TSAR Band-Girls-Money (TVT) cd 15.98

MPEG Stream: "Band-Girls-Money"
MPEG Stream: "Wanna Get Dead"

TSJUDER Desert Northern Hell (Season Of Mist) cd 14.98

MPEG Stream: "Malignant Cronation"
MPEG Stream: "Possessed"

TSUNODA TOSHIYA / CIVYIU KKLIU s/t (Blung) 2cd 17.98

TSUNODA, TOSHIYA Extract From Field Recording Archive #2 (Hapna) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
"This is a collection of recordings of air vibrations from inside hollow objects." A pretty self-explanatory definition of this humble archive of Toshiya Tsunoda's field recordings. In Tsunoda's investigations, his interest lies in the pockets of resonant sound which often lie undetected by everyday observation (inside bottles, in a crack in manhole cover, etc.). In recording the sound of waves breaking off the rocky coast of Japan as it vibrates within a small cavity no bigger than a fist (amongst other spaces), Tsunoda captures delicately shifting drones from beautiful natural washes of sound. Very nice!

TSUNODA, TOSHIYA Extract From Field Recording Archive #3: Solid Vibration (Intransitive Recordings) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is the third entry from the exceptional, if self-explanatory archives of Japanese field recordist Toshiya Tsunoda, concentrating here on "solid vibrations" as the follow up to the second volume which dealt with the microphonic properties of air within hollow objects. In his liner notes, Tsunoda explains that most of the interesting properties of solid vibrations are too faint to be heard under normal listening circumstances; yet with the aid of a piezo-ceramic contact microphone (a simple device which translates immediate vibrations into electrical currents), these vibrations can be made audible. Tsunoda concentrates his recordings around distinctly urban environments -- construction sites, wharfs, highways, wire net fences, metal plate fences, and industrial detritus -- due to the presence of large motors and engines which can activate the vibrations he seeks out. These tend to be very-low frequency rumbles and drones dappled with fluctuations from any number of environmental changes and human interactions. As in all of his other recordings, Tsunoda studiously documents all of the details from each recording, providing interesting tidbits about the sources for these vibrations (i.e. that a swinging element from one his recordings is the sway of an anchor deep in the ocean). Tsunoda is careful to point out that his recordings are "for the purpose of being heard. It is for improving the occurrence which one encounters every day. Therefore, pure scientific detection is not being carried out here." This is a really wonderful document, and may be the best yet from Tsunoda!
RealAudio clip: "Metal-Plate Fence, Yokosuka City"
RealAudio clip: "Wharf, Two Vessels, Miura City"
RealAudio clip: "Metal Door Bisyamon"

TSUNODA, TOSHIYA Kapotte Muziek by... (Korm Plastics) cd 14.98
For several years now, Frans De Waard has been commissioning artists to recycle the sounds of his own recycling sound project Kapotte Muziek. Up until now, the series had been exclusively based upon the live recordings of Kapotte Muziek; but Japanese field recording expert Toshiya Tsunoda took hold of the studio works found on the 1992 cassette Vier Stukken. Given the terminal obscurity of much of the original source material, how much or how little any of the remixing artists put into the recordings is up for debate. Probably Frans, Tsunoda, and maybe ten other people in the world will know the answer to that riddle; but for the rest of us, it ultimately doesn't matter, as this is a great recording. It appears that Tsunoda took that Kapotte Muziek cassette to the Nagaura Bay in Yokosuka City, Japan (mentioned as the recording location on the sleeve) and played that cassette back in a number of contexts on that beach. Sometimes, playing the sounds through a bottle which acts as a rudimentary frequency filter, other times quietly situating the cassette sounds against the distant wash of the surf and birds, and others blasting the source material quite loudly. While these actions are readily discernable, others are not so easy to figure out, such as the suggestive crackling on the first track. Yeah, the detective work can be quite compelling; but fortunately, Tsunoda gives us plenty of reasons to keep on listening.
MPEG Stream: "I"
MPEG Stream: "IV"

TSUNODA, TOSHIYA O Respirar Da Paisagem (SIRR.ecords) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We got this sometime last year, but our supplier ran out before we had a chance to list it. Now we've gotten some in again direct from the label, so any Tsunoda fans who missed this have another chance to grab a copy now. It's another installment of his amazing field recordings, microscopic sonic examinations of everyday vibrations -- everything from a signboard creaking in the wind to the rumble of a fishing pier and the tide. (And yes, if you've never heard Tsunoda before, it's good listening, opening up a whole new world that your ears aren't normally focussed enough to hear). The booklet provides information on each track, like notes on location, technical details of microphone placement and such. In addition, there's some more general words from Tsunoda about how he catagorizes the sounds he's documenting here: events on "boundary lines", spacial context, and "observation and object"... giving some conceptual insight into Tsunoda's interest in the meticulous recordings of the seemingly mundane with which he's made his career.
MPEG Stream: "Cicada and window"
MPEG Stream: "Deck of a wharf"

TSUNODA, TOSHIYA Pieces Of Air (Lucky Kitchen) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Lucky Kitchen -- those bright-eyed and bushy-tailed purveyors of anthropologically minded, but nevertheless cutiepie electronica -- has commissioned Japanese field recording minimalist Toshiya Tsunoda to do an album for their "Sparkling Composer" series (though he's not exactly a composer, more of a conceptual recordist). Tsunoda's previous releases "Extracts From Field Recording Archive Vol. 1" and "Vol. 2" were incredibly stoic offerings of amplifications of very quiet resonant frequencies, and stand as some of the most challenging, unprocessed field recordings we've ever heard here at Aquarius. Some of us here prefer those discs to this new recording but others really like this new album too. We all agree that this album has all of the prerequisites to be interesting, with Tsunoda's elaborate explanations of the technical set-up and circumstances of his recordings (such as the reflection of prepared test signals of very specific frequencies against a wall, or the placement of microphones in bottles or pipes, exposed to radio broadcasts or the sea). The liner notes certainly make for interesting reading, we'll not try to paraphrase them here. We were touched, though, by this comment: "Track 14 exceeded the input level at the time of recording and thus needed the technical help of my best friend and engineer Yukiharu Higashioji."
And the results of these recordings are fascinating and indeed beautiful listening. Much of "Pieces of Air", though proclaimed by Lucky Kitchen as an example of Tsunoda's sense of "child-like wonder", might actually make for a great horror movie soundtrack. Vaguely sinister thumps, humms, splashes, and drones abound. One of the best tracks is the last, recorded in Istanbul during the noontime call to prayer. Half-audible chants, drifting throught the air from across the city, mingle and merge in an ambient haze.
RealAudio clip: "inside of a pipe - radio and water level"
RealAudio clip: "inside of a pipe at the seashore 1"
RealAudio clip: "inside of a pipe at the seashore 2"
RealAudio clip: "echo of a room"
RealAudio clip: "Islamic chant"

TSUNODA, TOSHIYA Ridge of Undulation (Hapna) cd 16.98
Toshiya Tsunoda has always impressed us with his impeccable recordings that undermine whatever preconceptions you might have about what a field recording is, or what sound art is, or what constitutes minimalism. For well over a decade now, Toshiya has been trawling around the world (but mostly in his native Japan) with a couple of ceramic contact microphones collecting various vibrations from incredibly simple sources that yield unbelievably dynamic sounds. Ridge Of Undulation is no different, with Toshiya again providing the pithy descriptions as to the contexts of each of the recordings as the track titles. Hence, "Sine waves mixed with the sound of a vibrating surface" is really what it says it is; but Toshiya's prowess is in how he situates those two sounds in the stereo field that instantly makes the hair stand up on anybody's neck all the while rippling into a sublime dronework. Throughout Ridge Of Undulation, Toshiya alternates between studio situations such as the aforementioned track with pieces like the unedited field recordings of a distant cargo ship's motors idling in Tokyo Bay. Toshiya's work is so simple in its phenomenological purity that words really do fail to describe it. As always recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Sine Waves Mixed With The Sound..."
MPEG Stream: "At Stern, Tokyo Bay 11 Dec 97"

TSUNODA, TOSHIYA Scenery of Decalcomania (Naturestrip) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Toshiya Tsunoda never ceases to amaze with his extrordinary field recordings that document a very fine delineation between man-made and natural phenomena. He gives most of his recordings very dry, self-explanatory titles, like Extract From Field Recording Archive #3: Solid Vibrations for instance. As of late, the Japanese sound artist has been choosing rather baroque titles for his recordings (i.e. O Respirar Da Paisagem) and thus presenting an additional layer of meaning to his always incredible work. The word Decalcomania in this disc's title is the highly specialized artisan process of transfering an image onto china, marble, or glass. While the etymology of this term is the same as decal, Tsunoda infers a meaning far more precious and delicate than something you would slap on your skateboard!
On Scenery of Decalcomania, Tsunoda presents several of modes of operation. There are the raw field recordings such as the dynamic whistlings from the wind whipping across a small corroded opening on a handrail, and the unnerving doppler phasing from the resonant frequencies of two passenger ferries reflecting their sounds throughout the Kisarazu Bay. Along with these field recordings, Tsunoda also sets up situations which document the physical vibrations of glass bottles and copper foil. As in all of his records, Tsunoda provides an incredible amount of detail into the specifics of his recordings. And like all of his recordings, this comes highly recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Unstable Contact"
MPEG Stream: "Wind Whistling"
MPEG Stream: "Curved Pipe"

TSURUBAMI Gekkyukekkaichi (Strange Attractors Audio House) cd 13.98
With this, the release of their third-or-so widely available album, the Japanese psych-rock-trance-improv trio Tsurubami start to creep up the path of prolificity that characterizes guitarist/guru Kawabata Makoto's Acid Mothers Temple project. Yep, it's Kawabata again. We wonder if he just didn't put his name on these things we'd be able to approach 'em with fresh excitement? Yet he rarely lets us down -- the issue with Kawabata isn't of quality, only quantity. How much do you need? Well if you haven't reached your personal limit yet, we can't help but recommend this disc. Its main ingredient is a shimmering wash of freeform guitar, the sounds of which almost seem like they're trying to *crawl back into* Kawabata's amplifier, not meekly but because they're already part of the aether and some cosmic balance needs to be addressed. Backing him up there's splashes of drumming, and a gentle bass presence. Real nice, eyelid fluttering, dizzymaking trance-out drone stuff. Sure, Kawabata & co. can by now pretty much do this in their sleep, and hey maybe that's what they're doing 'cause sleep is a state of hypnosis not far from what this music conjures. There's two long tracks that get louder and more active as they progress, but maintain that uneasy yet beautiful soothing shimmer throughout, even when the heavy-duty distortion storms kick in and it starts to sound more like Fushitsusha!
MPEG Stream: " Gekkyukekkaichi"

TSURUBAMI Kaina (Last Visible Dog) cd 9.98
Acid Mothers Temple alert! AMT offshoot Tsurbami's "Kaina" was reviewed here a year and a half ago, when it was originally released on Last Visible Dog as a cd-r. At the time, we said ('cause we liked it so much) that "it really deserves more than just cd-r status" and lo, now Last Visible Dog comes through with a nicely done actual cd version in a jewel case with new color artwork, with bonus tracks added too!! Whoo-hoo!
Here's some other stuff we wrote about the previous version: Yet another entry in the exponentially increasing catalog of Kawabata Makoto comes from outside of the realm of the Acid Mother's Temple. Fellow Acid Mother Higashi Hiroshi brings his bass to Kawabata's guitar, alongside the newcomer Emi Nobuko on drums. The album opens in similar fashion to Kawabata's "Father Moo & The Black Sheep" album, with a synthetic wash of pitch-shifting / multiverb guitar tones. Slowly these ambient tonalities develop into shimmering fragments of melody half appearing, then dissolving into kosmische haziness. Emi rattles out quiet tinklings across his ride cymbals, starting off somewhat subdued, but gradually approaching the Fushitsusha arena of freenoise percussion tumble once the full drum kit is employed. Kawabata and Higashi maintain the dronescape mentality for about 25 minutes, before they kick the distortion pedals into overdrive and unleash a dense wall of sound to accompany the percussive squall. Where the first track is delicate and gradual, the second is immediate and brutal. Cantankerous distortion from overblown bass and guitar join the continuous splutter from Emi. All right! This is a really, really good Acid Mother's Temple related project.
And now, besides the the two tracks mentioned above, there's a third bonus track "Sekiei Sae Miezu" recorded by Tsurubami last year, making this even better by 13 minutes.
RealAudio clip: "Hitsumyo O Gotoshite"
RealAudio clip: "Kujiru"

TSURUBAMI Tsukuyomi Ni (Riot Season) cd 16.98
Acid Mothers Temple. Acid Mothers Temple. Acid Mothers Temple. Ok, this isn't precisely the Acid Mothers Temple, but it is almost: Tsurubami is a trio featuring two Acid Mothers Temple members -- shaggy guitar guru Makoto Kawabata and equally hairy bassist Higashi Hiroshi, plus drummer Emi Nobuko (not so shaggy, but real cute if we may say so). And this disc was recorded *at* the Acid Mothers Temple, it says. So, to resume: Acid Mothers Temple. Acid Mothers Temple. Acid Mothers Temple...You are, once again, falling into a trance. Don't focus, just let go. The wash of Tsurubami's overpowering psychedelic guitar intensity contributes to your state of utter noise-lovin' bliss. The corresponding quiet passages of pretty, melancholic shimmer and shiver pull you deeper and deeper into what brain scientists call the AMT-zone. At 66 minutes in length (four tracks -- they're stretching out and so can you) this band's krautrock-inspired, avant-hippie psychedelic improv ought to be a sufficent AMT-fix for the week, we'd think. And "Tsukuyomi Ni" arrives with appetites for their particular brand of guitar-freakout mayhem and droned-out improv pre-whetted by the recent proper cd release of their second (?) album "Kaina", reviewed here just about a month ago (and previously, last year when it was but a cd-r). This brand new document of their live, no-overdubs sound is equally transcendent. It's released by Riot Season, the same label that just brought us that Mainliner reissue, so you know they know what's good.
MPEG Stream: "Ariake Naredo Sayani Terikoso"
MPEG Stream: "Itsushika Muragiyu"

TSUYUKO, AKI Hokane (Thrill Jockey) cd + book 15.98
The first chapter of this cool new series of limited edition book/cd sets from Thrill Jockey starts things out in quite a dreamy, downy fashion. Much of the music sounds as though Aki Tsuyuko was composing a soundtrack to a children's fairytale. Hokane is a mostly instrumental album of hushed pastel interludes sprinkled with infant-like cooing vocals. Simple melodies teeter and totter and tiptoe about with a doe-eyed innocence. Imagine a dewy meadow filled with baby bunnies or if you prefer an interior scene, an antique doll slowly coming to life amid a landscape of wooden building blocks and tin toys.
The accompanying hardcover book is filled with comparatively more vibrant saturated colors and striking geometrics. Actually this is like a Japanese counterpart to the recent book'n'cd set by Michael Andrews. Both are musically warm'n'gentle (although Andrews' is more song-oriented) and visually fanciful'n'shapely.
Limited edition of 2000.
MPEG Stream: "Owlet Hymn"
MPEG Stream: "Rainbow Train"

TTC Batards Sensibles (Big Dada) cd 16.98
French hip hop with elements of IDM.

TTOTALS s/t (self-released) 12" 8.98
Psych-rock duo from Nashville. Scuzzy, Bluesy and DIRTY!

TUBB, ERNEST The Legend and the Legacy (Edsel) cd 17.98

TUCKER, ALEXANDER Dorwytch (Thrill Jockey) lp 16.98

TUCKER, ALEXANDER Furrowed Brow (ATP) cd 15.98
Experimental folk music for moonlit nights. Tucker, multi-instrumentalist and member of Ginnungagap, has a voice that fits nicely between Ben Chasny and Brian Eno, however most of Furrowed Brow is instrumental. These long cyclical numbers fall between melodic acoustic guitar progressions with melodicas and spacey keyboards and out-music workouts of clarinet and guitar distortion. Perfect for a moody and mind-altering evening around the campfire.
MPEG Stream: "Spout Of Light"
MPEG Stream: "Saddest Summer"

TUCKER, ALEXANDER Furrowed Brow (ATP) lp 14.98
Experimental folk music for moonlit nights. Tucker, multi-instrumentalist and member of Ginnungagap, has a voice that fits nicely between Ben Chasny and Brian Eno, however most of Furrowed Brow is instrumental. These long cyclical numbers fall between melodic acoustic guitar progressions with melodicas and spacey keyboards and out-music workouts of clarinet and guitar distortion. Perfect for a moody and mind-altering evening around the campfire.
MPEG Stream: "Spout Of Light"
MPEG Stream: "Saddest Summer"

TUCKER, ALEXANDER Old Fog (All Tomorrows Parties) cd 15.98

MPEG Stream: "Hag Stones"
MPEG Stream: "Old Fog"

TUCKER, ALEXANDER & DECOMPOSED ORCHESTRA Grey Onion (Latitudes) cd 14.98

TUCKER, ALEXANDER & DECOMPOSED ORCHESTRA Grey Onion (Latitudes) lp 16.98

TUCKER, CORIN BAND Kill My Blues (Kill Rock Stars) cd 16.98
Last year was an exciting one for Sleater Kinney fans, as three members reemerged in new projects. Corin Tucker on her own, and Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weis together in the super group Wild Flag. While the Wild Flag record was pretty great, as was Tucker's solo debut, neither managed to reach the level of total exuberance that Sleater Kinney created back in the day. But Kill My Blues is a whole 'nother story, as Tucker's sophomore full length is brimming with the sort of passion, guts, sweat, smarts, and energy that made Sleater Kinney so special.
On Kill My Blues, we discover that despite her friend and ex-bandmate Carrie Brownstein's new found fame from her hit show Portlandia and her more visible role in Wild Flag, it is indeed Tucker who holds the keys to the musical magic that made so many of us fall in love with SK in the first place. Sure Brownstein always looked more cool, and stole the spotlight on stage with her awesome moves, but it's the guttural howl of Tucker's voice, the wail of her guitar, and her intense delivery in general that really provides the knockout punch.
Kill My Blues is as focused as any record that SK made. Tucker sounds impassioned and confident, her songs exploding with sparkling velocity, punk energy, and crazy catchy melodies. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Groundhog Day"
MPEG Stream: "Kill My Blues"
MPEG Stream: "Joey"

TUCKER, CORIN BAND Kill My Blues (Kill Rock Stars) lp 16.98
Last year was an exciting one for Sleater Kinney fans, as three members reemerged in new projects. Corin Tucker on her own, and Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weis together in the super group Wild Flag. While the Wild Flag record was pretty great, as was Tucker's solo debut, neither managed to reach the level of total exuberance that Sleater Kinney created back in the day. But Kill My Blues is a whole 'nother story, as Tucker's sophomore full length is brimming with the sort of passion, guts, sweat, smarts, and energy that made Sleater Kinney so special.
On Kill My Blues, we discover that despite her friend and ex-bandmate Carrie Brownstein's new found fame from her hit show Portlandia and her more visible role in Wild Flag, it is indeed Tucker who holds the keys to the musical magic that made so many of us fall in love with SK in the first place. Sure Brownstein always looked more cool, and stole the spotlight on stage with her awesome moves, but it's the guttural howl of Tucker's voice, the wail of her guitar, and her intense delivery in general that really provides the knockout punch.
Kill My Blues is as focused as any record that SK made. Tucker sounds impassioned and confident, her songs exploding with sparkling velocity, punk energy, and crazy catchy melodies. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Groundhog Day"
MPEG Stream: "Kill My Blues"
MPEG Stream: "Joey"

TUCKY BUZZARD Time Will Be Your Doctor: Rare Recordings 1971-1972 (Castle / Sanctuary) 2cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This early '70s hard rock band's claim to fame may have been that they were proteges of manager / producer Bill Wyman (whom you might know as the bass player from a band called the Rolling Stones). But that's not the reason we were interested in hearing this double-cd Tucky Buzzard set -- it was 'cause of that name of theirs, Tucky Buzzard. Tucky Buzzard! We just like saying it.
Turns out that with a name like Tucky Buzzard you can't go wrong. That is, if you like a mixture of '70s proto-metal a la Led Zeppelin, '60s pop-psych, symphonic prog, and Southern style barroom boogie! Which of course we do, when it's all done with the panache of a Tucky Buzzard.
Time Will Be Your Doctor's two discs contain Tucky Buzzard's first three (of five) albums in their entirety. There's ten tracks from 1971's eponymous debut, nine cuts from their 2nd album Warm Slash (also 1971), and the five tracks (including the lengthy, proggy suite of the title track, performed with the Madrid Philharmonic Orchestra) from 1972's Coming On Again, the rarest of Tucky Buzzard LPs as it was recorded and released only in Spain, where these Brits had been popular since their days in a '60s psych outfit called The End.
They also drew some notice in the USA, where they toured opening for Uriah Heep and Deep Purple. Doubtless their burly boogie grooves and most metallic Led Zeppish material -- full-tilt riffy rockers with high wailing Plant-like vox -- went over best in front of those crowds (such as many of the tracks from Warm Slash, like "Heartbreaker", "Fill You In", "Mistreatin' Woman" and "Burnin'"). But all three albums also have their share of moody melodiousness and sunny '60s pop-psych stylings too. The song that gives this set its name, "Time Will Be Your Doctor", the lead-off track on their first album, is a wonderful slice of poppy, polished, pastoral vocal-harmony-rich grooviness. Another standout track, from Coming On Again, is "You're All Alone", a trembling beauty that could be from a Colin Blunstone (Zombies) solo album.
They went on through the mid-seventies to record another two albums that we haven't yet heard. But, despite the patronage of Rolling Stone Wyman, Tucky Buzzard never became much of a "buzz" band apparently. Nor did they achieve the cult stoner-status of the equally Zep-influenced, legendary Leaf Hound, for instance. But if you like Leaf Hound, or other early '70s "heavy" acts that also have a lighter side, you should check out this nicely done collection! Tucky Buzzard!
MPEG Stream: "Time Will Be Your Doctor"
MPEG Stream: "Heartbreaker"
MPEG Stream: "You're All Alone"

TUDOR Ultra Black Metal (Nuclear War Now!) cd 8.98

TUDOR LODGE It All Comes Back (Scenescof) cd 14.98

TUDOR, DAVID Microphone (Cramps) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Electronic music from composer pianist David Tudor, realized at the Center for Contemporary Music at Mills College in 1973. Two tracks, consisting of two different mixes, each 27 minutes and 30 seconds in length. Unfortunately the liner notes are all in Italian, but judging from the schematics included in the booklet and the sound of the recording the process appears to function as such: two boxes, each containing a speaker and two microphones, are set up in a feed back loop. Integrated into this loop are several devices for processing the envelope of the sound, gain, etc. resulting in swells of reverberant feedback drone which are constantly shifting in timbre and color. Not unlike Arcane Device.

TUDOR, DAVID Rainforest (Mode) cd 16.98

TUDOR, DAVID & JOHN CAGE Rainforest II & Mureau, A simultaneous Performance (Radio Bremen) cd 29.00

TUJIKO NORIKO Shojo Toshi + (Mego) cd 16.98
Fans of Ms Tujiko, it's time to rejoice. One of her early releases has been reissued with extras!
Perhaps you're wonderin' what happened to the original? Well, a short time ago (12/2005) the fine Austria experimental electronic music label Mego sadly bit the dust. Fortunately an even shorter time ago (1/2006!) Electronic artist Pita (aka Peter Rehberg) brought the label and select titles back from the edge of oblivion under the new moniker Editions Mego. Hurrah!
Back in 2001 when we carried the original release we briefly summed it up in this way: Temperate electronica, pretty ditties rest on cyclic heaving -- some dismantled soul and some traditional-ish Japanese vocals.
Allow us to elaborate a bit more this time around: Each track gently drifts to and fro with layer upon layer of chiming musicbox style melodies, more beefy sturdy thud-pulse rhythms, and gauzily effected breathy vocals that waver between curious child, coltish girl and soulful woman. This album predates Tujiko's very Bjork period (2002's Make Me Hard and 2003's From Tokyo To Niagara), but ties in well with her more distinct recent recordings (the spacious Blurred In my Mirror and the lovely 28). Richly textured in pastel watercolors. FYI: The first fourteen tracks are from the original release, and tracks 11 through 15 were previously pressed into vinyl for her "I Forgot The Title" 12".
MPEG Stream: "White Film"
MPEG Stream: "Pop Skirt"

TUJIKO, NORIKO Blurred In My Mirror (Room 40) cd 15.98
Moving further away from those 'Japanese Bjork' comparisons which have (not unjustly) followed her through her past releases, Ms Tujiko's latest album presents her fresh, new, increasingly vaporous, softly glitchy electronic tracks for our enjoyment. Indeed, Blurred In My Mirror is considerably more spacious and less 'concrete' but no less finely crafted than her past releases. Perhaps it's the influence of collaborator Lawrence English who composed and performed most of the electronic tracks this time around, while she focussed more on lyrics. Her vocals verge on stream-of-consciousness, surfacing here and there sung or spoken in her native tongue. Fluttery, airborne loveliness.
MPEG Stream: "Niagara Hospital"
MPEG Stream: "Tablet For Memory"

TUJIKO, NORIKO From Tokyo To Naiagara (Tomlab) cd 16.98
After three albums for Mego on which her vocal delivery drew progressively (and eerily) closer and closer to that of Bjork, Tujiko Noriko gracefully hops over to the Tomlab label and subtly shifted her overall sound. For one thing, the vocal resemblance to Ms Gudmundsdottir is much less pronounced. Singing in both Japanese and English, her lilting murmurs and sighs are backed by glistening shards of minimal pulses and veils of softly muted drones. Check out the dreamy almost-ceremonial procession of "Mugen Kyuukou". Sheer prettiness.
MPEG Stream: "Mugen Kyuukou"
MPEG Stream: "Robot Hero"

TUJIKO, NORIKO Make Me Hard (Mego) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
It would be very easy and all too dismissive to simply say: Tujiko, Noriko is like a craftily fragmented Japanese Bjork. Granted that is what immediately springs to mind when hearing the first track of her fourth release (her third for Mego), but delve a little further and you'll be rewarded with a more defined idea of her own sparkling magical loveliness. If you're not familiar with Ms Tujiko, that initial description does give you a basic sense of her sound - an endless building up and stripping away of layer upon layer of swooping childlike vocals, swirling dreamy washes and delicate melody fragments. Her singing also brings to mind Kate Bush as well as the criminally undersung Canadian art pop singer Jane Siberry (check out the seventh song! apologies, I couldn't locate its title). Alternately soft'n'breathy, often almost birdlike, and considerably more robust. Furthermore, the title (in Japanese: Hard Ni Sasete) certainly doesn't evoke visions of her fantastic electronic dream pop world. Make Me Hard. Huh? Puzzling! The packaging consists of nine loose individual square panels of photography, collages, liner notes and lyrics, but be sure to bring your Japanese translator along for the ride 'cause it's all in Japanese.
RealAudio clip: "track 7"

TUJIKO, NORIKO Shojo Toshi (Mego) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Temperate electronica, pretty ditties rest on cyclic heaving -- some dismantled soul and some traditional-ish Japanese vocals.

TUJIKO, NORIKO Solo (Editions Mego) cd 16.98
As the title states, this is a new album by Ms Noriko Tujiko on her own. Following recent fine collaborations with the likes of Lawrence English and Aoki Takamasa, Solo offers up more unstructured gossamer wisps of Japanese electronica coupled with her Bjork-esque cooed vocals. Her albums are like flipping through old photo albums or alternately like looking out the window of a train, catching glimpses of faces and passing scenery. So nice.
MPEG Stream: "Magic"
MPEG Stream: "No Error In My Memory"

TUK Proud Princess Of A Brand New City ((K-RAA-K)3) cd 15.98
We were WAY over glitchy laptronica when Tuk's Shallow Water Blackout knocked us upside the head a few lists back and demonstrated that just cuz some sound was played to death, didn't mean that amazing things couldn't still be done with it.
That Diskont itch that seemingly only Oval could scratch, had been getting itchier without us even knowing it, who would have realized we had been secretly hankering for a gitched up stuttery underseascape of burble and skitter, of muted rhythm and haunted melody. Well we were and Shallow Water Blackout hit she spot, and good! So much so that we figured we oughta track down Tuk's previous record, Proud Princess Of A Brand New City, and dang if it ain't just as purty!
In fact, it might even actually be a little bit prettier, definitely more serene and subdued, a little bit more musical. The rapid fire chop and splice and reassemble of Shallow Water Blackout is still present but in smaller measures. There's a bit more of a minimal angle, it's much more melodic and dreamy, rife with low drones and mumbled melody, and more actual instrumentation. It's got a fuzzy sort of sheen that has us thinking even more of groups like Jasper TX and Machinefabriek than the new one did.
Our favorite track might just be "German Holidays", beginning with a simple sad, guitar line, it's quickly surrounded by bits of glitchy ambience, clouds of record crackle and weird disembodied buzz, but it's about halfway through where it gets really good, suddenly, in comes some distorted guitar, eighties cop show, made for TV movie music, looped into a super Circular rhythm with breathy background vocals and streaks of glistening feedback, it sort of krautrocks along before it begins to deteriorate, the riff getting more and more distorted, the melodies beginning to crumble, beautiful and haunting, and surprisingly super catchy.
Those sorts of unlikely musical moments continue to surface throughout the record, suspended in Tuk's wide open fields of blissy glitch and whirring warble, making us want to just curl up and drift off...
MPEG Stream: "Sensational Soft"
MPEG Stream: "John Carpenter"
MPEG Stream: "German Holidays"

TUK Shallow Water Blackout ((K-RAA-K)3) cd 15.98
This K-RAA-K classic and big time aQ fave finally back in stock (we've been out since 2006!!)
Most of us got kind of bored by the whole laptop revolution years ago. Nerds checking their emails while some sound program runs basically on its own, a cascade of bleeps and bloops and glitches. Electronica, intelligent dance music , glitchcore, glitchtronica, what-the-fuck-ever. There have been exceptions of course, and some folks can most certainly turn a crappy old laptop into a wheezing world of wonder, or an alien symphony. One of our all time favorite 'glitch' records would have to be Oval's Diskont, a gorgeous murky underwater soundscape of burbling beauty and glistening shimmer, all woven together from digital glitch in the form of skipping compact discs. Few records since then have managed to bridge the massive gap between technical tomfoolery and emotional resonance. But damn if this latest (and first as far as we know) from Guillaume Graux, aka Tuk doesn't come damn close.
Unlike Diskont, Tuk's Shallow Water Blackout isn't all dreamy bliss and soft focus flutter, instead Graux weaves super dense tangles of sound, organic and otherwise. The most notable sonic elements are traditional instruments, acoustic guitars, piano, harps, organs, but it's what he does with them... chopping and stretching, twisting and tweaking, long stretches of skips and stutters somehow coalesce into strangely haunting minor key melodies, occasionally getting all backed up into huge crunchy, super dynamic rhythms, but not dance music rhythms, more sort of 'song' rhythms. The opener is the perfect example. What begins sounding like Hill Street Blues or Christopher Cross given a Jeckian muted mumbled abstract dream fuzz makeover, gets more and more dark and moodily melodic, bookended by these amazing math rock style stop/start arrangements, where huge blasts of fuzzy ambience give way to utter silence, only to burst back into motion again, the glitchy electronic equivalent to the hardcore breakdown maybe. With the same physically powerful affect.
And the whole record continues in that fashion, gorgeous chopped and reassembled minor key guitar tangles, bits of piano and random song fragments, peppered with digital crunch, of course plenty of glitch, loads of fuzz and hiss and crackle, all perfectly interacting and transforming the organic elements. Graux most definitely has a deft hand at composing and songwriting. These are not just huge messes of sound, these are actual songs, dark and beautiful, with an internal logic, a sonic story, a melodic journey through a weird world of dissected and strangely reassembled pop music. Much like labelmate Ignatz, who constantly reimagine and reinvent Appalachia and Delta blues, creating a whole new sound, Tuk do something similar with electronic music, coming up with a sound that is neither cold nor unemotional, not dance-y or really in any way groovy, but instead is some weird futuristic mood music, weirdly emotional mysteriously ominous and so so lovely.
Think Oval, Chris Clark, Jeck, Tim Hecker, Pierre Bastien, Dialing In, Part Timer, Machinefabriek, Jasper TX, Grouper... So pretty...
MPEG Stream: "Low Carb Love"
MPEG Stream: "Stilnox Parties"

TUKAARIA Raw To The Rapine (Profound Lore) cd 14.98
The Profound Lore label begins what we hope will be an extensive reissue campaign, focusing on some of the more obscure members of the Twilight Black Circle, a tightly knit USBM scene/collective based in Southern California, similar in sound/spirit to the legendary French Black Legions (Mutiilation, Vlad Tepes, etc.), which counts bands like Dolorvotre, Volahn, Blue Hummingbird On The Left, Ashdautas, Arizmenda and others among its members.
Tukaaria, which is an Yaqui word meaning 'the night', is another one man band, whose sound, like many of his Twilight Black Circle brethren, is raw and repetitive, but unlike the lush layered chaos of Odz Manouk, whose reissue can be found elsewhere on this week's list, Tukaaria is definitely more on the primitive and old school side, churning murky riffage, and furious stumbling blasts, but this primitivism is tempered with a seriously experimental bent, that manifests in strange and subtle ways, introducing plenty of warped weirdness, and providing a bizarre production/arrangement that make the sound something altogether different than your run of the mill black metal.
Repetition is a big part of Tukaaria's sound, with the sound constantly locking into long stretches of looped black mesmer, whether it's blurred churning riffage, or slippery tangled melodies, it's all driven by urgent, on-the-verge-of-collapse drumming, the vocals a buried in the mix demonic rasp, those drums flat and weirdly produced, set amidst a landscape of echo drenched droned out riffage, muddy, and blurry, and hazy, and woozily washed out, the vibe almost psychedelic, definitely mesmerizing, total tranced out black buzz bliss, with the sound occasionally splintering into something more melodic, more textured and spaced out, but seemingly always returning to something heady and heavy and hypnotic, a murky and mesmerizing.
This cd reissue of Raw To The Rapine includes the 2011 full length of the same name, and tacks on the Tukaaria tracks from a 2011 split with Odz Manouk and his 2010 split with Volahn.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES, housed in a super swank oversized A5 book style digipak!
MPEG Stream: "Origins"
MPEG Stream: "Raw To The Rapine"
MPEG Stream: "Chasms In Creation"

TULLY Sea Of Joy (EM Records) cd 21.00
Last list we highlighted two somewhat unusual "surf music" reissues, by Farm and Peter Martin & Finch, both brought to us by our favorite Japanese reissue label, EM Records, as part of their Summer 2007 "EM Under Water Series"! Those were quite cool, and now we've got the remaining three discs in the series, all of 'em (like those first two) soundtracks to several now-legendary surfing movies from back in the sixties/seventies. With the exception of Farm (from the USA) all the bands in EM's series are Australian, and in all cases the movies they were doing soundtracks for were Australian productions and/or featured Australian surfers. And as before, this isn't your typical SoCal Jan & Dean, Beach Boys style surf music... it's *psychedelic* surf music. Well 2 out of 3 of these anyway (the Tim Gaze Band album being more of a yacht rock outing).
Tully were apparently a pretty successful sixties rock act in their native Australia, despite playing total "head" music, not anything you could boogie to. They were popular enough to do a TV show, and even played with the Sydney Orchestra! They came from the same "alternative surf" scene as Tamam Shud, and were just as musically progressive, having the freedom to develop their material while touring as the backing band for an Australian production of "Hair", getting into poncho-garbed spirituality and electronic experiments (being the first band Down Under to possess a Moog). Somewhere along the way they merged membership with acid folk outfit Extradition, before recording their very freeform second album, this one, the 1971 soundtrack to Sea Of Joy, a surf movie directed by Paul Witzig (same guy who shot Evolution, for which Tamam Shud did the soundtrack).
Angelic female vocals, gentle organ grooves, hippie folk blissfulness, mellow instrumental textures -- it's truly glorious, lovely stuff. Quite exploratory too, with a freeform, organic feel. Tully's Sea Of Joy can be sunshiney (quite literally, on songs like "I Feel The Sun" and "Brother Sun") one moment, almost spooky the next (on such sinisterly electronics-laden tracks as "Follow Me" and "Down To The Sea"). And their interest in Eastern Indian mysticism comes through on the raga-like "Syndrone", for instance. EM says this moody, mesmeric album is the one in the series that's been selling best for them, and we're not surprised.
MPEG Stream: "Sea Of Joy (Pt.1)"
MPEG Stream: "Follow Me"
MPEG Stream: "I Feel The Sun"

TULLY Sea Of Joy (Chapter Music) lp 17.98
We first heard Tully when this came out on cd a few years ago as part of our favorite Japanese reissue label's "EM Under Water Series", consisting mostly of soundtracks to several now-legendary surfing movies from back in the sixties/seventies, mostly from Australia. And now Australian label Chapter Music has done a vinyl reissue of this particular entry in EM's series, cool!
Tully were apparently a pretty successful sixties rock act in their native Australia, despite playing total "head" music, not anything you could boogie to. They were popular enough to do a TV show, and even played with the Sydney Orchestra! They came from the same "alternative surf" scene as Tamam Shud, and were just as musically progressive, having the freedom to develop their material while touring as the backing band for an Australian production of "Hair", getting into poncho-garbed spirituality and electronic experiments (being the first band Down Under to possess a Moog). Somewhere along the way they merged membership with acid folk outfit Extradition, before recording their very freeform second album, this one, the 1971 soundtrack to Sea Of Joy, a surf movie directed by Paul Witzig (same guy who shot Evolution, for which Tamam Shud did the soundtrack).
Angelic female vocals, gentle organ grooves, hippie folk blissfulness, mellow instrumental textures -- it's truly glorious, lovely stuff. Quite exploratory too, with a freeform, organic feel. Tully's Sea Of Joy can be sunshiney (quite literally, on songs like "I Feel The Sun" and "Brother Sun") one moment, almost spooky the next (on such sinisterly electronics-laden tracks as "Follow Me" and "Down To The Sea"). And their interest in Eastern Indian mysticism comes through on the raga-like "Syndrome", for instance.
Includes download code for mp3s of the record.
MPEG Stream: "Sea Of Joy (Pt.1)"
MPEG Stream: "Follow Me"
MPEG Stream: "I Feel The Sun"

TULLYCRAFT City of Subarus (Cher Doll) cd 12.98
Girl/boy noisepop from Seattle.

TULLYCRAFT City of Subarus (Cher Doll) lp 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Girl/boy noisepop from Seattle.

TULSA DRONE Songs From A Mean Season (The Perpetual Motion Machine) cd 10.98
There's definitely a knack to crafting, moody, sweeping post rock epics, sure any one can string together a few minor key chords, add a little rhythmic shuffle and whip it all up into slow building crescendos, but much like drone music, or black metal, or anything really, it's not the being able to do it, it's the being able to do it in some super special way. To make it sound at once warm and familiar, but alien and challenging. That part is tough.
Richmond, Virginia's Tulsa Drone pull it off big time, with a sound that is epic and majestic, a gloomy, metal-tinged post rock Appalachia, mesmerizing, droney, slightly twangy, incredibly spacious, with a definite deserty vibe, due in no small part to the instrumentation. Sure the arrangements are ace, evoking all sorts of wide open vistas and barren landscapes, but the fact that these guys augment their bass / drums / guitars lineup with harmonica, slide guitar, theremin and most importantly (and uniquely) hammered dulcimer is what really seals the deal. We can't really even think of another rock band with a dulcimer player, but after spending some time with this disc, there sure as hell should be more. Lots more. The sound of that instrument is so organic, and meshes so well with the more traditional rock instruments, but is also weirdly buzzy and percussive, and has much to do with TD's unique sound.
Each song here is spacious, expansive, brooding, dreamy and lovely, with looping moody melodies, motorik rhythms, haunting harmonicas, wheezing out dusty distant textures, the drums simple but expressive, the guitar unfurling languid smokey melodies, lots of twang and shimmer, bit of Morricone for sure, the slower sultrier tracks sounding a bit like some Dirty Three post rock threnody, darkly dramatic, but with harmonica instead of violin. A few songs even feature vocals, but instead of mucking up a perfect instrumental record, they add another unique and gorgeously haunting element, the vocals, delivered in a deep Nick Cave like croon, wrapped in billowy reverb, only add to the mystery and moodiness of Tulsa Drone's windswept desert crawl. So good.
MPEG Stream: "Monongahela"
MPEG Stream: "Risk Guitar"
MPEG Stream: "We'll Take Oregon Hill"

TULUS Biography Obscene (Candlelight) cd 14.98
Last year we totally raved about this Norwegian black metal band's Cold Core Collection, which was a double cd anthology of their eldritch early works, from back in the mid/late nineties before they changed their name to Khold and became our favorite grunge-inflected (Nirvana, anyway) buzzing black metal act.
At the time, we mentioned that Tulus had just reunited (with Khold going into hibernation or something), and had a new album out too, called Biography Obscene, which we promised to review soon... well you know how things go. But the truth is, we really did dig their new album, so better late than never! Unlike the lo-fi necroness of the earliest Cold Core material, the *new* Tulus is in the more polished vein of the Khold stuff, but with some twists.
Biography Obscene is a cruel yet catchy slab of rockin' grimness and (dare we say) grooviness that takes the thick, chugging, killer riffage that Khold was known for and drags them into much weirder, artier, proggier territory. They've got a "chamber metal" thing happening, with piano, violin, organ, and even some non-sucky (really) saxophone on a couple of the tracks. In fact, what sounds like a veritable horn section on the title cut. It's never wimpy, though! They may be tickling the ivories or playing flamenco guitar licks, but it's always in the midst of ultra serious, pounding black metal filth. It's kinda like Darkthrone, Mayhem or old Samael mixed with a bit of '70s progsters Van Der Graaf Generator. Maybe hint of post punkers w/ sax Essential Logic too for a few moments on that title track when the usual gravelly vokill delivery is doubled by some screechy new wavey female vox... well we could be stretching it there. But anyway we think AQ customers into weird black metal (that would be quite a few of you) will find Biography Obscene of interest. Heck, this ain't just "interesting", it's darn headbanging too!! Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Natal Day"
MPEG Stream: "Stories Untold"
MPEG Stream: "Victim"
MPEG Stream: "Biography Obscene"

TULUS Cold Core Collection (Indie Recordings) 2cd 17.98
We totally dig Norwegian black metallers Khold, whose records we have raved about on the list again and again. Besides sounding a bit like a black metal Nirvana, with more hooks and groove than blast and buzz, they also had an amazing image, their frontman, shaved head, all clad in black, huge fur animal-leg-like pants, long sleeved turtleneck, and black corpsepaint covering JUST the bottom half of his head, leaving the top half white, a strange vision indeed, the other band members more randomly smeared with white and black, the demonic legions to their leaders mysterious dark prince.
But none of this was without precedent. Before Khold were Khold, they were Tulus, a different black metal band, with a different sound, a different image, but as far as we know all the same members. Strangely enough, Tulus recently reunited, thus rendering Khold on hold, or defunct, with a new album (Biography Obscene, which we'll review soon!) just released, but we're here to talk about the might Tulus, so let's, shall we?
Cold Core Collection gathers up the first two Tulus discs, Pure Black Energy and Mysterion, both on the first disc, the second disc made up of rarities, demos, unreleased tracks, as well as two covers, David Bowie's "Space Oddity" and Obituary's "Slowly We Rot". The first thing that struck us about Tulus, was the singer, he of the now half black half white shaved head, who in Tulus sported Pippi Longstocking style pigtails, lots of lipstick, and what seems to be a dress or some sort of strange tunic, the rest of the band look just as unlikely, especially the one who looks like a wizened demonic old man. Wow. And the music is just as impressive, plenty of what would find its way to the forefront in Khold is already here, strangely catchy grooves, totally hypnotic guitar melodies, lurching tempos, but here, it's in a much more grim and buzzing black context, lots of blasting beats, insectoid riffing, harsh vocals, BUT, just like in the image department, there's lots of weird stuff going on, creepy little girl / King Diamond falsetto vocals here and there, chunky almost punk rock sounding riffing, stretches of loping almost post rock, but Tulus is definitely a black metal band, just with a twisted aesthetic, sonically and visually, making their music both grim and kvlt, black and brutal AND fucked up and demented, catchy and bizarre.
The second disc is all over the map, the early demo stuff sounds like Striborg, ULTRA lo-fi, ALL drums, the guitar a weedy little background buzz, plenty of tape hiss and blackened murk. The later demos are more polished but still unequivocally black and buzzy. The covers are awesome, especially the Bowie, the verses heavy and harsh, with black metal vocals, but the refrains soaring and dang close to the original, shimmering steel string guitars and lush harmony vocals, a weird mix, but it sort of works.
Definitely recommended for anyone who dug those Khold discs, but this stuff is definitely grim and buzzy and fucked up enough to appeal to all the weirdo black metal fans out there. The booklet has the track info and some of the amazing photos (unfortunately not in full color) from the original releases. And for what it's worth, one of Andee and Allan's favorite black metal bands...
MPEG Stream: "Samlerens Kammer"
MPEG Stream: "Tjern"
MPEG Stream: "Dommens Fugl"
MPEG Stream: "Skuggeskip"

TULUS Evil 1999 (Hammerheart) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Third album from these Norwegian black metallers (who double as the Old Man's Child touring band). Maybe this'll be the one to move them up to the next level (of Evil 2000?).

TUMA, SCOTT Dandelion (Digitalis) cd 15.98
Now available on cd, this incredible out of print lp from guitarist/dronescaper and former Souled American member Scott Tuma, with nearly twenty minutes of bonus material! More on that in a second, first, Dandelion...
By now, most AQ customers are probably well familiar with Mr. Scott Tuma, who we of course first discovered playing guitar for legendary stoner slow-mo-country geniuses Souled American, in some ways, his underwater woozy guitar haze helped define that group's sound, and after striking out on his own, that sound became more and more distinctive, and we of course became more and more obsessed with Tuma's incredible abstract Appalachian soundscapes, equal part ambient drone music and haunting minimal guitar music.
Dandelion might just be Tuma's darkest and most abstract outing to date, after several brief tracks of music box ambience, delicate chimes, hazy melodies, wheezing smoldering rumbles, disembodied shimmer and rickety barely there rhythms, the record unfolds into it's first longform piece, an absolutely gorgeous driftscape, clouds of hiss and blur swirl softly and in slow motion, before a skeletal banjo, picks out a mournful melody, one note at a time, letting each note drift into the ether, before sending the next to follow. Around this haunting bit of abstract drift all manner of field recordings, sirens in the distance, chirping birds, whipping winds, tinkling chimes, rustling branches, a riveting stretch of folkdrone ambience for sure.
A brief bit of tangled glistening guitar melody leads into the second epic, this one ominous and foreboding, slivers of guitar buzz and shards of feedback draped over a softly swirling morass of muted buzz and smeared psychedelic swirls, clouds of cymbal shimmer hover in the background, as do tinkling chimes and flurries of abstract percussion, before fading out into a hushed bit of skeletal Appalachia.
The second half of the record dissolves into dense swells of low end, a blackened dronescape that almost sounds Wolf Eyes worthy, abject and bleak, grim rumbles beneath ashen layers of whir and hiss, those sounds seem to gradually coalesce into melodies, and what sounds like strings, the mood shifting dramatically, more cinematic, and epic, still haunting and dour, but infused with a warm glow, laced with still more random free drum skitter and glimmering cymbal shimmer, the gradually evolving sound stately, and elegiac, darkly and mysteriously lovely.
Finally, Dandelion finishes off with a stretch of sound more like the older Tuma recordings, less dark, with that woozy Souled American vibe, delicate crystalline guitars set over reverbed landscapes of amorphous sway and drift, the two tracks forming the perfect sun dappled cloud covered coda to a fantastic, and fantastically enigmatic songsuite, from one of our favorite sonic alchemists...
This cd version tacks on an additional mini songsuite, the three part "Smallpipes", which continues that old school Tuma / Souled American vibe, all hazy, reverb drenched detuned country drift, the first two shorter tracks nearly ambient, gorgeous gauzy twangscapes, while the lengthy final part is all melancholy tarpit bluegrass, a country hoedown trapped in amber, stop motion flicker driven sonic drawl, woozy and warbly, and like the record proper, utterly gorgeous.
MPEG Stream: "San Luis Freeze"
MPEG Stream: "Red Roses For Me"
MPEG Stream: "Again And Again"
MPEG Stream: "Smallpipes 2"

TUMA, SCOTT Dandelion (Digitalis) lp 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
By now, most AQ customers are probably well familiar with Mr. Scott Tuma, who we of course first discovered playing guitar for legendary stoner slow-mo-country geniuses Souled American, in some ways, his underwater woozy guitar haze helped define that group's sound, and after striking out on his own, that sound became more and more distinctive, and we of course became more and more obsessed with Tuma's incredible abstract Appalachian soundscapes, equal part ambient drone music and haunting minimal guitar music.
Dandelion might just be Tuma's darkest and most abstract outing to date, after several brief tracks of music box ambience, delicate chimes, hazy melodies, wheezing smoldering rumbles, disembodied shimmer and rickety barely there rhythms, the record unfolds into it's first longform piece, an absolutely gorgeous driftscape, clouds of hiss and blur swirl softly and in slow motion, before a skeletal banjo, picks out a mournful melody, one note at a time, letting each note drift into the ether, before sending the next to follow. Around this haunting bit of abstract drift all manner of field recordings, sirens in the distance, chirping birds, whipping winds, tinkling chimes, rustling branches, a riveting stretch of folkdrone ambience for sure.
A brief bit of tangled glistening guitar melody leads into the second epic, this one ominous and foreboding, slivers of guitar buzz and shards of feedback draped over a softly swirling morass of muted buzz and smeared psychedelic swirls, clouds of cymbal shimmer hover in the background, as do tinkling chimes and flurries of abstract percussion, before fading out into a hushed bit of skeletal Appalachia.
The flipside is three loooooong tracks, the first taking up almost half of the side, beginning with dense swells of low end, a blackened dronescape that almost sounds Wolf Eyes worthy, abject and bleak, grim rumbles beneath ashen layers of whir and hiss, those sounds seem to gradually coalesce into melodies, and what sounds like strings, the mood shifting dramatically, more cinematic, and epic, still haunting and dour, but infused with a warm glow, laced with still more random free drum skitter and glimmering cymbal shimmer, the gradually evolving sound stately, and elegiac, darkly and mysteriously lovely.
The record finishes off with two more tracks, more like the older Tuma recordings, less dark, with that woozy Souled American vibe, delicate crystalline guitars set over reverbed landscapes of amorphous sway and drift, the two tracks forming the perfect sun dappled cloud covered coda to a fantastic, and fantastically enigmatic songsuite, from one of our favorite sonic alchemists...