PEEESSEYE, THE Mayhem In The Mansion, Shivers In The Shack (Evolving Ear) cd 11.98
Fucked up far out sonic explorers Peeesseye (or PSI) return with a brand new disc that finds them sounding as weird and wacked as ever, and continuing to drift in the same direction as their last disc, Commuting Between The Surface & The Underworld. The first time we heard these guys, they were a much noisier proposition, spewing a caustic and fractured noise rock, that we liked quite a bit, but by record number two, they seemed to be exploring songs and melody more than noise and texture, their sound markedly prettier and folkier. On Mayhem In The Mansion, the band continue to drift through some strange folky forest, but being PSI, it's all glimpsed through some cracked funhouse mirror. A strummed acoustic guitar seems to root most of these songs, but that guitar is strewn upon skipping stuttering electronics, strangled yelps, random clatter and chaos, growled vocals, dense clouds of cymbal shimmer, stumbling tribal percussion, random bits of thump and rattle, distant moans and creaks, shimmering electric guitar melodies, furious squalls of static drenched psychnoise and lots and lots of effects.
It's definitely pretty and folky, but so completely out there. The prettiest parts somehow manage to get all tangled up with the obtuse angular bits, folky strum is smothered in buzz or bleep or both, but it works, it becomes some impossible artpop weirdness. A lot of this sounds like Avarus or No Neck, but more than anything it sounds sort of like Animal Collective, but with most of the hooks removed. Or better yet, like Animal Collective's deformed mutant twin brother. The one they keep locked in the basement. With just a busted up acoustic guitar, some effects with dying batteries and a 4track.
And shit, if that doesn't sound amazing, well, then we give up...
MPEG Stream: "Moon Vegetables"
MPEG Stream: "Plastic Grass"

PEEPING TOM s/t (Ipecac) cd 17.98
Several years in the making and the ever so prolific Mike Patton has finally finished his Peeping Tom project. A record inspired by the 60's cult thriller of the same name, complete with really cool packaging. Patton sent tracks to a bunch of big name collaborators like Kool Keith, Bebel Gilberto, Amon Tobin, and Massive Attack. As well as enlisting folks like Dan The Automater, Dale Crover from Melvins, Kid Koala, Rahzel, Odd Nosdam, Jel, and even Norah Jones. The result is some of Patton's most accessible sounding songs in quite a while. We haven't heard his acrobatic voice sound like this since back in the 90's (you know back in his Faith No More days) and much of this record carries that early 90's funk-electronic-hip-hop-rock hybrid. Cool.
MPEG Stream: "Five Seconds"
MPEG Stream: "Mojo"

PEEPING TOM s/t (Anticon) lp 14.98
Now on vinyl! Several years in the making and the ever so prolific Mike Patton has finally finished his Peeping Tom project. A record inspired by the 60's cult thriller of the same name, complete with really cool packaging. Patton sent tracks to a bunch of big name collaborators like Kool Keith, Bebel Gilberto, Amon Tobin, and Massive Attack. As well as enlisting folks like Dan The Automater, Dale Crover from Melvins, Kid Koala, Rahzel, Odd Nosdam, Jel, and even Norah Jones. The result is some of Patton's most accessible sounding songs in quite a while. We haven't heard his acrobatic voice sound like this since back in the 90's (you know back in his Faith No More days) and much of this record carry's that early 90's funk-electronic-hip-hop-rock hybrid. Cool.
MPEG Stream: "Five Seconds"
MPEG Stream: "Mojo"

PEGATAUR Eternal Flight (For Once Records) cd 13.98
BACK IN STOCK!! Haven't listed this since 2008...
Drummer Aaron Levin and guitarist Eric Murray, both formerly of tongue-in-cheek (but over-the-top awesome) glam rockers Boyjazz, have banded together as a duo since that band's unfortunate dissolution to create another outlet for their "bow down, we're not worthy" level instrumental talents. Pegataur is the result (the name referring to a Pegasus + Centaur hybrid, a winged man-horse, of course). Their debut cd, Eternal Flight, is quite a treat for anyone who digs rippin', all-instrumental heavy metal. Technical and melodic and riffy - basically, imagine The Fucking Champs as a two-piece. If you like the Champs, you'll like this, maybe that's all we need to say!!
Any of you out there who perhaps found Boyjazz too jokey (you shoulda given them a chance anyway, what an entertaining band they were!), should have less of an issue with this, in fact, Pegataur not only shut up and play but really go off the deep end in terms of seriousness if you delve into their, um, mythology. The packaging, a large circular poster that folds up to hold the cd, inside a plastic sleeve, bears mysterious illustrations of supposed significance within the occult sciences, relating to their own research. We've gotta quote what their press release says about it: "Orbiting around the Pegataur seal are 11 sigils for the tracks and a 12th king sigil to bind and rule the album as a whole. Utilizing techniques employed by such famed Renaissance occultists as Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim and Dr. John Dee, each song title and corresponding sigil were generated by custom software (written by guitarist Eric Murray) that correlates the musical structure of each track with the many esoteric traditions in which Pegataur is initiated. It is suggested that the neophyte concentrate on each sigil as the song plays while holding the song title firmly in their mind to further their studies." (Hmm, they don't say how you're supposed to do that whilst headbanging.) So, maybe their joking has just gotten even more nerdy and obscure. Or maybe there's something to all of this. Certainly this duo seriously seem to be channeling an unnatural abundance of heavy metal chops and catchiness through each one of these 11 rockin' songs, as if they've got some direct psychic link to a dimension of metallic wonderment and the devil's music just effortlessly, endlessly flows through the Pegataur boys and their instruments like magic.
Pegataur probably could have scored bagfuls of gold pieces (or weed) from The Sword or High On Fire in exchange for some of the best of these riffs and still had plenty of good ones left over. Likewise, their hella tricky metallic mathrock moments would likely garner applause from folks like Electro Quarterstaff and Girth. We've already compared 'em to the Champs, but you could also try to imagine Zebulon Pike, stripped down to one guitar and forced to condense their usual 20+ minute epics into the 3-minute pop song format.
From the pinch harmonic frenzies and chugging changes of "Lesser Bow Of The Herdsman" and "The Weeping Quiver" to the grinding distorted stoner riffage of "Lord Solomon's Eyes" and "Human Appetite" (among the 11, we could mention 'em all) this kicks ass utterly, with no vocals to get in the way, just tons of guitar shred in an indie Van Halen mode that might make Thee Speaking Canaries jealous. No joke!
MPEG Stream: "The Dual Becoming"
MPEG Stream: "Lesser Bow Of The Herdsman"
MPEG Stream: "Terror Arrow"

PEKLER, ANDREW Cue (Kranky) cd 14.98
While Andrew Pekler has previously recorded albums for Scape and Staugbold don't be expecting any minimal glitch here. Cue is his homage to the great tradition of library music. When records were made with almost anonymous authorship filled with tracks perfect for different moods and moments that could be used to score films and television programs. What Pekler has done is to use library music as his springboard, each track is given a short descriptive summary ("ambiguous western atmosphere resolving into children's tune, swirling cymbals added") yet the sounds he makes come out sounding anything but clinical and calculating. Instead he gets to the heart of the sounds filling this record with so much mindfulness and rich warmth. Musically it reminds us a bit of our favorite era of Mouse on Mars (Iaora Tahiti, Instrumentals, etc) as well as the first few To Rococo Rot outings. But what also makes Cue sound so great is that you never really think of it as an electronic album. It is mood music filled with building and evolving tones, and moments of guitars, percussion and piano. There is a timeless quality to the sounds on Cue that we could see someone coming across fifty years from now and putting in a film just as easily as we could have believed this was a long lost record of late 60's/early 70's forward thinking experimentalism in the BBC Workshop tradition. It's dreamy without being too light, moody without being heavy handed and totally engaging throughout!
MPEG Stream: "On"
MPEG Stream: "Vertical Gardens"
MPEG Stream: "Dust Mite"

PELANDER, MAGNUS s/t (Svart Records) cd ep 11.98
Attention, all worshippers of WITCHCRAFT!! What we have here is the next best thing to new music from that more '70s than thou band of Swedish heavy prog downer doomsters, and huge AQ faves. It's the debut solo recording from Witchcraft frontman Magnus Pelander, a four song, 21 minute ep. If you're a real Witchcraft fan, you'll want this. Since Magnus is the prime mover in Witchcraft, and this highlights his distinctive, mellifluous voice as well as guitar playing and songwriting talents, it's one of those "solo" projects that doesn't sound too different from the main band.... except it's mostly acoustic! A few years back, one time when Witchcraft were playing in San Francisco, Magnus told us he had plans to team up with a friend of his back home, who's also his guitar teacher, to do an acoustic album. We'd been eagerly waiting ever since, and it seems that their project has finally borne fruit. Magnus plays 6 string acoustic guitar, electric as well, plus drums and percussion. And of course sings. Meanwhile, his friend Mike (first name only given here, he's shy or something) plays 6 and 12 steel string acoustic guitars, plus piano, bass, percussion, and handles the string arrangements.
AQ's Allan, actually, was lucky enough to get to see the duo's first ever performance, this year at the Roadburn festival in Holland. For him, it was definitely a highlight of the fest, though Magnus and Mike were frustrated by some technical difficulties during their set. Still, they rose to the occasion and delivered some of the most "musical" moments of the whole Roadburn experience. Let's put it this way: Magnus is no slouch on guitar, but this guy Mike was really phenomenal!
The glorious, intricate interplay of guitars Allan heard there is fully on display here, as is the manner in which Magnus bears his heart vocally and lyrically, these songs so personal and emotive, like a lot of the most moving Witchcraft tunes. Some of this has got that sad Sabbath "Solitude" vibe, though the ep starts out on the brighter side with "A Sinner's Child", featuring melodious whistling, and lovely female backing ah-ah-ah's, but also lyrics like "I am a sinner's child / you better wait a while / before you take my hand / can you see Satan smile?" keeping it well within the realm of something dark and occultic that Witchcraft themselves might do. "Hope", which begins just with voice and piano, getting even more intimate in feel than the first track, soon turns into even more of a showcase for this duo's impressive 6 and 12 string chops. They rip... acoustically. Track 3, "You Have Got No Friends To Turn To" is by far the heaviest offering here, Magnus busting out the electric guitar for some plodding riff stomp and amped-up psychedelic soloing, though the track is still adorned with plenty of acoustic filigree and hand percussion. Certainly another one that wouldn't be out of place on a Witchcraft album.
The last, and longest, track, "Stardust", is an achingly beautiful and melancholic ballad, Magus's singing starting off hushed, the strumming almost sacred, a string section gradually building up in the background, piano notes intertwined with the guitar lines, it gets pretty progged out and epic! Allan definitely remembers this one from Roadburn, even in the stripped down way they played it there.
This record recalls at moments the likes of Comus and Six Organs and Aztec Two-Step and even, unintentionally but awesomely, Tenacious D, just a teeny bit. Fellow Swedes Dungen and Bjorn Olsson would be other references. And while in our experience, most people into the whole current indie acid folk scene already do dig Witchcraft, those who haven't heard 'em might find this to be a particularly lush, gorgeous, somewhat mellowed out entree.
LIMITED IMPORT RELEASE, cd version limited to 500 copies. We have black vinyl, with nice thick sleeves.
MPEG Stream: "A Sinner's Child"
MPEG Stream: "You Have Got No Friends To Turn To"

PELANDER, MAGNUS s/t (Svart Records) 12" 13.98
Attention, all worshippers of WITCHCRAFT!! What we have here is the next best thing to new music from that more '70s than thou band of Swedish heavy prog downer doomsters, and huge AQ faves. It's the debut solo recording from Witchcraft frontman Magnus Pelander, a four song, 21 minute ep. If you're a real Witchcraft fan, you'll want this. Since Magnus is the prime mover in Witchcraft, and this highlights his distinctive, mellifluous voice as well as guitar playing and songwriting talents, it's one of those "solo" projects that doesn't sound too different from the main band.... except it's mostly acoustic! A few years back, one time when Witchcraft were playing in San Francisco, Magnus told us he had plans to team up with a friend of his back home, who's also his guitar teacher, to do an acoustic album. We'd been eagerly waiting ever since, and it seems that their project has finally borne fruit. Magnus plays 6 string acoustic guitar, electric as well, plus drums and percussion. And of course sings. Meanwhile, his friend Mike (first name only given here, he's shy or something) plays 6 and 12 steel string acoustic guitars, plus piano, bass, percussion, and handles the string arrangements.
AQ's Allan, actually, was lucky enough to get to see the duo's first ever performance, this year at the Roadburn festival in Holland. For him, it was definitely a highlight of the fest, though Magnus and Mike were frustrated by some technical difficulties during their set. Still, they rose to the occasion and delivered some of the most "musical" moments of the whole Roadburn experience. Let's put it this way: Magnus is no slouch on guitar, but this guy Mike was really phenomenal!
The glorious, intricate interplay of guitars Allan heard there is fully on display here, as is the manner in which Magnus bears his heart vocally and lyrically, these songs so personal and emotive, like a lot of the most moving Witchcraft tunes. Some of this has got that sad Sabbath "Solitude" vibe, though the ep starts out on the brighter side with "A Sinner's Child", featuring melodious whistling, and lovely female backing ah-ah-ah's, but also lyrics like "I am a sinner's child / you better wait a while / before you take my hand / can you see Satan smile?" keeping it well within the realm of something dark and occultic that Witchcraft themselves might do. "Hope", which begins just with voice and piano, getting even more intimate in feel than the first track, soon turns into even more of a showcase for this duo's impressive 6 and 12 string chops. They rip... acoustically. Track 3, "You Have Got No Friends To Turn To" is by far the heaviest offering here, Magnus busting out the electric guitar for some plodding riff stomp and amped-up psychedelic soloing, though the track is still adorned with plenty of acoustic filigree and hand percussion. Certainly another one that wouldn't be out of place on a Witchcraft album.
The last, and longest, track, "Stardust", is an achingly beautiful and melancholic ballad, Magus's singing starting off hushed, the strumming almost sacred, a string section gradually building up in the background, piano notes intertwined with the guitar lines, it gets pretty progged out and epic! Allan definitely remembers this one from Roadburn, even in the stripped down way they played it there.
This record recalls at moments the likes of Comus and Six Organs and Aztec Two-Step and even, unintentionally but awesomely, Tenacious D, just a teeny bit. Fellow Swedes Dungen and Bjorn Olsson would be other references. And while in our experience, most people into the whole current indie acid folk scene already do dig Witchcraft, those who haven't heard 'em might find this to be a particularly lush, gorgeous, somewhat mellowed out entree.
LIMITED IMPORT RELEASE, cd version limited to 500 copies. We have black vinyl, with nice thick sleeves.
MPEG Stream: "A Sinner's Child"
MPEG Stream: "You Have Got No Friends To Turn To"

PELICAN Australasia (Hydra Head) cd 14.98
Chicago instru-metallers Pelican are back, with the full-length follow up to their brilliant "Untitled" debut ep. Like that disc, this is almost the perfect blend of heaviness (METAL heaviness, to be precise) and post-rock. There's prettiness and precision, darkness and dynamics. From slow and powerful downer grooves to mellow melodic interludes to rapidly riffing, sheer super heavy metal, could Pelican do it any better? There's even one track where they've got a guy playing the singing saw. It's freakin' beautiful. Influenced by epic black metal, academic minimalist throb, psychedelic Floydian rock, and the post-rock of their hometown (among much else) these guys have shaped their band into contenders for the avant-stoner throne, positioning themselves somewhere between Mogwai and Melvins, with some flashes of Morbid Angel. Or, imagine the Growing's The Sky's Run Into the Sea album (AQ Record of the Week back in September you'll recall) as performed by The Fucking Champs! It has the oceanic warmth of Growing's droning heaviness lashed to some more mathy, metallic constructions. Our customers who love all things heavy (Isis, Boris, Gore, 5ive, Tarantula Hawk, Dead Meadow, etc.) and who have a soft spot for spacier, sleepier stuff too should dig these six tracks for sure!
MPEG Stream: "Drought"
MPEG Stream: "(no title)"

PELICAN Australasia (Hydra Head) 2lp 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now at last on (gatefold, double, limited edition) vinyl! Chicago instru-metallers Pelican are back, with the full-length follow up to their brilliant "Untitled" debut ep. Like that disc, this is almost the perfect blend of heaviness (METAL heaviness, to be precise) and post-rock. There's prettiness and precision, darkness and dynamics. From slow and powerful downer grooves to mellow melodic interludes to rapidly riffing, sheer super heavy metal, could Pelican do it any better? There's even one track where they've got a guy playing the singing saw. It's freakin' beautiful. Influenced by epic black metal, academic minimalist throb, psychedelic Floydian rock, and the post-rock of their hometown (among much else) these guys have shaped their band into contenders for the avant-stoner throne, positioning themselves somewhere between Mogwai and Melvins, with some flashes of Morbid Angel. Or, imagine the Growing's The Sky's Run Into the Sea album (AQ Record of the Week back in September 2003 you'll recall) as performed by The Fucking Champs! It has the oceanic warmth of Growing's droning heaviness lashed to some more mathy, metallic constructions. Our customers who love all things heavy (Isis, Boris, Gore, 5ive, Tarantula Hawk, Dead Meadow, etc.) and who have a soft spot for spacier, sleepier stuff too should dig these six tracks for sure!
MPEG Stream: "Drought"
MPEG Stream: "(no title)"

PELICAN Australasia (Interloper / Hydra Head) 2lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now (again) on vinyl...while it lasts! Here's our review of this, the 2003 release from big and getting bigger indie-metal heroes Pelican:
Chicago instru-metallers Pelican are back, with the full-length follow up to their brilliant "Untitled" debut ep. Like that disc, this is almost the perfect blend of heaviness (METAL heaviness, to be precise) and post-rock. There's prettiness and precision, darkness and dynamics. From slow and powerful downer grooves to mellow melodic interludes to rapidly riffing, sheer super heavy metal, could Pelican do it any better? There's even one track where they've got a guy playing the singing saw. It's freakin' beautiful. Influenced by epic black metal, academic minimalist throb, psychedelic Floydian rock, and the post-rock of their hometown (among much else) these guys have shaped their band into contenders for the avant-stoner throne, positioning themselves somewhere between Mogwai and Melvins, with some flashes of Morbid Angel. Or, imagine the Growing's The Sky's Run Into the Sea album (AQ Record of the Week back in September 2003 you'll recall) as performed by The Fucking Champs! It has the oceanic warmth of Growing's droning heaviness lashed to some more mathy, metallic constructions. Our customers who love all things heavy (Isis, Boris, Gore, 5ive, Tarantula Hawk, Dead Meadow, etc.) and who have a soft spot for spacier, sleepier stuff too should dig these six tracks for sure!
MPEG Stream: "Drought"
MPEG Stream: "(no title)"

PELICAN City Of Echoes (Hydra Head) lp 17.98
Now available on lp! Beautifully packaged and pressed on nice thick (colored) vinyl. And as always, super limited.
In the overcrowded world of metallic post rock, or post metal, or whatever the heck you want to call it, there seem to be two forces constantly battling it out, Pelican and Isis. But it's hardly a battle, as both bands are friends, share a label, and share a sound too. And the interesting thing is they both seem to be developing in a similar fashion. Each band, in their own way, and at their own pace, seems to be phasing metal out of their sound. Not completely. But where Isis once sounded a LOT like Neurosis, they now sound much more like a post rock band with metal bits here and there. Expansive and epic and only heavy to balance their ultra melodic side. And while Pelican seemed to be on a serious metal bender there for a while, this new record, while indeed rife with metallic moments, finds them at their post rockiest, and we have to say it suits them.
From the opening track, with its loping minor key math rock intro, to it's downtuned metal chug middle, to a killer harmony guitar / double kick bridge, the band never go all out metal, even if it might sound like it on the surface. Sure, we're loving the occasional flurry of maniacal kick drum, and the occasional Fucking Champs like Carcass riffery, but it never completely transforms the sound into pure metal. Metal plated maybe, but regardless, it sounds amazing!
Pelican nowadays sound like the very heaviest band you loved in the nineties, come back to life, supercharged and metallized. We hear lots of Slint, Bastro, Polvo, Shellac, Don Caballero, June Of 44 and bands like that, in the riffs, the arrangements, the melodies, which is fine with us. In fact, a lot of City Of Echoes sounds like a heavier Explosions In The Sky, who obviously owe a great debt to the loud-quiet-loud math rockers of days gone by. Sure it's metal enough to hit the spot for that sensitive metalhead in need of a melodic instru-metal fix, and yeah it may be heavy, and it may be metallic, but c'mon, this is still indie rock, a kick ass, heavy as fuck indie rock maybe, but still...
MPEG Stream: "Bliss In Concrete"
MPEG Stream: "City Of Echoes"

PELICAN City Of Echoes (Daymare) cd + dvd 32.00
In the overcrowded world of metallic post rock, or post metal, or whatever the heck you want to call it, there seem to be two forces constantly battling it out, Pelican and Isis. But it's hardly a battle, as both bands are friends, share a label, and share a sound too. And the interesting thing is they both seem to be developing in a similar fashion. Each band, in their own way, and at their own pace, seems to be phasing metal out of their sound. Not completely. But where Isis once sounded a LOT like Neurosis, they now sound much more like a post rock band with metal bits here and there. Expansive and epic and only heavy to balance their ultra melodic side. And while Pelican seemed to be on a serious metal bender there for a while, this new record, while indeed rife with metallic moments, finds them at their post rockiest, and we have to say it suits them.
From the opening track, with its loping minor key math rock intro, to it's downtuned metal chug middle, to a killer harmony guitar / double kick bridge, the band never go all out metal, even if it might sound like it on the surface. Sure, we're loving the occasional flurry of maniacal kick drum, and the occasional Fucking Champs like Carcass riffery, but it never completely transforms the sound into pure metal. Metal plated maybe, but regardless, it sounds amazing!
Pelican nowadays sound like the very heaviest band you loved in the nineties, come back to life, supercharged and metallized. We hear lots of Slint, Bastro, Polvo, Shellac, Don Caballero, June Of 44 and bands like that, in the riffs, the arrangements, the melodies, which is fine with us. In fact, a lot of City Of Echoes sounds like a heavier Explosions In The Sky, who obviously owe a great debt to the loud-quiet-loud math rockers of days gone by. Sure it's metal enough to hit the spot for that sensitive metalhead in need of a melodic instru-metal fix, and yeah it may be heavy, and it may be metallic, but c'mon, this is indie rock, a kick ass, heavy as fuck indie rock maybe, but still...
While they last, we have the limited Japanese import Daymare double disc version of City Of Echoes, much like the fancy version of Jesu's Conqueror we carry instead of the domestic Hydra Head version. Ultra deluxe packaging, gorgeous design, thick 6 panel digipak, spot varnish gloss on matte finish, Japanese obi, Japanese liner notes, but most importantly, a bonus dvd of the band performing live at the Knitting Factory in L.A., playing mostly new songs but a few Pelican classics like "March To The Sea". The dvd looks great, sounds great, and unlike some past performances we've seen, the band are on fire -- they've always sounded great, but they didn't always move that much, but here the band are super active on stage, jumping around, swaying, head banging, which makes it way more intense and fun to watch. And it's cool to see the new songs played live too...
MPEG Stream: "Bliss In Concrete"
MPEG Stream: "City Of Echoes"

PELICAN Live In Chicago 6/11/03 (Hydra Head) dvd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SUPER LIMITED!!! Pelican fans snap to attention! Fans of sludgy downtuned dirge do not dawdle. We got a small batch of these limited edition Pelican live DVD's and we will most likely not be able to get more ever again. Four epic tracks of Pelican's gorgeously massive instrumental pummel, videotaped live in 2003 in Chicago, shot from the crowd, a bit dark (dark enough that you barely see the drummer) but it sounds soooo good and if you've never seen Pelican before, it's cool to watch four regular looking dudes conjure up a seriously massive slab of metallic post-rock brutality. It's almost like being right there in the sweaty crowd, ears ringing, head banging! Packaged in a slimline jewelcase with new artwork from Seldon Hunt.

PELICAN March Into The Sea (Hydra Head) cd ep 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Oh man, if this record was only a full length, and not an EP, it would have been record of the week for sure! Even so, it's a pretty hefty EP clocking in at 33 minutes, especially when you consider it's only two songs! And not only is it quite possibly the best Pelican song so far, with a completely unforgettable, loping seasick main riff, relentless double kick drumming, totally heavy and MASSIVE, occasionally slipping into indie rock, with deliriously jangle-and-chime drenched melodies that eventually becomes a dreamy acoustic coda complete with flute, but the second track is a JK Broadrick (Godflesh, Jesu) remix that ends up sounding like the best Jesu track yet, all My Bloody Valentine blissed out with fuzzy backward melodies, industrial machinellike rhythms and epic alien arrangements.
MPEG Stream: "March Into The Sea"
MPEG Stream: "Angel Tears (JK Broadrick Remix)"

PELICAN Pink Mammoth (Hydra Head) 10" 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
People have been asking for this slab of beautiful heaviness forever, and for the longest time, we were beginning to think that its existence was just a hipster vinyl collector nerd urban legend, but whaddaya know, at least a year after we first heard about this two song vinyl only ep, it shows up, and of course as is par for the course with Pelican, knocks our fuckin' socks off.
Two tracks, both apparently reworked versions of older Pelican numbers, the A side is a killer, the title track, epic and majestic and major key, the guitars thick, a throaty roar, the drums simple and massive, heavy but pretty, a definite Jesu vibe for sure, the track occasionally blissing out into stretches of mathy nineties style indie rock, albeit way heavier and way radder. At moments things also veer into Fucking Champs territory, but for the most part we hear some gloriously bastardized and metallized version of Polvo or Pitchblende. The track ends with a super shimmery outro/coda, all swoopy and soft focus, super spare drumming, spacy FX and weird far away production... yet another argument for these guys being one of the finest purveyors of metallic post rock going.
The other side is a reworked and remixed blend of another couple old Pelican songs, courtesy of Mr. Prefuse 73. A fuzzy expanse of glitchy acoustic guitars, sounding like Oval mixing some super minimal folky prog track, a laid back dreamy electronic folk, that eventually builds until an almost funky rhythm kicks in, simple handclaps laid over glistening harmonics and lilting minor key guitars, more and more fuzzed out as it progresses, a blown out sheen not unlike everything was dipped in a pixelated Fennesz style gritty guitar wash...
Gorgeously packaged as always, thick sleeve, printed inner sleeve, heavy vinyl, in a variety of swirled colors... And yeah LIMITED like crazy...

PELICAN The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw (Hydra Head) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This album prompted a discussion here about how there's the post rock bands that throw in some heavy, riffy metal bits to make things weirder and more interesting (and maybe so they don't seem quite so wimpy). And there's also the metal bands that write some pretty, quiet post rock parts also to be weird and interesting (and so as not to seem like total Neanderthals). In both cases, when things work out well, the results are a band that sounds not like, uh, wimpy Neanderthals but rather like intelligent and sensitive types who also possess crushing might. Pretty much every boy's ideal, eh? And Chicago instrumental heavies (and big AQ faves) Pelican are a great example of this, even though -- especially with this new album -- we can't quite decide if they're a metal band first post rock band second or the other way around. The very first track on The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw, "Last Day Of Winter", is seemingly more on the post rock side, all simmering moodiness and storm-yet-to-be-unleashed power. It IS big and loud but not really metal. Eventually the album offers up some truly uber metal moments, though, yes. Pelican's vaunted heaviness remains. But things are overall at least equally dreamy...dreamy and layered and melodically mathy, with post rock dynamics that dip into quiet, relaxed territory as much as they charge into heavy rock battle. Track four, for instance, is ALL gentle acoustic string-strum, with hints also of glitchy electronic crackle. We were prepared for this by their warm-up ep March Into The Sea (the title track of which is reprised here in edited form) wherein those acoustic guitars were added to Pelican's sonic palette. Pelican's vast, riff-ravaged landscape now has little lovely flowers growing, and expands to even further horizons. Funnily enough, "March Into The Sea" itself also offers some of the most metal (fast, furious) passages on here. Whatever you call it, the music of Pelican is (and always has been) totally mesmerizing and epic. Even if this album makes us think that it's almost like Pelican are turning into Kinski. Who aren't metal even though they are sometimes quite heavy. And who we also like a lot after all.
Ok, enough about all this post rock vs. metal stuff (though we will say that the presence of an extensive "thanks" list argues for Pelican indeed being a metal band at heart). What's important is that anyone into massive sonics of riff-shifting symphonic complexity OR blissful simplicity, should bow down to the juggernaut genius of Pelican's lastest opus...now that sounds fairly metal, don't it? Mention should also be made of the really quite lovely cd packaging here -- the cd booklet's got a translucent vellum cover and some cool interior artwork. Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Last Day Of Winter"
MPEG Stream: "Autumn Into Summer"

PELICAN What We All Come To Need (Southern Lord) cd 15.98
We were all kinda wondering what would happen with Pelican's first record for Southern Lord, after leaving Hydra Head. Would it be more metal? More black metal? More evil? Would it be more ANYTHING? Well, the answer is yeah, it is -more- a lot of things, but weirdly enough, at least to these ears, Pelican moved in the opposite direction, more melodic, more catchy, more hooky, LESS metal, and the weird thing is, in some ways it makes the music much more lyrical, which helps when you're an instrumental band, but still, here and there it does just the opposite, the sounds seemingly screaming for vocals, thankfully, those moments are few and far between, which leaves another bad ass chunk of heavy instrumental post rock. And few do it as well as Pelican. One thing we noticed this time around is a lot more grunge, some of the riffs, the changes, sound like they could have been lifted right off some classic Sub Pop 7", and Lord knows there ain't nothing wrong with that. Makes it sound heavier too. The guitars sound amazing, thick and crunchy, the melodies pretty catchy, some subtle Sabbath-isms here and there, some serious grooves (in a cool, heavy, UNgroovy way), and the drumming sounds better than ever, solid, tight, with just the right amount of swing, and there seems to be a lot more pretty parts, more space, letting the songs breathe, and sprawl, and open up, which in turn of course makes the heavier parts sound that much heavier. The band tackled an Earth cover on the Ephemeral 12", and it sounded great, so it makes sense that we're hearing some of that same epic sweeping twang, albeit more subtly on some of the songs here.
The cool thing about Pelican these days, is that they just sound like Pelican. Sure they inhabit a scene where there's plenty of sonic overlap, but these guys are just so good, and they've really turned into ace songwriters, which is critical when you're writing all instrumentals.
So yeah, if you already dig these guys, or love heavy rock, or metallic post rock or any of that sort of stuff, odds are this will totally hit the spot, and we were gonna say that if you didn't like Pelican already, then this probably wouldn't change your mind, but the more we listen to it, the more we're beginning to think it just might!
MPEG Stream: "Glimmer"
MPEG Stream: "The Creeper"
MPEG Stream: "Ephemeral"

PELICAN What We All Come To Need (Southern Lord) 2lp 26.00
NOW ON VINYL!!
We were all kinda wondering what would happen with Pelican's first record for Southern Lord, after leaving Hydra Head. Would it be more metal? More black metal? More evil? Would it be more ANYTHING? Well, the answer is yeah, it is -more- a lot of things, but weirdly enough, at least to these ears, Pelican moved in the opposite direction, more melodic, more catchy, more hooky, LESS metal, and the weird thing is, in some ways it makes the music much more lyrical, which helps when you're an instrumental band, but still, here and there it does just the opposite, the sounds seemingly screaming for vocals, thankfully, those moments are few and far between, which leaves another bad ass chunk of heavy instrumental post rock. And few do it as well as Pelican. One thing we noticed this time around is a lot more grunge, some of the riffs, the changes, sound like they could have been lifted right off some classic Sub Pop 7", and Lord knows there ain't nothing wrong with that. Makes it sound heavier too. The guitars sound amazing, thick and crunchy, the melodies pretty catchy, some subtle Sabbath-isms here and there, some serious grooves (in a cool, heavy, UNgroovy way), and the drumming sounds better than ever, solid, tight, with just the right amount of swing, and there seems to be a lot more pretty parts, more space, letting the songs breathe, and sprawl, and open up, which in turn of course makes the heavier parts sound that much heavier. The band tackled an Earth cover on the Ephemeral 12", and it sounded great, so it makes sense that we're hearing some of that same epic sweeping twang, albeit more subtly on some of the songs here.
The cool thing about Pelican these days, is that they just sound like Pelican. Sure they inhabit a scene where there's plenty of sonic overlap, but these guys are just so good, and they've really turned into ace songwriters, which is critical when you're writing all instrumentals.
So yeah, if you already dig these guys, or love heavy rock, or metallic post rock or any of that sort of stuff, odds are this will totally hit the spot, and we were gonna say that if you didn't like Pelican already, then this probably wouldn't change your mind, but the more we listen to it, the more we're beginning to think it just might!
MPEG Stream: "Glimmer"
MPEG Stream: "The Creeper"
MPEG Stream: "Ephemeral"

PELICAN / THESE ARMS ARE SNAKES PLCN / TAAS (Hydra Head) cd 11.98
It's been a little while since we've heard from the boys in Pelican, due in no small part to a seemingly endless world tour. They show up in the shop so much, we sometimes think they must have relocated to SF. And this is not exactly a 'new' record, in fact, it's a different version of a song that has already surfaced once a while back on a now out of print 10", "Pink Mammoth", Pelican's 'hit', or about as close as a heavy metallic instrumental post rock band will ever come to a hit, but it's a killer song, and here it gets redone a little with help from Pelican pals These Arms Are Snakes.
It's hard to tell just how different it is without doing a side by side comparison, but on first listen it does sound a bit more washed out and droney, the sound a tad thicker, and more guitar-y, which is obviously because of the various extra players. But it hardly matters, if you haven't heard this song before, you must, and if you have, you probably already dig it and definitely won't mind hearing a slightly different version. Soaring, epic, heavy without actually being metal, the guitars crunchy but clean, the drums busy but restrained, and then there's the hook, that pops up a few minutes in, and seals the deal. There seem to be plenty of extra guitars, getting all tangled up into warm swirls of layered harmonies, and every time that hook resurfaces it's fucking magic!
The flip side finds These Arms Are Snakes redoing one of their songs with the various members of Pelican along for the ride. Loping and mathy, chiming guitar harmonics over a crumbling distorted main riff, the vocals going from weary indie drawl to snarling growly wail, all over a churning motorik rhythm. The vocal harmonies and stripped down rhythmic lope, lock into these dark grooves that totally remind us of late great San Diego trio Three Mile Pilot. Cool stuff for sure.
The vinyl packaging, as with all Hydra Head stuff, is over the top. A blue on blue printed 10" gatefold, incredibly thick, with a third layer of reflective clear ink over the top, and the text in white on top of that. Pressed on thick black vinyl. And probably limited too. The cd packaging ain't so shabby either, blue and pink and clear inks on a brown cardstock, screen printed fold over origami style sleeve, also most likely very limited...
MPEG Stream: PELICAN "Pink Mammoth"
MPEG Stream: THESE ARMS ARE SNAKES "Gold Diggers"

PELICAN / THESE ARMS ARE SNAKES PLCN / TAAS (Hydra Head) 10" 10.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
It's been a little while since we've heard from the boys in Pelican, due in no small part to a seemingly endless world tour. They show up in the shop so much, we sometimes think they must have relocated to SF. And this is not exactly a 'new' record, in fact, it's a different version of a song that has already surfaced once a while back on a now out of print 10", "Pink Mammoth", Pelican's 'hit', or about as close as a heavy metallic instrumental post rock band will ever come to a hit, but it's a killer song, and here it gets redone a little with help from Pelican pals These Arms Are Snakes.
It's hard to tell just how different it is without doing a side by side comparison, but on first listen it does sound a bit more washed out and droney, the sound a tad thicker, and more guitar-y, which is obviously because of the various extra players. But it hardly matters, if you haven't heard this song before, you must, and if you have, you probably already dig it and definitely won't mind hearing a slightly different version. Soaring, epic, heavy without actually being metal, the guitars crunchy but clean, the drums busy but restrained, and then there's the hook, that pops up a few minutes in, and seals the deal. There seem to be plenty of extra guitars, getting all tangled up into warm swirls of layered harmonies, and every time that hook resurfaces it's fucking magic!
The flip side finds These Arms Are Snakes redoing one of their songs with the various members of Pelican along for the ride. Loping and mathy, chiming guitar harmonics over a crumbling distorted main riff, the vocals going from weary indie drawl to snarling growly wail, all over a churning motorik rhythm. The vocal harmonies and stripped down rhythmic lope, lock into these dark grooves that totally remind us of late great San Diego trio Three Mile Pilot. Cool stuff for sure.
The vinyl packaging, as with all Hydra Head stuff, is over the top. A blue on blue printed 10" gatefold, incredibly thick, with a third layer of reflective clear ink over the top, and the text in white on top of that. Pressed on thick black vinyl. And probably limited too. The cd packaging ain't so shabby either, blue and pink and clear inks on a brown cardstock, screen printed fold over origami style sleeve, also most likely very limited...
MPEG Stream: PELICAN "Pink Mammoth"
MPEG Stream: THESE ARMS ARE SNAKES "Gold Diggers"

PELL MELL (1982) It Was A Live Cassette (Starlight Furniture Co.) cd 13.98
Pell Mell was an instrumental combo formed in Portland in 1980, and their early incarnation respresented here was far more ferociously angular punk than the smooth groove version of Pell Mell that developed when Greg Freeman and Steve Fisk joined the band years later. Although this previously-cassette-only release came out *after* their wonderful debut album "Rhyming Guitars", it's even rawer than that album. It's good! Limited to 500 copies, so buy now or cry later.
RealAudio clip: "Spanner"
RealAudio clip: "Shirts & Skins"

PELL MELL Flow (SST) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

PELL MELL Interstate (Flying Nun) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

PELL MELL Star City (Matador) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Geffen's loss is definitely Matador's gain. Not surf, not prog, not jazz, these guys (Steve Fisk and co.) invented their own brand of smooth guitar-based instrumentals.

PELL MELL Star City (Matador) lp 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Geffen's loss is definitely Matador's gain. Not surf, not prog, not jazz, these guys (Steve Fisk and co.) invented their own brand of smooth guitar-based instrumentals.

PELOQUIN Sauvageau (Mucho Gusto) cd 16.98

PELOTON s/t EP (self-released) cd ep 4.98
Peloton are a new Bay Area band who make fuzzy dreamy pop that cozies right in between bands such as Yo La Tengo and The Sundays. Their self titled debut ep is a perfectly autumnal lil' treat. Check it out!
MPEG Stream: "Birds"
MPEG Stream: "For Anyone Who'll Listen"

PELT A Stone For Angus Maclise (self-released) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Killer two sided single track raga drone epic from these masters, dedicated to legendary musician Angus Maclise, this jam is a magnificent mesmerizing sprawl of harmonium, gong, singing bowls and more, all woven and smeared and blurred into a smoldering slow motion raga, that pulses and throbs, seemingly near static, but so alive, overtones everywhere, constantly shifting layers, deep rumbling tones surfacing now and again, slipping from lush and warm and lustrous to delicate and crystalline, from melodic and dense to atonal and alien, like a Reich or Riley piece smoked out and spread way out into some seriously next level ur-drone bliss. The flipside / part 2 adds still more layers, more shifting tones, as well as wordless vocals, moaning and crooning, another layer of hypnotic sound, veering into frenzied chaos, but remaining utterly dreamy and hypnotic.
In lots of reviews a band does something incredible and we always wish they would take that one track, and stretch it out to fill up a whole record, the result being something like this, although in the case of A Stone For Angus Maclise, we find ourselves wishing this sprawling extended lp length raga drone was stretched out even farther, an endless expanse of looped and layered buzz extending forever and ever, into the unknown.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES. Cool metallic stickered cover with tiny printed insert.

PELT Brown Cyclopedia (PELT) lp 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

PELT Dauphin Elegies (VHF) cd 13.98
We've definitely mentioned it before, in other reviews, but with every release it does seem more and more that Pelt are perhaps the only group of minimal dronelords truly occupying the dark mysterious sonic space vacated by the long lost legends. Tony Conrad, LaMonte Young, John Cale, Taj Mahal Travellers, Pelt sonically fall somewhere in that list, often leaning more toward one position than another. Sometimes unfurling whispered shimmers and deep crystalline metallic whirs, other times spewing thick sheets of upper register skree, or spreading thick layers of reverberating buzz over Eastern style ragas. Whatever they're doing, and however the hell they do it, the result is truly diving. Especially for the drone obsessed among us.
And here, on their latest, within four long tracks they dabble in all of the above, the opener is all gongs bowls and bells, deep murky metallic sprawls, ringing out, tones drifting into the ether, but with a strange propulsion, not usually found in Pelt tracks, that makes it almost sound like the Necks, if all three of the Necks were playing cymbals and bowls. Dark and languorous and gorgeous. The second track is all scraping fiddles and moaning cellos, bowed and rubbed and sawed feverishly a la Henry Flynt, pizzicato melodies, distant melodies, LOTS of space, dense squalls of malfunctioning string quartet drones, bits of percussion and tinkling chimes, very abstract and obtuse but still quite hypnotic. Up next is the record's centerpiece, 31 minutes of deep multi-timbral drones, thick swirls of harmonium, and according to the liner notes, the only track that utilizes electricity, to power something called the New Jupiter Machine. No idea what that is, but we like it. Fiddles and cellos join the fray, until there are so many layers your ears a gloriously overwhelmed, all the various notes and tones vibrating, beating, interwoven, offering up all sorts of incidental melodies and mysterious sounds that only reveal themselves gradually. So transcendental. Worth it for this track alone. In fact we often say this, but we would have been just as happy if they stretched it out for another 30 minutes, or 60, or 90, well, you know.
The disc finishes off with a brief coda of glistening high end. Sounding a bit like an analog Ryoji Ikeda, all super high harmonics, bells and chimes, all glimmering in the impossibly high upper registers, like listening to ice crystals, or the sounds of stars sparkling, or a recording of sunlight reflecting of the water, or the sounds of dew on morning grass. Delicate, crystalline, and fantastic.
MPEG Stream: "Waning Crescent"
MPEG Stream: "Fire Signs Along The Field"

PELT Effigy (MIE) 2lp 29.00
Recorded live in 2011 (in a yoga studio and a synagogue), the latest from these Virginian dronelords, once again prove these guys are still the modern masters of the raga. Seven extended tracks of exquisite modern minimal drone music, lush, layered tones, constantly shifting textures, and ever shifting overtones, multiple instruments deftly woven into one single organic whole, all recorded live, on acoustic instruments, with no overdubs, this is pure sound, Pelt masterfully weaving this pure sound into expansive/expressive sprawls of mesmerizing, meditative minimalism, the sound varying greatly from track to track, whether it's the near atonal din of opener "Of Jack's Darbari", or the downright folky "Wings Of Dirt", they both revolve around the drone, as do all the tracks here, the thread that binds all these sounds together. And the fact that the various instruments can be busy on their own, unfurling flurries of notes, that on their own, would have a completely different vibe than as part of the whole, where all of that business, simple adds texture, and propulsion, tonal color and depth, and these songs are deep, the sort that require deep listening to truly appreciate the sort of spiritual sonic tradition these guys are a part of. LaMonte Young, Pandit Pran Nath, Henry Flynt, Charlemagne Palestine, Catherine Christer Hennix, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Pelt's incredible body of work most definitely fits among those masters, and this live document demonstrate that Pelt can still channel that cosmic energy and form it into gorgeous, transcendental sound. In almost any form. The band really do explore every facet of the raga/drone here. Deep sonorous tones crafted from scraped bells and bowed metal, become a hushed metallic shimmer, rife with subtle movement and endless tonal variation, huge clouds of blurred shimmer are formed from piano notes drifting atop abstract percussion, and lush room reverb, wheezing chords are layered and layered, wreathed in keening streaks of high end, fiddles and harmoniums woven into a lustrous prismatic soft focus skree, dark bell tones hover over muted rhythms, wrapped in woozy metallic shimmer, and a mournful fiddle emits an aching, scraping tone, while below, thick slabs of metal rumble and whir. So incredible.
Packaged in a super striking, gorgeously psychedelic, full color, heavy gatefold jacket. LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!!
MPEG Stream: "Of Jack's Darbari"
MPEG Stream: "Wings Of Dirt"
MPEG Stream: "Ashes Of A Photograph"

PELT Empty Bell Ringing In The Sky (VHF) cd 12.98
Four stunning live recordings of droning psychedelia that falls much closer to the hazy feedback improvisiations from Matthew Bower (Skullflower, Total, Sunroof) or the bowed cymbal/"pipe fights" of Organum. One of the tracks included is from their amazing show they did for the Terrastock festival in 1998.

PELT Empty Bell Ringing In The Sky (VHF) lp 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Four stunning live recordings of droning psychedelia that falls much closer to the hazy feedback improvisiations from Matthew Bower (Skullflower, Total, Sunroof) or the bowed cymbal/"pipe fights" of Organum. One of the tracks included is from their amazing show they did for the Terrastock festival in 1998.

PELT Heraldic Beasts (Eclipse) 2lp 24.00
If there was ever a band suited to the double lp format it would be Pelt. Their massive drone raga epics can fill a cd in a blink of an eye. Theirs is the sort of transcendental inner space music that you want to drift on for ever and ever. So four side long slabs of glacial buzz and dreamlike drift is just about perfect. Each side a slow shifting swirl of buzz and whir, thick layers of shimmering swaying creakling crumbling colossal sound. Epic expanses of grinding bombinating active ambience. On Heraldic Beasts maybe more than any other Pelt record, the band get seriously fierce, kicking up super caustic walls of gritty guitar and harsh feedback, huge Total like dins that often (but not always) settle down into more familiar moody murkiness. Neo Appalachian guitar hero Jack Rose is in there somewhere, as Pelt is his musical day job, but he's not channeling Fahey here, instead, he's possessed by the spirit of Haino, spitting out huge surges of molten guitar skree which the band then twists into dronelike shapes. Most of this disc occupies the dreamlike raga space we've come to associate with Pelt, but there is most definitely plenty of supercharged blown out psychedelic freakout scrabble and skree, that fans of SUNN, Skullflower, Fushitsusha and the like will find well worth checking out.
Packaged in an ultra deluxe full color gatefold and pressed on super thick vinyl!

PELT Max Meadows (VHF) cd 12.98
"The third album of down flowing, long on trip drone out and free-form out jams from Virginia's leading explorers of gravitational let-go. Seven tracks of multi-multi instrumental out of body frozen bliss removal. Most excellent." --handy description from the fine folks at Revolver.

PELT Pearls From The River (VHF) cd 13.98
Pelt, those Terrastock-levitatin', coolie-hat wearin' boys from Virginia have a new disc (along with Sunroof! and Vibracathedral Orchestra, one of three new VHF goodies). We've been lookin' forward to more from Pelt ever since their fine 2001 double cd Ayahuasca, and Jack Rose (1/3 of Pelt)'s contribution to that great Wooden Guitar compilation also whet our appetite for more. And more we get, the Pearls From The River being three long tracks of instrumental acoustic pseudo-ethnic drone-folk psych raga. Repetitive, mantric, stone-zoned.
Are Pelt ISB wanna-bes? Sure. Why not? Are they white guys inspired by the musics of other cultures, from India to Appalachia? Sure. Of course. More power to 'em. Tune in, or turn on your own drone makin' mojo. We can't say Pelt are a better listen than some Indian classical music, or your old Incredible String Band LPs, or whatever -- and they wouldn't either. But you'd have to be super uptight not to enjoy their bowed, bassed, and banjoed journeys into both darkness and light. And I also dig Byron Coley's parody of radical '60s drug-speak styled liner notes. They're a joke right? I mean, "Fuck Death"? I dunno how this music exactly expresses resistance to the regime of George W. Bush & Co., as Coley suggests, although it's true that somehow it doesn't seem like it could have been made by Republicans!
MPEG Stream: "Pearls From The River"

PELT Skullfuck / Bestio Tergum Degero (VHF) cd 13.98
Jack Rose may be the new John Fahey, the modern master of neo-Appalachia, his steel string skills unsurpassed, but he still calls Pelt home. Rose, lets his bandmates in Pelt, Patrick Best, Mikel Dimmick and Mike Gangloff take him away from his pick and twang and together they explore a slow motion soundscape of ghostlike ragas and endless drones. Dark dense landscapes of chiming bells, buzzing strings, and warm whispery whirs. The first track here is actually a Jack Rose song, and it sounds like it. Lilting mournful steel string guitar, with the other guys in Pelt swirling and swooshing, in, under, around and over Rose's guitar with an assortment of exotic instruments, harmonium, sruti box and singing bowls as well as gongs and flutes and fiddles. The rest of the disc is made up of the lengthy 3 part "Bestio Tergum Degero", a cavernous wash of rich overtones and metallic reverberations, huge swells of sound like metal waves on an iron sea, microscopic vibrations traveling lazily the length of a soft metal soundscape. Lush and hauntingly alien, a dark dreamy, slightly ominous drone drenched drift. As always, so nice!
MPEG Stream: "Calais To Dover"
MPEG Stream: "Bestio Tergum Degero Pt. 1"

PELT Untitled (VHF) cd 13.98
Folks around these parts (including us) have been freaking out over the gorgeous post-Fahey, neo-Appalachian guitar playing of Jack Rose, whose last few records have been massive AQ faves and whose dark and droning, delicate fingerpicked guitar work had us completely mesmerized from the first time we heard it. Makes it easy to forget sometimes that Rose has been making music for years with his equally talented bandmates as Pelt, a group that conjures up extended instrumental ragas, expansive pulsing suites of drone and shimmer, from all manner of bowed strings, bowed metal, hurdy gurdy, sundry Eastern instruments, and simple percussion as well as more traditional instruments like guitar and cello albeit utilized in highly unconventional ways. Makes sense in a way, as Rose's solo guitar is definitely informed by his years exploring the extended drone in Pelt. This new Pelt record, featuring a slightly expanded lineup, continues their quest to discover the heart of the drone, nirvana attained by never ending sound, sonic ripples that pulse and reverberate into infinity, a lovely and mind blowing musical head trip. The first track is a static shimmer, a swirling keening drone, that unlike much drone music, is not at all simple, instead it is a lush and multi layered wash of minor key melodies, stretched and smeared into a slightly ominous, almost cinematic extended dirge, intense and gorgeously imbued with all sorts of feeling and emotion, not often found in experimental minimalist musicks. The second track features Rose's immediately recognizable steel string guitar, which is soon disrupted by creaking streaks of sound and eventually overtaken by a thick fog of moaning cellos, morphing from an Eastern-tinged raga, to a throbbing fuzzed out drone, and eventually settling into a spare ramshackle soundscape of creaks and clatter. Track three is classic Ur-drone, not all that dissimilar to Sunroof! or Total or Vibracathedral orchestra, a cloud of keening high end skree cobbled together from percussive overtones, bowed metal, and ringing harmonics. The final track is a brief splatter of madly sawed cellos, creaking and squeaking strings and random splattery percussion, almost a musical version of 'shaking it off', sort of decompressing after nearly an hour of intense spiritual musicality. All you cd-r hounds / drone-heads that slobber all over everything Sunroof!, Vibracathedral Orchestra, Celebrate Psi and the like should definitely explore the magical mystical world of Pelt.
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 1"
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 3"

PELTOLA, MARKKU Buster Keatonin Ratsutilalla (Ektro) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
It's always exciting when we get a new release on Jussi from Circle's Ektro label. Will it be South American stoner rock? Will it be an unearthed Finnish psych/folk rarity? Will it be an L.A. sort-of-glam band Andee was obsessed with when he was a freshman in high school? We never know. This latest release is from a man named Markku Peltola and there's very little information to be gleaned about him from the Ektro website other than he is a famous Finnish actor and played in the semi-legendary Finnish underground band Motelli Skronkle. But no background is really neccessary to enjoy this beautiful gem. Dreamy, almost chamber ensemble-ish pieces, with strings and acoustic guitar and occasional electronic embellishments. The first band that leapt to mind was the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, and it's the comparison that seems to make the most sense. Light and breezy instrumentals with melancholy strings soaring over bubbly, bouncy rhythms. With the very lo-fi casio beats cropping up occasionally. Sometimes lounge-y, sometimes soundtracky, sometimes a little like a wedding reception. It may sound very pastoral and tame, but there are moments where there's some sort of weird creepiness hovering just below the surface with droney horns and the occsional garbled vocals. Although for the most part this is pretty and simple and quite nice.
MPEG Stream: "Sahkosatula"
MPEG Stream: "Ou-Ou-Ah?"
MPEG Stream: "Notskilla"

PELTOLA, MARKKU & BUSTER KEATON Tarkistaa Lannen Ja Idan (Ektro) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Everything's in Finnish here so we're not totally sure where the band's name stops and the title begins. We've heard from this Markku Peltola guy once before on the Ektro label, with a lovely disc in 2003 called Buster Keatonin Ratsutilalla. Now it seems that Buster Keaton is part of the band name? Of course the real Buster Keaton was a brilliant silent film comedian way back when, and it would seem that Markku Peltola, apparently a famous actor himself in Finland, is a big Buster Keaton fan. Beyond that all we know is that this music is all instrumental, very moody and pretty and sort of chamber-proggy. We compared the other Peltola disc to Penguin Cafe Orchestra and that still applies. It definitely makes sense that this was released on Jussi of Circle's label, since some of this, especially the 13-minute "Juuri NŠin!", sounds just a bit like Circle side project Ratto Ja Lethisalo. Also Peltola was a member of a weird Tom Waitsy Finnish prog outfit called Motelli Skronkle of which we know Jussi was a big fan (and in fact a Motelli Skronkle collection is forthcoming on Ektro!).
So, how to describe this? These songs are mild and melancholic, but also rather peppy. There's strings and violin and acoustic guitar and sad horns and clip-clopping, tip-toeing percussion. It all has a sort of genteel, old world charm...nice nice nice. It could be a soundtrack to a quirky Finnish indie film, or the recording of the house band in some really hip cafe where the everyone sits around nodding and smiling wistfully and tapping their feet. We imagine the habitues of this cafe being well-dressed, wearing hats, maybe giving each other sly looks or staring dreamily into space, and perhaps spilling their coffee when the music suddenly gets nervous and frantic (which it threatens to do sometimes, but doesn't really). Strangely irresistable.
MPEG Stream: "Menopeli"
MPEG Stream: "Paha Kurki"

PELTONEN, AKI Radio Banana (SNDDCTR) cd 14.98
It's not often you hear a record with matter-of-fact song titles like "Drums, Accordion and Ambient" or "Orchestra, Accordion and MW-radio #1". More to the point, such instrumentation is a bit unusual. But that's what we have here with Finnish accordionist Aki Peltonen's quite wonderful (and ever so slightly weird) Radio Banana. He's part of the music scene in Pori, Finland, home to AQ faves Circle, some of whom participate here (the cover painting is by Circle's Mike Ratto). Quirky and cafe/cabaret-like, Peltonen's accordion can be delightfully melodic, dancing alongside an 'orchestra' of trumpet, alto sax and trombone. Or, equally entrancing, it's sometime accompanied only by just drumming. In both circumstances, what might be too jaunty and 'fun' and NPR-friendly gets subverted by Moog noises and medium-wave radio sounds, seeping into these tracks from the ether and establishing the queer reality of Peltonen's Radio Banana.
MPEG Stream: "Accordion and Drums"
MPEG Stream: "Orchestra, Accordion and MW-radio #2"

PENATE, JACK Matinee (XL Recordings) cd 15.98

MPEG Stream: "Spit At Stars"
MPEG Stream: "Torn On The Platform"
MPEG Stream: "Got My Favorite"

PENETRATORS, THE Basement Anthology 1976-84 (Swami) cd 14.98

MPEG Stream: "Teenage Lifestyle"
MPEG Stream: "Baby Dontcha Tell Me"
MPEG Stream: "#1 Band In Town"

PENGUIN CAFE ORCHESTRA Music From The Penguin Cafe (Virgin) cd 15.98
This recently re-mastered 1976 debut album from the deliberately obscurant and unclassifiable Penguin Cafe Orchestra has always been one of our favorites. Led by the classically trained multi-instrumentalist and composer Simon Jeffes, who frustrated with the limitations and rigor of traditional classical music and inspired by the freeing structures of ethnographic folk music and minimalist aesthetics, created a surreal hybrid of sorts. Forming a chamber ensemble of various players performing with strings, electric piano guitar, ukulele and spinet, this first PCO album is actually compiled from 3 years of recording with different variations of the ensemble under different names (ZOPF, Penguin Cafe Quartet, etc.) that would eventually become the Penguin Cafe Orchestra proper. Neither truly classical nor truly ethnographic in any telltale way, the music has the dreamlike quality of a Jorge Luis Borges short story involving a nonexistent far-flung island colony and the intriguing presence of a foreign visitor who shouldn't be there. Yet, it's highly listenable, oddly structured at times, and sometimes deeply melancholic (the 12 minute "The Sound of Someone You Love Who Is Going Away and Doesn't Matter" is one of the most beautifully sad and amazing compositions we've heard). Originally released on Brian Eno's Obscure imprint, The PCO had several worthy releases, before Jeffes died in 1997 of a brain tumor. Luckily, his son Arthur has taken over the reins and has not only overseen the re-mastering and reissuing of the PCO back catalogue, but has been touring with a new incarnation of the group as well!
MPEG Stream: "From The Colonies"
MPEG Stream: "The Sound of Someone You Love Who's Going Away and It Doesn't Matter"
MPEG Stream: "Chartered Flight"

PENNY ARKADE Not The Freeze (Sundazed) cd 16.98
You've heard this before: "lost, unreleased '60s psych gem discovered and finally released after 30-some years!" Many cds have made that claim...and, well, most of 'em simply demonstrate *why* the record wasn't released back when (and furthermore, why it shouldn't get released now, either). However, although skepticism is warranted, once in a while a genuine gem IS unearthed. Penny Arkade's 1967-1968 recordings, we're happy to say, fall into that glad catagory. While not as mind-blowing as, say, the Public Nuisance release two years ago, it's definitely gonna be a treat for fans of '60s California psych-pop. The Penny Arkade apparently were a popular act on LA's Sunset Strip, they were hip and cool, but while big in the LA scene -- and having "Talented Monkee" Michael Nesmith as their producer -- never ever actually "made it". And none of the music they recorded was ever released under their own name until now (more on that later). The liner notes (penned with detail and verve by Ugly Things editor Mike Stax) give the mundane reasons, but listening to their music you'll still wonder... These guys indeed sound kinda like the Monkees, with some Byrds and Buffalo Springfield in 'em too, and their material ranges from folky, countryish pop to kaleidoscopic psych (like the 12 minute title track) with some moments of bliss for you fuzz fanatics. (To make a non-'60s comparison, we'd have to say that some of this reminds us a bit of Olivia Tremor Control.)
Now, here's the weird part: ever hear of an obscure acid-casualty hippy singer-songwriter from the early '70s named Maitreya Kali? He issued two privately-pressed LPs, Apache and Inca, both of which were reissued a while back on cd, and interested many collectors of things psych...well Mr. Kali is actually Craig Smith, one of the singers and songwriters in the Penny Arkade, who dropped out of the band to travel the world and, presumably, do lot of drugs.
Apparently quite a few of the (really good) tracks on those Apache and Inca albums were really Penny Arkade recordings. One of those songs, the wonderful "Country Girl", was compliled on a comp called Yee-Haw! The Other Side of Country which we reviewed a few years back, and when I first heard this Penny Arkade disc I was like, hey, I know that song. Turns out Glen Campbell also covered it at one point, but what we were familiar with was the original, by way of Maitreya Kali. So if you were ever intrigued by Maitreya Kali, you need to check out this, the real deal (with better sound).
Kudos to Sundazed for another fine release! Keep diggin', guys!
MPEG Stream: "Country Girl"
MPEG Stream: "Love Rain"

PENS Hey Friend! What You Doing? (De Stijl) cd 13.98
'Tis the season for blown out and supercharged lo-fi burners and we can't say we mind one bit. Band after band, this eruption of buzzy stumbly hook filled garage-y pop is pretty impossible not to love. Pens are a great addition to the current crop of noise-poppers like Wavves, Dum Dum Girls, Vivian Girls, etc. Luckily they defiantly have their own take on that sound, as the record opens with what sounds like thumb piano before erupting into a full on garage pop anthem. Pens are a London trio who infuse wonderfully swirling psychedelic moments into their Shaggs like crash and burn approach to way-in-the-red and dizzyingly fucked up pop. There is something so spirited and punk rock about their sound and approach, imagine your favorite riot grrrrl band on Woodsist! Bikini Kill mixed with Wavves? You get the idea, a hectic, urgent and way damn pleasing musical ruckus!
MPEG Stream: "Horsies"
MPEG Stream: "Fuckufuckinfuck"
MPEG Stream: "High In The Cinema"

PENS Hey Friend! What You Doing? (De Stijl) lp 14.98
'Tis the season for blown out and supercharged lo-fi burners and we can't say we mind one bit. Band after band, this eruption of buzzy stumbly hook filled garage-y pop is pretty impossible not to love. Pens are a great addition to the current crop of noise-poppers like Wavves, Dum Dum Girls, Vivian Girls, etc. Luckily they defiantly have their own take on that sound, as the record opens with what sounds like thumb piano before erupting into a full on garage pop anthem. Pens are a London trio who infuse wonderfully swirling psychedelic moments into their Shaggs like crash and burn approach to way-in-the-red and dizzyingly fucked up pop. There is something so spirited and punk rock about their sound and approach, imagine your favorite riot grrrrl band on Woodsist! Bikini Kill mixed with Wavves? You get the idea, a hectic, urgent and way damn pleasing musical ruckus!
MPEG Stream: "Horsies"
MPEG Stream: "Fuckufuckinfuck"
MPEG Stream: "High In The Cinema"

PENTAGRAM First Daze Here (Relapse) cd 14.98
Maryland-based doom metallers Pentagram are on some kinda roll, following up their recently released and quite awesome album "Sub-Basement" (see the review on AQ-list 128) with this collection of stuff they recorded almost 30 years ago! Yep, they've been around that long, although only vocalist/mastermind Bobby Liebling still remains from the lineup documented here, the *original* '70s Pentagram. Thus the subtitle: The Vintage Collection. Twelve tracks circa 1972-1976, mostly rare singles and unreleased demo tracks. Some of these songs were re-recorded for later Pentagram albums, but many haven't been (yet). Some of my favorite tracks from this disc include:
"Starlady" ('76) -- why they didn't get signed on the strength of this potential single (a hit if I've ever heard one) I don't know. Or why KISS didn't buy the tune for their own use, that's perhaps even more of a mystery! (KISS's management was checking Pentagram out at the time, but no record deal resulted...)
"Forever My Queen" ('73) -- powerful doom metal that shows them at their Sabbath-like best (although, hearing this collection, you'll realize that Pentagram were equally into, and the equals of, other heavy contemporaries like Captain Beyond, Dust, and Blue Cheer).
"Last Days Here" ('74) -- it's like some Stones or "Raw Power"-era Stooges ballad, with Bobby doing his best Iggy impression.
"Be Forwarned" ('72) -- Pentagram re-recorded this epic, the A-side of first ever 7", on their 1994 "Be Forwarned" album, and when I first heard that version I knew it had to be an old song, 'cause it had such an authentic heavy psych vibe to it. So it's great to finally hear the original (more or less, see below).
"20 Buck Spin" ('73) -- again, the original version of a classic rockin' Pentagram track, covered recently by Pennsylvania doomsters Pale Divine.
All the tracks sound pretty great production-wise (except for the relatively lo-fi live rehearsal recording of "Last Days Here"), putting the previous Pentagram '70s rarities collection "Human Hurricane" to shame. Of course, Bobby did re-master and clean up these tracks in 2001. He also took the opportunity to add some vocals and guitar to "Be Forwarned", for reasons probably known only to him. There's also a few other questionable edits or fades only a Pentagram collector would notice. But such modern-day meddling doesn't detract in any way from the might of the music on offer. It's great stuff, and simply amazing to hear it sounding so good. Pentagram fans have a high tolerance for poor sound (witness the pretty much unlistenable live bootleg LPs that have been released) but this time, you get to *hear* the music as well as own the disc! Recommended to Pentagram fans (obviously) and ANYONE who likes good heavy '70s rock and roll! One of Relapse's best releases, ever.
MPEG Stream: "Forever My Queen"
MPEG Stream: "Starlady"

PENTANGLE The Time Has Come 1967-1973 (Sanctuary) 3cd 57.00

PEOPLE Ceremony - Buddha Meet Rock (Phoenix) cd 17.98
Yay! Back in print! New label, new packaging, and also now on vinyl!
1971 strikes again! Here's a new cd reish of this beautifully freaky album by a Japanese "Buddhist-psych" band called People, featuring guitarist Kimio Mizutani (who played with Love Live Life + 1, Hiro Yanagida, and others, and did a solo album called A Path Through Haze). There's monk-like chanting and resounding gongs, field recordings of birds and street sounds, and even, strangely enough, samples from soulful psych-funk producer David Axelrod's classic 1968 album Song Of Innocence. And of course heavy wah wah guitar action. The album is a real 'trip', much of it indeed very ceremonial-sounding, venturing from blissful grooves with tick-tock rhythms ("Shomyo Part 2") and placid, lovely droniness ("Prayer Part 1") to sheer pounding electric fuzz riffage laced with screams of orgasmic ecstasy ("Prayer Part 2"). The puzzling use of those lush, orchestral Axelrod samples on the first and last tracks just helps to make this somehow both very much of its time and also way ahead of it (since Axelrod is heavily sampled by folks today as well!). Quite recommended.
This was previously reissued by Teichiku, but that one's been gone for a while. This new reissue on Phoenix is the same price, with the cd packaged in one of their usual "wallet" style cardboard sleeves - and they also did vinyl.
MPEG Stream: "Flower Strewing "
MPEG Stream: "Prayer Part 2"