GLASS CANDY Miss Broadway (Italians Do It Better) 12" 9.98
Following in the wake of the sizzling comp After Dark, which has quickly become a unanimous AQ favorite, comes this 12" featuring one of the Glass Candy tracks from that vintage disco inspired compilation. In true disco spirit the 12" comes in a seductive diecut sleeve with the single on the 'A' side and the instrumental version on the flipside, along with another instrumental cut. Glass Candy have never sounded better, we love the shift in their sound. Glass Candy have always been perfect for late night dance floor listening but now their sensuality and sexuality seem to be shining through in such a sleek and irresistible fashion.
MPEG Stream: "Miss Broadway"

GLASS CANDY & THE SHATTERED THEATRE Metal Gods 7" 3.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Two post-post-punk songs (one of them a Screamers cover!) from this new young trio from Portland, OR. Very seething and tense a la Suicide. Dark propulsive music. Fans of the GSL label / art-punk scene should definitely check this out.

GLASS CANDY & THE SHATTERED THEATRE Smashed Candy (Vermin Scum) 12" 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Working the kind of style panache that would make Rudi Gernreich beam with pride, it's Glass Candy And The Shattered Theatre from Portland, OR.
With two well-received 7"s under their belt, Ida No, Johnny Jewel and Avalon Kalin offer up a very raw live one-sided 12" of six songs. Includes a highly unstable rendition of Josie Cotton's "Johnny Are You Queer?" as heard in the movie "Valley Girl". Recorded live at Kimo's right here in SF. Please note: the sound quality is pretty blown out, but it does captures the edgy propulsive freak-out that is Glass Candy. As can be expected from a live performance, this is much more flailing and rocked out of control than the dark seething tension of the "Brittle Women" and "Metal God" singles.

GLASS ORGAN Our (Students Of Decay) cd 8.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
First proper full length from this mysterious ambient drone noise ensemble. After a super limited cd-r and an also quite limited lp, this cd offers up 33 minutes of Glass Organ's crumbling corrosive drones, ambient, but -active- ambience, bordering on speaker shredding noise at moments, but spending much of its time drifting through dark and murky landscapes of minimal shimmer and subterranean rumble.
Three tracks, each 11:11 long, this Devillock side project is ultimately a drone record, but GO's drones are twisted into all sorts of different shapes and sounds. The opening track begins with a dense hot static white noise keening feedback burst of blinding grind and roar, before suddenly transforming into burbling underwater whirs, before the corrosive noise of the opening returns, only this time looped into some almost melodies, making it sounds like some sort of damaged My Bloody Valentine outtake.
The second chunk of 11 minutes and 11 seconds begins in moody mumble minimal mode, before bits of crumbling distortion begin to surface, eventually taking over completely turning the tranquil ambience into some serious blown out guitar drone a la Sunroof! / Hototogisu, all keening high end and grinding abrasive guitar growl. The final 11 minutes (and ii seconds!) is like part two of the second track, the same sort of ultra skree starting out, this time way lower in the mix, a sort of low level rumble and scrape, which is soon joined by some super distorted psychedelic guitars, noodling and slithering and generally wrapping the low end rumble in sparkling tendrils of white hot guitar buzz. Surprisingly melodic and blissed out.
Definitely for fans of Sunroof!, Vibracathedral Orchestra, Hototogisu, Burning Star Core, Wolf Eyes and similar practitioners of high end raga skree...
Packaged in a gorgeous and ultra minimal fold together cardstock sleeve, embossed design and text on a white sleeve, very white on white and quite striking. LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!
MPEG Stream: "O"
MPEG Stream: "U"

GLASS ORGAN s/t (Twonicorn) cassette 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Dreamdrone side project of Panther Skull folks. A haunting drift of fluttering synths, soft and wispy. Slow moving, washes of bleak ambience, creaking splintered abstract sound, dotted with bursts of acid fried corrosive synth meltdown, all heated up and poured tar like into your ears, a gurgling, burbling cauldren of warm murk and drooling grime. Filthy, fuzzy, freaked out innerspace ambience.
2ND EDITION, LIMITED TO 25 COPIES!!!
MPEG Stream: "Untitled"

GLASS ORGAN Two Tapes (Tone Filth / Twonicorn) lp 14.98
For those of you who missed out on the amazing Glass Organ cassette (released on bad ass tape label Twonicorn) that we reviewed a while back, which we're guessing is probably most of you since it was limited to 45 copies and we only got about half, that amazing chunk of dreamy drifting droning weirdness is now available on vinyl! Just to refresh your memory, Glass Organ traffic in "slow moving washes of bleak ambience, creaking splintered abstract sound, dotted with bursts of acid fried corrosive synth meltdown, all heated up and poured tar like into your ears, a gurgling, burbling cauldron of warm murk and drooling grime. Filthy, fuzzy, freaked out innerspace ambience." Indeed! And that tape only takes up one side of this here lp, so on the other side, you get another long out of print Glass Organ tape, originally released on Tone Filth in a run of 100 copies (of which we got precisely NONE). It too is a gorgeous slab of corroded drones and fried song fragments. A crumbling mass of degraded sound, pretty little music box melodies drenched in static and hiss, blown out and in the red, constantly drifting from muddy and murky to super hot and fuzzed out, and the whole while slowly falling to pieces. So amazing.
And while these two tapes are finally available again, it doesn't mean they'll be around for long. Of course not. LIMITED TO 365 COPIES!! We got a bunch but odds are we won't be able to get more.
Packaged in super spare hand screened covers with printed black and white inserts.
MPEG Stream: "Untitled"

GLASS ORGAN Untitled II (Black Horizons) cassette 5.98
It's hard to know exactly what to say about Glass Organ, an offshoot of noise combo Devillock (who we have yet to review on the list, we're working on it). We've had a handful of releases, all of them amazing, and all offering up subtle variations on Glass Organ's peculiar sound. And it's that sound that's a bit hard to describe. Which is maybe why we like it so much.
Imagine a tiny room stuffed full of malfunctioning synthesizers, the din from inside seeping through the cracks, a white hot, overblown soundscapes of synth damage and melting keyboard murk. Grinding and furious, blinding flurries of overblown glitch and squelch and squiggle. Corroded bits of melodies, and jagged chunks of what might have been songs in some other reality, all careening wildly Against, into, and around each other. It almost sounds like that point when you're listening to the car radio and you drive past a radio tower or something, and suddenly the radio goes haywire, the music becomes jumbled and distorted and unrecognizable, all sorts of random electronic interference starts jumping and skittering and streaking through the speakers, the sound is dizzying and intense, one of the things that convinces folks they made contact with aliens. It sounds a bit like that, if you then ran it through a distortion pedal and broadcast it through a million damaged speakers. But Glass Organ also takes those freaked out synths and smears them into muted stretches of ultra creepy dark ambience, intense roiling low end whirs, crumbling and burbling, doused in static and glitch, but strangely pretty, almost like an ultra minimal Goblin. And the sound weaves back and forth between these two extremes, often straddling the two resulting in some seriously creepy, pretty, glitchy noise!
Packaged in gorgeous thick shimmery paper, metallic printing, trippy psychedelic design. Recorded live, and...
LIMITED TO 130 COPIES!!!

GLASS, PHILIP Analog (Orange Mountain Music) cd 21.00
It can be quite daunting to figure out how to navigate the releases of most 20th Century Composers. What is essential and what is not. That may be especially true for Philip Glass who has often walked the line between totally daring, trance inducing, mind expanding compositions and somewhat schmaltzy, overly sentimental syrupy pap. But there is no doubt, that when he's really ON, he still stands as one of the greatest minimalist composers of all time. Analog is -that- side of Glass, the side we never get tired of hearing. Recalling the intensity and brilliance of Music In 12 Parts, these recordings have been relentlessly seeping into our ears and brains and souls. Culled from never before released recordings made in the late 70's, it showcases Glass playing the electric organ, and it is absolutely hypnotic. Earlier this year you might remember us freaking out over a Finnish release from the band Shogun Kunitoki. It's uncanny how you can hear the roots of that record throughout these recordings. Warm analog notes played at a furiously feverish pitch that it's nearly impossible not to get lost in it's repetitive trance. The sound is so pleasingly physical and intense. And there are vocals, but fear not, they manage to become just another mesmerizing instrument working its way into your subconscious just like the flute, the (tasteful) sax and all the different keyboards. Originally conceived for his first scores for film as well as incidental music for a theater company, this is quickly becoming one of our favorite Glass recordings ever!
MPEG Stream: "Etoile Polaire: Victor's Lament"
MPEG Stream: "Mad Rush for Organ"
MPEG Stream: "Dressed Like An Egg: Part V"

GLASS, PHILIP Koyaanisqatsi (OST) (Orange Mountain Music) cd 21.00
Philip Glass's first commercial success and enduring classic soundtrack is available once again and in its original completed form (76 minutes) for the first time on cd. Glass's score to Godfrey Reggio's sublime 1983 film, Koyaanisqatsi (the Hopi Indian word meaning "life out of balance") is a perfect marriage to the film's altered time sequences of fast-moving clouds and sped-up machine-like urban scenes of traffic and city-life. The repetitive arpeggios and slowly undulating shifts of patterned movements give off the sensation of static motion enhancing the film's captivating majestic qualities. But even without the visuals, the score by itself stands the test of time, and its longer unabbreviated format renews the film's pointed silent protest against the out-of-control pace and shortened attention spans of our so-called civilization. Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Koyannisqatsi"
MPEG Stream: "Resource"
MPEG Stream: "Vessels"

GLASS, PHILIP Music In Twelve Parts (Nonesuch) 3cd 54.00

GLASS, PHILIP Rework (Orange Mountain Music) 2cd 15.98

GLASS, PHILIP & THE KRONOS QUARTET Dracula (Nonesuch) cd 15.98
Music by Mr. Glass composed as a new soundtrack to the Bela Lugosi vampire classic, as performed by Kronos. Did you know that the 'Bela Lugosi' and 'Bela Lugosi as Dracula' characters, names, and all related indicia are trademarks of one Bela G. Lugosi, presumably a descendant of the actor?

GLASSER Mirrorage/Lindstrom Remix (Matador) 12" 14.98
It's no secret that we fell head over heels for Glasser's album Ring from last year, and it's left all of us with an impatient thirst to hear more. This new 12" remixed by Hans-Peter Lindstrom takes us to a space-side disco where Glasser melds moodiness and danciness with such great results. Lindstrom seems to key into the Laurie Anderson side of Glasser as the sounds sort of echo the awesome vibe of Big Science, but given a major modern update. Can't wait for a whole new set of songs from Glasser, but until then we'll be jamming this non-stop!

GLASSER Ring (True Panther Sounds) cd 14.98
We missed out on Glasser's debut ep which came out last year and quickly went out of print. But everyone we knew who heard it kept telling us we had to check out Glasser, and with the release of her first full length we can now officially proclaim ourselves bigtime fans, as this is proving to be one of the most satisfying, colorful, swirling and flowing pop records of the year. Glasser reminds us a lot of a more sparkling, bright and rhythmic version of Zola Jesus or Islaja. There is a tinge of darkness in her string tones and electronics but there is also so much life and moving energy in her songs which gives the record such an amazing fluidity. Instead of just mimicking Kate Bush, Bjork and Laurie Anderson, she instead takes cues from different elements of their brilliance in helping to create a sound that is both hypnotic and inviting. While she may soon be tagged under the new 'it' genre of 'witch-house' there is something much more singular and organic happening in these songs that can't be written off as any sort of passing fad. This is a record that we think will definitely stand the test of time.
MPEG Stream: "Home"
MPEG Stream: "Treasure Of We"
MPEG Stream: "Apply"

GLASSER Ring (True Panther Sounds) lp 15.98
We missed out on Glasser's debut ep which came out last year and quickly went out of print. But everyone we knew who heard it kept telling us we had to check out Glasser, and with the release of her first full length we can now officially proclaim ourselves bigtime fans, as this is proving to be one of the most satisfying, colorful, swirling and flowing pop records of the year. Glasser reminds us a lot of a more sparkling, bright and rhythmic version of Zola Jesus or Islaja. There is a tinge of darkness in her string tones and electronics but there is also so much life and moving energy in her songs which gives the record such an amazing fluidity. Instead of just mimicking Kate Bush, Bjork and Laurie Anderson, she instead takes cues from different elements of their brilliance in helping to create a sound that is both hypnotic and inviting. While she may soon be tagged under the new 'it' genre of 'witch-house' there is something much more singular and organic happening in these songs that can't be written off as any sort of passing fad. This is a record that we think will definitely stand the test of time.
MPEG Stream: "Home"
MPEG Stream: "Treasure Of We"
MPEG Stream: "Apply"

GLAXO BABIES, THE Dreams Interrupted : The Bewilderbeat Years 1978-1980 (Cherry Red) cd 16.98

GLAZE, BRIAN Green Living (World Famous In SF) cd 11.98
Even though he resides right here in the Bay Area we knew very little about this Brian Glaze character when we first got in this new release of his, but oh damn is that about to change, as this is becoming one of those records that we can't seem to stop listening to. Channeling so many eras of warped pop delight, Brian Glaze has made a record that's as fun as it is smart, and as catchy as it is fulfilling. There is for sure a similar aesthetic and delivery to some of our favorite warped popsmiths like John Maus and Ariel Pink, but Green Living totally has its own thing going on. '50s pop colliding with psychedelic rock that's soaked in new wave electronics. We hear a bit of what The Gris Gris might sound like if they began to pull from more varied influences. Psychedelic disco pop? Deconstructed multigenerational pop genius? We're not sure exactly what to call it but we know that we LOVE IT!
MPEG Stream: "Leader of the Band"
MPEG Stream: "Bad News"
MPEG Stream: "Silver Ashes"

GLAZE, BRIAN Green Living (World Famous In SF) lp 11.98
Even though he resides right here in the Bay Area we knew very little about this Brian Glaze character when we first got in this new release of his, but oh damn is that about to change, as this is becoming one of those records that we can't seem to stop listening to. Channeling so many eras of warped pop delight, Brian Glaze has made a record that's as fun as it is smart, and as catchy as it is fulfilling. There is for sure a similar aesthetic and delivery to some of our favorite warped popsmiths like John Maus and Ariel Pink, but Green Living totally has its own thing going on. '50s pop colliding with psychedelic rock that's soaked in new wave electronics. We hear a bit of what The Gris Gris might sound like if they began to pull from more varied influences. Psychedelic disco pop? Deconstructed multigenerational pop genius? We're not sure exactly what to call it but we know that we LOVE IT!
MPEG Stream: "Leader of the Band"
MPEG Stream: "Bad News"
MPEG Stream: "Silver Ashes"

GLISSANDRO 70 s/t (Constellation) cd 16.98
When you think of the Constellation label, warm bouncy and sunny aren't usually words that come to mind. Home to the whole Godspeed You Black Emperor family the label is most usually associated with monumental post rock with some dark flair. Glissandro 70 is a much welcome blast of washed out sunshine for the label. Incorporating blissed out melodies, tasteful lo-fi nods to world rhythms, and an overall cohesive laid back approach that quietly sucks you in. There is something about this record that sounds so totally refreshing. We listed the reissue of Brian Eno and David Byrne's My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts elsewhere on this list as well and this can be added as a great example of a future generation getting so right the seeds planted by that influential recording. There's also an avant pop sensibility that will totally hit the spot for fans of Animal Collective's recent outings as well as Broken Social Scene at their most abstract. The sun has finally reappeared here in SF and this has been the perfect record to hang out with while we soak in the rays.
MPEG Stream: "Something"
MPEG Stream: "End West"

GLITTER PALS Unleash The Compassion (Lovepump United) cd 8.98
What do two guys from Genghis Tron do when they're not spewing metallic electronic grind pop whatthefuck? Well, they sort of do the same thing they always do. Sort of. But they do mix things up a bit by upping the pop ante, toning down the grind, and thus these Pals have come up with a NINE MINUTE burst of bubbly glistening, sludgy dirge pop that hits the spot in a similar way to the recent sludge pop of Torche. But this isn't sludgy or poppy as much as it's freaked out a furious, a poppier take on that sort of Locust / Horse The Band synthgrind. The thing that sets Glitter Pals apart for us, is a really demented use of clean harmony vocals, a moaning chanting weirdness, that Allan thought sounded like the sample from LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out". Weird and heavy and catchy and totally fucked. And you know from us that means HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
MPEG Stream: "Thunder Tights"
MPEG Stream: "Unleash The Compassion"

GLITTER WIZARD Hunting Gatherers (Captcha) lp 22.00
We thumbed up the spacey synthy glitter-glam garage retro not-really-metal of this SF band's Siltbreeze 7" a while back, but then somehow skipped over reviewing their subsequent full-length, and are even a little behind the times in getting to this new elope of theirs too, but that's ok 'cause the Glitter Wiz guys are also behind the times, or maybe way out futuristically in front, way out anyway, again using '60s and '70s rock inspirations like Deep Purple, Hawkwind, The Doors, Bloodrock, Black Widow, and Iron Butterfly to help formulate their super groovy, more wizardly-than-thou sound, one that's got lotsa synth, jamming electric organ, some flute and sax. Along with catchy riffs and amusing lyrics, often gleefully unserious ("I don't worship the Devil, the Devil worships me"). Our kind of entertainment!
There's one little hushed-folky-trippy-acoustic number, "Sunlit Wolves", but otherwise most of the trax are swaggering rockers, such as "Wizard Wagon" (about the singer's van, it would seem) which definitely has hit potential, in our world anyway. "Motorider" reminds us of both The Stooges and Steppenwolf, and when they get heavier on the 7+ minute "Space" it sorta sounds like an agitated Om with keyboards. Album-closer "Big Sur" also has that Om/Sleep vibe, due to the chant-like vox and slomo swinging plod. It's another long one, the longest here at close to 9 minutes, and so about half way through stops plodding and starts ripping and rollicking, reminding us more of early early Sabbath, like back when Sabbath covered Crow's "Evil Woman" on their first single. That said, though, mostly Glitter Wizard doesn't even seem all that heavy or metal or even proto-metal. They're retro-proto-proto-metal maybe? Definitely G. Wiz love their '60s sounds but do their own cool new thing with that, rather than going for some kind of Nuggets redux. For fans of Blood Ceremony (minus the female vox and much of the metal) and Danava and Mammatus when they do get heavy-ish.
Vinyl-only, goddamit. Maybe someday they'll realize that compact discs are more glittery and magical.
MPEG Stream: "Worship The Devil"
MPEG Stream: "Wizard Wagon"
MPEG Stream: "Big Sur"

GLITTER WIZARD 0 Black Lotus / Witches Limbo (Sans Escape) 7" 6.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Heard about this on Tom Lax's Siltblog, which is funny 'cause this band is from right here in our backyard, and are also not exactly shitgaze or whatever other noisy underground rock aesthetic we thought Siltbreeze was all about. Lax mentioned classic heavy psych/metal peeps for the ages like Deep Purple, Hawkwind, and Monster Magnet in his review and yep, all present and accounted for (if inebriated and high as fuck, no surprise) in GW's sound, to some extent. Super stoner retro rockin' here, well with retro sounds but not sounding like any actual old band that's for sure, A-side "Black Lotus" starts off all full of gobblin' space synth soundz, then begins pounding down the riffs like Sleep or something a bit later on, while on the flip, "Witch's Limbo", they keep on rockin', no not like Dokken but more like Danava (w/ all them synths) and Priestess and other current bands creating the past anew. Interestingly, the other tracks we've heard from 'em, on their MySpace, are way more overtly garagey punky, in a ? and the Mysterians, Lyres, mebbe even Stooges style, but here it seems they're heavy metalling it (the magazine and the music) a bit more. So, two cool tunes, and now we're put on notice to go see these glittering wizzes next time they play, we're especially curious to see if they get all glammed up live to go with their name. (AQ staffer Jon has seen 'em and sez they do!)

GLITTERBUG Cancerboy (c.sides) cd 17.98
The last Glitterbug record showed up in the midst of some sort of electronica renaissance, with fantastic new records from Pantha Du Prince, Actress, Klimek, T++ (sad we haven't heard anything else from them/him) and a bunch more, so Glitterbug, the work of a German DJ/producer fit perfectly with all of those, the sound lush and layered, softly psychedelic, cosmic with a definitely Pop Ambient vibe. We played that record to death. This record looks to follow suit, but unlike that first one, which was more a full self contained sound world, woven from both studio work and live recordings, this record, Cancerboy, is a much more personal collection, focusing on Glitterbug's struggle with cancer as a boy (hence the title). The record even starts off with what sounds like the ambient sound of a hospital room, the wheezing and beeping of machines, the voices of doctors and nurses, which gives way to the opening track "To Guess", which takes some of those sounds and weaves them into a dark, droney stretch of moody electronic melancholia, a hushed rhythmic shuffle, warm shimmery drones, little flecks of glitchery here and there, a super simple kick drum pulse, tinkling chimes, and ethereal melodies, quite haunting and cinematic, and an appropriately somber opening for a record with such a dark focus. But the darkness is not all encompassing, the record slips into more sort of Kompakt style minimal techno on "Abyss", a grid of pulse and click, wreathed in dark melodic swirls and brooding low end thrum, but as the song progresses, the melodies percolate wildly, the song grows more distorted and the vibe more frantic.
"Undertow" brings it back down, another Kompakt style shuffle, a woozy moody robotic groove, laced with a spidery minor key melody, the beats and loops in constant flux, sometimes sleek and clinical, other times noisy and rough around the edges, the vibe definitely cool and late night, but seemingly always underpinned by a melancholia that infuses the whole record. Much of the record could very well pass for some modern minimal techno, not knowing the background or the source of the title, but the record is rife with tracks that are a bit more moody and brooding, tracks that peel back the skitter and stutter to reveal the darkness underneath, like on "From Here On", that loops a strange echo drenched hand clap beat, and then drapes it with thick washes of low end rumble and waves of metallic buzz, as well as some delicate chiming melodies, or on "Dragged Along", which is a hushed sprawl of super spare dubbed out ambience, that skitters amidst vast swirls of barely there sonic shimmer, only coalescing into a proper beat near the end, and even then, wreathed in wistful melodies, or on "Outside My Window", which is a lush collage of tangled beats and murky swirling melodies and blurred psychedelic textures, that seem to gradually bleed into one another.
MPEG Stream: "Backwards"
MPEG Stream: "To Guess"
MPEG Stream: "Abyss"
MPEG Stream: "Undertow"

GLITTERBUG Cancerboy (c.sides) 2lp 27.00
NOW ON VINYL!!
The last Glitterbug record showed up in the midst of some sort of electronica renaissance, with fantastic new records from Pantha Du Prince, Actress, Klimek, T++ (sad we haven't heard anything else from them/him) and a bunch more, so Glitterbug, the work of a German DJ/producer fit perfectly with all of those, the sound lush and layered, softly psychedelic, cosmic with a definitely Pop Ambient vibe. We played that record to death. This record looks to follow suit, but unlike that first one, which was more a full self contained sound world, woven from both studio work and live recordings, this record, Cancerboy, is a much more personal collection, focusing on Glitterbug's struggle with cancer as a boy (hence the title). The record even starts off with what sounds like the ambient sound of a hospital room, the wheezing and beeping of machines, the voices of doctors and nurses, which gives way to the opening track "To Guess", which takes some of those sounds and weaves them into a dark, droney stretch of moody electronic melancholia, a hushed rhythmic shuffle, warm shimmery drones, little flecks of glitchery here and there, a super simple kick drum pulse, tinkling chimes, and ethereal melodies, quite haunting and cinematic, and an appropriately somber opening for a record with such a dark focus. But the darkness is not all encompassing, the record slips into more sort of Kompakt style minimal techno on "Abyss", a grid of pulse and click, wreathed in dark melodic swirls and brooding low end thrum, but as the song progresses, the melodies percolate wildly, the song grows more distorted and the vibe more frantic.
"Undertow" brings it back down, another Kompakt style shuffle, a woozy moody robotic groove, laced with a spidery minor key melody, the beats and loops in constant flux, sometimes sleek and clinical, other times noisy and rough around the edges, the vibe definitely cool and late night, but seemingly always underpinned by a melancholia that infuses the whole record. Much of the record could very well pass for some modern minimal techno, not knowing the background or the source of the title, but the record is rife with tracks that are a bit more moody and brooding, tracks that peel back the skitter and stutter to reveal the darkness underneath, like on "From Here On", that loops a strange echo drenched hand clap beat, and then drapes it with thick washes of low end rumble and waves of metallic buzz, as well as some delicate chiming melodies, or on "Dragged Along", which is a hushed sprawl of super spare dubbed out ambience, that skitters amidst vast swirls of barely there sonic shimmer, only coalescing into a proper beat near the end, and even then, wreathed in wistful melodies, or on "Outside My Window", which is a lush collage of tangled beats and murky swirling melodies and blurred psychedelic textures, that seem to gradually bleed into one another.
MPEG Stream: "Backwards"
MPEG Stream: "To Guess"
MPEG Stream: "Abyss"
MPEG Stream: "Undertow"

GLITTERBUG Privilege (C Sides Label) 2cd 19.98
After a bit of a dry spell, in terms of electronic records that had us freaking out, it's been pretty much nonstop freakouts for the last little while. Pantha Du Prince's Black Noise record, the reissue of his This Bliss and Diamond Daze albums, all three records minimal and skittery, bleary and chilled out, moody and synthy and drone-y, occasionally pulsing and throbbing, a little groovy, a little pop ambient, a little techno, all wound into an ever evolving world of mysterious and magical electronic sound. Then came Actress, the new record Splazsh, not to mention his earlier Hazyville, again, both dancing on the edges of electronica, pushing the boundaries, skittery minimalism, weird playful collages, looped and hypnotic, chopped and recontextualized vocals, glitch and squelch and ambient shimmer, as well as twisted beats. And that's not even mentioning other electronica faves like T++, Vex'd, Klimek, Thomas Fehlman, Emeralds, Oneohtrix Point Never, but the reason we mention Actress and Pantha Du Prince, is that the music of Glitterbug seems to exist in a similar sonic continuum, melding washed out dreamlike ambient shimmer, with stripped down minimal post techno, pulsing kosmische krautrock with more earthbound stutter and skitter, and while this is in fact record number two from Glitterbug, aka Till Rohmann, a German DJ / producer / artist, we're already pretty smitten, as we imagine you might be too, especially if like us, you've been listening to the above records as much as we have.
A sprawling double disc, recorded in the studio and on tour, with field recordings from various tour stops incorporated into some of the tracks, sometimes as just another unrecognizable sample, adding rhythm and texture, but other times it's more obvious, the sounds of life and the world, only further adding energy and emotion to an already organic electronic sound. The record begins with a warm softly pulsing expanse of glimmering synths, a subtle melody, looped and hypnotic, laced with shimmering melodic counterpoint, all hazy and sun dappled and dreamlike, peppered with bits of piano, the perfect blend of abstract kosmische krautdrone and pop ambience. The second track introduces some drums, which sound real, and a bit jazzy, before a more obviously electronic beat joins in, then some thick warbly buzz, some deep low end rumble, some chiming melodies, and we're off, propulsive and mesmerizing, washed out and softly psychedelic, but super chilled out and warm and luxurious and lush. The next track slips right back into more cosmic synth space bliss, reverbed tones ring out, overlapping, layered, underpinned by awesome intense slabs of low end, more felt than heard, the result is almost like a more stripped down, more electronic Expo 70, spacey and abstract, but with some subtle momentum, less driving and more drifting, but so dreamy and divine, another track that could have filled up the whole rest of the record and we would have been perfectly happy, and there are plenty of tracks like that on these two discs.
And so it goes, for the next two hours, Glitterbug's sound slipping seamlessly from pulsing minimal skitter, to murky muted throb, to ethereal glimmering drift, to hushed crystalline shimmer, to abstract drone flecked house music, to dark, almost dirge-y Carpenter style synthscapes, more often than not, those various sounds bleeding into one another, overlapping, intertwining, the sounds lush and lustrous, rich and organic, the rhythms spare and skeletal, sometimes delicate, other times dense and dark, but always fantastic and futuristic, blissed out and beautiful.
MPEG Stream: "Lionheart"
MPEG Stream: "Swirl"
MPEG Stream: "Blue Rifts"
MPEG Stream: "Wide & Near"

GLITTERBUG Supershelter (C Sides Label) cd 16.98
We totally flipped for the new Glitterbug record, Privilege, reviewed a couple lists back, the work of Till Rohmann, a German DJ / producer / artist, whose Glitterbug sound was exactly what we had been hankering for, a glorious blend of processed field recordings, soft pulsing glimmering synthscapes, stripped down minimal techno, abstract kosmische krautdrone and pop ambience, so when we discovered there was another, previous Glitterbug, we knew we had to check it out. And once again, were were not disappointed. Supershelter is another heady blend of Kompakt style skeletal techno, and warm swirling synthy drones, dark ominous rumbles, and ethereal after hours party music, skittery, and stuttery, washed out and hypnotic.
After a gorgeous slow melodic intro, that sounds like it could have been plucked from a Burzum record (at least before the plink plonk piano counterpoint comes in), the next few tracks unfurl the beats, wrapped around playful keyboards, percolating clicks and chirps, some sweetly melancholy melodies, even some soaring faux strings, "The Things I Long To Do" almost sounds like a Bjork backing track. "Oh My Hick!" is another skittery techno, warm liquid ambience hybrid, while "Unforgotten" is a brief stretch of hissy static rumble, leading into "Reference System" a low slung slab of synth wrapped late night shuffle, groovy and subtly funky, which butts right up against the warped and muted "Brontohouse" which does evoke some sort of giant beast, with its muddy thumping rhythm, and warm whirring buzz. The record plays out similarly, flitting from minimal thump and pulse, to woozy washed out drift, and quite a few stops in between.
Imagine a less clinical, more playful Kompakt, this will definitely hit the spot if you've been digging any of the recent weirdo electronica from folks like Actress, Pantha Du Prince, Klimek, Vex'd, T++, Thomas Fehlman, Oneohtrix and all the rest...
MPEG Stream: "Intro"
MPEG Stream: "Reference System"
MPEG Stream: "Brontohouse"
MPEG Stream: "Up North"

GLOBAL GOON Vatican Nitez (Rephlex) cd 16.98
I have always loved Global Goon. Rumoured to be either an Aphex Twin alter ego or Aphex's crazy flatmate, GG records have always been light and fluffy in their spazzy skitter. And it always seemd to me that Global Goon was exclusively playing Christmas carols, albeit really weird ones. They just had that vibe. Sort of a chopped up Pachelbel's Canon or something. The new record expands on that, taking the fluffy chopped up Chritmas carol sound, and adding some downright Aphex-y sounds and some loping laid back rhythms that would definitely appeal to Boards Of Canada fans. The sound falls somewhere between Chris Clark's dangerously complex / intensely melodic electronica (see list #113) and the Aphex Twin at his most lighthearted. Goofy melodies and even some warbly singing weave between funky basslines, skittery simple drum loops and warm washes of rich sound. Fun and playful and dreamy and pretty fucking cool.
RealAudio clip: "Jerky Dharma"
RealAudio clip: "Business Man"

GLOBAL SYSTEMS SILENTLY MOVING Altering The Air (Silentes) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

GLOBE UNITY ORCHESTRA Globe Unity 67 & 70 (Atavistic / Unheard Music Series) cd 14.98
Alexander von Schlippenbach's Globe Unity Orchestra was a free jazz big band featuring what seems like a who's who of late '60s European improv -- Willem Breuker, Peter Brotzmann, Albert Mangelsdorf, Peter Kowald, Sven-Ake Johnasson, Evan Parker, Derek Bailey, Han Bennink, Paul Lovens, Jaki Liebezeit (of Can), Mani Neumeier (of Guru Guru), and Schlippenbach himself, among many others. Not all these folks are in both the 1967 and 1970 incarnations of the Orchestra, but both have impressive lineups. These are previously unreleased live recordings for German radio. Nicely packaged with black and white photos and reproductions of Schlippenbach's graphic scores for these pieces, which as you might imagine are massive, powerful freeform blowouts. I mean, they'll knock you on your ass. Apocalyptic stuff.
Fans of this era/style of out-jazz, you know what to do: grab your beards and hold on! And thank Atavistic's Unheard Music Series for a continued reason to live. Go, UMS, go!
RealAudio clip: "Globe Unity 67"

GLOBE UNITY ORCHESTRA Improvisations (Universal (Japan)) cd 26.00

GLOBOKAR, VINKO Oblak Semen, Discours IX, Zlom (Sargasso) cd 14.98
Contemporary composer Vinko Globokar began his career in Slovenia as a jazz trombone player in the '50s, and he has since worked with Luciano Berio, Stockhausen and Takemitsu. This recording consists of three pieces composed in the 1990s: one for trombone, drum kit, fish aquarium (!) and dance steps (reminiscent of the works of Fluxus artists, especially his work for trombone and aquarium in which he plays the instrument with its bell partially submerged in water) one for two pianos; the last for an orchestra -- standard serialist fare.

GLOMP 8 #8 (Boing Being) book 26.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
You know in cartoons, when you get excited or scared, and your head spins around, your eyes pop out on big long springs, smoke shoots out of your ears, the top of your head pops up like a little geyser, your mouth opens and out comes that car horn AHOOOOOOGUH!!! AHOOOOOOGUH!!! That's exactly what will happen when you have a gander at this here book of freakish Finnish art. That's right, you heard us, FINNISH. Which means, a bunch of your favorite Finnish forest folkies are present, indulging their visual side, which is as tripped out and psychedelic as their musical sides. A gorgeously massive, Technicolor, mind blowing pen and ink freakout. If you close your eyes when you listen to Avarus or Uton or Paavoharju or Islaja this is probably the sort of stuff you see. 232 pages, perfect bound, FULL color, 21 Finnish artists, including Piirustuskerho (which includes pretty much all Avarus and Kemialliset Ystavat people), Roope Eronen, Reijo Karkkainen (Le Dernier Cri), Kasper Stromman (Napa) and loads more. From creepy simple squiggles to dizzying abstract magic marker scapes to haunting water colors to amazingly strange illustrations, all of them, brief little glimpses into some beautifully mysterious and beautiful otherworld. Ghostlike little girls, bizarre creatures, crazy characters, weird warped landscapes. Wow. No, seriously we're talking WOW WOW WOW! A lot of the text is in Finnish but is translated in footnotes! It almost doesn't matter anyway, the pictures are so head spinningly beautiful they tell the stories just fine on their own.
These books had a bit of a rough trip from Finland, so the spine and the edges show some slight wear, but not so much that it really matters at all. Once inside, you'll get swallowed whole by all the pretty colors and lost forever in a swirling world of wonderful weirdness.

GLOMP 9 #9 (Boing Being) book 35.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We're so immersed in Finnish underground music all the time, that we sometimes forget there's probably a whole lot of other amazing underground stuff going on over there as well. Like say, ART ferinstance. Well last year we got a crash course in Finnish underground art with a hefty eye popping tome called Glomp. And it happened to be the eighth Glomp, but the first one we had ever set eyes on and we were smitten, BIG TIME. So were all of you as we couldn't keep it in stock, and it ended up going out of print pretty dang fast.
Thankfully, it's time for another hair raising, eye popping, head spinning, other-body-part-doing-something-else-that-body-part-doesn't-normally-do installment of crazy, gorgeous, funny, sad, poignant, confusing, fantastical and fucked up Finnish underground art in the form of Glomp #9! And just like the first one it's amazing. And even though much of the text is in Finnish, it doesn't detract from the loveliness or far-out-ness or just plain old simple beauty of this amazing artwork. And for all you Finnish music freaks (like us), tons of the artwork here is by folks who do time in bands like Avarus, Anaksimandros, Kemialliset Ystavat and loads more. Just like #8, the stuff inside is all over the map, from gorgeous and bizarre photographs, to gorgeous super detailed Renee French like pencil drawings, to super abstract paintings, to garish sculptures, confusing collages, tons of comic strips, most you don't even have to understand Finnish to get (although most of the text is subtitled with English footnotes!). Our favorite is probably the recurring strip by Tommi Musturi, the trials and tribulations of a strange doughy white pill shaped being with pink lips and a tubular nose, who wanders Frank-like through strange and dangerous worlds. But all of it is just so amazing. Finnish freaks will definitely want this, but anyone into cool weird hard to find art books will definitely go crazy for this too. LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES WORLDWIDE. Of that thousand we have a super limited amount, and if people go as crazy for this one as they did for the last one, they won't be around for long...

GLONTI, REZO The Diary Of The Second Officer (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 Rezo Glonti, a Georgian sound artist (as in the republic of Georgia, not GEORGIA), whose sound is a lush and lovely hybrid of warm washed out swells and mysterious electronic glitchery. Hazy dreamlike shimmers wreathed in swirls of static give way to hushed delicate ambient folk peppered with lush textures, buried field recordings surface and fade away, the vibe is almost choral, the sounds stately and serene, the strange clouds of electronics transforming a muted minimalism into something much more abstract and mysterious, as if they were lost broadcasts, being intercepted from some alternate universe or being sent forward from the past. The gauzy patina that surrounds most of these songs give them the feel of an antiquated unearthed recording, we hear shades of TIm Hecker and Philip Jeck, the same sort of soft focus staticky shimmer and woozy warbled melodies, all smeared into a bleary bit of electronic ambient drift, that is quite entrancing and mesmerizing.
LIMITED TO 150 COPIES!!
MPEG Stream: "Moved By (Airplane)"
MPEG Stream: "Lagos"
MPEG Stream: "Meeting With Red Botanic"

GLORIA DIABOLI Gate To Sheol (Battle Kommand) cd 13.98

MPEG Stream: "The Kingdom Of Flesh And Decay"
MPEG Stream: "Above As It Is Below"

GLORIOR BELLI Manifesting The Raging Beast (Southern Lord) cd 15.98
France pretty much has the market cornered on modern progressive black metal. Deathspell Omega obviously, Hell Militia, Amesoeurs, Alcest, Peste Noire, Mutiilation, Blut Aus Nord, Aluk Todolo, Spektr, Angmar, Wolfe, and now you can add Glorior Belli to the list.
Deathspell fans will go apeshit for these guys, their buzzing blackness is all mathy and post rocky, songs lurch and sway, some songs are thick furious blasts, relentless and dense with black grit, the sound massive and crushing, while others are sprawling post black doomscapes, the guitars unwinding into fractured melodies, the drums stuttering through convoluted tempos, and even the blasting black numbers, more often than not splinter into super angular blackmath workouts.
Manifesting The Raging Beast somehow manages to be raw and grim, but simultaneously super dense and incredibly heavy, the production is incredible, the guitars are thick streaks of luminous melody, wound into black thunderbolts, the drums sound like sticking your head in a cement mixer full of anvils, as much as we love us some super lo-fi tinny 4-track buzz, it's kind of awesome to have a record sound this powerful, especially a black metal record. The riffs are kick ass, and catchy, and the band are not afraid of a groove, so much of the record is spent lurching through weird black waltzes or swinging in strange time signatures before exploding back into soul shearing blasts. And it's that balance between relentless black onslaught, and strange tangled weirdness that keeps this record sounding so amazing.
Definitely for fans of DSO, Funeral Mist, Katharsis and other like minded progressive black metal hordes...
MPEG Stream: "From Darkness There Springs Light"
MPEG Stream: "Deadly Sparks"
MPEG Stream: "Sinister Resonance"

GLORIOR BELLI Manifesting The Raging Beast (Southern Lord) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
France pretty much has the market cornered on modern progressive black metal. Deathspell Omega obviously, Hell Militia, Amesoeurs, Alcest, Peste Noire, Mutiilation, Blut Aus Nord, Aluk Todolo, Spektr, Angmar, Wolfe, and now you can add Glorior Belli to the list.
Deathspell fans will go apeshit for these guys, their buzzing blackness is all mathy and post rocky, songs lurch and sway, some songs are thick furious blasts, relentless and dense with black grit, the sound massive and crushing, while others are sprawling post black doomscapes, the guitars unwinding into fractured melodies, the drums stuttering through convoluted tempos, and even the blasting black numbers, more often than not splinter into super angular blackmath workouts.
Manifesting The Raging Beast somehow manages to be raw and grim, but simultaneously super dense and incredibly heavy, the production is incredible, the guitars are thick streaks of luminous melody, wound into black thunderbolts, the drums sound like sticking your head in a cement mixer full of anvils, as much as we love us some super lo-fi tinny 4-track buzz, it's kind of awesome to have a record sound this powerful, especially a black metal record. The riffs are kick ass, and catchy, and the band are not afraid of a groove, so much of the record is spent lurching through weird black waltzes or swinging in strange time signatures before exploding back into soul shearing blasts. And it's that balance between relentless black onslaught, and strange tangled weirdness that keeps this record sounding so amazing.
Definitely for fans of DSO, Funeral Mist, Katharsis and other like minded progressive black metal hordes...
MPEG Stream: "From Darkness There Springs Light"
MPEG Stream: "Deadly Sparks"
MPEG Stream: "Sinister Resonance"

GLORIOR BELLI Meet Us At The Southern Sign (Candlelight) cd 13.98
What is it about France? For years now, this unsuspecting nation has been churning out some of the most vile, merciless, and best black metal on the planet. Groups like Deathspell Omega and Blut Aus Nord have set a new standard that expertly blends bizarre, progressive experimentation with a blackened attack that only a fool would criticize for not being "true". The results are undeniable, and it should be clear that among those redefining black metal for a new age, the French are at the top of the heap. For some reason, Glorior Belli has yet to receive the attention bestowed on many of their countrymen, but, Satan willing, things will definitely change with the arrival of Meet Us At The Southern Sign, the band's third album.
Glorior Belli may not be the weirdest of the bunch, but FUCK do these guys know how to conjure up the perfect blend of crushing brutality with a well defined sense of off kilter, seasick melodies and an overall approach that simply rocks. With that said, this album does come across as something different, but not in a "listen to my oscillator" kind of way. Maybe the weirdness here is relative, since we're talking about a band that is relentlessly metal at the heart of it all, but Glorior Belli's more lumbering numbers, such as opener "Once In A Blood Red Moon" almost come across as what present day Earth might sound like if they gave it all up to the dark side. It's hard to come out and say this, surely many will disagree, but some of this *almost* moves with the flow of the blues. It's doomy. It's dirgey. It sounds like the black metal version of waking up in your trailer with a horrible hangover after a night of intense drinking at the local shithole. Mainman Infestvvs's guttural croak is surprisingly similar to the legendary bark of John Brannon, most famous for his work with hardcore gods Negative Approach, but ALSO revered as the crooner for bluesy post-punk crew the Laughing Hyenas. Of course, the artwork could also confirm this bluesy presence, as could the song titles themselves. And then, holy shit, without even looking beforehand, we notice a peculiar song title... "In Every Grief Stricken Blues", another behemoth of mid-tempo, down and out goodness. Fuck, first Diamatragon's Crossroad, now this. Maybe we're in the early stages of a new sub-genre?
With all that said, it is certainly impossible to ignore how insanely, overwhelmingly METAL this is. Fear not, for there are plenty of lightspeed blast beats, grinding dual guitars, and heavy as fuck winding bass grooves, which add a weird mathy element to the maelstrom. All contribute equally to the potent, concentrated assault of Glorior Belli, making this one of the best metal albums of the year. So unbelievably, incomprehensibly awesome, we're stilll trying to wrap our heads around it all...
MPEG Stream: "Once In A Blood Red Moon"
MPEG Stream: "The Forbidden Words"
MPEG Stream: "Meet Us At The Southern Sign"

GLORIOR BELLI O Laudate Dominus (Eerie Art) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We've been trying to track this down for ages after reading about Glorior Belli in Terrorizer. Assorted comparisons to Dissection and Watain and Deathspell Omega and the like had us practically foaming at the mouth. Finally after months of searching we finally managed to get a bunch of these in. The first thing we noticed was how much it looks like the Watain records, or any of the releases on N.E.D. (home to DSO, Ondskapt, Funeral Mist, etc), with a cool woodcut on the cover, arcane black and grey graphics, vaguely religious imagery, everything sort of distressed looking, as if it was taken from some long buried parchment. But what the hell, this band probably -should- be on N.E.D., it would be a perfect fit. Buzzing super technical, ultra raw blackened thrash, with darkly melodic breakdowns verging on post rock, lots of majestic riffing, and stretches of super blasting buzz! The whole thing though has a strangely melodic bent that helps it stand out from other black metal records, an almost indie-rock quality to the melodies, somehow super catchy while at the same time being suffocatingly black and grim. Quite a feat indeed. Anyone who has been digging Watain, Deathspell Omega (especially the newest one), Funeral Mist, or any of that stuff NEEDS this for sure!
MPEG Stream: "O Laudate Dominus"
MPEG Stream: "Poisoned Flesh"

GLORIOR BELLI O Laudate Dominus (Aquilus Cruoris) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
NOW ON VINYL!
(Warning: all of the copies we got are bent in one corner. Unfortunately, that's the way every copy is. The distributor got all bent copies, BUT, the cd is out of print so this is the only way to get this amazing record. We're also selling them for only a few dollars above our cost....)
We've been trying to track this down for ages after reading about Glorior Belli in Terrorizer. Assorted comparisons to Dissection and Watain and Deathspell Omega and the like had us practically foaming at the mouth. Finally after months of searching we finally managed to get a bunch of these in. The first thing we noticed was how much it looks like the Watain records, or any of the releases on N.E.D. (home to DSO, Ondskapt, Funeral Mist, etc), with a cool woodcut on the cover, arcane black and grey graphics, vaguely religious imagery, everything sort of distressed looking, as if it was taken from some long buried parchment. But what the hell, this band probably -should- be on N.E.D., it would be a perfect fit. Buzzing super technical, ultra raw blackened thrash, with darkly melodic breakdowns verging on post rock, lots of majestic riffing, and stretches of super blasting buzz! The whole thing though has a strangely melodic bent that helps it stand out from other black metal records, an almost indie-rock quality to the melodies, somehow super catchy while at the same time being suffocatingly black and grim. Quite a feat indeed. Anyone who has been digging Watain, Deathspell Omega (especially the newest one), Funeral Mist, or any of that stuff NEEDS this for sure!
MPEG Stream: "O Laudate Dominus"
MPEG Stream: "Poisoned Flesh"

GLORIOR BELLI The Great Southern Darkness (Metal Blade) cd 14.98
We've mentioned it before, but it seems like few can touch French black metal when it comes to originally and innovation, whether it's the gnarled twisted post rock flecked ritualistic blackness of Deathspell Omega, or the industrial drone drenched black buzz of Blut Aus Nord, and on past records, French horde Glorior Belli seemed to hew close to DSO's sound, the same sort of mysterious progressive blackness, that was until their 2009 record Meet Us At The Southern Sign, where GB established themselves as perhaps the strangest of the French BM bunch, infusing the usual black blasts and grim buzz with all manner of not-specifically-black-metal elements, whether it's sort of a twangy bit of moody meander, or punkish vocal howls, or some downright nearly blues sounding moments, not to mention a penchant for rocking, and we're not talking buzzing and blasting, we're talking rocking as in rock music, like shredding leads, classic (even Southern at moments) ROCK, which was a subtle element way back when, but recently, especially on this new one, has come to play a bigger and bigger part in GB's sound. In fact much of The Great Southern Darkness is spent rocking and not blasting or buzzing, the opening one two punch of "Dark Gnosis" and "Secret Ride To Rebellion", includes very little of what one might describe as buzzing black metal, instead, there's lots of midtempo rocking, even some doomy dirgery, with slippery seasick riffage and classic metal melodies. And then check out "They Call Me Black Devil", which starts off with some Joy Division / Earth like low slung twang, before launching into what sounds like some post metal Neur-Isis-y groove, the harsh demonic vokills, the only thing really defining the song as black metal, and then the track shifts into a killer mathy super melodic breakdown, hell, pretty much any band on Relapse would kill for a part like that, which speaks to how good these guys have gotten musically, as they toss off parts like that constantly, without batting an eye. And while you're at it, there's also "Negative Incarnate", which indeed has an appropriately EVIL title, but is almost total classic rock, complete with super melodic leads, and a groove that won't quit. But then the second that song ends, comes the band's harshest blast, the furious opening to "Bring Down The Cosmic Scheme", but that grim buzz doesn't last long, as the track shifts gears into something totally melodic and totally crazy catchy, lurching back and forth between blackbuzz and melodic blackened rock. And not to overly stress the lack of actual black metal, the band do offer up plenty of grim blackness, like on the aforementioned track, but more often then not, even at their blackest and buzziest, the sound is infused with something distinctly not black, or there's inevitably some crazy poppy / proggy / ROCKING part is right around the corner. And to be honest, in a world of buzzing and blasting black metal clones, it's records like this that end up sticking the most. And while it took a few listens to really get into what these guys were doing, once we did, we began to have trouble understanding why more bands didn't actually do something similar. Might not be black metal record of the year, but just might have to make up a blackened heavy rock category, cuz we're digging this like crazy.
MPEG Stream: "Negative Incarnate"
MPEG Stream: "Secret Ride To Rebellion"
MPEG Stream: "They Call Me Black Devil"

GLORY FCKN SUN Spectra (Tipped Bowler Tapes) lp 16.98
There really is something about music from New Zealand. We used to think it was sort of shorthand cheapshot music journalism, comparing everything to the Dead C, and lumping all these disparate sounding bands together based entirely on locale, but dammit if the more we listen to this stuff, the more it does seem to be true. Take this Glory Fckn Sun lp, the latest chunk of sweet dreamy noise from New Zealanders Antony Milton, Ben Spiers and Simon O'Rorke. As we were listening to this, all sorts of other bands came to mind, but when we thought about it more than a second, and listened really closely, we realized that this music could not have come from anywhere else. A blind listening, and we're fairly sure, even if we couldn't name the band, we would have immediately known New Zealand.
None of that is to say this record isn't unique or its own entity, or that it sounds like everything else from NZ, it most certainly doesn't, but it does share much sonically, and texturally, and there's just something ineffable that makes the music of GFS distinctly New Zealand.
Regardless, it's a big glorious fucking soft noise explosion, beginning with soft cymbal swirls and rumbling low wend, lots of effects, and deep buried melodies. Long streaks of buzzing metallic skree skitters over bits of clatter and clang, all held in place by a field of creaking metal on metal shimmer, murky vocals swimming in swirling pools of crumbling distortion. If you need references, think of some lost record on Corpus Hermeticum in the nineties, Surface Of The Earth maybe, a softened Dead C, muted and swathed in electric crackle, the whole thing a glorious whirling abyss of sound peppered with the clank and clunk of mini pipe fights, and twisted atonal chords, chiming harmonies, all layered and spread out into gritty streaks of droning abstract, slightly noisy beauty.
Pressed on clear red vinyl, housed in a striking chipboard sleeve hand screened, two color, and of course LIMITED TO 300 COPIES!!

GLORY FCKN SUN Vision Scorched (Pseudo Aracana) cd + book 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Latest chunk of noisy bliss from Antony Milton, head honcho of the Pseudo Arcana label, the man behind Mrtyu, the Nether Dawn and others, as well as a member of The Stumps, With Throats As Fine As Needles, Street, Claypipe and about a million others. Glory Frckn Sun finds Milton teamed up with Ben Spiers (from Empty Mirror) and improv percussionist Simon O'Rorke. The three form a phalanx of sonic solar warriors, wielding an arsenal of noisemakers including gutars, violins, electronics, percussion and gongs...
Beginning life in 2003, this disc has been over two years in the making, and sounds like it, in that it sounds like a super saturated slooooooooooow burn, the sound of the birth of a universe, a blinding glistening supernova of sound, the guitars are white hot, blinding sonic glares, that just drift in long solar flares, woven into huge expanses of constantly shifting soft drone, over the top, shimmering billows of reverberating melodies crash like waves, this is some impossible drift through alien skies, navigating black holes and clouds of whirring glimmering particles. Cacophonous squalls pepper the mostly tranquil stretches, with the occasional jagged streak of feedback or spatters of metallic percussion. The opening track is massive, a 30 minute trawl though the heart of the sun, everything melting into buzzing smears all around you. Imagine SUNNO))) of Fushitsusha set up on the surface of the sun, now imagine a field recording of those bands being consumed by fire, amps melting into thick viscous black puddles, guitar strings becoming strange serpentine shadows, flesh and bone fusing into twisted shapes before transforming into thick clouds of living sound.
Track two sounds like the recording of whatever infernal machinery lies below the surface of the sun, the mysterious factory that keeps it burning, feeding the flames, a grinding cacophony laced with long low slow stretches of buzz and whir. The final track a gorgeous languorous outro, a bit of shuffling percussion strewn atop a long soft stretch of blown out ambience, minor key melodies buried in the murk, giving the strange sleepy shimmer a warm ominous glow. Epic, intense and beautiful.
LIMITED TO 200 COPIES. Packaged in a hand screened, cd-sized, perfect bound book, the cover, thick textured paper, very spare and striking, the booklet inside, a series of photos, graphics and diagrams of the sun, from super technical to completely abstract, the cd in a sleeve affixed to the back cover, each copy hand numbered.
MPEG Stream: "Swells"
MPEG Stream: "Fire Thereof"

GLOVE, THE Blue Sunshine (Rhino) 2cd 25.00
Some musical pairings just make perfect sense. Case in point, Siouxsie And The Banshees' Steve Severin and The Cure's Robert Smith. Originally released in 1983, The Glove is getting the same reissue treatment as the early Cure albums which means there is an extra disc which in this case is where the magic is hidden. On the original release there were label/legality issues which kept Smith's voice from appearing on all except two tracks so a last minute singer was needed which ended up being Jeanette Landray, who was the girlfriend of The Banshees drummer Budgie. While her vocals kind of work, it's always been the kind of record that you always pictured with Smith's vintage vocals throughout. And this reissue makes that dream come true as the bonus disc is filled with demo versions on which Smith sings those very song making this reissue even more essential. Robert Smith in 1983 singing with Severin from The Banshees playing, what more could you want?
MPEG Stream: "Like An Animal (Vocal Demo)"
MPEG Stream: "A Blues In Drag (Alt Vocal Demo)"
MPEG Stream: "Sex Eye Make Up"

GLOWALLA, CHRISTOF Erde 80 (Medical) 10" 14.98
Here's a cool new reissue from the Medical Records label, a collection of rare synth wave jams from DIY '80s musician Christof Glowalla, a young German who endeavored to create a moody swirl of haunting synthwave with just a single synth, a 4 track, and a super primitive drum machine. Eventually, he made it into a proper studio and recorded what would become a bit of synthpop coldwave history, with the track "Erde 80", a strange bit of cold synth pop, the rhythm track, sounding a bit Kraftwerky, motorik and pulsing, but overlaid with woozy dreamlike synth melodies, and most notably some intense Teutonic vocals, sounding like they were sung in a tunnel, all reverbed and metallic, only adding to the song's strange vibe. "Technik" is just as cool (and weird), the synths darker and buzzier, laced with laxer blast bleeps and FX squiggles, droney and tranced out, with yet still more twisted vocals, this time growled and distorted and transformed into something almost robotic sounding, until the chorus comes and they morph into a weird whiney croon, all over that dense somber buzz, the real surprise though, is the acoustic guitar that pops up midway through, giving the song a strange sun dappled folk vibe, only to slip right back into the dark synth buzz.
The original "Erde 80" single is joined on this 10" reissue by three tracks recorded a year later, all of which were rejected by record companies at the time, and only one that was ever released. "Smog In Der Stadt" is starts out as a grim sprawl of atmospheric buzz and creepy processed vox, before blossoming into another acoustic guitar laced bit of synth pop, the vibe still dark, but way catchier, and much more well produced, the song featuring a haunting vocal drone in the background, not to mention some super strange falsetto background vocals, and some crunchy guitar, even some leads, a weird sort of hard rocking new wave, in fact the last minute sounds way more proto-punk than synth wave! "Der Bosse" is a darkly psychedelic synth ballad, with super dramatic vocals, droned out synth tones, kosmische pulsations, and some spidery, twangy guitars, again displaying Glowalla's new direction, and it becomes more obvious why folks wanting another "Erde 80" might have been thrown off, but we're digging it big time. Finally, "Science Fiction" is a groovy sprawl of bleepy bloop sci-fi- synth pop, which at least for the few minutes sounds more like the "Erde 80" 7", but as the track progresses, the acoustic guitars drift in, and the sound once again seems to move more toward a slightly more mainstream electro pop, eighties new wave sound, which again, sounds pretty goddamn great to us!!
Housed in as super thick, full color jacket, pressed on heavy mustard colored vinyl. LIMITED TO 600 COPIES, each one hand numbered.
MPEG Stream: "Erde 80"
MPEG Stream: "Technik"
MPEG Stream: "Science Fiction"

GLUCIFER Tender Is The Savage (Sub Pop) 2cd 12.98
Swedish shit-kickin' gasoline-fueled rock action, a la slightly-better known peers The Hellacopters. Biff Malibu (yep, they all have dumb pseudonyms) does his singing in a kinda Danzig kinda way, but the music is more like Motor City 70's proto-punk via grunge city. Bonus disc with video and some other songs.

GLUTTONY Collapse Of The Roman Republic (Liber Primus) (Hekaloth / Cyclops) cd 15.98
Fans of the damaged and deranged, the truly warped and mindbending, the freaky, fucked up and plain baffling, by now should be well acquainted with the mysterious master of the guitar synth, and his bevy of bewildering outfits, two of which we've reviewed on past AQ lists, this being the third, in what we can only imagine is some sort of insane trilogy. Xynfonica came first. A "classical" record, completely composed and performed on the guitar synthesizer. A tripped out, outsider slab of post Peter And The Wolf classical deconstructed, atonal and so so so difficult, oh and did we mention that the other part of the equation was seemingly incongruous raspy evil metal vocals? A totally not-right combination, but for those of us who dig that sort of stuff, it was pretty unbeatable. Then there was the HUGE booklet of lyrics, complete with FOOTNOTES!!!
Then came Shevalreq, part two in the "trilogy", his 'world music' record, where the same atonal angular tones and notes, the howled raspy vocals, were this time wrapped around faux tablas and various other ethnic percussion instruments. If anything, it was even more fucked and amazing. Not to mention the over the top cover art, with miniature jousting knights on horseback ON TOP OF various dat machines and other studio gear. WTF?
So while we anxiously awaited part three, we were fairly sure nothing could top Shevalreq. But oh were we wrong.
The new one is called Gluttony, the name of the record: Collapse Of The Roman Republic, another epic tale of war and death and love and betrayal, this one being his quote unquote jazz record, and fuck if it's not the most amazingly fucked up record EVER. Now in addition to the metallic rasp, the stumbling angular melodies, are lots of synthesized horn stabs, crooning synthesizers, faux vibes and marimbas, synth oboes, synth bassoons, all peppered with some serious twisted tangles of Greg Ginn-esque guitar squall, usually draped over some woozy, smoky dive bar synthjazz. It still sort of sounds like Peter And The Wolf, but it also sounds like the score for some mystery noir z-movie thriller, ripe for some sort of Sam Spade voice over, but instead you get a voice over from some growling bile spewing demon, and the tracks lope on endlessly, the melodies, maniacally off kilter, the whole thing so brilliantly baffling it's almost impossible to listen to the whole thing, but we've come close. Very very close.
Absolutely recommended, but ONLY for those who can handle stuff like this. You know who you are.
MPEG Stream: "Marius Engages The Teutons"
MPEG Stream: "Teutonic Invasion"
MPEG Stream: "Marius Engages The Cimbri"
MPEG Stream: "The Rise Of Sulla"

GNARLS BARKLEY St. Elsewhere (Downtown) cd 17.98
When we first heard of the strangely monikered Gnarls Barkley, they already had a number one hit in the UK and had the biggest downloaded single ever with the track "Crazy". Normally, we don't always pay much attention to popular hit singles, but something about the name made us curious. So we checked it out and need we say it, our minds were blown!! A stab of cool, infectious, minor key, soul-pop groove that conks you over the head with an anvil or a piano until you're seeing stars and little birdies, just like in the cartoons! Of course, when we found out Gnarls Barkley was in fact Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo (ex-Goodie Mob), it all made a bit more sense. But even with such talent, we assumed the single would be a one-off and heck, we'd be fine with that, cuz that track was just so perfect. Then, lo and behold, a full length CD shows up on our counter. Would it be just as exciting and mind blowing as the single? Hells Yes!!! St. Elsewhere is a strange and often silly pastiche of soul, pop, funk, hip hop, and gospel with nods to Wilson Pickett, Undisputed Truth, Marvin Gaye, and crazily enough Violent Femmes (they cover "Gone Daddy Gone"). But even with their influences showing bright and clear, they put it all together in their own unique crazy fun and groovy way. Less sleazy than Andre 3000's Love Below, but sipping from the same funky bottle. Expect to hear this one all summer long.
MPEG Stream: "Crazy"
MPEG Stream: "Smiley Faces"

GNARLS BARKLEY St. Elsewhere - Deluxe Edition (Downtown / Atlantic) cd+dvd 27.00
We're really getting tired of this new trend of reissuing a record after it's only been out for a few months. Drives us nuts. What's worse is that they seem to always have cool stuff that we totally want. Argh. If they could just include that stuff the first time around... Anyway, THE smash hit of the year, Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo's Gnarls Barkley gets the deluxe reissue treatment and it's a doozy, so much so that we all find ourselves wanting to buy it all over again. New super swanky packaging, with a badass 3-D lenticular cover and a HUGE booklet, but more importantly, two live tracks, one from Top Of The Pops, the other from Later With Jools Holland, and 4 videos, two of which we've seen and are completely amazing. If you're a fan, it's probably sort of essential, and if you somehow managed to not buy this yet, now's the time to get it, with all the bells and whistles! In case, you've been living in a cave or under a rock, here's what we had to say about the ubiquitous St. Elsewhere:
When we first heard of the strangely monikered Gnarls Barkley, they already had a number one hit in the UK and had the biggest downloaded single ever with the track "Crazy". Normally, we don't always pay much attention to popular hit singles, but something about the name made us curious. So we checked it out and need we say it, our minds were blown!! A stab of cool, infectious, minor key, soul-pop groove that conks you over the head with an anvil or a piano until you're seeing stars and little birdies, just like in the cartoons! Of course, when we found out Gnarls Barkley was in fact Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo (ex-Goodie Mob), it all made a bit more sense. But even with such talent, we assumed the single would be a one-off and heck, we'd be fine with that, cuz that track was just so perfect. Then, lo and behold, a full length CD shows up on our counter. Would it be just as exciting and mind blowing as the single? Hells Yes!!! St. Elsewhere is a strange and often silly pastiche of soul, pop, funk, hip hop, and gospel with nods to Wilson Pickett, Undisputed Truth, Marvin Gaye, and crazily enough Violent Femmes (they cover "Gone Daddy Gone"). But even with their influences showing bright and clear, they put it all together in their own unique crazy fun and groovy way. Less sleazy than Andre 3000's Love Below, but sipping from the same funky bottle. Expect to hear this one all summer long (actually, you should probably expect to hear this one fooooooorrreeeeeeeevvvvvvveeeeeeer!).
MPEG Stream: "Crazy"
MPEG Stream: "Smiley Faces"

GNARLS BARKLEY The Odd Couple (Atlantic) cd 17.98
Summer Jam lightning rarely strikes twice, and in the case of Gnarls Barkley fluke hit, "Crazy", they were lucky lightning struck at all. So instead of setting out for the impossible, they have made a more memorable full length without the erratic stylistic leaps and goofs of their debut. The tone is darker, but more soulful and while the upbeat jams are fewer, they have enough hooks to keep you listening and coming back. While St. Elsewhere was neurotic and bi-polar, The Odd Couple is addressing demons in a far more beguiling and groovy manner, one that gets better with each listen. Could this be therapy?
MPEG Stream: "Going On"
MPEG Stream: "Run (I'm A Natural Disaster)"
MPEG Stream: "She Knows"