SINGH, TALVIN / CHAURASIA RAKESH Vira (Sona Rupa) cd 13.98
The title of this album "Vira" translates to 'Brotherhood", and although these two men are not related by blood, they certainly are connected in music. These recordings are of a single completely improvised performance by Singh on tabla and Chaurasia on flute. It's actually mostly Chaurasia on very new age-y flute. Singh is present much less, and his performance is completely unlike his solo electronic Anokha material. Decent, but I can't help thinking that this is the kind of typical music usually playing in yoga studios when you're bent over in downward dog, wishing they'd put on Boards of Canada instead.
RealAudio clip: "Meeting "
RealAudio clip: "Heaven"

SINGLE UNIT Family Of Forces (Jester) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Song title of the week: 'antlers! antlers! antlers!'
Single Unit is a Norwegian visual artist that also makes some truly freaked out electronic music. 'Family of Forces' is his exploration of hardcore, electronica, and metal! Well, sort of metal, at least moreso than most of the more recent Jester offerings. Imagine a black metal record, a Mr. Bungle record, or even a Zappa record, chopped to pieces and reassembled into some sort of insane electronic video game music with sampled chugging metal guitars, industrial roars, and all manner of bleeping and blipping, that form hypnotically hiccupping plunderphonic metal or maniacal droned out washes of bells and hums and whirring feedback! Partially composed, partially improvised, Single Unit mixes buzzing chiming childlike lullabies with technical and impossibly unplayable experimental metal ala Melt Banana, Meshuggah or Strapping Young Lad. Weird and GREAT.
RealAudio clip: "Moving In Caves, Enter Abstract"
RealAudio clip: "5th Cumming"
RealAudio clip: "Tremolo Confidence"

SINNEPLAKKEN s/t (Time Released Sound) cd 12.98
One of six records which were originally part of a multi part release from local label Time Released Sound, whose releases are initially presented as deluxe hand crafted art editions, which we carry when we can, but in the case of this series, dubbed the 'chocolate box' series, which found each record pressed onto 3" cd-r's and packaged in a mini chocolate box, every box hand assembled, and every one different, the set had a seriously hefty price tag, and sold out super quick anyway, so while we weren't able to get our hands on the deluxe versions, thankfully the records were also available as proper cds in more modest packaging. We already reviewed the first two installments on the last New Arrivals List, Taskerlands and David Newlyn, and this week, we have the other four.
One of which is this one, from Sinneplakken, a quartet who have crafted a gorgeous bit of electronic flecked ambient minimalism that is thematically focused on the history of the Frisian Islands (!), which comes in the form of a few spoken word passages which feature Frisian poetry (!), however, the music itself is quite compelling, rhythmic and spare, but somehow lush and lovely as well, deep pulsations, chiming bell like melodies, muted strummed guitars, spidery minor key melodies, lush swells, swirls of electronic shimmer, blurred effects and random bits of percussion, field recordings, delicate pianos, streaks of static, subtle bits of barely there drumming, wheezing organs, sitar-like buzz, and stretched out almost raga-like drones, soft squalls of psychedelic guitar buzz, shards of feedback, all woven into a strange series of soundscapes, that slip from barely there haunting abstract minimal folk drift, to almost post rock slow build smolder. Quite cool.
LIMITED TO 150 COPIES!!
MPEG Stream: "Oanspielt (Washed Ashore)"
MPEG Stream: "Tsjindiel (Opposite)"

SISTOL s/t (Phthalo) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This NON-cd-r release from the outsider electronica label Phthalo is the work of Vladislav Delay, recording here as Sistol. After his exemplary Chain Reaction releases, this Finnish technician tightens up his techno minimalism to terse glitchy noises within rigid beats, certainly for fans of Thomas Brinkmann.

SISTOL (VLADISLAV DELAY) Remasters & Remakes (Phthalo / Halo Cyan) 2cd 14.98
We had thought that Sistol was more or less a one-off project for Sasu Ripatti, the Finnish electronic producer better known as Vladislav Delay. The pioneering label Phthalo released an eponymous album back in 1999 as one of the first properly replicated discs after a slew of hand-duplicated cd-r releases. But for whatever reason, Sistol has resurfaced with this reissue of that 1999 album, buttressed by a second disc of remixes. Where Vladislav Delay's work has been a rather painterly smear of granular abstractions dotted upon a loose definition of the Chain Reaction rhythmic sensibility, Sistol has all of its sprockets engineered for a finely tuned precision. It's a very skeletal techno sound here, with a 909 kick drum pulse driving every track without much use for snares or hi-hats. Within this monophunk pulsation, Ripatti scatters small patterns of wooden electrical clacks and pings that again eschew most everything that could be construed as a melody. The insistence of the rhythm and the accretion of the pixel points settles into some curiously infectious grooves, although we'd be hard pressed to find this working on a dancefloor given how incredibly minimal this stuff is. The more austere moments of Thomas Brinkmann definitely come to mind as do the Wolfgang Voigt productions as Studio One, recorded about the same time as these cuts.
The bonus disc of remixes features John Tejada, Mike Huckaby, DMX Krew, Sutekh, Alva Noto, and like-minded techno types fleshing out Sistol's hyperminimal tracks with smooth Detroit / Berlin syncopations and darkened cybernetics. Given how minimal Sistol's work was, adding anything else completely changes the complexion of the original. Nevertheless, there are some mighty fine techno cuts to be found here. The noted exception to the techno offerings can be found in the remix from Ike Yard (yes, the recently reformed bleak No New York band with zombified leanings towards Cabaret Voltaire sounding very much like an updated version of themselves).
MPEG Stream: "Hac"
MPEG Stream: "Kojo"
MPEG Stream: "Nuomo (Ike Yard's Metalli Tulitta Remix)"
MPEG Stream: "Keno (Mike Huckaby S Y N T H Remix)"
MPEG Stream: "Hac (Alva Noto Remodel)"

SIXTOO Chewing On Glass And Other Miracle Cures (Ninja Tune) cd 15.98
It's been a little while since we heard from Sixtoo, and in the meantime he's somehow found his way on to Ninja Tune which considering his new direction isn't all that bad a match. Chewing On Glass is Sixtoo's attempt at making a real record, with composed and played music, using real players and real instruments. Sure it's all tweaked and chopped in the ol' computer, but this still definitely sounds sweetly organic. Gorgeously spaced out, laid back and slightly creepy downtempo hip hop flecked electronica ala Endtroducing. Warm and languid Rhodes piano, stuttering sleepy beatscapes, spy movie strings, big booming live drums, huge thumping basslines, occasionally late night and jazzy, but always dark and funky. Sounds a bit like a DJ Shadow record on Anticon. Tons of liner notes, all unfortunately very dry and technical and of very little interest to most of the headz who just want to throw this on and chill out. Guest vocals on one track from Can's Damo Suzuki, who whispers, and sort of speaks (apparently improvising in the studio) along with a fierce hiccupping, super-reverbed rhythm over a dark sultry backdrop of ambient fuzz and sinister buzz. So good.
MPEG Stream: "Old Days Architecture"
MPEG Stream: "Snake Bite"

SIZE, RONI/REPRAZENT In The Mode (Island) cd 16.98

SKALPEL Konfusion (Ninja Tune) 2cd 15.98
Skapel are two electronic musicans from Poland who do an incredible sample/cut/paste job with some obscure and anonymous (to us) '70 Eastern European jazz LPs being used for their sound sources. This duo is right on in their constructions built from mellow bass grooves, funky drum loops, glistening vibes, horn vamps, snatches of soulful female vox, etc., generating a head-nodding, smokey, noir-ish atmosphere of breakbeat jazz plunderphonica. Imagine an extremely jazz-oriented DJ Shadow and you'd be close... DJ Shadow meets '70s Miles Davis or Herbie Hancock maybe. Throw some of David Shire's the Taking Of Pelham 1-2-3 soundtrack in there too. As with Shadow, these tracks are built from other folks' records but stand on their own, the edits all flowing, the samples (including some record crackle to hint at their origin) integrated seamlessly, such that you might be fooled into thinking you were listening to the product of a real live band of musicans actually all playing together at the same time and place... though some electronic manipulation and looping will clue you otherwise. Still, there's no wip-wip-wap turntablism going on to get in the way of the music and mood. Really nice (though you've gotta like jazz of course). And it certainly makes us wish that the Skalpel guys would put together a compilation of Polish '70s fusion so we could check out the originals too!
The cd version of this comes with a bonus remix disc entitled 1958 Breaks, featuring remixes by Skalpel and others (Quantic, Dr. Rubberfunk, Backini, Paradowski, etc.) of stuff from Skalpel's first album. It has its moments but I won't be listening to it as much as the main disc 'cause the more techno/hiphop/whatever mixes tend to detract from the "I can't believe it's not real live jazz" authenticity that Konfusion does so well.
MPEG Stream: "Flying Officer"
MPEG Stream: "Test Drive"

SKALPEL Konfusion (Ninja Tune) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Skapel are two electronic musicans from Poland who do an incredible sample/cut/paste job with some obscure and anonymous (to us) '70 Eastern European jazz LPs being used for their sound sources. This duo is right on in their constructions built from mellow bass grooves, funky drum loops, glistening vibes, horn vamps, snatches of soulful female vox, etc., generating a head-nodding, smokey, noir-ish atmosphere of breakbeat jazz plunderphonica. Imagine an extremely jazz-oriented DJ Shadow and you'd be close... DJ Shadow meets '70s Miles Davis or Herbie Hancock maybe. Throw some of David Shire's the Taking Of Pelham 1-2-3 soundtrack in there too. As with Shadow, these tracks are built from other folks' records but stand on their own, the edits all flowing, the samples (including some record crackle to hint at their origin) integrated seamlessly, such that you might be fooled into thinking you were listening to the product of a real live band of musicans actually all playing together at the same time and place... though some electronic manipulation and looping will clue you otherwise. Still, there's no wip-wip-wap turntablism going on to get in the way of the music and mood. Really nice (though you've gotta like jazz of course). And it certainly makes us wish that the Skalpel guys would put together a compilation of Polish '70s fusion so we could check out the originals too!
MPEG Stream: "Flying Officer"
MPEG Stream: "Test Drive"

SKEPTA Rinse 04 (Rinse) cd 16.98

SKEPTA / JME split (Adamantium) 12" 13.98

SKINNY PUPPY The Greater Wrong Of The Right (SPV) cd 15.98
Here it is... the long overdue, highly anticipated, never expected to actually happen new album from the reunited Skinny Puppy! Yes, the surviving bandmates' differences appear to have been set aside. So now, eight long years after their split and fifteen after their masterpiece, VIVIsect VI, what does the 'Puppy sound like? Well, one word that might be fitting is "reinvented", as thankfully this is not a memory lane trip. Actually, it seems as though The Greater Wrong Of The Right could have been called the third 'Ohgr' album rather than the return of Skinny Puppy. For one thing (much like on his solo albums) Nivek Ogre is mostly singing rather than vocalizing in gutteral gasps and inhuman hisses. Whereas the vocals used to often be another mysterious texture, they are now up-front and decidedly 'songy'. Not necessarily a bad thing, but the noses of hardcore Puppy fans might get a little out of joint when they also discover that their beloved band's former trademark unsettling / confrontational elements are for the most part absent from this album. Heavy and dramatic, yes. Sinister and atmospheric, no. Skinny Puppy with the lights on? Also gone are the soundtrack-style interludes which gave previous albums such an intense bad-dream setting. Nonetheless, Cevin Key's mastery of sound craft is in full effect, and he's given an excellent, detailed mix by long-time Puppy (and more recently I Am Spoonbender) collaborator Ken Marshall. Producer Mark Walk (Ohgr) is clearly responsible for the vocal range leap achieved here by singer Ogre, and demonstrates the most visible break between 'now' Puppy and 'then' Puppy. Not surprisingly, the results are huge, intricately detailed works. However, whereas this band's recordings used to be some of the most difficult, groundbreaking and influential mood music around -- somehow
both genre-defining and genre-defying -- on a vast number of these tracks they now sound more like 'one of the (nu-metal / modern rock) gang'. Very leather'n'latex, Matrix / Blade 2 movie soundtrack-ready, by way of the Schematics Records IDM camp. Still, quality stuff. Appropriately, guests include Otto Von Schirach and weirdly, members of Static-X, Tool, and Collide.
MPEG Stream: "Useless"
MPEG Stream: "Ghostman"

SKOAL KODIAK Kryptonym Bodliak (Load) cd 16.98
New full length of twisted, groovy, outsider Neanderthal dance rock post punk whatthefuckery from these Minneapolis knuckle dragging, dancefloor deviants, whose sound is a splatter of synth squelch and analog blurt over dubbed out Load-rock style grooviness. Think Butthole Surfers or Chrome, but via Foetus or ESG or something equally preposterous, someone here thought it sounded like a mash up of some obscure Nirvana Bleach demo and the soundtrack to Cafe Flesh (!), although the closest noise rock analogue would obviously be Six Finger Satellite.
Kryptonym Bodliak is all sci-fi eighties retro club music and raw post punk funkiness, roughed up a bit around the edges and flecked with subtle noise rockisms, the least subtle of which are the vocals, super fucked up and heavily processed, alternately barked and howled, moaned and garbled, apparently the result of a contact mic-ed gasmask, transforming the vocals into a stuttering, mush-mouthed speaking-in-tongues sort of alien Make-Up style testifyin', all draped over lo-fi drum grooves, skronky sax, junkyard percussion, primitive keyboards, and thick slithery basslines. The band definitely seem capable of pulling off some true old school style post punk funk, but they're obvious noiseniks at heart, so that stuff is wreathed in plenty of cacophony and crunch, the results surprisingly rad, and the sort of stuff that must get a crowd of sweaty punks to shake their rumps, which is never a bad thing.
MPEG Stream: "Teapot"
MPEG Stream: "Hollidazzle"
MPEG Stream: "Asstral Assassin"

SKOAL KODIAK Kryptonym Bodliak (Load) lp 16.98
New full length of twisted, groovy, outsider Neanderthal dance rock post punk whatthefuckery from these Minneapolis knuckle dragging, dancefloor deviants, whose sound is a splatter of synth squelch and analog blurt over dubbed out Load-rock style grooviness. Think Butthole Surfers or Chrome, but via Foetus or ESG or something equally preposterous, someone here thought it sounded like a mash up of some obscure Nirvana Bleach demo and the soundtrack to Cafe Flesh (!), although the closest noise rock analogue would obviously be Six Finger Satellite.
Kryptonym Bodliak is all sci-fi eighties retro club music and raw post punk funkiness, roughed up a bit around the edges and flecked with subtle noise rockisms, the least subtle of which are the vocals, super fucked up and heavily processed, alternately barked and howled, moaned and garbled, apparently the result of a contact mic-ed gasmask, transforming the vocals into a stuttering, mush-mouthed speaking-in-tongues sort of alien Make-Up style testifyin', all draped over lo-fi drum grooves, skronky sax, junkyard percussion, primitive keyboards, and thick slithery basslines. The band definitely seem capable of pulling off some true old school style post punk funk, but they're obvious noiseniks at heart, so that stuff is wreathed in plenty of cacophony and crunch, the results surprisingly rad, and the sort of stuff that must get a crowd of sweaty punks to shake their rumps, which is never a bad thing.
MPEG Stream: "Teapot"
MPEG Stream: "Hollidazzle"
MPEG Stream: "Asstral Assassin"

SKREAM Outside The Box (Tempa) 2cd 19.98

MPEG Stream: "The Epic Last Song"
MPEG Stream: "Wibbler"
MPEG Stream: "Listen' To The Records On My Wall"
MPEG Stream: "CPU"

SKREAM Rinse: 02 (Rinse) cd 16.98

SKREAM Skreamizm Vol. 4 (Tempa) 2x12" 19.98

SKREAM Skreamizm: Vol. 3 (?) 2x12" 17.98

SKREAM & CLUEKID Sandsnake (Disfigured Dubz) 12" 12.98

SKREAM / L.D. split (Ringo Records) 12" 12.98

SKULL Snapz (Output) 12" 9.98
Five track ep that features the best (and only good?) track from the Mo'Wax Headz 2-B collection, 1998's crash. Mr. Skull is one of the great overlooked producers of downtempo hiphop/breakbeat excursions. Dark and murky stuff a la DJ Shadow, Spectre & DJ Vadim. The first track is almost a 'post-rock' instrumental, although we hate the term... "Snapz" is supremely listenable & enjoyable. Don't miss it.

SKULL Snapz (Output) cdep 12.98
Five track ep that features the best (and only good?) track from the Mo'Wax Headz 2-B collection, 1998's crash. Mr. Skull is one of the great overlooked producers of downtempo hiphop/breakbeat excursions. Dark and murky stuff a la DJ Shadow, Spectre & DJ Vadim. The first track is almost a 'post-rock' instrumental, although we hate the term... "Snapz" is supremely listenable & enjoyable. Don't miss it.
RealAudio clip: "Crash"

SKYJUICE The Other Side (Ubiquity) 12" 6.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Local producer and musician Dave Biegel of Bugs. This new 12" goes in an epic darkstep direction.

SKYPHONE Fabula (Rune Grammofon) cd 16.98

SLAG BOOM VAN LOON So Soon (Planet-Mu) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Slag Boom Van Loon is of course the collaboration between electronica maven Mike Paradinas and Dutch DJ Speedy J. And they have a lot of friends, enough to fill a full length cd with remixes: Boards of Canada, Four Tet, Pole, Matmos, Coil, Leafcutter John, mu-Ziq (wait, that IS Mike Paradinas), and others.
The 12" version comes with fewer tracks, but if you fancy yourself the DJ, then this is for you.

SLAG BOOM VAN LOON So Soon (Planet-Mu) 12" 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Slag Boom Van Loon is of course the collaboration between electronica maven Mike Paradinas and Dutch DJ Speedy J. And they have a lot of friends, enough to fill a full length cd with remixes: Boards of Canada, Four Tet, Pole, Matmos, Coil, Leafcutter John, mu-Ziq (wait, that IS Mike Paradinas), and others.
The 12" version comes with fewer tracks, but if you fancy yourself the DJ, then this is for you.

SLANT AZYMUTH s/t (Pre-Cert Home Entertainment) lp 22.00
The latest release on Pre-Cert, an ongoing label / project / collaboration between Demdike Stare and Andy Votel, which so far has consisted of two Anworth Kirk lps and an Applehead record, ostensible different artists, but we're fairly sure for all the smoke and mirrors, the same trio are responsible for all three. All four now counting this, the first release from Slant Azymuth, whose sound has much in common with both Anworth Kirk and Applehead (no surprise there), but seems to be the danciest of the bunch, or at least the most overtly and hypnotically rhythmic. Before we give you our take on the record, here's what the label had to say about it, apparently the music here explores "fake-loric nonlanguage/electric codes and forbidden information to create an archive of sonic and poetic commentary (evidence) concerning corruption in pre-war local industry, perverted belief systems and scientific invention. Part music concrete, part folklore, part-pulp-fictitious, part Neorealism - this indulgent patchwork of mechanical folk/pop and non-music combines essential influences of electric Smithsonian releases, sound poetry, Zden?k Liska, Ilhan Mimaroglu, basic Carnatic music, Lettrism, Pierre Henry, Oramics in Ardwick, Massiera, Lloyd M. Williams, Stella Crenshaw, Bruno Nicolai, Suzanne Ciani, Eastern European fiction, AgitProp, L.S. Lowry, J.G. Frazer, Gurdjieff, Kommune pop groups and futen theater."
Thankfully, you don't really need to know at all what the fuck they're talking about to enjoy this, a tripped out slab of ever shifting avant electronica, and hauntological psychedelia, which begins with chugging train-like rhythms, over which keening high end tones shimmer and drift, laced with disembodied female vox, all of which seems to melt into a sort of dark synthy groove, all low slung and druggily sinister. From there on out, the sound flits from BBC Radiophonic Workshop style bleeps and bloops, to chopped and looped voices, to warbly tape experiments and finally to a sprawling bit of deeeeep dubbed out minimalism, all murky and spacey, some seriously hauntological heroin house for sure, Chain Reaction but even more minimal and psychedelic.
The B side starts off with a looped heavy dirge, with blast of brass, and dense tribal percussion, swooping, swirling effects, the whole thing surprisingly droney and heavy, eventually dissipating into a mysterious field recorded percussion jam, before finishing off with another long side close, this one a similarly minimal looped groovescape, downtempo and dark, late night trip out drift off, all subtly warped and warbly. Cool weird stuff. Definitely recommended for fans of Demdike Stare and their various and sundry offshoots...
LIMITED TO 700 COPIES!!!

SLAVIN, RAN Insomniac City (Mille Plateaux) cd+dvd 23.00

SLAZENGER, JAKE das ist ein groovybeat, ja (Warp) 2lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Mike Paradinas a.k.a. u-Ziq a.k.a. Kid Spatula with his second Slazenger album, as we've said before, this is some of the most accessible experimental techno around. For more info, read The Wire's 1996 article about him, Luke Vibert (Plug), Witchman, and Squarepusher. English import.

SLAZENGER, JAKE MakesARacket (Clear) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Known by a variety of monikers such as u-Ziq, Jake Slazenger, and Kid Spatula, Mike Paradinas records the most accessible (in other words, don't be scared by the following word) techno music I have had the pleasure to recently hear. I've been informed that Paradinas falls into the sub-subgenre of techno called 'clown hop.' I can't remain seated while listening! One track on In Pine Effect samples Kristin Hersh even. Highly recommended.

SLAZENGER, JAKE MakesARacket (Clear) 2lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Known by a variety of monikers such as u-Ziq, Jake Slazenger, and Kid Spatula, Mike Paradinas records the most accessible (in other words, don't be scared by the following word) techno music I have had the pleasure to recently hear. I've been informed that Paradinas falls into the sub-subgenre of techno called 'clown hop.' I can't remain seated while listening! One track on In Pine Effect samples Kristin Hersh even. Highly recommended.

SLEEP OVER Forever (Hippos In Tanks) lp 16.98
Finally, we got enough of these to list, the darkly dreamy lp debut of Stefanie Franciotti's hazy and gauzy solo outfit, Sleep Over. A new light in the field of female-led synthesization, a la Laurel Halo and Maria Minerva, Sleep Over is a stunning mix of Grouper's washed out and oceanic distortion, Cocteau Twins-ish pop romanticism and uncanny gothic dream soundtrack. We've been fans of Franciotti since her days as singer in aQ faves, Silver Pines, but in Sleep Over she has found her true calling as an experimental sound composer, synthesizing voice and sound in chillingly bright sonic environments and ambient textures. Gorgeous!
MPEG Stream: "Romantic Streams"
MPEG Stream: "Casual Diamond"
MPEG Stream: "Cryingame"

SLEEP RESEARCH FACILITY Stealth (Cold Spring) 2cd 22.00
Even though we have yet to review anything on the aQ list from this deep listening black ambient drone technician, most of the drone lovers at aQ were already big fans, how could we not be? Sleep Research Facility, aka Scottish soundscaper Kevin Doherty, specializes in an ultra minimal, spaced out black ambience, weaving sprawling landscapes of hushed thrum and sinister murmur, often manipulating field recordings and processing them beyond the point of recognition, assembling them into bleak, epic, haunting, somnambulant drifts. We were particular taken by this most recent missive, which finds Doherty working exclusively from a selection of field recordings, samples collected from a B-2 Stealth Bomber, at a US Air Force base in the UK, and if there was ever a more appropriate sound source for this sort of hushed sonic mystery, it's the military's most mysterious aircraft.
And while these recordings are obviously not the sounds of the aircraft in flight, it's easy to imagine that this modern marvel of technology was in fact THIS stealthy, emitting just a strange series of hushed rumbles, a deep shimmery thrum, laced with the telltale sounds of radio transmissions, tinny voices from the ether that sound almost like EVP recordings, ghostly and wraithlike. Doherty's manipulations are subtle, weaving the original sounds into gentle pulsations, layering multiple recordings into lush textures, weaving strange sine wave tones and staticky gristle into the proceedings, blurring and smearing everything into hazy, darkly psychedelic sonic shadows.
The mix of abstract low end ambience, and strange transmissions, can't help but remind us of all time aQ fave the Conet Project. It definitely has that same vibe, the clouded provenance of these sounds, the pure musicality of the distinctly non-musical, but Doherty does work his magic, adding subtle swaths of melody, and giving the tracks here, no matter how minimal, a sense of propulsion, beneath the murk and the droned out whir, a barely there rhythmic pulse, while at the same time sculpting the various sound sources into sprawling fields of moody mesmer, a tranced out minimalism that is at once, soothing and darkly tranquil, this record quickly becoming one our favorite records to drift off to in the evening, and yet at the same time, crackling with energy, infused with not just the sounds themselves, but the implied weight of those sounds, borne of this strange machine, one that was devised to inflict violence, the ultimate delivery system for our collective bloodlust, the sounds of which, when at rest, are strangely lovely, albeit rife with a tension implicit in the source, and speak to an alternate purpose, one where this machine, even in repose, becomes less a means of destruction, and instead is involved in the creation of something beautiful and darkly transcendent.
The record proper is accompanied by a second disc, which is the 'source' material Doherty used to create his dark droney vision, and the most interesting thing is how musical that material already is. And while these aren't the raw unedited recordings, they are the 'pre-mix' versions, which are meant to represent those source sounds, and while they are definitely much less processed, they still possess a dark musicality, with much of the grit and gristle of the finished record stripped away, leaving just deep tones, and long shifting layers of thrum and hum and whir, like the record itself, occasionally the true source sounds do reveal themselves, whether it's the clang and clatter of work in the hanger, or the squelched blurts of radio static, but ultimately, the source disc is simply another version of Stealth, one that we actually find equally enthralling. Essential modern dronescaping from this master of the dark sonic arts!
MPEG Stream: "Stealth 1"
MPEG Stream: "Stealth 2"
MPEG Stream: "Stealth 3"
MPEG Stream: "Source 3"

SLEPCY And Again (Ambush) cd 14.98
Pronounced "slepthhhh", meaning "blind man" in their native tongue, this Polish duo cranks out ear splitting noise coated breaks that lie along streaming rivers of distorted symphonic strings. This is pummeling dancefloor destruction for the end of the world. Having a previous 12" on the DHR-esque Kool Pop label, this is their first proper long player for UK based Ambush, run by the fabulous DJ Scud.
RealAudio clip: "Untitled 02"

SLEPCY We Are the Newest Battle Models (Cock Rock Disco) cd 15.98

MPEG Stream: "Cowboys"
MPEG Stream: "United Modular"
MPEG Stream: "Flying Things"

SLICKER Remixes (Hefty) cd 11.98
This is a Slicker remix record. Slicker is John Hughes III Son of *the* John Hughes. But don't expect any of that 'don't you forget about me' Breakfast Club pap - instead Slicker and the remixers enlisted here traffic in a sort of intellectual electronica. Richie Devine and Delarosa collaborate to provide slow moving IDM plod with Devine's trademarked electronic plateux of algorithmic clatter. Super ESP - the work of Chicago uber-producer Casey Rice - turns in a downtempo Squarepusher jazz / jungle hybird. Matmos - San Francisco's electronica kings - recalls the best Coil pieces from "Love's Secret Domain" - with obtuse tongue in cheek funkiness and lots of damaged electron quiggle. Savath / Savalas - vibe oriented summery electronic bubbliness. Miceparade's remix starts out as a twee version of Disco Inferno but regresses to typical Chicago post-rock irrelavance. Today, hyphens are a good thing - maybe not tomorrow - but certainly today ---.

SLOTEK Hydrophonics (WordSound) cd 13.98
2nd album. AQ-fave mc Sensational guest raps on one track. Definitely for fans of Spectre and the dark, dubby, bass-heavy WordSound "sound" in general.

SLOTEK Hydrophonics (WordSound) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
2nd album. AQ-fave mc Sensational guest raps on one track. Definitely for fans of Spectre and the dark, dubby, bass-heavy WordSound "sound" in general.

SLUTA LETA If You Like Champagne On Ice? (Chocolate Industries) cd 8.98
Windy's new favorite record. After a slew of singles and remixes for a variety of respected labels including Cheap and Mego, the Swedish duo Sluta Leta release their American debut on Miami's trustworthy Chocolate Industries label. Man, there's only four songs on this EP but they're SO GOOD it makes me wanna get everything Sluta Leta has released. Their sound has been described as Throbbing Gristle meets Cibo Matto. I don't really hear the Cibo Matto part of it except in Sluta Leta's irreverent inclusion of sounds suggesting such disparate influences as noir gangster thrillers to entire-car-throbbing heaving bass and lounge music. In fact, it's in the way that Sluta Leta fucks with genres that makes the music sound so good. Abstract low end rumbles. Weird horns and sleazy ice queen vocals. Shuffling staticky digital breaks make for a lot of on-the-beat stops and starts, done so seamlessly and rhythmically that you find yourself unconsciously moving to beats that *aren't there*, that they've dropped out of the mix. Yeah, it's that good.
RealAudio clip: "You Know What I Mean!"
RealAudio clip: "Scoota 11"

SLUTA LETA Semi Peterson (Mego) cd 16.98
It's been simply ages since we last heard from Sluta Leta. 'Twas way back in 2000 when If You Like Champagne On Ice? came out and pleased our ears (it was a particular fave of Windy's). Now four years later what are these folks up to? Very much the same dynamic, eclectic multipersonality music!
A sampling of just how wide Sluta Leta's stylistic pendulum swings? Track 9 "Super Swede" swoons along with super sultry female vocals atop accordion and electronic allsorts. Then, on the following track called "Wirbla" Sluta Leta delights with bouncy playful yet severely squidgy digital goo.
MPEG Stream: "Super Swede"
MPEG Stream: "Wirbla"

SMALL ROCKS Carbondating (Hot Air) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Yet another pseudonym for the insanely prolific Matt Wand, one half of Stock, Hausen & Walkman and Hot Air head honcho. Small Rocks is a bubbly squeaky beat monster that just might send Mouse On Mars, Atom (tm) and even Blectum From Blechdom running home to mommy. Like the aforementioned, Wand assembles warbly, wacked out rhythms and faux-exotica nuttiness but with a comedic element unlike anyone else. Of all the current Hot Air releases, Small Rocks comes closest to that original Stock, Hausen & Walkman sound.
RealAudio clip: "Carbon Dated"
RealAudio clip: "Ronco"

SMASHER Everything Happens For A Reason (BOB) cd 14.98

SMOKESTACK, DJ Shitala 2 (Giving Tree) cd 8.98
Hot of the heels of our Bollywood Bloodbath Record Of The Week from last list, we're happy to have another blast of banging Bollywood greatness for you. Arjuna Sayyed (aka DJ Smokestack) has proven to be not only one of the most knowledgable and deep digging DJ's in the Bay Area, but pretty much anywhere in the world as far as we're concerned. Some of us were lucky to snag the first volume in his Shitala series so we already knew how damn good his mixes were. Filled with some of the most insane '70s & '80s Bollywood jams, and mixed with such a flawless touch, this mix highlights all those amazing sitar freakouts, tabla jams, dynamic vocals, funk filled beats and everything that make this era of Bollywood music so endlessly enthralling...
Clocking in at about an hour, Shitala 2 is a testament to the greatness and forward thinking musical minds that were at the helm of the sounds of Bollywood during this classic era. Call it Indian funk, or disco, or whacked out pop, whatever it is, we call it killer! Smokestack's mix has crazy broad appeal, sure hardcore Bollywood heads will flip, but also hip-hop lovers, funk diggers, dance floor DJ's, and probably YOU. DJ Smokestack not only honors the legacy of Bollywood, but uses his knowledge and talent to infuse new life and energy and share the results with so many who may otherwise might never encounter and engage with the originals. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 1"
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 2"
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 3"

SMOKEY EMERY Soundtracks For Invisibility Vol. II: You Take The High Road (Holodeck) cassette 7.50
NOW AVAILABLE ON CASSETTE!
One of six new tapes from the always awesome Holodeck label out of Austin, Texas. Here is what we said about this Austin murkscaper's long out of print record when we first had the cd version back in 2009:
Austin-based painter and installation artist, Daniel Hipolito has been composing and releasing music in limited releases under the moniker Smokey Emery for awhile now. Composed of far away drones and loops, Hipolito builds his compositions like he builds his cave-y black and white painted installations and environments, cinematically, with a fine-tuned sense for mystery, vague longing and subtle dramatic flair. Like the lights of heavy traffic at sunset or a slowly sinking ship, there is an ineffable lonely quality to these compositions that is both beautiful and doomed, but fully engaging enough to still make us keep listening as the lights slowly fade.
MPEG Stream: "Over The Side, Into The Storm"
MPEG Stream: "The Lights Are Big and I'm Driving Home"
MPEG Stream: "Over a Thousand Lakes"

SMOKEY EMERY Soundtracks For Invisibility Volume II: You Take The High Road (Kiamesha Drive) cd-r 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Austin-based painter and installation artist, Daniel Hipolito has been composing and releasing music in limited releases under the moniker Smokey Emery for awhile now, but we've only just finally managed to get some for the store. Composed of far away drones and loops, Hipolito builds his compositions like he builds his cave-y black and white painted installations and environments, cinematically, with a fine-tuned sense for mystery, vague longing and subtle dramatic flair. Like the lights of heavy traffic at sunset or a slowly sinking ship, there is an ineffable lonely quality to these compositions that is both beautiful and doomed, but fully engaged enough to still make us keep listening. Each cd-r is hand packaged with a unique photographic cover and wrapped in a vellum envelope. Lovely and Limited!
MPEG Stream: "Over The Side, Into The Storm"
MPEG Stream: "The Lights Are Big and I'm Driving Home"
MPEG Stream: "Over a Thousand Lakes"

SNARES (VENETIAN SNARES) Sabbath Dubs (Kriss) 10" 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 pretty impossible to argue with a dubstep version of Black Sabbath, especially when it sounds this good. Who would have thought that Sabbath would sound so right all dubbed out and slowed down? Venetian Snares, that's who. And on this super limited 10", there's no skitter or drill and bass, nope, just pure, simple bass heavy dubstep, wrapped around two classic Sabbath tracks. It sounds so goddamn good it's another one of those records that just makes us wonder why there aren't any bands who actually sound like this?!?
The A side is all slithery echoey beats, dubbed out and laid back, huge low end throbs, buzzing bass lines, Ozzy's reverbed wail draped over the top, a strangely stoned and FX doused version of "Black Sabbath", the guitars looped and stretched out, that tolling church bell all chopped up and sent spinning into the darkness, like a dubby snare, the whole thing just so dark and moody and groovy and amazing sounding.
The flip side starts off sounding like some straight up dubstep, blissed out and druggy, fuzzy and distorted, skeletal and bass heavy until the vocals kick in, and suddenly it's some fucked up and dubbed out take on "Electric Funeral". An absolute and total dancefloor destroyer for sure. Even the metal head wallflowers are tapping their feet and subtly banging their heads...
Pressed on marbled green vinyl, housed in a plain black sleeve, and pretty ridiculously limited.

SND Newtables (SND) lp 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The second release from this new electronica label from Sheffield (home of Warp Records) is minimal yet warm technology music. Like a Prozac laced Basic Channel / Chain Reaction, SND produces sparse melodies, spacious ambience, and sufficient clicks and pops. Limited to 600 copies.

SND Tender Love (Mille Plateaux) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Don't expect anything new from SND's third record despite Mille Plateaux's claims of "their influential progressions in electronic experimentations." As before, this Sheffied duo offer pleasant, but detatched bitstreams of muted house grooves, synthetic organ pulses, and jittery syncopations.
RealAudio clip: "Tender Love 4"

SO s/t (Thrill Jockey) cd 15.98
A few years ago, Markus Popp, in the guise of Oval, gave us something completely new and different, original and stunning. A gorgeous, fluid soundscape that betrayed its source material: scratched and skipping cds. A dreamy, droney, slippery, stuttery chunk of shimmery, underwater electronica. This was well before the laptop replaced the guitar as the instrument du jour with the now all too regrettable "anyone can play..." mantra that supposedly so liberated music. Just like with the glut of shitty punk rock bands years ago, so too came an endless series of kids with more sound programs than good ideas. But that Oval record, Diskont, remains to this day a milestone in experimental electronic music. So it was a little bit disappointing that Popp began to tread water creatively, re-hashing the sounds and ideas that on Diskont sounded so inspired, but that on subsequent releases just sounded, sort of familiar. And now, eight years later, Popp finally moves on, progresses and offers up a whole new side of his Oval sound. The key difference, and probably the most appealing new element is the addition of vocalist Eriko Toyada, whose vocals are all whispery and breathless and intimate, recorded so closely that you can hear every breath, every lip smack, every nuance. All adding to Popp's gritty, fuzzy, glitchy backdrop. Think: your favorite Bjork record dropped in the shredder, and then left to soak in a warm, tranquil pool , before being reassembled, all smeary and indistinct. So completely mesmerisingly beautiful!
MPEG Stream: "Track 1"
MPEG Stream: "Track 3"

SO PERCUSSION Amid The Noise (Cantaloupe Music) cd + dvd 21.00
We had been hearing the name So Percussion being thrown around a lot lately, but we actually hadn't actually heard their music until now. Based on their name and the fact that they are made up of young percussionists we were worried that maybe it was going to be like the audio equivalent of seeing Stomp. And while we do actually love going to see Stomp with our Mom's (ahem), we are happy to report that the music that So Percussion makes is not merely a "look at us we're making drum sounds out of everything." In fact, Amid The Noise actually pushes the percussion to a much more subtle and ambient level, having more in common with Eno and Reich as it does street musicians drumming on garbage cans or Blue Man Group. Meditative playing that recalls Tortoise at their zenith, and the most delicate and intricate moments of Aphex Twin's Druqk's. Disciplined and perfectly played yet not sterile. The second disc is a DVD of beautiful films by Jenise Treuting of Japanese street scenes set to the music of So Percussion. We're definitely happy to finally know what So Percussion are all about.
MPEG Stream: "White"
MPEG Stream: "Old"