BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE Gore Motel (Epistrophy) cd 16.98
And, along with the long-awaited "Midnight Radio", we've also managed to import some copies of another Bohren & Der Club of Gore disc, their debut from 1994. Just like their other two albums, it's instrumental soundtracky stuff: dark, stark, slow-moving, and lovely. For those who crave comparisons, this is like a super-dirgey version of Scenic. Music for a dark-night campfire out on the plains of Mordor. Slow and beautiful, relying heavily on the ultra-heavy subsonics of the bass and the eerie wavering tones of the organ. Instead of the more appropriate late-night urban photography found on their two other albums, Bohren puzzles us with their packaging of this (Bruce Lee on the cover? A logo that incorporates an upsidedown cross and the number of the beast?). Are they being serious? Well, the music certainly sounds serious. Very atmospheric and evocative, indeed chilling. Get "Midnight Radio" first, then this and their newer disc "Sunset Mission".
MPEG Stream: "Sabbat Schwarzer Highway"
MPEG Stream: "Die Fulci Nummer"

BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE Gore Motel (Epistrophy) 2lp 39.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is nice. For all you Bohren Und Der Club Of Gore fans (or at least 19 of you, as that's how many of these we were able to get), we've got a deluxe vinyl pressing, the first time ever on LP for this, the debut album from the AQ fave German instrumental dirge-jazz group. The import price is helped out by the fact that this comes in a black box with "BOHREN" stamped in silver on the lid, and within the box you not only will find two slabs of vinyl weighted down with their magnificent music, but also tucked in with those there's sundry printed ephemera of apparent Bohren-related interest (b&w art and text, mainly in German). The Gore Motel album was first released on cd back in 1994. When we discovered Borhen a few years after that and got their discs for the store, we wrote the following about this album: "...dark, stark, slow-moving, and lovely. For those who crave comparisons, this is like a super-dirgey version of Scenic. Music for a dark-night campfire out on the plains of Mordor. Slow and beautiful, relying heavily on the ultra-heavy subsonics of the bass and the eerie wavering tones of the organ...Very atmospheric and evocative, indeed chilling."
Of course, this is a very limited, numbered pressing (300 copies!) and, to repeat, we only received a handful. First come, first served on this one.
MPEG Stream: "Sabbat Schwarzer Highway"
MPEG Stream: "Die Fulci Nummer"

BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE Midnight Radio (Epistrophy) 2cd 24.00
Here's an old favorite -- a former AQ Record Of The Week in fact -- that we've been unable to get for a long time now, until just this week that is. So we thought we'd better relist it, especially since when we relisted the Ipecac reissue of Bohren's most recent album Black Earth we sold a whole bunch of copies to folks who'd missed it the first time, and this one is perhaps even more essential not to miss! So here's a portion of our review from the first time we had this:
At last, we've managed to import some copies of this fantastic 1995 album by this mysterious German instrumental band! I (Allan) discovered them via a friend in Germany (an AQ-customer who, like many others, has been so kind as to turn *us* on to stuff: it's a two-way street). I was visiting for the 1999 total solar eclipse (well, among other things; I was also in the land of schnitzel for a metal festival...) and heard a tape of this sprawling double cd set in the context of a late night, post-eclipse, wine-drinking get-together. But when I finally got a hold of the actual album some weeks later (we couldn't even find one in the local record stores, my friend had to special order it and send a copy to me in the States), I was happy to discover that it wasn't merely my memories of the wondrous eclipse that had imbued Midnight Radio with such a gorgeous sense of darkness and dread, but that it really was an amazing album!
After Midnight Radio, Bohren released Sunset Mission (later followed by Black Earth). If the now out of print Sunset Mission album was the ultimate noir-jazz soundtrack to a hypothetical first person shooter video game set in afterdark Berlin, then this aptly-titled previous double cd set, (sans saxophone, an addition to the Sunset lineup) is the perfect accompaniment to a late night autobahn death ride, cruise control on, cigarettes burning. There's even a moment, two hours or so into it, when sun starts to come up over the horizon (you'll hear what we mean when you get to the end of the second disc).
Now, we're always talking about "hypnotic" music here at AQ, but this is music for when you're *already* hypnotized, slumped near bed at home or cruising down that infinite highway at 3am, aware of only your own thoughts and the darkness all around made even more black by your headlights. (Maybe this is what some of those unexplicable people who I saw driving around during the eclipse were listening to...for two very long minutes anyway.) Heavy, heavy bass notes, glacially deployed, crushingly beautiful slow-motion guitar and dark, liquid pools of piano, with a narcotized drummer who must be passing in and out of consciousness to occasionally brush his snare and hi-hat. Midnight Radio enters into the tiny pantheon of somehow similarly intended doomy double cd sets beloved of AQ (Esoteric's Pernicious Enigma and Epistomological Despondency, Corrupted's Llenandose de Gusanos). Of course, Bohren is not at all metallic like those two outfits, but is knowing of the same gloombliss. Slow and low, and highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "3"
MPEG Stream: "5"

BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE Sunset Mission (Wonder) cd 16.98
BACK IN STOCK! The second repressing of this AQ fave... here's what we said last time it came back into print...
After being out of print for almost FIVE years, Bohren's third album Sunset Mission finally gets re-released this time in a spiffy digipak!
Back when we first listed this (the first Bohren we'd managed to get a hold of for the store), this is what we said: Allan discovered Bohren on a trip to Germany in 1999, with their '95 double-cd Midnight Radio, an amazing extended late-night autobahn driving soundscape, slow, low, instrumental "lounge" music, utterly perfect for a mesmerizing midnight listen. Sunset Mission, their third album, was originally released in 2000 and is similar to Midnight Radio, more overtly "jazzy" perhaps, with the addition of smokey tenor saxophone to their piano/drums/bass lineup. Their original US distributor (electronica/techno label Studio K-7) labeled this ambient, but that's far from the mark. From the song titles ("Prowler", "On Demon Wings", "Black City Skyline", "Darkstalker") to the packaging (photos of nighttime Berlin and dangerous weaponry) to the music (a downtempo film noir soundtrack like the slowest, dirgiest Melvins played by Morphine, darker than Photek, moody and gorgeous) this is the nightmare "ambience" of a nowhere jazz-lounge you'll never leave alive.
By now, Bohren & Der Club Of Gore are a firm AQ favorite, with their recent album Geisterfaust sure to show up in a lot our our customers' year 2005 top-ten lists. Meanwhile Bohren's Black Earth, Gore Motel and Midnight Radio have always been steady sellers, so it's nice to have Sunset Mission back in the racks as well! Of the Bohren discography, Sunset Mission seems to be the jazziest (if indeed it's appropriate to use that term), definitely with the most sax of any of 'em, perhaps coming closest to its follow-up Black Earth in sound.
MPEG Stream: "Prowler"
MPEG Stream: "On Demon Wings"

BOLA Fyuti (Skam) cd 16.98
Boards of Canada fans take note! Outside of solipsistic IDM circles, Bola has, for the most part, been forgotten due to the overwhelming popularity of Boards Of Canada -- an electronica duo just as good as a Bola who got the fortunate break of landing on the Matador label in the US. Yet, both of these projects have the same humble beginnings on Manchester's legendary Skam Records (often mistakenly identified as Autechre's label, which it's not, although Autechre has strong ties to the label), and both projects share a very similar aesthetic of minor-key futurism implanted onto a framework of spectral breakbeat fragmentation. Lush, emotional, and amazing. Bola may be a bit darker and a bit more abstract in comparison to the pleasant melancholia of Boards of Canada, but I'd hazard the guess that if Bola (and not Boards of Canada) had landed that Matador deal, they'd be just as popular (and I would be wondering why Boards Of Canada weren't). I hope you get what I'm saying: if you have any interest in the more poetic and occasionally morose forms of electronica (also see Aphex, Gas, Kit Clayton, etc.), you should definitely get this album! This is rapidly becoming a unanimous staff favorite.
Also, a word about the cover art -- it's so beautiful that several of the AQ-staff bought it on vinyl just cos it's so gorgeous. Since the designer is not credited, we'll just assume it's the Bola folks who put together these incredibly detailed, full color illustrations of fantastical insect-like creatures that have been created by careful collaging of imagery seemingly lifted from under the sea or inside the body. Just great looking!
We will soon have two versions of this album on vinyl -- both are nice gatefolds holding two lps. The cheaper one is black vinyl, the $24 one features two gorgeous pictures discs. You may reserve copies.
RealAudio clip: "Veronyx Cypher"
RealAudio clip: "O, Chuma"
RealAudio clip: "Horizophon"

BOLA Fyuti (Skam) 2lp 24.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Boards of Canada fans take note! Outside of solipsistic IDM circles, Bola has, for the most part, been forgotten due to the overwhelming popularity of Boards Of Canada -- an electronica duo just as good as a Bola who got the fortunate break of landing on the Matador label in the US. Yet, both of these projects have the same humble beginnings on Manchester's legendary Skam Records (often mistakenly identified as Autechre's label, which it's not, although Autechre has strong ties to the label), and both projects share a very similar aesthetic of minor-key futurism implanted onto a framework of spectral breakbeat fragmentation. Lush, emotional, and amazing. Bola may be a bit darker and a bit more abstract in comparison to the pleasant melancholia of Boards of Canada, but I'd hazard the guess that if Bola (and not Boards of Canada) had landed that Matador deal, they'd be just as popular (and I would be wondering why Boards Of Canada weren't). I hope you get what I'm saying: if you have any interest in the more poetic and occasionally morose forms of electronica (also see Aphex, Gas, Kit Clayton, etc.), you should definitely get this album! This is rapidly becoming a unanimous staff favorite.
Also, a word about the cover art -- it's so beautiful that several of the AQ-staff bought it on vinyl just cos it's so gorgeous. Since the designer is not credited, we'll just assume it's the Bola folks who put together these incredibly detailed, full color illustrations of fantastical insect-like creatures that have been created by careful collaging of imagery seemingly lifted from under the sea or inside the body. Just great looking!

BOLA Gnayse (Skam) cd 15.98
With Autechre abandoning the tropes of the Intelligent Dance Music genre they helped originate back in the early '90s and Aphex Twin currently in hibernation, there are few options in the current IDM community for new and exciting discoveries. While not new per se, Darrel Fitton's Bola project has been a staple of the Skam label, and has consistently provided almost all of those choice IDM moments as of late. With a preternatural gift for somber lullaby melodies and an unwavering appetite for skittering broken breakbeats, Fitton encapsulates everything good about the IDM electronica sub-genre. Bola's third album Gnayse follows the pun-as-title trend found on all of his records, as when you compress his name with the title, you get something that sounds close to bolognese. This follows Bola Soup (Bowl o' Soup), Bola Mauver (Bowl 'em Over), and Bola Fyuti (which according to a Bola fansite is footie-baller). Yeah, its stupid; but the music more than makes up for the silly titles. Darker and more melodramatic than Boards of Canada, Gnayse meshes complex yet mid-tempo polyrhythmic skittering beats with vast minor chord seascapes and compelling synth melodies. Certainly as good as its excellent predecessor Fyuti.
MPEG Stream: "Vhieneray"
MPEG Stream: "Eluus"
MPEG Stream: "Pfane Pt1"

BOLA Gnayse (Skam) 2lp 17.98
With Autechre abandoning the tropes of the Intelligent Dance Music genre they helped originate back in the early '90s and Aphex Twin currently in hibernation, there are few options in the current IDM community for new and exciting discoveries. While not new per se, Darrel Fitton's Bola project has been a staple of the Skam label, and has consistently provided almost all of those choice IDM moments as of late. With a preternatural gift for somber lullaby melodies and an unwavering appetite for skittering broken breakbeats, Fitton encapsulates everything good about the IDM electronica sub-genre. Bola's third album Gnayse follows the pun-as-title trend found on all of his records, as when you compress his name with the title, you get something that sounds close to bolognese. This follows Bola Soup (Bowl o' Soup), Bola Mauver (Bowl 'em Over), and Bola Fyuti (which according to a Bola fansite is footie-baller). Yeah, its stupid; but the music more than makes up for the silly titles. Darker and more melodramatic than Boards of Canada, Gnayse meshes complex yet mid-tempo polyrhythmic skittering beats with vast minor chord seascapes and compelling synth melodies. Certainly as good as its excellent predecessor Fyuti.
MPEG Stream: "Vhieneray"
MPEG Stream: "Eluus"
MPEG Stream: "Pfane Pt1"

BOLA Kroungrine (Skald) cd 15.98
Three years have passed since we have last heard from Daryl Fitton and his Bola project. It seems that many of his contemporaries in the IDM community have also been enjoying lengthy sabbaticals. Boards Of Canada and Autechre have both been laying low for the last couple years, and Aphex Twin has kept a low profile too, well at least as Aphex Twin. Needless to say, after a hiatus as long as three years we could surely expect some noticable changes to the seemingly stalwart Bola sound; and yes, the dark veneers of jetblack melodies, spiralling electronic algorithims, and midtempo breakbeats do lighten up considerably. Fitton has always stated that his origins stand as a jazz drummer; and perhaps more than any of the other records do those jazz sensibilities express themselves here. The electronica grooves of Kroungrine have a jaunty spring to their collective step, and the mood is much more playful than before. A very nice listen through and through.
MPEG Stream: "Zoft Broiled Ed"
MPEG Stream: "Waknuts"

BOLA Soup (Skam) cd 16.98
After a long absence, finally repressed!!! Here's what we said when this was first released: After a brilliant single and a fantastic contribution to the "Mask 100" compilation, Bola has released his debut album. Fitting right along side fellow Skam residents Gescom (aka Autechre) and Boards of Canada, Bola offers an unmistakable ambiance of freefloating synths and delicate breakbeats while retaining an alian sensibility to rhythm, form, and development. The end result has been qualified as "chill-out music for the non-emotionally handicapped."
MPEG Stream: "Glink"
MPEG Stream: "Versivo"

BOLA Soup (Skam) 2lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
After a long absence, finally repressed!!! Here's what we said when this was first released: After a brilliant single and a fantastic contribution to the "Mask 100" compilation, Bola has released his debut album. Fitting right along side fellow Skam residents Gescom (aka Autechre) and Boards of Canada, Bola offers an unmistakable ambiance of freefloating synths and delicate breakbeats while retaining an alian sensibility to rhythm, form, and development. The end result has been qualified as "chill-out music for the non-emotionally handicapped."

BOLDER DAMN Mourning cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We just got a few copies of this kinda-hard-to-find cd reissue of a much harder to find (only 200 copies pressed!) 1972 lp by a hard rock band from Florida who are kinda legendary for their song "Dead Meat", a over-15-minute opus of proto-doom metal, which appears here as the album closer. Combining sub-Cooper schlock horror stage theatrics and sub-Sabbath riffage, "Dead Meat" was Bolder (sic) Damn's very own dumb-rock "Black To Comm" (that's a reference to the MC5's infamous lengthy live show-closer, although "Dead Meat" isn't as intentionally avant-garde of course). Pretty cool, if not the holy grail that it's advertised as (also, a la "Black To Comm")! The rest of the album preceding "Dead Meat" is decent heavy rockin' stuff that today would be considered "stoner rock". Echoes of the James Gang, MC5 and, uh, Frijid Pink? The band broke up not long after this LP was recorded, thanks to the draft, giving "Mourning" kind of a lost classic status -- although we're not saying it really *is* a classic, just something for connoisseurs of obscure '70s hard/boogie rock (you know who you are). Only a few cds in stock, not likely to be back again...
RealAudio clip: "Got That Feeling"
RealAudio clip: "Dead Meat"

BOLLANI, STEFANO Piano Solo (ECM) cd 22.00
Bbbb-oo-rrr-ing.

BOMB 20 Field Manual (DHR) cd 12.98
Oh my god! This label continues to astound. These kids forsake the dancefloor entirely by creating insane, broken grooves, barely audible beneath the distortion, shredded by sound collages and spoken samples. More likely to make you bang your head than shake your ass. Domesitc version of the full length by one of Digital Hardcore's most intense (and youngest) groups...

BOMB 20 Field Manual (DHR) lp 18.98
Oh my god! This label continues to astound. These kids forsake the dancefloor entirely by creating insane, broken grooves, barely audible beneath the distortion, shredded by sound collages and spoken samples. More likely to make you bang your head than shake your ass.

BOMBSHELTER DJ'S EMILE & RADAR Sub-Sonic Skratch Experiment (Swell) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Arizona DJs Emile & Radar (who along with Z-Trip make up the Bombshelter crew) take their turntable wizardy to the deep realms of dark drum 'n' bass anthems, cutting tracks from Decoder, Dylan, Jonny L, Ganja Kru, as well as a super dark track from Radar.

BONARELLI, CLAUDIA Everything Happens Only a Certain Number of Times (Mitek) cd 14.98
It's such a formula. I'm finding it hard not to scoff. [1] ALBUM COVER: blurry photo of wall, stairwell or Eames chair (graphic designer friend happens to have a pair in living room). [2] MUSIC: endlessly repeating rhythms resembling depressed heartbeat, overlay arty record crackle. [3] INNER SLEEVE: not there to convey information; must be totally blank except for more blurry photos of horizons and shit. [4] LABEL: must be German or Austrian; if you release it on an American electronica label no one will pay attention to you. Et voila. Electronica-by-numbers.
RealAudio clip: "Commune"

BOND, BILLY Y LA PESADA DEL ROCK AND ROLL Volume I & II (Cloud Forest) cd 22.00

BONDAGE FRUIT IV (Maboroshi No Sekai/Musea) cd 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Japanese prog-rock band Bondage Fruit, starring guitarist Kido Natsuki and violinist Katsu Yuji (as well as folks on drums, bass, and...vibraphone). Less hyper-grand and Magma-like than some of their earlier efforts, "IV" is more focused on the instrumental heroics of the aforementioned duo.

BONDE DO ROLE With Lazers (Domino) cd 14.98
If you've been caught up in the zesty kinetic fizz of the Rio Baile Funk compilations and the Brazilian band CSS like we have, you won't wanna miss their friends Bonde Do Role. In fact, they've even done remixes for Edu K (Rio Baile Funk) and CSS. Yes, it's all connected! We were initially smitten a couple months ago by a maxi cd single containing three versions and a video for their song "Solta O Frango" and one other track called "Rap Do CB". It was so short'n'sweet to the point of being cruel, but it was enough to get us all rabid and tingly for the imminent release of their full length With Lazers which is the album we present before you now. Yaaay!!! Championed by tastemakin' dj/producer Diplo, Bonde Do Role are like a hyper-hued combination of the tweaked playfulness of Senor Coconut, the dizzying sun stroked energy of CSS, and a healthy dose of down'n'dirty electrified grittiness. Look no further, this is the perfect summer album. Let the sparks fly!
MPEG Stream: "Solta O Frango"
MPEG Stream: "Office Boy"

BONE AWL Bog Bodies / Magnetism Of War (Goatowarex) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Man, this one sure has been a mess, apologies to all the folks who waited months and months, but this completely killer slab of raw primitive grim blackness is now FINALLY back in stock. We originally listed it ages ago, sold out, and then tried to order more, and suddenly everything went wrong, our first box of lps got lost, and it took forever to get in touch with the label to get more, they finally showed up out of the blue after almost 9 months, but they were missing sleeves and there weren't enough covers. So we finally got it all sorted out, and we have a bunch of these in stock, for sure for the very last time. Once we run out these are gone for good. In fact since these showed up, we haven't heard a peep from the label, even after repeated emails, so if you want one of these, and you really should, then grab it while you can, once these are gone, these are truly and finally gone for good.
Since we first discovered local primitive black metal outfit Bone Awl, on a tip from Leviathan's Wrest, we've been pretty much totally obsessed. As have most AQ customers considering how fast we fly through their limited cassette only releases.
So finally, two of those long out of print demos (so long out of print in fact that we never actually had ANY) reissued on super deluxe 180 gram vinyl. Two demos, one on each side. Bog Bodies on side A, originally released as a cassette in 2003, limited to 300 copies, now LONG out of print, and on side B, Magnetism Of War, originally released as a cassette in 2002, limited to 150 copies and also long out of print.
So this vinyl reissue, is also of course limited. Only 400 copies. Each sleeve is cut and paste style, to sort of keep with the aesthetic of the Bone Awl cassettes and as you can well imagine, this stuff is SICK SICK SICK. Bone Awl play super lo-fi black thrash, simple throbbing, furious and fucked up. Murky and primitive, just guitar and drums, manned by the brilliantly named duo of He Who Gnashes Teeth and He Who Crushes Teeth! Simple riffs pounded into your skull, a crushing static black buzz, that is totally trancelike in its simplicity. Tape hiss wraps it's blackened tendrils around downtuned guitars, the drums a simple pounding framework, the vocals a guttural demonic howl. Actually, Bone Awl sound strangely like some sort of black metal Brainbombs, and we shouldn't have to tell you how goddamn good that sounds. As far as we know this is already out of print at the label. We have 25 or 30 copies, and once they are gone, they are GONE FOR GOOD.
LIMITED TO 400 COPIES!!

BONE AWL By Ropes Through Dirt (Worship Him) cassette 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Wrest from Leviathan had been bugging us forever to carry records by local black metal horde Bone Awl for ages. And we usually trust him when it comes to all things black, However there were a few problems, the first being that we always thought he was saying Bonall, or some other one word variation. The other problem was as far as we could tell they didn't really have any proper releases. Well, we finally managed to track down the guys in Bone Awl and discovered that they did indeed have a bunch or releases, they just happened to consist of several out of print 7"s and a couple cassettes. So we figured what the hell, cd-r's may be the cool cult format, but if that's the case, then it's time to head back to cassettes, the true underground format. So we managed to get a handful of Bone Awl's last two cassettes, and we're happy to report that they're both packed with minimal blackened thrash, 'goat metal' Wrest would probably call it, murky and primitive, simple riffing smeared into dense droney slabs of galloping black metal crush, from just a two piece band of guitar and drums (played by He Who Gnashes Teeth and He Who Crushes Teeth!). But while the lineup is minimal the sound is still thick and snarlingly fierce. Imagine a stripped down Darkthrone (if you can): a single riff pounded mercilessly into submission, gruff gargly vocals buried in the mix, sloppy and raw recorded super hot and totally blown out. This is true underground black metal for sure. By Ropes Through Dirt is the older title and was limited to 500 copies. We have about ten copies and that's it, it's already out of print. Up To Something is the most recent, released last year, and is also limited to 500 copies, we have a bunch but they're going fast and will most likely be gone for good pretty soon.

BONE AWL Meaningless Leaning Mess (Nuclear War Now! Productions) lp 12.98
For the latest installment in their ongoing, all-analog blackened onslaught, local raw, primitive, black-thrash duo Bone Awl unleash another full length lp, the third by our count, not including a clutch of limited run cassette tapes and 7"s. And as always, it's another fantastically furious and filthy slab of relentlessly pounding buzz, hateful howl and sheer black force. 
For the uninitiated, Bone Awl are the duo of He Who Gnashes Teeth and He Who Crushes Teeth, just guitar and drums, but the two are a whirling dervish of harsh negative energy, not so much blasting and buzzing black metal style, as pounding and pulsing, a blown out D-beat style garage thrash pummel. Every track takes a single black riff, and pounds it into the ground, the guitar a swirling cloud of dark energy, the drums some sort of harnessed chaos, hewing closer to the abject blown out pound of the Brainbombs than perhaps any of their more metal forebears. No real blast beats to be found, instead the sound is a blackened punk rock, crusty and crumbling, on the verge of total collapse, barreling hellward with unstoppable momentum.
Pressed on super thick 180 gram vinyl, housed in a thick cardstock inner sleeve, printed with lyrics, and housed in a gorgeous black and white poster sleeve, that opens to be pretty massive. The whole thing tucked in a plastic jacket with a sticker affixed to the front. And as always, probably crazy limited...

BONE AWL Not For Our Feet (Klaxon) lp 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Finally more blasting primitive blackness from this local black metal duo. After a handful of ultra limited tape and vinyl releases and at least one box of lps lost in the mail (folks who are waiting, we are getting more we swear, thanks for being so patient), we've all been left with a Bone Awl shaped hole in our black souls. Originally released on Nuclear War Now, Not For Our Feet (and the accompanying Undying Glare 7", also reissued and reviewed elsewhere on this list) disappeared before we could get our hands on a single copy, so were were psyched to discover that the band had formed their own label and will start to release their own records, beginning with this 9 song blast of pummeling black thrash.
Not For Our Feet is dripping with atmosphere, it's crusty and dark, it's simple, and straight forward, but chaotic and messy, it's wild and unrestrained, but relentless and impossible concise, most songs are stripped down and blown out, one riff, maybe two, sometimes three, never more, the drums are relentless, usually not blasting, but pounding furiously, and the vocals howling above the din, but the sound is so intense and emotional and so very black. There's definitely a D-beat influence, a lot of the time Bone Awl don't even really sound like black metal, more a white hot pounding noise rock outfit, with buzzing insectoid riffing and some seriously blackened tendencies. Which is part of what makes them so appealing. They go from galloping black thrash, to buzzing blast, to simple cavemen pound often in the same song. And the sound itself is as intense as the music, super hot, in the red, needle pegged, speaker shredding, high end buzz and blast that threatens to blow your speakers even at the lowest of volumes.
As with most Bone Awl stuff, not sure how long this will be around, hopefully longer than usual, but don't risk it, this is some of the most intense and visceral, raw and hateful, brutal and punishing music we've heard in ages, black metal or otherwise. You definitely won't want to be left behind.
All new artwork, cool distressed black and brown sleeve with collaged olde English text cover image, includes a printed insert with all the lyrics.

BONE AWL So I Must Take From The Earth... ...And Make It My Own (Hospital Productions) 2x7" 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
While we struggle desperately to get the guys in Bone Awl to bring us more of their cassettes, and while we wait impatiently for the boxes of Bone Awl lps to finally show up after being lost in the postal system for going on three months now, at least we have these here 14 inches of brand new analog Bone Awl to tide us over.
Keeping true to their old school ethos (as in NO CDS!!) the band give us a brand new double 7", released on Hospital Productions (run by the man behind Prurient) and it's just what you might expect. And just what we can never seem to get enough of. Super raw, stripped down two piece black metal buzz. Harsh and hateful, buzzing and brutal, thrashing and totally trancelike. The duo of He Who Gnashes Teeth and He Who Crushes Teeth whip up a frenzy of lo-fi blackened ultra violence, relentless and so sick. We described Bone Awl as sounding a bit like a black metal Brainbombs and that still holds true. Each track, a single riff, guitar and drums, pounded into your skull, over and over and over and over. Fucking awesome!
Probably limited but we got a bunch...

BONE AWL Undying Glare (Klaxon) 7" 4.50
Originally released with the Not For Our Feet lp in a super limited cloth bag deluxe version that disappeared almost before we even heard about it, Undying Glare might possibly be primitive black metal combo Bone Awl's harshest, heaviest, noisiest, and thus finest moment yet, which is saying something, especially with a band whose limited release history is pretty much nothing but finest moments.
Undying Glare is three tracks, but they all sort of blur together into one glorious white hot burst of blown out black buzz. And when we say blown out, we mean, completely and utterly in the red to the point where these songs are a breath away from collapsing into straight white noise.
Squeals of feedback give way to a blinding deafening blast of hissing, hateful high end buzz, the guitars have become some sort of impossible noise, merely in the shape of riffs, but when the song kicks in those riff shaped chunks of sound are swallowed up by a wave of pure black noise, the drums and cymbals are all sizzling sibilance, just another layer of hiss and buzz, as are the vocals, all three tracks smeared violently into one sprawling black beast.
Pressed on grey vinyl, one sided, super striking cover art, and again, like all Bone Awl stuff, we have no idea how long these will be around or if we'll ever be able to get more...

BONE AWL Up To Something (Klaxon) cassette 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Wrest from Leviathan had been bugging us forever to carry records by local black metal horde Bone Awl for ages. And we usually trust him when it comes to all things black, However there were a few problems, the first being that we always thought he was saying Bonall, or some other one word variation. The other problem was as far as we could tell they didn't really have any proper releases. Well, we finally managed to track down the guys in Bone Awl and discovered that they did indeed have a bunch or releases, they just happened to consist of several out of print 7"s and a couple cassettes. So we figured what the hell, cd-r's may be the cool cult format, but if that's the case, then it's time to head back to cassettes, the true underground format. So we managed to get a handful of Bone Awl's last two cassettes, and we're happy to report that they're both packed with minimal blackened thrash, 'goat metal' Wrest would probably call it, murky and primitive, simple riffing smeared into dense droney slabs of galloping black metal crush, from just a two piece band of guitar and drums (played by He Who Gnashes Teeth and He Who Crushes Teeth!). But while the lineup is minimal the sound is still thick and snarlingly fierce. Imagine a stripped down Darkthrone (if you can): a single riff pounded mercilessly into submission, gruff gargly vocals buried in the mix, sloppy and raw recorded super hot and totally blown out. This is true underground black metal for sure. By Ropes Through Dirt is the older title and was limited to 500 copies. We have about ten copies and that's it, it's already out of print. Up To Something is the most recent, released last year, and is also limited to 500 copies, we have a bunch but they're going fast and will most likely be gone for good pretty soon.

BONE AWL / THE RITA split (Klaxon) cassette 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The return of the Bay Area's very own lo-fi black thrash terrorists Bone Awl, and holy fuck is this stuff fierce. Brutal and chaotic and lo-fi as always, but for this cassette, they've teamed up with Canadian harsh noise outfit The Rita and the two bands sound perfect together. When we first put this on we assumed it would follow a traditional split release format, one band plays their songs, then the other band plays theirs, or at least each band gets their own side of the tape. But no, here, the bands switch back and forth, and The Rita's noisy dronescapes sound almost like they could be Bone Awl's ambient interludes. In fact, we assumed the first track WAS the intro to a Bone Awl song until we figured out what was going on. Bone Awl are a two piece killing machine, who spew a downtuned and murky, pounding midtempo thrash drenched in tape hiss and fuzzed out noise, turning their thrash into some weirdly dirge-y black Brainbombs thing. The Rita take the same sort of sonic grime and murk, but instead of harnassing it into some sort of metallic framework, they let it soar skyward, unchained and uncontrollable, all the meters pushed into the red, smearing the buzz and fuzz into crumbling Merzboic masses of snarling, slithering scuzz drenched power electronics. Together these two hordes whip up a gloriously noisy, punishingly harsh, druggy and buzzed out expanse of free noise thrash dirge brutality, and we LOVE IT!
Super limited as always. We've got about 30 so act fast.

BONE AWL / VOLKURAH / HAMMER / VORDR Vinland / Finland (Northern Sky Productions) cassette 4.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Managed to get a handful more of these back in stock. Not sure how long they'll last...
Bone Awl!!! You know you want it. We can't seem to keep their shit in stock. It flies out of here everytime we get a new title. We're still waiting on two huge boxes of Bone Awl lps to finally arrive. Sorry for the folks who are still waiting. We're as frustrated as you are. AND we're still waiting for the sort of flakey band members to come by and bring us more copies of their old cassettes.
But thankfully, we just got a new tape in to tide you over! Yep, you heard us tape. These guys are old skool. No cds, just tapes and vinyl. All super lo-fi and primitive, visually and sonically.
Vinland / Finland was previously available as a super limited lp on Grievantee (now WAY out of print, so don't ask) and now as a super limited tape on Northern Sky. Four different bands, all brutal, primitive, and ultra grim black metal, Bone Awl (USA), Hammer (Finland), Volkurah (Canada) and Vordr (Finland). We obviously love Bone Awl as do you all it seems, and we are super into Vordr (although we've never been able to get enough copies of their discs to list), we had never heard of either Hammer or Volkurah, but both fit comfortably along side the other two.
So if you're in the mood for some stripped down, ugly, crusty black brutality, then this is exactly what you've been hankering for. And as much as we hate to say it, this is of course super limited. And while we did get a whole bunch, they still probably won't last long.

BONE SHERIFF Huh Again (Diagnosis...Don't!) 3"cd-r 10.98
BACK IN STOCK!!
Managed to get a handful more of these super limited little gems, here's what we had to say about it when we first listed it:
One of three new 3" cd-r releases on the Grey Daturas' Diagnosis ... Don't! label, each super limited, and housed in cool hand made packaging.
Bone Sheriff is another sort of supergroup style match up (sort a like the Stumps, made up of members of Gate, Mrtyu, Sandoz Lab Technicians, Seht, Nether Dawn, With Throats As Fine As Needles) that should have AQ customers frothing at the mouth. One part Simon Taylor of Aussie dirge sludge combo Whitehorse and Rob Mayson of the Grey Daturas and Maggoted, teaming up to make some serious noise, armed with a seriously unlikely arsenal of soundmaking implements: cymbals, glass, contact mics, bass and keytar. The disc's centerpiece is a 13 minute + wall of densely layered guitardrone, crumbling and rumbling, bits of distorted melody spread out over an expansive stretch of rough raw chordal hum. Heavy as fuck, but kinda pretty at the same time. This glorious drone is surrounded on all sides by a handful of super short tracks, tiny jagged fragments of freaked out sound, from grinding Wolf Eyes like glitchy splatter, to Merzbow-ian splintering noise, to squealing sinewaves to barely audible extreme high/low Ikeda style minimalism.
AS ALWAYS, ULTRA SUPER LIMITED!! We only got about 30, and probably won't be able to get more...
Packaged in thick textured paper black mini 3" sleeves, with a printed (band name, label info, liner notes) Japanese style obi. Nice.
MPEG Stream: "track 4"
MPEG Stream: "track 7"

BONECLOUD Chrysalis 1951-1926 (Twonicorn) cassette 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another transmission from on high, channelled through the earthly vessel known as Bonecloud, a mysterious drone duo from Ireland, who share at least one member with equally beloved outfit Quetzolcoatl. Two twenty minute slow burning epics, wide open expanses of scrape and shimmer, looped and cyclical soundscapes of metallic shimmer and blurred melody, Taj Mahal Travellers playing a piece by Phill Niblock, reinterpreted by the Jewelled Antler collective and recorded by William Basinksi. Long stretches of shapeless vocals, wheezing chords stretched out forever, woven into some glistening sonic fabric, twisting and changing shape, and color, and texture, fuzzy and warbly, blurry and buzzy, washed out and smeared, gauzy and smoky, a super abstract, ephemeral raga. The sound of an old tape dubbed over and over and over, broadcast through rusted loudspeakers mounted on trees, listened to with eyes closed, wet grass against your back and warm wind and soft rain on your face...
As with all Twonicorn, gorgeously packaged, pro printed tapes, textured paper sleeves, and of course super limited, ONLY 100 COPIES!! Each tape hand numbered.

BONECLOUD s/t (2cd-r) (Haunted Trail) 2cd-r 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Bonecloud sure is an evocative name. We can picture a big swirling black cloud cut a swath across the land lifting skeletons out of the ground, emptying graveyards, a sky full of re-animated bones, or some strange otherworldly beast that manifests itself on this plain as some sort of amorphous pile of skulls that can float skyward or crawl along the ground like some bony blob, or a grey cloud that covers a wasted landscape in soot-like dust, a huge billowing fog of ground up bones and vaporized skeletons, some sort of post apocalyptic fallout. All very creepy and haunting. Which pretty much perfectly suits the music of the Irish stoned drone ensemble that does indeed bear the name Bonecloud.
We first heard from these murk mongers on a split with Portland drifters Ghosting. And were instantly blown away. They took the droney drift of all our favorite abstract noise makers, and added a seriously ominous vibe, a hellish halo of Stygian gloom, mixing the usual subterranean shimmer with thick sick slabs of Lustmordian throb and Organumish rumble.
This is a self released double cd-r we got direct from the band and expands on the sound of the split, taking full advantage of the extra space to let their gloomy sonic sprawl as it was meant to. Huge expanses of muddled mire, a thick morass of ambient drift, drenched in a shower of grit and grime, allowed to slither and shift, a haunting glacial epic soundscape of darkness and drone. Like the Taj Mahal Travellers covering the Dead C, a disembodied noise rock, allowed to drift from speaker to speaker, floating above a barren wasteland, covering the Earth in shadow. So fucking awesome.
SUPER LIMITED... of course. Packaged between two thick pieces of cardstock, with a full color image affixed to each, all housed in an oversized plastic sleeve.
MPEG Stream: "Drowning In The Tides Of Space"
MPEG Stream: "Sea Burial"

BONECLOUD s/t (3") (Diagnosis...Don't!) 3"cd-r 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Finally, another new missive from Irish druid-drone collective Bonecloud, a brief but glorious ep, one of three new releases in the ongoing super limited 3"cd-r series on the Grey Daturas' Diagnosis...Don't label.
Featuring members of equally loved dreamdrone combo Quetzolcoatl, Bonecloud conjure up some gorgeously expansive and disorientingly otherworldly wide open expanses of shimmer and crawl, managing to create soundscapes that are at once murky and mysterious, yet strangely melodic and mesmerizing. Bonecloud are definitely the closest any of the modern breed of abstract ambient soundscapers have come to conjuring up the primal ur-drone magic of legendary seventies Japanese psych legends Taj Mahal Travellers. Sounds drift and float, like the band was set up on a rocky outcropping on some strange alien planet, sending their hymns skyward, sonic offerings to some cosmic deity, a timeless drone ritual, performed under a blackened moon (or moons) beneath a dense canopy of skeletal branches. Crackling fires, crashing surf, bird calls and the sounds of insects are sucked up into these glacial drones, and transformed into sonic smears adding more texture to Bonecloud's already densely layered whirs and rumbles. Awesome.
Packaged in thick textured black paper mini 3" sleeves, with a printed (band name, label info, liner notes) Japanese style obi. Nice.
And as usual, these are of course SUPER LIMITED, and we're pretty sure we won't be able to get more...
MPEG Stream: "This Heart Of Sand"
MPEG Stream: "Watching The Rock Erode For A Thousand Years"

BONECLOUD Teenage Lycanthropy (Leaf Trail) cd-r 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
It's really hard to keep up with the ever expanding legion of prolific cd-r outfits, with bands often averaging a release every month or two, but in the case of Irish drone collective Bonecloud, it's well worth it. This is the 6th or 7th release we've carried from these guys, and no doubt we missed tons of super limited microreleases, but as with all the previous ones we reviewed, Teenage Lycanthropy is another breathtaking slab of deep organic dronemusic.
For those new to the sonic world of Bonecloud, a quick glance at the song titles should definitely clue you in as to what sort of vibe to expect from these guys: "Ecstatic Stabs Of Light", "Infinite Rain Prism", "Clouds Of Butterflies"Š And that's sort of what the music of Bonecloud sounds like. We tend to always mention legendary Japanese seventies psychdrone outfit Taj Mahal Travellers, and it's still appropriate here. This is drone music, but it's quite musical, multilayered, organic, an organized chaos, shimmering clouds of abstract percussion and disembodied voices, all above a constantly shifting backdrop of subtle whirs, pulsing rumbles, bowed metals, all smeared and blurred and washed out, the tracks long slow indistinct blurs of sound.
"Sea Cave" is the surprise here, too bad it's only 3 minutes long, a thick cinematic orchestral loop, bathed in record crackle and settled on a sea of dense drones, sounding like it could have come straight off a Pop Ambient compilation. Thankfully, this 3 minute chunk of blurred ambient pop, is surrounded on all sides by Bonecloud's deliriously dreamy sonic drifts, fluttering and flickering, glimmering and sparkling, but beneath a soft focus patina of lo-fi murk and muted shimmer. Another practically perfect disc of late night drifting off mood musicŠ
Packaged in oversized full color sleeves, with color printed inserts.
MPEG Stream: "Ecstatic Stabs Of Light"
MPEG Stream: "Infinite Rain Prism Pt.2"

BONECLOUD XI:XI (Buried Valley) cassette 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A brand new brief burst of druidic drift from these Irish dronelords. The closest we've come to discovering the second coming of Japanese seventies psych drone legends Taj Mahal Travellers. Bonecloud seem to have tapped into the same primal sonic instinct, merging a knack for soft noise and dark drone, with a balance of subdued melody, of organic drift and pure mystic energy. 
Every thing they touch turns to gorgeous murk, emitting dense clouds of dark black energy, that glows with some ineffable energy, it's like an alien sun wrapped in black gauze, a strange grey glow, with glimmers and glints of melody and rhythm occasionally surfacing amidst the constant swirl of shimmering sound. Incredibly dense and dreamy, like pop songs crushed and smeared into bits and pieces, buried in the earth, and allowed to slowly make their way to the surface, where they begin the slow shimmering ascent into the heavens.  
LIMITED TO 50 COPIES!!! We only got a handful. The cassettes are hand painted and are housed in printed full color covers each one hand numbered. 

BONES OF SEABIRDS Sacrament (Small Doses) cd-r 8.98
First release from Bones Of Seabirds, aka Ryan McGill, and it's a deft blend of blown out free noise ambience a la Sunroof! and Birchville Cat Motel, dreamy soundscape drift and churning low end doomdrone.
The minimal liner notes inside credit Mcgill with strings and synths, and both, while in full effect, are blended and blurred into a sound less distinct, more ethereal and abstract. The opener is all gritty gristly high end, sheets of feedback, coruscating layers of buzz and glitch, all pulsing and throbbing, melodies buried within, strange harmonies, culminating in a wall of downtuned near static guitar buzz, a blackened blizzard of sound. The second track is a roiling lowendscape of rumbles and blurred drones, off in the distance bits of high end glimmer, shards of crackling grind and chordal whir, dense and ominous but still strangely pretty. The third track, is a haunting landscape of reverb drenched harmonics, long stretched out tones, mysterious melodies, softly heaving textures, bits of electronic tracery, whirring and shimmering, all wrapped in a skein of murk and blur.
And so it goes for the rest of the disc, the tracks dipping into those three sounds, blending and blurring and creating whole new sonic worlds from its constituent parts. Needless to say, most folks who like this kind of thing have already added this to their cart and moved on, but for the rest of you, fans of SUNNO))), Birchville, Vulture Club, Acre, and Tunnels among others, who are into all things that drone and rumble and whir and roil and swirl and shimmer and throb and grind and pulse and drift, will most likely want to pick one of these up PRONTO.
LIMITED TO 138 COPIES! Each one in a gorgeously handmade package, black ink printed on thick cardstock, housed in a hand cut full color vellum overlay, inside a printed vellum insert, with liner notes, each one hand numbered.
MPEG Stream: "Belial"
MPEG Stream: "Serpent"

BONFIRE MADIGAN 88 (Little Echoes) cdep 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Easily drawing comparisons to the dramatic, fearless artists Tori Amos and PJ Harvey, Ms Madigan belts out her songs with such abandon, so high on emotion, that it's just as much a cathartic experience for the listener as it seems to be for her. And she plays her faithful cello with equal ferocity. On this EP, the group known as Bonfire Madigan also includes Sheri Ozeki (contrabass), Egg (drums, lap steel, guitar), Christine Lehmann (violin), Shelley Doty (electric guitar), and Biggs (drums). Five songs in all. 17+ minutes that'll leave you wonderfully spent. Limited pressing of 1000.
RealAudio clip: "O' Sanity"

BONG-RA VS. SICKBOY Shotgun Wedding Volume 5 (Violent Turd) cd 10.98
We've never really reviewed any records by either of these cats, even though they've both been causing quite a stir in the electronic underground and have a bunch of releases under their belts. But what better way to induct them into AQ land than with this two way split.
Dutch mash up master Bong-Ra presents a massive forty minute mix, dumping in everything and the kitchen sink, HI NRG techno, nineties rave music, reggae, drum and bass, gabber, two step garage, even some Crazy World Of Arthur Brown. We barely recognize any of it, but it's all so good, and the mix is so perfect, it -almost- sounds like all of these bits and pieces were meant to be together. Gloriously schizophrenic, super manic and relentlessly fun and funky. Some essential dance party music for sure.
But never one to be outdone, Belgian dancefloor destroyer Sickboy offers up his own 30 minute megamix, another dizzying swirl but this one is HEAVY on the hip hop, lots of killer rappers and classic joints all tangled up with manic drill and bass, European house music, dancehall and pretty much everything else under the sun. The rhythm stays pretty constant, a relentless techno throb peppered with bits of Sean Paul, soul and RnB and lots of stuttery synth stabs, hiccuping beats, chopped and screwed vocals, and tons of random samples. Phew. We don't even dance and we're exhausted.
MPEG Stream: BONG-RA "Ra Is For Rave, E is for Ebenezer Mix (excerpt 1)"
MPEG Stream: BONG-RA "Ra Is For Rave, E is for Ebenezer Mix (excerpt 2)"

BONGWATER The Power Of Pussy (Instinct / Shimmy Disc) cd 12.98
Not that you're necessarily going to be as psyched about this Bongwater reissue as Cup is, but we'll have you know that she's already listened to it, oh, about seven or eight times, and it's been here less than a week! When she first heard this album back in 1992 she'd yet to find out what bong water actually was, and only thought it to be an odd band name. Now many out-of-print moons later, Power Of Pussy is back and it continues to hold a very high spot on Cup's all-time faves list! And Andee's as well! The combined genius of Kramer and Ann Magnuson is responsible for this amazing album which is at times twistedly satirical, brazenly bizarre, dreamily lovely, ballsily glammy, heartbreakingly bittersweet and thoroughly entertaining. More a string of dizzying vignettes than individual songs it includes a rendition of Dudley Moore's "Bedazzled". Plus you'll find out about the "fat lead singer for Canned Heat". So great!
MPEG Stream: "Great Radio"
MPEG Stream: "Nick Cave Dolls"

BONGZILLA Amerijuanican (Relapse) cd 14.98
Only the biggest stoners or hardiest AQ list readers will even make it to this review. Which is precisely the problem with Bongzilla. Unless you're a pot smoking college student, a stoned metal head, or just an all around dirtbag, Bongzilla is an unbelievably stupid band name. It's the sort of name that would have Beavis And Butthead giggling and saying things like "Um, huh huh, he said bongzilla, huh huh." But let's be honest, Bongzilla is the perfect name for these guys, stoned and druggy and enveloped in a swirl of pot smoke and day old bongwater, at the same time, a crushing, stomping, downtuned metal behemoth. Sludgy and monstrously dirgelike, but with plenty of stoner groove. We'd dare go so far as to say Bongzilla are one of the best stoner sludge bands around. In fact, they manage to take the sound of EYEHATEGOD and all that sort of nihilistic NOLA stoner doom, groovy hip shaking stoner pop, and all manner of drug metal, and mix it with a big old dose of acid drenched space doom a la Hawkwind or Monster Magnet. A crushing dirgelike stoner riff sort repeates over and over eventually sort of splintering apart into slow floating slabs of fuzz guitar, drifting all hazy and mesemerizng, a blown out outer space psych jam of monumental proportions. The 12+ minute "Stonesphere" is the ultimate Bongzilla trip, a groovy tarpit riff, that is eventually smeared into long loping streaks of drug addled space rock / krautrocky bliss out, complete with seventies style talk box vocals buried way down in the mix. So tough it out, make it past the dumb (but WAY appropriate) name, the cover art of a soldier smoking pot in front of an American flag with pot leaves instead of stars, and the goofy Amerijuanican album title, and prepare to sit back and drift off into a goloriously druggy oblivion. If Bongzilla were called Krakow or Ultrablackbuzzhole or Fuckcrush or Strangle Flanger or something appropriately brutal and perplexing, if they were Japanese, if they had songs about serial killers instead of smoking pot, if they had super spiffy retro graphic design, or released super limited picture discs and multiple versions of every record and managed to sell as many records on eBay as they did in stores, but sounded EXACTLY the same, you can bet the rest of the stoner / sludge / doom / drone elite (Corrupted, EYEHATEGOD, Green Machine, Boris, Church Of Misery, Yob, etc.) would be cowering in terror (or at least, watching their backs), and all those crazy stoner-doom-drone collector freaks would be slobbering up a storm!
MPEG Stream: "Amerijuanican"
MPEG Stream: "Kash Under Glass"

BONGZILLA Apogee (Howling Bull) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The last official U.S. release from the now retired label/store Howling Bull America (who we will miss something awful and who leave a void in our dwindling little punk rock community that will undoubtedly be filled by more cellphones/S.U.V.s/restaurants). This is the latest e.p. from Michigan's reefer obsessed, downtuned stoners. Crushing and sloooow and heavy as fuck. Three new tracks (including the wonderfully titled "Grim Reefer") and four live cuts (only on the cd).

BONGZILLA Apogee (Howling Bull) 12" 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The last official U.S. release from the now retired label/store Howling Bull America (who we will miss something awful and who leave a void in our dwindling little punk rock community that will undoubtedly be filled by more cellphones/S.U.V.s/restaurants). This is the latest e.p. from Michigan's reefer obsessed, downtuned stoners. Crushing and sloooow and heavy as fuck. Three new tracks (including the wonderfully titled "Grim Reefer") and four live cuts (only on the cd).

BONGZILLA Gateway (Relapse) cd 16.98
Bongzilla: the name says it all, doesn't it? Crushing, HEAVY sludge-metal with a massive pot fixation is what you'll find here. Now, sometimes releases in this genre (yes, it's a genre) are sooooo great, unexplicably transcendent, and weirdly compelling, that we'll recommend 'em to all and sundry (like Electric Wizard, Corrupted, Sleep, Boris). Bongzilla is perhaps too single-minded about the pot thing (and what passes for the musical thing too) to warrant such a general recommendation. But they do this sort of sludge metal quite well, and if you're already quite partial to the heavy stuff -- i.e. you've got some Grief, Sleep, Eyehategod, Bongzilla (duh) etc. in your record collection -- you'll probably want to check this out. Especially if you also smoke pot. The song titles alone provide ample stoner entertainment! I mean, "Keefmaster"? Musically, it's all about massive fat riff (rhymes with spliff) repetition, in a simple, slow, sub-Sabbath mode, littered with the usual sort of drug-related samples we've come to expect. Not a lot here for the attention-span impaired though, or maybe there is, depends on how you use it.
RealAudio clip: "Trinity (gigglebush)"

BONGZILLA Stash (Relapse) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hey you read Windy's Guardian column on stoner rock, right? Here's one of several exemplary examples, as it were. More weed fueled fury from these Midwestern ne'er do wells. Sludgey stoned thud rock with copious samples warning against the evil of drugs. Includes an awesome Sabbath cover ("Under The Sun").

BONGZILLA Stash and Methods For Attaining Extreme Altitudes (Relapse) cd 14.98
What is it with stoner rock, and its seemingly unending appeal to those of us who don't smoke pot. Perhaps it musically induces a similar mindstate and headspace as getting totally blazed, but how the heck would we know. Yeah, it's heavy and brutal, downtuned and crushing, groovy and brutal, but there's something else going on in there, it's gotta be the pot! And if smoking pot DOES actually sound/feel like this, then we're totally kicking ourselves for abstaining for the last 30+ years.
If any one band truly embodies the sprit of stoner metal, it would have to be Bongzilla. C'mon, they're called BONGZILLA after all!! And while the name might have you thinking these guys are some kind of joke, this shit is deadly serious. These guys may love their weed, and sing about it incessantly, but they totally destroy, wielding their skull crushing stoner doom riffage like stoned cavemen atop prehistoric dragons, bong in one hand, bloodied axe in the other. Similar to how Japan's serial killer obsessed stoner rockers Church Of Misery lace their songs with news snippets and sound samples of all their favorite killers, Bongzilla tracks are packed with news and propaganda, radio broadcasts and snippets of conversation, all about pot and smoking pot, the value of pot, the legal issues, facts about harvesting, police reports, sometimes replacing the vocals all together, the band will lock into a killer groove and just pound it into the ground, over a constant litany of pro pot propaganda. But hell, it fits perfectly. And eventually that stuff becomes just part and parcel of Bongzilla's sound.
Which in other hands might be overbearing, cuz if a band doesn't have songs, and RIFFS, then nothing else would matter. But these guys kill, the riffs thick and distorted, groovy and weirdly catchy, some tracks a plodding ultra doom dirge, others furiously rocking sludge, the vocals a near black metal screech, the drums pounding and massive, but it's ALWAYS all about the riffs (and the weed). And the riffs here are massive and hooky, super distorted and blown out, hypnotic and so so so heavy.
This reissue compiles Bongzilla's smoking debut, Stash, and their follow up ep, Methods For Attaining Extreme Altitudes, a three song chunk of ultra sludgy stoner doom, culminating in the nearly 14 minute stoner metal epic "Smoke / I Love MaryJane", which begins at a pretty serious clip, before slipping into spaced out bleary eyed smoke drenched ultra doom, a minimal plodding trudge, bordering on Khanate territory, building gradually to a chaotic Hawkwind meets Monster Magnet stoner space rock freak out, all swirling distorted guitar, washes of keening feedback, more snippets and samples, the whole thing eventually blissing out into a buzzing droning tribal outro.
We can only imagine how good this stuff must sound stoned, or maybe if you were -actually- stoned, they would cancel each other out and you would hear nothing but silence. Whatever...
Needless to say, this shit is WAY recommended, for stoners and straight edge stoner sympathizers alike...
MPEG Stream: "Gestation"
MPEG Stream: "Sacred Smoke"
MPEG Stream: "Smoke / I Love MaryJane"

BONNIE "PRINCE" BILLY (All City Nomad) 7" 3.99
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A.K.A. Will Oldham of Palace. This single also features Mick and Jim from Dirty Three, and David Grubbs, and was recorded by Steve Albini. This must be the material recorded two years ago up in Santa Rosa, no? Nonetheless, we highly recommend this single as it contains what quite possibly is Will's best song in years, wherein he sings with a woman and it just reminds us of Gram and Emmylou.

BONNIE "PRINCE" BILLY Ask Forgiveness (Drag City) cd 12.98
Whether you have been loving Will Oldham's onslaught of recent releases or you find yourself clinging to his earlier works, this new eight song record should please fans of either stripe. Essentially a covers record, this is one of the most intimate Bonnie Prince Billy records to date. We love the ultra impromptu feel, like a gathering of friends around the hearth to record an ep on the fly. Those present can't help but sway gently to the familiar melodies. Whether covering Bjork, the Mekons, Danzig, or R. Kelly, Oldham makes the song unmistakably his own. Centered around his vocals and guitars for the most part with some subtle accompaniment by Meg Baird and Greg Weeks of Espers fame and some ghostly cello from Maggie Wienk. Really nice!
MPEG Stream: "I've Seen It All"
MPEG Stream: "Am I Demon?"

BONNIE "PRINCE" BILLY Ask Forgiveness (Drag City) lp 12.98
Whether you have been loving Will Oldham's onslaught of recent releases or you find yourself clinging to his earlier works, this new eight song record should please fans of either stripe. Essentially a covers record, this is one of the most intimate Bonnie Prince Billy records to date. We love the ultra impromptu feel, like a gathering of friends around the hearth to record an ep on the fly. Those present can't help but sway gently to the familiar melodies. Whether covering Bjork, the Mekons, Danzig, or R. Kelly, Oldham makes the song unmistakably his own. Centered around his vocals and guitars for the most part with some subtle accompaniment by Meg Baird and Greg Weeks of Espers fame and some ghostly cello from Maggie Wienk. Really nice!
MPEG Stream: "I've Seen It All"
MPEG Stream: "Am I Demon?"

BONNIE "PRINCE" BILLY Ease Down The Road (Palace) cd 13.98
A couple years back Will Oldham adopted the Bonnie 'Prince' Billy moniker and released what stood as the crowning achievement of his career, the brilliant I See a Darkness. Now he returns to form with an album that is quite possibly even more heartbreaking, yet strangely more upbeat and optimistic. Instead of grim songs about death, we get lonely songs of love filled with spirit and hope and even a little joy. The instrumentation is much more eclectic, and the compositions range from dark a capella to backwoods country swing. With guest spots from Freakwater and Dave Pajo (and Harmony Korine?!?), Oldham has created an album that has raised the bar yet again. It's funny how the guy manages to renew your interest even after you swore you were tired of him (as I do often).
RealAudio clip: "The Lion Lair"

BONNIE "PRINCE" BILLY I See A Darkness (Palace) cd 14.98
Will Oldham has adopted a new alter ego. No longer Palace, not even just Will Oldham, he's the artist currently known as Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. While the past few Palace/Oldham records weren't anything really to write home about, almost all of the Bonnie 'Prince' Billy singles and this album have been exceptional. Idiosyncratic vocals that don't warble all that much and the working class approach to acoustic based rock are what you expect from him, but you'd never guess he'd get so scary.