HAMMER, JOSEPH I Love You, Please Love Me (Pan) lp 36.00
Sound artist Joseph Hammer was a member of the legendary/infamous LAFMS (Los Angeles Free Music Society), and on I Love You, Please Love Me Too, he takes everyday sounds, and creates something far from everyday. It's a gloriously head spinning Plunderphonic style collage of loops and snippets and samples, old dusty records, snatches of radio broadcasts, tapes of old performances, all layered and mashed into a swirling sonic stew, repeated motifs melt into warped and warbly murk, pianos tinkle, vocals swoop and soar, different languages, jazzy horns, chugging metal guitars, skittery programmed drums, jangle and crunch and grind and swoon. RnB gives way to nu-metal, yacht rock gives way to new age, but chopped and sliced and diced and recontextualized so each element is just a part of the bigger, constantly mutating whole. The A side seems more jumbled, a relentless onslaught of stuttering sound, a swirling flurry of tangled melodies and ever shifting voices and instruments, flurries of shards and fragments in constant motion, while somehow, the second side seems more serene, the sounds blurred and smeared into something slightly more linear, the pitch and speed still constantly changing, a warped woozy sprawl of psychedelic, ADD plunderphonic pop.
LIMITED TO 330 COPIES, each one hand numbered, and like all releases on Pan, the vinyl is 140 gram, and is housed in a thick jacket, which itself is presented in a super elaborate and psychedelic two colored PVC plastic sleeve, with eye popping tripped out geometric designs.

HAMMERFALL Renegade (Nuclear Blast) cd 15.98
The Swedish cheese-metallers who've led the recent worldwide "comeback" of so-called "power metal", come back themselves with a third album, this time with big-time '80s metal producer Michael Wagener (it was recorded in the USA for goshsakes!). Nothing new really, if you liked their other albums you'll like this, and if you didn't, you won't. One thumb up (Andee), one thumb down (Allan).

HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE 17th Street (Metal Blade) cd 14.98
Ripping heavy metal infused with ornate Queen-like pop smarts, in support of lyrical concerns that 99 percenters could rally around? Hmm, that could only be the new album from San Francisco's Hammers Of Misfortune! It's interesting to think, that 17th Street might be the very first record by these guys (and gals) that lots of people will be exposed to, on account of 'em now being on a "big" label, the venerable Metal Blade, who besides putting out this new record, also reissued Hammers entire back catalog last year. What will those newbies make of it, a bold, brash, bombastic, very very "musical", progged-out opus that's part power metal, part pop, part political commentary??
However, most folks reading this are probably already familiar with Hammers, perhaps possessors of the preceding four entries in their discography (or 5 or maybe even 6, actually, depending on how you count 2008's double album Fields/Church Of Broken Glass, as well as the archival release of their early material recorded under the name Unholy Cadaver). So this review is mostly directed those Hammers fans, AQ customers who have been following 'em over the years like we have, and are aware of all the various the lineup changes, and stylistic shifts (raspy black metal influences out, '70s Hammond organ driven prog in) that have become part of the Hammers saga. (If you are a newbie, we suggest you get The Bastard first, then check out their others.)
But, while 2001's The Bastard remains our favorite HoM release (heck, Andee here originally put it out on his label tUMULt, right?), we are definitely finding a lot to like about what Hammers have turned into ten years on. They remain a brilliant band, if an indulgent one - but then that's one of the perks of prog, isn't it?
As Hammers fans have come to expect, this is chock full of intricate, incredible guitarwork. Lots of vintage sounding Hammond organ in there as well, those ivories tinkled by a classically trained pianist, juxtaposed with technical thrash velocities. And soaring, quasi-operatic vocals of course, too... speaking of which, that's one of the most significant aspects to mention about this new album, that among the lineup changes since the last one, they have a new male vocalist who might finally fill the void left by the departure of Slough Feg's Mike Scalzi after 2006's The Locust Years. New frontman Joe Hutton is a more than capable singer, in fact he's quite good, and while he doesn't sound exactly like Scalzi, there's a quality to his voice that old fans who miss Scalzi in the band will appreciate.
He's not their new 2nd guitar player though, that'd be Leila Abdul-Rauf, formerly of blackened death metallers Saros, also of Vastum - who in addition to being a shredder who can hold her own playing those harmonies with Hammers founder John Cobbett, turns out to have a nice "clean" singing voice (she did the cookie monster thing in Saros!), filling the female 'diva' role now in Hammers - though these new songs, with Hutton up front, definitely place more emphasis on the male vocal part, a good thing we think. And he's certainly given some infectiously melodic material to wrap his pipes around, as it were.
We're probably notorious for finding buried 'poppiness' in all sorts of not very overtly poppy music, but don't think we'll get much argument here when we say that while Hammers have always been melodic, this is definitely their poppiest outing yet. To the point that we can almost imagine 'em being played on the radio, and could even kinda compare some of this to the likes of, uh, Journey, at times. Ferinstance, "The Grain", the album's first "single" (or at least, leaked YouTube track), is something that WILL definitely get stuck in your head, the chorus catchier than a really catchy thing, though it's over 7 minutes long, so forget the radio idea... Elsewhere on this album, Queen (and the many-layered guitars of Brian May) are a good comparison. You'll hear that on the heartwrenching piano ballad "Summer Tears", a moody one... Going beyond Queen, the sprightly likes of "The Day The City Died" gets almost into Sparks territory, even! Lest that not sound very "metal", don't worry, the frantic charge of "Romance Valley" amongst other stormers here should be enough to demonstrate that 17th Street is totally deserving of having the old school bloody axe Metal Blade logo emblazoned on its sleeve.
Conceptually (and being Hammers, you know there's concepts!), well, all their other albums came out during the heinous reign of George W. Bush. Now the class warfare is more the focus than the so-called War On Terror. And guess what? This is thus the first, and doubtless only, protest prog-metal album aligned with the Occupy Wall Street movement (Occupy 17th Street!?). One of the songs, "Staring (The 31st Floor)", is about the collapse of Lehman Brothers, for gosh sake.
With the demise of Ludicra, Hammers are now lead guitarist and main songwriter John Cobbett's only going concern. And there was a lot of pressure on, but we think Cobbett & Co. rose to the occasion. Though it's hard to gauge what other folks will think of this, as no other bands really sound anything like Hammers do these days.
Available on both cd (digipack) or deluxe double gatefold vinyl, 180 gram, 45rpm for maximum fidelity!! The vinyl version features an extra 7 minute track, "Salt", right in the middle of the first side. And furthermore, the mastering job on the vinyl is said (by the band) to sound better, though we haven't yet made that determination ourselves.
MPEG Stream: "17th Street"
MPEG Stream: "The Grain"
MPEG Stream: "The Day The City Died"

HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE 17th Street (Metal Blade) 2lp 24.00
Ripping heavy metal infused with ornate Queen-like pop smarts, in support of lyrical concerns that 99 percenters could rally around? Hmm, that could only be the new album from San Francisco's Hammers Of Misfortune! It's interesting to think, that 17th Street might be the very first record by these guys (and gals) that lots of people will be exposed to, on account of 'em now being on a "big" label, the venerable Metal Blade, who besides putting out this new record, also reissued Hammers entire back catalog last year. What will those newbies make of it, a bold, brash, bombastic, very very "musical", progged-out opus that's part power metal, part pop, part political commentary??
However, most folks reading this are probably already familiar with Hammers, perhaps possessors of the preceding four entries in their discography (or 5 or maybe even 6, actually, depending on how you count 2008's double album Fields/Church Of Broken Glass, as well as the archival release of their early material recorded under the name Unholy Cadaver). So this review is mostly directed those Hammers fans, AQ customers who have been following 'em over the years like we have, and are aware of all the various the lineup changes, and stylistic shifts (raspy black metal influences out, '70s Hammond organ driven prog in) that have become part of the Hammers saga. (If you are a newbie, we suggest you get The Bastard first, then check out their others.)
But, while 2001's The Bastard remains our favorite HoM release (heck, Andee here originally put it out on his label tUMULt, right?), we are definitely finding a lot to like about what Hammers have turned into ten years on. They remain a brilliant band, if an indulgent one - but then that's one of the perks of prog, isn't it?
As Hammers fans have come to expect, this is chock full of intricate, incredible guitarwork. Lots of vintage sounding Hammond organ in there as well, those ivories tinkled by a classically trained pianist, juxtaposed with technical thrash velocities. And soaring, quasi-operatic vocals of course, too... speaking of which, that's one of the most significant aspects to mention about this new album, that among the lineup changes since the last one, they have a new male vocalist who might finally fill the void left by the departure of Slough Feg's Mike Scalzi after 2006's The Locust Years. New frontman Joe Hutton is a more than capable singer, in fact he's quite good, and while he doesn't sound exactly like Scalzi, there's a quality to his voice that old fans who miss Scalzi in the band will appreciate.
He's not their new 2nd guitar player though, that'd be Leila Abdul-Rauf, formerly of blackened death metallers Saros, also of Vastum - who in addition to being a shredder who can hold her own playing those harmonies with Hammers founder John Cobbett, turns out to have a nice "clean" singing voice (she did the cookie monster thing in Saros!), filling the female 'diva' role now in Hammers - though these new songs, with Hutton up front, definitely place more emphasis on the male vocal part, a good thing we think. And he's certainly given some infectiously melodic material to wrap his pipes around, as it were.
We're probably notorious for finding buried 'poppiness' in all sorts of not very overtly poppy music, but don't think we'll get much argument here when we say that while Hammers have always been melodic, this is definitely their poppiest outing yet. To the point that we can almost imagine 'em being played on the radio, and could even kinda compare some of this to the likes of, uh, Journey, at times. Ferinstance, "The Grain", the album's first "single" (or at least, leaked YouTube track), is something that WILL definitely get stuck in your head, the chorus catchier than a really catchy thing, though it's over 7 minutes long, so forget the radio idea... Elsewhere on this album, Queen (and the many-layered guitars of Brian May) are a good comparison. You'll hear that on the heartwrenching piano ballad "Summer Tears", a moody one... Going beyond Queen, the sprightly likes of "The Day The City Died" gets almost into Sparks territory, even! Lest that not sound very "metal", don't worry, the frantic charge of "Romance Valley" amongst other stormers here should be enough to demonstrate that 17th Street is totally deserving of having the old school bloody axe Metal Blade logo emblazoned on its sleeve.
Conceptually (and being Hammers, you know there's concepts!), well, all their other albums came out during the heinous reign of George W. Bush. Now the class warfare is more the focus than the so-called War On Terror. And guess what? This is thus the first, and doubtless only, protest prog-metal album aligned with the Occupy Wall Street movement (Occupy 17th Street!?). One of the songs, "Staring (The 31st Floor)", is about the collapse of Lehman Brothers, for gosh sake.
With the demise of Ludicra, Hammers are now lead guitarist and main songwriter John Cobbett's only going concern. And there was a lot of pressure on, but we think Cobbett & Co. rose to the occasion. Though it's hard to gauge what other folks will think of this, as no other bands really sound anything like Hammers do these days.
Available on both cd (digipack) or deluxe double gatefold vinyl, 180 gram, 45rpm for maximum fidelity!! The vinyl version features an extra 7 minute track, "Salt", right in the middle of the first side. And furthermore, the mastering job on the vinyl is said (by the band) to sound better, though we haven't yet made that determination ourselves.
MPEG Stream: "17th Street"
MPEG Stream: "The Grain"
MPEG Stream: "The Day The City Died"

HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE Fields / Church Of Broken Glass (Profound Lore) 2cd 14.98
With their move to big time mega metal label Metal Blade, local long running epic blackened progressive true metal outfit Hammers of Misfortune finally see their back catalog reissued via their new label, which in the case of Fields / Church Of Broken Glass is a bit odd, considering that the original is still available from the label that released it in the first place, Profound Lore, so like all the other Hammers reissues, this one is definitely worth revisiting, and buying if you missed out on it the first time around, but we figured it made more sense to re-list the Profound Lore version... so here's our review of Fields / Church Of Broken Glass from when we first listed it not that long ago...
First, there was The Bastard. The ultimate over the top power metal/black metal rock opera, as far as we're concerned. Ok, so Andee here at AQ put it out on his tUMULt label... but that simply proves that he/we really like it (not that that's WHY we like it). Still Hammers' best, we think. But their follow up The August Engine was pretty killer too. And the same with their third album Locust Years, which we hailed as the first ever fantasy metal album that was also a contemporary political allegory (about Bush and the Iraq War). With that record, Hammers settled with regal grace into a new phase, with the significant addition of '70s styled Hammond organ, taking their prog leanings to ever proggier heights, the raspy black metal aspects of their sound discarded long ago. And this new release from the acclaimed San Francisco metallers is definitely a continuation of that, despite some major lineup changes in the Hammers camp since Locust Years came out in 2006.
Of course, mainman guitarist John Cobbett (Ludicra, ex-Slough Feg) is still the with the band. Also drummer Chewy Marzolo, and keyboardist Sigrid Sheie. But now there's a new set of singers. Hammers, as you may know, have always flaunted operatic/theatrical, male and female vocals, intertwining in their compositions. There's been a few different female singers (who also played bass) over the years, but the clean male vocals until now had been handled solely by Mike Scalzi of Slough Feg, who has a distinctive voice to say the least. Taking over the female role is Jesse Quattro, a trained singer who definitely holds her own in the tradition of Hammers' female vocalists. You won't notice much difference there, though she may well be the best they've had. She doesn't play bass, however, so they've got Ron Nichols in to handle that task. More difficult, perhaps, for Hammers, was replacing Scalzi, who left to concentrate entirely on Slough Feg. Patrick Goodwin (of Dirty Power and Pansy Division) stepped up into Scalzi's shoes and while his voice is definitely different, not having the weird presence or booming depth Scalzi's, he's a capable melodic singer, yearning and emotive, and maybe his less idiosyncratic style fits better with Hammers' current direction. Long time fans will definitely notice a difference, though, and some will roll with it, some won't. Certainly the Hammers of The Bastard aren't the Hammers here.
So, now Hammers Of Misfortune obviously have a lot to prove on this new album - or, actually, albums. That's right, as if to really rise to the occasion and make a statement, they've released a double album, or what they'd have us believe is two separate albums, Fields and Church Of Broken Glass, packaged together. Each one gets its own cover art, you flip the gatefold digipack over to see each one, in the style of an old Ace Double paperback (the cover shown here is that of Fields). Though we were a bit bemused to discover that since the seven cuts on Fields clock in at just over 37 minutes, and the five songs on CoBG total about 35, it actually would have been possible to fit 'em both on a single disc! At least Profound Lore isn't making you pay any extra for this two-cd concept. And, since HoM's music can be so exhaustively epic, full of complex arrangements and keyboard busy-ness and cryptic lyrics, it's actually easier on the listener to have two shorter cds to digest than one exceedingly lengthy one, really!
As well, each disc has its own theme, a rural/urban dichotomy between Fields and Church Of Broken Glass. The best example of the latter being the moody 10 minute epic "Butchertown", painting this very city's streets in sinister fairytale shades. (Urban decay, blight and fright being territory previously explored by Cobbett's black metal outfit Ludicra, as well.) If we know Cobbett, there's probably a clever narrative or allegory at play here, encompassing both discs, leading from song to song and one disc to the next, but Hammers lyrics are poetically vague enough that we haven't puzzled it all out yet exactly. You could look at their recent interview on the Pitchfork website for more insight if you wish. We again get a political vibe from some of this, and do have the idea that Fields starts off about the plight of peasant farmers in Afghanistan, beginning with the three-part, 16-minute suite of "Agriculture", "Fields", and "Motorcade". See what you make of these lines, from the latter: "Escorting friendlies, a walk in the park/Unlock the cages as soon as it's dark/Motorcade motorcade easy to mark/Send in the snipers to swim with the sharks/Breadline is burning, the headcount's a joke/Soon they'll be feasting on mirrors and smoke/Motorcade motorcade horses to show/Fish in a barrel and ducks in a row". Hmm. And Hammers manages to turn that into singalong catchiness!
Fortunately, even with the ambitious scale of this latest project, and all the new members in the band, fans will find that Hammers hasn't changed too much, still full of blazing guitar solos and stop on a dime dynamics, memorable riffs and melodies and exquisite harmonies, musical theater moments and multilayered vocals - all the over the top-ness we love about 'em. Perhaps though the progginess has gotten even proggier, more flowery... We're reminded of Kansas, actually! Well, Kansas mixed with Megadeth, maybe. With a healthy helping of that rollicking, Deep Purplish Hammond organ first introduced on previous opus the Locust Years, as we said. And if you're into 'em for the female vocals, you won't be disappointed at all.
So, what should be Hammers' sales slogan for this album - New and Improved? Well, no, we can't quite go there, what with our feelings about the The Bastard. Well, how about Two For The Price Of One! Sure. And how about Thinking Man's (and Woman's) Metal? Definitely. But we get the idea that slogans and soundbites and all those mass media manipulative aspects of modern commercial culture are exactly what Hammers Of Misfortune stands against, so we'll just leave it with, well worth checking out.
MPEG Stream: "Agriculture"
MPEG Stream: "Rats Assembly"
MPEG Stream: "Butchertown"
MPEG Stream: "Train"

HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE Fields / Church Of Broken Glass (20 Buck Spin) 2lp 22.00
Now on vinyl!! A hefty gatefold double lp thing, which also includes a coupon to download all the music for free if you want mp3s as well. Here's more-or-less what we said about the 2cd version recently released via the Profound Lore label:
First, there was The Bastard. The ultimate over the top power metal/black metal rock opera, as far as we're concerned. Ok, so Andee here at AQ put it out on his tUMULt label... but that simply proves that he/we really like it (not that that's WHY we like it). Still Hammers' best, wethink. But their follow up The August Engine was pretty killer too. And the same with their third album Locust Years, which we hailed as the first ever fantasy metal album that was also a contemporary political allegory (about Bush and the Iraq War). With that record, Hammers settled with regal grace into a new phase, with the significant addition of '70s styled Hammond organ, taking their prog leanings to ever proggier heights, the raspy black metal aspects of their sound discarded long ago. And this new release from the acclaimed San Francisco metallers is definitely a continuation of that, despite some major lineup changes in the Hammers camp since Locust Years came out in 2006.
Of course, mainman guitarist John Cobbett (Ludicra, ex-Slough Feg) is still the with the band. Also drummer Chewy Marzolo, and keyboardist Sigrid Sheie. But now there's a new set of singers. Hammers, as you may know, have always flaunted operatic/theatrical, male and female vocals, intertwining in their compositions. There's been a few different female singers (who also played bass) over the years, but the clean male vocals until now had been handled solely by Mike Scalzi of Slough Feg, who has a distinctive voice to say the least. Taking over the female role is Jesse Quattro, a trained singer who definitely holds her own in the tradition of Hammers' female vocalists. You won't notice much difference there, though she may well be the best they've had. She doesn't play bass, however, so they've got Ron Nichols in to handle that task. More difficult, perhaps, for Hammers, was replacing Scalzi, who left to concentrate entirely on Slough Feg. Patrick Goodwin (of Dirty Power and Pansy Division) stepped up into Scalzi's shoes and while his voice is definitely different, not having the weird presence or booming depth Scalzi's, he's a capable melodic singer, yearning and emotive, and maybe his less idiosyncratic style fits better with Hammers' current direction. Long time fans will definitely notice a difference, though, and some will roll with it, some won't. Certainly the Hammers of The Bastard aren't the Hammers here.
So, now Hammers Of Misfortune obviously have a lot to prove on this new album - or, actually, albums. That's right, as if to really rise to the occasion and make a statement, they've released a double album, or what they'd have us believe is two separate albums, Fields and Church Of Broken Glass, packaged together. Each one gets its own cover art, you flip the gatefold over to see each one, in the style of an old Ace Double paperback (the cover shown here is that of Church).
Each disc has its own theme, a rural/urban dichotomy between Fields and Church Of Broken Glass. The best example of the latter being the moody 10 minute epic "Butchertown", painting this very city's streets in sinister fairytale shades. (Urban decay, blight and fright being territory previously explored by Cobbett's black metal outfit Ludicra, as well.) If we know Cobbett, there's probably a clever narrative or allegory at play here, encompassing both discs, leading from song to song and one disc to the next, but Hammers lyrics are poetically vague enough that we haven't puzzled it all out yet exactly. You could look at their recent interview on the Pitchfork website for more insight if you wish. We again get a political vibe from some of this, and do have the idea that Fields starts off about the plight of peasant farmers in Afghanistan, beginning with the three-part, 16-minute suite of "Agriculture", "Fields", and "Motorcade". See what you make of these lines, from the latter: "Escorting friendlies, a walk in the park/Unlock the cages as soon as it's dark/Motorcade motorcade easy to mark/Send in the snipers to swim with the sharks/Breadline is burning, the headcount's a joke/Soon they'll be feasting on mirrors and smoke/Motorcade motorcade horses to show/Fish in a barrel and ducks in a row". Hmm. And Hammers manages to turn that into singalong catchiness!
Fortunately, even with the ambitious scale of this latest project, and all the new members in the band, fans will find that Hammers hasn't changed too much, still full of blazing guitar solos and stop on a dime dynamics, memorable riffs and melodies and exquisite harmonies, musical theater moments and multilayered vocals - all the over the top-ness we love about 'em. Perhaps though the progginess has gotten even proggier, more flowery... We're reminded of Kansas, actually! Well, Kansas mixed with Megadeth, maybe. With a healthy helping of that rollicking, Deep Purplish Hammond organ first introduced on previous opus the Locust Years, as we said. And if you're into 'em for the female vocals, you won't be disappointed at all.
So, what should be Hammers' sales slogan for this album - New and Improved? Well, no, we can't quite go there, what with our feelings about the The Bastard. Well, how about Two For The Price Of One! Sure. And how about Thinking Man's (and Woman's) Metal? Definitely. But we get the idea that slogans and soundbites and all those mass media manipulative aspects of modern commercial culture are exactly what Hammers Of Misfortune stands against, so we'll just leave it with, well worth checking out.
MPEG Stream: "Agriculture"
MPEG Stream: "Rats Assembly"
MPEG Stream: "Butchertown"
MPEG Stream: "Train"

HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE The August Engine (Cruz Del Sur) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT, GET THE METAL BLADE VERSION INSTEAD!
Ready for some harmonies and heaviness? Pure, prog-tastic METAL for the long, dark winter? We know you are, 'cause it's been a long while. But now, it's here. The Hammers come down for the second time with this long-awaited new album, the follow-up to their acclaimed (and already out-of-print, for now) debut The Bastard released on our own Andee's tUMUlt label back in 2001. Whereas The Bastard was a full-on rock opera, The August Engine only *sounds* like a rock opera, it isn't actually one. There's no narrative, unifying concept to the songs this time, which puts HoM's eclectic metal mixture in danger of losing focus, being too unpredictably psychedelic and epic for their own good. Wait, what are we saying? That's no problem! As diverse as their songwriting and sonic palette can be, everything here sounds like Hammers and nothing else (well, except Slough Feg), which can only be the mark of a brilliant band.
Bursting out of the gates with an adrenalized instrumental opener that thrashes like Megadeth while remaining as gloriously 'classical' and over the top as anything on The Bastard, we can't say The August Engine never lets up. It does, but only in the sense that some decidedly unusual, and sometimes mellow avenues are explored. But for every non-metallic moment of sweet singing and pleasant acoustic guitars, you get plenty of shredding electric ones, with pounding drums, dramatic male and female vocals on a grand scale, and headbanging riffage. Advanced metal mastery here folks. Pretentious? Indulgent? Arrogant? No, simply mighty. The 10-out-of-10 review this album has already garnered from veteran metal scribe Martin Popoff likened them to a psychedelic version of the best of Iron Maiden, who are we to argue?
Hammers still consist of John and Mike from The Lord Weird Slough Feg, plus drummer Chewy. On this recording, Janis Tanaka plays bass and sings like an angel, though when you go see Hammers live now, they have a new lineup including not only a foxy new bassist/singer but another female vocalist who plays Hammond organ as well!
The vinyl (on tUMULt) has different cover artwork than, but the same tracks as, the compact disc version, released in a black-and-silver digipak edition by upstart Italian metal label Cruz Del Sur. Both sport cool Voivod-ish liner art by mastermind John Cobbett himself. Of course, recommended.
MPEG Stream: "The August Engine pt. 1"
MPEG Stream: "A Room And A Riddle"
MPEG Stream: "Insect"

HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE The August Engine (Metal Blade) cd 14.98
With their move to big time mega metal label Metal Blade, local long running epic blackened progressive true metal outfit Hammers of Misfortune finally see their back catalog reissued via their new label, including of course, their second album, The August Engine, originally released on Italian label Cruz Del Sur. Here's what we had to say about the August Engine when we first reviewed it...
Ready for some harmonies and heaviness? Pure, prog-tastic METAL for the long, dark winter? We know you are, 'cause it's been a long while. But now, it's here. The Hammers come down for the second time with this long-awaited new album, the follow-up to their acclaimed (and already out-of-print, for now) debut The Bastard released on our own Andee's tUMUlt label back in 2001. Whereas The Bastard was a full-on rock opera, The August Engine only *sounds* like a rock opera, it isn't actually one. There's no narrative, unifying concept to the songs this time, which puts HoM's eclectic metal mixture in danger of losing focus, being too unpredictably psychedelic and epic for their own good. Wait, what are we saying? That's no problem! As diverse as their songwriting and sonic palette can be, everything here sounds like Hammers and nothing else (well, except Slough Feg), which can only be the mark of a brilliant band.
Bursting out of the gates with an adrenalized instrumental opener that thrashes like Megadeth while remaining as gloriously 'classical' and over the top as anything on The Bastard, we can't say The August Engine never lets up. It does, but only in the sense that some decidedly unusual, and sometimes mellow avenues are explored. But for every non-metallic moment of sweet singing and pleasant acoustic guitars, you get plenty of shredding electric ones, with pounding drums, dramatic male and female vocals on a grand scale, and headbanging riffage. Advanced metal mastery here folks. Pretentious? Indulgent? Arrogant? No, simply mighty. The 10-out-of-10 review this album has already garnered from veteran metal scribe Martin Popoff likened them to a psychedelic version of the best of Iron Maiden, who are we to argue?
Hammers still consist of John and Mike from The Lord Weird Slough Feg, plus drummer Chewy. On this recording, Janis Tanaka plays bass and sings like an angel, though when you go see Hammers live now, they have a new lineup including not only a foxy new bassist/singer but another female vocalist who plays Hammond organ as well!
The jacket sports cool Voivod-ish line art by mastermind John Cobbett himself. Of course, recommended.
MPEG Stream: "The August Engine pt. 1"
MPEG Stream: "A Room And A Riddle"
MPEG Stream: "Insect"

HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE The August Engine (tUMULt) lp 12.98
Ready for some harmonies and heaviness? Pure, prog-tastic METAL for the long, dark winter? We know you are, 'cause it's been a long while. But now, it's here. The Hammers come down for the second time with this long-awaited new album, the follow-up to their acclaimed (and already out-of-print, for now) debut The Bastard released on our own Andee's tUMUlt label back in 2001. Whereas The Bastard was a full-on rock opera, The August Engine only *sounds* like a rock opera, it isn't actually one. There's no narrative, unifying concept to the songs this time, which puts HoM's eclectic metal mixture in danger of losing focus, being too unpredictably psychedelic and epic for their own good. Wait, what are we saying? That's no problem! As diverse as their songwriting and sonic palette can be, everything here sounds like Hammers and nothing else (well, except Slough Feg), which can only be the mark of a brilliant band.
Bursting out of the gates with an adrenalized instrumental opener that thrashes like Megadeth while remaining as gloriously 'classical' and over the top as anything on The Bastard, we can't say The August Engine never lets up. It does, but only in the sense that some decidedly unusual, and sometimes mellow avenues are explored. But for every non-metallic moment of sweet singing and pleasant acoustic guitars, you get plenty of shredding electric ones, with pounding drums, dramatic male and female vocals on a grand scale, and headbanging riffage. Advanced metal mastery here folks. Pretentious? Indulgent? Arrogant? No, simply mighty. The 10-out-of-10 review this album has already garnered from veteran metal scribe Martin Popoff likened them to a psychedelic version of the best of Iron Maiden, who are we to argue?
Hammers still consist of John and Mike from The Lord Weird Slough Feg, plus drummer Chewy. On this recording, Janis Tanaka plays bass and sings like an angel, though when you go see Hammers live now, they have a new lineup including not only a foxy new bassist/singer but another female vocalist who plays Hammond organ as well!
The vinyl (on tUMULt) has different cover artwork than, but the same tracks as, the compact disc version, released in a black-and-silver digipak edition by upstart Italian metal label Cruz Del Sur. Both sport cool Voivod-ish liner art by mastermind John Cobbett himself. Of course, recommended.
MPEG Stream: "The August Engine pt. 1"
MPEG Stream: "A Room And A Riddle"
MPEG Stream: "Insect"

HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE The Bastard (tUMULt) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT, GET THE METAL BLADE VERSION INSTEAD!
Finally re-pressed and available again! Here's what we had to say first time around:
Our own Andee proves himself, and his tUMULt label, to be truly dedicated to the Heaviest of Metal with this new release! Following on from prior tUMULt metal-oriented releases (the grim and trancelike black metal genius of Weakling, the blackened grind of free-jazz fans Hatewave, the noisecore assault of Burmese...), the debut full-length album from San Francisco's Hammers of Misfortune takes the Metal to an entirely new level. It's a full-on metal opera, stirring everything into the cauldron, majestic male and female vocals, acoustic guitar breaks, Maidenesque harmonies, black metal vocal rasps, headbanging riffs and classical motifs. Next to seeing them live (where the leather-clad band, a mere four-piece, belts all this out and more), "The Bastard" is serious metal fun. Black, death, power, prog, epic: it seems like almost all styles of metal are represented in Hammers' songs, which flow non-stop from one to the next in a complex 3-act saga telling a crazy fantasy tale about a cursed bastard child raised by forest-spirits, who travels into the Underworld to find the Blood-Axe and slay his father, an evil tyrant, in the name of the Chaos Godess...or something like that. If you need help figuring it out, the 24-page booklet includes the "liberetto" as well as some excellent wood-cut style illustrations -- indeed the whole thing (a digipack) is a very handsome package.
Formerly known as Unholy Cadaver, Hammers of Misfortune is the demented brainchild of local metal master John Cobbett, who also plays guitar in the cult SF "celtic epic metal" outfit The Lord Weird Slough Feg. Mike from Slough Feg is also in Hammers, playing guitar and providing the "clean" male vox. And we must mention the contribution of Janis Tanaka (ex-Stone Fox) on bass and the exellent female vocals. "The Bastard" comes across like a mixture of Cradle of Filth and Blind Guardian, or Slough Feg and Opeth, or Satyricon and Mercyful Fate: it's that eclectic, that classic, that amazing.
MPEG Stream: "The Dragon Is Summoned"
MPEG Stream: "The Bastard Sapling"
MPEG Stream: "You Should Have Slain Me"
MPEG Stream: "Sacrifice / The End"

HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE The Bastard (Metal Blade) cd 14.98
With their move to big time mega metal label Metal Blade, local long running epic blackened progressive true metal outfit Hammers of Misfortune finally see their back catalog reissued via their new label, and of all the reissues, none was more anticipated than this, their amazing debut, The Bastard, originally released on our very own Andee's tUMULt label, but out of print for the last few years, The Bastard is easily one of the most original and totally genius metal records of the last decade (Terrorizer magazine even voted it one of the best 40 metal records of 2001!), here's our review of The Bastard when the tUMULt version was first released...
Our own Andee proves himself, and his tUMULt label, to be truly dedicated to the Heaviest of Metal with this new release! Following on from prior tUMULt metal-oriented releases (the grim and trancelike black metal genius of Weakling, the blackened grind of free-jazz fans Hatewave, the noisecore assault of Burmese...), the debut full-length album from San Francisco's Hammers of Misfortune takes the Metal to an entirely new level. It's a full-on metal opera, stirring everything into the cauldron, majestic male and female vocals, acoustic guitar breaks, Maidenesque harmonies, black metal vocal rasps, headbanging riffs and classical motifs. Next to seeing them live (where the leather-clad band, a mere four-piece, belts all this out and more), "The Bastard" is serious metal fun. Black, death, power, prog, epic: it seems like almost all styles of metal are represented in Hammers' songs, which flow non-stop from one to the next in a complex 3-act saga telling a crazy fantasy tale about a cursed bastard child raised by forest-spirits, who travels into the Underworld to find the Blood-Axe and slay his father, an evil tyrant, in the name of the Chaos Godess...or something like that. If you need help figuring it out, the 24-page booklet includes the "liberetto" as well as some excellent wood-cut style illustrations -- indeed the whole thing (a digipack) is a very handsome package.
Formerly known as Unholy Cadaver, Hammers of Misfortune is the demented brainchild of local metal master John Cobbett, who also played guitar in the cult SF "Celtic epic metal" outfit The Lord Weird Slough Feg. Mike from Slough Feg also sings on The Bastard, playing guitar and providing the "clean" male vox. And we must mention the contribution of Janis Tanaka (ex-Stone Fox) on bass and the excellent female vocals. "The Bastard" comes across like a mixture of Cradle of Filth and Blind Guardian, or Slough Feg and Opeth, or Satyricon and Mercyful Fate: it's that eclectic, that classic, that amazing.
MPEG Stream: "The Dragon Is Summoned"
MPEG Stream: "The Bastard Sapling"
MPEG Stream: "You Should Have Slain Me"
MPEG Stream: "Sacrifice / The End"

HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE The Locust Years (Cruz Del Sur) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT, GET THE METAL BLADE VERSION INSTEAD!
People have been waiting a long time for this, the third opus from SF's own Hammers Of Misfortune, one of the most ambitious, audacious, bodacious, bombastic, maybe even slightly ludicrous bands in the metal realm...and metal this is, through and through, even as it pushes the envelope right over the edge into, I don't know, musical theater... 2003's The August Engine was pretty amazing, as was (our favorite) their year 2000 debut, The Bastard (released by Andee's tUMULt label we should note). The Locust Years has a lot to live up to.
And live it up they do here. Just check out the band photos for evidence of that (funnier if you know these folks). There's a shocking formal portrait on the back cover, everybody dressed up in tuxedos and evening gowns, hair pulled back. And then inside the cd booklet, you see 'em letting their hair down in a glammy, rock n' roll fantasy shot. It's nice to see that they don't take themselves too seriously, that should keep people guessing about this band. Not so pretentious as some might think, joking but no joke.
Quick intro first for those just tuning in/turning on to this band: Hammers is a rock-operatic heavy metal juggernaut with harmonizing lead guitars, pounding Hammond organ (new!), and majestic male and female vocal lines. The band features members of The Lord Weird Slough Feg past and present, and mainman John Cobbett is busy too with his other band black metallers Ludicra (new ep elsewhere on this list) plus he's been playing with the likes of Amber Asylum and even Jarboe of late... As you might imagine from all of this, Hammers is an especially eclectic mix of '70s prog, '80s metal, black metal (without the black metal vocals), classical music, avant-chamber-rock, Mary Poppinsy musical showtuneage, Opethian loud/soft, fast/slow dynamics...
Basically, everything (and more) that already earned mucho plaudits for the Hammers' first two albums is present here: the sweeping melodic grandeur, metallic excitement, complex arrangements, virtuoso playing, intelligent lyrics, many moods, and attention to idiosyncratic detail -- which is evident from the packaging, with its Thomas Woodruff cover painting and aforementioned photography, to the music, for instance the track "War Anthem" that features a whole hired drum line arranged by Hammers drummer Chewy. Or it's actually Chewy multitracking his own one man drum line. Either way, it's pretty darn Tusk!!
And lyrically, while it's not a storytelling narrative like The Bastard, it's somewhat more of a cohesive "concept album" than was August Engine... the concept being, near as we can tell, a very allegorical, cryptic protest against the awful person and policies of our president, George W. Bush!! Or at least that's what we get from lyrics like "Death - death to the infidels / sons of our servants shall serve and serve us well / and gifted with endless war / flags and fanatics forevermore" (from "War Anthem") or, "If people wonder at the suffering you cause / and your massive avarice has left them at a loss / if by chance they notice your bloody, snapping jaws / the blood upon your claws / your shifty eyes and laws / the nauseating flaws in all you've said / trot out the dead" (from "Trot Out The Dead") -- no that's not Satan they're singing about, not exactly. We're pretty sure that makes The Locust Years the world's first POLITICAL epic fantasy prog power metal album!!
Recommended of course.
MPEG Stream: "The Locust Years"
MPEG Stream: "We Are The Widows"
MPEG Stream: "War Anthem"

HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE The Locust Years (Metal Blade) cd 14.98
With their move to big time mega metal label Metal Blade, local long running epic blackened progressive true metal outfit Hammers of Misfortune finally see their back catalog reissued via their new label, including of course, their third record, The Locust Years, which like The August Engine before it, was originally released on Italian label Cruz Del Sur. Here's our review from when we first got The Locust Years, a while back...
We've been waiting a long time for this, the third opus from SF's own Hammers Of Misfortune, one of the most ambitious, audacious, bodacious, bombastic, maybe even slightly ludicrous bands in the metal realm...and metal this is, through and through, even as it pushes the envelope right over the edge into, I don't know, musical theater... 2003's The August Engine was pretty amazing, as was (our favorite) their year 2001 debut, The Bastard (released by Andee's tUMULt label we should note). The Locust Years has a lot to live up to.
And live it up they do here. Just check out the band photos for evidence of that (funnier if you know these folks). There's a shocking formal portrait on the back cover, everybody dressed up in tuxedos and evening gowns, hair pulled back. And then inside the cd booklet, you see 'em letting their hair down in a glammy, rock n' roll fantasy shot. It's nice to see that they don't take themselves too seriously, that should keep people guessing about this band. Not so pretentious as some might think, joking but no joke.
Quick intro first for those just tuning in/turning on to this band: Hammers is a rock-operatic heavy metal juggernaut with harmonizing lead guitars, pounding Hammond organ (new!), and majestic male and female vocal lines. The band features members of The Lord Weird Slough Feg past and present, and mainman John Cobbett is busy too with his other band black metallers Ludicra plus he's been playing with the likes of Amber Asylum and even Jarboe of late... As you might imagine from all of this, Hammers is an especially eclectic mix of '70s prog, '80s metal, black metal (without the black metal vocals), classical music, avant-chamber-rock, Mary Poppinsy musical showtuneage, Opethian loud/soft, fast/slow dynamics...
Basically, everything (and more) that already earned mucho plaudits for the Hammers' first two albums is present here: the sweeping melodic grandeur, metallic excitement, complex arrangements, virtuoso playing, intelligent lyrics, many moods, and attention to idiosyncratic detail -- which is evident from the packaging, with its Thomas Woodruff cover painting and aforementioned photography, to the music, for instance the track "War Anthem" that features a whole hired drum line arranged by Hammers drummer Chewy. Or it's actually Chewy multitracking his own one man drum line. Either way, it's pretty darn Tusk!!
And lyrically, while it's not a storytelling narrative like The Bastard, it's somewhat more of a cohesive "concept album" than was August Engine... the concept being, near as we can tell, a very allegorical, cryptic protest against the awful person and policies of our president, George W. Bush!! Or at least that's what we get from lyrics like "Death - death to the infidels / sons of our servants shall serve and serve us well / and gifted with endless war / flags and fanatics forevermore" (from "War Anthem") or, "If people wonder at the suffering you cause / and your massive avarice has left them at a loss / if by chance they notice your bloody, snapping jaws / the blood upon your claws / your shifty eyes and laws / the nauseating flaws in all you've said / trot out the dead" (from "Trot Out The Dead") -- no that's not Satan they're singing about, not exactly. We're pretty sure that makes The Locust Years the world's first POLITICAL epic fantasy prog power metal album!!
Recommended of course.
MPEG Stream: "The Locust Years"
MPEG Stream: "We Are The Widows"
MPEG Stream: "War Anthem"

HAMMILL, PETER Consequences (Fie!) cd 18.98
Van Der Graaf Generator, if you've been paying attention, are one of our very favorite '70s progressive rock bands. Forget '70s, they're STILL good, when they get together, as they do now and then. And their talented frontman, he of bombastic voice indeed, Peter Hammill, has kept up an equally impressive solo career over the years - this latest is, like, his forty-somethingth solo album (!!!). No, we haven't heard all or even most of the others, but are happy to have become acquainted with Consequences.
He's propelled his lean and lanky self into the 21st century, more distinguished (with white hair) but in no way diminished, still wrestling poetically (and proggily) with the big everyday/everybody issues: relationships, identity, miscommunication, self-consciousness, doubt, fear...
It's moving, dark stuff, this intimate internal cabaret of Hammill's. 'Tis definitely about the lyrics, and the delivery... but also the suitably uneasy music, sparse and moody, with angular hooks and hushed textures. There's plenty of pensive piano, some rattling tambourine, a ticktocking drum machine on "New Pen-pal", and dissonant distorted guitar adding danger to the climax of "Scissors". Hammill's vocals carry the day, though, of course quite dramatic and dynamic, ofttimes overdubbed with himself for a backing chorus effect, that can be haunting, or powerful.
Ok, if you've never heard Hammill or Van Der Graaf before, this might seem pretty odd at first, but we'd recommend it to anyone who wants to check out some intelligent & compelling not-so-pop music from a one of a kind singer-songwriter.
MPEG Stream: "That Wasn't What I Said"
MPEG Stream: "New Pen-pal"
MPEG Stream: "Scissors"

HAMMOND JR., ALBERT Yours To Keep (New Line Records) cd 14.98
Now available domestically (this album was actually released last year in the U.K. of Rough Trade, and a single was released on iTunes in September)! Includes two bonus tracks (covers of Guided By Voices' Postal Blowfish" and Buddy Holly's "Well... All Right").
Takin' a break from your very recognizable, very popular band to do a solo album comes with its own list of baggage requirements. Sure it's pretty much a given that the album is going to be met with an automatic built-in adoring audience. Most of said band's fans are simply gonna scoop it up without any hesitation. However, if you wanna: 1.) keep the favor of said fans; 2.) win legions of your own admirers; and 3.) not be totally chastised by critics, you've kinda got to do something completely different without sounding completely alienating. Don't know if all that concerns Strokes' guitarist Albert Hammond Jr., but On Yours To Keep he is pretty much playin' safely by those rules. He's made a solid sweet'n'easy pop record filled with lots of his unmistakable jangleful guitars and an occasional horn. It sits in comfortably alongside recent albums by Money Mark and Sean Lennon. Most immediately evident are the pervading pop influences of Brian Wilson and the Beatles with a little Sound & Vision era Bowie and Uncle Tupelo-esque scruffy country rock rounding off Hammond's overall sound. For those looking for one, the sixth song "101" sounds the closest to Strokes territory, albeit gentler and prettier with better posture. Hammond's earnest, unshaven vocals are sort of a cross between Jeff Tweedy and Spoon's Britt Daniel. He's brought in a few ringers to ice the cake: the abovementioned Lennon as well as Ben Kweller, Fountains Of Wayne's Jody Porter, The Mooney Suzuki's Sammy Davis Jr., and his bandmates Julian Casablancas, Josh Lattanzi and Matt Romano.
MPEG Stream: "Cartoon Music For Superheroes"
MPEG Stream: "Well... All Right"

HAMMOND, JOHN Wicked Grin (Pointblank) cd 16.98
New album from white blues heavyweight John Hammond that consists solely of Tom Waits covers. If Tom Waits' own endorsement of Hammond as an artist -- "John has a blacksmith's strength and rhythm and the kind of soul and precision it takes to cut diamonds or to handle snakes" -- isn't enough for you, then maybe knowing that the album was produced by Mr. Waits himself would be persuasive. Featuring a backup band consisting of Charlie Musselwhite on harmonica, Larry Taylor on bass, Stephen Hodges playing percussion, Augie Meyers on accordion and piano, and even Tom sitting in on guitar and "plucked piano" here and there, the sound of Tom Waits' best known songs have a much more smoothed out and "bluesy" quality that may suit some more than the unique abrasive eccentricity of Waits' own voice and arrangements. Personally I prefer to listen to Tom Waits' own versions of his songs, but it's a good effort anyhow.
RealAudio clip: "16 Shells From A Thirty-Ought Six"
RealAudio clip: "Shore Leave"

HAMNSKIFTE Fodzlepijnan (Myrkr) cd 13.98
Originally released as a super limited cd-r on the Starlight Temple Society label back in 2010, this gorgeously haunting slab of medieval droning slowcore mystery and abstract slow motion post rock dronescapery is now available as a proper cd, with all new super striking packaging. Here's what we had to say about Fodzlepijnan when we first reviewed the cd-r version:
The first we've heard of/from this mysterious European duo, whose sound is inspired by, according to the band themselves, Low, Labradford, Earth, Burzum, Skepticism, Nortt and Trollmann Av Ildtoppberg! But imagine those influences channeled into something more medieval sounding, and WAY more post rocky, a sort of droning medieval slowcore laid beneath softly buzzing metallic rumble and shimmer, and you'll get an idea of Hamnskifte's sound.
The opening track is the perfect example, the core sound, a simple minor key guitar jangle, the drums sparse and spare, the rhythm slow and stately, all beneath a gauzy layer of slo-mo glacial riffage, that sort of Earth/SUNNO))) black buzz, smeared and blurred into something much more washed out and ethereal, while beneath, the band introduce other bits of buzz and drone, what sound like accordions or harmoniums, a gorgeously smoldering blackened slowcore, meditative and hypnotic.
The next track is even more blissed out. The metal/buzz element relegated to a more minimal bit of pulsing droniness, beneath the gorgeously skeletal arrangement, the guitars crystalline and shimmery, it's not hard to imagine this being on a label like Temporary Residence, reminding us a bit of a more minimal instrumental Pinback, or even Temporary Residence unsungs Lumen.
The rest of the record unfolds similarly, the sounds laid back and languorous, a darkened slowcore/postrock hybrid, that seems to be only slightly blackened, and instead, shuffles and meanders, the sound hypnotic and mesmerizing, the arrangements simple and cyclical, droney and dreamy and surprisingly poppy.
Odds are this might get overlooked by the folks who would dig it most, considering the label, the original version AND the reissue, and the other way blacker and heavier bands associated with both, but for anyone into dark, droney minimal, brooding and beautiful slow motion post rock, this will definitely hit the spot.
MPEG Stream: "Ther Skall Wara Grat Och Tandagnisslan"
MPEG Stream: "Wasende"
MPEG Stream: "Foglarna Warda Fangna Medh Snaror"

HAMNSKIFTE Fodzlepijnan (Starlight Temple Society) cd-r 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another release on the awesome Starlight Temple Society (which while now sadly defunct, seems to have mutated into Khrysanthoney, home to recent aQ faves Clair Cassis and Necktarium), this one from a mysterious European duo, whose sound is inspired by, according to the band themselves, Low, Labradford, Earth, Burzum, Skepticism, Nortt and Trollmann Av Ildtoppberg. But imagine those influences channeled into something more medieval sounding, and WAY more post rocky, a sort of droning medieval slowcore laid beneath softly buzzing metallic rumble and shimmer, and you'll get an idea of Hamnskifte's sound.
The opening track is the perfect example, the core sound, a simple minor key guitar jangle, the drums sparse and spare, the rhythm slow and stately, all beneath a gauzy layer of slo-mo glacial riffage, that sort of Earth/SUNNO))) black buzz, smeared and blurred into something much more washed out and ethereal, while beneath, the band introduce other bits of buzz and drone, what sound like accordions or harmoniums, a gorgeously smoldering blackened slowcore, meditative and hypnotic.
The next track is even more blissed out. The metal/buzz element relegated to a more minimal bit of pulsing droniness, beneath the gorgeously skeletal arrangement, the guitars crystalline and shimmery, it's not hard to imagine this being on a label like Temporary Residence, reminding us a bit of a more minimal instrumental Pinback, or even Temporary Residence unsungs Lumen.
The rest of the record unfolds similarly, the sounds laid back and languorous, a darkened slowcore/postrock hybrid, that seems to be only slightly blackened, and instead, shuffles and meanders, the sound hypnotic and mesmerizing, the arrangements simple and cyclical, droney and dreamy and surprisingly poppy.
Odds are this might get overlooked by the folks who would dig it most, considering the label, and the other way blacker and heavier bands on the label, but anyone into dark, droney minimal, brooding and beautiful slow motion post rock, this will definitely hit the spot.

MPEG Stream: "Ther Skall Wara Grat Och Tandagnisslan"
MPEG Stream: "Wasende"
MPEG Stream: "Foglarna Warda Fangna Medh Snaror"

HAMPEL, GUNTER (GROUP) Music From Europe (ESP-Disk) cd 14.98

HAMPSON, ROBERT Repercussions (Editions Mego) cd+dvd 28.00
The former lead guitarist for Loop has been on quite a journey of sonic deconstruction over the years, beginning in the mid-'80s through the drone-rock hypnosis of black sun psychedelia via Loop which dissolved into the equally hypnotic, but incrementally decentered project Main; and now recording under his given name, Hampson has ventured into the hallowed GRM studios in Paris. It is definitely the aesthetic of Michel Chion, Bernard Parmegiani, and Pierre Schaefer that guides this album, and not those of The Stooges or 13th Floor Elevators. We have heard rumors that Hampson intends to resurrect Main (possibly with Stefan Mathieu in tow); but until then, we'll be very content with the acousmatic abstractions of Repercussions. The title track bristles with thorough abstractions of percussive objects - piano, drums, gamelan, metal grates are all cited; and the rhythmic potential of those objects is reflected, refracted, smeared, and cracked into luminous frequencies and churning vibrations that are very similar in scope to the electronic cosmology that Parmegiani forged through his seminal records in the '70s. The second track continues down this line with deep space transmissions of sound that was in fact commissioned for a piece by the Planetarium in Poitiers, France. Yeah, it is the sound of solar flares, pulsars, nebula, red giants, and black holes, with all of the complexities of astrophysics, quantum mechanics, and string theory intertwined in the dense network of overlapping tones, drones, crackles, and negations. The third piece was originally released on the split 10" with Cindytalk, a glacial piano piece that draws inspiration from those beautiful and haunting piano / ambient pieces from Cindytalk. It's the closest to a structured song that Hampson has done in nearly 20 years, and it's fantastic way to end this album.
Editions Mego presents this in both a stereo format on a regular cd, and as a 5.1 surround experience on dvd. The cd sounds pretty fucking stellar, and we can only imagine the 5.1 version will sound even better.
MPEG Stream: "Repercussions"
MPEG Stream: "De La Terre A La Lune"
MPEG Stream: "Antartica Ends Here"

HAMPSON, ROBERT Vectors (Touch) cd 15.98
Back in the early '90s, Robert Hampson made a very conscious transition in how he made music, willfully deconstructing the hypnotic psychedelia he pioneered in his defunct, but still awesome band Loop (whose last two records have just been reissued and are 2 of this week's Records Of The Week!). Initially, these deconstructed songs recorded under the new guise of Main spatialized texturally looped guitars, tricked out electronic effects, and heavy-lidded drones against an architecture of Spartan drums and downtuned bass lines. The first two albums - Hydra-Calm and Motion Pool - offered a competing strategy for what might be defined as 'post-rock,' nestling with the contemporary sounds in Disco Inferno, Seefeel, and the last Slowdive record as a confluence of avant-garde electronics, dark shoegazing ephemera, and British post-punk experimentation. There were hints of Loop's cyclical song-structure flickering within Main's barren albums, and Hampson seemed inclined to make a slow retreat from those rhythmic structures, leaving behind swarms of amorphous tones and vast expanses, razor cut into an homage to the musique concrete masters. Even though Hampson ended the Main project back in 2006, the same strategies are at work in Robert Hampson's "solo" venture. On Vectors, Hampson teases with repetitions of astronaut bleeps, electrical warblings, digitally vaporous static, and wisps of sound design that could build into something off of Hydra-Calm or Motion Pool, but don't. Many folks (including some here) have been frustrated by Hampson's work after Motion Pool, and that sentiment probably won't be changed with Vectors. The three lengthy pieces on Vectors are all commissions with lofty goals of avant electronics; and two of the commissions came by way of the legendary GRM studio in France. In this context as opposed to the Loop / Main axis, Vectors turns out to be a smoldering musique concrete album with acousmatic allusions to the work of Michel Chion and Luc Ferrari.
MPEG Stream: "Umbra"
MPEG Stream: "Ahead - Only Stars"
MPEG Stream: "Dans Le Lointain"

HAMPSON, ROBERT & STEVEN HESS s/t (Crouton) cd ep 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
After Robert Hampson dissolved the blackened psychedelic ensemble Loop, he quickly returned with the hypnotic, riff-heavy, drone spaces of Main. The template from the first few albums by Main (Hydra-Calm and Motion Pool, both of which are criminally out of print) still resonates loudly through the work of Black Boned Angel, Nadja, Troum, and even tricked-out digital sculptors such as Christian Fennesz and Tim Hecker. Yet after those albums, Hampson plunged into the realms of thoroughly obtuse electro-acoustics, culminating in a oblique whirlpool of a collaboration with Janek Schaeffer called Comae. Many have pined for Hampson to pick up the guitar again as an instrument for chugging propulsion; and for those of you with such a nostalgia for Hampson's early work, the collaboration with Steven Hess may not entirely float your boat. That said, this eponymous collaboration does exhibit a much greater reliance upon a skeletal structure of chiming loops (perhaps the closet things that Hampson will come to the early Main guitar work) and Harry Bertoia-esque vibrations coddled into a web of overlapping patterns. Hess and Hampson push the brief 19 minute composition up to a dense kaleidoscope of ring modulated tonalities and paranoiac drones. Quite nice indeed.
MPEG Stream: "Track Two"
MPEG Stream: "Track Three"

HAMPTON GREASE BAND Music To Eat (Legacy) 2cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
It's going to be hard to do this one justice... We just got a few copies in of this actually out-of-print double cd. Cheap, too! The Hampton Grease Band released this, their debut and only album, in 1971, to almost universal disinterest and, even, active dislike. It was, famously, the second worst selling album in Columbia history. It might not have helped that Columbia's marketers, doubtless confused by the dadaistic hippy rock weirdness of the Hampton Grease Band, pitched it to stores as a comedy album. It certainly is funny -- funny ha ha and otherwise -- but it's as an avant-garde rock record that we recommend it. Imagine Zappa, Beefheart and a southern rock band all rolled into one absurd, palpitating, guitar-totin' ball. The end result: gorgeous, dissonant, textural guitar-based instrumentals that wouldn't sound out of place on the best Polvo record you've heard, plus the raving loony vocal 'stylings' of one Bruce Hampton (who has kept up his antics as the leader of Col. Hampton's Aquarium Rescue Unit, which we definitely aren't recommending). He's untrained and maniacal and his screechy voice makes this sound at times like Sam Kinison fronting the Allman Brothers. An acquired taste, perhaps, we'll warn you -- it even took a few listens for Allan (the biggest, and maybe only, Hampton Grease Band fan here) to get into this originally. And he doesn't like Zappa, either. But annoyance soon gave way to enjoyment. There's definitely some stoopid stuff on here, but then there's the several extended (around 20 minutes long, three of 'em are) compositions/improvs in complex, interlocking time signatures and whatnot. Not normal rock, not jazz, certainly not jazzrock. Instrumentally, amazing. Lyrically, certainly odd -- Hampton often sang "found lyrics" from whatever text was at hand, like an encyclopedia entry about Halifax or the back of a can of spray paint. As it says in the cd booklet liner notes, the HGB were "an intensely musical group with an intensely non-musical singer".
Speaking of the liner notes, they're hilarious, full of great stories, like about the time the HGB was playing live, and their drummer suddenly stood up and froze in place, holding that pose for over an hour as the band finished their set without drums and most people left the venue! Somehow these gonzo guys got to open for the likes of Beefheart & the Magic Band, the Allmans, Country Joe & the Fish, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Alice Cooper -- and then somehow got signed to a brief, illfated stint on Columbia Records that produced this album.
Humor in music is a difficult thing. When these guys tried to be funny, it wasn't, but they didn't have to try to be weird, and it was. Surely some of you out there will want or need this! Lots more won't and that's fine too. We only have three, presently.
RealAudio clip: "Halifax"

HAMSOKEN Foul Harvest (Looming) cd 9.98
After being out of stock for WAY too long, finally got a handful of these back in stock...
We're always up for some twisted black metal. The more twisted the better. The more fucked up and damaged the better. So on first listen this disc from Hamsoken pretty much hit the spot, beginning with some crumbling sci-fi synths, some growled demonic vox, weird throbbing Goblin like bass, all sprawling bleak industrial blackened synthscape, before lurching into some full on filthy raw blackened pound, all buzzy guitars, and buried vokills, twisted melodic leads, atonal and angular, but then a track later, the fidelity is cranked up a notch, and the band erupt in a frenzy of blasting tremolo guitared black buzz, gnarled and furious and blurry and washed out and so goddamn good.
We were so lost in Hamsoken's buzzy blasting blur that it took us a while before we even realized Hamsoken was in fact Nick Forte, who some of you might remember from hardcore legends Rorschach!! (Who reunited for a few East Coast tours recently, and if all goes well, just might make it out West!).
Even on repeated listens, we don't necessarily hear any Rorschach in the sound of Hamsoken, but like much of our favorite black metal, the fact that Forte is approaching BM from a whole different background, brings so much new to the table, the synths all over the place, the tracks that seem to crumble into slow crawls, the lurching almost SST vibe of some of the guitar parts, the vocals, going from murky garble to super distorted hissy howl, even at its blackest, the sound is weirdly melodic and hypnotic, doomy dirges give way to blazing blasts which in turn dissipate into slow blackened drifts. Unlike most black metal, the bass is huge, and melodic, way up in the mix, sometimes carrying the whole song, and those synths, makes everything sound all creepy and soundtracky and Goblin-y, the best moments are when the metal component is ditched completely in favor of some synth heavy crawl, all processed drum machine, moody moaning guitar melody, and those incredibly harsh vox, moody and melancholy and industrial and heavy, even when it's not heavy in the traditional sense. Those synth heavy tracks play out like some blackened coldwave band, a sound we had sort of been fantasizing about actually, a sort of black metal Cold Cave maybe, in fact, very little of the record is anywhere close to traditionally blasting black metal, those moments do exist, but tend to separate drastically different sonic environments, be they fuzzy and droney and spacey or murky and blown out and abstract, or punky and thrashing and pounding (like a couple tracks, the only real nods to Forte's punk past).
Definitely for folks into the strains of black metal that tend toward the avant, the drone-y, the gloomy, the fucked up, and especially the weird and melodic and new wave-y... wait, is there a strain like that? New wave-y and melodic and fucked up and industrial? Yeah, there is now.
MPEG Stream: "Crypt Of Mine Own Making"
MPEG Stream: "Atrocity Cravings"
MPEG Stream: "Back In The Fold"
MPEG Stream: "Last Rites Of Spring"

HANATARASH 5 (Shock City/Polystar) cd 25.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Colorfully packaged, long-awaited album from Eye of the Boredoms infamous solo noise project. Unlike the violent noise and/or musical collage of prior Hanatarash recordings, 5 is one long whooshing track that sounds like a rocket blasting off, speeding up, entering hyperspace, slowing down, speeding up again, then spiralling off through another galaxy. Relentless and beautiful.

HANAYO Gift (Geist) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now domestically priced: Japanese avant-chanteuse Hanayo (whom some will recall from her collaboration with German electronica hotboy Panacea) here presents another collaborative work, this time with a whole host of international electronic/experimental artists, including Terre Thaemlitz, Curd Duca, Merzbow, Patric Catani, Stilluppsteypa, Christophe de Babalon, and others. So it's a varied mix of digital hardcore, electronic pop, abstract noise, and everything in between, with Hanayo's little-girl voice holding forth over all, whether her collaborators provide atmosphere or chaos...nice.

HANCOCK, HERBIE Blow Up OST (Rhino) lp 16.98

HANCOCK, HERBIE Blow Up OST (Rhino) lp 16.98

HANCOCK, HERBIE Fat Albert Rotunda (Rhino) lp 15.98

HANCOCK, HERBIE Head Hunters (Columbia) lp 15.98

HANCOCK, HERBIE Mwandishi (Warner Bros) lp 14.98

HANCOCK, HERBIE Sextant (Columbia) cd 5.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
No doubt about it, this total gem and often overlooked left field outing by Herbie Hancock, recorded in 1972, is one of those records that belongs in the COSMIC HALL OF FAME! Lightyears ahead of its time, it's a record that mixed electronics, synthesizers, Afro-funk, prog, spiritual jazz, free-bop and more, as it charted territories that had rarely been explored at that point, and that still sound so otherworldly and divine all these years later.
Sextant is a record that undoubtedly has had a major influence on so many of our favorite music makers of today, like Matmos, Four Tet, Sunburned Hand Of The Man, Flying Lotus, Etienne Jaumet, Gavin Russom, Robert A. A. Lowe, Black Dice, Gang Gang Dance etc. In fact when we were blasting this in the store the other day, one of us who hadn't heard this before (gasp!) came up front asking if this was a new Oneohtrix Point Never! It's that spaced out, mystifying, and alien-sound-channeling.
Tapping into the atmospheres and stratospheres that Miles Davis drifted through on Bitches Brew but taking it even further out, Sextant is truly one of the most tripped out and transcendent recordings of all time. Three long tracks (about 40 minutes all together) of pure psychedelic mind melting "fusion" innovation. You could definitely imagine this was Magma, Goblin or even (especially) Sun Ra. Somehow it's managed to remain below the radar of so many music lovers, we're always so excited to see people freak out when they hear this for the first time. And for some reason its now priced crazy cheap (it's not new after all, we just realized we had never listed it!), so if you don't own it, this is a an absolute MUST own and hell, you might as well get a couple to give to friends that you want to blow away with these far our cosmic sounds!
MPEG Stream: "Rain Dance"
MPEG Stream: "Hidden Shadows"
MPEG Stream: "Hornets"

HANCOCK, HERBIE Thrust (Columbia) cd 9.98
Finally available domestically in the US! Thrust is the 1974 follow-up to Headhunters. Deep, deep keyboard-heavy funk with grooves to ride 'til dawn. So far ahead of its time it ain't even funny; you will be amazed.

HANCOCK, HERBIE Thrust (Columbia) lp 23.00
Finally available again on vinyl! Thrust is the 1974 follow-up to Headhunters. Deep, deep keyboard-heavy funk with grooves to ride 'til dawn. So far ahead of its time it ain't even funny; you will be amazed. On 180 gram vinyl. Heavy!

HANCOCK, HERBIE, RON CARTER, JONATHAN KLEIN, THAD JONES... Hear, O Israel: A Prayer Ceremony In Jazz (Trunk) cd 16.98
Most likely you don't immediately connect Modern Jazz with Jewish Ritual, but this gorgeous reissue of a long lost private pressing of a 1968 Friday night service may have you rethinking those ideas. Written by Jonathan Klein, a then 17 year-old son of a Massachusetts Rabbi, who was asked to compose music for a service dealing with "Sects and Symbols Within Judaism". The music and service were so popular that the Synagogue incorporated the piece into every Friday night service, and Klein assembled a group to tour various New England Universities. For the debut performance in New York, Klein managed to get the finest New York Jazz musicians to perform his piece, including Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, Grady Tate on drums, Jerome Richardson on flute and saxophone and Thad Jones on trumpet and flugelhorn with Antonia Lavanne and Phyllis Bryn-Julson on soprano and contralto voices respectively. Thankfully it was all recorded. Unlike the Christian Youth movement who used spiritually minded rock and folk music to sway new converts, the music for this service doesn't pander to youthful audiences. The music swings in unexpected ways for a religious ceremony but its full intent is an abstract spiritual openness. Even with the Hebrew recitations by Rabbi David Davis, the message is divine, universal and inspired. Rejoice!
MPEG Stream: "Matovu - Bor'chu"
MPEG Stream: "Sanctification"
MPEG Stream: "Kiddush"

HANCOCK, HERBIE, RON CARTER, JONATHAN KLEIN, THAD JONES... Hear, O Israel: A Prayer Ceremony In Jazz (Trunk) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.Most likely you don't immediately connect Modern Jazz with Jewish Ritual, but this gorgeous reissue of a long lost private pressing of a 1968 Friday night service may have you rethinking those ideas. Written by Jonathan Klein, a then 17 year-old son of a Massachusetts Rabbi, who was asked to compose music for a service dealing with "Sects and Symbols Within Judaism". The music and service were so popular that the Synagogue incorporated the piece into every Friday night service, and Klein assembled a group to tour various New England Universities. For the debut performance in New York, Klein managed to get the finest New York Jazz musicians to perform his piece, including Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, Grady Tate on drums, Jerome Richardson on flute and saxophone and Thad Jones on trumpet and flugelhorn with Antonia Lavanne and Phyllis Bryn-Julson on soprano and contralto voices respectively. Thankfully it was all recorded. Unlike the Christian Youth movement who used spiritually minded rock and folk music to sway new converts, the music for this service doesn't pander to youthful audiences. The music swings in unexpected ways for a religious ceremony but its full intent is an abstract spiritual openness. Even with the Hebrew recitations by Rabbi David Davis, the message is divine, universal and inspired. Rejoice!
MPEG Stream: "Matovu - Bor'chu"
MPEG Stream: "Sanctification"
MPEG Stream: "Kiddush"

HANDFUL OF DUST, A Now Gods, Stand Up For Bastards / The Philosophick Mercury (No Fun Production) 2cd 16.98
Killer reissue of two long out of print full lengths from this long running New Zealand free noise duo, consisting of Bruce Campbell, he of the mighty Dead C, and longtime aQ fave Alastair Galbraith, shedding his usual songsmithery for something a lot more abstract and noisy.
The two have been performing on and off together since the early nineties, these two discs collect The Philosophick Mercury from 1994, and Now Gods, Stand Up For Bastards, from 1995. Both recorded live, utilizing guitars, violin, electronics and voice, with the occasional bit of drumming from yet another NZ noise luminary, Peter Stapleton, who's played in pretty much every NZ band of note, from Dadamah to Pin Group to Flies Inside The Sun to The Terminals.
The template for A Handful Of Dust seems to be long drawn out tones, plenty of space, loads of feedback, letting the amp and the body of the guitar and the room shape the sounds as much as the player. Later groups like Sunroof! would harness this same sort of free music energy, this primal ur-drone, but there's something about A Handful Of Dust, that makes the sounds seem more alive, more feral, dangerous and dense. There's plenty of scrape and skree, mostly high end, layers upon layers, overtones shifting and drifting and billowing up in huge clouds of static buzz and shimmering squiggles of violin. The pace is glacial, but this music is not about movement or momentum so much as space and time, when there are drums, they don't really propel the song, instead they offer up a sort of loose framework, a crumbling skeleton around which the various buzzing strings and howling amps hang their shimmering sheets of sound. It's hard not to hear some Dead C in the be-drummed tunes (there are only two), but the drums here are WAY more loose, almost free jazz in feel, lending a psychedelic vibe to a music already pretty fucking psychedelic.
A few of the tracks offer up some low end rumbles and deep drone, but those sounds are soon infused with streaks of jagged shriek and sharp hissy high end, the two sides not so much battling as swirling warily around each other eventually becoming one, and on rare occasions, melding into something almost rifflike. The closing track on No Gods begins as a total guitar destroying free for all, before transforming into some super tripped out buzz drenched psychedelic warped krautdrone, but only briefly, before it slips back into fractured deconstructed free noise once again.
No Gods is definitely the more refined of the two (but only just barely). Philosophick is way more brittle and bizarre, two 30 minute jams, the first features lots of amp buzz, and stuttery shards of feedback, plenty of Derek Bailey like scrabbling, strange processed vocals, some sort-of-chanting, very minimal and textureal considering how noisy it is. The second track is total chaos, a band going all out in a huge room, all the instruments rendered blurs and smears by the distorted amps and the room reverb, the long stretches of feedback and the low low low fidelity recording only add more hiss and blur and texture. The guitars sounding alternately like accordions or bagpipes, sometimes like lowing cattle, the pound of the drums a buried muffled pulse, the cymbals glazing the cacophony with another sizzly layer of sibilance.
Beautiful oversized Japanese style mini lp gatefold style packaging with new liner notes from Marc Masters.
MPEG Stream: "The Book Nature: Chapter The First"
MPEG Stream: "Oration On The Dignity Of Man"
MPEG Stream: "The Lullian Art"

HANDFUL OF DUST, A Panegyric (Next Best Way) cd 14.98
Some DIFFICULT listening from a duo who's whole career is based on making difficult sounds. Bruce Russell from the Dead C, and his countryman Alastair Galbraith, team up for two long form explorations, all improvised, glass harmonica, violin, guitar and clavioline. The first track is a stumbling chaotic minimal assemblage of tones, and lots of space, streaks of feedback, little curlicues of high end guitar, amp buzz, bits of clatter and crunch, thump and rattle, at moments it sounds like the duo gearing up to play, the avant rock version of an orchestra tuning up, but then they'll come together and for a brief moment, offer up a bit of strange melody or buzzing texture.
The second track though is much more musical, after a slow start of truncated melodies and random noisemaking, the sounds begin to sprawl and open up, loooong high tones overlap, the layers shifting and changing timbre, gradually, overtones loosed from their moorings and hovering over the proceedings, a gorgeous tangle of high end feedback, that manages to be quite hypnotic, especially when the band shifts gears, and introduce some buzzing low end, the rest of the track, a slow shifting shimmering expanse of high end tones, and occasional bassy rumbles, the propulsion and rhythm a direct result of the tones interacting.
Weird stuff, and quite difficult for sure, but patient ears will discover a weird bit of unlikely loveliness hidden amidst the sonic brambles.

HANDFUL OF DUST, A Spiritual Libertines (Crank Automotive) cd 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Bruce Russell of the Dead C and Alastair Galbraith's improvised noise project, 2 tracks previously unreleased, the rest from out-of-print 7"s and cassettes...

HANDFUL OF DUST, A Urbanpsychogeography Vol. 2 (Jerusalem) (Corpus Hermeticum) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Possibly also titled "Jerusalem: Street Of Graves"...this New Zealand experimental trio's new recording is far more structured than previous A Handful of Dust productions of scrape-drone-and-bang style free noise. Peter Stapleton has well infiltrated the band with his freewheelin' drum work that ebbs and flows with a controlling direction over Alastair Galbraith's violin shriek and the feedback of Bruce Russell (Dead C).

HANDGJORT s/t (Silence) cd 34.00
Wow, this lost Swedish eastern-tinged psych-folk gem from 1970 gets a deluxe reissue. Handgjort means "handmade" and all of the original copies of the record were individually made by the band members. The reissue is on the expensive side, even for the Silence label, but that's because the label worked with the band members to make an exclusive replica of the original record with, again, unique individually handpainted covers! It also features a 32 page book about the band complete with all the reproductions of the original covers and other interesting photos of the band, as well as bonus tracks from live performances from the festival at Gardet in 1970 and 1971. Imagine a more moody Incredible String Band with less singing and more sitars and tablas!
This cd is limited to 600 copies. Also, there is an exclusive double lp version on Psykofon that is even more expensive (in the $70 range) that features 25 minutes of live material not on the cd. We probably won't get those for the store, but if anyone is interested, we can special order it for you.
MPEG Stream: "Kerola"
MPEG Stream: "Scotland The Brave"
MPEG Stream: "Columbo"
MPEG Stream: "Greg's Recitation"

HANDSOME BOY MODELING SCHOOL So, How's Your Girl? (Tommy Boy) cd 16.98
Here we have Dan the Automator (of Dr. Octagon fame) and Prince Paul (of De La Soul fame) hamming it up, as the proprietors of a fictional modeling school, wearing tuxedos, hanging with models, smoking cigars, riding in limos, and living the life. Dan assures us that it's all a big joke. But we're not so sure. One thing is for sure though, this record is no joke (except, of course, for the occasional skit, and the samples from Chris Eliott's 'Get a Life' sitcom, which is where the HBMS name came from). Awesome production, sick beats and a pretty amazing set of guests: Del, Cibo Matto, Mike D, Grand Puba, Sadat X, DJ Shadow, DJ Quest, Sean Lennon, Money Mark, Alec Empire, Kid Koala, Sensational, Paula Frazer (Tarnation), Josh Hayden (Spain) and more.

HANDSOME BOY MODELING SCHOOL White People (Atlantic) cd 17.98
Handsome Boy Modelling School (aka Prince Paul and Dan the Automator) again offer up quite a cast on White People, their second album. De La Soul, Chester Bennington, Mike Patton, RZA, Mars Volta, Dres (Black Sheep), Alex Kapranos (Franz Ferdinand), Cat Power, Julee Cruise, Pharrell Williams, John Oates(!) and others contribute in unpredictable ways throughout the album. You'll even hear a testimonial by Father Guido Sarducci! Due to the light-hearted and jokey nature of much of this album, any lyrics about real issues are a bit hard to swallow with any legitimacy, but hey, who's counting. Let's PARTY!!!!!!!!! The songs involve a pop-music quality but only by way of its servitude to hip-hop. And of course, the production is as exemplary as would be expected by this duo. Released in conjunction to an amazing instrumental version of the album.
MPEG Stream: "If It Wasn't For You"
MPEG Stream: "Are You Down With It"

HANDSOME BOY MODELING SCHOOL White People (Instrumental) (Atlantic) cd 17.98
Personally, I think, on a very consistent level, the instrumental versions of most hip-hop records are absolutely amazing. In some cases, superceding the original tracks. Being the influential producers they are, Prince Paul and Dan the Automator (aka Handsome Boy Modelling School) have rightfully released an instrumental album version of their second full-lenth, White People. It rules. And it rules hard. Handsome's production shines here without the jokiness of the album's lyrics. I kind of even prefer these instrumentals over their music-celeb and lyric-driven counterparts but, hey, that's just me. Anyway, both versions of White People are totally great. So, the choice is yours!!
MPEG Stream: "If It Wasn't For You (Instrumental)"
MPEG Stream: "Are You Down With It (Instrumental)"

HANDSOME FAMILY In The Air (Carrot Top) cd 14.98
New album from Chicago based no depression country duo. Slow, contemplative ballads, rounded out with hollow body guitar, then steeped in smokey reverb and boomy bar room bass - the occasional guest vocal gives this cd an almost Sons of the Pioneers feel. The end result is a very authentic sounding country record (and it was all recorded on a G3... Go figure.) On Archer Prewitt's Carrot Top label.

HANDSOME FAMILY Live At Schuba's Tavern (DCN) cd 16.98
As the title states this is a live recording of the old country and bluegrass-y couple known as the Handsome Family (aka Brett and Rennie Sparks). This intimate show took place in Chicago (their hometown since '89) shortly before they relocated to New Mexico, and as such it's steeped in heartfelt sentiment. Plenty of warm, down to earth banter filled with kooky tales comes mainly from the mouth of Mrs. Sparks, while Mr. Sparks' singing thunders deep and thick with reverb like a voice from beyond set over an earthy, twangful backdrop. Very haunting. Having written some of the most beautiful, somber ballads of the last decade - some of which have been performed by a few of their friends like Sally Timms - the Handsome Family can take you directly from a hilarious story about magic balls to the absolute depths of dramatic despair. Note: If you're altogether new to this duo you might want to start with one of their great earlier studio albums such as In The Air or Through The Trees before proceeding to this live one.
RealAudio clip: "My Sister's Tiny Hands"
RealAudio clip: "The Sad Milkman "
RealAudio clip: "I Know You Are There"

HANDSOME FAMILY Singing Bones (Carrot Top) cd 14.98

HANDSOME FURS Face Control (Sub Pop) cd 14.98

HANDSOME FURS Face Control (Sub Pop) lp 14.98

HANDSOME FURS Plague Park (Sub Pop) cd 13.98
Yet another new combo joins the rambunctious parade of young'uns wearin' their influences prominently on their sleeve. Think: Bright Eyes circa Digital Ash In A Digital Urn meets U2 circa "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". Or The Alarm meets 16 Horsepower meets The Arcade Fire. That comparison actually hits much closer to home as one of the Handsome Furs happens to be Dan Boeckner who also happens to be a member of The Arcade Fire's buddies / soundalikes Wolf Parade who happen to also be on Sub Pop which might explain this album's appearance on that label. Oh connections, that's a no brainer easy sell! Anyways, Plague Park is all very 'now' sounding, world weary pop with an exhaustive emotiveness. Not poorly executed, but also not original in any big way. If you're simply looking for 'more' of the above... check it out!
MPEG Stream: "Sing! Captain"
MPEG Stream: "Dead + Rural"