TAKAYANAGI, MASAYUKI NEW DIRECTION UNIT Axis Another Revolvable Thing Part 1 (Doubtmusic) cd 24.00
The late electric guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi is a legend in Japanese free jazz circles, a bold creator and explorer, who from the late '60s through the '90s broke down or went around the inside/outside jazz dichotomy, putting his axe to work in settings ranging from cool post-bop standards to textural tabletop noise experiments. Definitely an original, it's only for our convenience that he could be described as kind of like a Sonny Sharrock, Fred Frith, and Derek Bailey, all rolled into one. Even, say, Wolf Eyes teaming up with Anthony Braxton couldn't outgun Takayangi at his fiercest (by the way, that believe-it-or-not collaboration actually exists and is pretty cool, see elsewhere on this list for a review!). And here is a two volume set documenting the power and beauty of Takayangi's heavy duty, feedback-shaping skree circa 1975, in the context of his New Direction Unit, a quartet also featuring Nobuyoshi Ino on bass and cello, Hiroshi Yamazaki on percussion, and Kenji Mori on reeds.
Originally released on vinyl by a Japanese label called Offbeat, these two LPs have been coveted rarities pretty much ever since. A bit of a Holy Grail to some. So, we were excited (and expect some of you to be too) that these records have now officially reissued on compact disc, in nice miniature LP jacket styled cardboard sleeves, reproducing even the misspelling "Revolable" on their covers. They're Japanese imports on a great avant-garde music label called Doubtmusic (we'll have some other titles from them listed soon, including Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Orchestra doing a cover of Eric Dolphy's classic Out To Lunch album reviewed elsewhere this list) but we were able to get them for a decent price, $17, not bad at all considering we just saw that someone sold one of these very cds on eBay as a buy-it-now item for $40! Then again, who can put a price on wild and wooly, freeform "jazz" improv action like this?
Actually, both albums have their more quiet and gentle passages, of delicate string-scrabble, spacious drum-clank, and abstract, pretty reed blowing like birds a-twitter (in Takayangi's theoretical terminology, these pieces are called "gradually projection") that build up into denser, stormier freakouts wherein his guitar is fully unleashed and the rest of the group strains mightily to match (what Takayangi terms "mass projection"). On volume two, you get one gradually and two mass projections, while volume one features one gradually, one mass, and also a 13-minute percussion solo!
These reissues include the original liner notes by Teruto Soejima (translated into English, yay!). One paragraph stands out as being particularly descriptive: "Drifting through all of New Direction Unit's music is the scent of blood. Not old, clotted blood, but fresh blood. This isn't mere semblance of music; it's sound through which the blood of human beings has passed. Which is why, in the group's performances, blood seethes, flows against the current, burns, oozes, rises, congeals, is spewed out, gushes forth. Vivid red blood. Takayanagi's ultimate artistic aim may well be the the color of this blood." You might say ew, but listen and see if that doesn't seem true.
Additionally, for techies who need more than blood, we're provided with an obsessively detailed list of the specific microphones used for these recordings, along with the type of mixing console and tape recorder and even the precise brand of tape! It's a bit like the Fucking Champs do on their albums...
MPEG Stream: "Fragment VI"
MPEG Stream: "Fragment II"

TAKAYANAGI, MASAYUKI NEW DIRECTION UNIT Axis Another Revolvable Thing Part 2 (Doubtmusic) cd 24.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The late electric guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi is a legend in Japanese free jazz circles, a bold creator and explorer, who from the late '60s through the '90s broke down or went around the inside/outside jazz dichotomy, putting his axe to work in settings ranging from cool post-bop standards to textural tabletop noise experiments. Definitely an original, it's only for our convenience that he could be described as kind of like a Sonny Sharrock, Fred Frith, and Derek Bailey, all rolled into one. Even, say, Wolf Eyes teaming up with Anthony Braxton couldn't outgun Takayangi at his fiercest (by the way, that believe-it-or-not collaboration actually exists and is pretty cool, see elsewhere on this list for a review!). And here is a two volume set documenting the power and beauty of Takayangi's heavy duty, feedback-shaping skree circa 1975, in the context of his New Direction Unit, a quartet also featuring Nobuyoshi Ino on bass and cello, Hiroshi Yamazaki on percussion, and Kenji Mori on reeds.
Originally released on vinyl by a Japanese label called Offbeat, these two LPs have been coveted rarities pretty much ever since. A bit of a Holy Grail to some. So, we were excited (and expect some of you to be too) that these records have now officially reissued on compact disc, in nice miniature LP jacket styled cardboard sleeves, reproducing even the misspelling "Revolable" on their covers. They're Japanese imports on a great avant-garde music label called Doubtmusic (we'll have some other titles from them listed soon, including Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Orchestra doing a cover of Eric Dolphy's classic Out To Lunch album reviewed elsewhere this list) but we were able to get them for a decent price, $17, not bad at all considering we just saw that someone sold one of these very cds on eBay as a buy-it-now item for $40! Then again, who can put a price on wild and wooly, freeform "jazz" improv action like this?
Actually, both albums have their more quiet and gentle passages, of delicate string-scrabble, spacious drum-clank, and abstract, pretty reed blowing like birds a-twitter (in Takayangi's theoretical terminology, these pieces are called "gradually projection") that build up into denser, stormier freakouts wherein his guitar is fully unleashed and the rest of the group strains mightily to match (what Takayangi terms "mass projection"). On volume two, you get one gradually and two mass projections, while volume one features one gradually, one mass, and also a 13-minute percussion solo!
These reissues include the original liner notes by Teruto Soejima (translated into English, yay!). One paragraph stands out as being particularly descriptive: "Drifting through all of New Direction Unit's music is the scent of blood. Not old, clotted blood, but fresh blood. This isn't mere semblance of music; it's sound through which the blood of human beings has passed. Which is why, in the group's performances, blood seethes, flows against the current, burns, oozes, rises, congeals, is spewed out, gushes forth. Vivid red blood. Takayanagi's ultimate artistic aim may well be the the color of this blood." You might say ew, but listen and see if that doesn't seem true.
Additionally, for techies who need more than blood, we're provided with an obsessively detailed list of the specific microphones used for these recordings, along with the type of mixing console and tape recorder and even the precise brand of tape! It's a bit like the Fucking Champs do on their albums...
MPEG Stream: "Fragment IV"
MPEG Stream: "Fragment V"

TAKAYANAGI, MASAYUKI, & KAORU ABE Kaitai Teki Kohkan (Disk Union) cd 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Limited edition re-issue of an ultra rare 1970 recording by Japanese free improv legends Masayuki Takayanagi on guitar and Kaoru Abe on alto sax, bass clarinet and harmonica. Very noisy, "out" stuff for fans of Derek Bailey and Evan Parker.

TAKE UP SERPENTS (Prayers) From Beneath The Sand (Custodian, Color Zoo Containers) cd-r 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Latest batch of corroded sonic mystery from this former Bay Area outfit, now headquartered somewhere in the Rocky Mountains.
Recorded live on KFJC, this set is a head spinning blown out collage of processed sounds, fractured percussion, treated noise, warped feedback, a roiling, pulsing, swirling blur of muted rhythms, in-the-red sheets of sound, twisted and melting melodies, all framed by a strange narrator, his voice processed and transformed into something totally alien, a nonstop stream of political and paranoid invective, warnings, threats, advice and all manner of all woven and tangled in the ever shifting fields of abstract whir and skree. Warped tapes wrap around mumbled chants, everything hissy and hazy and washed out, bits of dialogue from films (?), field recordings, plenty of tape hiss, and degraded crumbling distortion, occasional stretches of spare almost ambience, but even those brief respites are laced with haunting sonic filigree, creaks and groans, clatter and clanks, whispers and rumbles, occasional bursts of tribal drumming pepper the streaks of high end and the stuttering low register whir, throbbing, pulsing, hypnotic and heavy in its own way. This is definitely noise, but more textural and sculpted, than just white out ear shredding pummel, plenty rhythmic, with loads of low end creep, and howling chaotic crunch, all the disparate sounds woven into a super freaky, otherworldly alien transmission from some other plane.
And like all the releases on Custodian, Color Zoo Containers, every release is stunning, most painstakingly hand assembled, these cds have super striking transparent inserts, with all sorts of symbols and strange text, that continues onto the sticker sealing it shut, the discs are printed so the disc image mirrors and blends into the cover image, and of course, these are SUPER LIMITED, only 97 COPIES, each one hand numbered!!!!
MPEG Stream: "Defining Terrorism / Invoke The Deities"
MPEG Stream: "Mythology (Part 1)"

TAKE UP SERPENTS Fragile Chess Coils Beige Ebony Set (Dolor Del Estamago) cd-r 4.50

MPEG Stream: "One"
MPEG Stream: "Three"

TAKE UP SERPENTS Swollen And Full Of Parasites (Custodian, Color Zoo Containers) cassette 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We've all been digging the recent cassette revival. It was inevitable really, as the cd-r became more common place, the tape became the underground format of choice. And in some ways we're all for it. Nowadays you can knock out a cd and a printed cover in minutes flat, the amount of effort it takes to release a cd-r borders on NONE (apologies to the labels who do it right, with gorgeous music, and great attention to packaging, you know who you are, and we love you). But with a tape, even the copying requires more time and effort. And it seems that folks making tapes understand this and have been going way out of their way to customize their releases, and make the look as special as the sound.
But none quite as impressively as Custodian Color Zoo Containers, a new tape label, whose packaging is so intricate and over the top, each one is a work of art, stunning and intricate and incredibly time consuming. So much so that these tapes have been in the works for more than a year, and when you see them you'll understand why. Our new favorite tape label in one fell swoop.
The very first release on the label is from former SF outfit Take Up Serpents, now based in Colorado. Recorded live, the sound is gritty and lo-fi, industrial and textural. It's hard to tell what the sound sources are. But the end result is awesome. Total ghetto-tech noise rock. Tons of space, lots of hiss and whir, huge chunks of pounding percussion, sheets of blown out FX, voices buried in the mix, layers of cricket-like skitter, some muffled drumming, some total old school metal on metal pound, some subtle new wave groove. Part Wolf Eyes, part Whitehouse, think Broken Flag records, Throbbing Gristle -- if we didn't know better, we might think this stuff was recorded in a warehouse in 1982 in London. Awesome.
And the packaging is a knockout. The tape itself has text hand written all over it, liner notes on one side, random text on the other, hand numbered, LIMITED TO 43 COPIES!!! Housed in a full color hand drawn/painted fold out transparent sleeve, all simple line drawings and big blobs of markered color. COOL.

TAKEMITSU, TORU Film Music Of Toru Takemitsu (Nonesuch) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Sort of a "Best Of" Toru Takemitsu, the highly acclaimed film score composer from Japan. Features the original music from Harakiri, Woman In The Dunes, Dodes'kaden, Kaseki, Banished Orin, Empire Of Passion & Rikyu. Plus there are three extra tracks of Takemitsu's music recorded by John Adams & the London Sinfonia from the films Jose Torres, Black Rain and The Face Of Another.

TAKEMITSU, TORU Film Music vol. 1 (JVC) cd 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

TAKEMITSU, TORU Film Music vol. 2 (JVC) cd 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

TAKEMITSU, TORU Film Music vol. 3 (JVC) cd 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

TAKEMITSU, TORU Film Music vol. 4 (JVC) cd 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

TAKEMITSU, TORU Film Music vol. 5 (JVC) cd 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

TAKEMITSU, TORU Film Music vol. 6 (JVC) cd 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

TAKEMURA, NOBUKAZU 10th (Thrill Jockey) cd 15.98
Longtime AQ fave Nobukazu Takemura -- ex-Mo'Wax-style club DJ, Steve Reich remixer, Tortoise collaborator, Powerbook maestro -- offers a new full length of bubbly electronica / pop with attention to texture, whether it is bass like a quiet heartbeat, or chiming bell-like electronic tones cavorting in the background like Raymond Scott gone minimalist techno, or glitchy clicks goodnaturedly jockeying for position.
On 10th, Takemura also really gets into the frankly-fake casio-filtered vocals that have made occasional appearances in his past work. This time the vocals, often sung in English, are cut up into delightful little snippets, sounding like a happily hiccupping big sister of the sad Mac guy on OK Computer. Fans of Mouse on Mars and other burbly bloopy fun electronica, take note!
RealAudio clip: "A Puff of a Word"
RealAudio clip: "Wandering"

TAKEMURA, NOBUKAZU 10th (Thrill Jockey) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Longtime AQ fave Nobukazu Takemura -- ex-Mo'Wax-style club DJ, Steve Reich remixer, Tortoise collaborator, Powerbook maestro -- offers a new full length of bubbly electronica / pop with attention to texture, whether it is bass like a quiet heartbeat, or chiming bell-like electronic tones cavorting in the background like Raymond Scott gone minimalist techno, or glitchy clicks goodnaturedly jockeying for position.
On 10th, Takemura also really gets into the frankly-fake casio-filtered vocals that have made occasional appearances in his past work. This time the vocals, often sung in English, are cut up into delightful little snippets, sounding like a happily hiccupping big sister of the sad Mac guy on OK Computer. Fans of Mouse on Mars and other burbly bloopy fun electronica, take note!

TAKEMURA, NOBUKAZU Assembler / Assembler 2 (Thrill Jockey) cd 14.98
The first track on highly regarded Japanese electronicist Nobukazu Takemura's newest album harkens back to his first domestically-released record Scope. Its clicks and high end chatters are melodically arranged into an Oval-ish pleasant modern sound. The rest of the tracks on the record, however, are more difficult listening, consisting mostly of machine-generated atmospheric whooshes, seemingly-random (tho' I'm sure that to him they're logically ordered) digital squiggles and sonic exclamations that are about texture and nuance, not melody. Listen to both tracks before buying. Experimental yet accessible.
MPEG Stream: "Conical Flask"
MPEG Stream: "Campagna"

TAKEMURA, NOBUKAZU Hoshi no Koe (Thrill Jockey) cd 14.98
Most of us who already love powerbook maestro Nobukazu Takemura will be familiar with his other domestically-released album, Scope, a brilliant record that is all about austere sonic textures and half-melodic gestures. Another side to Takemura's talent is displayed here, with Hoshi No Koe. It's playful and kooky and sometimes successful, sounding part early-20th century tape experimentalist (a la Luciano Berio), part Krautrock proto-techno (a la Moebius and Roedelius of Cluster), and part quirky soundtrack to, say, an afterschool special undersea documentary (a la "Observe the sex-crazed seahorse as it frolics amongst the coral. [twiddle] [scriddle] [bleep!]"). Some of the best parts feature pristine, emotional piano, like George Winston under a twinkling array of sweet bleeps. We've made audio files of what we think of as the high and low points of the record; the rest falls somewhere in between. Happy listening.
RealAudio clip: "The Sign"
RealAudio clip: "A Theme for Little Animals"

TAKEMURA, NOBUKAZU Scope (Thrill Jockey) cd 12.98
Japanese electronicist who was responsible for one of the best tracks on the recent Steve Reich Remixed album. Making the most of very simple sounds (synth, static, skipping cds), Takemura constructs surprisingly melodic and appealing pieces. Oval fans will LOVE this...

TAKEMURA, NOBUKAZU Sign (Thrill Jockey) 2cd 15.98
This cd issue of The Sign 12" from last year might as well be considered a new album from Powerbook maestro Nobukazu Takemura, cos it's over an hour long. The title track is bubbly electronica / pop with attention to texture -- very reminiscent of Moebius' and Roedelius' work in krautrock legends Cluster and thereafter (lazier comparisons might mention Mouse on Mars and Muziq), with even some dorky frankly-fake casio-rendered vocals thrown in to add to the fun. Another two great pieces are trebly, tinny electro along the lines of Doctor Rockit (one of these tracks is "Meteor", an extended version of a piece from a different Takemura 12"). So good! Takemura's been compared to digital minimalists Oval a lot, and track 3 proves this comparison still holds water: it's 35 minutes of Takemura along with Tortoise veterans Bundy Brown, Doug McCombs, and John McEntire, starting off rather like lame recent Tortoise, but soon evolving into prime Takemura powerbook layering of digital murmuring, clicks and whirrs, which you wouldn't think could be melodic but *is*!
There's a second disc with a great animated video of "The Sign" by Japanese artist Moshino, who also did the cover to this record.
RealAudio clip: "The Sign"

TAKEMURA, NOBUKAZU Sign (Thrill Jockey) 12" 9.98
Powerbook maestro Nobukazu Takemura's been compared to Oval a lot, and side 2 of The Sign 12" proves this comparison still holds water. The entirety of side 2 is Takemura along with Tortoise veterans Bundy Brown, Doug McCombs, and John McEntire, starting off rather like lame recent Tortoise, but soon evolving into prime Takemura powerbook layering of digital murmuring, clicks and whirrs.
But it is side 1 of this nice slab o' wax that holds the gems. The title track is bubbly electronica with attention to texture -- very reminiscent of Moebius' and Roedelius' work in krautrock legends Cluster and thereafter (lazier comparisons might mention Mouse on Mars and Muziq), with even some dorky frankly-fake casio-rendered vocals thrown in to add to the fun. (You even get the tried and true 12" cliche of a capella vocals as the last track on the record!) Another great piece is trebly, tinny electro along the lines of Doctor Rockit. Wonderful!
I wish we had sound clips for you but we haven't quite figured out yet how to make Real Audio samples from vinyl.

TAKEN BY TREES East Of Eden (Rough Trade) cd 13.98
After parting ways with her band The Concretes a few years ago, Victoria Bergsman has since shown the world that she not only possesses one of the most lovely voices around, but also has a musical mind that is as tasteful as it is creative. Her first album as Taken By Trees was nothing short of pure bittersweet pop perfection, and this sophomore effort follows suit with some really tasty twists. The main twist being that she headed to Pakistan to record most of the album with local musicians there which adds such a unique texture to her richly crafted songs. Tablas, flutes, violin, tumha, dholak, etc. all come together with such a free flowing ease and Bergsman's singular touch and vision shines through the entire record.
Most folks who embark on similar projects often forget about subtly, and awkwardly inject another region's sounds into their songs with no regard for how the various elements will flow. But Taken By Trees creates that fusion effortlessly, never letting the new sounds overpower the old, a delicate balance achieved so gracefully.
With the amazing voice she posses it would be so easy for Bergsman to just make very straight ahead coffee house ready songs, but instead she injects as much thought and passion into the texture of her songs as she does her beautiful vocal delivery. Noah Lennox (aka Panda Bear) also lends his voice to a few tracks, which makes the awesome cover of Animal Collective's "My Girls" (here transformed into "My Boys") even more endearing. Conjuring images of greats like Astrud Gilberto, Taken By Trees really is a true modern day chanteuse.
MPEG Stream: "Greyest Love Of All"
MPEG Stream: "My Boys"
MPEG Stream: "Watch The Waves"

TAKEN BY TREES East Of Eden (Rough Trade) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
After parting ways with her band The Concretes a few years ago, Victoria Bergsman has since shown the world that she not only possesses one of the most lovely voices around, but also has a musical mind that is as tasteful as it is creative. Her first album as Taken By Trees was nothing short of pure bittersweet pop perfection, and this sophomore effort follows suit with some really tasty twists. The main twist being that she headed to Pakistan to record most of the album with local musicians there which adds such a unique texture to her richly crafted songs. Tablas, flutes, violin, tumha, dholak, etc. all come together with such a free flowing ease and Bergsman's singular touch and vision shines through the entire record.
Most folks who embark on similar projects often forget about subtly, and awkwardly inject another region's sounds into their songs with no regard for how the various elements will flow. But Taken By Trees creates that fusion effortlessly, never letting the new sounds overpower the old, a delicate balance achieved so gracefully.
With the amazing voice she posses it would be so easy for Bergsman to just make very straight ahead coffee house ready songs, but instead she injects as much thought and passion into the texture of her songs as she does her beautiful vocal delivery. Noah Lennox (aka Panda Bear) also lends his voice to a few tracks, which makes the awesome cover of Animal Collective's "My Girls" (here transformed into "My Boys") even more endearing. Conjuring images of greats like Astrud Gilberto, Taken By Trees really is a true modern day chanteuse.
MPEG Stream: "Greyest Love Of All"
MPEG Stream: "My Boys"
MPEG Stream: "Watch The Waves"

TAKEN BY TREES Open Field (Rough Trade) cd 13.98
We've been smitten with Victoria Bergsman ever since she first made the scene with her band The Concretes, whose debut album hit the states via Sweden a few years back. Her enchanting voice and melancholic lyrics just hit the spot so right on. We knew it wouldn't be long until the rest of the world would fall in love with her as well.
Last year it was her voice on "Young Folks", the big hit for Peter Bjorn and John that helped get her name out to a wider audience. When the latest Concretes album came out and she was no longer in the band we knew she had to be working on something new. Luckily she was, and it was her new project Taken By Trees. It's a stunningly beautiful album filled with songs that ooze with bittersweet pop perfection. Produced by Bergsman and Bjorn Yttling (of PB&J) the songs are remarkably lush with striking arrangements filled with varied instrumentation including mandolin, harmonium, piano, guitar, zither, flute, synth, and of course the dreamy and mesmerizing voice of Bergsman.
Every single song on Open Field takes you on a soft focus daydream filled with heartache, longing and just that perfect dab of honey to make it all go down just right. Bergsman definitely has that special touch very few possess. A sentimental sound that is as timeless as it is breathtaking. It's not a stretch to say that her voice and songs should fit comfortably alongside legends like Francoise Hardy and Dusty Springfield as well as modern day chanteux like Isobel Campbell and Cat Power. A strong contender for pop record of the year!
MPEG Stream: "Tell Me"
MPEG Stream: "Lost And Found"
MPEG Stream: "Cedar Trees"

TAKEN BY TREES Sweet Child o' Mine (Rough Trade) 7" 3.98
Oh how we love Victoria Bergsman. From her days with Swedish indie pop sensations The Concretes to her new life as Taken By Trees nobody does bitter sweet pop as spot on perfect as her! Open Field, her debut full length as Taken By Trees was one of our favorite pop records of last year. This new 45 finds her doing the Guns N' Roses classic on the A side, of course in her trademark somber and pretty style and the B side is a new original track that's oh so short but oh so sweet.

TAKEOVERS, THE Turn to Red (Recordhead) cd 14.98

TAKING BACK SUNDAY Where You Want To Be (Victory) cd 14.98

TALABOT, JOHN fIN (Permanent Vacation) cd 16.98
Welcome to the sensual realm of John Talabot! This Spanish producer has been releasing some of the most ecstatic, hypo-rhythmed, DEEP sampledelic house music going back to the release of his breakout single "Sunshine" in 2009. Some of us around here have been obsessed with the enigmatic producer for a while now and are fully stoked to be sharing fIn, his debut full length with you, our dear customers, on this most holy "list Friday".
Talabot's sound world is a multilayered tapestry of disembodied samples, glistening synths, intricate but organic sound design, and ASS-SHAKING rhythms. To be sure, this is most certainly house music, but his treatment and subversion of the idiosyncratic nature of house music is what draws us in. Because of that, his sound world seems to be entirely his own. He bucks the trends and comes up with some of the most beautifully personal and dreamily hazed out jams we've heard in quite a while.
The second track, "Destiny" featuring another up and coming Spanish producer, Pional on vocals, is a smashing cosmic roller. The verse sung sexy and sweet over lush synth melodies and syncopated marimba notes melting together into a warm cocoon of transcendent SOUND. Bleary eyed and sun addled, the sound is like the come down freefall after an all night beach rave. The joy and release still on the periphery of your consciousness, with the sorrowful realization that the reverie must end, slowly creeping to the forefront. It's somehow simultaneously rapturous and melancholic. "Missing You", a tripped out slow jam is another of our favorite moments on fIN. The drum programming rolling out subtle slowly developing riddims as an otherworldly pitch-fucked "guitar" sample enters on top, reminding us of a more luminous, yet just as haunted Burial. And then some seriously far out, processed into outerspace vocals enter, and the tune just develops into, well, a CHOOOON. Futuristic pop music for sure. The following track, "Last Land" finds Talabot right in his zone, which is arranging samples into impossibly beautiful dance tunes. Starting out with a subtly dubbed out disco break into a gorgeous string / vocal loop the track is a slow burner. Hypnotic and pulsating, the rhythmic texture building into silence! Following this functional breath from the beat, the bass line slowly creeps in and the whole thing swells into an ecstatic drop, the string sample now reconfigured to create an amazing melodic hook. Stunning. The last track, "So Will Be Now", another one featuring the this time pitched down vox of Pional, is a beautifully developed deep and dreamy house cut. The mood is dark and evolving, the vocals acting as a grounding constant as the fuzzed out lush textures and astoundingly psychedelic percussion layering result in dance floor timelessness. You truly want to hold on to this musical moment for eternity.
fIn is most definitely a journey of discovery, and we need not spoil that. It is some of the finest dance music we've heard in ages, on par with The Field's "From Here We Go Sublime"... totally EXQUISITE!
MPEG Stream: "Destiny"
MPEG Stream: "Missing You"
MPEG Stream: "When The Past Was Present"
MPEG Stream: "So Will Be Now"

TALABOT, JOHN fIN (Permanent Vacation) lp+cd 19.98
Welcome to the sensual realm of John Talabot! This Spanish producer has been releasing some of the most ecstatic, hypo-rhythmed, DEEP sampledelic house music going back to the release of his breakout single "Sunshine" in 2009. Some of us around here have been obsessed with the enigmatic producer for a while now and are fully stoked to be sharing fIn, his debut full length with you, our dear customers, on this most holy "list Friday".
Talabot's sound world is a multilayered tapestry of disembodied samples, glistening synths, intricate but organic sound design, and ASS-SHAKING rhythms. To be sure, this is most certainly house music, but his treatment and subversion of the idiosyncratic nature of house music is what draws us in. Because of that, his sound world seems to be entirely his own. He bucks the trends and comes up with some of the most beautifully personal and dreamily hazed out jams we've heard in quite a while.
The second track, "Destiny" featuring another up and coming Spanish producer, Pional on vocals, is a smashing cosmic roller. The verse sung sexy and sweet over lush synth melodies and syncopated marimba notes melting together into a warm cocoon of transcendent SOUND. Bleary eyed and sun addled, the sound is like the come down freefall after an all night beach rave. The joy and release still on the periphery of your consciousness, with the sorrowful realization that the reverie must end, slowly creeping to the forefront. It's somehow simultaneously rapturous and melancholic. "Missing You", a tripped out slow jam is another of our favorite moments on fIN. The drum programming rolling out subtle slowly developing riddims as an otherworldly pitch-fucked "guitar" sample enters on top, reminding us of a more luminous, yet just as haunted Burial. And then some seriously far out, processed into outerspace vocals enter, and the tune just develops into, well, a CHOOOON. Futuristic pop music for sure. The following track, "Last Land" finds Talabot right in his zone, which is arranging samples into impossibly beautiful dance tunes. Starting out with a subtly dubbed out disco break into a gorgeous string / vocal loop the track is a slow burner. Hypnotic and pulsating, the rhythmic texture building into silence! Following this functional breath from the beat, the bass line slowly creeps in and the whole thing swells into an ecstatic drop, the string sample now reconfigured to create an amazing melodic hook. Stunning. The last track, "So Will Be Now", another one featuring the this time pitched down vox of Pional, is a beautifully developed deep and dreamy house cut. The mood is dark and evolving, the vocals acting as a grounding constant as the fuzzed out lush textures and astoundingly psychedelic percussion layering result in dance floor timelessness. You truly want to hold on to this musical moment for eternity.
fIn is most definitely a journey of discovery, and we need not spoil that. It is some of the finest dance music we've heard in ages, on par with The Field's "From Here We Go Sublime"... totally EXQUISITE!
MPEG Stream: "Destiny"
MPEG Stream: "Missing You"
MPEG Stream: "When The Past Was Present"
MPEG Stream: "So Will Be Now"

TALBOT TAGORA Lessons In The Woods Or A City (Hardly Art) cd 11.98
We could find out almost nothing about this bad ass art pop trio from Seattle. Other than, well, they're from Seattle, they're a trio, their record is on the same label that released the Pretty & Nice record, and they were named for some weird executive car developed by Chrysler in the eighties. Oh and apparently the drummer is a teenager who still lives with her Mom (OK, we did find something out about them on the web). The art pop thing we just figured out on our own about 2 seconds after throwing this disc on.
The label sent us a press release, but it was jam packed with all sorts of surreal dadaist mumbo jumbo, we sort of wanted to reprint it here, but it's loooooong, and heck, it really has nothing to do with the glorious racket these guys (and gal) kick up.
Angular guitars, yelped almost new wave sounding vocals, lots of effects, tons of reverb and delay, some notes and vocal parts get looped and spin off into the ether, the guitars chug and chime and even jangle, the bass is rubbery and has a distinctly Joy Divisiony vibe. The overall sound is jittery and manic, frenetic and frenzied, bouncy and brittle, lo-fi and off kilter. Lots of early nineties college rock reference points but filtered through the cracked lens of the current lo-fi noise pop movement. Folks into stuff like Wavves, Blank Dogs, Gary War and the like might find TT to their liking as well.
Passages get repeated over and over, turning cracked no wave pop into something much more abstract and mesmerizing, songs explode into furious squalls of freaked out mathy blow outs, guitars soaring, drums splattering all over the place, the vocals desperately howling along, hooks are there, but are wrapped in delay and buried in the murky mix, some of the tracks so drenched in effects that they seem to blur before your very ears, only to suddenly snap back into focus and stumble through an awesomely dense tangle of atonal guitar and stuttery drum damage. Warm synths warble woozily, draped over crunchy riffage and sea sick melodies, the whole record a sprawling chaotic swirl of fractured pop, that we can't seem to stop listening to.
MPEG Stream: "Mixed Signals Through Miles Of Pilgrimage"
MPEG Stream: "Ichthus Hop"
MPEG Stream: "Bounty Hunter"
MPEG Stream: "Solar Puppets"

TALBOT TAGORA Lessons In The Woods Or A City (Hardly Art) lp 13.98
We could find out almost nothing about this bad ass art pop trio from Seattle. Other than, well, they're from Seattle, they're a trio, their record is on the same label that released the Pretty & Nice record, and they were named for some weird executive car developed by Chrysler in the eighties. Oh and apparently the drummer is a teenager who still lives with her Mom (OK, we did find something out about them on the web). The art pop thing we just figured out on our own about 2 seconds after throwing this disc on.
The label sent us a press release, but it was jam packed with all sorts of surreal dadaist mumbo jumbo, we sort of wanted to reprint it here, but it's loooooong, and heck, it really has nothing to do with the glorious racket these guys (and gal) kick up.
Angular guitars, yelped almost new wave sounding vocals, lots of effects, tons of reverb and delay, some notes and vocal parts get looped and spin off into the ether, the guitars chug and chime and even jangle, the bass is rubbery and has a distinctly Joy Divisiony vibe. The overall sound is jittery and manic, frenetic and frenzied, bouncy and brittle, lo-fi and off kilter. Lots of early nineties college rock reference points but filtered through the cracked lens of the current lo-fi noise pop movement. Folks into stuff like Wavves, Blank Dogs, Gary War and the like might find TT to their liking as well.
Passages get repeated over and over, turning cracked no wave pop into something much more abstract and mesmerizing, songs explode into furious squalls of freaked out mathy blow outs, guitars soaring, drums splattering all over the place, the vocals desperately howling along, hooks are there, but are wrapped in delay and buried in the murky mix, some of the tracks so drenched in effects that they seem to blur before your very ears, only to suddenly snap back into focus and stumble through an awesomely dense tangle of atonal guitar and stuttery drum damage. Warm synths warble woozily, draped over crunchy riffage and sea sick melodies, the whole record a sprawling chaotic swirl of fractured pop, that we can't seem to stop listening to.
MPEG Stream: "Mixed Signals Through Miles Of Pilgrimage"
MPEG Stream: "Ichthus Hop"
MPEG Stream: "Bounty Hunter"
MPEG Stream: "Solar Puppets"

TALIBAM! Hungry Hungry Hemispheres (The Fair School) cd-r 8.98
Second blast of spastic, synth drenched, drum splattered free noise psychedelic freakout from this damaged and demented power trio, made up of Matthew Mottel on synth, Kevin Shea (Coptic Light, Storm And Stress) on drums and Ed Bear on baritone saxophone and electronics.
Anyone can kick up a huge noisy squall and call it "free jazz" or even "art" but the guys in Talibam! (yes, punctuation mandatory) aren't fucking around, deftly unfurling the perfect balance of face melting, amp destroying, noise rock pummel, skittery, tangled free jazz skronk, and droney drifty space rock blow out.
This may be a three piece, but the core of Talibam!'s sound is the relentless battle between drums and synth, Like a bear and a hippo wrestling in a bed of skronking saxophones. And the drums are always going, like someone standing at the top of a mile high stairway, tossing hundreds and hundreds of drumkits down the stairs an armful of pieces at a time, while someone stands at the bottom of the stairs, clutching a huge synthesizer, like a baseball bat, swinging wildly at every drum in the strike zone. A truly bewildering, baffling chunk off free music freakout, that manages to be pretty dang listenable, with long stretches of jazzy drone, some mesmerizing raga like buzz, and jumbled heaps of deconstructed free jazz fuckery.
Recorded live before what sounds like almost no one, these guys are on fire, filling the empty room with more sound than it was meant to hold. there's lots of between song banter and it's super cringeworthy, but knowing these guys, we're pretty sure it's meant to be as antagonistic, if not more so then their already difficult music.
As with lots of stuff like this, only the iron-eared need apply, but those so endowed will be richly rewarded with a glorious earful of convoluted groove, problematic prog and freaky freaky free jazz.
MPEG Stream: "Two"
MPEG Stream: "Three"

TALIBAM! Ordination Of The Globetrotting Conscripts (Azul Discografica) cd 12.98
Besides having one of the best band names ever (exclamation point mandatory!) this trio of noisemaking jazz dissidents and post rock outcasts create what in most cases is practically impossible, a noisy record, heck, a NOISE record, that manages to be totally listenable. And we're not talking listenable like 'on the radio' or 'your Mom might like it', no, your Mom would NOT like this, and the only time you'd hear this on the radio is after a nuclear holocaust, when some survivors hole up in an abandoned radio station, only to realize the transmitter still works, and what better way to fight back against the invaders, than by BLOWING THEIR FUCKING EARDRUMS OUT!
No, this is some unholy spawn of the freest jazz and the most tangled and aggressive of math rocks. Due in no small part to the man behind the drums, Kevin Shea, formerly of Coptic Light and Storm And Stress, although his cohorts aren't so shabby either, Matt Mottel on synth and Ed Bear on sax. Add in some electronics, some banjo, even a little 'singing'. Then toss in a handful of beehives, a bunch of smashed and scratched free jazz records, a couple tapes of aborted Don Cab practice sessions, a few Marshall stacks, wrap the whole thing in raw meat and throw it into the middle of a pack of wild dogs and record the result.
There are a bunch of guests this time around too, contributing stuff like bass, trumpet, piano, upright bass, bass trombone as well as some less recognizable instruments: diddley-bo, mouth-bow, twanger and of course wonder metal. Which makes the sound even more thick and intense and seriously HEAVY. The synth is everywhere, and sounds like one of the Wolf Eyes guys was responsible for its upkeep, a snarling, crackling, grinding spewer of fuzz and buzz and smears of new wave blur, adding tons of texture and melody to proceedings, the sax is of course skronky, but isn't everywhere, but what is everywhere is drums. It's exhausting just listening to Shea spew beats everywhere, it's like a 47 minute drum solo, deftly arranged into convoluted rhythms, and dizzying flurries of fills, but its the drums that propel the songs, all the melodies and notes, textures and tones, are hung on, wrapped around, or just plain tangled up in the confusional and relentless rhythmic onslaught.
There are moments where the chaos and intensity abate just a bit, the twisted, FUCKED UP klezmer of "Lunch Break at Naan", with a horrifying break in the middle with what sounds like scraped strings or a squealing pig, the long slow burn of "A Petroglyphic Massacre", and brief little breathers within the songs, but for the most part, Ordination of the Globetrotting Conscripts is a bit like sitting in a cement mixer full of ball bearings, set to music.
But then there's the epic 13 minute finale, "The Spectre of Water Wars", maybe the most 'musical' of the bunch, where the synth takes center stage, even nudging the omnipresent drums out of the spotlight, spewing thick swaths of creepy Goblin-esque whir, haunting and weirdly new wave, but super rocking at the same time, crumbling and distorted, twisted and freaked out, a propulsive alien krautrock. Imagine a horror movie in which Six Finger Satellite were dosed and lobotomized and then let loose in guitar center, to fight off a twisted psycho killer with only the instruments on hand. Might sound something like this. Seriously scary, way fucked up, but wild and amazing and weirdly sort of fun too.
MPEG Stream: "Ordination Of The Globetrotting Conscripts"
MPEG Stream: "Guns And Butter"
MPEG Stream: "Revolutionary Bummer Weed And The Syncretic Narcotraffickers"

TALIBAM! s/t (Evolving Ear) cd-r 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Awesome band name for sure! We were dying to hear these guys before we had any idea what they might sound like. And they do sort of sound like the name, explanation point and all. A whirling dervish of a three piece, Matthew Mottel on synth, Kevin Shea (Coptic Light, Storm And Stress) on drums and Ed Bear on baritone saxophone and
electronics. The presence of Kevin Shea should give you a hint as to what you're in for. His spastic, impossibly octopoidal drum splatter is all over this disc, a stuttering spastic free jazz soundscape dense and impenetrable. Above this tangled percussive squall, the synth and the sax do battle. And this is a serious fucking knock down drag out battle to the death. The synth seems to come out on top turning what could have been more of a free jazz record into a seriously fucked up freenoise record. Mottel is like Keith Emerson on a serious PCP bender, spitting out thick snarling sheets of synth buzz, spraying it like machine gun fire, melodies are tangled and complicated little knots hurled into the fray like cannonballs made out of steel string and roof nails. The sax is all over the place, adding tonal color, mad squawking, chittering chirps and deep fuzzy moans, this is a massive chaotic free for all. Sometimes the band members lock into a cohesive sort of drone, but even then Shea is still hurling his kit all over a huge concrete bunker, like every free jazz solo drum record played simultaneously, it's never long before the synth splinters and the sax shrieks and suddenly it a big black musical cloud, you know like in cartoons when people are fighting and there's a big black swirling cloud with arms and legs sticking out. Only now there's broken drumsticks, shattered keys from an abused synthesizer, bent saxophones as well as bruised and bloody body parts.
This an exhausting listen, but it's worth it. Heavy and thick, weirdly groovy, totally spastic and really really great.
Comes packaged in spray painted sleeves made out of old chopped up lps, each disc includes a jagged shard of some old vinyl lp as well.
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 1"
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 2"

TALK TALK Colour Of Spring (Parlophone) lp + dvd 44.00
After the reissues of Talk Talk's final masterpiece, Laughing Stock and the band's reclusive frontman Mark Hollis's sole solo record, we get these two amazing Talk Talk Records reissued from the Parlophone label, third album The Colour Of Spring from 1986 and fourth album Spirit Of Eden from 1988. Unfortunately both are Dutch imports and pretty pricey, but they both come with dvds containing a high audio transfer of the original album masters and an exclusive bonus track. So true fans and audiophiles should really dig these!
Colour Of Spring marks the exact dividing line between the early Talk Talk bold Euro-pop style of It's My Life and the later subdued improvisational spaciousness of Spirit Of Eden and Laughing Stock. It's My Life (and ultimately this album as well) were such a commercial success that it gave the band a lot of capital with their label to begin pushing boundaries musically, so Colour Of Spring is really a concept-album song-cycle about the nature of romantic relationships where the band really begin exploring with unconventional song structures and complex hypnotic arrangements. They even use a children's choir. That album also afforded the band the opportunity to work with multiple musicians instead of synthesizer programming for the first time, making this record their last big commercial hit and the last time the band ever toured. The bonus track on the dvd is "It's Getting Late in The Evening", an outtake from the album sessions.
Spirit Of Eden, on par with Laughing Stock as one of the best and essential Talk Talk records is a magnificently realized studio album that proves what a band can do when everything they ever needed resource-wise is handed to them by their record label. Although it would eventually lead to severed ties and burnt bridges when the band finished the record and told the label that due to how the record was recorded (with several improvised parts complexly and fastidiously interwoven together in post-production), a tour supporting the record would be impossible. Fans at the time didn't know what to make of the new direction, which saw the band moving away from preconceived composition and pop sensibilities into a subdued improvisational unit borrowing more heavily from jazz and the avant-garde. It's as if the band went from being romantic Euro-poppers a la ABC to a more elegant, jazzier version of Slint. But the album presages the advent of post-rock and nineties indie rock, so it and its follow-up Laughing Stock which took the new direction out to it's farthest possibilities have long been heralded with cult-like status by legions of new fans. The bonus dvd comes with an outtake from the original sessions, "John Cope". Pricey, but recommended!

TALK TALK It's My Life (EMI) cd 15.98

TALK TALK Laughing Stock (Polydor) cd 11.98
While virtually ignored upon its release in 1991, this continuingly influential album continues to elicit marvel from music lovers of all stripes. The final album from Talk Talk, the once New Romantic Euro-popsters turned introspective chamber minimalists, pretty much foreshadowed most post-rock music that would follow throughout the rest of the decade, especially with groups like Low and Movietone, but you can also hear the nascent strains of Tortoise and Labradford in there too. At the time, there was nothing at all remotely like this (and there really still isn't!), and though it didn't completely come out of the blue for the band (both Colour Of Spring and especially Spirit Of Eden clearly displayed minimalist leanings far away from the Euro-pop of their beginnings), Laughing Stock is a culmination of the reductivist sound the band through the tireless vision of its leader, Mark Hollis, had been striving for. Both Laughing Stock and Hollis' self-titled solo album from 1998 have been given the vinyl reissue treatment (first time ever on wax domestically) by the fine folks at Ba Da Bing. And since Laughing Stock is essentially a Mark Hollis solo album with a group of friends and session players, both records are more like essential companion pieces of measured and restrained beauty than any of the previous Talk Talk material would have been.
Said to have been inspired by Can and John Coltrane, though not sounding much like either of them, Laughing Stock instead trades on those artist's methodologies of musical structure, incorporating delicate textures and nuanced atmospheres into hushed but dynamically attuned elegiac compositions. The songs are stripped of excess, but are stylistically complex, mining elements of jazz and chamber music in finely-tuned and polished layers that build up slowly, with no verse-chorus-verse type of considerations or big overt payoffs. This is music that requires patience to appreciate but offers many rewards over repeated listens. A "long-tail" classic, this is one of our favorite late night listens. Completely and unabashedly essential!

TALK TALK Laughing Stock (Ba Da Bing) lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
While virtually ignored upon its release in 1991, this continuingly influential album continues to elicit marvel from music lovers of all stripes. The final album from Talk Talk, the once New Romantic Euro-popsters turned introspective chamber minimalists, pretty much foreshadowed most post-rock music that would follow throughout the rest of the decade, especially with groups like Low and Movietone, but you can also hear the nascent strains of Tortoise and Labradford in there too. At the time, there was nothing at all remotely like this (and there really still isn't!), and though it didn't completely come out of the blue for the band (both Colour Of Spring and especially Spirit Of Eden clearly displayed minimalist leanings far away from the Euro-pop of their beginnings), Laughing Stock is a culmination of the reductivist sound the band through the tireless vision of its leader, Mark Hollis, had been striving for. Both Laughing Stock and Hollis' self-titled solo album from 1998 have been given the vinyl reissue treatment (first time ever on wax domestically) by the fine folks at Ba Da Bing. And since Laughing Stock is essentially a Mark Hollis solo album with a group of friends and session players, both records are more like essential companion pieces of measured and restrained beauty than any of the previous Talk Talk material would have been.
Said to have been inspired by Can and John Coltrane, though not sounding much like either of them, Laughing Stock instead trades on those artist's methodologies of musical structure, incorporating delicate textures and nuanced atmospheres into hushed but dynamically attuned elegiac compositions. The songs are stripped of excess, but are stylistically complex, mining elements of jazz and chamber music in finely-tuned and polished layers that build up slowly, with no verse-chorus-verse type of considerations or big overt payoffs. This is music that requires patience to appreciate but offers many rewards over repeated listens. A "long-tail" classic, this is one of our favorite late night listens. Completely and unabashedly essential!
MPEG Stream: "Ascension Day"
MPEG Stream: "After The Flood"

TALK TALK London 1986 (Pond Life) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
There seem to be two kinds of people: people who haven't heard Talk Talk since the mid-80's and those who think they are one of the greatest bands ever. I am of the latter type, always looking for converts. This live recording is somewhat of a signpost for the shift in Talk Talk's sound from a complex Europop band (early 80's) into the large heavy orchestrations over delicate, melancholic songwriting present on "Spirit of Eden" and "Laughing Stock". London 1986 lies between the early and late Talk Talk sounds (making their old songs sound like their later songs.) Tim Friese-Greene (their co-writer and producer who is as much responsible for their sound as Mark Hollis, the singer/songwriter, is) seems to have as much control over the live show as he had over the studio. Perfect. I don't think that this cd will necessarily make converts of any of you, but if you already are, you will be quite thankful to own it.

TALK TALK Missing Pieces (Pond Life) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Helloooo all you faithful Talk Talk completists! This cd compiles the singles from their extraordinary 1991 album Laughing Stock (which surely already holds an honorable place in your music library) along with four other tracks. Actually two if the "singles" are different versions of the originals - "After The Flood" is an alternate take/outtake and "New Grass" is an edit. "Ascension Day" is unaltered. The other tracks include "Myrrhman" (also from Laughing Stock) as well as the "Stump", the abstract soundscape "5:09" and a meditative 14 minute piece of solo piano minimalism performed by TT mainman Mark Hollis (originally a contribution to the Allinson/Brown experimental ambient album AV 1). Not an essential cd, but if it spurs you to revisit Laughing Stock, then we're fortunate for its release.
RealAudio clip: "After The Flood"
RealAudio clip: "5:09"
RealAudio clip: "Piano"

TALK TALK Spirit of Eden (Parlophone) lp + dvd 44.00
After the reissues of Talk Talk's final masterpiece, Laughing Stock and the band's reclusive frontman Mark Hollis's sole solo record, we get these two amazing Talk Talk Records reissued from the Parlophone label, third album The Colour Of Spring from 1986 and fourth album Spirit Of Eden from 1988. Unfortunately both are Dutch imports and pretty pricey, but they both come with dvds containing a high audio transfer of the original album masters and an exclusive bonus track. So true fans and audiophiles should really dig these!
Colour Of Spring marks the exact dividing line between the early Talk Talk bold Euro-pop style of It's My Life and the later subdued improvisational spaciousness of Spirit Of Eden and Laughing Stock. It's My Life (and ultimately this album as well) were such a commercial success that it gave the band a lot of capital with their label to begin pushing boundaries musically, so Colour Of Spring is really a concept-album song-cycle about the nature of romantic relationships where the band really begin exploring with unconventional song structures and complex hypnotic arrangements. They even use a children's choir. That album also afforded the band the opportunity to work with multiple musicians instead of synthesizer programming for the first time, making this record their last big commercial hit and the last time the band ever toured. The bonus track on the dvd is "It's Getting Late in The Evening", an outtake from the album sessions.
Spirit Of Eden, on par with Laughing Stock as one of the best and essential Talk Talk records is a magnificently realized studio album that proves what a band can do when everything they ever needed resource-wise is handed to them by their record label. Although it would eventually lead to severed ties and burnt bridges when the band finished the record and told the label that due to how the record was recorded (with several improvised parts complexly and fastidiously interwoven together in post-production), a tour supporting the record would be impossible. Fans at the time didn't know what to make of the new direction, which saw the band moving away from preconceived composition and pop sensibilities into a subdued improvisational unit borrowing more heavily from jazz and the avant-garde. It's as if the band went from being romantic Euro-poppers a la ABC to a more elegant, jazzier version of Slint. But the album presages the advent of post-rock and nineties indie rock, so it and its follow-up Laughing Stock which took the new direction out to it's farthest possibilities have long been heralded with cult-like status by legions of new fans. The bonus dvd comes with an outtake from the original sessions, "John Cope". Pricey, but recommended!

TALK TALK The Colour of Spring (Nettwerk) cd 15.98

TALKDEMONIC Ruins (Glacial Pace Recordings) cd 15.98
We had never heard this Portland duo before, until their new record showed up at aQ. Obviously the band name was intriguing, and when we threw it on, we were pretty blown away, a haunting sort of electronic flecked rhythmic post rock, or blackened ambient electronica, hard to know exactly how to describe them, one thing we definitely would not have guessed is that they were a drums / viola duo!! The drummer is also the programmer, who we imagine is the one who fills out the sound with all manner of buzz and crunch, but the viola adds some dreamy drama to the proceedings, drifting over percolating rhythms, and wreathed in wild swirls of space-y effects. The opening track "Slumber Verses" sounds like the music from some soundtrack, remixed and revamped, the melancholy melodies are blurred and buzzy, the sounds are streaked with feedback, and hazy droned out chordal shimmer, the heartbeat like pulse, blossoms into a distorted drum beat about halfway through, while the guitars explode into a blissed out sky full of shoegaze high end. It's a pretty dreamy mix, darkly rhythmic, but also noisy and fuzzy and seriously psychedelic. The second track though, the title track, is the first song we heard and the one that really won us over, with a skeletal skittery beat, and a sky full of crumbling distortion and buzzing melody, some electronic bleep and little bits of glitch, washes of hiss and hum, while the viola offers up dreamy melodies, the drums getting super distorted at one point, a totally psychedelic freakout, the electronics freaking out to match, and then when the viola comes back in, so dramatic. Every track here sounds like it could be the music from that super intense movie in some quirky indie film, without the music being quirky itself, which is rare indeed.
Oh did we mention how the title track tumbles though some in-the-red backwards drum damage before slipping right back into a sixties Stereolab like groove? The songs are super varied, but manage to all work together, dreamy and hushed and droney one second, wildly propulsive and blown out the next, fuzzy and poppy one moment, hazy and dreamy and washed out the next. So good! Released on the dude from Modest Mouse's new label.
MPEG Stream: "Ruins"
MPEG Stream: "Slumber Verses"
MPEG Stream: "Revival"

TALKDEMONIC Ruins (Glacial Pace) lp 22.00
NOW ON LP!
We had never heard this Portland duo before, until their new record showed up at aQ. Obviously the band name was intriguing, and when we threw it on, we were pretty blown away, a haunting sort of electronic flecked rhythmic post rock, or blackened ambient electronica, hard to know exactly how to describe them, one thing we definitely would not have guessed is that they were a drums / viola duo!! The drummer is also the programmer, who we imagine is the one who fills out the sound with all manner of buzz and crunch, but the viola adds some dreamy drama to the proceedings, drifting over percolating rhythms, and wreathed in wild swirls of space-y effects. The opening track "Slumber Verses" sounds like the music from some soundtrack, remixed and revamped, the melancholy melodies are blurred and buzzy, the sounds are streaked with feedback, and hazy droned out chordal shimmer, the heartbeat like pulse, blossoms into a distorted drum beat about halfway through, while the guitars explode into a blissed out sky full of shoegaze high end. It's a pretty dreamy mix, darkly rhythmic, but also noisy and fuzzy and seriously psychedelic. The second track though, the title track, is the first song we heard and the one that really won us over, with a skeletal skittery beat, and a sky full of crumbling distortion and buzzing melody, some electronic bleep and little bits of glitch, washes of hiss and hum, while the viola offers up dreamy melodies, the drums getting super distorted at one point, a totally psychedelic freakout, the electronics freaking out to match, and then when the viola comes back in, so dramatic. Every track here sounds like it could be the music from that super intense movie in some quirky indie film, without the music being quirky itself, which is rare indeed.
Oh did we mention how the title track tumbles though some in-the-red backwards drum damage before slipping right back into a sixties Stereolab like groove? The songs are super varied, but manage to all work together, dreamy and hushed and droney one second, wildly propulsive and blown out the next, fuzzy and poppy one moment, hazy and dreamy and washed out the next. So good! Released on the dude from Modest Mouse's new label.
MPEG Stream: "Ruins"
MPEG Stream: "Slumber Verses"
MPEG Stream: "Revival"

TALL BIRDS Internalize (Sub Pop) 7" 3.98

TALL DWARFS Fork Songs (Cloud Recordings) cd 14.98
Yippeeeeeeee! Reissues of albums by those beloved New Zealand popsters, Tall Dwarfs (nope, that's not a spelling mistake where they're concerned)! This is Fork Songs their fourth album from 1991. Not quite as solid and immediately engaging as its predecessor Weeville, but pretty darn good nonetheless.
Their minimal, lo-fi tunes stitched together a loose patchwork of psychedelia, country and folk but the fillin' was all pop charms. Their music was characterized by deliriously catchy off-kilter song structures, boyishly emotive (but not 'emo') vocals and crunchy janglin' guitar duties. From their formation in 1979 through to their split in 1988, the duo of Chris Knox and Alec Bathgate made quite a captivating and inspiring songwriting team. You can hear their immense influence on bands such as Pavement to Yo La Tengo to any one of the numerous Elephant 6 Collective bands. Yup, we love 'em!
MPEG Stream: "Life Is Strange"
MPEG Stream: "Two Humans"

TALL DWARFS The Sky Above The Mud Below (Carrot Top) cd 14.98
Finally! The long awaited new Tall Dwarfs album is in our hot little hands. The New Zealand indierock duo of Chris Knox and Alec Bathgate have each released solo work, but in my opinion *pure magic* occurs when they pool their prodigious talents. Their songs are constructed from delightfully unpredictable vocal, found sound, and percussive loops all overlayed with Bathgate's incredibly sweet, melodic guitar and various casio tinklings. There are poppy Beatles-y tracks, tracks with a rough T Rex-style buzz to them, and one that sounds like an excellent Capt. Beefheart outtake! The combination is, however, immediately recognizable as Tall Dwarfs' own singular sound, and I love it. While this new album is not as stunningly, unbelievably perfect as Fork Songs (IMO their peak), it easily sits near the top of Tall Dwarfs extensive catalog, and I have no doubt you will be pleased with it. It is also a fine place to start for the neophyte Tall Dwarfs listener.
PLUS!: included here is the second volume of the International Tall Dwarfs project, wherein Dwarfs-friendly likeminded musicians collaborated with the Knox and Bathgate on eight individual tracks -- one features Jad Fair, two have Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel) and Laura Carter (Elf Power), plus the Clean's Kilgour brothers, Robert Scott of the Bats, Graeme Downs of Verlaines, a Dutch group called Mongrell, etc.
RealAudio clip: "Room to Breathe"
RealAudio clip: "Deodorant"

TALL DWARFS Weeville (Cloud Recordings) cd 14.98
Yippeeeeeeee! Reissues of albums by those beloved New Zealand popsters, Tall Dwarfs (nope, that's not a spelling mistake where they're concerned)! This is one of the absolute standout albums of their career, 1990's Weeville. It's their third album and the one on which they really found their stride. It starts off with one of their best tunes (and a particular Andee fave) "Log". If you're gonna start somewhere with Tall Dwarfs, this is it!
Their minimal, lo-fi tunes stitched together a loose patchwork of psychedelia, country and folk but the fillin' was all pop charms. Their music was characterized by deliriously catchy off-kilter song structures, boyishly emotive (but not 'emo') vocals and crunchy janglin' guitar duties. From their formation in 1979 through to their split in 1988, the duo of Chris Knox and Alec Bathgate made quite a captivating and inspiring songwriting team. You can hear their immense influence on bands such as Pavement to Yo La Tengo to any one of the numerous Elephant 6 Collective bands. So great! Yup, we love 'em!
MPEG Stream: "Log"
MPEG Stream: "Sign The Dotted Line"

TALL FIRS s/t (Ecstatic Peace!) cd 10.98
This is definitely not the kind of music we ever expected to hear from Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace! label. A dark and languorous folk, moody and murky, spare sinewy guitars, barely there percussion, and a thick warped ambience. Not that we're complaining, it just seems like the Tall Firs are a little too melodic, and maybe not difficult enough to fit in with their labelmates. But hell, we're always up for surprises, and this debut from the Tall Firs was a big one. Featuring a very misleading musical pedigree (including At The Drive In among others) the band weaves gorgeous and delicate soundscapes of thick reverb, gently fingerpicked guitar, subtle rhythms, from muted thumps to tinkling chimes, warbly organs and gorgeous world weary vocals, into a totally riveting dreamlike slowcore folk. Fans of Red Red Meat, Califone, Low and the like will be immediately smitten for sure.
Tall Firs began way back in 1990, didn't play their first show until 2001, and didn't record an actual album until this year. You can sort of hear the slow burn of fifteen years emanating from each of these songs. Intense and intensely personal, foggy and fuzzy, like sitting in a huge hall, lit only by candlelight, flames flickering and casting ghostlike shadows, the band at the far end of the hall, letting notes and melodies drift from the stage, slowly filling the room with a thick hypnotic shimmer, each song a buried memory played out in the flickering firelight like some otherworldly shadow puppet show, acoustic guitars getting tangled up into little squalls of mumbled buzz, the vocals slipping from a croon to a whisper, every word dripping with some ineffable melancholia, often underpinned by bits of harmonic dissonance or random snatches of electronic glitch or machine made skitter. Dreamy and creepy and lovely.
psst: They also do a gorgeous Quix*o*tic cover!!
MPEG Stream: "More To Come"
MPEG Stream: "Don't Complain"
MPEG Stream: "Go Whiskey"

TALL FIRS Too Old To Die Young (Ecstatic Peace) cd 10.98

MPEG Stream: "So Messed Up"
MPEG Stream: "Blue In The Dark"
MPEG Stream: "Hairdo"

TALLEY, JAMES Got No Bread, No Milk, No Money, But We Sure Got A Lot Of Love (Cimarron) 2cd 16.98