R Humps (Radon) cd 13.98

R.E.M. Accelerate (Warner Bros) cd 17.98
While so much of the mainstream press surrounding this new R.E.M. record offers up phrases like 'the return of R.E.M.' the truth is that R.E.M. have really been a rare example of a band who has sold millions of records and reached the highest kind of success a rock n roll band can achieve, while still continuing to make quality music throughout their entire career. Yes, their last outing Around The Sun was their weakest to date, but many of us here have loved other recent records by them like Up and Reveal. Of course probably everyone at AQ has an early R.E.M. record that they still hold dear to their hearts. Accelerate is for sure the most rocking and 'loud' R.E.M. record in many years, probably since Monster. But we're not always sure if we need R.E.M to totally rock anymore, some of the more subtle and textured atmospheric pop they were creating on Up and Reveal was really exciting, innovative and even rivaled indie mainstays like Yo La Tengo. Stipe and company always know their away around a song and if you like your R.E.M. with guitars turned up high and the rock on full throttle you will find lots to like on Accelerate. While there are moments that can feel a bit forced, and the more laid back tracks tending to please our ears the most, you have to give R.E.M credit as most of their peers who began in the early '80s either faded away or began making records that were totally embarrassing and cringeworthy, and while Accelerate is no Murmer or Reckoning, it's another strong and worthwhile album from one of the better bands of the last three decades.
MPEG Stream: "Supernatural Superserious"
MPEG Stream: "Houston"
MPEG Stream: "Horse To Water"

R.E.M. Around The Sun (Warner) cd 16.98
With Around The Sun, R.E.M.'s album discography reaches a baker's dozen and they start it off with a total heartstring pulling, major motion picture soundtrack-ready song "Leaving New York". Is this how far they've come (or more specifically, how far they've strayed) from their early days? Apart from the presence of Stipe's unmistakable voice, these songs are for the most part faceless. When taken on its own for what it is, it's really not that, uhh, bad. They've simply become an extreme example of 'mellowing with age' (others might use the less kind word 'bland'). Newer R.E.M. fans will probably still find plenty to love on Around The Sun, but old schoolers might doze off after a few songs. As if to spice things up, Q-Tip drops in to lend some vocals on one song "The Outsiders", but they seem jarring and out of place -- sorta like when your ol' Uncle Louie tries to get hip with the kids by donning some ass-draggin' pants and a backwards baseball cap. It just doesn't fit now, does it?
MPEG Stream: "Leaving New York"
MPEG Stream: "The Outsiders"

R.E.M. Reveal (Warner) cd 17.98

R.O.T. L'Ecurie ((K-RAA-K)3) lp 17.98
First vinyl release from this mysterious Belgian free music collective. Recorded in various locations, abandoned churches, old factories and the like, R.O.T. unfurl dark and murky soundscapes, clouds of electric skitter and rumbling outer space interference. L'Ecurei is a dark ambient trawl through some creepy, dimly lit soundworld of campfired crackle and feeding back guitars, transmitted through a thick haze of abstract murmur, clattering percussion, haunting whirs and random bits of rumble and low end hum. Sounds like a very stoned Starfuckers jamming at the bottom of an emptied swimming pool, or like an alien army of sentient music making machines left to hum and rattle and drone until their batteries slowly run out. Really cool.

R.Y.N. Whistle And I'll COme To You / A Warning To The Curious (Drone) 7" 9.98
We love Drone records. And their series of ultra limited, hand assembled 7"s. There's even a forthcoming 2cd on Andee's tUMULt label collecting a handful of the early long out of print 7"s. We can only ever manage to get a tiny handful of these singles since they're so limited, but when we do we try to list them, and it's definitely lucky for the tiny handful of you who are quick on the buy-it-now trigger. Some of the best drone and dark ambient music around.
R.Y.N. deliver a thick machinelike whir, like a slightly more industrial Sunroof!, a mighty metallic drone, buzzing and reverberating like an army of metallic resonators, close listening reveals all sorts of sonic color and hidden melody. The flipside takes the industrial drone from the first side and submerges it in thick dark water, a glimmering, murky and gauzy underwater sonic journey. Nice.
First Edition. LIMITED TO 300 COPIES! Clear purple vinyl. Multicolored kaleidoscopic full color cover, with a black and metallic silver ink insert.

R/R COSEBOOM Beneath Trembling Lanterns (Dynamophone) cd 13.98
We've got a couple more fine releases from Dynamophone Records, the SF indie label we were raving about last list (also see: Balustrade Ensemble, Halou, Po, Pornopop, A Lily, Curium, and Disinterested)! Beneath Trembling Lanterns begins with the distant peal and tinkle of bells and glassy chimes. An enchanted beckoning. Ms Coseboom's cooed vocals are quite akin to retro sugar of Julee Cruise or the womanly knowingness of Jane Siberry. However, the album's overall impression is more modern a la Lamb or Portishead -- a beautiful blend of old and new sounds, styles and instrumentation. Sweet, soft, slow and soothing.
MPEG Stream: "Visitor Hummingbird"
MPEG Stream: "Little Dust Wing"

RAAIJMAKERS, DICK Complete Tape Music Of Dick Raaijmakers (Basta) 3cd 33.00
Three cds worth of vintage Dutch tape music from one of the masters, Dick Raaijmakers! Maybe you remember him from the Popular Electronics box set on Basta. This is the second edition of this collection, nicely presented in a colorful cardboard box, with 124 page booklet with text in English. Raaijmakers was active in the Philips Labs in the late '50s, and this contains material from 1959 all the way up to 1996, mainly from the '60s. Those big into early electronic music will want to check this out, as will anyone who gets turned on to Raaijmakers thanks to the the nifty various artists tribute comp also reviewed this list.

RABBITS Sloth And Bees (self-released) 7" 2.98
We listed a split lp a little while back, that featured these guys teamed up with the equally strangely named Under Mountains. We dug both bands so much we decided to get our hands on whatever we could, thus, this latest 7" from Rabbits. Who are WAY heavier than their cute and fluffy name might lead you to believe. Rabbits are some weird post punk, angular sludge rock hybrid, a super chaotic screamo groove outfit, corrosive guitar lines, totally spastic drumming, howled vocals, a massive heaving swirl of post punk grooves and unhinged post rock fury. Dense and complex, blown out and droney, there's some Scratch Acid in there, but way more revved up and wild, careening like some sort of PCP dosed yeti. The second side slows it way down into some serious sludge territory, sounding almost Melvins-like, with downtuned riffing, relentlessly pounding rhythms, the whole thing heavy as fuck!
Packaged in super cool black on black sleeves, each side visually depicting the song titles (sloth on one side, bees on the other) and includes a thick hand screened red cardstock insert.

RABBITS / UNDER MOUNTAINS split (Eolian) lp 9.98
These guys dropped into the store and left some records for us to check out and holy shit did we have our asses handed to us. It's very rare that we'll hear a split lp with two bands we've never heard of, that will knock us for a loop, BOTH bands kicking serious ass, but here you go. There seems to bee some sort of Colorado connection (Angel Hair, VSS, etc.) and you can hear it once in a while, but this is a lot darker and lot heavier. Both bands have a similar sound, so much so that you could be forgive for assuming they were the same band, but closer listening reveals lots of important differences. Rabbits are some sort of modern version of big ol' post punk sludge groove, hard not to hear some Scratch Acid in there. Ultra grimy downtuned guitars, super dense and mathy arrangements, woozy basslines, blown out fuzz guitar, growled/shouted Yow-like vocals. Almost like a way darker, way more punk pelican in a way. Which is most definitely a good thing.
Under Mountains counter with their own furiously dense and heavy, sort of sludgy post-math rock. Lots of angular guitars, some strangely Maiden-ish moments here and there, super complicated drumming, heavy and sludgy but also groovy and pretty dang catchy. They, like Rabbits, could definitely fit comfortably alongside the modern crop of instruMETAL rockers, but both bands, especially UM are a lot mathier and grimier. Reminded us a bit of the recent more rock releases on Rise Above, like Capricorns, Taint, etc.
Killer stuff!

RABE, FOLKE What?? (Dexter's Cigar) cd 12.98
Minimalist Swedish electronics, from way ahead of its time, circa 1970. Two tracks, one a half-speed version of the first, for advanced exercises in drone-absorbtion.

RABE, FOLKE / JAN BARK Argh! (Kning Disk) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

RABELAIS, AKIRA ...benediction, draw. (Orthlorng Musork) cd 14.98
Mirroring Keith Fullerton Whitman on his stellar "Playthroughs" album, digital wizard Akira Rabelais has plugged an electric guitar into what he calls Argeiphontes Lyre, an alchemical piece of software of his own design, to produce his third exceptional album "...benediction, draw." Yet Whitman and Rabelais look toward different historical precedents in the construction of their albums, inevitably shifting the resultant sound. Where Whitman found inspiration in Terry Riley's time lag accumulators and Christoph Heeman's ambient slippages, Rabelais earnestly professes Erik Satie as his mentor, proclaiming that this album "in the best sense of a musique d'ameublement (Satie's famous aphorism for 'furniture music') shows itself as an acoustic state rather than a sonic wallpaper." True enough, Rabelais presents these digital abstractions as a fluttering series of sublimated half-melodies and tonal fluctuations that embrace the spirit of Satie's compositions. There is a jewel-like preciousness to this construction, as his digital transmutations open into cascading washes of variable glints, shimmerings, and flickers -- guitar passages that very rarely resemble anything like a guitar. This is a magical album from one of the truely unique proponents of digital synthesis. Very very nice.
MPEG Stream: "Pleure de le Voir Gai Comme un Oiseau des Bois"
MPEG Stream: "Retrouve L'ambroisie et le Nectar Vermeil"

RABELAIS, AKIRA Eisoptrophobia (Mille Plateaux) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Not just another member of the electronica community who programs code by day and is a Mille Plateaux superstar by night, Akira Rabelais has wonderfully romantic bone in his body that affects everything he does, including programming. If his cheerleaders are correct in their praise of his software applications, then Rabelais may in fact be programming code with the same jouissance that can be found in the magic realist writings of Borges. That's pretty heavy praise, and while we've not explored his software (the Argeiphontes Lyre - his most notable software - supposedly mutates pre-existing sound with subtle digital distortions and digitally knotted re-sampling techniques), his musical productions which employ his own programming creations are simply stunning. "Eisoptrophobia" is Rabelais' second album, consists of digital re-interpretations of piano pieces by Satie, Bartok, and Carte. Fortunately, these recordings are not wildly timestretched pieces of digital destruction (i.e. Speedranch, Janski-Noise, etc.); rather, they are incredibly spartan and dreamy. Rabelais leaves the structures of the pieces intact, at times extending into tone float drifts which merely hint at the original melody, others quietly reflect a Philip Jeck-like aura of fragile antiquity, and other resemble something far more acoustic in origin like Cage's prepared pianos. Altogether, a very successful album in terms of process, concept, and execution!
RealAudio clip: "Aposiopesis"
RealAudio clip: "Gymnopedie No.2"
RealAudio clip: "Notturno (loverly remix)"

RABELAIS, AKIRA Eisoptrophobia (Argeiphontes) dvd 25.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Los Angeles' Akira Rabelais may be one of the very few programmer-musicians with the touch of a poet, bringing a labyrinthian elegance to the techniques of digital corrosion. Last year, Rabelais released the masterful "Eisoptrophobia" as a series of dreamy reinterpretations of the piano works of Satie, Bartok, and Carte. These early 20th Century compositions had been delicately distressed and filtered to the point of fragility through the convoluted digital knots and slippages of his own Argephontes Lyre program. Even at this point, Rabelais had developed an incredibly complex series of intertwining metaphors cast down from the title (eisoptrophobia is the fear of mirrors) through the romantic melodies of those piano lines and their digital recombination as an outward projection of memory, nostalgia, and oblique surrealism, that keeps true to Satie's notion of 'furniture music.'
Yet, the purely aural experience of a CD was not enough for Rabelais to explore all of the ideas he had for "Eisoptrophobia." Hence, Rabelais has now released the DVD version of the album, complete with short films to accompany his music and a collection of remixes. Rabelais explained that his incorporation of the video adds another element to the metaphoric twists of the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi - the aesthetic principles of beauty found in the states of being and in the transient nature of all things being imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. The films are vignettes describing the subtle events of domesticity through light and shadow which are cast across the visage of a woman in the midst of a number of mundane actions (taking a bath, staring out the window, doing yoga, etc). The images in conjunction with the music are incredibly calming, emotionally evocative, and certainly romantic, as if Merchant-Ivory films had been directed instead by Steve McQueen (the miminalist video artist, not the actor).
The remixes -- from Frank Bretschneider (aka Komet of Raster Noton), Neina, Ekkehard Ehlers, and Darren Verhagen -- offer a much different visual direction, as they have been paired with the streaming patterns of their own soundwaves in brilliant reds and greens. Musically, they tend to eradicate the references to piano, which Rabelais had been so keen on maintaining in his own work.
The DVD of "Eisoptrophobia" is quite an interesting work, from an artist who seems to be the Pablo Neruda of glitch.
RealAudio clip: "Aposiopesis"
RealAudio clip: "Gymnopedie No.2"
RealAudio clip: "Notturno (loverly remix)"

RABELAIS, AKIRA Eisoptrophobia (self-released) cd-r 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This long out of print gem finally gets reissued, by Akira himself. It's elegantly packaged in a cardboard box and tied with twine, the disc and liner notes wrapped in a gorgeously emboidered cloth, beneath a sprig of Queen Anne's Lace. Fancy! It's a cd-r this time around, but that's made up for by the amazing packaging and a bonus track not on the original! Here's what we had to say about Eisoptrophobia before:
Not just another member of the electronica community who programs code by day and is a Mille Plateaux superstar by night, Akira Rabelais has a wonderfully romantic bone in his body that affects everything he does, including programming. If his cheerleaders are correct in their praise of his software applications, then Rabelais may in fact be programming code with the same jouissance that can be found in the magic realist writings of Borges. That's pretty heavy praise, and while we've not explored his software (the Argeiphontes Lyre -- his most notable software -- supposedly mutates pre-existing sound with subtle digital distortions and digitally knotted re-sampling techniques), his musical productions which employ his own programming creations are simply stunning. "Eisoptrophobia" is Rabelais' second album, and consists of digital re-interpretations of piano pieces by Satie, Bartok, and Carte. Fortunately, these recordings are not wildly timestretched pieces of digital destruction (i.e. Speedranch, Jansky-Noise, etc.); rather, they are incredibly spartan and dreamy. Rabelais leaves the structures of the pieces intact, at times extending into tone float drifts which merely hint at the original melody, others quietly reflect a Philip Jeck-like aura of fragile antiquity, and other resemble something far more acoustic in origin like Cage's prepared pianos. Altogether, a very successful album in terms of process, concept, and execution!

RABELAIS, AKIRA EN/OF 031 - limited edition autographed 12" (Bottrop -Boy) 12" 30.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The Bottrop -Boy label has been releasing ultra limited musician / artist collaborations in a series called EN/OF. Participants have included Ekkehard Ehlers, Heimir Bjorgulfsson, Stephan Mathieu, Jan Jelinek, TV Pow, the Rip-Off Artist, Tarentel, Pan American, David Grubbs, Nobukazu Takemura, Steve Roden, Merzbow, Tim Hecker, Jazzkammer, His Name Is Alive and Akira Rabelais. Each one teamed up with a photographer, and the result is a vinyl 12", signed and numbered, featuring original music, and an original photgraph, limited to 100 copies and ridiculously expensive. So expensive and limited in fact that we have yet to actually get any of these. However, AQ pal Akira Rabelais, got a dozen copies of his 12", minus the artowrk, the 12" ONLY, no photo, or fancy sleeve, just the 12" (pressed on ultra thick vinyl) in a plain black sleeve signed by Rabelais in silver marker. And he nicely allowed us to have all 12 to sell to folks who can't afford or weren't quick enough to get one of those 100 copies. And it's all about the music anyway right? And the music here is awesome. Side A is an Austin radio station blasting some sort of Tex Mex, that is quickly subsumed by radio static and is slowly smeared into a warm fuzzy whir, with minimal melodies, chirping crickets, haunting viola, all very dreamy and indistinct, like Jeck or Basinski. Side B features an L.A. radio station, already manipiulated beyond recognition, a fuzzy dreamscape of ahunting barely discernable melodies, chiming in the distance like ghosts, all over layers of white noise smoothed into a warm bed of static and crackle. Lovely. And yeah, it's still expensive, but hell, that's how much they cost us and it's limited to 12 COPIES!!!

RABELAIS, AKIRA Spellewauerynsherde (Samadhisound) cd 17.98
The tongue-twistingly titled Spellewauerynsherde is another hauntingly beautiful record from the enigmatic electronic composer Akira Rabelais. As with his previous albums, Rabelais offers a labyrinth of elliptical allegories, subtle chance operations, and impressionistic romanticism as an accompaniment for his elegant sound constructions. Given the incredible amount of semantic engineering that went into this record, it is certainly possible that Rabelais deliberately arranged to have this album released at the same time as Bjork's Medula. You see, the source for Snellewauerynsherde is a collection of traditional Icelandic accapella songs recorded in the late 1960s or early 1970s on Ampex tapes and then forgotten about. The first few tracks of Snellewauerynsherde present the raw recordings Icelandic songs, sanitized of their tape hiss and debris. The content may remain foreign to our ears, but the songs' existential sadness transcends any language barriers. When he actually processes these sources, he extracts a mournful etherialism that he stretches into a gracefully solemn minimalism that falls between Steven Stapleton's production of Current 93's A Little Menstrual Night Music, Eliane Radigue's evocative timbral compositions, and Arvo Part's late period chorale pieces. Rabelais continues to distance himself from the clicks 'n' cuts electronica of his contemporaries and situate himself as an artist with a complex mythology, that given the right marketing climate, could be as important as Matthew Barney's.
MPEG Stream: "Wyclif Gen. ii 7"
MPEG Stream: "Glower Conf. II 20"

RACCOO-OO-OON Behold Secret Kingdom (Release The Bats) cd 14.98
Here at AQ, we're well acquainted with multiple 'o's. Most often used in reviews of ultra doom records, you know Moss, Monarch, Asunder, Catacombs, Celestiial, Bunkur, and usually used to denote -more- doom. The slower and the filthier, the sludgier and the more buzzing and trudging, the more 'o's. So describing a band as doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom is not at all unheard of around here. But we rarely see multiple 'o's anywhere else. So what's the deal with Raccoo-oo-oon? What are all of those extra 'o's for? Do they mean anything? And what about the hyphens? What the heck are they all about? Is that how you pronounce the band name, ra coo OO oon. 4 syllables. Or just the more traditional two, as in the middle 'oo' is silent?
No matter how you interpret the 'o's and hyphens, it's strange and unusual and not a little bit confusing. Which pretty much perfectly captures the essence of these guys' sound. A dizzying collision of free rock splatter, jazzy skronk, stumbling outsider folk, and full on noise. What makes Raccoo-oo-oon special is the fact that they somehow manage to sound like all of those things at once. An ultra dense blitzkrieg of sounds, that impossibly manages to be heavy and free, skronky and melodic, spastic and pretty all at the same time.
We've listed a few other releases from these guys, a clutch of lps and a cd, all of which kicked our asses big time, but as much as we dug those discs, Behold Secret Kingdom trumps them all. Songs, sound, it's all so much more focused, the melodies are catchier, the blown out blasts are even more caustic and abrasive, the vocals are much more 'present', a strange sort of howled primitive wail, the guitars are heavier, more dense, the rhythms, groovier, a surprising amount of 'swing' for a noiserock combo.
With Behold Secret Kingdom, Raccoo-oo-oon have sort of emerged as super distinctive noisemakers, in a scene rife with same sounding combos, these guys don't really sound like anybody else.
Right out of the gate, the sound is a wall of thick guitars, swirling and keening, loads of buzz and squealing feedback, the drums a dense tribal blow out, the vocals drifting over the top, some strange invocation. It's equal parts krautrock, noiserock, and post rock, all smeared and tangled into a glorious blast of super fresh, garage-y psychedelic free rock whatthefuck. The next track veers into some angular synth drenched new wave noisiness, with squiggly synths, droning high end guitars, thick buzz swaths of sound, relentless, almost funky drumming, and moaning atonal speaking-in-tongues vocals. As hard as it might be to imagine, it sounds a bit like some impossible mash up of Crash Worship, Excepter and Faust, but with some weird new wave-y sheen.
The songs are definitely rhythm based, the propulsive drumming guiding everything, the vocals sort of trailing after the drums, the guitars, at once riffing and defining the shape of the songs, but at the same time drifting and swirling totally free, unmoored from any sort of traditional song-based structure and wrapped around the jams like thick tangled ropes of sound. There is occasional sax, which is where a lot of the skronk element comes from, but even sans sax, the songs retain a bit of skronkiness, angular and atonal as often as warm and melodic (maybe more often in fact.
Occasionally, the band -really- let loose, the guitars erupt in acidic squalls, the drums splattery and abstract, everything spinning wildly, the result a huge dense cloud of super distorted psychrock freakout. And just as often, they lock into some strangely new wavey garage rock stomp, like a less misanthropic, more groovy and druggy Brainbombs, and as if that weren't confusing enough, they also often just let loose and engage in endless dopesick jamming space rockery, a roiling blown out FX drenched space rock pound, relentless and so goddamn good. And like we mentioned before, the magic here is that Raccoo-oo-oon don't just switch gears from space rock to weird free rock jam and back, all of those different sonic sides bleed into each other, and all over each other, one at a time but then ALL AT ONCE, a slithering, shimmering, constantly shifting, shape changing organic sound sprawl that is as amazing to hear as it is difficult to describe.
And if we were in fact, to apply the same sort of rules regarding the extra 'o's, to these guys, that we do in our doom reviews, then we might as well begin calling these guys Raccoo-oo-oooo-oo-ooooooo-oo-o-o-o-ooo-oo-oooo-ooo-oo-oo-oo-ooooooo-oon. Fuck yeah.
MPEG Stream: "Black Branches"
MPEG Stream: "Mirror Blanket"
MPEG Stream: "Visage Of The Fox"

RACCOO-OO-OON Behold Secret Kingdom (Release The Bats) lp 14.98
Here at AQ, we're well acquainted with multiple 'o's. Most often used in reviews of ultra doom records, you know Moss, Monarch, Asunder, Catacombs, Celestiial, Bunkur, and usually used to denote -more- doom. The slower and the filthier, the sludgier and the more buzzing and trudging, the more 'o's. So describing a band as doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom is not at all unheard of around here. But we rarely see multiple 'o's anywhere else. So what's the deal with Raccoo-oo-oon? What are all of those extra 'o's for? Do they mean anything? And what about the hyphens? What the heck are they all about? Is that how you pronounce the band name, ra coo OO oon. 4 syllables. Or just the more traditional two, as in the middle 'oo' is silent?
No matter how you interpret the 'o's and hyphens, it's strange and unusual and not a little bit confusing. Which pretty much perfectly captures the essence of these guys' sound. A dizzying collision of free rock splatter, jazzy skronk, stumbling outsider folk, and full on noise. What makes Raccoo-oo-oon special is the fact that they somehow manage to sound like all of those things at once. An ultra dense blitzkrieg of sounds, that impossibly manages to be heavy and free, skronky and melodic, spastic and pretty all at the same time.
We've listed a few other releases from these guys, a clutch of lps and a cd, all of which kicked our asses big time, but as much as we dug those discs, Behold Secret Kingdom trumps them all. Songs, sound, it's all so much more focused, the melodies are catchier, the blown out blasts are even more caustic and abrasive, the vocals are much more 'present', a strange sort of howled primitive wail, the guitars are heavier, more dense, the rhythms, groovier, a surprising amount of 'swing' for a noiserock combo.
With Behold Secret Kingdom, Raccoo-oo-oon have sort of emerged as super distinctive noisemakers, in a scene rife with same sounding combos, these guys don't really sound like anybody else.
Right out of the gate, the sound is a wall of thick guitars, swirling and keening, loads of buzz and squealing feedback, the drums a dense tribal blow out, the vocals drifting over the top, some strange invocation. It's equal parts krautrock, noiserock, and post rock, all smeared and tangled into a glorious blast of super fresh, garage-y psychedelic free rock whatthefuck. The next track veers into some angular synth drenched new wave noisiness, with squiggly synths, droning high end guitars, thick buzz swaths of sound, relentless, almost funky drumming, and moaning atonal speaking-in-tongues vocals. As hard as it might be to imagine, it sounds a bit like some impossible mash up of Crash Worship, Excepter and Faust, but with some weird new wave-y sheen.
The songs are definitely rhythm based, the propulsive drumming guiding everything, the vocals sort of trailing after the drums, the guitars, at once riffing and defining the shape of the songs, but at the same time drifting and swirling totally free, unmoored from any sort of traditional song-based structure and wrapped around the jams like thick tangled ropes of sound. There is occasional sax, which is where a lot of the skronk element comes from, but even sans sax, the songs retain a bit of skronkiness, angular and atonal as often as warm and melodic (maybe more often in fact.
Occasionally, the band -really- let loose, the guitars erupt in acidic squalls, the drums splattery and abstract, everything spinning wildly, the result a huge dense cloud of super distorted psychrock freakout. And just as often, they lock into some strangely new wavey garage rock stomp, like a less misanthropic, more groovy and druggy Brainbombs, and as if that weren't confusing enough, they also often just let loose and engage in endless dopesick jamming space rockery, a roiling blown out FX drenched space rock pound, relentless and so goddamn good. And like we mentioned before, the magic here is that Raccoo-oo-oon don't just switch gears from space rock to weird free rock jam and back, all of those different sonic sides bleed into each other, and all over each other, one at a time but then ALL AT ONCE, a slithering, shimmering, constantly shifting, shape changing organic sound sprawl that is as amazing to hear as it is difficult to describe.
And if we were in fact, to apply the same sort of rules regarding the extra 'o's, to these guys, that we do in our doom reviews, then we might as well begin calling these guys Raccoo-oo-oooo-oo-ooooooo-oo-o-o-o-ooo-oo-oooo-ooo-oo-oo-oo-ooooooo-oon. Fuck yeah.
MPEG Stream: "Black Branches"
MPEG Stream: "Mirror Blanket"
MPEG Stream: "Visage Of The Fox"

RACCOO-OO-OON Mud Mound (Gilgongo) 7" 5.98
A gentle dreamy little sonic addendum to one of this week's records of the week, the latest from the strangely named Raccoo-oo-oon. But is it really that dreamy and gentle? Well, sort of. Beginning with softly plucked atonal strings and simple pots and pans percussion, all of a sudden lurches into a strangely new wave-y synth jam, propulsive drums, fuzzy slithering synth melodies, sounds sort of like Avarus jamming with Mates Of State. Weird, but pretty dang cool. The flip side begins in a similarly laid back fashion, a super abstract percussion jam, lots of cymbals and bells, clangs and sizzles and clatter, with hollering and hooting way back in the distance, before the band once again explode in a frenzy of fuzzed out rock, this time though, it, a buzzy, slightly jazzy space rock freak out, all thick bass, pounding drums, throbbing synths and moaning and honking alien horns buried beneath the sonic swirl. Killer stuff, and just like the full length, it's impossible to figure out where in the world these guys are coming from, and equally impossible to predict what's gonna happen next, which is precisely why we're digging it so much. 

RACCOO-OO-OON Mythos Folkways Vol. 1 (Woodsist) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We only just discovered this bizarrely named outfit, this being the third release in almost as many lists, but they continue to kick our asses, and ruin our hearing, and send our minds a spinnin'! This is tripped out, stumbling jazz-flecked psychedelic skree. The drums are the thing. Huge and heavy, complex but not overplayed, relentlessly hard hitting but somehow at the same time sort of jazzy as well. They form the massive framework that supports wild wah guitars, sheets of corrosive acid riffing, swooshing synths, garbled vocals, wild squiggly tangles of distorted melodies, and thick washes of squealing feedback. This is Hawkwind unhinged, er... MORE unhinged. A totally psychedelic freakout, that only occasionally blisses out into weird stumbly lo-fi shimmer, usually only to lurch back into a doped up frenzy moments later.
Cool silkscreened orange and green sleeves with a photocopied insert. LIMITED TO 300 COPIES!!!

RACCOO-OO-OON Mythos Folkways Vol. III (Woodsist) lp 14.98
More blissed out full moon music from these multi syllabic musical mammals (say that ten times fast!). Four tracks spread out over 2 sides... And if the last Mythos Folkways lp is any indicator, blink and you'll miss this...
The first half begins all fluttery and folky, dreamy melodies drifting amidst swirls of percussive thrum, all tangled up into some sort of fracture folk, peppered with random free jazz skitter, garbled vocals and dense clouds of FX. It sounds like a band -about- to stumble into action, -about- to fully rock out, tense and dense and abstract and mysterious, for most of the side, but then they DO rock out and it's awesome. A blown out mathy psych jam, drums and cymbals everywhere, guitars grinding and growling and swooping and soaring, all wrapped in thick swaths of reverb and delay and distortion, eventually petering out and finishing off with some soft blissy drift. 
The flip side follows a similar sonic pattern, beginning with more abstract skree and clatter, a haphazard improvised ramble, which gradually builds into a tripped out alien krautrock jam, still abstract, but with little propulsive lurches, draped with bizarre falsetto vocals, haunting harmonies, all unwinding into a slithery garage-y groove. 
Cool hand screened covers, photocopied insert, and of course way limited...

RACCOO-OO-OON The Cave Of Spirits Forever (Time-Lag) cd 14.98
Probably the best part of this record has been getting to hear Allan pronounce it exactly how it looks. "Hey Andee, did we get more of those Raccoo - Oo - Oon cds?" "I'm sorry which ones did you say?" "You know, the Raccoo - Oo - Oon cds!" Hee Hee.
Okay, maybe that's the -second- best thing, cuz you know what? This disc is pretty dang kick ass. We get so used to all these labels doing cd-r's and limited run cd's and lathe cuts of dark and droney dreaminess, soft folkiness, it's easy to forget that there's a whole underground of ROCK. And that lots of these dreamy folk rockers can actually rock. And on the first track here, Raccoo-Oo-Oon do indeed ROCK, albeit a tweaked and twisted sort of rock.
It's a sweaty, snarling, slithering chunk or rawk, barbed blasts of pounding angular new wave garagestomp, fuzzy. murky production, a clattering kitchen sink drum kit, super blown out, scrabbly psych guitar and howled crazyman vocals. Like the Make-Up if they had been attacked by an actual raccoon with rabies, and then forced to play anyway, twitching and frothing at the mouth.
But the rock then dissipate, as if Raccoo-Oo-Oon got it out of their system, at least for the most part. The next track is a weird lo-fi jazzy shuffle, with a warm horn melody, big simple drumming, like a free folk / free jazz mashup. The next track takes off in yet another direction entirely, a blown out guitarscape, drenched in sun dappled reverb and sizzling cymbal shimmer, so dreamy and drifty. The rest of the tracks sort of meander and wander, through sunny meadows, and shaded woods, fluttering flutes, shimmering guitars, warm wheezing organs, drifting horns, occasionally little fragments of that opening rock song resurface, a brief blast of super punishing riffing, only to be quickly dragged back down and picked apart, the various bits and pieces reincorporated into the dreamlike sound, spread out and stretched into more and more layers of sound, tripped out, schizophrenic, psychedelic and pretty fucking great!
Gorgeously packaged like everything on Time-Lag, this time in a deluxe 3 panel, hand screened sleeve, and a REAL cd, not a cd-r, but still limited, of course.
MPEG Stream: "Cave Of Spirits"
MPEG Stream: "Under The Deck"

RACCOO-OO-OON / WOODS Pre-American Lands (Not Not Fun) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
These two bands are a match made in hell. Assuming hell is some backwoods primitive pagan free folk jazz flecked noiserock jam session taking place during a full moon in the heart of some dark forest. In this corner, we have the impossible to pronounce Raccoo-oo-oon, from Iowa of all places, who fill up their side of this lp with a length, shimmery almost-jazzscape rife with scrabbly electric guitars, haunting washes of some distant horn section, angular riffing, muted trumpets doused in wah wah, this is some sort of alien psychedelic free jazz. Sort of. Abstract and space, this is an epic space rock jazz freakout fantasy, spacey FX, big waves of skronk and skree collide with tranquil drifts of jangly guitar and simple caveman percussion, a few minutes in, the record skids to a halt as some beast made out of speaker shredding digital glitches and grinding spastic in-the-red guitar rips everything to shreds, but the record quickly picks back up and drones on in a hypnotic blissed out jazz flecked krautrock freefolk groove.
And you thought that was way out, the flipside is the work of Brooklyn's Woods, who are a pretty good match for Raccoo-oo-oon, donning a similar cloak, equal parts deconstructed free jazz and avant noise rock. Swooping atonal guitars slip wildly through a dense tangle of staggering stumblin freejazz Neanderthal percussion, surrounded by clouds of dizzy guitar squiggles and swirling psychedelic distortion. Woods are like the damaged offspring of the No Neck Blues Band and Sunburned Hand Of The Man, the child they keep locked in the basement, the one who pounds on the door until they through raw meat down the stairs to calm him down. Mix in some weirdly rock riffs (at points it almost sounds like the band will lock in and rock out, although they never do) and some splattery jazz weirdness, and you've got the wonderfully weird world of Woods.
Elaborately packaged in a hand painted, silk screened, sleeve, garish green and black and brown, purple photocopied insert. Pressed on super thick swirled yellow opaque vinyl, and each disc comes with a different colored rabbit's foot attached to the sleeve!

RACEBANNON In the Grips of the Light (Secretly Canadian) cd 13.98
The Secretly Canadian label is generally known for stuff (like Songs:Ohia and the Danielson Family) much more quiet and gentle than this, the debut album by a "PA destroying" crew of raucous rockers from Nebraska. They word on these guys was: Heavy (a la Melvins/Blue Cheer) and Spastic (a la Beefheart/Melt Banana)...so, needless to say, we were interested, but kinda doubtful. Probably the only bands to really pull that combo off are Japan's Ruins, and Oxbow, and Alboth!, and a few others. And while these guys are no Ruins, they are indeed sludgy and spastic, yes, doing noisy originals and a suitably messy, rockin' cover of Captain Beefheart's "Electricity". At first this album seemed like a typical avant-punk sloppy blend of distorted guitars and voices not really going anywhere but up their own ass(es), but these elements gradually coalesce into interesting songs if you devote some attention and let your ears get pummelled by the relentless repetition, electronic effects, and the multi-layered screams of their endlessly ranting vocalist(s). The songs on here seem to get better towards the end of each, as the band starts winding down and individual parts are given more space, and get more distinct. Altogether, on "In the Grips of the Light" Racebannon are more noisy than heavy, but either way will interestingly impact your skull. File with other American avant-hard-rockers like Clawhammer, Mount Shasta, US Maple, Liquor Ball, Dazzlingkillmen, Lightning Bolt...
RealAudio clip: "Sober and Sad"
RealAudio clip: "Electricity"

RACEBANNON Satan's Kickin' Yr Dick In (Secretly Fuckin' Canadian) cd 14.98
Ok, first off, someone in Racebannon needs to be flogged for that title. That aside, this is a fine disc of crazed and metallic art-punk weirdness. More mayhem than a bunch of old Skin Graft bands fighting in an alley with the Load records roster. A real rumble. Refer to our review of their previous album "In The Grips Of The Light" for more descriptives -- this disc is pretty similar but if anything more metal and crushing and, well, Satanic. Actually there's some sort of weird narrative concept to this album that has to do with a character named Rhonda Delight, and the Devil, but figuring it all out to explain to you would require too much reading of what appears to be a libretto in the cd booklet, so you'll have to check it out for yourself.
RealAudio clip: "untitled track 5"

RACHEL'S Handwriting (Quarterstick) cd 14.98

RACHEL'S Music for Egon Schiele (Quarterstick/Touch & Go) cd 12.98
Second time around, Rachel's is just 3 musicians. The music was composed for a play about the artist Egon Schiele. Someone described it as chamber music for indierockers, and that does pretty much sum it up. Such lovely chamber music, it is!

RACHEL'S Music for Egon Schiele (Quarterstick/Touch & Go) lp 11.98
Second time around, Rachel's is just 3 musicians. The music was composed for a play about the artist Egon Schiele. Someone described it as chamber music for indierockers, and that does pretty much sum it up. Such lovely chamber music, it is!

RACHEL'S Sea & Bells (Quarterstick) cd 14.98

RACHEL'S Sea & Bells (Quarterstick) cd 12.98

RACHEL'S Selenography (Quarterstick) cd 14.98
More quietly stunning chamber music from this constantly evolving group of post rockers. Absolutely beautiful!

RACHEL'S Systems / Layers (Quarterstick) cd 14.98
The Rachel's have always been in a tough position. Indie kids eat up their take on chamber music, but lots of other music folks think, 'well why not listen to REAL chamber music?'. We were always of the mind that it was great that a bunch of indie rockers were exploring and trying something new (well, new to them) and maybe turning some kids on to classical music in the process. And their records were always quite pretty and pleasant. And then they surprised everyone by pairing up with electronic duo Matmos for their last release. But on Systems / Layers, Rachel's have finally bridged the gap between their traditional chamber music side and their experimental side, and the results are fantastic. Still present are the lovely mournful strings and Rachel Grimes delicate piano, but the arrangements are strange and more otherwordly, with plenty of found sounds and field recordings. Alternately dreamy and creepy, familiar and totally alien. Reminds us a bit of a less bombastic Godspeed or listening to classical music on your Walkman with only one earphone on as you explore some new city. We always liked Rachel's but this is the first record of theirs that really made us super excited. Check it out.
MPEG Stream: "Moscow Is In The Telephone"
MPEG Stream: "Water From The Same Source"
MPEG Stream: "Systems / Layers"

RACHEL'S / MATMOS Full On Night (Quarterstick) cd 12.98
This release from Rachel's and Matmos will undoubtedly warrant sufficient critical consternation / amazement / hate / love simply based on the unusual pairing of the two sets of musicians. Rachel's - the indierock answer to a chamber ensemble - present a shortened but reconstructed version of "Full on Night" originally found on their first album "Handwriting." This updated version dynamically rearranges the original such that it maintains its antiquited sound (delicate played piano with a reserved guitar angularity)... It's super sparse at first and mutates by the end of the track into something quite rockin', especially for the Rachel's.
San Francisco's electronica duo Matmos, by turn, apply a wealth of electronic trickery to the Rachel's sound. Scraped violin and a guitar din similar to the Moore / Ranaldo duets for guitars and screwdrivers emerge from a digidubscape that gets quite volatile by the end of Matmos' 18 minute excursion. While apparently not overly concerned with keeping the Rachel's material recognizable, Matmos mirrors the out-rock / chop-shop of Brise-Glace -- that project fronted by Jim O'Rourke many many moons back.
This is one of those records that the staff in the office is so confounded by that they have to run out to the front room to find out what's playing. I mean, you'd never guess.

RACHEL'S / MATMOS Full On Night (Quarterstick) lp 12.98
This release from Rachel's and Matmos will undoubtedly warrant sufficient critical consternation / amazement / hate / love simply based on the unusual pairing of the two sets of musicians. Rachel's - the indierock answer to a chamber ensemble - present a shortened but reconstructed version of "Full on Night" originally found on their first album "Handwriting." This updated version dynamically rearranges the original such that it maintains its antiquited sound (delicate played piano with a reserved guitar angularity)... It's super sparse at first and mutates by the end of the track into something quite rockin', for Rachel's.
San Francisco's electronica duo Matmos, by turn, applies a wealth of electronic trickery to the Rachel's sound. Scraped violin and a guitar din similar to the Moore / Ranaldo duets for guitars and screwdrivers emerge from a digidubscape that gets quite volatile by the end of Matmos' 18 minute excursion. While apparently not overly concerned with keeping the Rachel's material recognizable, Matmos mirrors the out-rock / chop-shop of Brise-Glace -- that project fronted by Jim O'Rourke many many moons back.
This is one of those records that the staff in the office is so confounded by that they have to run out to the front room to find out what's playing. I mean, you'd never guess.

RACONTEURS, THE Broken Boy Soldiers (V2) cd 14.98
We hardly need to write anything about this disc, as it's a band that features the White Stripes' Jack White. For most folks that seems to be enough. If you've even glanced at Rolling Stone or Spin or any music video channel, you're probably sick to death of this band already, without hearing note one. And White has been ubiquitous in publications like Star and Us Weekly, his breakups and dating habits, right there alongside Brad and Angelina, Vince and Jen, and all the baby Apples and Shiloh's. But all that stuff serves to do is to distract from what is in fact a fucking killer pop record. And while White's voice features prominently, as do his songwriting and guitar playing, all completely killer by the way, this record is all about his bandmate Brendan Benson and his perfect pop pen. This is no White Stripes side project, instead this sounds more like the latest and greatest Brendan Benson record, that just so happens to feature Jack White. Benson has been making perfect pop records for years, quietly outdoing all of his pop rivals. Benson's One Mississippi is probably one of the greatest pop records you never heard. As was the follow up Lapalco. Benson's got a killer voice, a great ear for melody, and a seemingly effortless knack for spitting out ultra perfect pop, but with plenty of loud guitars. An unsung power pop hero for sure. So it's a bit sad that it takes teaming up with his longtime pal White to get heard by more than a handful of indie pop hipsters, but so be it. And the fact is that the combination of White's voice and guitar teamed up with Benson's is pretty much unbeatable.
This record is great. Ignore all the press bullshit, all the photo shoots and all the hype and just dig in. The opener, "Steady As She Goes" might just be the pop song of the year (and peep the killer video featuring the band racing soapbox derby style featuring Pee Wee Herman as a nefarious race saboteur!). Awesome harmonies, strange studio FX, crunchy guitars, all wrapped around a hook that will get stuck in your head FOREVER. The rest of the record, while never quite reaching the pop perfection of the opening track, is still pretty dang great. Leaning strangely toward some lost seventies radio rock, a hard rockin' pop sound, Zeppelin III, Steve Miller Band, Beatles, etc., but with a serious hard pop sheen. Fans of the Posies, Sloan, Silver Sun, Apples In Stereo and all things glistening Beatles-esque Big Star-ish, big guitar, soaring harmony, foot stomping, hand clapping, kick ass power pop!!
MPEG Stream: "Steady As She Goes"
MPEG Stream: "Hands"

RACZYNSKI, BOGDAN Boku Mo Wakaran (Rephlex) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
"I never really knew Ed, but i knew he could craft a story out of a math equation." Quite a telling sample from a man who didn't want his name legible on the cover, didn't want song titles, and didn't want it to sell for more than $8. Well, he got 2 out of 3. Quirky drum & bass for fans of Aphex Twin and Mike Paradinas (Mu-ziq) with a warped sense of humor like the Residents.

RACZYNSKI, BOGDAN myloveilove (Rephlex) cd 16.98
Fans of Fourtet, head up. The mellowest album to date from Polish electronicist Bogdan Raczynski, who has been known to make drill 'n bass and other manic electronica a la Squarepusher, this is extremely serene, full of short pieces that carry on the wistful mood for one or two minutes at a time. The very simple sonic elements are supposedly all made on the computer, or so he proudly proclaims about all his previous recordings, yet here I am not so sure. The melodica sure sounds like melodica, cheap pump organ sounds like cheap pump organ, accordion sounds like accordion. Who cares -- whether or not they are computer generated, Raczynski uses his sounds well, not coldly, and thus the music is warm and pretty. A harpsichord-like element cavorts drunkenly over a Boards-of-Canada-style gloomy underlayer, while accordions gently carouse outside in the snow -- perhaps this is music made by a regular techno electronica kid who secretly loves Tom Waits.
RealAudio clip: "myloveilove (track 11)"
RealAudio clip: "myloveilove (track 6)"

RACZYNSKI, BOGDAN myloveilove (Rephlex) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Fans of Fourtet, head up. The mellowest album to date from Polish electronicist Bogdan Raczynski, who has been known to make drill 'n bass and other manic electronica a la Squarepusher, this is extremely serene, full of short pieces that carry on the wistful mood for one or two minutes at a time. The very simple sonic elements are supposedly all made on the computer, or so he proudly proclaims about all his previous recordings, yet here I am not so sure. The melodica sure sounds like melodica, cheap pump organ sounds like cheap pump organ, accordion sounds like accordion. Who cares -- whether or not they are computer generated, Raczynski uses his sounds well, not coldly, and thus the music is warm and pretty. A harpsichord-like element cavorts drunkenly over a Boards-of-Canada-style gloomy underlayer, while accordions gently carouse outside in the snow -- perhaps this is music made by a regular techno electronica kid who secretly loves Tom Waits.

RACZYNSKI, BOGDAN Renegade Platinum Mega Dance Attack Party: Don The Plates (Rephlex) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Basically a compact disc issue of 2003's don't-call-it-a-comeback EP 'And I Will Eat Your Children Too', in which our modest Bogdan completely destroys the silly notion that he's mellowed out. Harder, faster, louder is the modus operandi here, and the Samurai Math Beats are in full force. Interspersed throughout the disc as a bonus are five wicked cuts from Bogdan's elusive (ie: vinyl only and extremely limited) '96 Drum N Bass Classixxx', including the DJ Scud endorsed rave anthem by Abdullah K, 'Trip To The Boom'! Also features tracks previously released in the form of 4-Cillinda, Agent 30, Re-Start and Suburban Fox.

RADAR BROS. The Fallen Leaf Pages (Merge) cd 14.98
It's been so long since we've heard from the Bros. (three years since "And The Surrounding Mountains" was released) that we'd taken them for broke-up. Well, we're pleased that our fears were unwarranted. There's no escaping the sounds-like-early-Pink-Floyd chorus of remarks that seems to follow Radar Brothers like an albatross whenever they're played. But then again, that's certainly not a bad comparison, or anything to be ashamed of. They can keep milking this musical cow as long as they want as far as we're concerned, cuz they know how churn it better than anyone. As with their previous recordings, their songs are mostly paced in that unique Radar Bros. snail paced tempo, like they're being pulled through molasses and their lyrics are the stuff of fever dreams. Haunting and dispassionate descriptions of horrific scenes, bleak outlooks and unhappy endings are the stuff of Jim Putnam's song writing, which are then hermetically encased in dreamy, opiate paced songs. You find yourself wanting to sing along with a chorus, but are afraid someone might catch you as the lyrics "Hey, is that blood, coming from me..." slip from your lips. With their songs seemingly floating in a space in between major and minor key, like a good blues, Radar Bros. can write sad songs that warm your cockles. It's a creepy and wonderful warmth of feeling, not unlike crying into a pillow until you fall asleep as a child, only to wake up feeling great. And while we don't want to deceive you into thinking the Radar Bros. resemble, even remotely, a blues band, there's also something -- as Allan pointed out -- timeless about the music of The Radar Brothers. They don't seem to take their cues from what anyone today is doing. If there's anyone they're influenced by it would be the aformentioned Pink Floyd (circa Meddle), or (a severely depressed and macabre) Beach Boys. Like their previous recordings, The Fallen Leaf Pages was recorded entirely at Jim's Skylab (now currently under Phase III) studio, and as you might guess it's absolutely gorgeously produced. Fallen Leaf Pages is an album that will grow on you with each listen. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Papillon"
MPEG Stream: "Is That Blood"
MPEG Stream: "Show Yourself"

RADAR BROTHERS And The Surrounding Mountains (Merge) cd 14.98
Back in November of '99, Radar Brothers' album The Singing Hatchet was our Record of the Week. Didn't think it was possible, but the band has actually gotten even better (to the point of -gasp- converting an AQ staffer or two who didn't like' em before), thus we hereby bestow the same honor on the new record And the Surrounding Mountains. For those of you who're unfamiliar with the LA-based trio of Jim, Senon, and Steve, their sound can be most easily described (and I'm sure they're tired of hearing it) as very similar to Pink Floyd. And not just any ole Pink Floyd, mind you!, but specifically the sad, epic two songs that conclude The Dark Side of the Moon: "Brain Damage" (y'know, "the lunatic is on the grass...") and, god, especially "Eclipse" ("And all that is now/And all that is gone/And all that's to come/And everything under the sun is in tune/But the sun is eclipsed by the moon...") You know how you never want that song to end, it's such a pretty, bittersweet way to close an album? Radar Brothers have made FOUR ALBUMS of that sound all stretched out and atmospheric and personal and warm. The guitars are ever so plaintively strummed so that you hear the chords but also the individual strings, the vocals are hushed and sung usually as a duo, the melodies achingly gorgeous, majestic swells of emotion. They're so great that I find it hard to do anything else while listening to Radar Brothers; like Low and Red House Painters' work, Radar Brothers' songs *demand* stillness and respect -- all your attention. Highly recommended.
RealAudio clip: "You and the Father"
RealAudio clip: "Camplight"
RealAudio clip: "This Xmas Eve"
RealAudio clip: "Sisters"

RADAR BROTHERS Auditorium (Merge) cd 14.98
The vastly different music groups Dengue Fever and Radar Brothers share the bass playing excellence of Senon Williams. He must be a very busy man -- both have awesome new albums out now! Don't want to belabor the point too much, but the contrast is remarkable between the international technicolor frenzy of Dengue Fever and the Pink Floydian space-rock of Radar Brothers. One gets your heart pumpin' and brings a flush to your cheeks. The other offers unwinding, soothing dreaminess (a possible point of comparison: an earthier Flaming Lips!). Both stir the listener to open channels and let go! Despite the implied audience and artist stage enclosure of title, the Radar Brothers' fourth full length is for roaming open spaces and star-gazing while keeping an introspective mood. No walls in sight. Simply beautiful.
MPEG Stream: "When Cold Air Goes To Sleep"
MPEG Stream: "Hearts of Crows"

RADAR BROTHERS s/t (Restless) cd 15.98
Wow, out of nowhere (okay, there was a 10" a coupla years ago but we missed out) comes this FANTASTIC trio from Los Angeles whose quiet, mournful sound and plaintive vocals remind us of Neil Young & the delicate side of Pink Floyd. For fans of Low, Scud Mountain Boys, Radiohead, and Rex. Definitely a winner; we highly recommend you hear them.

RADAR BROTHERS The Singing Hatchet (See Thru Broadcasting) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Mellow LA-based slowcore trio Radar Bros make some of the most emotional music we've ever heard. With super-plaintive, Pink Floyd-y vocals, creamy thick guitars, and hook-filled melodies, some of Radar Bros songs are so beautiful you literally have to stop what you're doing just so you can listen to them -- yeah, they're that good! Fans of Low, Half Film, Red House Painters, and Palace will LOVE this record.

RADBOUD MENS Cli;ck (Noise Museum) cd 16.98
Radboud Mens manufactures Brinkmann/Goem style post-techno monotracktion with a simple drum beat hammering an inistent rhythm, no bassline, just modulations of the chirps, tweeks, whistles, and of course clicks.

RADHAKRISHNAN, PRASANT East Facing (Lotus Music) cd 14.98
When it comes to specific musical instruments it's definitely tough for us to be won over by the sax. It's an instrument that all too often employed by those who have no business using it (think Kenny G, bad '80s pop rock, etc.) It's questionable use has made it so that even in respected jazz we almost cringe at its use unless its by one of the very few sax masters. So we knew immediately that this record by Carnatic player Prasant Radhakrishnan was something very special when it began with the sounds of a gorgeous alto sax. Part of it was the fact that the sax was being played in a way we had never really heard the instrument used before. Radhakrishnan's ability to bring together the disciplines of Classical South Indian music with Jazz is something he does grace and style. Equally influenced by John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins as much as D.K. Jayaraman and his guru Kadri Gopalnath, Radhakrishnan essentially uses the Sax to play ragas while his group adds violin and traditional Carnatic percussion to round out the sound. Now living right here in San Francisco, Radhakrishnan has found a perfect place to share his transcendent sounds with lots of open minds and ears.
MPEG Stream: "Varnam"
MPEG Stream: "Kshinamai"

RADIAN Juxtaposition (Thrill Jockey) cd 14.98
Y'know how in subatomic reality, seemingly solid objects aren't solid at all, but filled with empty space interspersed with electrons and protons and such? Radian's music is kind of like that, atomized, spacious, abuzz with crackling energy. We loved the last Radian album, Rec.Extern, and are mighty pleased with this new one, another dose of glitch-happy instrumental post-rock from the Vienna-based trio of Martin Brandlmayr (drums, vibraphone, electronics, computer), Stefan Nemeth (synthesizers, guitar, computer) and John Norman (bass). Yeah that's two computers, and no they're not checking their email, they're integrating their live playing with computer processing and programming droning, rhythmic soundscapes of urgent beats and simmering atmospheres... Imagine the likes of Circle, Salvatore, This Heat, and Village Of Savoonga...all sucked into a computer (kinda like Tron) to do virtual battle... There's a jazz/improv element as well, but rather than rock/jazz fusion this is more like fission, breaking down elements of both musics, and releasing volts of energy in the process. Exciting, beautiful, creative, futuristic.
MPEG Stream: "Shift"
MPEG Stream: "Rapid Eye Movement"