98
Originally released back in 1981 on Factory Records, A Certain Ratio's To Each was their first proper album, following their earlier recordings recently collected on the Graveyard and Ballroom album. For whatever reason, ACR decided to record this album in East Orange, New Jersey and brought resident Factory producer Martin Hannett with them for the session. In most circumstances, their choice of studios wouldn't really matter all that much; however, the band happened to catch ESG performing across the river in New York, took a liking to the band, and invited them to come back to the studio to record with Hannett, resulting in ESG's debut album!
As far ACR's time in the tri-state area goes, To Each showcased their greater push toward experimentation in their morose brand of punked out funk. The band's jagged guitars move further in the background while the rhythm section shares the center stage with Simon Topping's gloomy baritone and untrained trumpet blurts. At times, this album ventures into similar territory as Tones On Tails' skewed pop sensibilities and jet black moodiness; yet, ACR time after time returns to the funk. Strange as it may seem, ACR's debut begins to show their descent into the insipid sounds that dominated their mid to late '80s sound. To Each is certainly not as good as Graveyard and Ballroom, but has lots to write home about. This reissue also features two pretty solid dub tracks that they released back in the day under the pseudonym Sir Horatio.
MPEG Stream: "Felch"
MPEG Stream: "Forced Laugh"
MPEG Stream: "Winter Hill"

A CERTAIN RATIO To Each... (Universal Sound) 2lp 23.00
Originally released back in 1981 on Factory Records, A Certain Ratio's To Each was their first proper album, following their earlier recordings recently collected on the Graveyard and Ballroom album. For whatever reason, ACR decided to record this album in East Orange, New Jersey and brought resident Factory producer Martin Hannett with them for the session. In most circumstances, their choice of studios wouldn't really matter all that much; however, the band happened to catch ESG performing across the river in New York, took a liking to the band, and invited them to come back to the studio to record with Hannett, resulting in ESG's debut album!
As far ACR's time in the tri-state area goes, To Each showcased their greater push toward experimentation in their morose brand of punked out funk. The band's jagged guitars move further in the background while the rhythm section shares the center stage with Simon Topping's gloomy baritone and untrained trumpet blurts. At times, this album ventures into similar territory as Tones On Tails' skewed pop sensibilities and jet black moodiness; yet, ACR time after time returns to the funk. Strange as it may seem, ACR's debut begins to show their descent into the insipid sounds that dominated their mid to late '80s sound. To Each is certainly not as good as Graveyard and Ballroom, but has lots to write home about. This reissue also features two pretty solid dub tracks that they released back in the day under the pseudonym Sir Horatio.
MPEG Stream: "Felch"
MPEG Stream: "Forced Laugh"
MPEG Stream: "Winter Hill"

A FASHIONABLE DISEASE s/t (My Pet Goat) 7" 4.50
Totally ass kicking and weirdly fucked brutality fills this little 7" from Santa Cruz's own, A Fashionable Disease! Another one of those what the fuck, seemingly impossible combinations of influences, synthesized in such a unique and successful way, that makes us kind of scratch our heads and lament that we haven't been turned on sooner. How do you describe this? Maybe filthyfreejazzcrustyfiedsatanicdamagedgrindpunkavantskronk? Or maybe just Crass meets Ayler meets Pig Destroyer meets Sun Ra meets Schoenberg meets Anal Cunt meets Mahavishnu. We don't fucking know, but it rules! Super demented, ultra damaged grind-jazz, complete with horn section! Putrid angular metallic guitar discordance, feculent terrorist manifesto screeched vocals, growling horns, blasting drums. The first cut, "Veal Medallions" starts with a blast of feedback before hurling into a psychotically chromatic guitar and piano line, ending up in a blasting tumult of throat tearing vocals and frenetically crazed drumming! Some of the lyrics from this number kind of sum up what these fellas are about... "skulls converge ruins/ rainbows ejaculate onto your face/ quiet in the piss-stained evening/ spring wind blows perfume of 1,000 rotting carcasses...". Fuck yes. The rest of the 7" is just as killer. Totally fucked and totally great! For fans of Zorn, Bathtub Shitter, Rudimentary Peni, Crass, Coltrane, Dystopia, Cecil Taylor, or anything filthy, proggy, grindy, avant-jazzy, and totally shredding! Recommended!

A GUY CALLED GERALD Blueprint (Blueprint) 2cd 18.98
A straight mixed CD of '70s funk classics from the techno-boffin turned drum 'n' bass innovator A Guy Called Gerald, featuring Funkadelic, Marvin Gaye, James Brown, Bootsy's Rubber Band, Cymande, Slave, War, Phoebe Snow, Barry White, Mtume, Kool & The Gang, and many more. One of the discs is Gerald's mix, the other is an un-mixed selection of some of Gerald's favorite tracks.

A GUY CALLED GERALD Essence (Studio K7) cd 17.98
A drum & bass styled outing for this famed electronica producer-guy (David Bowie!).

A JOURNEY TO HAPPINESS ISLAND s/t (Mutable Press) lp 12.98
A children's album of sorts! As its creators Malcolm Felder, Gabe Boyer and company envisioned it, A Journey... is "not so much a parody of children's music, as in fact an exploration of the style of production that goes into the creation of a children's album." That said, it features characters who go by names such as leading man Mr. Tadpole, narrator/dermatologist (?) Dr. Esophagus, Mr. Chipmunk, Mr. Jeebee and the Sunflower Cabaret. The sounds are playful and quirky. Fun for a wider age group than you might expect!
A side note: If you dig this lp you might wanna check out the cd called The Textbook Tapes which is a tweaked, lo-fi sci-fi concept album created by the same folks.

A KOMBI Music To Drive By (Dual Plover) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
As featured in the latest Bananafish magazine, this Australian artist created this cd using only the sounds made by a Volkswagen.

A LILY Wake:Sleep (Dynamophone) cd 13.98
Ready to get all blissed out? A Lily (aka James Vella) craftily strings together pearly chiming droplet sounds that form lullaby-perfect melodies. Fittingly murmured indistinct vocals provide more of an atmospheric presence than a lyrical one. Along with some stuttery glitch and picked guitar, they drift in and out of the soothing gauzy washes. Wake: Sleep will surely also appeal to fans of Germany's Morr Music label (LaliPuna, Styrofoam, Piano Magic, etc.) as well as the dreamy pop-tronics of Dntel and Album Leaf. Very nice!
This is another of the uncommonly sumptuous array of releases from the young music label Dynamophone. As we mentioned earlier in the review of labelmates Balustrade Ensemble, they've only been around since mid-2006, but already have a bountiful catalog with many more on the way. Particularly if you've been enjoying the recent aquatic drone releases on the Mystery Sea label, you might wish to check out the seemingly likeminded, but more melodically inclined Dynamophone artists. An absolute treasure trove of shimmering and dewy listening delights. Delve in immediately (also see: Balustrade Ensemble, Halou, Po, Pornopop, Disinterested, Curium, and R/R Coseboom)!
MPEG Stream: "I Am To You"
MPEG Stream: "Arms Around Sleep"

A MIGHTY WIND: THE ALBUM (OST) (Sony) cd 17.98
Throughout their beloved mockumentary movies Spinal Tap, Waiting For Guffman, Best In Show and now A Mighty Wind, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and co. have done a smashing job faithfully replicating musical styles right down to the most miniscule detail. You might even say that quite often it puts the 'real' thing to shame. Pssst... if you've yet to see AMW which focuses on three very different fictitious embodiments of folk music - the squaresville upstart New Main Street Singers, veteran trio The Folksmen and beloved duo Mitch & Mickey - what the heck are you waiting for?! Perhaps one of their most astute skills is in knowing when to apply humor (either subtle or over-the-top) and when to play things totally straight. They locate just the right moment to give your funny bone a wallop or tug gently at your heartstrings. The latter is so fully realized in Mitch & Mickey's bittersweet duet "A Kiss At The End Of The Rainbow". Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara's voices ring so clear and true as the former sweethearts. Sigh! It makes our ol' softie Ms Cup get all misty eyed. Of course, this is a must-have for those of you who've seen (and re-seen) the movie and/or the fabulous live production that came to the Warfield recently. Recommended!!!
MPEG Stream: "A Kiss At The End Of The Rainbow"
MPEG Stream: "Never Did No Wanderin'"

A MINOR FOREST Flemish Altruism (Constituent Parts 1993-1996) (Thrill Jockey) cd 13.98
We asked beloved AQ-reader Douglas Mosurak to say a few words about Andee's band's new record:
"October 22, 1996: Bay Area rock trio A Minor Forest stop indie rock dead. Their new double LP on Thrill Jockey is so incredible, and subsequently so complete, that no other records of its kind need to be produced anymore. Lesser bands of their stripe are currently being petitioned to break up immediately to save embarrassment. And while some people will miss, like, June of 44 or the Archers of Loaf for a little while, with the proper exposure to Flemish Altruism, they'll forget all about it. AMF manage to piece together everything good about every post-Big Black and every post-Heroin outfit into a seamless, epic sound; fairly dense, deeply emotional and thoroughly human. They have the sense of humor required to lift it off, too. Some of their songs prefer to hide in the corner; some lunge for your throat. Their style is such that their original ideas fill in with ones borrowed from their rich lineage in such a manner that pays tribute without disrespect. It's a thoroughly engaging sound that I'd rank up there with the Bitch Magnet discography, with the Bastro LPs, with the Gore records, with the cream of the Gravity crop, even with the Shellac album. Best rock record of 1996, and currently outweighing all proposed rock concepts until the close of the millenium. Buy two. Wow."

A MINOR FOREST Flemish Altruism (Constituent Parts 1993-1996) (Thrill Jockey) 2lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We asked beloved AQ-reader Douglas Mosurak to say a few words about Andee's band's new record:
"October 22, 1996: Bay Area rock trio A Minor Forest stop indie rock dead. Their new double LP on Thrill Jockey is so incredible, and subsequently so complete, that no other records of its kind need to be produced anymore. Lesser bands of their stripe are currently being petitioned to break up immediately to save embarrassment. And while some people will miss, like, June of 44 or the Archers of Loaf for a little while, with the proper exposure to Flemish Altruism, they'll forget all about it. AMF manage to piece together everything good about every post-Big Black and every post-Heroin outfit into a seamless, epic sound; fairly dense, deeply emotional and thoroughly human. They have the sense of humor required to lift it off, too. Some of their songs prefer to hide in the corner; some lunge for your throat. Their style is such that their original ideas fill in with ones borrowed from their rich lineage in such a manner that pays tribute without disrespect. It's a thoroughly engaging sound that I'd rank up there with the Bitch Magnet discography, with the Bastro LPs, with the Gore records, with the cream of the Gravity crop, even with the Shellac album. Best rock record of 1996, and currently outweighing all proposed rock concepts until the close of the millenium. Buy two. Wow."

A MINOR FOREST Inindependence (Thrill Jockey) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Simply put, this may be the last bastion of rock on Thrill Jockey, before they devolve into a purely electronic/jazz label. Sure we may be boasting a little, because A Minor Forest is our very own Andee Connors' band. But this truly is a great record of delicate math rock instrumentations executed with violent precision. AMF again spared no expense with the exquisite packaging!

A MINOR FOREST Inindependence (Thrill Jockey) 2lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Simply put, this may be the last bastion of rock on Thrill Jockey, before they devolve into a purely electronic/jazz label. Sure we may be boasting a little, because A Minor Forest is our very own Andee Connors' band. But this truly is a great record of delicate math rock instrumentations executed with violent precision. AMF again spared no expense with the exquisite packaging!

A MINOR FOREST So were they in some sort of fight? (My Pal God) 2cd 15.98
A year or so after the demise of A Minor Forest, comes this, a fairly comprhensive collection of impossible-to-find tracks from 7s, 10s, and compilations, as well as unreleased tracks from way back (2 or 3 from the 1991 demo). Also includes remixes from Loren Chasse (Id Battery), Dave Cerf (sound artist/voice mail terrorist) and Lesser, a bunch of sound experiments, some practice space recordings, a rejected(!) score for a straight-to-video zombie nun movie, a kick ass version of the Little River Band's 'Lady', and more!

A PERFECT CIRCLE Mer de Noms (Virgin) cd 16.98
Almost everyone I know loves Tool. Whether it's a guilty pleasure, never spoken of, or something one listens to in the store all the time tormenting my co workers. Err.. I mean *one's* coworkers...
Anyway Tool managed to barely avoid that whole Korn/Limp Bizket/Rage Against the Machine, by writing truly fucked, totally catchy and totally heavy epics, complete with jaw dropping musical prowess and bizarre Quay Brothers style videos.
That said, this is Tool frontman Maynard's interim project while killing time before the next Tool record. And like you would expect, it sounds a bit like Tool. But a lot of the bombast and pummel is absent, replaced with a meandering gothy moodiness. It's a good record, just not a great one. So if you're tired of waiting for a new Tool record, pick this up and it'll tide you over for a while. If you've never heard Tool, or are a fan or weird heavy music and just always assumed Tool were a bunch of MTV pussies, try Aenima (which we also carry) and I'm pretty sure you'll be blown away.
RealAudio clip: ""

A PERFECT CIRCLE Thirteenth Step (Virgin) cd 16.98

A PERFECT MURDER Rehearsal (Cyclop Media) cd 10.98

A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS s/t (Killer Pimp) cd 13.98
We'd been hearing about this band quite a bit, often touted by reviewers as being "the loudest band in New York", which is all well and good, but that sort of thing generally doesn't translate very well on record. What we can tell you, is that more than any band we've heard in ages, these guys have their My Bloody Valentine, Loop, Spacemen 3, Jesus And Mary Chain chops down pat. But before you get all exasperated as we would be likely to do, we do realize that the bands who actively rip off some or all of those bands couldn't be counted on your fingers even if you had a thousand hands. And most of those bands steal the sound, but then have no idea what to do with it anyway. And most of them don't even get the sound right.
So it's definitely saying a lot, when we can say that, yes, these guys owe EVERYTHING they have to MBV and Jesus And Mary Chain and Loop and Spacemen 3 but still manage to totally rule. And somehow, they manage to make all of this borrowing sound totally fresh and original and exciting, and loud and heavy and like they just might have made our new favorite record.
From the first track these guys have it nailed. Murky, fuzzy, lo-fi, super blown out, with a weird buzzy guitar sound, wrapped around an almost gothy Interpol-ish bassline and keyboard melody, but when the vocals came in we were immediately transported to Psychocandy era Jesus And Mary Chain, the vocals and melodies and even the drums buried beneath clouds of billowing crumbling distortion. The second track is even more in-the-red and distorted, a crashing wave of dissonant guitars, that gives way to some almost Stereolab like Neu!-worship, and some sing songy indie boy vocals, which of course are summarily crushed by the moaning massive bursts of guitar fury and what sounds like bleating horns in the chorus.
"To Fix The Gash In Your Head" begins with sputtering drum machine and is quickly ensconced in thick minor key swells all dramatic and gothy, and the other distinct side of the band is revealed, a sort of super charged extra heavy Depeche Mode, which is in no way a bad thing. But on this track especially, the vocals are super Dave Gahan, with some industrial Skinny Puppy-isms thrown in for good measure, but still the heart of the song is a throbbing synthy new wave. And it sounds amazing!
Later tracks veer from swirling washed out wall of sound dronerock, to murky doom pop, to super eighties John Hughes soundtrack electro-pop, to grungy distorted Grebo, to throbbing Joy Division miserablism, to rocking Swervedrivery shoegaze, to shimmering glimmering M83 blisspop, but always liberally doused with waterfalls of coruscating white light guitars, sheets of roiling feedback, massive walls of buzz and hiss. Noisy and chaotic and furious and epic but always with a heart of pure pop and a halo of washed out guitar shimmer. So great.
MPEG Stream: "Missing You"
MPEG Stream: "Don't Think Lover"
MPEG Stream: "To Fix The Gash In Your Head"
MPEG Stream: "The Falling Sun"

A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS s/t (Important) lp 14.98
Now on vinyl!
We'd been hearing about this band quite a bit, often touted by reviewers as being "the loudest band in New York", which is all well and good, but that sort of thing generally doesn't translate very well on record. What we can tell you, is that more than any band we've heard in ages, these guys have their My Bloody Valentine, Loop, Spacemen 3, Jesus And Mary Chain chops down pat. But before you get all exasperated as we would be likely to do, we do realize that the bands who actively rip off some or all of those bands couldn't be counted on your fingers even if you had a thousand hands. And most of those bands steal the sound, but then have no idea what to do with it anyway. And most of them don't even get the sound right.
So it's definitely saying a lot, when we can say that, yes, these guys owe EVERYTHING they have to MBV and Jesus And Mary Chain and Loop and Spacemen 3 but still manage to totally rule. And somehow, they manage to make all of this borrowing sound totally fresh and original and exciting, and loud and heavy and like they just might have made our new favorite record.
From the first track these guys have it nailed. Murky, fuzzy, lo-fi, super blown out, with a weird buzzy guitar sound, wrapped around an almost gothy Interpol-ish bassline and keyboard melody, but when the vocals came in we were immediately transported to Psychocandy era Jesus And Mary Chain, the vocals and melodies and even the drums buried beneath clouds of billowing crumbling distortion. The second track is even more in-the-red and distorted, a crashing wave of dissonant guitars, that gives way to some almost Stereolab like Neu!-worship, and some sing songy indie boy vocals, which of course are summarily crushed by the moaning massive bursts of guitar fury and what sounds like bleating horns in the chorus.
"To Fix The Gash In Your Head" begins with sputtering drum machine and is quickly ensconced in thick minor key swells all dramatic and gothy, and the other distinct side of the band is revealed, a sort of super charged extra heavy Depeche Mode, which is in no way a bad thing. But on this track especially, the vocals are super Dave Gahan, with some industrial Skinny Puppy-isms thrown in for good measure, but still the heart of the song is a throbbing synthy new wave. And it sounds amazing!
Later tracks veer from swirling washed out wall of sound dronerock, to murky doom pop, to super eighties John Hughes soundtrack electro-pop, to grungy distorted Grebo, to throbbing Joy Division miserablism, to rocking Swervedrivery shoegaze, to shimmering glimmering M83 blisspop, but always liberally doused with waterfalls of coruscating white light guitars, sheets of roiling feedback, massive walls of buzz and hiss. Noisy and chaotic and furious and epic but always with a heart of pure pop and a halo of washed out guitar shimmer. So great.
MPEG Stream: "Missing You"
MPEG Stream: "Don't Think Lover"
MPEG Stream: "To Fix The Gash In Your Head"
MPEG Stream: "The Falling Sun"

A QUI AVEC GABRIEL Utsuho (Tzadik) cd 16.98
a qui avec Gabriel is a young female Japanese accordion player with a strange name, who presents her debut recording on John Zorn's Tzadik label. Her playing will remind some of accordionist Theodoro Anzellotti's beautiful interpretations of Erik Satie themes, while on some tracks she's joined by a full band in rock/exotica mode (clarinet, piano, violin, drums). It's a really strange but quite lovely album, made even stranger also by the presence of guest guitarist/vocalist Keiji Haino! (The dark prince of Tokyo psych-improv-rock, y'know.) On top of that, "Utsuho" is a concept-album apparently about the journey of a soul through night-dawn-day-dusk, meeting strange weather and little cats along the way.
RealAudio clip: "Takehaya-Sayat (a blue black storm or a poet)"
RealAudio clip: "Shikku (hard to fade away)"
RealAudio clip: "Hikari No Shizuku"

A SCANNER DARKLY s/t (Gilead Media) cd ep 10.98
This Philip K. Dick obsessed band's debut offers six tracks of heavy, raging, artful metalcore. Named after one of PKD's paranoid sci-fi novels (soon to be a major motion picture directed by Richard Linklater!) these guys specialize in unleashed terror in the form of low-end dirge, screaming vocals and guitars, and battering drums. It's kinda like a post-rock band that's REALLY REALLY UPSET about something, combining the atmosphere of an imaginary, scary sci-fi soundtrack ('specially on the mostly ambient track six) with loud, fast, crushing 'core. For fans of Coalesce, Neurosis, Old Man Gloom, Discordance Axis, Isis, Knut and the whole Hydra Head scene.
MPEG Stream: "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?"
MPEG Stream: "Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said"

A TASTE OF RA Morning Of My Life (Hapna) cd 16.98
What a way to start your day... Morning Of My Life begins with what resembles a tuning session for the woodwind section of a pit orchestra. Long, drawn out high pitched whines drill themselves deep into your cranium. Egads. Fortunately they stop, giving way to pleasingly gentle strokes of an acoustic guitar and bows slipping across violin strings. Aaah, so nice! But then it tumbles abruptly into main man Nicolai Dunger's over-emotive vocals (think: a cross between Boz Scaggs and Joe Cocker) and strange jazzy ramblings. This cd's lone 42-minute track is uneven and joltingly varied for sure, but when Dunger's takes a lighter touch, the results are all too fleeting lovely moments of absolute bliss. Definitely a head-scratcher, but not in the dreamily wonderful odd way he's done in the past. We'd recommend maybe treating yourself to his two previous self-titled releases, before venturing this-a-way. This Taste of Ra is an acquired one.
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 1"
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 2"

A TASTE OF RA s/t (Hapna) cd 16.98
Also known as... Swedish soft folksy popster Nicolai Dunger! We were initially surprised to find him on the Hapna label, but after hearing just a couple of songs we see it's a perfect fit. His music under the alias A Taste Of Ra is far less conventionally structured than his (recently reissued domestically) 1999 solo album This Cloud Is Learning, and more slowly unravelling and hallucinatory. You might say, he's offering a Swedish take on the soulful bluesy avant-folk of contemporaries such as Devendra Banhart and Animal Collective. Yes, comparisons will undoubtedly be drawn, but Dunger possesses a more soft-spoken thoughtful delivery. Actually this album plays smoothly right into the new Vetiver EP which flows nicely right into the new Jim White soundtrack album (which is how Cup listened to those three new releases here today). Almost like a waking dream.
MPEG Stream: "Final Embrace"
MPEG Stream: "Ride Your Smile"

A TASTE OF RA s/t (II) (Hapna) cd 16.98
Whereas under his given name Nicolai Dunger makes gentle music that invariably adheres to a linear traditional pop song structure, under the moniker A Taste Of Ra he roams freely in a slightly odd, aberrant nature. This is the second installment in his A Taste Of Ra self-titled trilogy. As he meanders the pastoral landscape, he puts the squeeze on what sounds like an old accordion, slides a bow drowsily across a few strings, picks a smattering of guitar strings and sings non-verbal ribbons of la-di-da-di's and Jandek-ish moaning utterances. Neo-folk melodic passages materialize unexpectedly, and no sooner have they become apparent than they dissipate. A slowly unravelling cryptic calm. For fans of Jandek, Wooden Wand And The Vanishing Voice and Skygreen Leopards.
MPEG Stream: "Flowers, Bats And Boats"
MPEG Stream: "The Fox And The Frog"

A TORTURED SOUL Kiss Of The Thorn (Eyes Like Snow / Northern Silence) cd 11.98
A change of pace from the usual black metal grimnity we expect from the Northern Silence label (who have brought us the likes of Angmar, Alcest, Amesoeurs, Stielas Storhett, Necrofrost...) comes from Milwaukee metallers A Tortured Soul (not to be confused with another metal band called This Tortured Soul fyi). In truth, they're on a Northern Silence sub-label called Eyes Like Snow, and actually ARE pretty grim. But not in a black metal way, unless you count Mercyful Fate/King Diamond as black metal (which they were definitely considered, back in the day, due to KD's LaVeyan Satanic philosophies). This is '80s styled epic power metal, with soaring-with-the-eagles, then-tearing-them-to-shreds singing that reminds us at times of Judas Priest's Rob Halford -- or even ol' Ozzy Osbourne -- especially on this album's best track, "Not Tonight"...
Vocalist Black (that's his name) has a high falsetto attack that mixes it up with more growly-man discourse. Likewise, A Tortured Soul's music ranges from moody n' melodic to ball-crushingly heavy, from doomy plod to speedy chug, doing their damnedest to deliver on their negative, depressive moniker. For fans of KD's outfits, also Justice-era Metallica, Nevermore/Sanctuary, '90s Judas Priest, Iced Earth, maybe even Shadows Fall. All despite the looks of their very black metal seeming band logo/symbol!
MPEG Stream: "Tomorrow's Door"
MPEG Stream: "Not Tonight"

A TRIP DOWN MARKET STREET 1905 / 2005 (MX Entertainment) dvd 18.98
A San Francisco treat! Market Street is one of SF's most renowned main thoroughfares. Over a hundred years ago a gent named Jack Kuttner made a film about it appropriately titled A Trip Down Market Street. The rare pre-1906 earthquake film is a mesmerizing black and white silent cinema procession of horse and buggy carriages, automobiles, cable cars and pedestrians -- all captured through the unblinking eye of a stationary camera placed on the front of a cable car heading north on Market. A hundred years later two filmmakers Melinda Stone and Sprague Anderson made a new film which shares not only the name, but also the approach and spirit of the original. We have to say that one of the stars of this color re-creation are SF's wonderful vintage streetcars which have been acquired in recent years from cities around the world. They're always a treat to see and to ride. This dvd was produced by San Francisco's Exploratorium, and commemorates the centennial of the former, documenting the outdoor celebration and screening which took place on September 24th 2005 and compiles both of the films along with a whole lot of other Market Street inspired and related historic and newly commissioned filmworks and photographs. Although the original 1905 film was silent, both films were scored beautifully for this dvd by Beth Custer. A wonderful document!

A WILD MAN BRANDISHING AN UPROOTED TREE s/t (Supermegacorporation) cd 8.98
Geoff Soule from Fuck's solo cd is varied and subdued. Very mellowwwwwww. If you are sad that Fuck is now defunct, then here is a chance to enjoy the similar quality and charm in a whole new guise.
RealAudio clip: "Punk"
RealAudio clip: "Monkey"
RealAudio clip: "Vegas"

A, DOMINIQUE Auguri (Lithium) cd 18.98
Monsieur Dominique A est un chanteur francais fantastique et nous aimons beaucoup la musique qu'il fait. How's that? Seriously Dominique A has a beautiful, distinct voice and on Auguri it is positively enveloping. His Remue album left many breathless and his others have pretty much the same effect.

A, DOMINIQUE Remue (Lithium) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Still more awesome French pop from the Lithium label. Dark, shambling minor key laments with spoken/sung French vocals. Shimmering guitars, muted trumpets and skittering drums. (We also have three of his other records, all of them great.)

A-TRAK Enter Ralph Wiggum (Stones Throw) 7" 3.99
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The newest member of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz releases on 7" on Peanut Butter Wolf's local label.

A-TRAK Oh No You Didn't (Disque Primeur) cd 15.98

A.B.G.S. Erdlager (CoC) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is a reissue A.B.G.S.'s early '90s album "Erdlager." Utilizing only junked objects (i.e. steel plates, oil barrels, plastic containers) and recording only in abandoned warehouses, A.B.G.S. fits in with post-industrial niche of German guys banging on metal. Perhaps the result of Thomas Koner's post-production work, these recordings are much more subtle than that of the big egos in Einsturzende Neubauten, Test Dept, and Crash Worship. A.B.G.S. has since disbanded with some of its members forming the haunting drone ensemble Multer. Released on the label run by a fellow from Cranioclast.

A.LORDS, THE s/t (Barl Fire) 3" cd-r 6.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
UK cd-r label Barl Fire have yet to steer us wrong (after releases from James Blackshaw, Rameses III, Robert Horton, The North Sea and more), and it looks like this A.Lords disc will keep their winning streak going strong.
The A.Lords are a mysterious duo from the UK who paint pastoral soundscapes, using church organ, electric organ, piano, toy piano, balalaika, banjo, e-bow, dulcimer, acoustic guitar, bells, glockenspiel, clarinet and recorder. So lovely and lilting. Definitely evokes grassy fields, blue skies and cool breezes....
Simple fingerpicked acoustic guitars, field recordings of burbling streams and chirping birds, warm organ swells, and shimmering sweet ambience, ol' timey melodies, softly cinematic melancholia, sun dappled chimes and whirs all captured in a soft focus soundscape of later afternoon sun and endless summers. So nice.
LIMITED TO 100 COPIES. Already sold out at the label. We got a whole bunch but you can bet they'll fly out of here. Packaged in a mini 3" full color cover, housed in a thick plastic sleeve with a printed insert.
MPEG Stream: "The Dawn Chorus"
MPEG Stream: "Summerhouse"

A.M. Orla (Ikuisuus) cd 15.98
This has been floating around here a while, listening to it now, it's hard to understand what's taken us so long. It's so goddamn good! Could be the fact that there always seems to be about a million amazing things to try and review and not enough hours in the day, but so what, we're listing it now, and as much as we love pretty much everything Antony Milton does, this might just be one of his best.  
We've said it before, we'll say it again, there's just something divine about the drone. Something completely immersive and spiritual, for some of us, it's as close as sounds can come to becoming physical entities, something not just to listen to, but tangible, touchable, sounds to climb into, to wrap around yourself, to let envelop you, to get lost in. This record is a series of drawn out drones, all sourced from the sounds of a reed organ (with some random background noise, cars and rain, mixed in) and are completely mesmerizing. 
The opener alone makes this essential. Six minutes of Niblockian drift, none of that reedy bullshit, this is one huge, lush, layered swirl of sound, the various overtones pulsing and throbbing, creating all sorts of subtle rhythms and not-really-there melodies, soaring and dense, a sound so intense and warm you could almost dive in, float weightless amidst the many layers of sound, another one of those songs we talk about that could, and SHOULD, go on forever and ever...
The rest of the disc is just as dreamily drone-y, the sounds of the organ deftly shaped into varied soundscapes, rumbling murky expanses of throb and rumble, that build and build, getting more and more distorted and distressed, until we're almost in SUNNO))) territory, but much more subtle and intimate, not a pummeling as much as a delicate drift, long stretches of industrial whir, jagged shards of upper register sound are muted and chopped into mysterious super subtle rhythms, the timbre of the drone constantly shifting, from slow and low, to warm and rich to washed out and glistening, always with swirls of subtle sonic activity just below the surface. The nearly 13 minute "Some Dreams Must" is the only track that abandons the low end, for a sparkling sky full of upper register streaks, smears of feedback, all becoming more and more intense gradually becoming a beautiful Sunroof!-like cacophony. The record finishes off with a long, lazy, languorous bit of spaced out dreaminess, as much about the whir of the organ's motor as the subtle melodies and drifting firefly like harmonics floating amidst the fragile tendrils of soft sound...
MPEG Stream: "As The Rain Comes Down"
MPEG Stream: "Sky Voltage (Reeds)"

A.M.P. STUDIO Alien Registration Office (Ochre) cd 17.98
The A.M.P. Studio recordings are the solo work of Richard from Amp. Outside of the delicate drone-rock of Amp, Richard experiments with drum & bass breaks, swooping psych/space rock electronics, egyptian horns, and vaguely darkwave electronica. Still pretty dreamy stuff.

A.M.P. STUDIO Unconscious Country (Fourth Dimension) cd 16.98
The second solo album from Richard Walker of Amp features two lengthy tracks of atmospheric space-rock that venture into hazy electronic noodling with metronomic downtempo techno pulses and Roy Montgomery like improv-guitar solos.

A.R. & MACHINES Echoes From Times Of The Green Journey (Polydor) cd 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
An anthology of the hypnotic output of this krautrock/electronica pioneer, taken from albums spanning the years 1971 to 1975. Beautiful, rhythmic stuff, way ahead of its time. For fans of Frippertronics, Cluster, Neu, Kraftwerk, Can, and (more recently) Kriedler. Not new, but we just got a few of this fantastic disc at a bargain price, so we thought we'd list it, get it while you can. We've had it before for 19 bucks and it was worth it at that price too!

A.R.E. WEAPONS Street Gang (Rough Trade) cd ep 6.98
Can you say "Suicide"? The band, that is. No, this isn't a new Suicide project, but everything -- from the music to the back cover basically says "Alan Vega, I so want to be you." From the same uber-hyped NYC scene that produced the Mouldy Peaches and The Strokes.

AALIYAH s/t (Blackground) cd 17.98
Where is the "hit" on this record? It seems to be all filler, despite Timbaland's production work on several tracks and also one written by Misy Elliot. Just really generic slow jams laced with Aaliyah's pretty voice (multitracked and tweaked within an inch of its life.) Hm.

AAN Ajaton Vie (Pseudo Arcana) cd-r 15.98
Anyone familiar with the name Aan? Well howabout Uton? Right, Uton, one of our favorite Finnish exports (among many!), and one of the least prolific, who somehow survive without releasing a cd-r every two weeks. In fact a new Uton record is a cause to celebrate around here. So we were equally excited to discover this latest release from Uton Satellite Aan, who take Uton's already blissed out tribal drift, and spaces it out even more, turning it into some gorgeous cloud of foresty drone, a gentle assemblage of various vibrating strings, and simple muffled percussion, fragmented melodies, fluttering birdlike trills, bits of acoustic guitar, bleating horns, distant droning swells, all tenuously held together, the various parts allowed to drift off, and then later resurface from amidst a cloud of glistening distant siren like wails.
Another band that definitely sounds like they're channeling legendary Japanese drone collective Taj Mahal Travellers, and one of the few who seem like they understand the spirit behind that sort of soundmaking. Music as an organic entity. As a spirit, that can not be captured, only guided. The members of Aan are shamen, coaxing the spirits from their instruments, then shaping them, guiding them, arranging them into dark dronelike shapes, capturing their essence on tape, and then letting the sounds drift apart and return to whence they came. So lovely. Another fantastic chunk of dreamy meditative forest bliss.
Beautifully packaged too, and oversized full color booklet, filled with striking tripped out black and white images, the cd housed in a pouch affixed to the inside back cover.
MPEG Stream: "One"
MPEG Stream: "Two"

AAN Salamaa (Ikuisuus) cd-r 15.98
Strange atmospheric forest folk from Finland from the dup of Uton and Kulkija, their first meeting back in 2004 and it is a divine noise indeed!

AAVIKKO Back From The Futer (Muysic For Peoples) cd 14.98
Wow! A new Aavikko full length! This just might be the year of the Aavikko. When we first slapped this aluminum disc on our system we must admit we were a little taken aback: Hi-Fi Aavikko? Could it be? For so long these Casio-crazy Finns have championed the most primitive of production aesthetics with a sound only once removed from a ring tone. But here they were in crystal clarity and using the entire spectrum of the audible sound range. Did they get a sponsorship with some big keyboard company? Sources close to Aavikko are keeping tight-lipped about the group's new cache of keyboard equipment. Okay, let's put this in perspective before we go any further: a "hi-fi" Aavikko is still "lo-fi" by most standards, so don't expect any enormous shifts in the Aavikko sound. Bigger than their production changes is perhaps their new-found love of exotica and classic space-age bachelor pad music as a launching pad for their new compositions. Andee pointed out that a lot of the tunes on Back From The Futur sound like a lo-fi Tipsy. Their retro-futurist vision also smacks mightily of Kraftwerk (vocoder makes its way into a couple songs as well), Gershon Kingsley with bubbling and arpeggiating synth lines, catchy melodies and upbeat tempos, and maybe even the soundtracks for Roger Corman sci-fi flicks. We love it!
MPEG Stream: "Una Lira Soluziona"
MPEG Stream: "Erotica"