THIS WILL DESTROY YOU / LYMBYC SYSTYM Field Studies (Magic Bullet) cd 10.98
We had never heard This Will Destroy You until recently, but we were pretty into it, they do that sort of brooding, post rock epic majesty sort of thing, but they definitely have their own take on that sound. Seems like folks into Explosions In The Sky and that sort of stuff would go nuts for these guys.
The two TWDY tracks here, definitely still hew to that Explosions / Godspeed template, but they do some really cool stuff here. The 11 minute "Brutalism & The Worship Of The Machine" begins all shoegazey and blissed out, sort of Nadja / Jesu territory, big heavy drums, and ethereal guitar shimmer, the melodies lilting and minor key, buried beneath the sheets of guitars and what could be buried vocals, plenty of effects and weird bits of grind and crunch, the sound continually growing more and more dense, until the drums disappear, leaving just a slow drift of muted thrum and bits of record crackle, and a barely there melody, which gives way to some super hushed post rocky slowcore, the drums delicate, the rest of the instruments chiming and softly swelling, building there way back up, but this time, they're joined by what sounds like horns, and don't explode in climax, instead just sort of moan and drift wearily, very rainy day sounding, not quite funereal, but definitely wistful, before slipping back into soft effected shimmer.
The follow up track, a brief melodic addendum, is a whole different beast, muted melodies, warm rumbles, distant streaks of smeared sound, all laced with some electronic skitter, and more crackle and glitch, giving it a sort of Boards Of Canada vibe. Nice.
This Will Destroy You share the split with another band we've heard before but just never gotten around to reviewing, Lymbyc System, whose sound is more of an electronic / post rock hybrid, falling somewhere between Fridge and Four Tet, but with a bit more heft, loping drums, warm organs, glitchy skitter, tinkling chimes, give way to some soaring heavy guitars, majestic melodies, laced with samples and plenty of effects, exploding into a kick ass frenzied mathrock workout for the last minute or two, but never losing any of the melody or dreaminess. The other two tracks explore similar sounds, great production, the sounds clear, the arrangements slipping from hushed and intimate to majestic in a matter of minutes, lots of crunch and glitch and buzz, but also lots of skittery drums, warm riffs, moody drift, some Tortoise-y almost-jazz, a pretty heady concoction that is easy to get lost in.
Of the two, we probably lean toward the more muscular and epic This Will Destroy You, but both bands work together well sonically, and thus this split actually almost plays out like more of a proper record than two bands teamed up.
This doesn't actually come out for a while, but we lucked out and managed to get a bunch early, so all you folks into post rock and math rock and big guitars and slow building epic post metal drift and skittery slowcore and everything in between, this comes highly recommended.
MPEG Stream: THIS WILL DESTROY YOU "Brutalism & The Worship of the Machine"
MPEG Stream: LYMBYC SYSTEM "Processed Spirits"

THUJA / MY CAT IS AN ALIEN From The Earth To The Spheres Split Series Vol. 2 (Very Friendly) cd 14.98
Here's the cd version of volume two of My Cat Is An Alien's split series with artists they like. This time that Italian drone duo shares disc space with a band we really like as well, our pals Thuja. A good match for sure. Thuja's track "The Magma Is The Brother Of The Stone" (great title guys!) is an 18 minute improv that segues almost imperceptably into MCIAA's equally lengthy "When The Earth Whispered Your Name". Both are narcotic and nocturnal-sounding, with Thuja's seeming closer to the Earth while MCIAA's drones down from space. Highly recommended to fans of either band!!
MPEG Stream: THUJA "The Magma Is The Brother Of The Stone"
MPEG Stream: MY CAT IS AN ALIEN "When The Earth Whispered Your Name"

TIGERSHARK / APESHIT! split (Molsook) lp 9.98
We went a little nuts for the is Richmond, VA outfit a while back, when we reviewed their demo tape. So now they're back, and they still totally kick our ass, with their modern take on sludgy chaotic Amrep style mathy noise rock. Everything we loved on the tape is here in full effect, heavy, crushing drumming, huge chugging bass, ultra tangled riffery, with grooves buried amidst the murk and crush, lots of distortion, howled vocals, crumbling downtuned guitars, it's a sound we miss a lot and so few bands are able to pull it off, but these guys can, BIG TIME. Amrep, Dazzling Killmen, Drive Like Jehu, if that stuff pushes your buttons, you gotta get this (and the tape while you're at it).
On the flipside, Brooklyn combo Apeshit also channel some retro sounds, but their sound is yet another one we've been missing like crazy, and hardly any bands can manage anymore. That super spastic, over the top Gravity style screamo, think Heroin, Orchid, Mohinder.... short furious bursts of damaged thrash chaos, loads of feedback, thick swaths of scrape and grind, super lo-fi but still crazy heavy, tons of tempo changes, super dynamic with killer bits of epic drama and speaker shredding blasts of white hot howl and buzz.
Together these two bands sound like they must destroy live, the sort of show you crawl from, bruised and bloody, deaf and drenched in sweat, and dying for more. The ultimate noise-rock / screamo tagteam matchup...
Gorgeous full color cover, printed insert with liner notes and lyrics, pressed on transparent lavender vinyl. And as all things like this, crazy limited!

TIMBALAND Timbaland Present: Shock Value (Blackground) cd 15.98

MPEG Stream: "Bounce (Feat. Dr. Dre, Missy Elliott & Justin Timberlake)"
MPEG Stream: "One And Only (feat. Fallout Boy)"
MPEG Stream: "Throw It On Me (Feat. The Hives)"

TIPSY Remix Party! (Asphodel) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This new Tipsy cd is so appropriately titled! The lively festivities feature some fabulous reworkings of their playful trip hop tracks by a bunch of AQ faves from around the globe: Matmos (SF), People Like Us (Kent), Bran Flakes (Seattle), and Optiganally Yours (San Diego), as well as World Standard (Tokyo), High Llamas (London), Curd Duca (Vienna) and nine others. With nutty collage cover art (guinea pigs! green slime! shag carpet!) that'd be just as suited on a cd by Stock, Hausen & Walkman or the aforementioned People Like Us. Very bubbly and fun, for people who don't take electronica without a dose of bubblegum.
RealAudio clip: HIGH LLAMAS "Sweet Cinnamon Punch"
RealAudio clip: PEOPLE LIKE US "Reverse Cowgirl"

TODAY IS THE DAY / METATRON The Descent (This Dark Reign) cd 11.98
In spite of sporting a designwork very much like the recent output from Kozik, this split between stalwart prognosticators of the apocalypse Today Is The Day and Kentucky's bass heavy grind core group Metatron is not on Man's Ruin (who did in fact go out of business a few weeks ago). Today Is The Day delivers two exceptional tracks of negative vibes in the form of their signature pseudo-grind / complex math-rock. They also bridge between Metatron with a weird digital collage that ends up sounding like a lackluster Tribes of Neurot track, but Metatron's explosion of Coalesce-esque grind quickly changes things back over to the darkside. 7 tracks in all for a bit over 30 minutes.
RealAudio clip: METATRON "End Of Light"
RealAudio clip: TODAY IS THE DAY "The Descent"

TONIUTTI, GIANCARLO / CONRAD SCHNITZLER Camma (self-released) lp 17.98

TOPH ONE, DJ Live Loud & Dirty (Red Wine) cd-r 11.98
This tireless veteran DJ is certainly no stranger to SF party-goers or regulars to his weekly Red Wine Social. The omnipresent DJ TophOne (psst, not to be confused with the other Bay Area Toph aka Gold Chains!) has released a mix cd-r so that you can take the good times home with you! How 'bout a peek at what he's spinning? It really runs the good time gamut from current locals such as Lyrics Born and Paradise Boys to classic rock Steely Dan, John Cougar Stevie Winwood, Eddie Money and Queen to a multitude of other tracks by other DJs such as DJ Zeph, DJ Shadow, DJ Marz, DJ Smash and Z-Trip. 33 tracks total.

TORSO / UNICORN split (Divorce) cd 8.98
BACK IN STOCK!!!
We've been fans of Unicorn (ex-Man Is The Bastard / Bastard Noise) for a while now, not nearly as long as we've been fans of -unicorns-, but close. On their Playing With Light  record, we began our review with these words: "Goddamn this record is beautiful. We mean seriously beautiful. So beautiful it sort of has us at a loss for words." Needless to say, we sold tons of those, and it remains an AQ favorite (and we'll hopefully soon have more copies, thanks for being patient). So since then we would snap up anything those guys (or that guy, we're not sure) did. 
This latest one is no different. Well, no different in that we snapped it right up, but definitely different sounding. At least the first Unicorn track here, a hissy high end drift, all upper register whir and shimmer and skree, what sounds like balloons and compressed air, very strange, but after that it's back to the Unicorn of old, with deep resonant drones, strange electronic glitches, haunting rhythmic loops, really quite beautiful, but Unicorn here are all over the place, the next track is another abstract industrial soundscape of low end whir and rhythmic hiss, some more high end weirdness, then back to more dark droniness finishing off with some super minimal hushed drift. Not as straight up beautiful as the other discs, but way more varied and interesting, intense and unique. 
Unicorn are paired off here with Torso, whose take on the drone is much more raw and abrasive, gritty and buzzy, with the tones blown out and crumbling, verging on power electronics, but remaining just on this side of noise, like a much heavier more lo-fi Niblock, with long drawn out notes layered on top of each other, allowed to pulse and beat and subtly shift and change. Torso also add all sorts of other sounds to the mix, random slabs of distant buzz, electronic crackle, what sounds like a drill of some kind, creepy voices, warbly turntables, bits of found sound, distorted vocals, feedback, all woven into the mesmerizing fabric of Torso's harsh drones. Really cool. Definitely need to hear more. 
Packaged in a gorgeous, multi colored, metallic ink, screen printed fold over cardstock sleeve in a thick vinyl pouch. Nice!
MPEG Stream: TORSO "River Grave"
MPEG Stream: TORSO "Behind The Field"
MPEG Stream: UNICORN "Reanimation Case No. 6"
MPEG Stream: UNICORN "Lanterns On Water"

TOUGHGUY FANTASY / ARCTIC BOYZ Thank Gods Its Friday / Louisianna Purchase (Frenetic) 2cd 14.98
Three boyz. Two bands. Two albums.
Toughguy Fantasy is an aural onslaught of noise insanity. Barely keeping up with itself, it's sorta in the vein of Lightning Bolt but with more musical toys and much more disfunction, making for an intangible attack from all angles.
Arctic Boyz is the slightly quieter sibling. Still chaotic for the most part, imagine Hella without "songs" with much clattering feedback. Starts off with a slightly middle-eastern flavor, and ramps up into a scratchy non-sensical maelstrom.
Features members of Hella, Chrime in Choir, The Appreciation and Holy Smokes: Zach, Carson and Justin.
MPEG Stream: TOUGHGUY FANTASY "Thank Gods It's Friday"
MPEG Stream: ARCTIC BOYZ "Quanah"

TROUM / TAM QUAM TABULA RASA / KALLABRIS Kasha-Pashana (Old Europa Cafe) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
While Troum and their previous incarnation Maeror Tri may be familiar to Aquarius customers, the other two participants in this three way split release, Kallabris and Tam Quam Tabula Rasa, are certainly far more obscure entries from the post-industrial, noise 'n' drone community. With loose connections to the anagramatically complex, post-industrial ensemble Cranioclast, Kallabris detaches from most external references with two lengthy cuts of clinical Minimalism, subduing all sounds into purely concrete ambience. Tam Quam Tabula Rasa hails from the Italian scene of industrial ritualists, which has presented outfits like Ain Soph and Sigillum S. The restrained atmopsheres of Kallabris are again present; yet TQTR situates clanging metallic percussion and death-industrial allusions into the perpetual droning. AQ favorites Troum are in top form on their two lengthy tracks which are clearly the strongest amongst the three. With hissing drones, muffled distortion, and bleary reverberations built from guitars, bass, and source material from Yen Pox, Troum again position themselves as the malevolent doppelganger of My Bloody Valentine, with their beautiful guitar drones creeping into empathically haunting and occasionally threatening references. Limited stock!
MPEG Stream: KALLABRIS "Napping"
MPEG Stream: TAM QUAM TABULA RASA "Fickle Procrustean Polymorphous"
MPEG Stream: TROUM "Finiens"

TSUNODA TOSHIYA / CIVYIU KKLIU s/t (Blung) 2cd 17.98

TWO SHEDS & DAME SATAN split (Ghostmansion) 7" 3.99
This new split 7" features a pair of well matched young bands from around these parts -- the Bay Area's Dame Satan and Two Sheds from Sacramento. They're druggy, dusky hued country folks who slink about in the shadows. Their all too brief two songs harken a woodsy winter chill. Can't wait for more! The record is pressed on the palest seafoam green vinyl and is packaged in a beautiful screen printed sleeve.

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

ULVER / IMMORTAL Bargnatt - Promo '93 / Promo '91 (Dead Not Found) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Bootleg (note it's on "Dead Not Found" not legit label "Head Not Found") release of early material by two legendary Norwegian black metal acts, the now so avant garde that they're not black metal anymore Ulver and black metal diehards even today Immortal. Of course back in the early '90s, both bands were True with a captial T: raw, church-burning black metal of the purest sort. Demotape tracks from both bands (4 from Ulver, 3 from Immortal), plus an Ulver song from their rare split 7" with Mysticum. Ulver's stuff melds neo-classical melodicism with lo-fi Burzum-style noise-production, which certainly sets the stage for several of their later releases. Immortal's tracks are EXTREMELY lo-fi, with the Popeye death-grunts being the most audible aspect. Oh, the atmosphere! For fans only, of course (who will also no doubt appreciate the shocking anti-Dimmu Borgir tray-card graphics).

UMBRELLAS IN THE SUN A Crepuscule / Factory Benelux DVD 1979-1987 (LTM) dvd 28.00
A two hour plus anthology of rare digitally remastered studio clips and live footage by various groups from the archives of Factory Records, Factory Benelux, Les Disques du Crepuscle between 1979 and 1987. Featuring Antena, A Certain Ratio, Josef K, Caberet Voltaire, Section 25, Durutti Column, New Order, Crispy Ambulance, Tuxedomoon, Paul Haig, Quando Quango and many, many others.

UNDERJORDISKA / SPECTRAL LORE split (Stellar Auditorium) cd-r 11.98
Third release we've carried from the Stellar Auditorium, and we said it before, but it bears repeating, how awesome a label name is that. Totally evokes some sort of black metal lazer light show, the kind we used to sneak into when we were kids, but way more grim and buzzy and space-y.
Anyway, a few lists back we reviewed the latest from psychedelic black metal one man band Procer Veneficus, and a mysterious Swedish outfit called Underjordiska, whose full length Dystert Vilse we could barely keep in stock. Their sound a warped blend of epic sweeping shoegazey buzz and warbly and raw soft black noise, that definitely hit the spot for all of us outsider black metal obsessives.
So we managed to get a second release from those guys, this one a split with the more ambient but equally dark and mysterious Spectral Lore, who just so happens to be the guy who runs Stellar Auditorium, and whose haunting drift definitely compliments Underjordiska's blown out buzz. Although here even moreso, as Underjordiska try something a little more abstract and ambient.
Once again, incredible packaging, full color, very striking, but still weirdly, the disc itself remains a cd-r, this one limited to 300 copies, each one hand numbered. Two tracks, one from each band, both 30 minutes plus!
Underjordiska is up first, their track begins with the sound of waves crashing, gulls, all beneath a delicate drift of clean guitar, the sounds of the surf soon fade out, while in their place a strange assemblage of buzz and hiss, and spacey effects all swirl and swoop, the sound growing more metallic, more alien, more chaotic, before slipping back into a swirling morass of churning black low end, and softly muted buzz, a droning crawl, laced with bits of crunch and rumble, becoming gradually more and more minimal, until the sound is all hushed and delicate and almost static, barring some delicate melodic fragments drifting through the darkness. The band build on that minimal foundation, finally adding guitars, and creating a sort of stop motion doom-ic black buzz, layers of droning buzzing guitars seeming to hover and slowly drift into one another playing out some grim melody, but very very very slowly, before the guitars slip away, and the track ends with an almost choral sounding outro.
Spectral Lore start out with some downtuned guitars, a noisy bit of distorted riffage, making us think for a moment that we may have gotten the two tracks mixed up, but soon those guitars are smoothed out into a deep subterranean crawl, distant shimmering strings, deep low end drift, with the guitars resurfacing here and there, offering up a squall of crumbling crunch or jagged chug, before slipping back under, the distant drones sounding like some sort of Italian horror soundtrack, getting weirdly Goblin-y at one point, before dissipating in a flurry of delay and reverb, leaving just overtones, overlapping and layered, whirring and effulgent, giving way to a weirdly jazzy mini-jam outro, set in a slowly fading sea of hiss, that becomes the sound of water once again, revisiting the first few moments of the Underjordiska track.
Both groups offer up truly strange sonic journeys, mysterious, haunting, otherworldly, meditative and tranquil, but unstable, unpredictable, crafting long stretches of dark ambience, muted shoegazey guitars, deep cavernous drones, crumbling blackened riffage, hushed shimmer, all twisted and transformed, and woven into these mesmerizing alien landscapes...
MPEG Stream: UNDERJORDISKA "Part I"
MPEG Stream: SPECTRAL LORE "Part II"

UTARM / SADNESS SATURN split (Chrysalis Of Matter) cassette 8.98
Ultra limited split between these two experimental black metal entities. Sadness Saturn is one of the guys behind aQ faves Servile Sect, whose most recent release just got re-issued on vinyl via Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace label, and Utarm is a one man band from Norway; the two square off on this split cassette tape.
Utarm are up first, and the sound is more doom than black, the programmed drums a monstrous pound, the music a soaring epic swell of synths, not guitars, or maybe they're super processed guitars, either way, the sound is really unique, reminds us a bit of Gnaw Their Tongues, a sort of cinematic depressive blackness, less about blasting buzz, than dramatic lurching mystery, plenty of strangled tortured heaviness, abstract ambience, everything rife with glitch and skree, the vocals a tortured wail, all wreathed in a blackened haze, raw and in the red and super intense and harrowing.
Sadness Saturn traffic in something much more raw and grim, unlike the glistening alien drone drenched blackness of Servile Sect, the sound here is a pounding black murk, the vocals and guitars nearly indistinguishable, all wound around each other like a single cloud of muted black buzz, the drums relentless and machinelike, but buried within SS's cavernous lo-fi crush, are haunting melodies, soaring and epic, the riffs, after repeated listens seem to crystallize, become much more intense and emotional, transforming simple black metal into something strangely melodic and abstract, but still plenty black and grim.
Incredible packaging, printed black and white fold out covers with the band logos printed in extra glossy black ink, the tape case housed in a hand assembled slipcover, hand screened with a super striking, and super evil sigil.
LIMITED TO 100 COPIES. We have about 15, probably the last ones we'll ever get...

V/A Cambodian Rocks (original version on Parallel World) (Parallel World) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Previously issued a while back only on vinyl, "Cambodian Rocks" - now on CD - presents a handful of unknown (to the point that no artist names or track titles are given) Cambodian garage bands from the late 60s and early 70s. The liner notes explain that the compiler (s/he is also anonymous) picked up a bunch of random tapes while in Cambodia and put this together of the best tracks from those tapes. For those who are entranced by the psychedelic exotica found in the "Love, Peace, and Poetry" series, "Cambodian Rocks" makes an exceptional companion. For the most part this compilation is dominated by really good fuzzed out organ / guitar garage rich with understandably crappy production. But along with the garage cuts, there's a track of incredibly unfunky James Brown mimicry that make the Make Up's theatrical irony seem even more insincere than they really are. Appropriated dancehall groove/stomps with Cambodian instead of Jamaican overtones. But the highlight is the appearance of the female led garage band who were featured on the Asian Psychedelic chapter of the "Love, Peace, and Poetry" series. Greasy garage rock not far from the Count Five or the Seeds but with reverb drenched female vocals that hits high notes rarely found even on Bollywood sountracks. Totally essential.

V/A Disco Deutschland Disco (Marina) cd 16.98
Oh how we've adored the Germans' take on various musical styles over the years, and we're not just talking about their obvious kosmiche krautrock brilliance. No, it's German musicmakers' handling of the more unexpected genres that have deepened our love affair tenfold. The hip '60s kitten heeled go-go pop of the In-Kraut compilations? The spaghetti (er, sauerkraut?) westerns of the Wig Wam Weste(r)n Weisse Wolfe collections? Yes and yes! Those two genres are unquestionably more commonly associated with French chanteuses and American cowboys, so the unmistakable German inflections that surface always make for a delightful twist on the familiar.
Now Marina Records, who brought us those In-Kraut comps, takes it (or is it retakes it?) to the dancefloor with this compilation of German disco and funk music circa 1975 thru 1980. They're not messin' around. This is straight-up boogie wonderland business. Awesome.
Some highlights include the 8+ minute Supermax track, a lowdown I'm so sexy unstoppable groover... the Giorgio Moroder studio band Munich Machine's classic "Get On The Funk Train"... and a disco-era hit from In-Kraut alumnus Peter Thomas and his Sound Orchestra... among 15 other mainly killer, glitterball dazzlers. Now, if the weird thing is, this isn't really that weird. Heck disco's even back "in" now. Don't go expecting krautrocky craziness, instead just get yer dancing shoes on and yer ass in gear. Seriously, this has been getting spun in the store by AQ staffers just as much or more than anything else lately, and when it's on we've been getting our work done with just a little more groove.
Includes a 14-page booklet of informative liner notes, with such interestin' tidbits as that Berry Lipman's track "Sex World" was used as the theme song for an American porno film, but originated as an instrumental from the German sci-fi TV series Star Maidens...
MPEG Stream: SUPERMAX "Love Machine"
MPEG Stream: LIPMAN, BERRY "Sex World"
MPEG Stream: PETER THOMAS SOUND ORCHESTRA "Opium"

V/A !Policia! (Militia Group) cd 15.98
We reviewed the totally amazing metal-pop-punk of Fallout Boy last list and casually mentioned one of the bonus tracks, a super revved up metallic version of the Police's "Roxanne" not knowing that right around the corner was this compilation of even more Police covers by other of-the-moment emo / metallic pop punk / indie rock outifts. With compilations like this, there is so much potential for suck, but thankfully this here disc is about 90 percent cream. It helps that the Police were an amazing band, and wrote totally brilliant songs. So it's nice to hear different (some drastically) versions of some of those classics. Obviously Fallout Boy's "Roxanne" is a killer, souped up and WAY heavier, but there's also Limbeck's gorgeous and twangy countrified version of "So Lonely", a killer version of "Truth Hits Everybody" by Motion City Soundtrack, and probably the coolest weirdest track on here, Maxeen doing the classic Police b-side "Murder By Numbers", turning it into a creepy new wave epic, with fuzzy synths, high Shellac like guitar parts, and lots of weird dynamics. So good. The rest of the comp is rounded out by bands doing fairly faithful renditions (usually a bit heavier or faster) with only a few cringeworthy 'ballads' to speak of. Been listening to this non stop. As good as it is, it did have us pulling out our old Police records too!
MPEG Stream: MAXEEN "Murder By Numbers"
MPEG Stream: LIMBECK "So Lonely"
MPEG Stream: MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK "Truth Hits Everybody"

V/A (1.8) sec. compilation ((1.8) sec. Records) 12" 16.98
Very high concept compilation, wherein each artist submitted a 1.8 second (!) loop to be used as a locked groove. The loops were then randomly paired up with other artists on the comp. The only limitation to what each artist could create was that their song would end with another artist's locked groove! Phew.
The contributors are Taylor Deupree, Tim Hecker, Roel Meelkop, Duul_Drv, Richard Chartier, Mitchell Akiyama, Kim Cascone and 3x3is9. Glitchy and dreamy, noisy and skittery experimental electronic weirdness. Pretty cool. SUPER LIMITED to 500, hand numbered, on white vinyl and gorgeously creepy cover art.

V/A (K-raa-k)3 Festival Sampler 2002 ((K-RAA-K)3) cd 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Produced in conjunction with a sizeable festival held earlier this year in Belgium, this compilation features a number of exclusive / rare tracks from the artists in attendance, including Main, Oren Ambarchi, Ekkehard Ehlers, David Grubbs, Alog, Vibracathedral Orchestra, Benjamin Franklin, It & My Computer, Twine, Alog, Wio, Toss, and John David, V (who may be the same John from the AQ-favorite 26 project, and now spends his time in the new wave project Glass Candy). K-Raa-K - with their solid spectrum of avant-rock, hazy-improv, and electro-glitch etherealism - continues to be a really interesting label.
RealAudio clip: ALOG "Dogdive"
RealAudio clip: MAIN "Maelstrom"
RealAudio clip: JOHN DAVID, V "Untitled / Sixth Movement 1997"

V/A (Sic) The Broklyn Beats 7" Series (Broklyn Beats) cd 14.98
This comp collects all those super limited, super fierce 7" released on the Broklyn Beats label over the last year or so. Features tracks from AQ fave DJ/Rupture, Godspeed side project 1-Speed Bike, as well as Doily, Criterion, Rotator, Broklyn Beast, I-Sound, and Donna Summer. All over the place and all of it great, from pummeling speaker shredding dancehall to sliced and diced collage-noise to big beats and beyond.
RealAudio clip: DJ /RUPTURE "Rumbo Babylon"
RealAudio clip: 1-SPEED BIKE "I'm A Pretzel On A Stealth Mission To Kill The President"
RealAudio clip: DONNA SUMMER "Popxplosion"

V/A (Triskaidekaphobia) 13,000.00 Milliseconds (Ratskin Records) cd 6.98
This mind bending comp back in stock again!
You know those Sublime Frequencies "Radio" compilations we love so much, the ones that just sound like someone sitting in a hotel room in another country flipping stations on the radio and recording the results. Well imagine a similar compilation, but in this case, the listener/recorder has an extreme case of ADD, and is flipping between some insane non existent all avant freaked out noise satellite radio station and all the strange little non-stations you discover when you're driving across the country, flipping through the dials at 4am. Little chunks of beautiful pastoral sound, bursts of ear gouging static, voices, snippets of speeches, some crazy guy testifying, some country or classical music that is just out of range so the sound  is all skittery and blurred, delicate swaths of soft plinked piano, blasts of grinding deathmetal, talk radio, skittery rhythms, lots of textures and timbres, noises and melodies, most often swallowed up before they can develop into anything more than a fragment, than a partially formed musical thought, but that's sort of the point. This comp will definitely enrapturously engorge the ears of aural adventurers and noise devotees, but just might rattle the nerves of those less prepared. Despite the incredibly lengthy list of incredibly eclectic artists who participated in this brand new compilation titled (Triskaidekaphobia) 13,000.00 Milliseconds:
Venetian Snares, Matmos, Thrones, MGR, I Am Spoonbender, Wildildlife, David Scott Stone (Melvins), Blevin Blectum, Winters In Osaka, Leslie Keffer, Microwaves, Sword Heaven, To Live And Shave In L.A., Wobbly, The White Mice, Skozey Fetish, Brad Laner, Rubber O Cement, Bobb Bruno, Cock ESP, Panicsville, Otto Von Schirach, Crank Sturgeon, Deletist, Drums Like Machineguns, Valerio Cosi, Eats Tapes, Evil Moisture, No Doctors, Two Dead Sluts, One Good Fuck, Leslie Keffer and about a million more....
The nature of 215+ 13-second compositions strung together non-stop without room to take a breath pretty much ensures that this cd will be catalogued in most libraries and music shops in the experimental/noise section. Unfortunate really, since while it definitely has its share of earwax-dislodging aggressive assaults, it also has quite a few shining moments of artful sound design and subtle songcraft that defy genre-fication. And somehow, the bits of noise, and the bits of prettier sound, do balance out, almost seeming to play off one another, or at the very least, slowly seep into each other, helping form what is ultimately a constantly shifting somewhat schizophrenic sonic whole. It's an overwhelming and intense listening experience, another one for the iron eared, or at least the adventure eared, and while we just listened to the whole thing all the way through, for the third or fourth time, for some folks it might work better in smaller chunks, because admittedly for some tracks the 13 seconds seems like an eternity, while others fly by all too swiftly. That said, we just started it over again from the top...
MPEG Stream: "1 (Different Dentist / Beta CLoud / To Live And SHave In L.A.)"
MPEG Stream: "2 (Migrations In Rust / Deep Fried Radio Static / Rubber O Cement)"
MPEG Stream: "3 (I Am Spoonbender / I Think I Did Something Wrong)"
MPEG Stream: "4 (Neon Leather Drip / Big Epoch Feat. Bizzart)"
MPEG Stream: "5 (Cheap Machines / Animal Hospital / Beneya Vs. Clark Nova)"

V/A ... (Edition...) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This curiously titled compilation from Edition... doesn't want to make the process of uncovering its intentions and potential meanings an easy task, by obscuring the context of how this is to be heard, read, investigated, etc. Edition... has packaged this compilation as a digipack, complete with luminously eerie photographs that are grainier versions of Todd Hido or Dianne Jones (who has shot all of the Tarentel covers, amongst other projects) and absolutely no text. All of the liner notes have been compressed onto one of those circular pieces of paper that fits behind the cd itself and is normally filled with obnoxious marketing questions, only to end up in the trash instead of the post. But it would be wise not to dispose of that enigmatic piece of paper, as there you will learn that Colin Potter, Monos, Hazard, Jliat, M. Behrens, Toy Bizarre, Jio Shimizu, and Steven Lance Ledbetter have all contributed to this compilation. Such a line-up situates this "..." within the area of dronologist investigations, transforming shortwave, field recordings, very specific frequency modulations, and organ fans into eerie drone pieces that hover between contemplative and unnerving. Interspersed within these tracks, Edition... has included straight field recordings of errata in shortwave transmissions, fragments from SETI research, and data retreived from seismic sensors after nuclear tests in India in 1998. These very specific references are tenuously linked to the realm of the conspiracy theory. Regardless of how all of these elements are supposed to appear, this compilation makes for a great listen from begining to end.
RealAudio clip: NUCLEAR TEST FROM INDIA "11 May 1998"
RealAudio clip: TOY BIZARRE "kdi dctb 066b"
RealAudio clip: HAZARD "Rotation Evident"
RealAudio clip: MONOS "Glacier"

V/A ...E Tu Vivrai Nel Terrore (Black Widow) 2cd + book 29.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Here's the weird Italian label Black Widow's massive double cd tribute to horror cinema (Italian and otherwise) featuring an international array of psych/prog acts: Ars Nova, Claudio Simonetti of Goblin, Humus, Northwinds, the Bevis Frond, Nekropolis, Morte Macabre, Tenebre, Malombra, Standarte, Sundial, and many many more. Some bands cover movie themes, others write songs *about* favorite films... An eerie and atmospheric homage to the likes of The Omen, Psychomania, Suspiria, The Devils, The Exorcist, etc. AND, to really make the mouth water, this comes with an really nice 80 page softcover book with essays about the horror movie genre (directors, films) and details on each band's contribution. It's an Italian import, and we don't have many...

V/A .AIFF (12K) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Compiling the experimental / minimal / synthetic realms of post-techno from the more dancefloor friendly pulses of Taylor Dupree and Kim Rapatti (whose track is an exceptionally good variant of Sahko's frigid melodies of bleeps set against a skeletal structure of techno beats) to the more piercing sinewave modulations of Komet (Raster Music), Goem (Korm Plastics, Mego) and *O (whose pure tones are some of the most head rattling noises this side of Ryoji Ikeda). All of the tracks are previously unreleased.

V/A 0161 (Skam) cd 19.98
After licensing the "Skampler" to Silent Records, Skam has issued an excellent collection of Manchester's finest beat-heavy electronica. Following the leads set by Autechre (recording here as Gescom), the artists include Bola, Jega, Audiomontage, The Fall (yes, Mark E. Smith does electronica!) and more... The only e-music record in a long time that's good enough to excite Jim!

V/A 1-8 Split Series (Fat Cat) cd 14.98
Fat Cat Records has so far released 10 of their acclaimed split 12"s featuring a medley of engaging tracks from electronica technicians, dronologists, noise makers, and pranksters. This cd collects 11 of the tracks which had been featured on the series, with contributions from Third Eye Foundation, Gescom vs. Ad Vanz, Chasm (aka Robert Hampson of Main), James Plotkin, Merzbow, Foehn (who has contributed some of the finest dronework that few have heard!), Team Doyobi, V/VM, Speedranch & Janski Noise, and Req. Sadly the brilliant darkness from Anthony Child / Andrew Read didn't made it on the compilation, as was the same fate for a track claimed to be done by Pole (which turned out to be a fabrication of Pole's electronica dub and forced Fat Cat to order the destruction of the pressing, thus making the James Plotkin track pretty much exclusive to this cd).

V/A 10 Tons Heavy (Planet Mu) 2cd 13.98

V/A 100% Dynamite (Soul Jazz) cd 21.00

V/A 100% Dynamite (Soul Jazz) 2lp 24.00

V/A 12" / 80s (Family Recordings) 3cd 28.00
Back in the '80s there was an abundance of dance pop 12"s coming out of the UK. Seemed that any ol' song could be hoisted up to dancefloor hit heights via the wonders of the extended mix (or if you prefer: the long version, 12" mix, long mix, discotheque, mixe plurale, dancing remixes et al). Nothing like spending a little more time spinnin' around the dancefloor (or hoppin' about in your bedroom) with your fave songs, eh? This triple cd set corrals some of the most inescapable 12"s and shows just how much of a musical mixed bag the '80s were. If you were born anytime before 1979, most if not all of these tracks will ring a bell (perhaps for some a louder, more garrish bell than others). Each disc contains twelve tracks each, which if you do the math, adds up to thirty six different 12"s (or 432 inches)! Although that barely scratches the surface, the compilation does hit the '80s nostalgia button with alarming accuracy -- from the impossibly vapid (Stephen 'Tin Tin' Duffy's "Kiss Me", Curiosity Killed The Cat's "Down To Earth" and Animotion's "Obsession" ) to the absolutely delicious (Soft Cell's "Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go" and Fun Boy Three's "Our Lips Are Sealed") to the classic (Siouxsie And The Banshees' "Spellbound", Talk Talk's "It's My Life", The Cure's "A Forest" and Bauhaus' "She's In Parties"). You also get ABC, Spandau Ballet, Human League, Yazoo, Kid Creole & The Coconuts, Propaganda, Hipsway, Aztec Camera, Tom Tom Club, The Passions, Pete Wylie, Japan, Blow Monkeys, Simply Red, Simple Minds, Monsoon, The Icicle Works, Tears For Fears, Lloyd Cole, Visage, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Jam, Black, Man Parrish, Scritti Politti and Grace Jones... did we/they miss anybody? Hmmm, the only glaring omissions we've come up with are Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Blancmange, Wang Chung... uh oh, maybe we should stop now. You'll probably find (as we did) that some of these songs that you adored so throughly back in the day have aged far less gracefully than others. Some are downright cringe-inducing (yikes, did I really like THAT!?). For one thing, there's enough of those whiteboy soul affectations here to sink a rather large teakettle. Nevertheless, sure to satisfy even your most insatiable '80s craving! (Pssst, as we write this, Deborah 'Debbie' Gibson is taking the stage at Cafe Du Nord here in SF!)
MPEG Stream: SOFT CELL "Tainted Love / Where Did Our Love Go"
MPEG Stream: JONES, GRACE "Pull Up To The Bumper"

V/A 12k 1008 (12K) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The second compilation from Taylor Deupree's label of electronic glitch sterility features the now standard line up of Richard Chartier, *O, Tetsu Inoue, Kim Cascone, and Goem, with some fresh blood from Komet, Surge, Miki Yui, and Shuttle 358. Can't really say how this varies from last week's collection of "inaudible tones and ear-itching stereo tactics," but if you're into that sort of thing, like we are...

V/A 156 Strings (Cuneiform) cd 14.98
Inspired by past compilations of avant-garde guitar explorations assembled by John Fahey and Fred Frith, the Bay Area's own well-known guitar experimentalist Henry Kaiser has put together this collection of acoustic solos by many of today's most amazing guitar innovators, 19 of 'em in fact: Duck Baker, Stefan Basho-Junghans, Raoul Bjorkenheim, Jean-Paul Bourelly, Nels "AQ Loves Me" Cline, Janet Feder, Fred Frith, Michael Gulezian, Richard Leo Johnson, Mike Keneally, Peter Lang, Scott McGill, Shawn Persinger is Prester John, Rod Poole, Gyan Riley, Miroslav Tadic, Richard Thompson, U Tin, and Kaiser himself (hey, why no Eugene Chadbourne?). These guys (yeah, they're all guys except for Ms. Feder, but what can you do?) hail from around the world and have unique, personal approaches to playing.
Moods here range from the pastoral idyll of Brit folkie Thompson to the minimalist soundscaping of Frith, from the faux-raga like slide work of Bjorkenheim to the authentically Robbie Basho-like exotica of U Tin, from the country pickin' of Lang to the percussive melodicism of Bourelly, from the scraping drone-folk of Feder (we want to hear more!) to the repetitive trance-induction of Rod Poole, from the sprightly, jazzish jingle of Persinger to the melancholic classical playing of Gyan Riley. The disc ends with Steffen Basho-Junghan's epic, experimental, fucked up but lovely sounding "Part 1 from the Virgin Orchestra No.1", a piece that Kaiser cites as the cornerstone of this comp. And it's the pretty great finale to this gorgeous, fascinating album.
Kaiser intends "156 Strings" to highlight those carrying on the work of iconoclastic instrumental steel-string guitar pioneers like Fahey, Basho and Kottke, a tradition driven underground by the more commerical, less challenging New Age guitar genre those same folks helped create.
Also, funnily enough, a portion of the proceeds from the sales of this comp go to benefit H.E.A.R. (Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers). Don't worry, there's no need for earplugs with this one!
RealAudio clip: GYAN RILEY "Eyes of Orion"
RealAudio clip: MICHAEL GULEZIAN "Plook The Asbestos Lobster"
RealAudio clip: JANET FEDER "Lightning Strikes"
RealAudio clip: STEFFEN BASHO-JUNGHANS "Part 1 from the Virgin Orchestra No.1"

V/A 19 Ways To Avoid The Draft (Airborne Virus / Mar/ino) cd 14.98
A joint release between new labels Airborne Virus and Mar/ino, an imprint of Michigan's Elsie and Jack label (they released an Aube cd and the Tabata solo record some time ago). Features tracks by 555 artists Empress, Steward and Halkyn as well as many others including Electroscope, Gang Wizard, Minmae and cLOUDDEAD. An odd collection, for sure. Be sure to check out Mar/ino's new, limited-run releases by Kawabata Makoto and Outerdrive!

V/A 1970's Algerian Proto-Rai Underground (Sublime Frequencies) cd 16.98
Another out of print, previously vinyl only Sublime Frequencies gem gets a long overdue cd reissue. We wanted to make this a Record Of The Week when the lp first came out, but there are still so many folks out there sans turntable, we figured we oughta just wait for the cd, and now it's here, so we can indeed finally lavish this record with the Record Of The Week honors it so totally deserves.
Yet another winner from Sublime Frequencies (have they ever released a loser? We think not). And like many of the Sublime Frequencies before it, we find it hard to not think that maybe folks don't need to be making so much music, releasing so many records, when so much amazing outrageously creative music is already being and has been made all over the world, for so long, much of it never heard outside of a very few people. Maybe we should have some sort of national policy, where bands can turn in their instruments, and in exchange get a recorder, a plane ticket, and an expense account, with which they can roam the world bringing back some of that unheard and lost music. Heck, sign us up right now!
Anyway, this new release is a collection of Rai music from the early seventies, from Algeria, and these particular cuts are samples of some of the sort of "outlaw" Rai performers, a modern strain that has been neglected and ignored, and takes this classic Algerian music form, and adds electric guitar, trumpets, wah wah pedal, and whips it all up into an infectious brew equal parts Ethiopiques, Bollywood and garage rock. Or something close to that. This stuff is truly hard to describe, and the liner notes, while informative, are printed on an eye popping blue on red old school 3-D colored background which makes the text swim and sway before your eyes. And offer more on the history and the players than what Rai music actually is (there's a good description on Wikipedia). But for the purpose of this review, as it should be, we'll just focus on the sound. And what a sound!
Warm whirring organ drones, trumpets EVERYWHERE, really the defining sound, wild chaotic tribal drumming, crooned dramatic vocals, groovy, soulful, funky, raw and lo-fi, like a garage rock Ethiopiques, but with a strangely raw Bollywood vibe, the trumpets peppering the murky grooves with strange fanfares and jazzy melodies, here and there distorted guitars surface, wrapped in wah wah, reverb and echo all over the place, some songs super frenzied, others laid back and dreamy, Indian melodies draped over almost surfy grooves, really pretty fantastic. Hard to imagine that folks who have been digging all the Sublime Frequencies releases, or the Yaala Yaala reissues won't go crazy for this stuff.
Group Doueh, Group Inerane, and now this, a pretty mind blowing, near perfect, far out world music three-fer, and that's not even counting the 30+ release that came before. ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED.
MPEG Stream: BELLEMOU & BENFISSA "Li Maandouche L'Auto"
MPEG Stream: GROUPE EL AZHAR "Mazal Nesker Mazal"
MPEG Stream: GROUPE EL AZHAR "Touedar Aakli"

V/A 1970's Algerian Proto-Rai Underground (Sublime Frequencies) lp 27.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another winner from Sublime Frequencies. And while we made sure to stress that past "vinyl-only" were indeed vinyl only, lately, those vinyl releases have been slowly making it to cd. BUT, for the vinyl folks out there, these do disappear fast, and fetch big bucks on eBay once they're gone, so you're not gonna want to snooze on this one. Listening to this again, now, for maybe the 20th time in 2 days, it's becoming clear we'll probably have to make this a Record Of The Week as soon as it comes out on cd, but for now, even though it's only a highlight, it really couldn't be more of a MUST OWN.
And like many of the Sublime Frequencies before it, we find it hard to not think that maybe folks don't need to be making so much music, releasing so many records, when so much amazing outrageously creative music is already being and has been made all over the world, for so long, much of it never heard outside of a very few people. Maybe we should have some sort of national policy, where bands can turn in their instruments, and in exchange get a recorder, a plane ticket, and an expense account, with which they can roam the world bringing back some of that unheard and lost music. Heck, sign us up right now!
Anyway, this new release is a collection of Rai music from the early seventies, from Algeria, and these particular cuts are samples of some of the sort of "outlaw" Rai performers, a modern strain that has been neglected and ignored, and takes this classic Algerian music form, and adds electric guitar, trumpets, wah wah pedal, and whips it all up into an infectious brew equal parts Ethiopiques, Bollywood and garage rock. Or something close to that. This stuff is truly hard to describe, and the liner notes, while informative, are printed on an eye popping blue on red old school 3-D colored background which makes the text swim and sway before your eyes. And offer more on the history and the players than what Rai music actually is (there's a good description on Wikipedia). But for the purpose of this review, as it should be, we'll just focus on the sound. And what a sound!
Warm whirring organ drones, trumpets EVERYWHERE, really the defining sound, wild chaotic tribal drumming, crooned dramatic vocals, groovy, soulful, funky, raw and lo-fi, like a garage rock Ethiopiques, but with a strangely raw Bollywood vibe, the trumpets peppering the murky grooves with strange fanfares and jazzy melodies, here and there distorted guitars surface, wrapped in wah wah, reverb and echo all over the place, some songs super frenzied, others laid back and dreamy, Indian melodies draped over almost surfy grooves, really pretty fantastic. Hard to imagine that folks who have been digging all the Sublime Frequencies releases, or the Yaala Yaala reissues won't go crazy for this stuff.
Group Doueh, Group Inerane, and now this, a pretty mind blowing, near perfect, far out world music three-fer, and that's not even counting the 30+ release that came before. ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED.
LIMITED TO 1500 COPIES, 180 gram vinyl, super thick gatefold sleeve, full color, with tons of photos and liner notes inside.

V/A 2 Many DJ's - As Heard On Radio Soulwax Pt. 2 (PIAS) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This disc is so great! It's an uninterrupted one hour mix, and it's one of the best I have ever heard. Stephen and David Dewaele, the two Belgian brothers who play in the band Soulwax plumbed their record collections for everything from totally obscure forgotten tracks to universally popular ones. One of the best pieces overlays Salt 'n Pepa singing "Push It" over The Stooges' "No Fun", which you may also have heard on the (now out-of-print) Best Bootlegs in the World comp. I find 2 Many DJs better than the best Bootlegs comp, actually, because [1] it's a perfectly sequenced smooth mix, all the tracks flow into the next, lots of overlap, and [2] it's not just popular hits being mashed up, it's gems from 2 very smart music fanatics' collections. I mean, who knew that Destiny's Child's theme to Charlie's Angels would work so well over Dolly Parton's "9 to 5", or that a Peaches chord progression's secret twin is a Velvet Underground song?
The endearingly simple 2 Many DJs website lists all the tracks used, along with juicy gossip about how hard or easy it was to get clearance for each one and tracks whose owners *refused* clearance. (If you're crafty you'll be able to find these tracks on the net as mp3s anyway -- I'm downloading the Skee-Lo/"Eye of the Tiger" mix right now.)
This is SO MUCH FUN. Look for it to go out of print sooner rather than later -- don't hesitate. Highly recommended.
RealAudio clip: "tracks 1-2 part 1"
RealAudio clip: "tracks 1-2 part 2"
RealAudio clip: "tracks 17-18"
RealAudio clip: "tracks 3-4"
RealAudio clip: "track 21"
RealAudio clip: "track 8"

V/A 20 Film and Stage Classics Jamaican Style (Trojan) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
I don't know if I have ever heard a bad Trojan compilation. Classic ska, rocksteady, and reggae versions of the theme from "Shaft", "Moon River," "The Magnificent Seven," "Summertime," "From Russia with Love," and more.

V/A 200% Dynamite (Soul Jazz) cd 21.00

V/A 200% Dynamite (Soul Jazz) 2lp 24.00

V/A 2000 Teenbeat Sampler (TeenBeat) cd 5.98
Teenbeat Records' sampler for the new millennium, featuring: Panax, The Rondelles, Flin Flon, Butch Willis & D Flat, Mark Borthwick/Holland, Versus, Phil Krauth and more. On each of the fifteen tracks here, you can definitely tell Teenbeat's kingpin Mark Robinson gave the thumbs up. Drifting laidback strumming (Versus), quirky-noisy lo-fi (Jonny Cohen & Co.), polished hook-laden pop (Panax). Indeed it may even be said that this compilation as a whole reflects Mr. Robinson's own extensive musical career. All this for a super low price.

V/A 23 Drifts To Guestling (Iham Products) cd 17.98

V/A 25 Years of Rough Trade Shops (Rough Trade / Mute) 4cd 30.00
It should be noted that this is a compilation to celebrate 25 years of Rough Trade SHOPS and NOT a retrospective of Rough Trade, the label. Having said that, this is a fine collection of independent music from the past 25 years. Featuring some rare and exclusive material, these four CDs cover the wide spectrum of independent music. Bands contributing: Buzzcocks, The Congos, Subway Sect, Television Personalities, Stiff Little Fingers, The Normal, Throbbing Gristle (!), Cabaret Voltaire, Pixies, Swell Maps, Joy Division, The Fall, Scritti Politti, Lee Perry, Cocteau Twins, The Smiths, The Birthday Party, Einsturzende Neubauten, Nick Cave, Sonic Youth, Sugarcubes, Le Tigre, Mudhoney, Coil, Stereolab, Mazzy Star, Chills, Gescom, Cornershop, Chemical Brothers, I Am Kloot, Studio Pressure, Spacemen 3, Talking Heads, Boards of Canada, Gak, Jeb Loy Nichols, Clinic, Huggy Bear, Peaches, Lemon Jelly, Ryan Adams, Tindersticks, Pere Ubu, Native Hipsters, Echoboy, Lambchop, and Young Marble Giants!

V/A 2XH vs. HHR Vol. 1 - Where Is My Robotic Boot? (Hydra Head) 2cd 14.98
This "co-operative venture" between the 2XH and Hydra Head Records labels (both divisions of the same company, in reality) brings together fifteen both relatively well-known and obscure names from both the worlds of current underground metal/grind and experimental electronic drone, spreading their darkness and dis-ease across two entire compact discs. On the first disc, dedicated to acts on the more 'experimental' 2XH imprint, we hear from Final, Shifts, Stephen O'Malley (of SUNNO))) and Khanate), Craig Dongoski, Tribes Of Neurot, Monotonos, Merzbow and Kid606. Indeed, no comp would be complete without a Kid606 contribution, so how about two? His typically crazed tracks bookend the calmer drones of the other 2XH entries, which range from ambient delay-scape of Monotonos to the heavy-duty noise of Merzbow (a good one!) to the shortwave voice sampling cacophony of Mr. Dongoski... We're pretty sure that anyone who liked that Record Of Shadows Infinite comp we reviewed last list will also enjoy these selections. Crossing over to the more metallic disc 2, Hydra Head's half of this, we enter a realm of spastic brutality. Most of the bands represented here, like Jan Michael Vincent Car Crash (who get two tracks like the Kid on disc 1), The Abandoned Hearts Club, The Austerity Program, Gezoleen, Phantomsmasher and Orthrelm -- are basically aggro, arty, ADD avant-metal, all pretty amazing stuff for those into the likes of Melt Banana and Fantomas... There's also a track from Khanate, doing "German Dental Work" live on WFMU, and though they're more of a creepy crawl than careening chaos, they still fit in there on this heavy and manic disc. So, which disc you like better may depend on your mood at the moment (or how you want your mood to be). Both are impressive and make us look forward to vol. 2 (wherein, also, maybe we'll be enlightened about this robotic boot business). Graphically, this disc's artwork is suitably glitchy, computery and dense looking, and the liner notes -- by our own Jim Haynes -- quite adequately explain the aesthetic represented by these two labels and the bands on these two discs.
MPEG Stream: STEPHEN O'MALLEY "Gui-Fang"
MPEG Stream: JAN MICHAEL VINCENT CAR CRASH "North London Book Of The Dead"

V/A 300% Dynamite (Soul Jazz) cd 21.00
Truly dynamite! Yes, it's sooo very true. The third volume of this Soul Jazz Records series is exactly that from start to finish. An extensive array of sounds from Jamaica: ska, dancehall, soul, rocksteady, calypso, funk, and dub. It's all here. The 15 tracks here feature the likes of Prince Buster, Lee Perry, Augustus Pablo, Sister Nancy, Byron Lee, Jackie Mittoo, and more! We also have the first and second volumes ("100%" and "200%") in the series, also great (and also $17.98).

V/A 300% Dynamite (Soul Jazz) 2lp 24.00
Truly dynamite! Yes, it's sooo very true. The third volume of this Soul Jazz Records series is exactly that from start to finish. An extensive array of sounds from Jamaica: ska, dancehall, soul, rocksteady, calypso, funk, and dub. It's all here. The 15 tracks here feature the likes of Prince Buster, Lee Perry, Augustus Pablo, Sister Nancy, Byron Lee, Jackie Mittoo, and more! We also have the first and second volumes ("100%" and "200%") in the series, also great (and also $17.98).

V/A 33 RPM: Ten Hours of Sound from France (23five) cd 14.98
With a government that legitimately funds the arts, France has long been at the forefront of sound art, electronic music, and experimentation in general. This tradition began with the inception of INA GRM, a pioneering institution dedicated to advancements in sound experimentation. While the most lasting contribution INA GRM offers is the Musique Concrete experiments of Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henri, an impressive list of composers have passed through the INA GRM studios, including Eliane Radigue, Luc Ferrari, Bernard Parmegiani, and Michel Chion. However, the impact of INA GRM has been a blessing and a curse for French sound art, as its institutionality offers impeccable facilities and opportunities to those following the program, while marginalizing those who fall outside of its aesthetics and ideals. The historical splinters and fluctuations of French sound art has not gone unnoticed, as Laurent Dailleau organized the third co-presentation between 23five and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The result of Dailleau's efforts was a 10 hour listening room experience, presenting historical material dating back to the early 1950s.
The CD compendium of 33 RPM celebrates the contemporary models that French composers have employed in response to the historical influences of INA GRM. The artists featured on 33 RPM include Kasper T. Toeplitz, Kristoff K. Roll, Jean-Claude Risset, Lionel Marchetti, Christophe Havel, Laurent Dailleau, Mathieu Chamagne, pizMO, Jean-Phillipe Gross, and Mimetic. Armed with current tools of DSP factories and Max-MSP patches, this selection of French artists tends to concentrate on the acousmatic ends of the electro-acoustic spectrum. As with the two previous 23five / SFMOMA presentations, 33 RPM is a great collection.
MPEG Stream: KASPER T. TOEPLITZ "PURR #2"
MPEG Stream: LIONEL MARCHETTI "A Rebours"
MPEG Stream: JEAN-PHILIPPE GROSS "Gris Epais"