PHELPS, JOEL RL & DOWNER TRIO Inland Empires (Moneyshot) cd 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
It took until today for me to realize how similar indie rock crooner Joel Phelps (formerly of Silkworm, now of Downer Trio) can sound to country singer Iris DeMent -- there's something achingly gorgeous in the way both singers will s-t-r-e-t-c-h out a vowel until it twists upon itself painfully. Here Phelps delivers one plainly gorgeous original (which appears to be about the premature death of his sister) amidst six covers: two songs by the aforementioned angel-voiced DeMent, plus tracks by Fleetwood Mac, Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt, and the Go-Betweens. This is one of those quiet, simple, very very subtle singer-songwriter records that will creep under your skin if you let it -- and it doesn't matter that he didn't write all the songs because Joel's delivery redefines each one (indeed, fans of the covered artists will love this record, as will worshippers of Elliot Smith and Will Oldham). With acoustic guitar, piano, and occasional understated percussion. Absolutely lovely and highly recommended.
RealAudio clip: "Songbird (Christine McVie)"
RealAudio clip: "Apology Accepted (Forster/McLennan)"
RealAudio clip: "Our Mother the Mountain (Townes Van Zandt)"

PHELPS, JOEL RL & THE DOWNER TRIO Customs (Moneyshot) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Let's be honest. Joel Phelps was the best thing about Silkworm. Nothing against the other guys, they're all great musicians. But Phelps was the magic ingredient. His aching anguished wail, and ultra miserable, pensively bittersweet songwriting turned an indie rock band into something so much more. We loved old Silkworm, but when one of Joel's songs would come on, it would seriously bring us to the edge of tears. So fucking brutal and intense and emotional and just so goddamn good. So while it was a sad day for Silkworm when he left, we didn't have to wait long for Joel to strike out on his own and form his appropriately monickered Downer Trio. Most of Phelps's records have had severely limited lifespans falling out of print almost as soon as people could discover them. Which is a huge shame as Phelps is definitely one of the most important, and possibly least well known songwriters today. But that HAS to change soon, as Phelps has the most heart rending, soul stirring voice this side of the late Elliott Smith. But unlike Smith's whispery rasp, Phelps has a HUGE voice, a wailing almost falsetto, that is rough around the edges and only gets rougher when he belts it out, threatening to crack, but always right on. His band in the past has woven delicate, twangy moody indie rock janglescapes to back him up, and still does some of the time, but quite often on Customs, the Downer Trio have their amps on 10 and the sound is loud and raucous, but no less emotional and intense. Still minor key, still pained and dripping with gorgeous miserablism. Each song is an exercise in tension, building and building, chugging guitars and minor key melodies with Phelps vocals sending shivers down your already goosebump covered spine. If only all 'indie rock' was this intense and perfect!
For a limited time, comes with a bonus disc featuring two extra originals and three covers, "Pink Frost" (The Chills), "24 Hours" (Joy Division) and "Right Now" (Townes Van Zandt).
MPEG Stream: "From Up Here"
MPEG Stream: "Be First"
MPEG Stream: "Lamplighter"

PHEW s/t (Pass) cd 30.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

PHILEMON ARTHUR AND THE DUNG Musikens Historia Del 1 Och 2 (Silence) cd 17.98

PHILEMON ARTHUR AND THE DUNG The Very Pest Of (Silence) cd 17.98

PHILLIPS, BRITTA & DEAN WAREHAM L'Avventura (JetSet) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Not at all surprisingly, this full length collaboration between Luna's mainman Dean Wareham and Luna's bassist Britta Phillips is a feather-soft dreamy affair. Very much in the tradition of pairings such as Gainsbourg/Birkin or Sinatra/Hazlewood, and yet overall, it's not really all that dissimilar to that of their main band -- if perhaps with an increased air of sophistication and filled with a few more swirling string and keyboard arrangements. They take turns delivering drowsy droll (Wareham) and wispy cooed (Phillips) lead vocals, occasionally hooking up for a lovely duet or two and covering songs by Buffy Sainte-Marie ("Moonshot"), The Doors ("Indian Summer") and Madonna ("I Deserve It"). Produced by Tony Visconti no less!
MPEG Stream: "Moonshot"
MPEG Stream: "Knives From Bavaria"

PHILLIPS, DAVE & R.H.Y. YAU Illusion Is A Natural Condition (Auscultare) cd 12.98
Five years in the making, Illusion Is a Natural Condition brings together two of the finest noise artists the world has ever witnessed. Sure, Merzbow and Hijokaidan can hit you with their molten sounds of psychedelic excess; but San Francisco's Randy Yau and Switzerland's Dave Phillips achieve their tempestous recordings through a violent dichotomy between silence and sound. This sharp contrast effectively puts you on edge throughout the listening experience, as you never know when the next attack is going to arrive. In any given track, Yau and Phillips pack together recordings of their gutteral screams and dribbling gurgles of one of the actionists shoving something down his throat that just doesn't belong there. Occasionally, the sound of flies circle around the sickened vocalizations, as if investigating a hospital patient with a sucking chest wound. Pigs squeal. Demons roar. All of these sounds are compressed into track rarely longer than a minute, punctured by extended silences and ruptured by terse blasts of motorized noise and absurdly rendered ultra-violence that would bring joy (or is that pain?) to die-hard Wolf Eyes' fans. Recommended noise for those with a very strong stomach.
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 16"
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 20"

PHILOSOPHER'S STONE Apparatus (Kranky) cd 13.98
The second album from Gareth Mitchell (ex-Amp) of hermetic guitar alchemy on which the quiet guitarist toiled for over 9 months to master the drone rock equivalent to Raster's blip bleep minimalism. A much more successful piece than his previous outings.

PHOAMING EDISON Sold! To the 2nd Highest Grady (Dark Beloved Cloud) cd 11.98
Solo work from a member of Uncle Wiggly.

PHOBOS Tectonics (Candlelight) cd 7.98
Candlelight offered us the last copies of a few of their going-out-of-print titles at a big discount, so we picked up a couple old faves - this one, and Spektr's Near Death Experience - to relist for you at a very nice sale price, 50 percent off what we used to sell 'em for. So if you missed this before when it came out in 2005, you should grab it now. We only have a few...
Self described as 'industrial doom', the French outfit known as P.H.O.B.O.S. take the industrial pummel and clattery chaos of classic Godflesh, the serpentine song structures of Voivod and the grim grating brutality of the most bizarre black metal, and wind it all into a dense, hateful, slow motion black hole beast, plodding and pounding mercilessly, like some sort of unstoppable behemoth, crushing everything in its path, sucking life, spitting fire, spewing jagged shards of metallic blackness. The sound of a million monstrous jackboots, marching endlessly toward some unspeakably bleak final destination. The stretched out feedback soaked abstract doom of Khanate, given an industrial makeover, throbbing Teutonic rhythms, never even coming close to midtempo, instead pounding out impossibly slow rhythms, the whole thing wrapped in white hot sheets of feedback, and churning tarpit riffage, with the occasional melody tossed in, surviving only briefly, like a cow thrown into a river full of pirahna, the whole thing exploding in a churning, bloody froth before settling back into the relentless machine like crush. And despite all that brutality, it's also amazingly hypnotic and listenable, with some of the beauty of the post-Godflesh outfit Jesu wethinks.
Originally released on the Appease Me label, run by Phobos' French metal brethren Blut Aus Nord.
MPEG Stream: "Gregarious"
MPEG Stream: "Wisdoom"

PHOENIX It's Never Been Like That (Astralwerks) cd 13.98
Here's the thing about Phoenix...every record they make has a least 2 or 3 songs that are great! totally charming, unique and irresistible. The kind of songs you can't leave off of mix tapes, the kind of songs you are always excited to find in jukeboxes, or hear in a good movie (Sophia Coppola knew that as she helped give the band a new lease on life by including their great song "Too Young" in her film Lost In Translation). For every great song Phoenix writes, unfortunately they have a couple duds to go with it, which has made all their albums pretty uneven listens. This newest outing sounds like their most consistent yet. With obvious hits like "Consolation Prizes" and "One Time Too Many" this French band is the kind of fun and smart listen we wouldn't mind hearing on the radio or MTV. The kind of band that's perfect to blast while you're on a carefree drive with the windows down and your best friends by your side.
MPEG Stream: "Consolation Prizes"
MPEG Stream: "One Time Too Many"

PHOENIX Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Glass Note) cd 14.98
You probably already heard a lot of the hype surrounding this record, and you know what? It's all totally true! Phoenix have created one of the best and most infectious pop records to come around in a very long time. We're talking start to finish every single song having hooks and melodies that sound so fucking great and are both breezy and catchy as well as so totally immaculately crafted.
This is one of those rare pop records that is both so smart and so fun. Imagine Saturdays=Youth era M83 covering the Strokes!!! Although comparisons seem a bit silly here as Phoenix have really made a super unique record, that kind of perfect summer pop jam that most bands only dream of and often spend their whole lives trying to make, only to fall flat over and over again. No matter where you are or what you're doing, when you listen to this record you're totally transported, it's a refreshing rush, the world seems sunshinier, the skies bluer, everything just sparkles and glistens. So cool and suave and slick in the best way, it's impossible to not fall in love with Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. So many folks we know, who are into experimental music or electronica or other branches of more esoteric minded sounds, have just fallen head over heels for this new Phoenix record which is truly a testament to its undeniable universal appeal.
While past Phoenix records always had at least a few totally standout tracks, none of those records can possibly compare. Some of us here, pop fanatics for sure, were pretty skeptical, having not been that impressed with past record, and not believing the hype, but after hearing just the opening track, naysayers were silenced, and almost immediately transformed into rabid fans, playing this to death, in the store AND at home. Sparkling, hook laden, well produced power pop bliss. This one's gonna be a bigtime contender for pop record of the year!
MPEG Stream: "Lisztomania"
MPEG Stream: "Fences"
MPEG Stream: "Lasso"

PHOENIX Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Glass Note) lp 21.00
Now available on vinyl!
You probably already heard a lot of the hype surrounding this record, and you know what? It's all totally true! Phoenix have created one of the best and most infectious pop records to come around in a very long time. We're talking start to finish every single song having hooks and melodies that sound so fucking great and are both breezy and catchy as well as so totally immaculately crafted.
This is one of those rare pop records that is both so smart and so fun. Imagine Saturdays=Youth era M83 covering the Strokes!!! Although comparisons seem a bit silly here as Phoenix have really made a super unique record, that kind of perfect summer pop jam that most bands only dream of and often spend their whole lives trying to make, only to fall flat over and over again. No matter where you are or what you're doing, when you listen to this record you're totally transported, it's a refreshing rush, the world seems sunshinier, the skies bluer, everything just sparkles and glistens. So cool and suave and slick in the best way, it's impossible to not fall in love with Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. So many folks we know, who are into experimental music or electronica or other branches of more esoteric minded sounds, have just fallen head over heels for this new Phoenix record which is truly a testament to its undeniable universal appeal.
While past Phoenix records always had at least a few totally standout tracks, none of those records can possibly compare. Some of us here, pop fanatics for sure, were pretty skeptical, having not been that impressed with past record, and not believing the hype, but after hearing just the opening track, naysayers were silenced, and almost immediately transformed into rabid fans, playing this to death, in the store AND at home. Sparkling, hook laden, well produced power pop bliss. This one's gonna be a bigtime contender for pop record of the year!
MPEG Stream: "Lisztomania"
MPEG Stream: "Fences"
MPEG Stream: "Lasso"

PHOSPHENE Projection (Secret Eye) cd 12.98

PHOSPHENE RIVER s/t (self-released) cd 10.98
When Brooklyn's White Hills was here last week (they played a rad instore, hope you made it), they brought us some copies of this new compilation on which they appear, alongside the likes of Mammatus, The Heads, Kawabata Makoto, Residual Echoes, Plastic Crimewave Sound, Fuzzhead, and a couple others (many of whom are depicted in the cover drawing montage, done by Plastic Crimewave, whose art you may know from his Galactic Zoo Dossier 'zine). Heavy duty, fuzzed out, psychedelic stoner rock nirvana here, folks! But it's NOT exactly a comp, actually. It's the follow-up to an out of print disc called Jamnation that we reviewed (thumbs up) a few years back. And that's the catch, kinda. Both Jamnation and now Phosphene River aren't just various artists collections, they're spoken word projects from the fevered mind of one Dan McGuire, who lays down his gritty beatnik poetry overtop the instrumental spacey effects laden bliss and/or throbbing distorted guitar riffage being pumped out by these bands. We've said it before, we'll say it again, we're not so big on the spoken word thing. You'll never catch us at a poetry slam. BUT, we gotta say, first off McGuire's rambling Lizard King orations, we can deal with, usually. His subject matter is surreal and sinister enough to somewhat make up for the sheer self parodic silliness of the whole spoken word thing. And, his words don't really get in the way of the music, which is really why we're listening. He slips right in there like he belongs, instead of being a total distraction. He's got a cool, gritty voice (we compared him to turned on, dropped out John Wayne / Henry Rollins hybrid before) and sorta sounds like the hardboiled detective doing the voiceover in some '50s noir movie, except with the drug fueled, fear & loathing laden, imagination of a Hunter S. Thompson. Even when he's getting Biblical, as he does on the PCS track "Are You A Dragon". His streams of consciousness can be sort of hypnotic - we'll admit to listening less to what he's saying and more to the heavy sound of the whole thing. And as we said when we reviewed Jamnation, McGuire has a knack for knowing when to back off and leave space for the music. He'll let a track play halfway through sometimes before opening his mouth - and the tracks he's selected for this disc are of course good 'uns, as you might have already guessed from the quality lineup who contributed. It's pretty well done for what it is!
So, if you like stoner psych -and- spoken word, this is for you for sure. If just stoner psych, well we'd say that this comp is rad enough to withstand the inclusion of all that jawing. And think about it, McGuire's purple flow of deviant verbiage is really not that different from what these band's guitarists are doing with their axes, wailing away, off on their own freaky trips...
MPEG Stream: FUZZHEAD "Her Kind"
MPEG Stream: WHITE HILLS "Potter's Field"
MPEG Stream: MAMMATUS "Sire"

PIANO MAGIC Artists' Rifles (Rocket Girl) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
With last year's artistic triumph "Low Birth Weight" (avant-rock nursery rhymes doused with macabre Victorian antiquity), Piano Magic delivered on the promise of their stunning debut, the updated-for-the-nineties Young Marble Giants-influenced "Popular Mechanics." So we had high hopes for the third album. But it's records like "Artists' Rifles" that propagate the myths of certain musicians as morose pasty whiners who sound as if they can't do much but shoot heroin, barely get out of bed, and be self-proclaimed geniuses. The record completely falters in stepping well beyond the boundaries of self-pity to encompass a sound that wouldn't be far from King Missile if they wrote funeral dirges (and not charmingly dorky pop ditties) for 4AD all the while convincing Kramer to add that shimmering reverb excess. Oh well.

PIANO MAGIC Dark Horses (Make Mine Music) cd 14.98
Hurrah! something new from Piano Magic! The only unhappy thing about it is that it's an all too brief four song ep. We found ourselves hitting the 'play' button again every seventeen minutes. Never know quite what to expect whenever a new release from Glen Johnson & Co. crosses our threshold...
Delicate shimmering whimsical art pieces? Brooding heady molasses-rock? Wall o' guitars? Sparkly electronic chamber pop? We can attest that whatever they've offered up thus far though has seldom disappointed. They seem to be moving in a more straightforward guitar driven rock direction these days that we certainly didn't anticipate. The title track and the final one both threw us for a loop. Very very slow with an almost goth gloominess, sinewy and Doors-esque even! It also drew some comparative musings to the darkest side of The Go-Betweens. The two songs in the middle are far more familiar. "Stations" is a velvety languid number sullenly sung by Johnson, and "Vacancies" is the dreamy pop surprise treat on the cd. Sung sweetly by Angele David-Guillou, it'll surely also please fans of the sadly defunct UK band Delgados! Lovely!
MPEG Stream: "Dark Horse"
MPEG Stream: "Vacancies"

PIANO MAGIC I Came To Your Party Dressed As A Shadow (Acuarela) cd ep 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Moments on this ep hint at the lovely wonder that was Piano Magic's "Low Birth Weight" album but falls just a bit short of reaching the sparkling splendour of that release. However, if you loved "LBW" but were sadly disappointing by their most recent full length ("Artists Rifles"), you just might want to check this out. Perhaps this is a sign of a return to form for Piano Magic? Our fingers are very crossed.

PIANO MAGIC Incurable (Important) cd 10.98
For the first song on this new Piano Magic cdep, the British group takes a turn into more of a Euro-pop direction. Imagine a more sullen Saint Etienne. Much to our delight, Angele David-Guillou's charmingly soft, wistful vocals are presented front and center for the first two numbers.
They're followed by one gorgeous instrumental and one sung by mainman Glen Johnson. That adds up to four sumptuous moody beauties! Aaaah, in terms of the Piano Magic of yesteryear (well, 1999 to be exact) that we hold so near and dear to our hearts (namely their very out-of-print Low Birth Weight album), it seems like they've found their way back to that enchanting/enchated place. More please!
MPEG Stream: "Incurable"
MPEG Stream: "Giant Mirror To Light Up Village"

PIANO MAGIC Low Birth Weight (Rocket Girl) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
With such a visual grasp on the surreal puppets of Jan Svankmajer, Piano Magic invokes the musical equal to a Victorian cabinet of curios - carefully arranged avant-pop songs filled with macabre nursery rhymes that shimmer & sparkle in spite of the dust, dimly lit spaces, and eerie moodiness. Quite similar to the early incarnations of His Name Is Alive or the later days of Tear Garden. Quite possibly Piano Magic's best, most focused work. Stunning!

PIANO MAGIC Opencast Heart (Important ) cd 11.98
The Important Records sticker that's plastered to the shrinkwrap of this album plainly states that "this is the most purely electronic record Piano Magic has ever made." Yes, that is certainly true; although the mood and atmosphere of Opencast Heart is no different hear than on previous Piano Magic records, as Glen Johnson (who's Piano Magic's chief songwriter / producer and only returning member of each incarnation for the band) continues to spin delicate, precious songs whose fragility hint at something slightly dark and wintery. With the icy electronic whirrs and naked vocals from both Johnson and chanteuse Angele David-Guillou, Opencast Heart has more in common with the Mark Van Hoen / Locust recordings than with the archetypal 4AD sound that Johnson had reified on the Piano Magic classic album Low Birth Weight.
MPEG Stream: "Echoes On The Ice"
MPEG Stream: "This Heart Machinery"

PIANO MAGIC Part Monster (Important) cd 14.98
Some may exclaim, "Alas!" upon a first listen to Piano Magic's seventh album Part Monster... For the band seems to have shed their beloved persona as being the darkly whimsical aural equivalent of a Quay Brothers film. Where there once were feathery filigrees and antique gilt melodies are now rushes of sleek modern rockisms. Admittedly the heftier '80s/'90s Brit rock guitars and an overall aggressive edge initially rubbed a few of us the wrong way a bit. The album's third track "Incurable" actually sits comfortably next to the latest album by Blonde Redhead, while the fifth "The King Cannot Be Found" straddles the dissonant rock fence between Sonic Youth and The Cure. Yes, this is a bigger, bolder Piano Magic. Part Monster was produced by Guy Fixsen (member of Laika and producer/engineer for the likes of My Bloody Valentine, The Pixies, Stereolab, The Breeders, and Lush) no less, which might explain the degree to which the deeply effected guitars take centerstage. This new Piano Magic might takes some getting used to, but after the initial shock dissipates Part Monster retracts its claws briefly, revealing the still present sumptuous chamberly charms of the Piano Magic of old. You need only listen to the slower, velvety fourth number "Soldier Song" to be mesmerized once again by their, ahem, magic.
MPEG Stream: "Incurable (reprise)"
MPEG Stream: "Soldier Song"
MPEG Stream: "The King Cannot Be Found"

PIANO MAGIC Saint Marie EP (Green UFOs) cd ep 12.98
You never know quite what to expect from each new Piano Magic release. There's sure been some highs and loooows in past few years. Granted, Piano Magic standards were set pretty high by their enchanting 1999 album Low Birth Weight (sadly now out of print). That was truly something special, and unfortunately Glen Johnson and co. just haven't quite hit that mark with subsequent releases. But this ep certainly has its hight points, among them the presence of Low's Alan Sparhawk, Cornershop's Ben Ayres and wonderful '70s UK vocalist Vashti Bunyan (who previously appeared on their 2002 Writers Without Homes album). The music of Piano Magic is ever shadowy, somber, fragile and richly poetic, and these six songs are no exception filled with stuttering rhythms, fluttering tremoloed guitars, haunting strings and glistening synth washes. That said, the three instrumentals and three vocal songs here are perhaps their darkest and most intense work to date.
MPEG Stream: "Wrong Turn"
MPEG Stream: "Fantasia On Old English Airs"

PIANO MAGIC Seasonally Affective 1996-2000 (Rocket Girl) 2cd 21.00
Falling somewhere between a best of and a rarities collection, "Seasonally Affective" is a diverse sampling of the Piano Magic back catalogue, capturing both the gems (i.e. their magnifciently Victorian "Low Birth Weight" album) and duds (i.e. their hopelessly pretentious "Artists' Rifles") from this melodramatically inclined outfit that specializes in an '80s ethereal revivalism hybridized with contemporary post-rock. Certainly worthwhile to get if you missed all of those super limited split singles and vinyl only releases, but if you're looking for a great Piano Magic album, "Low Birth Weight" is still their strongest release to date.
RealAudio clip: "French Mittens"
RealAudio clip: "Fun Of The Century"
RealAudio clip: "I Am The Sub-Librarian"
RealAudio clip: "Winter Sport"

PIANO MAGIC Son de Mar (4AD) cd 17.98
Glen Johnson - Piano Magic's ringleader and only consistent member on all of the albums - has admittedly never left the dark baroque sounds of the '80s behind, especially those of early Dead Can Dance, The Wolfgang Press, and Tones on Tail. Thus, for him to sign to 4AD and record with producer John Rivers (Dead Can Dance, Love and Rockets, Felt, This Mortal Coil, etc.) must have been a wet dream come true. "Son de Mar" is Piano Magic's first outing on 4AD, composed as a soundtrack for the Spanish film maker Bigas Luna. With elements originally found on the Darla album "The Trick Of The Sea," Piano Magic has created a dreamy album that moves through haunting glide guitar passages, looping bells, delicate violins, and mildly Gothic overtures, punctuated by the all too obvious sound of waves crashing against the rocks. While "Son de Mar" is not as good as their masterpiece "Low Birth Weight," this is a nice return to Piano Magic's brittle darkness, which had previously collapsed under the overbearing pretention of their "I Came To Your Party Dressed As A Shadows" e.p.

PIANO MAGIC The Fun of the Ocean (Piao!) 12" ep 9.99
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Unanimous AQ-favorite! The next best thing to the Young Marble Giants, and that is saying a lot. Delicate, bittersweet electronica-pop that updates the aforementioned Giants with subtle dinginess reminiscent of Third Eye Foundation. This is one of the groups that beautifully bridges the ever-closing gap between indierock and electronica. We highly recommend you give this taster, or their full length, a try.

PIANO MAGIC The Troubled Sleep Of Piano Magic (Green UFOs) cd 17.98
The teaming up of Piano Magic and 4AD would have been such a good match had Piano Magic existed 15 years earlier, as their dreamy songs of Victorian miserablism would fit perfectly alongside the early recordings of Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Wolfgang Press, and Modern English. However, 4AD has moved well into singer-songwriter territory during the past decade releasing work by the likes of the Mountain Goats and Red House Painters, and cast away many of the bands and sounds which formed their early history. Oh well. This discussion of 4AD is neither here nor there anyway, as with The Troubled Sleep Of Piano Magic, the band (which is pretty much just chief songwriter Glen Johnson and whoever else happens to be around) turns from their stint on 4AD to the tiny Spanish label Green UFOs. With a references to Durutti Column-esque guitar patter, Disco Inferno's underappreciated songs, and Godspeed You Black Emperor's soaring glide guitars, Piano Magic sets an overcast mood of theatrically languid expressions and perfectly follows up all of their earlier records. With all of the emphasis upon death disco as the current retro obsession from the '80s, it's nice to hear a well-executed twist on the desperate romanticism that was also quite prominent in the '80s underground.
MPEG Stream: "Saint Marie"
MPEG Stream: "Speed The Road, Rush The Lights"
MPEG Stream: "I Am The Teacher's Son"

PIANO MAGIC Writers Without Homes (4AD) cd 22.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Like the Ivo Watts-Russell / John Fryer productions as This Mortal Coil, Glen Johnson supports his endeavors in Piano Magic by surrounding himself with a constantly rotating crowd of talented guests. Where This Mortal Coil tipped the balance in their favor in covering pre-existing material (Syd Barrett, Alex Chilton, Tim Buckley, as well as other 4AD outfits like Modern English and Rema Rema), Piano Magic is firmly based upon the Johnson's ability to delegate and collaborate in order to compose new material. At his strongest on the Victorian-tinged album "Low Birth Weight," Johnson shaped his various collaborations into a cohesive, yet multi-faceted album dominated by an atmosphere of aristocratic sadness and dignified decay. Such moods have been the goal for Johnson ever since, but without the same success. This isn't to say that "Writers Without Homes" is a bad album, in fact it's quite good. But in comparison to its predecessor, this falls a little short.
With a few exceptions of bombastic percussion and theatrical vocalizations, Johnson crafts his bittersweet pop miniatures out of simple and quiet elements: a gently lulling piano, an unassuming acoustic guitar, and hushed / whispered vocals shrouded in the classic 4AD production of glistening bohemian miserablism. Johnson has rounded up an impressive roster of collaborators including '60s folk maven Vashti Bunyan, Simon Raymonde (ex-Cocteau Twins), Robert Lippok & Bernd Jestram of Tarwater, Robert Johnstone (Life Without Buildings), and plenty more.
RealAudio clip: "Crown of the Lost"
RealAudio clip: "Modern Jupiter"
RealAudio clip: "Already Ghosts"

PIANOS BECOME THE TEETH Old Pride (Top Shelf) cd 10.98
One genre in heavy music, that a whole bunch of aQ-ers consider critical to their musical development, is in fact WAY underrepresented on the aQ list, partially cuz much of the music that made up that genre happened well before the advent of the aQ new arrivals list, but also because so few contemporary bands can pull that sound off, at least convincingly. What the heck are we talking about? SCREAMO. Yep, wild, chaotic, short sharp post punk heaviness, some of our faves include Orchid, Mohinder, Swing Kids, Portraits Of Past, Heroin, Antioch Arrow... those live shows were legendary, heaving masses of sweaty flesh, the line between audience and band blurred or obliterated completely, sets as short as 10 minutes, still packed with 15 songs of furious hardcore frenzy, there were definitely politics going on too, but it was the sound that had us smitten, the energy, the passion, the emotion, that first wave of screamo was obviously heavily indebted to Rites Of Spring, Die Kreuzen and other early hardcore and post hardcore combos, but the screamo bands took that sound and cranked it up, supercharged it, shortened the songs and blew the living fuck out of it.
Very few bands today can pull off that sound, or even try, there's Comadre, and Ampere, and a few others, and now you can add Pianos Become The Teeth, but the cool thing about PBTT, are that they take that classic screamo sound and meld it to a seemingly diametrically opposed sound, that sort of Godspeed You Black Emperor, slow build epic post rock majesty! And somehow it works. The energy and passion, the bursts of furious howling musical catharsis wedded to something more smoldering and patient, and the mix is pretty fucking fantastic, the group lurching from dense tangles of wild punkish crunch to soaring epic psychedelic blow outs, the songs super complex, constantly shifting mood and emotion, but keeping the tension ratcheted way up. "Quit Benefit" features insane squalls of wild octopoidal drumming, stuttering arrangements and dramatic pauses, haunting stretched out sheets of feedback, cool hard panned guitar jangle, the song a non stop frenzy of ever shifting rhythms, incredibly lush and melodic but all snarled up, but with a distinct melodic vibe running through the whole thing. "Pensive" finds the band locking into a churning slow build, with still more intense and relentless drumming, the guitars sharp and angular, the vocals howled and oozing with pathos, every song is a dizzying mile a minute post punk emo screamo epic, the band slipping so easily from indie jangle to rabid grinding punk and back again, but after nearly 30 minutes of that incredible and insanely cathartic level of sustained energy, the band offer up the final track, "Young Fire", a gorgeous post rock drift, all clean spidery guitars, simple skeletal rhythms, woozy twangy melodies, a slow build part way through to something more heavy, but never letting go, never exploding into a wild freak out, instead, letting the song unfurl lazily, the various sounds slowly slipping away, eventually leaving just a single reverbed guitar to play the record out. So lovely.
And the whole record, so fucking heavy and epic and emo(tional), definitely a big new favorite around here, and for folks who have been missing the days of the Orchid and Mohinder and Gravity Records, this is as about as close as you're gonna get to making it back there, but as is obvious from the above, Old Pride is less about looking back, and more about taking that sound, and dragging it forward, into the NOW.
MPEG Stream: "Filial"
MPEG Stream: "Quit Benefit"
MPEG Stream: "Pensive"

PIANOS BECOME THE TEETH The Lack Long After (Top Shelf Records) cd 12.98
We made last year's Old Pride, from post screamo heavies Pianos Become The Teeth our Record Of The Week when it came out, as it pushed all our buttons: the furious chaotic, post hardcore of screamo, the soaring epic emotion and about-to-crack vocal-ed intensity of emo, and the brooding slow build intensity of post rock. And on this most recent record, the band continue to hone this hybrid, pushing all of those elements further and further, crafting something this time around that dials back the chaotic punkish intensity just a bit, and focuses more on the expansive majestic side of their sound, pushing them in a direction more along the lines of Explosions In The Sky, the sort of sound, that sans vocals, would be the perfect music for some super moving moment in a film or a TV show, when everything comes crashing down, and the main character is walking dejectedly in the rain, head hung low, contemplating just what to do next, overwhelmed by life. This is the sort of 'punk rock' we grew up on, intense and emotional and moving, the sort of stuff you'd put on that cathartic crush / break up mixtape, and blast in your car, to either get the guts to talk to that crush, or to try desperately to forget about your broken heart. The power of punk rock here recast as something more lush and layered, the songs intricate and carefully crafted, but without losing that intense drama, or that extreme emotion, and while the screamo/punk elements may be dialed back, they're still present, and are exactly what gives this stuff it's power, the guitars chiming and ringing out one second, buzzing and grinding the next, the drums dense and wild and heavy hitting, the songs brooding and building into churning psychedelic squalls, the anguished super emotional vocals, just pushing it over the top. It sounds cliched, but they really don't make music like this anymore, or more specifically, they probably actually do, it's just nearly as amazing as this. Definitely a new favorite from an old favorite, and another one of those records that easily could have been another Record Of The Week, just like the first one.
MPEG Stream: "I'll Be Damned"
MPEG Stream: "Good Times"
MPEG Stream: "Shared Bodies"

PICASTRO Metal Cares (Polyvinyl) cd 13.98
There's a somber heaviness to the music of Canadian ensemble Picastro. Its ebb and flow creeps from your stereo speakers like molasses -- smooth, dark, and bitter-bittersweet. Each song takes its time, moving at its own pace like the ocean's tide or the slow rise and fall of a sleeping person's chest. Much like their previous album 2002's Red Your Blues, this is very soundtrack-y in the Godspeed You Black Emperor / Mogwai sort of way, but with increasingly potent, hand-wringing female vocals along the lines of Shannon Wright or PJ Harvey. You might also liken them to Black Heart Procession with a female singer -- oh such intoxicating melancholia. Will you let Picastro brings you dowwwwwwn?
MPEG Stream: "Dramaman"
MPEG Stream: "Teeth And No Eyes"

PICASTRO Red Your Blues (Pehr) cd 13.98
Picastro are a quintet from Toronto, ON who've actually been around for many years, but have waited until now to present their debut album. A lovely collection of shadowy melancholia, this would be very much at home on either Thrill Jockey or Godspeed You Black Emperor's headquarters Constellation Records, but no, instead it graces the roster of Los Angeles' Pehr Records. Red Your Blues begins with some gentle guitar, a minimal snare drum beat and slowly gliding cello that leads to the slightly drowsy, slightly brittle female voice of Liz Hysen, quite akin to that of Trailer Bride's Melissa Swingle, Cat Power's Chan Marshall or fellow Canadian Julie Doiron. Highly emotive and intimate. The instrumentation moves smoothly from bare bones acoustic guitar to more complex, lush full band arrangements with creeping strings, warm piano, additional guitars, washes of feedback and plenty of toms in the percussion section. At times quite haunting and atmospheric. Fans of the above-mentioned labels and groups as well as Rachel's, Shipping News, Dirty Three, take note!
RealAudio clip: "Winter Notes"
RealAudio clip: "The Sea Will Kill You"

PICASTRO Whore Luck (Polyvinyl) cd 14.98
The third full length from this Toronto band is a haunting, handwringing journey. They sound drugged out, but the listening experience is sobering. Pretty much every song reels with a chilling plod of despair, and the ones that don't (such as "Stair Keeper") still possess an unsettling whimsy, and seem to be inspired by the spare melancholic folk of Sybille Baier. As always, they're very akin to the dissonance laced soundscaping school of Godspeed You Black Emperor -- shifting through unstructured percussion, whinnying strings and distortion swells, settling into a melodic passage for brief soul-searching spells -- but this time a little more of an indie rock slouch infiltrates their sound. Whore Luck features guests Final Fantasy's Owen Pallett and Xiu Xiu's Jamie Stewart. The latter appears on their cover of The Fall's "An Older Lover, Etc". They also do a rendition of Roky Erickson's "If You Have Ghosts". For your most dour days.
MPEG Stream: "Hortur"
MPEG Stream: "Stair Keeper"

PICCHIO DAL POZZO s/t (Vinyl Magic) cd 26.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Perhaps you're familiar with that kick ass Prog Is Not A Four Letter Word compilation on Delay 68? It's sure been a big seller hereabouts. One of the bands that compiler Andy Votel introduced us to via that collection was an Italian group by the name of Picchio Dal Pozzo. Their track "La Merta", in all its gently gorgeous glory of tinkling, buzzing, and wordless vocal "aaaah-aaaahhing", made us curious to hear more by them! Turns out "La Merta" was taken from this, their self-titled debut originally released in 1976 on the Grog label. And indeed it was indicative of the mellow and mysterious delights of this album, a work of cosmically spacey, jazz-inflected, psychedelic chamber-prog inspired by the Canterbury sounds of Robert Wyatt era Soft Machine (indeed, it bears a dedication to "Roberto Viatti" aka Robert Wyatt). They were probably into Terry Riley too. Yet nothing prepared us for track three, this record's ten-minute masterpiece, the suite entitled "Seppia" that freakin' blew our minds with its droning, throbbing, Magmoid, synth-sizzling heaviness. Wow! Have the Boredoms heard this?? So, a very nice record indeed, with at least one track that just takes things to another level entirely. Seriously, if you're like us you'll being playing that one over and over again. Instantly a new Italian prog fave here -- half the AQ staff bought copies for themselves!
MPEG Stream: "La Merta"
MPEG Stream: "Seppia"
MPEG Stream: "La Bolla"

PICCHIO DAL POZZO s/t (Goodfellas) cd 28.00
The prog-fiends at AQ (and everyone at AQ is a prog-fiend when it comes to Picchio Dal Pozzo) were stoked to find a new reissue had just come out of this awesome Italian prog album, and on vinyl now, too!!!
Here's what we said a while back about the previous, cd only reish:
Perhaps you're familiar with that kick ass Prog Is Not A Four Letter Word compilation? It's sure been a big seller hereabouts. One of the bands that compiler Andy Votel introduced us to via that collection was an Italian group by the name of Picchio Dal Pozzo. Their track "La Merta", in all its gently gorgeous glory of tinkling, buzzing, and wordless vocal "aaaah-aaaahhing", made us curious to hear more by them! Turns out "La Merta" was taken from this, their self-titled debut originally released in 1976 on the Grog label. And indeed it was indicative of the mellow and mysterious delights of this album, a work of cosmically spacey, jazz-inflected, psychedelic chamber-prog inspired by the Canterbury sounds of Robert Wyatt era Soft Machine (indeed, it bears a dedication to "Roberto Viatti" aka Robert Wyatt). They were probably into Terry Riley too. Yet nothing prepared us for track three, this record's ten-minute masterpiece, the suite entitled "Seppia" that freakin' blew our minds with its droning, throbbing, Magmoid, synth-sizzling heaviness. Wow! Have the Boredoms heard this?? So, a very nice record indeed, with at least one track that just takes things to another level entirely. Seriously, if you're like us you'll being playing that one over and over again. Instantly a new Italian prog fave here - half the AQ staff bought copies for themselves!
MPEG Stream: "La Merta"
MPEG Stream: "Seppia"
MPEG Stream: "La Bolla"

PICCHIO DAL POZZO s/t (Goodfellas) lp 30.00
The prog-fiends at AQ (and everyone at AQ is a prog-fiend when it comes to Picchio Dal Pozzo) were stoked to find a new reissue had just come out of this awesome Italian prog album, and on vinyl now, too!!!
Here's what we said a while back about the previous, cd only reish:
Perhaps you're familiar with that kick ass Prog Is Not A Four Letter Word compilation? It's sure been a big seller hereabouts. One of the bands that compiler Andy Votel introduced us to via that collection was an Italian group by the name of Picchio Dal Pozzo. Their track "La Merta", in all its gently gorgeous glory of tinkling, buzzing, and wordless vocal "aaaah-aaaahhing", made us curious to hear more by them! Turns out "La Merta" was taken from this, their self-titled debut originally released in 1976 on the Grog label. And indeed it was indicative of the mellow and mysterious delights of this album, a work of cosmically spacey, jazz-inflected, psychedelic chamber-prog inspired by the Canterbury sounds of Robert Wyatt era Soft Machine (indeed, it bears a dedication to "Roberto Viatti" aka Robert Wyatt). They were probably into Terry Riley too. Yet nothing prepared us for track three, this record's ten-minute masterpiece, the suite entitled "Seppia" that freakin' blew our minds with its droning, throbbing, Magmoid, synth-sizzling heaviness. Wow! Have the Boredoms heard this?? So, a very nice record indeed, with at least one track that just takes things to another level entirely. Seriously, if you're like us you'll being playing that one over and over again. Instantly a new Italian prog fave here - half the AQ staff bought copies for themselves!
MPEG Stream: "La Merta"
MPEG Stream: "Seppia"
MPEG Stream: "La Bolla"

PICCIONI, PIERO The Seduction Of Piero Piccioni (Cherry Red) cd 16.98

PIDGEON From Gutter w/ Love (Absolutely Kosher) cd 12.98
These new members of the Absolutely Kosher family (which also includes Wrens, Pinback, Xiu Xiu, Eltro, Jim Yoshii Pileup) are a puzzling blend of twee jangle pop and angular Sonic Youth-y art rock. Some songs are strictly one or the other, but every so often they come together... and it somehow works! Made us wonder: Is there a songwriting competition goin' on? Their sound is most characterized by the alternating sweetie-pie female vocals (quite akin to Juliana Hatfield and Rose Melberg) and considerably more aggressive, screamo boy vocals (a blend of Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo). Quite cool.
MPEG Stream: "The Second One"
MPEG Stream: "Down"

PIECES I need 5 minutes alone (Avant) cd 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Buckethead and DJ Disk of the Invisbl Skratch Piklz.

PIEL DE PUEBLO Rock De Las Herdas (Record Runner) cd 15.98
1972, Argentina: hard rockin', heavy bloozin', proto-metal political protest band Piel de Pueblo ("Village Skin") record and release their one and only album, which we recently discovered via this reissue, being intrigued by its cover painting featuring a blood-dripping Earth whirling through space, orbiting a bummed-out Sun that's crying a single tear...
Piel de Pueblo make some prog moves here - there's electric violin on a couple of the tracks (reminding us of early UK heavies High Tide) - but mostly it's all about the wailing wah-wah guitar solos, and distorted fuzzed-out riffage (also reminding us of High Tide, for that matter).
"La Tierra En 998 Pedazos" is the psychedelic epic here, at 9 minutes plus (thus finding time for some gentle melodiousness amidst the riff-rock), but most of the other songs are right around 3 minutes or so, rockin' out for the duration. Fans of Mexico's Los Dug Dugs at their most "Loco" should investigate, likewise if you're into Piel de Pueblo's fellow countrymen Pappo's Blues...
Booklet includes Spanish-language lyrics, band photo, and a brief note about the history of the band in both Spanish and English.
MPEG Stream: "Silencio Para Un Pueblo Dormido"
MPEG Stream: "La Tierra En 998 Pedazos"
MPEG Stream: "Sexo Galactico"

PIEL DE PUEBLO Rock De Las Herdas (Beat Generation) lp 21.00
NOW REISSUED ON VINYL TOO!!!
1972, Argentina: hard rockin', heavy bloozin', proto-metal political protest band Piel de Pueblo ("Village Skin") record and release their one and only album, which we recently discovered via this reissue, being intrigued by its cover painting featuring a blood-dripping Earth whirling through space, orbiting a bummed-out Sun that's crying a single tear...
Piel de Pueblo make some prog moves here - there's electric violin on a couple of the tracks (reminding us of early UK heavies High Tide) - but mostly it's all about the wailing wah-wah guitar solos, and distorted fuzzed-out riffage (also reminding us of High Tide, for that matter).
"La Tierra En 998 Pedazos" is the psychedelic epic here, at 9 minutes plus (thus finding time for some gentle melodiousness amidst the riff-rock), but most of the other songs are right around 3 minutes or so, rockin' out for the duration. Fans of Mexico's Los Dug Dugs at their most "Loco" should investigate, likewise if you're into Piel de Pueblo's fellow countrymen Pappo's Blues...
Booklet includes Spanish-language lyrics, band photo, and a brief note about the history of the band in both Spanish and English.
MPEG Stream: "Silencio Para Un Pueblo Dormido"
MPEG Stream: "La Tierra En 998 Pedazos"
MPEG Stream: "Sexo Galactico"

PIENZA ETHNORKESTRA Indiens D'Europe (12 Productions) cd 22.00
Prog rock and/or Magma fans, pay attention: what we've got here is a smokin' live album from a three-piece instrumental group featuring current Magma guitarist James MacGaw. He's on electric bass here, joined by drummer Daniel Jeand'heur and Thierry Bruneau on "vielle a roue". What's that? Some sort of traditional French hurdy-gurdy type of instrument, apparently. And that's what gives the Pienza Ethnorkestra their special flavor. MacGaw's burbling, burping basslines and Jeand'heur's propulsive, peppery battery are exciting enough, but add to that the wild fiddle-ish flights of melody and stretches of melancholic drone from Bruneau's ancient instrument and you've got an amazing hybrid of a Magmoid rhythm section and a Balkan gypsy wedding band. Indeed, several of the tracks here are traditional Bulgarian and Hungarian folk tunes, fitting in perfectly with the originals written by this "ethnorkestra".
To reference two AQ faves with Eastern European influences, we'd say that the frenzied energy with which Pienza Ethnorkestra approach this material (and the occasional electric-guitar like distortion applied to the vielle a roue) make this sound more like Tatsuya Yoshida's Koenjihyakkei (with strings) than it does like Steven R. Smith's Hala Strana. That this is a live recording only increases our amazement at how much these three kick ass. And the audience whoops it up appropriately. You might too, listening to his at home.
MPEG Stream: "Ali Lennti"
MPEG Stream: "Gengis Khan"

PIERCE, GARRETT All Masks (Crossbill) cd 11.98
Wow! Bay Area troubadour Mr. Garrett Pierce has continued to nurture and refine his songcraft in a big big way. All Masks blossoms and flourishes onwards from his previous two releases (a now out of print self-titled cdr from 2004 and the full length beauty Like A Moth which was released on Crossbill Records in 2006). Some of the songs on his latest album verge on the epic yet still maintain his intimate earthy heart. The core of his composed, yet at ease music is solidly rooted in the traditions of good ol' Americana, but this time he's incorporated some '60s pop styled gently rockin' sway (check out "Tonight"!) and gorgeous orchestral embellishments (as heard on the opening track "Your Feet In Wet Cement") to very tasteful good effect. He's fine lyricist too. From his pen flows richly evocative poetic phrases and fully realized story telling. Wonderful! Actually if you dug his fellow singer/songwriter friend Matt Bauer's last album The Island Moved In The Storm which also had a similar 'coming into one's own' feel this is very much for you (psst, Mr. Bauer makes a banjo and vocal guest appearance on one song)! Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Your Feet In Wet Cement"
MPEG Stream: "Tonight"

PIERCE, GARRETT s/t (self-released) cd-r 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
On his self-titled first album SF singer/songwriter Garrett Pierce treads the well-worn path previously and currently trodden by such fine earthy pop gents as Mark Eitzel, Will Oldham, Mark Kozelek, and Jason Molina... and he more than holds his own among these vets. An impressive debut.
MPEG Stream: "River"
MPEG Stream: "Fresno"

PIERCED ARROWS Descending Shadows (Vice) cd 13.98
The sudden breakup of garage punk legends Dead Moon caught more than a few people off guard, but we safely assumed Fred and Toody Cole, rock n' roll lifers by definition, wouldn't sit still for too long. Now Fred and Toody are back at it with new drummer Kelly Halliburton, and fans of the Coles' vast musical history will surely rejoice. The sound is not too far removed from Dead Moon - in fact, we might go as far as to say that it isn't in any way removed - so if you dig scuzzy, no frills rock free of all bullshit, this will be right up your alley. Descending Shadows cuts right to the point with production that is upfront and immediate, not at all over the top, working perfectly for these impassioned tunes. Vocals are split pretty evenly between the Coles and there is plenty of great husband and wife punk harmonizing. The songs are full of classic Pacific Northwest fuzz and grit, with Toody's simple driving basslines and Halliburton's steady pound working right alongside Fred's melodic riffing. For fans of Dead Moon, this one is a no brainer, while Descending Shadows is also a highly worthy place to start for the uninitiated. Really awesome stuff, not surprisingly.THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now available on vinyl!
The sudden breakup of garage punk legends Dead Moon caught more than a few people off guard, but we safely assumed Fred and Toody Cole, rock n' roll lifers by definition, wouldn't sit still for too long. Now Fred and Toody are back at it with new drummer Kelly Halliburton, and fans of the Coles' vast musical history will surely rejoice. The sound is not too far removed from Dead Moon - in fact, we might go as far as to say that it isn't in any way removed - so if you dig scuzzy, no frills rock free of all bullshit, this will be right up your alley. Descending Shadows cuts right to the point with production that is upfront and immediate, not at all over the top, working perfectly for these impassioned tunes. Vocals are split pretty evenly between the Coles and there is plenty of great husband and wife punk harmonizing. The songs are full of classic Pacific Northwest fuzz and grit, with Toody's simple driving basslines and Halliburton's steady pound working right alongside Fred's melodic riffing. For fans of Dead Moon, this one is a no brainer, while Descending Shadows is also a highly worthy place to start for the uninitiated. Really awesome stuff, not surprisingly.
MPEG Stream: "This Is The Day"
MPEG Stream: "Paranoia"
MPEG Stream: "On The Move"

PIERCED ARROWS Descending Shadows (Vice) lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now available on vinyl!
The sudden breakup of garage punk legends Dead Moon caught more than a few people off guard, but we safely assumed Fred and Toody Cole, rock n' roll lifers by definition, wouldn't sit still for too long. Now Fred and Toody are back at it with new drummer Kelly Halliburton, and fans of the Coles' vast musical history will surely rejoice. The sound is not too far removed from Dead Moon - in fact, we might go as far as to say that it isn't in any way removed - so if you dig scuzzy, no frills rock free of all bullshit, this will be right up your alley. Descending Shadows cuts right to the point with production that is upfront and immediate, not at all over the top, working perfectly for these impassioned tunes. Vocals are split pretty evenly between the Coles and there is plenty of great husband and wife punk harmonizing. The songs are full of classic Pacific Northwest fuzz and grit, with Toody's simple driving basslines and Halliburton's steady pound working right alongside Fred's melodic riffing. For fans of Dead Moon, this one is a no brainer, while Descending Shadows is also a highly worthy place to start for the uninitiated. Really awesome stuff, not surprisingly.
MPEG Stream: "This Is The Day"
MPEG Stream: "Paranoia"
MPEG Stream: "On The Move"

PIERRE HENRY Messe Pour Les Temps Present (Mercury France) cd 25.00
Recently remixed by the likes of Coldcut, Fatboy Slim, William Orbit and a bunch of French people, this is the ORIGINAL ballet soundtrack that Pierre Henry scored in the late 60s, a truly bizarre mixture of psych rock and musique concrete. Rare import, hence the price.

PIERRE, L. Touchpool (Melodic) cd 14.98
L.Pierre... haven't we seen your face before? Hmmm, you kinda look like that Scottish lad Aidan Moffat, but you're French, right? Besides, your new instrumental album sounds nothing like his band Arab Strap. So you couldn't be one and the same, could you? Ah, but you are!
Each track on Touchpool is composed primarily from processed loops and programmed rhythms (although his fellow Arab Strapper Malcolm Middleton does step in to contribute some guitar on the fourth track "Baby Breeze"), and each evokes a different hazy atmosphere which could easily be put to good use on a film soundtrack. One odd moment on the album though is the sixth song "Velbon" on which Moffat, err, Pierre (formerly Lucky Pierre by the way) seems to be solemnly prodding at the melody to "Ave Maria" but never fully launches into it (and just as strangely brings it to a rather abrupt end). Likewise, there's not a great deal of development in the course of each of the other tracks neither. They tend to gradually come into view, linger in one place for a spell, and then fades away. Some folks may find this to be haunting and hypnotic, while others might find themselves seeking more stimuli after a few minutes.
MPEG Stream: "Jim Dodge Dines At The Penguin Cafe"
MPEG Stream: "Velbon"

PIERRE, L. Touchpool (Melodic) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
L.Pierre... haven't we seen your face before? Hmmm, you kinda look like that Scottish lad Aidan Moffat, but you're French, right? Besides, your new instrumental album sounds nothing like his band Arab Strap. So you couldn't be one and the same, could you? Ah, but you are!
Each track on Touchpool is composed primarily from processed loops and programmed rhythms (although his fellow Arab Strapper Malcolm Middleton does step in to contribute some guitar on the fourth track "Baby Breeze"), and each evokes a different hazy atmosphere which could easily be put to good use on a film soundtrack. One odd moment on the album though is the sixth song "Velbon" on which Moffat, err, Pierre (formerly Lucky Pierre by the way) seems to be solemnly prodding at the melody to "Ave Maria" but never fully launches into it (and just as strangely brings it to a rather abrupt end). Likewise, there's not a great deal of development in the course of each of the other tracks neither. They tend to gradually come into view, linger in one place for a spell, and then fades away. Some folks may find this to be haunting and hypnotic, while others might find themselves seeking more stimuli after a few minutes.
MPEG Stream: "Jim Dodge Dines At The Penguin Cafe"
MPEG Stream: "Velbon"

PIG DESTROYER Book Burner (Relapse) cd 14.98
Book Burner is the first record in 5 years from these grindcore gods. Their last full length was 2007's Phantom Limb, and as we mentioned in that review, as much as we dig these guys, we sort of dig PD frontman Scott Hull's -other- grind band even more, the twisted, warped, drum machine driven Agoraphobic Nosebleed, perhaps in part due to the fact that the music is not at all restrained by the limits of human drumming, which means that a lot of AnB stuff is ridiculously, and inhumanly fast, not to mention dizzyingly convoluted. But let's not sell PD drummer Adam Jarvis (who also plays in Misery Index) short, he comes about as close as any other human we can think of to insane hyperspeed drum damage, and the rest of the band follow suit, unfurling some seriously shredding, grinding heaviness, that in the world of grind really has no equal. We bitched about the more punky parts of the last record, and for the most part, that stuff has been jettisoned, in favor of lots of crushing slow and midtempo parts, that KILL, as well as crazy chunks of wild progged out math metal, which sound sooooo good, especially when paired up with bursts of lightning speed grinding blasts, the switch to churning chugging riffage only makes it sound that much heavier. And if anything, the sound of Pig Destroyer has continued to inch ever closer to that of Agoraphobic Nosebleed, more dense and complex, more furiously frenzied and fucked up. It's still somehow surprising the sort of hype this record's been getting, these guys popping up on the covers of all the metal mags, and no doubt filling up year end lists, but we have to say, as skeptical as we were, the more we listen to this, the more we're digging it, repeated listens yield a deeper appreciation of how fucking epic and relentlessly masterful this stuff really is, strap on some headphones and get lost in the wild squalls of grind, and the classic metal flecked churn and chug, a furious face melting modern grind metal powerhouse that jams 19 songs into 32 minutes, and sets the grind bar pretty goddamn high. As always, creepy artwork, demented lyrics, and a clutch of sick guest vocal spots from occasional PD/AnB vocalist (and full time Salome frontwoman) Kat Katz.
MPEG Stream: "Sis"
MPEG Stream: "The American's Head"
MPEG Stream: "The Underground Man"
MPEG Stream: "Eve"
MPEG Stream: "The Diplomat"