MONSTER ISLAND Dream Tiger (The End Is Here) cd 11.98
What struck me first when I heard Monster Island was how the soft female vocals and one-speed plunky-chunky guitar were more than a little bit reminiscent of the Young Marble Giants... but with further listening a psychedelic, slightly strange, off-kilter edge emerged. The lengthy list of other instruments put to use on "Dream Tiger" include: harmonium, sitar, toy piano, chinese organ, oud, water harp, djembe, flute, cello, and shakuhachi. Whew! Other folks that were brought to mind? Well, The Pastels and Bongwater too. Mixed by Warn Defever.
RealAudio clip: "The Dead Father"
RealAudio clip: "Halloween"

MONSTER MAGNET Dopes (Studio 13) 10" 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We posted this on the New Arrivals list a couple times sans review, just so the MM fanatics and various other folks who didn't necessarily need a review to know this was something they needed, but promised then that we would offer a more comprehensive review of this, a brand new 10" (the second in a series) from our favorite Space Lord Motherfuckers, the mighty Monster Magnet, who whipped up these jams to sell on their recently wrapped up Dopes To Infinity 2011 tour, which as the name suggests, found the band revisiting their classic album of the same name from 1995, which is what this 10" is all about, three tracks from Dopes To Infinity, "King Of Mars", "All Friends and Kingdom Come", and the title track, all reimagined, reworked and according to the band, "Lo-fi, decidedly deranged and extremely psychedelic", which definitely describes these doped up, blissed out, cosmic stoner rock space-psych blowouts.
"All Friends" is definitely more lo-fi than the original, transformed into more of a spaced out creep, with lots of extra effects, but it's not until "King Of Mars", that the reimagining becomes more dramatic, the sound even trippier than the original, ominous and satanically sinister, total drug rock ear candy for sure, and then "Dopes To Infinity", which was already pretty much perfect as it was way back in 1995, is just somehow made MORE perfect, or maybe -differently- perfect, it's tough to even listen objectively, cuz once that instantly familiar riff came in we were GONE, totally transported to some hedonistic offworld drug den, where MM are the house band, black lights and alien babes and amps from here to high heaven. Fucking awesome! Of course.
And as we've mentioned in other MM reviews, it's a satanic drug thing, you wouldn't... well, wait a second... since you're reading the aQ list, you probably DO understand. So grab one of these before they're gone (we're one of the only places this is available)...

MONSTER MAGNET Mastermind (Napalm) cd 14.98
We're gonna just come out and say it. Monster Magnet have NEVER made a bad record. Ever. They've come close for sure. And there have definitely been some bad songs, but every record has had at least a handful of MM classics. Sure maybe once they made the shift to a more pop oriented sound, there was no hope of them ever making another Spine Of God. But that was just fine with us, we love Dopes To Infinity or Powertrip as much as we love Spine Of God. To be fair, being superfans, we're probably not the most objective when it comes to MM, but we will say, the last couple of records, Monolithic Baby and 4-Way Diablo, were probably the weakest of all the MM records. That said, there was plenty on both to dig, just in comparison to some of the other stone cold classics, those two maybe paled. So we were maybe expecting more of the same, another Monster Magnet record, that maybe didn't rule, but that was pretty great, and had at least a few killer jams, but then BLAM. First song in, and we're digging the heaviest, fiercest MM record in ages. "Hallucination Bomb" is low slung and sinister, swaggering epic stoner space rock bliss, fat fuzzy bass, a killer main riff, wild loose leads, and ridiculous over the top lyrics, what more could we ask for? How about a whole record that good! That's right, you got it, solid top to bottom, with another clutch of ridiculously genius song titles too: "Bored With Sorcery", "The Titan Who Cried Like A Baby", insanely inspired lyrics like "I'm a pumped out freak on a big wheel..." and some of the sickest riffs since God Says No.
We could go song by song, but why bother, if you're like us, you'd buy a new Monster Magnet no matter what, and the fact that it totally rules, only makes it that much better. And if you've somehow made it this far without hearing MM, holy shit man, what's wrong with you, total epic over the top stoner space rock genius of the highest order, buy this one, then go get Spine Of God, Superjudge, Dopes To Infinity, hell, you're gonna want them all. And odds are you'll have a new favorite band. It's a Satanic drug thing, you wouldn't understand. Trust us.
Absolutely recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Hallucination Bomb"
MPEG Stream: "Bored With Sorcery"
MPEG Stream: "The Titan Who Cried Like A Baby"
MPEG Stream: "When The Planes Fall From The Sky"

MONSTER MAGNET Mastermind (Deluxe Version) (Napalm Records) cd + USB stick 31.00
Fancy Black Friday Record Store Day version of this latest slab of hook filled stoner space rock heaviness from these long time aQ faves, comes as a deluxe digibook, with two bonus tracks, housed in a fancy box with a little window through which you can peep the USB drive, which contains the whole record in MP3 form, bonus tracks and all, as well as ringtones, an interview with MM mastermind Dave Wyndorf, desktop wallpapers and a Napalm Records sampler...
We're gonna just come out and say it. Monster Magnet have NEVER made a bad record. Ever. They've come close for sure. And there have definitely been some bad songs, but every record has had at least a handful of MM classics. Sure maybe once they made the shift to a more pop oriented sound, there was no hope of them ever making another Spine Of God. But that was just fine with us, we love Dopes To Infinity or Powertrip as much as we love Spine Of God. To be fair, being superfans, we're probably not the most objective when it comes to MM, but we will say, the last couple of records, Monolithic Baby and 4-Way Diablo, were probably the weakest of all the MM records. That said, there was plenty on both to dig, just in comparison to some of the other stone cold classics, those two maybe paled. So we were maybe expecting more of the same, another Monster Magnet record, that maybe didn't rule, but that was pretty great, and had at least a few killer jams, but then BLAM. First song in, and we're digging the heaviest, fiercest MM record in ages. "Hallucination Bomb" is low slung and sinister, swaggering epic stoner space rock bliss, fat fuzzy bass, a killer main riff, wild loose leads, and ridiculous over the top lyrics, what more could we ask for? How about a whole record that good! That's right, you got it, solid top to bottom, with another clutch of ridiculously genius song titles too: "Bored With Sorcery", "The Titan Who Cried Like A Baby", insanely inspired lyrics like "I'm a pumped out freak on a big wheel..." and some of the sickest riffs since God Says No.
We could go song by song, but why bother, if you're like us, you'd buy a new Monster Magnet no matter what, and the fact that it totally rules, only makes it that much better. And if you've somehow made it this far without hearing MM, holy shit man, what's wrong with you, total epic over the top stoner space rock genius of the highest order, buy this one, then go get Spine Of God, Superjudge, Dopes To Infinity, hell, you're gonna want them all. And odds are you'll have a new favorite band. It's a Satanic drug thing, you wouldn't understand. Trust us.
Absolutely recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Hallucination Bomb"
MPEG Stream: "Bored With Sorcery"
MPEG Stream: "The Titan Who Cried Like A Baby"
MPEG Stream: "When The Planes Fall From The Sky"

MONSTER MAGNET Spine Of God (SPV) cd 13.98
"It's A Satanic Drug Thing ...You Wouldn't Understand". Monster Magnet's motto, emblazoned on the back of the cd booklet, is something that they really did live up to, sonically and otherwise, back in the day. Maybe not the healthiest lifestyle choice (frontman Dave Wyndorf actually almost died recently from, yes, a drug overdose), but it sums up Monster Magnet, musically speaking. If you want to hear some "stoner rock" that's both spacier and scarier and Stoogier than most, early Monster Magnet (before they got big) is the way to go.
We reviewed their droniest bad trip masterpiece, the reissued 25...Tab ep a couple lists back, and now follow-up with a review of another favorite, their debut full-length entitled Spine Of God, originally released by Caroline in 1992 and now reissued on vinyl with snazzier graphics and bonus track (a demo version of "Ozium").
This came out at the height of the grunge era, but sounds just as Stonehenge (a la Hawkwind) as it does Seattle (a la Mudhoney). It includes their Grand Funk cover, "Sin's A Good Man's Brother", alongside such downer, druggy hits from some parallel just-say-yes universe as "Pill Shovel", "Nod Scene", and "Zodiac Lung". A wasted, burn-out classic, laid-back and leaden, dazed and phased.
MPEG Stream: "Nod Scene"
MPEG Stream: "Snake Dance"

MONSTER MAGNET Superjudge / She Digs That Hole (Studio 13) 10" 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We've been digging the latest Monster Magnet record Mastermind lately bigtime (you should be too!), a total return to form for sure, and as if that wasn't enough MM for all the space lord motherfuckers out there, along comes this, a super limited tour only 10", that besides being available exclusively from the band on tour, or from the band's website, is also available from aQ! We're one of, if not THEE only store to have these, and we won't have em for long, limited to just 500 copies, we got a batch direct from the band, so grab one while you can.
The A side is a rerecorded version of the MM classic "Superjudge", a stripped down version, that manages to be as heavy and psychedelic as the original, all spaced out with spidery Eastern guitar melodies, minimal drumming, and some SERIOUSLY fuzzed out bass buzz, that gives the song some skull caving crunch for sure, killer vox, a dead ringer for the original, but set amidst this new arrangement, pretty hard to fuck with, and pretty awesome that decades on, these guys can still slay, and like all MM jams, the song blossoms into an awesome spacey psychedelic freakout near the end, not super heavy and blown out, more sort of trippy and druggy, which suits the new version to a tee.
The B side is a similarly rerecorded version of a song from Mastermind, the main riff like a muddy, murky slowed down Stooges, and like "Superjudge", it's a stripped down practice space jam, more minimal, but still explosive and heavy and epic, a little dirgier than the original, complete with those majestic cock-rockin' choruses and the sort of epic space rock riffery that still kicks ass over most of the other wannabe spacerockers out there.
Released on the band's own label, limited to 500 copies, we got a handful, but guessing these might go quick...

MONSTER MOVIE All Lost (Graveface) cd 10.98
Early last year an album simply titled Transistor arrived on our doorstep. It swiftly swept us up in its wispy pop charms. We soon discovered that the band behind it was lead by Christian Savill of the wonderful Slowdive. Now that we're fondly acquainted we've eagerly anticipated a new Monster Movie full length, and here it is! The duo's third album is the musical equivalent of snowflakes caught on your eyelashes, golden tendrils brushing your cheek and dandelion puffs floating in a gentle breeze. The second song "Vanishing Act" is a total heartbreaker with its angelic male and female vocals (courtesy of guest singer Rachel Staggs). Oh so dreamy, ephemeral and achingly lovely imbued with shades of '60s pop and '70s soft rock. The cover art illustration of a fella scarfing down handfuls of candy hints at the sweetness within, but doesn't really do the album justice. Sigh inducing!
MPEG Stream: "Vanishing Act"
MPEG Stream: "Return To Yesterday"

MONSTER MOVIE Transistor (Graveface) cd 9.98
Shhhhh... This cd arrived quietly with very little fanfare, but that's totally in line with its unassuming, hushed dream pop sounds. If you dig the airy, acoustic prettiness of bands such as Scotland's Camera Obscura and Belle And Sebastian, Monster Movie might be next on your list o' UK sweethearts. Actually if you look a little bit closer, you might spy a familiar face in this 'Movie's cast from an old beloved band. Who? What? Why, it's noneother than Slowdive's Christian Savill who along with Sean Hewson and Austin, TX based vocalist Rachel Staggs form the current line-up (actually the band's been around in some shape or form since way back in '89). Released on Graveface Records, home to some other fine bands we've been diggin of late -- namely Dreamend and Spires That In The Sunset Rise.
MPEG Stream: "Chances Are High"
MPEG Stream: "Letting You Know"

MONTAG Alone, Not Alone (Gooom / Carpark) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

MPEG Stream: "Grand Luxe"
MPEG Stream: "Temps Partiel"
MPEG Stream: "Perfect Vision"

MONTAG Are You A Friend? (Gooom ) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

MONTAG Going Places (Carpark) cd 14.98
Hmmm, if Euro smooth operators Air were indie popsters their music might sound something like this! Going Places definitely has an international flair, but at the same time it charms with a less sleek, more bedroom-y kind of feel. The man behind this album is Montag, one lone fellow whom his parents call Antoine Bedard. A couple of years ago he put a call out beckoning contributors and collaborators for his recording project We Have Sound aka his third full length. He got responses back in spades from around the globe from the hippest now-est artists -- M83's Anthony Gonzales, Stars' Amy Millan, Ghislain Poirier, Owen Pallett of Final Fantasy, Beach House's Victoria Legrand, Ida Nilsen of Great Aunt Ida, Leah Abramson, and Au Revoir Simone. All of them lend their sweet singing to Montag's dreamy electronic pop tunes.
Quite akin to Stephin Merritt's The Sixths or Dntel's latest album Dumb Luck (on which the mastermind wrote and performed the and got friends and fellow artists to sing!), and definitely for fans of Dntel, Casiotone For The Painfully Alone and the Morr Music label.
MPEG Stream: "I Have Sound"
MPEG Stream: "Best Boy Electric"

MONTGOMERY, ROY (Siltbreeze) 2x7" 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
More exquisite solo guitarwork from New Zealander. Comes in a gatefold sleeve with lots of explanatory notes, and features Miss Barabara Manning on one track.

MONTGOMERY, ROY 324 E. 13th Street #7 (Drunken Fish) cd 13.98
"Then those little Yankee microlabels put them out and they floated to the top of the seven-inch glut, and we drank 'em down, and bought 'em up, and traded 'em for foolish amounts of money after they sold out." This quote, from the liner notes, perfectly describes the near constant stream of Roy Montgomery singles which seemed to be coming out every week in 1995 - 1996. This very prolific period of Roy Montgomery's career follows the shift in his aesthetic from the post-Velvets/Joy Division/Wire strum of his early days with Dadamah to his current soaring,guitar reverb space-rock mantras. Aside from the convenient consolidation of all of these out-of-print singles onto one disc, this really is some of his best material. Also contains four previously-unreleased tracks, along with guests including Bill Direen and Barbara Manning.

MONTGOMERY, ROY And Now The Rain Sounds Like Life Is Falling Down Through It (Drunken Fish) cd 13.98
Released especially to coincide with Terrastock weekend! Gorgeous washes of moody guitar.

MONTGOMERY, ROY Just Melancholy (Ajax) 7" 3.99
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Great NZ guitarist.

MONTGOMERY, ROY Scenes from the South Island (Drunken Fish) cd 14.98
Solo guitarist from New Zealand outfits Dadamah and Dissolve.

MONTGOMERY, ROY Silver Wheel Of Prayer (VHF) cd 13.98
AQ's favorite New Zealand solo guitar explorer presents his latest Tascam 4-track recorded output. "Silver Wheel of Prayer" is at times hauntingly beautiful, with a definite "krautrock" vibe. We maybe could have done without the electronic rhythms found on the disc's last few tracks (which take away a bit from the lulling, dreamy and almost heavy mood established on the majority of the album) but no matter, it's still a compelling listen.
RealAudio clip: "Disoriented"
RealAudio clip: "Dispossessed"

MONTGOMERY, ROY Temple IV (Kranky) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Ex-Dadamah, Dissolve guitarist, who played an Aquarius instore in 1997.

MONTGOMERY, ROY The Allegory of Hearing (Drunken Fish) cd 13.98
New Zealand guitarist/songwriter Roy M. presents a new, all-instrumental album, recorded at home in 1998. As usual, lovely stuff. Incredibly emotive guitarwork, murky, shimmering, meditative.

MONTGOMERY, ROY Two Trajectories (Enraptured) 7" 5.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Thing-of-the-moment guitarist weighs in with 2 instrumentals on Enraptured.

MONTGOMERY, ROY Winter Songs (Roof Bolt) 10" 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Everyone's favorite prolific New Zealand guitarist! Five pieces recorded on a four track back about three years ago, including variations on themes by the Velvet Underground, Joy Division and the Clean...

MONTGOMERY, ROY / AZUSA PLANE split 7" 3.99
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The Azusa Plane song takes its title from the Belle & Sebastian record: "She Was Into S&M and Bible Studies, Not Everyone's Cup of Tea She Would Admit to Me, Her Cup of Tea She Would Admit to No One."

MONTGOMERY, ROY / CONNORS, LOREN MAZZACANE (Gyttja) 7" 3.99
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Split single in an edition of 600. Montgomery's track is entitled "Sterling Morrison, Corner 10th & First, 1966."

MONTGOMERY, ROY / GROUPER split (Grouper Records) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We had a vinyl version of this split between ethereal bliss-scaper Liz Harris aka Grouper, and legendary NZ guitarist Roy Montgomery, a while back, but we got so few copies, and had such a rush on the ones we did get, that we never had a chance to review it, and thus it never even made it up onto the site. But now it's finally been reissued on cd, and with a bonus Roy Montgomery track to boot!
Roy's original track/side was a gorgeously epic bit of dreamy strum and steel string drift, titled "Fantasia On A Theme By Sandy Bull (Slight Return)", just that instantly recognizable guitar, a cloud of buzzing steel strings, a sort of blissed out Appalachia spread out over nearly 20 minutes, the sound slipping smoothly from that urgent strum, to something much more hushed and minimal, abstract and softly space-y, and over the course of the track, drifting between the two. Hypnotic and haunting and quite lovely.
His bonus track is a billowy cloud of chiming shimmering guitar, sweet melancholy melodies, piled atop a jangly strum, notes wreathed in delay and reverb and echo, the sound somehow both ethereal and propulsive, ghostly and insistent, the sounds hazy and gauzy and washed out, but subtly tense, with a sense of mystery and loss and longing, the aural equivalent of watching the world through rain slicked windows, in fact, Montgomery seems impossibly deft at creating the perfect rainy day soundtrack.
Grouper's half of the split begins with "Hollow Press", and the sound of whispering wind, for nearly two minutes, before ethereal effected vocals drift in, floating atop the swirling soft white noise, which leads directly into "Vessel", a haunting elegy of weirdly distorted guitar, unfurled in spidery tendrils, the vocals nearly free of effects, and sounding as angelic as ever, a gorgeous hushed lullaby. "Hold The Way" is another gentle bit of crystalline drift, a looped muted guitar figure, undulating softly beneath sweetly crooned vox, a dream pop slowed down and blurred into something much more ethereal and ephemeral. Finally, "Pulse" sends reverbed guitars drifting from speaker to speaker, the stereo field dizzyingly panned, softly psychedelic, slowly the wind returns, and guitar fading out leaving just the sound of wind, and a barking dog, a hazy outro of found sound, wiping away all the traces of the sounds that came before, like the surf smoothing out sand on the beach. So Lovely.
The new cd version is housed in a swank digipak, and is still most likely WAY too limited...
MPEG Stream: GROUPER "Hollow Press"
MPEG Stream: ROY MONTGOMERY "Vessel"
MPEG Stream: "Fantasia on a Theme by Sandy Bull (Slight Return)"

MONTGOMERY, ROY / HEAPHY, CHRIS True (Kranky) cd 13.98
For two albums, New Zealand stratospheric space rockers Roy Montgomery and Chris Heaphy have collaborated as Dissolve. Roy had composed this music for the North Island play of the same title while isolated on the South Island. As the original compositions were turning out to be more delicate and skeletal than the improvised haze of Dissolve, Roy and Chris decided not to use the Dissolve moniker for the album...

MONTGOMERY, ROY / LAKE, KIRK London is Swinging by His Neck (Rocket Girl) 7" 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
New label by the brains behind Che has issued this UK single featuring Roy's rainy day guitar strum joined with the dead pan vocals of Kirk Lake.

MONTOYAN ARTESIAN CONNECTION s/t (Plus Tapes) cassette 5.98

MONTOYAN ARTESIAN CONNECTION s/t (Plus Tapes) cassette 5.98

MONYPENY, DEREK Don't Bring Me Down, Bruce (Raheem) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Bay Area folks might remember Derek Monypeny from the ferociously explosive, improvisational trio Oaxacan. Their fiery brand of Eastern flecked, face-melting psych mastery was truly amazing to behold live. Sadly their time as a band was short-lived, but guitarist Derek Monypeny continues his journey into the desert cosmos with his debut lp of solo oud. Though he has also played guitar in Sir Richard Bishop's touring band, Mr. Monypeny decided to put the blaring fuzz and virtuosic six-string tendencies aside and opted for a more traditional approach here. These beautifully minimal pieces of eloquent, contemplative oud unfold like ancient narratives, evoking dramatic images of ghostly mirages, shimmering horizons and the desert sun sinking under pale dunes.
Side A unfolds with gorgeously sparse, delicate movements of slowly picked oud, each note rising up then dropping down like diamonds in the sand. We love the patient, reflective pace of the songs, each note carefully plucked and sent off like a gentle offering into the night. While side A reveals Monypeny employing the art of restraint and patience, side B finds Monypeny on the periphery of tradition, drenching the oud in hazy reverb and other effects that tastefully reiterate the instrument's Saharan roots. Reminiscent of Sandy Bull's oud outings, these final two pieces warble and melt in the hot sun, tremolo washes and smeared melody hover in the arid sky as the rhythmic haze and gentle noise lull you deeper into the cosmic badlands. So gorgeous and so perfect. Highly recommended for fans of anything related to Sublime Frequencies for sure. Limited to an edition of 250, don't be left in the Saharan dust!

MOOLAH Woe Ye Demons Possessed (EM Records) cd 22.00
Fantastic! We weren't expecting it all all, but this long-gone AQ fave has just been repressed and is back in stock!! We went nuts for this when it first was reissued by EM back in 2005, we probably only didn't make it a Record Of The Week back then 'cause of the steep import price (it was $28, it's now a bit cheaper, yay!) and 'cause were had to get 'em direct from Japan, but in the years since EM has gotten better US distribution. So if you missed it before, you're in luck now. Here's what we wrote the first time, back on list #239:
YESS!!! Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod! Those are direct quotes from Allan the day he discovered, totally out of the blue, that this album had been reissued on cd by the Japanese label EM Records. Kerry and Andee were both in the office that day and can attest that Allan just about jumped out of his skin, his voice positively yelping with excitement. And now we're ALL going ohmigod, ohmigod too since the box from Japan that Allan ordered arrived and Moolah is among us.
Ok, so what the heck is Moolah?? Well we're talking a super-obscure psychedelic/experimental Holy Grail album here. Allan only knew about it 'cause he'd heard some of it on a cd-r burn that our pal Loren Chasse had gotten from Jan Anderzen of Finland's Kemialliset Ystavat. Totally weird, damaged, krautrocky cosmic psych with electronic drones, haunting classical piano, and fucked up rhythms! According to Anderzen, it was an ultra rare LP from the '70s by a band called Moolah, entitled Woe Ye Demons Possessed. Wow. Allan found it hard to believe that was really true, and that it wasn't just something recorded by some genius Finnish forest freak friend of Anderzen's directly for the cd-r. But some diligent research revealed that the mysterious Moolah was indeed a band from New York who released an album on what was probably their own label, Druidstone (!), in 1974. But it was still pretty much unknown and almost utterly unobtainable. It didn't seem to have ever been reissued. And even our most '70s knowledgeable psych-rock reissue supplier in Sweden hadn't heard of it at all. But we never lost hope. And now, thanks to the extremely strange and cool Japanese label EM Records, here at last we present to you Moolah on cd! We're still left in the dark about a lot of the details of this mysterious record's history (EM's sales info is mostly in Japanese*) but from the album cover notes reproduced in the cd package we can tell you that the men behind Moolah were a duo named Walter Burns and Maurice Roberson, who recorded this, "their paranormal concertwork ...a cosmic rock relaxation creation" at a "secret studio in New York's Greenwich Village". There's also some amazing pagan poetry on the sleeve, here's a few lines: "Licking BLOOD Drinking TEARS Sacrificing LOVE on the Altar of Tomorrow Eating FRUITS of Stolen Vineyards With Withered Young Mouthes That Sing The OLD SONGS WHICH WERE FORBID".
And the music is as amazing as what Allan remembered. Dreamy, beautiful ambience -and- disturbingly chaotic, claustrophobic sounds. Shimmery, murky, distorted, primitive... is it even rock music? For the day, about as far out as you could get. Indeed, ahead of its time. Such tracks as "Crystal Waters", "Terror Is Real" and "The Hard Hit" are lo-fi jams full of dubby echo effects, indistinct voices intoning New Age ideas, crazy backwards percussion, and insectoid squiggles of electronics. And we think we heard a purring cat in there too. The question is: did the Moolah duo simply inhabit their own, messed-up, mystical little world (which seems likely, judging by those sleeve notes of theirs), or had these guys heard records by early Kraftwerk, Amon Duul, Kluster, and Neu!? We wonder. But either way, the krautrock scene's freakiest had nothing on Moolah. File with such rare, eccentric, outsider psych artifacts as the Cromagnon's Orgasm, Yahowha 13's Penetration, and Comus' First Utterance. What a find. If you like weird, lost, lovely, maybe a bit frightening music THIS IS FOR YOU.
*Here's Google's automatic translation of the Japanese-only info EM provided: "The [kozumitsuku] psychedelic album where 1974, two youths of New York are identified [mura] and announce. The piano, the keyboard and the percussion musical instrument electric set and electronic sound, esoteric Buddhism vocal sound, drawn, concrete sound, the delay effect, it is the work which is formed with tape opposite revolution."
MPEG Stream: "Crystal Waters"
MPEG Stream: "Courage"
MPEG Stream: "Mirror's"

MOOMAW, NATHAN 26 (Cazelo Music) cd 10.98

MOON DUO Catch As Catch Can (Agitated Records) 7" 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
What do you really need to know here? A NEW MOON DUO 7" (their first?), and the inaugural release for new UK label Agitated Records. We know by now that the Moon Duo of Erik "Ripley" Johnson (um, of Wooden Shjips if you haven't already heard...) and Sanae Yamada are unstoppable, and once again, they deliver. "Catch As Catch Can" is the band's most energetic song to date with a super distorted fuzz organ riff and a guitar that sounds like a shimmering sheet of white noise. It's relentless and catchy as hell, sure to stick in your mind for days. The B-side is a cover of a Scientists tune, and in contrast to the A-side, this represents Moon Duo's slower, more groove oriented persona. The stuttered beat is accompanied by heavily saturated fuzz chords and pleasant little synth blips before rising to a crazy and amazing fuzz solo. Bonus points for the cool as fuck magic eye cover art. Yep, this one kills, and at only 1000 copies worldwide, just know it won't be sticking around for long.

MOON DUO Circles (Sacred Bones) cd 14.98
Record number three from aQ beloved modern minimalist psych-kraut combo Moon Duo, initially an offshoot of psych rockers Wooden Shjips, but over the last few years, it seems the 'Duo have been way more active than the mothershjip. This latest record from the Shjips' Ripley Johnson and his partner, Sanae Yamada, taking up right where the last one, Mazes, left off, the duo weaving lush, hypnotic, jams, expanding their sound with every record, Circle being the most polished, and certainly the most poppy. They still worship at the altar of Spacemen 3, you can't really play this sort of music and not, but the sound this time around is definitely less dark, more sun dappled and dreamy, and the pop element is huge, with some of the songs sounding downright noisepoppy, even the more tranced out krauty jams, find the duo adding multiple melodies, layering their guitars and synths, and most excitingly, singing together much more, the boy/girl harmonies downright dreamy. While the opener "Sleepwalker" is about as close to classic Moon Duo as Circles gets, it sort of feels like they're easing us into it, cuz "I Can See" is propulsive and driving, a little bit bouncy, but Yamada and Johnson sing the chorus together, before Johnson lets loose with some wild gouts of psych guitar. The sound is still plenty sinister, and darkly hued, but that is NOT the case on the title track, which is fuzzy and super poppy the intertwined vocals and the killer chorus, not to mention a super melodic lead, it's a sunshinier side of Moon Duo, one that we sort of like. "I Been Gone" is almost new wavey, a percolating melody over a driving groove, and another pretty excellent chorus.
Our only complaint with past Moon Duo records really, and a minor one at that, was that their songs were less songs, so much as just cool parts, the band would play the part, a killer psychedelic krautrocky groove, until they stopped, this was even more evident live, where they would push play on the drum machine, then start the song, then eventually stop, the programmed rhythm continuing on unwavering, until they pushed stop. Here, the songs sound much more crafted, and composed, as if they were meant to be the length they are, a certain number of verses and choruses, and then end, and somehow they manage that without losing that sense of endless jamminess, which was part of the joy of Moon Duo's sound. And for all the took of new sounds and more poppiness, fear not, there's still plenty of tranced out psychedelic brood, and looped hypno rock mesmer. "Sparks" is classic Moon Duo, as is the epic loping closer "Rolling Out", with its Spacemen 3 riff and monster groove, but then out of nowhere comes the weird, pulsing, effects drenched stomp of "Free Action", with its stuttering guitars and woozy descending almost glammy sounding chorus.
So good, just enough of the classic old sound, balanced with a whole lot of the new, is making this a big fave around here for sure!
MPEG Stream: "Sleepwalker"
MPEG Stream: "I Can See"
MPEG Stream: "Circles"
MPEG Stream: "I Been Gone"

MOON DUO Circles (Sacred Bones) lp 21.00
Record number three from aQ beloved modern minimalist psych-kraut combo Moon Duo, initially an offshoot of psych rockers Wooden Shjips, but over the last few years, it seems the 'Duo have been way more active than the mothershjip. This latest record from the Shjips' Ripley Johnson and his partner, Sanae Yamada, taking up right where the last one, Mazes, left off, the duo weaving lush, hypnotic, jams, expanding their sound with every record, Circle being the most polished, and certainly the most poppy. They still worship at the altar of Spacemen 3, you can't really play this sort of music and not, but the sound this time around is definitely less dark, more sun dappled and dreamy, and the pop element is huge, with some of the songs sounding downright noisepoppy, even the more tranced out krauty jams, find the duo adding multiple melodies, layering their guitars and synths, and most excitingly, singing together much more, the boy/girl harmonies downright dreamy. While the opener "Sleepwalker" is about as close to classic Moon Duo as Circles gets, it sort of feels like they're easing us into it, cuz "I Can See" is propulsive and driving, a little bit bouncy, but Yamada and Johnson sing the chorus together, before Johnson lets loose with some wild gouts of psych guitar. The sound is still plenty sinister, and darkly hued, but that is NOT the case on the title track, which is fuzzy and super poppy the intertwined vocals and the killer chorus, not to mention a super melodic lead, it's a sunshinier side of Moon Duo, one that we sort of like. "I Been Gone" is almost new wavey, a percolating melody over a driving groove, and another pretty excellent chorus.
Our only complaint with past Moon Duo records really, and a minor one at that, was that their songs were less songs, so much as just cool parts, the band would play the part, a killer psychedelic krautrocky groove, until they stopped, this was even more evident live, where they would push play on the drum machine, then start the song, then eventually stop, the programmed rhythm continuing on unwavering, until they pushed stop. Here, the songs sound much more crafted, and composed, as if they were meant to be the length they are, a certain number of verses and choruses, and then end, and somehow they manage that without losing that sense of endless jamminess, which was part of the joy of Moon Duo's sound. And for all the took of new sounds and more poppiness, fear not, there's still plenty of tranced out psychedelic brood, and looped hypno rock mesmer. "Sparks" is classic Moon Duo, as is the epic loping closer "Rolling Out", with its Spacemen 3 riff and monster groove, but then out of nowhere comes the weird, pulsing, effects drenched stomp of "Free Action", with its stuttering guitars and woozy descending almost glammy sounding chorus.
So good, just enough of the classic old sound, balanced with a whole lot of the new, is making this a big fave around here for sure!
MPEG Stream: "Sleepwalker"
MPEG Stream: "I Can See"
MPEG Stream: "Circles"
MPEG Stream: "I Been Gone"

MOON DUO Escape (Woodsist) cd 13.98
Right on. Moon Duo are back with another four song blast of spaced out, super rhythmic psychedelic goodness. Escape arrives on the heels of two 12" eps, and it is by far their best effort yet. Of course we loved those previous releases, but Escape is the sound of a band who has really hit their stride now, and the songs are more mysterious, more relentless, and just more rocking than anything up to this point. We're not sure if there are real drums on this release (yes?) instead of a drum machine, but whatever the case, the rhythms here just grab hold and throttle you, while Ripley Johnson, he of local favorites Wooden Shjips, takes things beyond the stratosphere with his trademark fuzz solos, which are among the best you will currently hear on planet Earth.
"Motorcycle, I Love You" opens the album in perfect fashion with a vaguely evil two note riff, murky vocals bubbling out of the haze, swirling keyboard drones, and yeah, an awesome extended solo that kicks in and stays there. Goddamn. "In The Trees" is a steady rocker, like a hyped up Velvet Underground jam simplified and done west coast style. A nice tambourine hit accents the pounding drums, while the spacey guitar builds an impenetrable wall of beautiful, melodic white noise. "Stumbling 22nd St" - hey, that sounds familiar - is driven by a simple keyboard melody riding above subsonic fuzz guitar and a tight rhythm. When the riff switches to riff #2 (there aren't really choruses or any of that unnecessary shit here), you will know why we think this is the best stuff Moon Duo has produced so far. The changes in their songs, subtle as they may often be, are what make it clear that this isn't just stupid psychedelic rambling. There is some awesome songcraft going on, and we love it. The title track brings the album to its end. "Escape" is by far the poppiest and most upbeat song on the album, sounding like an extended take of the best pop song in the world working its way through some phased out vortex. The recording quality, lo-fi but perfectly appropriate, definitely gives this a nice timeless quality. It sounds like this stuff could have been recorded at any point within the last 40 years, while never sounding anything but current. Good stuff for sure.
Yeah, it's easy to see why people are digging Moon Duo so much. There is nothing not to like, and while this type of music can be rendered totally boring in the wrong hands, some people just know what's up. Moon Duo knows what's up.
MPEG Stream: "Motorcycle, I Love You"
MPEG Stream: "Escape"

MOON DUO Escape (Woodsist) 12" 12.98
Right on. Moon Duo are back with another four song blast of spaced out, super rhythmic psychedelic goodness. Escape arrives on the heels of two 12" eps, and it is by far their best effort yet. Of course we loved those previous releases, but Escape is the sound of a band who has really hit their stride now, and the songs are more mysterious, more relentless, and just more rocking than anything up to this point. We're not sure if there are real drums on this release (yes?) instead of a drum machine, but whatever the case, the rhythms here just grab hold and throttle you, while Ripley Johnson, he of local favorites Wooden Shjips, takes things beyond the stratosphere with his trademark fuzz solos, which are among the best you will currently hear on planet Earth.
"Motorcycle, I Love You" opens the album in perfect fashion with a vaguely evil two note riff, murky vocals bubbling out of the haze, swirling keyboard drones, and yeah, an awesome extended solo that kicks in and stays there. Goddamn. "In The Trees" is a steady rocker, like a hyped up Velvet Underground jam simplified and done west coast style. A nice tambourine hit accents the pounding drums, while the spacey guitar builds an impenetrable wall of beautiful, melodic white noise. "Stumbling 22nd St" - hey, that sounds familiar - is driven by a simple keyboard melody riding above subsonic fuzz guitar and a tight rhythm. When the riff switches to riff #2 (there aren't really choruses or any of that unnecessary shit here), you will know why we think this is the best stuff Moon Duo has produced so far. The changes in their songs, subtle as they may often be, are what make it clear that this isn't just stupid psychedelic rambling. There is some awesome songcraft going on, and we love it. The title track brings the album to its end. "Escape" is by far the poppiest and most upbeat song on the album, sounding like an extended take of the best pop song in the world working its way through some phased out vortex. The recording quality, lo-fi but perfectly appropriate, definitely gives this a nice timeless quality. It sounds like this stuff could have been recorded at any point within the last 40 years, while never sounding anything but current. Good stuff for sure.
Yeah, it's easy to see why people are digging Moon Duo so much. There is nothing not to like, and while this type of music can be rendered totally boring in the wrong hands, some people just know what's up. Moon Duo knows what's up.
MPEG Stream: "Motorcycle, I Love You"
MPEG Stream: "Escape"

MOON DUO Horror Tour (Souterrain Transmissions) 12" 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
What is it with Moon Duo (and Wooden Shjips) and holidays? Between the two bands, it seems like they've done a special release for most holidays there are. We're holding out for the Groundhog Day single or the Columbus Day cassette. Anyway, while we usually write these sprawling gushing epics about Moon Duo records, we're guessing this one probably doesn't need all that much. It is indeed a special holiday release, in this case, Halloween, even though we didn't receive our copies until well after . It's limited to 1000 copies, AND it's already sold out and out of print at the label, which means these copies we have are the last ones we'll ever be able to get, and while we got a BUNCH, we're guessing they'll still disappear pretty dang quick, especially considering the fact that this might just be our favorite Moon Duo record yet.
The record opens with the sound of footsteps, and a creaking door, scaaary, then the drums come in, the guitars follow, and the song unfolds in druggy organ driven dronerock style, definitely heavy on the Spacemen 3, the guitars dripping with flanger and warm distortion, the vocals laid back and weary, and wreathed in echo, the melody and hook, maybe the catchiest yet, and then the vocals drop out, and that's it for singing, the whole rest of the record is all instrumental. But that opener continues on, the guitars piled up, layer after layer, all tangled up in warm psychedelic swirls, while the rhythm pounds away, and the organ whirs underneath. "Causing A Rainbow" is short and poppy, the guitar muted but distorted and super crunchy, the organ laying down a hazy high end drone underneath, fuzzy and sunshiney, but it's the 10+ minute "Sickener" that might be our favorite, starting out super poppy, softly chugging guitars over billowy organ chords, and chiming soft focus melodies, total krautrock style rhythmic blissout, droney and hypnotic, super minimal and mesmerizing, it's not until about 4 minutes in that anything changes, when a thick, blown out buzz drenched guitar swoops in, and proceeds to grind away over that motorik groove underneath, adding a blurred fuzz guitar gauze over the whole track, that guitar getting wilder and wilder, noisier and more chaotic, eventually erupting into full on chaotic psych shred, the drum machine / organ groove never wavering, even at ten minutes that track is WAY too short. Best MD jam EVER. Finally the record finishes off with the two and a half minute coda "Circle Of Evocation Pt. 2", which is nothing but the processed sound of what seems to be running water, or the sounds of engines or both, blurred into a hazy whir, a strange finish, to a strange, but pretty goddamn great records. And again, this is LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES, each one numbered, these are the last copies there are, so once we run out, it's gone for good.
MPEG Stream: "Horror Tour"
MPEG Stream: "Sickener"

MOON DUO Killing Time EP (Sacred Bones) cd 11.98
FINALLY AVAILABLE ON CD! Here's what we said when we reviewed the now out of print vinyl 12" version:
All right! Moon Duo returns with another hazed out transmission from some lost dimension (otherwise known as San Francisco), this one courtesy of the always cool Sacred Bones label. The duo (obviously) features Ripley Johnson from local heroes Wooden Shjips, and their sound is not too far removed from Ripley's main band, maybe a little more ethereal and not quite as overtly "rocking", but definitely following a similar path of hypnotic, fuzzy repetition that we can't get enough of.
Moon Duo are capable of creating powerful songs from very little and they obviously understand the power of simplicity. Each of the four songs on this ep utilize the same hypnotic drum machine groove, altered to various pitches and speeds to accommodate each individual song. The result is like a mechanical heartbeat, throbbing relentlessly with krauty precision, and almost serving as some sort of chain to link each of the songs together. The record begins with "Killing Time", which sounds a bit like a Joy Division part looped forever as the soft, distorted vocals lurk beneath melodic guitars and fuzzy background static. With its buzzing organ and controlled feedback, "Speed" rocks a bit like Suicide augmented by shrieking guitar pulses and, uh, harmonica? Maybe. The cool thing here is how sounds blend together in a cyclone of warm, pulsating analog goodness. At times you are unaware of what you're hearing, and even though it gets noisy and overblown, the results are always catchy and super melodic.
Side 2 begins with "Dead West", which has a cool underwater feel. The song fucks with your perception of time and place, as it could have been recorded 40 years ago or 40 years from now. Sonically, it is a bit reminiscent of fellow California space travelers Sun Araw with its percussive guitar strumming and shimmering psychedelic feel, as a little keyboard melody stands at the center of things while the rest of the sounds oscillate all over the place. "Ripples" gives off a Spacemen 3 vibe as the drumbeat is slowed significantly. The guitars have a nice bit of twang to them, and the sounds once again appear to get caught in some sort of musical whirlpool as they merge together before a cool fadeout.
Picking up where the last ep left off, Killing Time finds Moon Duo descending even deeper into a state of super rhythmic, dreamy psychedelia. Just the way we like it.
MPEG Stream: "Killing Time"
MPEG Stream: "Ripples"

MOON DUO Killing Time EP (Sacred Bones) 12" 13.98
This has been out of print for a while on vinyl, we just recently listed the cd version, and then suddenly voila, the vinyl is back in print, but for how long, nobody knows, which of course means if you still need the vinyl, grab one quick, while it lasts...
All right! Moon Duo returns with another hazed out transmission from some lost dimension (otherwise known as San Francisco), this one courtesy of the always cool Sacred Bones label. The duo (obviously) features Ripley Johnson from local heroes Wooden Shjips, and their sound is not too far removed from Ripley's main band, maybe a little more ethereal and not quite as overtly "rocking", but definitely following a similar path of hypnotic, fuzzy repetition that we can't get enough of.
Moon Duo are capable of creating powerful songs from very little and they obviously understand the power of simplicity. Each of the four songs on this ep utilize the same hypnotic drum machine groove, altered to various pitches and speeds to accommodate each individual song. The result is like a mechanical heartbeat, throbbing relentlessly with krauty precision, and almost serving as some sort of chain to link each of the songs together. The record begins with "Killing Time", which sounds a bit like a Joy Division part looped forever as the soft, distorted vocals lurk beneath melodic guitars and fuzzy background static. With its buzzing organ and controlled feedback, "Speed" rocks a bit like Suicide augmented by shrieking guitar pulses and, uh, harmonica? Maybe. The cool thing here is how sounds blend together in a cyclone of warm, pulsating analog goodness. At times you are unaware of what you're hearing, and even though it gets noisy and overblown, the results are always catchy and super melodic.
Side 2 begins with "Dead West", which has a cool underwater feel. The song fucks with your perception of time and place, as it could have been recorded 40 years ago or 40 years from now. Sonically, it is a bit reminiscent of fellow California space travelers Sun Araw with its percussive guitar strumming and shimmering psychedelic feel, as a little keyboard melody stands at the center of things while the rest of the sounds oscillate all over the place. "Ripples" gives off a Spacemen 3 vibe as the drumbeat is slowed significantly. The guitars have a nice bit of twang to them, and the sounds once again appear to get caught in some sort of musical whirlpool as they merge together before a cool fadeout.
Picking up where the last ep left off, Killing Time finds Moon Duo descending even deeper into a state of super rhythmic, dreamy psychedelia. Just the way we like it.

MOON DUO Love On The Sea (Sick Thirst) 12" 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We'll just spare the long-winded build up and get straight to the point: Moon Duo is the new side project from Ripley, guitarist for San Francisco's psychedelic heroes Wooden Shjips, and it kicks plenty of ass. This lengthy two song ep rocks in a similar, albeit slightly more stripped down way, and like the Shjips, Moon Duo is all about super hypnotic, highly rhythmic repetition with plenty of awesome fuzz guitars and simple but powerful drumming. And like all vinyl only offerings from Ripley's main gig, this is also coming to you in highly limited numbers, so act now or suffer later.
The first track, "Love On The Sea," previously appeared in edited form on a recent Yeti magazine compilation. But really, why would anyone want something coming from a Wooden Shjips dude to be slimmed down to fit on a cd with other groups? Thankfully, the version here uses an entire side to help you get even further lost in its endless melodic grooves. The song comes off as the perfect mix of krauty propulsion with fuzzed out, druggy American garage rock from the '60s, and the lo-fi recording works really well to get you nice and disoriented. Murky vocals, swirling organs and bright guitar accents give you the impression of what it would be like to relax in a room full of strobe lights going full blast, and after a while you can't tell whether the drums are a thumping backbeat or a straightforward groove. Whatever the case, it's sounding damn good to our ears.
On side 2 we have "E-Z Street Ext," which actually sounds a bit like an instrumental minor key version of the song "Down By The Sea" from the Shjips' recent Dos record. There's a nice dose of wild fuzz guitar action, but here the organ takes center stage with its awesome underwater sound. The drums are a steady pound, and as the guitar begins to decay into crumpling waves of distortion, things seem to speed up and build in intensity before arriving at a prolonged cymbal loop which itself appropriately ends in a locked groove.
Again, this is super limited, and if you couldn't already tell, it is absolutely required listening for those who can't get enough Wooden Shjips.

MOON DUO Mazes (Sacred Bones) cd 14.98
Moon Duo return with their second proper full length, and if you needed any further proof of their masterful grasp of fuzzed out hypnotic grooves, well, look no further. It's almost as if Moon Duo set out to link every one of their records together as one gigantic pulsating trip into your mind, and Mazes takes you further in. Mazes. Hmm. Like the magic eye cover for their Catch As Catch Can single, the eyeball warping artwork seems to be a perfect visual accompaniment to the awesome brain-melting confusion of the music itself.
Kicking off with "Seer", the duo conjure the hazy underwater sound they've utilized before with a rhythm that walks the line between spaced out acid rock and minimal electro grooves with some of the clearest Moon Duo vocals to date. "Mazes" offers a slight departure from the usual murk, sounding poppy and jangly in the vein of other San Francisco popsmiths like the Fresh And Onlys or the Mantles. It rides out with a sort of pre-1965 surf rock feel that makes this a perfect jam for your next sun baked road trip. "Scars" shifts the mood into darker terrain like some fractured Suicide / Doors hybrid. The heavy vibrato keeps things percolating while the organ occasionally shifts into a spooky little interlude recalling Kraftwerk's "The Model". The song also strangely makes us think of Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild", an association which is taken to the next logical step with the aggressive "Fallout". The album concludes with "Goners", a midtempo jam that makes it feel like you are walking into the perfect fadeout to an album which will remain playing in your head nonstop for quite some time. Moon Duo have never let us down, and it doesn't seem that'll change anytime soon...
MPEG Stream: "Seer"
MPEG Stream: "Mazes"
MPEG Stream: "Scars"

MOON DUO Mazes (Sacred Bones) 2cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Moon Duo return with their second proper full length, and if you needed any further proof of their masterful grasp of fuzzed out hypnotic grooves, well, look no further. It's almost as if Moon Duo set out to link every one of their records together as one gigantic pulsating trip into your mind, and Mazes takes you further in. Mazes. Hmm. Like the magic eye cover for their Catch As Catch Can single, the eyeball warping artwork seems to be a perfect visual accompaniment to the awesome brain-melting confusion of the music itself.
Kicking off with "Seer", the duo conjure the hazy underwater sound they've utilized before with a rhythm that walks the line between spaced out acid rock and minimal electro grooves with some of the clearest Moon Duo vocals to date. "Mazes" offers a slight departure from the usual murk, sounding poppy and jangly in the vein of other San Francisco popsmiths like the Fresh And Onlys or the Mantles. It rides out with a sort of pre-1965 surf rock feel that makes this a perfect jam for your next sun baked road trip. "Scars" shifts the mood into darker terrain like some fractured Suicide / Doors hybrid. The heavy vibrato keeps things percolating while the organ occasionally shifts into a spooky little interlude recalling Kraftwerk's "The Model". The song also strangely makes us think of Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild", an association which is taken to the next logical step with the aggressive "Fallout". The album concludes with "Goners", a midtempo jam that makes it feel like you are walking into the perfect fadeout to an album which will remain playing in your head nonstop for quite some time.
So far Moon Duo has never let us down, and while we're at it, we should mention the following: Ahem. For a SUPREMELY LIMITED TIME we will have these on both formats with a CRAZY limited bonus cd featuring remixes from an aQ worthy list of names including Sonic Boom, Psychic Ills, Cave, Purling Hiss, Gary War, and the unknown to us Eagle Boston covering the song "Mazes". That's some heady company for sure, and the bonus disc begins with Moon Duo spiritual forefather Sonic Boom's take on "Scars", which is given some ambient distance with the handclaps brought to the center while the song carries on below the surface. YESSSSSSSSSSSSS. Psychic Ills' remix of "Seer" is given a rad sitar melody over the skeletal rearrangement while the simple shaker percussion helps further the feeling of listening to this in some opium den in the middle of the desert. aQ favorites Cave are up next with the "Organ Desert Mix" for "Run Around" which aptly lives up to its title by injecting blasts of lazer guided synth squall and holding a heavy 4-on-the-floor beat while also retaining its strange bluesy feel. Of course, before too long things take off into space and, shit, it sounds GOOD. Purling Hiss tackles "In The Sun", which immediately announces itself as the standout on this sucker, opening with abstracted noise and the stand alone vocals, before launching itself sleazily into the troposphere with a merciless drum pound and insane wah abuse. FUCK YEAH! "When You Cut" finds Gary War running the duo through some pitch shifted weirdness hanging murkily under a crisp drumbeat, providing the weirdest reinterpretation here, like a bad acid trip in a good way. Sonic Boom returns to the controls for "Fallout", transmitting the song from some far off region in space. Not sure who this Eagle Boston thing is, but their hypercharged female sung cover of "Mazes" finds the band perfectly at home on the aQ shelf alongside groups like Mugstar, Bardo Pond, Lumerians, and all the rest. In fact, with a slight amount of hesitation, we might add that more than one aQ staffer thought the remix record was just as good as the album itself... So recommended we probably don't even have to bother telling you to get this now since you know how much you'll regret it when this bonus disc ends up on eBay...
MPEG Stream: "Seer"
MPEG Stream: "Mazes"
MPEG Stream: "Scars"

MOON DUO Mazes (Sacred Bones) lp 19.98
Moon Duo return with their second proper full length, and if you needed any further proof of their masterful grasp of fuzzed out hypnotic grooves, well, look no further. It's almost as if Moon Duo set out to link every one of their records together as one gigantic pulsating trip into your mind, and Mazes takes you further in. Mazes. Hmm. Like the magic eye cover for their Catch As Catch Can single, the eyeball warping artwork seems to be a perfect visual accompaniment to the awesome brain-melting confusion of the music itself.
Kicking off with "Seer", the duo conjure the hazy underwater sound they've utilized before with a rhythm that walks the line between spaced out acid rock and minimal electro grooves with some of the clearest Moon Duo vocals to date. "Mazes" offers a slight departure from the usual murk, sounding poppy and jangly in the vein of other San Francisco popsmiths like the Fresh And Onlys or the Mantles. It rides out with a sort of pre-1965 surf rock feel that makes this a perfect jam for your next sun baked road trip. "Scars" shifts the mood into darker terrain like some fractured Suicide / Doors hybrid. The heavy vibrato keeps things percolating while the organ occasionally shifts into a spooky little interlude recalling Kraftwerk's "The Model". The song also strangely makes us think of Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild", an association which is taken to the next logical step with the aggressive "Fallout". The album concludes with "Goners", a midtempo jam that makes it feel like you are walking into the perfect fadeout to an album which will remain playing in your head nonstop for quite some time. Moon Duo have never let us down, and it doesn't seem that'll change anytime soon...
MPEG Stream: "Seer"
MPEG Stream: "Mazes"
MPEG Stream: "Scars"

MOON DUO Mazes (Sacred Bones) lp+cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Moon Duo return with their second proper full length, and if you needed any further proof of their masterful grasp of fuzzed out hypnotic grooves, well, look no further. It's almost as if Moon Duo set out to link every one of their records together as one gigantic pulsating trip into your mind, and Mazes takes you further in. Mazes. Hmm. Like the magic eye cover for their Catch As Catch Can single, the eyeball warping artwork seems to be a perfect visual accompaniment to the awesome brain-melting confusion of the music itself.
Kicking off with "Seer", the duo conjure the hazy underwater sound they've utilized before with a rhythm that walks the line between spaced out acid rock and minimal electro grooves with some of the clearest Moon Duo vocals to date. "Mazes" offers a slight departure from the usual murk, sounding poppy and jangly in the vein of other San Francisco popsmiths like the Fresh And Onlys or the Mantles. It rides out with a sort of pre-1965 surf rock feel that makes this a perfect jam for your next sun baked road trip. "Scars" shifts the mood into darker terrain like some fractured Suicide / Doors hybrid. The heavy vibrato keeps things percolating while the organ occasionally shifts into a spooky little interlude recalling Kraftwerk's "The Model". The song also strangely makes us think of Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild", an association which is taken to the next logical step with the aggressive "Fallout". The album concludes with "Goners", a midtempo jam that makes it feel like you are walking into the perfect fadeout to an album which will remain playing in your head nonstop for quite some time.
So far Moon Duo has never let us down, and while we're at it, we should mention the following: Ahem. For a SUPREMELY LIMITED TIME we will have these on both formats with a CRAZY limited bonus cd featuring remixes from an aQ worthy list of names including Sonic Boom, Psychic Ills, Cave, Purling Hiss, Gary War, and the unknown to us Eagle Boston covering the song "Mazes". That's some heady company for sure, and the bonus disc begins with Moon Duo spiritual forefather Sonic Boom's take on "Scars", which is given some ambient distance with the handclaps brought to the center while the song carries on below the surface. YESSSSSSSSSSSSS. Psychic Ills' remix of "Seer" is given a rad sitar melody over the skeletal rearrangement while the simple shaker percussion helps further the feeling of listening to this in some opium den in the middle of the desert. aQ favorites Cave are up next with the "Organ Desert Mix" for "Run Around" which aptly lives up to its title by injecting blasts of lazer guided synth squall and holding a heavy 4-on-the-floor beat while also retaining its strange bluesy feel. Of course, before too long things take off into space and, shit, it sounds GOOD. Purling Hiss tackles "In The Sun", which immediately announces itself as the standout on this sucker, opening with abstracted noise and the stand alone vocals, before launching itself sleazily into the troposphere with a merciless drum pound and insane wah abuse. FUCK YEAH! "When You Cut" finds Gary War running the duo through some pitch shifted weirdness hanging murkily under a crisp drumbeat, providing the weirdest reinterpretation here, like a bad acid trip in a good way. Sonic Boom returns to the controls for "Fallout", transmitting the song from some far off region in space. Not sure who this Eagle Boston thing is, but their hypercharged female sung cover of "Mazes" finds the band perfectly at home on the aQ shelf alongside groups like Mugstar, Bardo Pond, Lumerians, and all the rest. In fact, with a slight amount of hesitation, we might add that more than one aQ staffer thought the remix record was just as good as the album itself... So recommended we probably don't even have to bother telling you to get this now since you know how much you'll regret it when this bonus disc ends up on eBay...
MPEG Stream: "Seer"
MPEG Stream: "Mazes"
MPEG Stream: "Scars"

MOON DUO Silver Bells / Winter (Holy Mountain) 7" 6.98
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Just in! 2nd pressing, now on red instead of green vinyl! If you've still got the holiday spirit, and haven't grabbed one yet, now's your chance before they're gone again...
Along with the recently reissued 12" of holiday faves by Wooden Shjips, WS mainman Ripley Johnson gets similarly festive with his WS offshoot spacekraut combo Moon Duo, which finds Johnson and his partner Sanae Yamada tackling one Christmas classic, and another obscure winter themed cover.
Up first is "Silver Bells", which we had heard described as "Silver Bells meets Silver Machine", but barring the swirls of reverb and the echo-ey vox, the band play it pretty straight, offering up one of the poppiest bounciest jams we've heard from these two. The perfect hazy blur of wasted Christmas cheer for sure.
The flipside finds the band tackling a fairly obscure Rolling Stones track, titled appropriately enough, "Winter", from the Stones' Goats Head Soup record, no one here remembers what the original sounds like exactly (the label describes it accurately as a 'deep cut'), but in the Moon Duo's hands it just becomes another gorgeously washed out smear of spidery glistening guitars, whirling gauzy keyboards, and tripped out reverbed vocal mumbles, all drifting in a wastedly warbly haze, that reminds us way more of the Velvets than the Stones.
A little spacey, a little krautrocky, a little dream poppy, a little Christmasy, but as always, droning and druggy and divine...
MPEG Stream: "Silver Bells"

MOON DUO / BITCHIN' BAJAS Fresh Hair / Bopper's Hat (Permanent Records) 7" 5.98
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MOON PHANTOMS s/t (Important Records) lp 22.00
One of the four brand new Bardo Pond related releases on Important, Moon Phantoms is the mystically monickered dream team of Bardo Pond, Alasehir, and Japanese guitar noise masters Suishou No Fune! And if you're not totally sold yet, take it from us, this is two killer sides of dreary, drugged-out, improvised avant-rock for deep listeners only! Quiet guitar wanderings, distant bells and percussion, Suishou No Fune's signature vocal bursts, all slowly evolving into slow driven instrumentals with pounding drums and epic atmospheric noise guitar. Reminds us a lot of Hash Jar Tempo with a dark, sinister twist. According to Pirako Kurenai of Suishou No Fune, the band name came from a recent tour with Alasehir in which both bands discovered a peaceful likeness with the moon amidst the stresses of being on the road. Which makes sense because the album totally possesses this dark and ominous, but peaceful quality, like being at the beach at night or in a forest cabin in the dead of winter. Beautifully and masterfully improvised, this is all killer and no filler, each note lifted into the air and left to fall back to the ground with perfect placement. Beautifully epic and musically rich, limited to an edition of 500, don't miss out on this nocturnal gem!

MOON POOL & DEAD BAND Human Fly (Not Not Fun) 12" 14.98
We made the debut lp from Moon Pool & Dead Band our Record Of The Week a while back, a sort of techno offshoot of industrial noise outfit Wolf Eyes, although as we made clear in our review of that record, there wasn't a real techno element, instead the sound was more of a synth heavy psychedelic trip out, a sound that definitely made the fact that the record was on space/psych rock label Agitated, make a little bit more sense. Druggy, synthy, krautrocky, kosmische, needless to say we were super excited for this follow up 12", and like the lp, we were immediately thrown for a bit of a loop. This one isn't really techno either, not exactly, it's more, well, sort of disco, a bizarre strain of alien funk space disco really. Sounds weird and it is, especially considering it's Wolf Eyes guys, but the move to Not Not Fun definitely makes more sense.
The side long "Human Fly", starts things off with a weirdo alien dancefloor groove, all low fidelity squelch and primitive drum machine, churning rhythms under thick low end buzz and rumble, and some weird house-y stutter, it's an extended mesmerizing minimal spacedisco groove that plays like an old school extended disco 12", albeit one that's a bit more muddy and murky and lo-fi and woozily warped.
The B side opens with "The Jagged Orbit", which is heavy on the eighties disco, but again, a sort of warped psychedelic variant, the vibe murky and totally soundtracky, laced with glitchy FX, lots of hum and buzz and squelch, minimal and motorik and seriously mesmerizing. Which leads right into "Cyber Rebels", a final does of alien funk, a looped and loping groove equal parts vintage dancefloor disco and warped woozy electro. Not at all what we were expecting, but cool nonetheless. Folks who loved the first Moon Pool might be in for a bit of a surprise!

MOON POOL & DEAD BAND s/t (Agitated) lp 16.98
We weren't entirely sure what to expect from a band called Moon Pool & Dead Band, we were even less sure when we saw the super bizarre cover, a striking painting of a family, standing in some sort of sewer, looking out at a post-apocalyptic wasteland, the mother holding what appears to be a dead child, the father consoling her with one hand, clutching a bat in the other, the sky choked with factory smog. What we do know, is we weren't expecting THIS. It's definitely space rock and definitely psychedelic, which puts it at least marginally in Agitated's wheelhouse, there are no guitars, at all, and the sound seems to be entirely synthesizers, and the occasional drums, but we're not disappointed at all! It's definitely not like anything we've heard before, which made even more sense when we discovered that Moon Pool & Dead Band is in fact a 'techno' offshoot of Wolf Eyes, although we're not hearing much actual techno here, instead, it's a sprawling sea of synths swirling and buzzing, occasionally coalescing around minimal motorik beats (hence the techno?), the background rife with glitches and squelches, the band locking onto long stretches of super druggy, synthy drift, getting loopy here and there and sounding a bit like a space rock High Wolf, there are a few moments of goofy almost Perrey and Kingsley style bloop and bleep, the opener on the B side woozy and playful, and a bit of a strange standout moment, but on both sides there's plenty of blurred ambient shimmer, and pulsing mesmerizing psych-synth drift, sort of the perfect mix between psychedelic space rock, and that new wave of Carpenter / Goblin influenced cinematic synthscapery. Recommended to both camps, but probably more so to folks with a foot in each!
LIMITED TO 700 COPIES!!
MPEG Stream: "Inches Of Mercury"
MPEG Stream: "Recycling Concept"
MPEG Stream: "Inches (Over-Space)"

MOON UNIT Hell Horse (Blackest Rainbow) lp 21.00
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Imagine some twisted blown out psychedelic hybrid of Vibracathedral Orchestra and Fushitsusha, and you'd probably come up with something very much like this latest lp from a Scottish power trio called Moon Unit. Five sprawling space/psych jams, that slip from dark and droney to explosive and in-the-red and everywhere in between.
The record begins with some washed out shimmery free form krautfolk drift, psychedelic and kosmische, like Vibracathedral or Avarus or Sylvester Anfang, gauzy clouds of softly tangled melody drift and swirl over spare percussion, fuzzy tendrils of guitar woven into lush landscapes of blurred beauty, but it's a smoldering slow build to something much more intense and aggressive, subtly explosive crescendos surface throughout, guitars growing ever more frenzied and distorted, the drums slip from skitter to pound, long keening tones are laid over choppy seas of rhythmic churn, until finally, the band unleash full on space psych blowouts, crumbling and explosive and fierce and fiery and so intense.
The sound is not so easily classified though, this is not just a psychedelic Godspeed, the sound veers wildly from face melting almost metallic fury, to full on Japanese style white heavenly noise, to distorted krautrock grooves, the drums chaotic on second, locked tight the next, everything wreathed in some sort of incandescent shimmer, that somehow makes the heaviest noisiest bits beautiful, and makes the beautiful bits mysterious and otherworldly.
The record closes with a murky effects heavy free psych workout, disembodied melodies collide with rhythmic shards, swirling swooping effects and crumbling riffage, glimmery and shimmery but still damaged and dark and distorted and totally intense. So good.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!