IN FLAMES Used & Abused: In Live We Trust (Nuclear Blast) 2dvd 17.98

IN FLUX Cryptic Oak (Jryk) cd-r 7.98
Ultra limited (already out of print) blast of bizarrely beautiful outsider noise, a la Skaters, Dead C, Yellow Swans and all that groovy shit! Only 100 copies and we got about 5...

IN OUT The Viscera Versa Story (Loveletter) cd 10.98
A collection of demos and live tracks of super lo-fi recordings from the stateside equivalent of the Fall. Recommended.

IN OUT, THE Cosmosis (Dark Beloved CLoud) lp 6.98
A working definition of self-reflexivity, the in Out asks the question "What is the in Out all about," when the answer is quite clear... The best Fall record that was never released... Right down to imitating Mark E. Smith's Damo Suzuki, the in Out out-Fall The Fall. Brilliant.

IN SLAUGHTER NATIVES Resurrection: the Return of a King (Cold Meat Industry) cd 21.00

IN THE COUNTRY This Was The Pace Of My Heartbeat (Rune Grammofon) cd 15.98

IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (SOUNDTRACK) (Higher Octave) cd 17.98
Wong Kar Wai's In the Mood for Love was one of the best films of 2001. At least that's the thought round here! Starring Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung as starcrossed lovers married to others and too proper to consummate their relationship, it's a wonderful movie. And let's just pause for a moment to recall how fucking gorgeous Maggie is in her Chinese dresses. When I saw the film, the people in the theater audibly gasped everytime she entered a scene with a new outfit.
Anyway, Wong wanted the soundtrack to reflect the era during which the film is set -- the mid-'60s. Thus we have a few Latin-tinged Nat King Cole numbers plus some extra special, ever so charming Chinese pop songs of the day. Rounding out the album is a lot of moody sad violin soundtrack stuff from Michael Galasso, and a single composition by Umebayashi Shigeru which is the main theme of the film. It's mostly achingly sad violin and it's simply gorgeous. The entire record evokes the film -- a success, no throwaway material. Recommended!
RealAudio clip: UMEBAYASHI SHIGERU "Yumeji's Theme"
RealAudio clip: DENG BAI YING "Shuan Shuan Yang"
RealAudio clip: ZHANG YUN XIAN & LI HONG "Shuang Ma Hui"
RealAudio clip: NAT KING COLE "Quizas, Quizas, Quizas"

IN THY FLESH Lechery Maledictions And Greiveing Adjures To The Concerns Of Flesh (Nykta) cd 13.98

IN/HUMANITY Violent Resignation: The Great American Teenaage Suicide Rebellion (Prank) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is one of my all time favorite grindcore bands. They combined unbelievably kick ass grinding fastcore with the kind of sense of humour you wish all bands had. This is a posthumous collection of everything they did, including the brilliant 'Nutty Antichrist' lp (that featured a demonic Jerry Lewis on the cover). Pummeling and punsishing, fast and brutal, and funny as fuck. Awesome.

INABA, SHUJI The Rapture Of Being Destroyed Is The Flipside Of The Misery Of Destruction (Last Visible Dog) cd 12.98
With a previous cdr on Last Visible Dog (and a cd on PSF some years before that), Shuji Inaba is a Japanese avant-folk singer and guitarist who hasn't reached the same level of documentation as peers like Kan Mikami and Kazuki Tomokawa. No 13 cd box set for Shuji yet! And some might find the prospect of such a box set quite frightening -- a single disc of his raw acoustic guitar playing and whisper-scream vocalizations will be more than enough for a lot of folks. Others will find Inaba's Rapture Of Being Destroyed to be a harrowing yet compelling listen. With some tracks filled with stark outbursts from silence and others more 'song' like, this is a great record recommended for those who already dig the likes of Dead Raven Choir and the aforementioned Kan Mikami. This Last Visible Dog cd release comes with Inaba's poetic lyrics translated into English by Alan Cummings, always a nice touch although the emotion of the man's singing and playing requires no translation. And to quibble: we suggest that perhaps the word 'flipside' in the title might have been better rendered as 'inverse'... 'flipside' just seems too slangy for stuff this deep and intense.
MPEG Stream: "Modern Terrorism"
MPEG Stream: "Uranium235"

INABA, SHUJI Yoenzanga (Last Visible Dog) cd 12.98
Live acoustic recording of intense, dismal outsider folk from rural Western Japanese singer/songwriter Shuji Inaba. Yoenzanga was previously one of LVD's cd-r releases, back when they were a cd-r label only, and is now blessed with an actual cd edition. You also may recognize Inaba's name as he has had a disc released by Japan's PSF label a few years back. And indeed his raw, emotive balladry is comparable to the politically driven psych folk of fellow PSFers Kan Mikami and Kazuki Tomokawa, whom we love.
Alan Cummings provides English translations of Inaba's lyrics in the liner notes, which is a plus, though really (as with Mikami and Tomokawa too) there's plenty just to FEEL in Inaba's harrowing voice and the haunting, sometimes violent, way he plays his guitar that goes beyond language.
MPEG Stream: "Fate And Fortune"
MPEG Stream: "My Apple"

INADA, KOZO a[ ] (Staalplaat) cd 12.98
With the hallucinatory translucent packaging (that is even more so with the bright red 20' to 2000 style disc enclosed) and the engraved cases, Kozo Inada has certainly done his job making his debut cd look really kick-ass. Musically, this follows the increasingly commonplace tropes of the digital glitch aesthetic with multiple tracks of phasing pure tone bleeps and artificial chirps. See also Noto or Ryoji Ikeda.

INCA ORE A Knit of My Own Fibers / When You Are Sleeping I Tell You Secrets (Jyrk) cd-r 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another super limited cd-r from the Yellow Swans' Jyrk label, this time, a solo record from frequent YS collaborator Eva, who on her own can weave delicate drones with the best of em! Two lengthy tracks, thirty minutes of slow shifting, lazily drifting otherworldy shimmer, all constructed from Eva's voice run through effects and wrapped in gossamer layers of reverb and delay. Very reminiscent of the recent Lichens record on Kranky, where 90 Day Men's Rob Lowe created a whole record using mostly vocals, but Inca Ore is much more ghostly and feminine and ethereal. Comes in a nice hand painted sleeve. As with all Jyrk cd-r's it seems, SUPER LIMITED, already out of print, and we have the last 30. So again, act fast if you want one of these. Once they are gone they are gone for good.
MPEG Stream: "When You Are Sleeping I Tell You Secrets"

INCA ORE Brute Nature Versus Wild Magic (Weird Forest) lp 11.98
A new record (or sort of new, as the A side was originally on a super limited out of print cd-r released on the Yellow Swans' Jyrk label) from Inca Ore, aka Eva, a frequent collaborator with the Yellow Swans, and it's another gorgeously murky swirl of affected vocals, as vocals are the main sound source here, but not regular old singing, no, Eva takes her haunting sing song vocals and drenches them in reverb and echo and delay, letting them pile up and swirl aimlessly, a rich thick soundscape of melody atop melody, vocals moaning and keening, all smeared into a super primitive, yet somehow super lush expanse of creepy psychedelic dreaminess, drifting and shifting and nearly ambient at points, but just as often buried beneath a fuzzy layer of downtuned guitar grit, a thick morass of ghostly sounds and sludgy atmosphere. Like hearing some lost transmission from the other side, broadcast from another plane, through your crappy beat up old radio, wraithlike music, seeping like smoke through that tiny speaker, the original transmission muddied and hard to recognize, wrapped in fuzzy indistinctness and ectoplasmic detritus. Real nice. And limited to 450 copies!

INCA ORE + LEMON BEAR / STARVING WEIRDOS A Drawing With Shadows The Light Is Coming From The Sun (Jinx-Cosette / Atheists Are Gods) cd-r 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We weren't too taken with the most recent Inca Ore + Lemon Bear team up, it's too bad that one was the one released on 5RC and THIS one is a super limited cd-r instead of the other way around. The 5RC record was a bit of a cacophonous mess, lots of clang and clatter. It ended up sounding sort of bratty and obnoxious. But we're huge fans of Inca Ore, her two records before that one blew us away, and still get listened to all the time. SO we were ready to blame the mysteriously monickered Lemon Bear, but here we are with another Inca Ore n' Lemon Bear team up and it's gorgeous. A drifting spacious dreamworld of disembodied vocals, shimmering melodies, minimal percussion, all wrapped in clouds of spacey FX, fluttering flutes, warped and mangled strings, buzzing and creaking, voices drifting in and out, detuned guitars plucking out warbly melodies, the whole thing a very blissed out spaced out drift through a glistening diamond eyed dimension. Inca Ore's dreamy half hour perfectly segues into three new songs from AQ faves Starving Weirdos, who weave a haunting sonic travelogue through some ancient wilderness, a soundscape of distant insectoid buzz, whirring tectonic rumbles, glistening shimmering atmospheres, definitely their most eevocative recording yet. You can almost see the mountains in the distance, feel the warm breeze, feel the rocks and grass between your toes, hear the sounds of various animals and insects, almost like the soundtrack to a journey through the forest primeval. So murky and mysterious!
Packaged in hand painted sleeves, with printed inserts, and obviously, SUPER LIMITED!! This was a tour only release, we got a bunch direct from the bands but we're not sure how many are left or if we can even get more once we run out...
MPEG Stream: INCA ORE "OK, Now's The Time"
MPEG Stream: STARVING WEIRDOS "Nicotine Patch Dreams"

INCA ORE / GROUPER split (self-released) cassette 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We have very very very few of these so we won't go into too much detail. You probably already know just from the two artists if you need this or not. New work from two of the few women kicking ass in the mostly male 'noise rock' scene. Both huge AQ faves, both who utilize voice and effects, in addition to the usual string-ed instruments to weave dreamlike soundscapes and delicate cinematic ambience.
Both are in full effect here, each outfits offering up gauzy beauty and mysterious haunting murk, distant shimmery drones and abstract lo-fi song fragments. Gorgeous as always.
Printed insert in a gold paint splattered tape case. And as mentioned above, CRAZY limited and gone before you know it.

INCA ORE WITH LEMON BEAR'S ORCHESTRA The Birds In The Bushes (5RC) cd 14.98
Sometimes we just have nothing nice to say about a record. So instead we'll just quote this compelling blurb their label wrote, from the sticker on the front cover: "belief pacts, beatnik poetry, sandpipers and perfume, axed lungs, prison lullabies, pigmented moments, bonneted lambs, January storm fang. I'm listening illuminate with your attention."
Um, yeah, sure. Sounds more like a bunch of kids banging jars and howling obnoxiously to us...sorry!
MPEG Stream: "The Garden Of Awakening"
MPEG Stream: "Glossolalaia The Gift Of The Tongue"

INCANTATION Blasphemy (Necropolis) cd 12.98
Umpteenth album (first on Necropolis, though, after quite a few for Relapse) from these underground American death metal stalwarts. Incantation have always been one of Allan's (few) favorite death metal acts, because they understand that being heavy isn't always about unrelenting, monotonous blasting. Indeed, bands that play fast all the time often don't end up sounding very heavy at all. Incantation contrast their fast parts with slow, doomy parts too -- that really IS heavy. In addition, they're creative with their dissonant guitar riffs, reminding us just a bit of the avant-gardisms of another fave, Gorguts. Brutal, blasphemous (of course) stuff, with speedy, dense textures and awesomely dirgey breakdowns.
RealAudio clip: "The Fallen"

INCANTATION Decimate Christendom (Olympic) cd 14.98
Another from our favorite long-running doomy dirgey death-metal act Incantation.

INCANTATION Primordial Domination (Moon) cd 12.98
Umpteenth album from one of our (few) Death Metal faves.
MPEG Stream: "Primordial Domination"
MPEG Stream: "The Fallen Priest"

INCANTATION The Infernal Storm (Relapse) cd 14.98
One of Allan's favorite heaven-hating death metal combos returns with a new album. Again they blasphemize and destroy. What I like about Incantation is that, unlike a lot of run-of-the-mill Satanic death metal, these guys don't just blast at a completely monotonous hyperspeed at all times. There's more texture and better use of slower tempos than most. It's doomier and dirgier death metal, thick with strangeness and evil.

INCAPACITANTS 73 (Alchemy) cd 21.00
BACK IN STOCK!
They are the best noise band. 'Cuz they're the noisiest. Simple as that. At least that's what Allan thinks, and he's got almost all their umpteen cds. Though we haven't really done a scientific test of noisiness, Merzbow vs. Hijokaidan vs. Masonna vs. Incapacitants, we all agree they sure would hold their own in any imaginable noise contest. Japanese extreme noise duo (and bankers by profession) Toshiji Mikawa and Fumio Kosakai aka Incapacitants have been blowing minds and eardrums for years now. This new disc on Alchemy consists of four brutal wall-of-sound tracks, exploding electronics almost psychedelically dense. One of these tracks was recorded live in Canada at the No Music Festival in 2003, another one captured at club called Lush in Tokyo last year, while the other two are studio recordings (not that it matters much).
Their banking experience is perhaps reflected in the song titles "What A Stupid Bureaucrat!!!" and "Fund Trap", while the title of the 22 minute track "Please Don't Try This At Home" almost goes without saying!
MPEG Stream: "What A Stupid Bureaucrat!!!"
MPEG Stream: "Please Don't Try This At Home"

INCAPACITANTS Default Standard (Alchemy) cd 21.00
The latest from this semi-legendary Japanese noise duo. A really painful noise storm as only these mild mannered bankers can create, with their usual delightful finance-related song titles (like "Securitization of Eel"). For some reason, this is Allan's favorite Japanese noise band.

INCAPACITANTS Feedback of NMS (Alchemy) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

INCAPACITANTS Live Incapacitants (Alchemy) cd 21.00
Allan's favorite Japanese noise band ('cause they're chubby bankers by day, chubby noise-freaks at night?) return with a disc of live material. Wait, I thought all their recordings were (more or less) live? Anway, this documents a November 5th, 1999 show in Austria and a December 25th, 1999 show in Tokyo (aptly titled "The Strongest Christmas Ever"). For the latter performance, this electronics duo is joined by drummer Tatsuya Yoshida of the Ruins, who does his best to add to the din and contribute to the holiday spirit. As always, NOISY!

INCAPACITANTS New Movements in CMPD (Alchemy) cd 21.00

INCAPACITANTS Quietus (Alchemy) cd 21.00

INCAPACITANTS Repo (Alchemy) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Alchemy Records digs into their vaults yet again to re-issue on cd a 1989 Alchemy LP by the notorious Japanese noise act Incapacitants. This makes for Incapacitants' eighth cd release on Alchemy! Wow, what a legacy of high-end skree, low-end rumble, and everything in between. As well as the "Repo" LP, this disc includes a bonus track taken from a 1985 cassette, the "Triangle8000" split release with Hijokaidan, which main Incapcitant T. Mikawa recently remixed. If you like NOISE you're already an Incapacitants fan, but if you don't -- stay away!

INCAPACITANTS / (ISOFC) Vitamin Buckfact (Starlight Furniture Company) lp 13.98
Japanese noise otaku, here's a limited-to-300 vinyl-only artifact you might be interested in... Collaborating with mysterious British noisican Abdul Squeerter's (In Spite Of Flaming Creatures) project, Allan's favorite ear-flaying Japanese noise duo the Incapacitants are in fine form here. Six tracks of dense, dynamic, electronic noise fuckery. If you need to figure out if you're part of "Vitamin Buckfact"'s target audience, look around your room. Is that a stack of vintage Bananafish magazines in the corner? Some precious Chocolate Monk cassettes in that box over there? Alchemy cds on top of the stereo? Well then this is for you if you act quick! It's basically a Bananfish 'zine love-in (indeed, until now, the only wide-spread documentation of Mr. Squeerter's creativity, or mere existence, was some writing he did for Bananafish).

INCREDIBLE FORCE OF JUNIOR Blue Cheer (Up) 7" 3.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Up Records strikes again with another syringe of essential pop that goes straight to the old adrenal glands. Third single from the Seattle trio that brought you the amazing Greatest Thing 7". Think Nothing Painted Blue, Tullycraft, Raincoats. The B-side ("Driving in your car") wins on this one. --Cory Brown.

INCREDIBLE FORCE OF JUNIOR Let the World fall Apart (Up) cd 13.98
Energetic pop you can sink teeth into, a là local favorites Pee. Extra-high quality.

INCREDIBLE STRING BAND 5000 Spirits Or The Layers Of The Onion / The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter (Collector's Choice Music) 2cd 22.00
England's Incredible String Band were a late sixties / early seventies outfit who blended folk rock, psychedelia, and Eastern ethnic musics.
Very sixties, very hippy -- they played at Woodstock, in fact. With their folky male and female vocals and expertise with a plethora of exotic stringed instruments, a shorthand description might be that ISB was kinda like Fairport Convention with sitars, and crazy costumes. But then, as they say, there's more: their music encompasses traditional British folk, Indian ragas, Dylan, blues, country, hoedowns, etc. -- an eclectic stew indeed. Sometimes ISB can come off as a little *too* varied: you might be digging some Eastern drone track and find an abrupt switch to, say, music-hall country a bit jarrring. But that just means there's plenty of different things on these discs to like.
We're always mentioning ISB in reviews of other folk-psych albums past and present, from Forest and Trees to P.G. Six and Tower Recordings, so it's nice to finally get these listed in our catalog...definitely if you're into that British folk-psych vibe you need to investigate this band if you haven't already!
There's been a recent slew of ISB reissues, on the Collector's Choice label and Sepia Tone. We'll deal with the Collector's Choice discs this week: four double-cd sets in all, three featuring two albums apiece (twofers of "5000 Spirits Or The Layers Of The Onion / The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter", "Wee Tam / The Big Huge", and "Changing Horses / I Looked Up" respectively), as well as the previously unissued on cd "U" which takes up 2 discs all by itself.
We can't say Collector's Choice lives up to their name with all of these. Although "U" at least boasts liner notes authored by Richie Unterberger, the other two don't. On top of that, the label's graphic design sense leaves something to be desired...for one thing, it would be nice to have the actual album cover artwork presented as large as possible, not just on the front in two overlapping small squares. On the inside, the original *back* covers are reproduced much larger than the fronts are. Doesn't make sense. The previous Hannibal label reissues looked nicer, but at least these are in print!
Disc one, "5000 Spirits Or The Layers Of The Onion", dates from 1967 -- it's their second album, featuring only the core duo of Robin Williamson and Mike Heron -- and was the first solid fulfillment of their Brit folk + Middle Eastern + Indian raga equation, as they added the ouds an' sitars to their original Anglo-American folk interpretations with some wonderfully moody results. Their 1968 follow-up, "The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter", is one of the ISB's best-regarded efforts, taking the sound of "5000 Spirits" to more free-form extremes. Dolly Collins (sister of Shirley) helps out on this one.
RealAudio clip: "The Mad Hatter's Song (from 5000...)"
RealAudio clip: " Three Is a Green Crown (from The Hangman's...)"

INCREDIBLE STRING BAND Be Glad For The Song Has No Ending (Wienerworld) dvd 24.00
Here is the DVD release of "Be Glad For The Song Has No Ending", the film about the Incredible String Band. Hugely influential (the Stones tried to sign them, they played Woodstock, Van Morrison covered them), the band played a psychedelic folk music that has its modern antecedents in groups like P.G. Six, Six Organs of Admittance, Damon and Naomi, etc. This DVD has lovely footage of them playing live, lots of closeups and interviews with Robin Williamson and Mike Heron. There's also an interview with the filmmaker Peter Neal, and the short film The Pirate and the Crystal Ball -- which the liner notes claim is a "hallucinatory death and rebirth ritual", but which is actually like a '60s version of getting your friends to go out into the woods and videotaping them cavorting and flitting amongst the trees. With handmaidens, fairies, and warriors even. You know the type.

INCREDIBLE STRING BAND Changing Horses / I Looked Up (Collector's Choice) 2cd 22.00
England's Incredible String Band were a late sixties / early seventies outfit who blended folk rock, psychedelia, and Eastern ethnic musics.
Very sixties, very hippy -- they played at Woodstock, in fact. With their folky male and female vocals and expertise with a plethora of exotic stringed instruments, a shorthand description might be that ISB was kinda like Fairport Convention with sitars, and crazy costumes. But then, as they say, there's more: their music encompasses traditional British folk, Indian ragas, Dylan, blues, country, hoedowns, etc. -- an eclectic stew indeed. Sometimes ISB can come off as a little *too* varied: you might be digging some Eastern drone track and find an abrupt switch to, say, music-hall country a bit jarrring. But that just means there's plenty of different things on these discs to like.
We're always mentioning ISB in reviews of other folk-psych albums past and present, from Forest and Trees to P.G. Six and Tower Recordings, so it's nice to finally get these listed in our catalog...definitely if you're into that British folk-psych vibe you need to investigate this band if you haven't already!
There's been a recent slew of ISB reissues, on the Collector's Choice label and Sepia Tone. We'll deal with the Collector's Choice discs this week: four double-cd sets in all, three featuring two albums apiece (twofers of "5000 Spirits Or The Layers Of The Onion / The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter", "Wee Tam / The Big Huge", and "Changing Horses / I Looked Up" respectively), as well as the previously unissued on cd "U" which takes up 2 discs all by itself.
We can't say Collector's Choice lives up to their name with all of these. Although "U" at least boasts liner notes authored by Richie Unterberger, the other two don't. On top of that, the label's graphic design sense leaves something to be desired...for one thing, it would be nice to have the actual album cover artwork presented as large as possible, not just on the front in two overlapping small squares. On the inside, the original *back* covers are reproduced much larger than the fronts are. Doesn't make sense. The previous Hannibal label reissues looked nicer, but at least these are in print!
1969's "Changing Horses" sees the ISB stretch out with two of their longest compositions/jams to date, both songs around the quarter hour mark, along with a handful of shorter tracks. The exotic, barmy hippy folk of the sixteen minute album closer "Creation" should appeal to today's Terrastock psych-folk fans into Ghost and Six Organs of Admittance and the like! It also reminds us a bit of ISB's quirky contemporaries Twink and Tyranosaurus Rex, or even Comus and the Wicker Man soundtrack. Mystically over-the-top. This might not be an essential ISB album, but if you like this sort of thing you'll want it for that track alone. "I Looked Up" from 1970 is similarily a decent but not crucial ISB effort, meaning don't get it first, but do get it if you are or become a fan. From the trad country-folk stylings of opener "Black Jack Davy" to the many moods of the ten-minute plus folk-prog rocker "When You Find Out Who You Are", this visits all of the ISB's colorful bases...
RealAudio clip: "Creation (from Changing Horses)"
RealAudio clip: "Fair As You (from I Looked Up)"

INCREDIBLE STRING BAND Liquid Acrobat As Regards The Air (Sepia Tone) cd 13.98

INCREDIBLE STRING BAND s/t (Sepia Tone) cd 13.98

INCREDIBLE STRING BAND U (Collector's Choice Music) 2cd 22.00
England's Incredible String Band were a late sixties / early seventies outfit who blended folk rock, psychedelia, and Eastern ethnic musics.
Very sixties, very hippy -- they played at Woodstock, in fact. With their folky male and female vocals and expertise with a plethora of exotic stringed instruments, a shorthand description might be that ISB was like Fairport Convention with sitars, and crazy costumes. But then, as they say, there's more: their music encompasses traditional British folk, Indian ragas, Dylan, blues, country, hoedowns, etc. -- an electic stew indeed. Sometimes ISB can come off as a little *too* varied: you might be digging some Eastern drone track and find an abrupt switch to, say, music-hall country a bit jarrring. But that just means there's plenty of different things on these discs to like.
We're always mentioning ISB in reviews of other folk-psych albums past and present, from Forest and Trees to P.G. Six and Tower Recordings, so it's nice to finally get these listed in our catalog...definitely if you're into that British folk-psych vibe you need to investigate this band if you haven't already!
There's been a recent slew of ISB reissues, on the Collector's Choice label and Sepia Tone. We'll deal with the Collector's Choice discs this week: four double-cd sets in all, three featuring two albums apiece (twofers of "5000 Spirits Or The Layers Of The Onion / The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter", "Wee Tam / The Big Huge", and "Changing Horses / I Looked Up" respectively), as well as the previously unissued on cd "U" which takes up 2 discs all by itself.
We can't say Collector's Choice lives up to their name with all of these. Although "U" at least boasts liner notes authored by Richie Unterberger, the other two don't. On top of that, the label's graphic design sense leaves something to be desired...for one thing, it would be nice to have the actual album cover artwork presented as large as possible, not just on the front in two overlapping small squares. On the inside, the original *back* covers are reproduced much larger than the fronts are. Doesn't make sense. The previous Hannibal label reissues looked nicer, but at least these are in print!
1970's sprawling "U", almost two hours long, was the ISB's soundtrack to a stage show -- a "surreal parable in song and dance" according to ISB's Robin Williamson -- that combined the String Band's musicians with the performance of underground dance/happening group Stone Monkey. Must have been pretty wild, based on this psychedelic music, and the photos crammed into the disc's tiny booklet. It's a bit much to get a handle on -- possibly why this is apparently one of the ISB's more obscure releases. But there's great songs on here, hitting all of the prime String Band motifs: the folk, the raga, the rock, the country... Essential for fans, and recommended to newcomers too, if unafraid of ISB overkill.
RealAudio clip: "El Wool Suite"
RealAudio clip: "Astral Plane Theme"

INCREDIBLE STRING BAND Wee Tam / The Big Huge (Collector's Choice) 2cd 22.00
England's Incredible String Band were a late sixties / early seventies outfit who blended folk rock, psychedelia, and Eastern ethnic musics.
Very sixties, very hippy -- they played at Woodstock, in fact. With their folky male and female vocals and expertise with a plethora of exotic stringed instruments, a shorthand description might be that ISB was kinda like Fairport Convention with sitars, and crazy costumes. But then, as they say, there's more: their music encompasses traditional British folk, Indian ragas, Dylan, blues, country, hoedowns, etc. -- an eclectic stew indeed. Sometimes ISB can come off as a little *too* varied: you might be digging some Eastern drone track and find an abrupt switch to, say, music-hall country a bit jarrring. But that just means there's plenty of different things on these discs to like.
We're always mentioning ISB in reviews of other folk-psych albums past and present, from Forest and Trees to P.G. Six and Tower Recordings, so it's nice to finally get these listed in our catalog...definitely if you're into that British folk-psych vibe you need to investigate this band if you haven't already!
There's been a recent slew of ISB reissues, on the Collector's Choice label and Sepia Tone. We'll deal with the Collector's Choice discs this week: four double-cd sets in all, three featuring two albums apiece (twofers of "5000 Spirits Or The Layers Of The Onion / The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter", "Wee Tam / The Big Huge", and "Changing Horses / I Looked Up" respectively), as well as the previously unissued on cd "U" which takes up 2 discs all by itself.
We can't say Collector's Choice lives up to their name with all of these. Although "U" at least boasts liner notes authored by Richie Unterberger, the other two don't. On top of that, the label's graphic design sense leaves something to be desired...for one thing, it would be nice to have the actual album cover artwork presented as large as possible, not just on the front in two overlapping small squares. On the inside, the original *back* covers are reproduced much larger than the fronts are. Doesn't make sense. The previous Hannibal label reissues looked nicer, but at least these are in print!
This two-fer 2cd is consistent with these albums' original UK release in 1968, as both "Wee Tam" and "The Big Huge" were issued together as a 2LP set. Again the ISB mix their Celtic and Appalachian folkie roots with "world" influences, and although this is quite mellow and gentle, they also brought in some electric amplification at this point. With female vocals n' whistles n' fiddles n' sitar etc. this is quite pretty stuff, great summer morning sitting in a sunny meadow music. Both records are ISB fan favorites, with gorgeous four-part vocal harmonies, whimsical but sometimes dark moods, and of course lots of Incredible String-ed instrument playing.
RealAudio clip: "The Yellow Snake (from Wee Tam)"
RealAudio clip: "Maya (from The Big Huge)"

INDIAN God Slave (Indiandoom) 7" 2.99
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Rarely does someone just come in off the street and drop off a record that kicks our ass as much as this record by Chicago doomsters Indian. Two tracks of fuzzed out, stoner doom, with big crunchy distorted riffs, chaotic drumming, and weird (especially for a band like this) shrieked, almost black metal vocals. Really cool. Think Melvins, Kyuss, Eyehategod, Electric Wizard and you'll definitely have a good idea of where these guys are coming from. The A side has a strange sampled voice that sounds like an agitated foreigner yelling outside your car window -- turns out it's sampled from a Tarkovsky film! Cool. We look forward to their full-length scheduled for next spring...

INDIAN Slights And Abuse / The Sycophant (Seventh Rule Recordings) cd 14.98
Sorry, we never got for y'all the limited vinyl 12"s that are now (thankfully) combined onto this 2-on-1 compact disc full-length (and then some) offering from Chicago doomcore dirgemasters Indian. Shoulda, woulda, coulda. But heck, here's all four tracks from Slights And Abuse and five tracks from The Sycophant on one handy 5" digitally encoded disc. And anyone into the HEAVY (that would be, a lot of you) damn well ought to check it out. This is the follow up to Indian's previous Seventh Rule album The Unquiet Sky, and it crushes just as much or more than that impressive debut did.
The initial attack of Slights And Abuse's first three tracks had us a bit staggered with their speedy spew... it's a vicious thrashing all right, the band ripping through some tricky riffing and unleashing the wretched vokills with frenzied ferocity. But then that record's 15 minute finale "Fatal Luck" slows things down, waaaay down, and we remember why these guys remind us so much of the Melvins. And Khanate. Buried At Sea, Boris and Cavity too!
The second half of this disc, The Sycophant half, is the weirder one, with experimental interludes like the eerie ambient piano instrumental "Allotriophagy". More distorted drone abounds on "Gloat". Yet the metallisms of part one certainly bleed through, from the doomy triumph of "The Sycophant" to the chunky chuggery of "Pigs In Your Open Wound"... truly, each song on this whole disc being pretty killer in its own weird and/or wrathful way. And you gotta like the cover paintings, 'specially the one on the back for The Sycophant, depicting a Pope doing the bloody bird-biting routine a la Ozzy.
MPEG Stream: "Cursed Reform"
MPEG Stream: "Fatal Lack"
MPEG Stream: "Lust"

INDIAN The Unquiet Sky (Seventh Rule) cd 13.98
When someone just walks in off the street and hands you a 7" and tells you to "check it out, you'll probably dig it," odds are that's not always necessarily true. But a ways back, someone did just that, and handed over an Indian 7", and we were completely blown away. Super heavy and sludge-y stonery doom from a band who we had never heard of and by all rights should have been up there rocking along side bands like Pelican and Isis and Mastodon. So we played our 7"s to bits, just biding our time for a full length, cuz let's face it, super droney stretched out druggy stoner doom doesn't really have the space on a 7" to unwind and trudge through epic 10 minute plus songs the way that music was meant to. It's almost cruel keeping that sort of band confined to a 7". Like keeping a wooly mammoth in a tiny enclosure at the zoo. Before long those steel bars will be gone and there will be plenty of blood and gore and folks trampled under foot. And we can't imagine a more apt description of the finally unveiled Indian full length. The first track is a glacial Earth / SUNNO))) like drone, thick guitars squirming and slithering in a big tangly cloud of feedback, but that's only to ease you into the mighty ass kicking you're about to receive. Massive, lumbering, feedback soaked, groove flecked stoned and drugged out space sludge of the highest order. A bit like Eyehategod mixed with Kyuss, this is bile spewing evil stuff, maybe even a bit like Khanate if they decided to 'rock' and get some girls to like their band. Then there's the vocals, instead of a Kyuss-y raspy growl or an EHG sort of bellow / howl, the vocals here are a grim icy demonic screech, each track an unholy union, equal parts stoner sludge and frosty black metal invocation. Fucking awesome. Fans of the new breed of post rock / metal hybrid (Pelican, Isis, Tides, Conifer), and the sludge-y doom of bands like EHG, Khanate, Sleep, Electric Wizard, SUNNO))) as well as ALL things drone sludge shriek buzz and blur, might as well just get the rusty razor out right now and carve INDIAN right there on your scarred and tattooed forearm along side the rest of 'em! Killer crown-of-thorned-monkey cover art too!!
MPEG Stream: "No Able Fires"
MPEG Stream: "Ration"

INDIAN JEWELRY Free Gold (We Are Free) cd 13.98
While we missed their recent show here in San Francisco we kept hearing rave reviews and many of our most trusted customers felt similarly, so much so that we knew we had to hear the new record. We're very happy we listened because Free Gold grabbed a hold of us on the very first listen and we've been hooked hard ever since.
Falling somewhere between Spacemen 3 and Jesus & Mary Chain, Indian Jewelry totally hit the spot in creating sounds that are both shoegazy and dangerous sounding at the same time. If we do get to see them live in support of this record we would want it to be in a really sparse room with nothing but a shitty PA and a really intense strobe light. Free Gold is one of those records that no matter what your history with the band is, you can tell that this is a record that finds the band really hitting their stride. They tap into so many things we love but with their own slight tweak on things that makes it totally their own. Like Loop or Wooden Shjips with a dash of mascara or a more fucked up and DIY version of the latest Raveonettes record that we've been so into. And much like the two Psychic Ills records we love so much, this hits the spot big time, especially when you are looking for that up to no good, slightly drugged out and sexy late night soundtrack.
MPEG Stream: "Temporary Famine Ship"
MPEG Stream: "Overdrive"
MPEG Stream: "Everyday"

INDIAN JEWELRY We Are The Wild Beast (Tigerbeat 6) cd 13.98
While we have yet to review any Indian Jewelry records on the aQ list, most of us here are pretty big fans. Their Invasive Exotics record was an awesome chunk of tripped out droniness, that probably would have been a really good fit on the aQ list. We'll have to remedy that soon. But before they were Indian Jewelry, they were called NTX + Electric, and had a pretty dramatically different sound.
On We Are The Wild Beast, the soon to be Indian Jewelry sounded less like some wacked Texas free psych dronewave outfit, and more like some NYC no-wave skronk combo, complete with squawking saxophones, thick gristly synth, haunting new wave grooves, lots of electronic bleepery, but also some more modern sounds, some of the melodies sound like they could have been plucked from Interpol songs, there's definitely some garage-y stomp, some shoegazey droneouts, the core sound though is the simple clattery percussion, the huge thick slabs of buzzing synth, and the saxophone, which spends much of its time in the background, unfurling hypnotic snakecharmer grooves.
Buried amidst all this skronk and skree and buzz re some fantastic pop songs, and some killer hooks, but they're usually obscured by clouds of FX, or wrapped around spiky angular riffing. The opener is a killer, a modern sounding dancefloor killer, with it's sax refrain and the blown out synth buzz, a total new wave groove that would have the girljean set frugging madly. But then there's songs like "Looking At You", a dreamy krautpop jam, with that same sax refrain from the first song resurfacing, all under thick sheets of crumbling psych guitar. The nearly 14 minute "S-O-S-O-S" begins like some sort of Spacemen 3 bliss out, but soon transforms into some off kilter Unrest style jam, insistent guitar jangle, Beatles-y croon, and simple lo-fi pop hooks, all wrapped up in loads of distortion, and more amp frying FX.
It's really not that hard to hear a lot of later Indian Jewelry in the sound of NTX+Electric, but they have more of an old school electro / no-wave thing going on, which means fans of folks like Glass Candy and the like might also dig. Cool, weird, awesome stuff.
MPEG Stream: "Walk Through Fire"
MPEG Stream: "Empty Handed"
MPEG Stream: "Poison The Choir"

INDIAN SOUNDSCAPES s/t (Soleilmoon) 2cd 17.98
Previously vinyl-only, now available in an expanded version on two CDs, very nicely packaged in a charming silk-screened wooden box (made in India by the way). Indian Soundscapes is a collection of recordings made between 2001 and 2004 by someone who chooses to remain anonymous (apparently it's not Loren Nerell as we had originally suspected). Unlike the majority of field recordings from around the world that we get in here at Aquarius, Indian Soundscapes was very intentionally compiled to be devoid of any music. The recordist also attempted to isolate as much sound from the ubiquitous automobiles and motorcycles as possible. This editorial decision makes for a collection of recordings completely unlike anything else you've probably heard from India (unless you've been lucky enough to go there yourself, in which case these discs may bring back fond memories). While this is an exciting thing to the field recording geeks here at Aquarius, those hoping for sitar, tabla or recordings of Indian music in general will be disappointed -- the closest thing you'll get here is chanting beggars. Which is not to bag on Indian music. Indian music is great. But India, like every other country, or geographical region of the world, has a lot more interesting auditory stimuli than just music. This collection is a champion for everything else audibly wonderful throughout India: train stations, myriad bicyclists ringing their bells, temples, insects, thunderstorms, persistent hawkers, the haunting wail of peacocks, and much more.
MPEG Stream: "You Have Chocolate, No Money"
MPEG Stream: "Trains"

INDIAN SOUNDSCAPES s/t (Soleilmoon) lp 14.98
Thanks to Cheb I Sabbah, Talvin Singh, Tabla Beat Science, and other electronica fusions with traditional Indian music, several dozen customers have excitedly picked this album in hopes of a sitar 'n' tabla laced album of electronica. To glum expressions and sad resignations, we explain that these "Indian Soundscapes" are just field recordings made throughout the subcontinent. It's a damn shame that more people haven't gotten excited about this album, as the recordings of rushing trains, calming ebbings of the ocean, bustling marketplaces, and the album's highlight - the haunted cackling of peacocks. This follows Soleilmoon's previous collection of field recordings, "Indonesian Soundscapes," although I'm not sure if Loren Nerell was the recordist on this one, as he had collected that collection of field recordings.

INDIE ROCK CONNECT THE DOTS book 4.98
Remember the Gangsta Rap Coloring book? We sold about a gazillion of 'em. Well now Aye Jay, creator of the Gangsta Rap Coloring Book, is back with another sort of interactive activity book about another crucial musical genre: we proudly (?) present Indie Rock Connect The Dots! It's really only nominally a "connect-the-dots" book, as the stippled pen drawings found here of such indie rock luminaries as Wayne Coyne, Doug Martsch, Ian Mackaye, Daniel Johnston, and Elliott Smith would be entirely complete and (maybe) recognizable without the dots outlining each portrait. So figuring out who "Took off her bikini to run with the tiger" (Kathleen Hanna) or who "Started the beat; also made the 11th letter famous" (Calvin Johnson) doesn't really require the use of a crayon or pencil. The rather poetic forward written by Steve Albini attempts to explain the connect-the-dots conceit as a tribute to the childlike innocence ("feigned or genuine") that's a common element of the indie rock aesthetic/lifestyle. Definitely a good gift for the indie rocker/adult child in your life.

INFERI Shores Of Sorrow (Northern Heritage) cd 15.98
It's a funny thing, a lot of times, for us at least, as black metal bands get better, and tighter and more polished, they don't necessarily get better. Or more specifically, we don't actually like them any more than we did when they were struggling to realize some musical vision well beyond their technical grasp. I suppose that's true of any music maybe, but it seems more obvious with black metal in particular. When a band finally records in a studio, and has spent the last year honing their chops, it often sounds -amazing-, but just not as weird or personal or uniquely inspired. A good example is Behemoth, who we do love, still, but who are now a super tight technical, nearly overproduced, slick, fast, sharp and super complex black metal juggernaut. But in the beginning, they were making buzzing Burzumic black metal, with basically just acoustic guitars and drums. So they would be playing these classic sounding riffs, right there alongside stumbling blast beasts, but with some janky acoustic steel string guitar. And the results were totally inspired! It's that sort of inspiration and invention that can only come from absolute necessity. Which is precisely what is so appealing about so much black metal.
But there are exceptions, one obvious one being this new record from Inferi. Previous recordings (two tapes) found the band a stumbling, chaotic, mess, a glorious mess, but a mess nonetheless, lots of buzz and blackness, but terrible recording quality and some super stumbling performances, which in that case, kept the band from expressing the sounds they were hearing in their heads. But on Shores Of Sorrow, Inferi, have done everything right. The sound is loud and heavy, thick and clear, but without losing the grim buzz that so defined them. And the playing is better too, but instead of trying to become some super technical BM band, they continued to hone their gorgeously sorrowful, midtempo blackness, and the result is totally captivating. Quite possibly one of the saddest sounding black metal records ever. Each of the four lengthy tracks is a blurry, buzzing, minor key dirge, thick swirls of distortion wrapped around totally emotional and super sad sounding melodies, all draped over loping lurching midtempo rhythms. Occasionally some awesomely unexpected double kick drumming surfaces, but all it does is up the tension factor, and make the song seem even more sad and intense. The opening track sets the tone, 12 minutes of mournful acoustic guitar, a gently lilting minor key melody, drifting beneath sheets of raw blown out black buzz, sort of seasick and dreamlike, harsh vocals howl above the melancholy blackness. The drums don't even kick in until the last few minutes, and then this black near-ballad turns into a heartbreaking dirge. The next two tracks follow a similar pattern, epic and sorrowful, gloriously miserable droning buzz. It's everything we love about Burzum and Xasthur and Nortt and Make A Change... Kill Yourself, stripped to its very essence, the simplest buzzing black representation of utter misery, so completely mesmerizing and totally soul stirring. The final track is blazing fast, at least compared to the first three, a furious not quite blast beat, over dense drifts of swirling black buzz, and like the rest of the disc, still totally minor key, utterly doleful and despondent, austere and disconsolate, and so goddamned good.
Fans of any of the above mentioned bands, and any one into buzzing beautiful sad blackness might just have a new favorite disc to drown your sorrows in...
MPEG Stream: "To The Once So Sad World"
MPEG Stream: "Dance Of Shadows"

INFERI Shores Of Sorrow (Northern Heritage) lp 17.98
Available on vinyl for a limited time. Gorgeous, mournful and beautiful Burzumic black metal. Different artwork, limited to 500 copies and gone before you know it...
It's a funny thing, a lot of times, for us at least, as black metal bands get better, and tighter and more polished, they don't necessarily get better. Or more specifically, we don't actually like them any more than we did when they were struggling to realize some musical vision well beyond their technical grasp. I suppose that's true of any music maybe, but it seems more obvious with black metal in particular. When a band finally records in a studio, and has spent the last year honing their chops, it often sounds -amazing-, but just not as weird or personal or uniquely inspired. A good example is Behemoth, who we do love, still, but who are now a super tight technical, nearly overproduced, slick, fast, sharp and super complex black metal juggernaut. But in the beginning, they were making buzzing Burzumic black metal, with basically just acoustic guitars and drums. So they would be playing these classic sounding riffs, right there alongside stumbling blast beasts, but with some janky acoustic steel string guitar. And the results were totally inspired! It's that sort of inspiration and invention that can only come from absolute necessity. Which is precisely what is so appealing about so much black metal.
But there are exceptions, one obvious one being this new record from Inferi. Previous recordings (two tapes) found the band a stumbling, chaotic, mess, a glorious mess, but a mess nonetheless, lots of buzz and blackness, but terrible recording quality and some super stumbling performances, which in that case, kept the band from expressing the sounds they were hearing in their heads. But on Shores Of Sorrow, Inferi, have done everything right. The sound is loud and heavy, thick and clear, but without losing the grim buzz that so defined them. And the playing is better too, but instead of trying to become some super technical BM band, they continued to hone their gorgeously sorrowful, midtempo blackness, and the result is totally captivating. Quite possibly one of the saddest sounding black metal records ever. Each of the four lengthy tracks is a blurry, buzzing, minor key dirge, thick swirls of distortion wrapped around totally emotional and super sad sounding melodies, all draped over loping lurching midtempo rhythms. Occasionally some awesomely unexpected double kick drumming surfaces, but all it does is up the tension factor, and make the song seem even more sad and intense. The opening track sets the tone, 12 minutes of mournful acoustic guitar, a gently lilting minor key melody, drifting beneath sheets of raw blown out black buzz, sort of seasick and dreamlike, harsh vocals howl above the melancholy blackness. The drums don't even kick in until the last few minutes, and then this black near-ballad turns into a heartbreaking dirge. The next two tracks follow a similar pattern, epic and sorrowful, gloriously miserable droning buzz. It's everything we love about Burzum and Xasthur and Nortt and Make A Change... Kill Yourself, stripped to its very essence, the simplest buzzing black representation of utter misery, so completely mesmerizing and totally soul stirring. The final track is blazing fast, at least compared to the first three, a furious not quite blast beat, over dense drifts of swirling black buzz, and like the rest of the disc, still totally minor key, utterly doleful and despondent, austere and disconsolate, and so goddamned good.
Fans of any of the above mentioned bands, and any one into buzzing beautiful sad blackness might just have a new favorite disc to drown your sorrows in...
MPEG Stream: "To The Once So Sad World"
MPEG Stream: "Dance Of Shadows"

INFERNAL s/t (Hellspawn) cd 16.98
"Satanic Holocaust Metal" featuring current and ex- "warriors" from several excellent Scandinavian metal outfits: Dark Funeral, In Aeternum, and the amazing Defleshed.

INFERNUM Farewell (No Colours) cd 16.98
Final release from Polish horde Infernum, which is essentially as far as we can tell just a different version of Graveland. Although there seems to be some complicated backstory and two different Infernums from the same town. One made up entirely of session members (Rob Darken and Capricornus of Graveland) the other fronted by the protege of the original founder who killed himself. Weird. The liner notes are funny / disturbing, explaining that Darken and Capricornus were grateful that the other guy killed himself and that their only regret was that he died at his own hands instead of theirs. Woah.
But whatever, this is some awesome, buzzing black metal done Polish style. The Graveland sound is all over Infernum. The original version of this was released as a bootleg back in 1996 without keyboards or vocals, and after the death of Anextiomarus, Darken and Capricornus finished it and released it as you hear it now. Keyboards all over the place. Thick washes of epic grandiose synths, howled vocals, over furious midtempo black thrash, buzzing insectoid riffs, blasting drums, weird choral vocals, but the coolest part of this disc is the weird sort of post rocky breakdowns, with clean guitars and tribal rhythms, minor key and moody, they sort of jangle and lope along lazily until the blackness drops and the band explode again into freaked out grim black furor. Fans of Graveland will obviously NEED this, but folks into weird black metal will probably find this much to their liking...
MPEG Stream: "Black March"
MPEG Stream: "Inverted Prayer"