U ROY Now (Tabou1) cd 16.98
Brand new release by the godfather of dancehall and, some argue, rap, the legendary toaster U Roy. Unfortunately, not a very remarkable album though it features some guest appearances by such notables as Horace Andy, Errol Dunkley, Alton Ellis, Sugar Minott, Max Romeo, Sly & Robbie and more. Those unfamiliar with U Roy are better served by picking up Version Galore, or even Trojan's DJ Box Set (which features U Roy and some of the other pioneers of toasting.)
RealAudio clip: "Come On Come On"

U-MEN Solid Action (Chuckie-Boy Records) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The U-Men were one of our (our being Allan and Andee) favorite bands from the legendary and long out of print Deep Six compilation that chronicled the early days of grunge and the Seattle scene (w/ Melvins, Green River, Malfunkshun, Skin Yard, Soundgarden). But the U-Men wern't really grunge, they were more like a spazzier more hyperactive and sort of new wave Mudhoney. A weird sort of garagey punk that has more in common with the Oblivians or the Monomen than the SubPop sound, but weirder and crazier. Early '80s Seattle "jazzed-out, surfed-up, dada-swamp" art-punk you might have missed at the time, but now, through the magic of cd technology, able to fuck you up either again or for the first time. This disc collects everything they ever recorded; album, singles and compilation tracks, including their song from "Deep Six". Recommended.

U-ROY The Lost Album - Right Time Rockers (Sound System) cd 12.98
Part of me sees the development of the Jamaican DJ as truly bizarre. I try to imagine the Aquarius equivalent with say, our J. Allan Horrocks (who's initials are JAH, coincidentally enough) waxing poetic over The Lord Weird Slough Feg and cutting the tracks on an LP. That's basically the beginnings of the DJ, though my comparisons do not give the art form the justice it deserves. U Roy, or Hugh Roy, represents the king of the hill, top of the heap of DJ culture in Jamaica and it is in his footsteps that others followed regardless of who was the originator of this art form. U Roy's toasted versions of Duke Reid's rocksteady productions were persistently on Jamaica's top ten in the early seventies. Later, of course, his popularity and that of other DJs found producers dubbing the most popular rhythms to give the new singers a clean slate to work over. The tracks on this disc were all recorded at Channel One studios in 1976 and never intended for commmercial release, but for exclusive use in sound systems. U Roy had the pick of the litter rhythm wise and the late night sessions gave him an impromptu performance style that's maybe not as apparent on his official releases. Very highly recommended. Sorry, no LP at this time.
RealAudio clip: "Bury the Razor"
RealAudio clip: "Back Stabbing"

U-ROY & VARIOUS ARTISTS Version Galore (Trojan) 2cd 18.98

U.S. MAPLE (Skin Graft) 7" 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We think it costs this much because the cover art looks 'good' -- transparent vinyl. Pretty shapes. Bright colors.

U.S. MAPLE Acre Thrills (Drag City) cd 14.98
Hallelujah! US Maple return with "Acre Thrills". And such a wonderful return it is. Their last release "Talker" (produced by Michael Gira) was so sparse and subdued it was barely audible, but this one's turned up a few notches. Me, I love anticipating the stumbling -- but far from clumsy -- explosions of Al Johnson, Mark Shippy, and company. How these gents write, record and perform their music is a magnificent mind-boggler. A seeming haphazard mess of gimpy sonic bumps and bruises with the ghost of Captain Beefheart lurking about. Track 7 (with it's Link Wray-ish chicken scratch guitar line) will surely bring out the retarded epileptic chicken in all of us. With cover art that resembles a sharpie-marker-tagged baby blue bathroom tile, this really brightened Cup's day! ...And Allan's too, who'd like to add that if you've been following the amazing and (for lack of a better word) fucked career of the Maple, "Acre Thrills" will indeed be a thrill, as the band perhaps know that they'd reached the pinnacle of abstraction with their previous disc "Talker" -- so, while not returning to (avant)rocking-out like they did on their debut "Long Hair In Three Stages", they do endeavor to craft something more recognizably close to what ordinary folks would consider "songs" on here. Heck, lead whisperer/barker Al Johnson even comes close to some indie-rock standard *singing* at points! But it's still all very abstract and fucked, unmistakably US Maple, with all their unique quirks and counter-intuitive approaches to rock/pop. In short, a great new record from a very special band!
RealAudio clip: "Acre Thrills track 6"
RealAudio clip: "Acre Thrills track 7"
RealAudio clip: "Acre Thrills track 10"
RealAudio clip: "Acre Thrills track 11"

U.S. MAPLE Acre Thrills (Drag City) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hallelujah! US Maple return with "Acre Thrills". And such a wonderful return it is. Their last release "Talker" (produced by Michael Gira) was so sparse and subdued it was barely audible, but this one's turned up a few notches. Me, I love anticipating the stumbling -- but far from clumsy -- explosions of Al Johnson, Mark Shippy, and company. How these gents write, record and perform their music is a magnificent mind-boggler. A seeming haphazard mess of gimpy sonic bumps and bruises with the ghost of Captain Beefheart lurking about. Track 7 (with it's Link Wray-ish chicken scratch guitar line) will surely bring out the retarded epileptic chicken in all of us. With cover art that resembles a sharpie-marker-tagged baby blue bathroom tile, this really brightened cup's day! ...And Allan's too, who'd like to add that if you've been following the amazing and (for lack of a better word) fucked career of the Maple, "Acre Thrills" will indeed be a thrill, as the band perhaps know that they'd reached the pinnacle of abstraction with their previous disc "Talker" -- so, while not returning to (avant)rocking-out like they did on their debut "Long Hair In Three Stages", they do endeavor to craft something more recognizably close to what ordinary folks would consider "songs" on here. Heck, lead whisperer/barker Al Johnson even comes close to some indie-rock standard *singing* at points! But it's still all very abstract and fucked, unmistakably US Maple, with all their unique quirks and counter-intuitive approaches to rock/pop. In short, a great new record from a very special band!

U.S. MAPLE Long Hair In Three Stages (Skin Graft) cd 14.98

U.S. MAPLE Purple On Time (Drag City) cd 14.98
This review of Purple On Time isn't so on time itself, as US Maple's latest has been out for over a month now...but, it has taken a while to absorb, as is so often the case with good albums, and this is not just good, it's great. Plus, US Maple's style of what I can only call 'counter intuitive' indie-rock is so deliberately strange and unique that it's always tough to capture in words, even by a person who is always looking in vain for the 'US Maple fan' box to tick when confronted with demographic questions on surveys and government forms. But I can tell you that, as always, the crucial elements of their sound are vocalist Al Johnson's odd bark (which has mellowed into more of a hoarse whisper), and the instrumental smear of sound made by the guitarist and rhythm section. It's a crazy, cosy quilt of guitars, drums, bass, and Johnson's curious croon, which maybe reminds us of Iggy Stooge at his breathiest. Mathy tangles of guitar strings and drums, dripping with notes, but restrained as if the whole the band is murmuring into your ear, seldom but sometimes unwinding into 'grooves' wracked with volume and ferocity. Confusing, comforting, complex, and quite lovely. And we're not just talking about this album's cover version of Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay"!
As I said, hard to describe. Hmm, how 'bout Codeine meets Beefheart? Naw, that's both obscure and inaccurate. Anyway, US Maple are underrated originals of rock who yet again prove their genius with this release. Recommended. And the packaging is deluxe as we expect from Maple releases, the cd booklet paper providing particular tactile satisfaction, while the vinyl version's got that 180 gram heft.
MPEG Stream: "Oh Below"
MPEG Stream: "I'm Just A Bag"

U.S. MAPLE Purple On Time (Drag City) lp 16.98
This review of Purple On Time isn't so on time itself, as US Maple's latest has been out for over a month now...but, it has taken a while to absorb, as is so often the case with good albums, and this is not just good, it's great. Plus, US Maple's style of what I can only call 'counter intuitive' indie-rock is so deliberately strange and unique that it's always tough to capture in words, even by a person who is always looking in vain for the 'US Maple fan' box to tick when confronted with demographic questions on surveys and government forms. But I can tell you that, as always, the crucial elements of their sound are vocalist Al Johnson's odd bark (which has mellowed into more of a hoarse whisper), and the instrumental smear of sound made by the guitarist and rhythm section. It's a crazy, cosy quilt of guitars, drums, bass, and Johnson's curious croon, which maybe reminds us of Iggy Stooge at his breathiest. Mathy tangles of guitar strings and drums, dripping with notes, but restrained as if the whole the band is murmuring into your ear, seldom but sometimes unwinding into 'grooves' wracked with volume and ferocity. Confusing, comforting, complex, and quite lovely. And we're not just talking about this album's cover version of Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay"!
As I said, hard to describe. Hmm, how 'bout Codeine meets Beefheart? Naw, that's both obscure and inaccurate. Anyway, US Maple are underrated originals of rock who yet again prove their genius with this release. Recommended. And the packaging is deluxe as we expect from Maple releases, the cd booklet paper providing particular tactile satisfaction, while the vinyl version's got that 180 gram heft.
MPEG Stream: "Oh Below"
MPEG Stream: "I'm Just A Bag"

U.S. MAPLE Sang Phat Editor (Skin Graft) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
One of the most abstract "post-rock" outfits around, these Chicagoans second album is a challenging, nay, puzzling but ultimately hypnotic listen...if you have the ears to hear. Again, produced by Jim O'Rourke, and again featuring a very cool dayglo cover with removable postcard.

U.S. MAPLE Talker (Drag City) cd 13.98
U.S. Maple graduate from the Skin Graft label to Drag City and...high school, apparently the "theme" of this record. The third Maple record and their most abstract yet, as the band attempts to destroy all notions of proper rock n' roll methodology. Maybe not the place to start with this band, but a great place to end up. On tour now with Pavement! Produced by big fan Michael Gira of Swans. Look for their profile in The Wire #185.

U.S. MAPLE The Wanderer (Sonic Bubblegum) cdep 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A two-song single, at least one of them supposedly being a cover of Dion's "The Wanderer". Vocalist (in a very abstract way) Al Johnson and crew produce some typically skewed sounds, mathrock made with melted slide-rules. If you haven't heard them, get their Jim O'Rourke-produced full-length; if you have, and you've let it sink in, you'll want this.

U.S. SAUCER Hell, Yes! (Amarillo) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
More country-tinged tunage from this Thinking Fellers Union Local 282-offshoot.

U2 How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (Universal) cd 24.00
These modern masters of hyper-commercialism strike again with a whammee. U2 bring us a dvd and cd combination filled with a rockumentary, live performances and U2-brand iPod charmers. Features their commercial hit song, Vertigo, like, a million times (on cd and dvd). Man, if I hear a U2 song paired next to anything for sale, I'd buy it. A new car, an i-Pod, life insurance, even Depends.
MPEG Stream: "Vertigo"
MPEG Stream: "Miracle Drug"

UBSB Traceroute (Ash International (R.I.P.)) lp 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
"We created a Unix software agent that sat along a high bandwidth backbone pipe, essentially eavesdropping, gathering data, writing out a soundfile of everything it saw... The different tracks represent different states of the network - at different times, and different kinds of data passing by". UBSB is the collective project from Ulf Bilting, Zbigniew Karkowski, Atau Tanaka, and Edwin van der Heide, which presents a simple transcription of a data stream into sonic attributes, which in the end could be a textural mirror of Merzbow's noise tracks.

UCHIHASHI, KAZUHISA & TATSUYA YOSHIDA Improvisations (Magaibutsu) 2cd 18.98
The last AQ list was a good one for fans of Japanese prog maniacs the Ruins... there was the Vrresto reissue and their new split 7" with High On Fire. Keeping up the pace, this time 'round we've got another Ruins-related release...
This energetically, entertainingly exhausting double cd set sees sees Ruins mastermind Tatsuya Yoshida teamed up in an improv duo with Kazuhisa Uchihashi (of Altered States and Ground Zero fame). Hence the title, Improvisations. But these aren't improvs that only jazz-fanciers would like. Nope, this is ROCK improv. Prog rock to be precise, of course. Hectic and crazy and complicated. It's mind-scrabblin' stuff let me tell you. With so many musical ideas firing off in an ADD frenzy, for so long... 146 minutes, 25 tracks! And they're at a level of complexity and catchiness that makes it really hard for us to believe that these are improvs, and not carefully-thought-out compositions, actually!! But we're told they're all improvised, all recorded live at several venues in Japan.
Chances are you're familiar with Ruins and already know Tatsuya Yoshida to be a monster drummer. Uchihashi is perhaps less-well known, but his guitar (and effects) prowess is prodigious, take it from us. Together these guys are a dream-team. If there was such a thing as gladitorial improv-rock combat, these guys would be unbeatable in the duo catagory. Very impressive, very insane. A veritable cornucopia of perplexing progged-out riffage and ridiculousness.
A word about the packaging -- it's aesthetically pleasing (with nice stone photos by Yoshida, who is skilled at graphics and layout) but, well, it's a two disc set with both cds stacked on top of one another, on the same little foam-rubber nub attached to a tri-fold cardstock sleeve. My discs haven't gotten scratched, yet, but still...probably not the best idea! The packaging police should issue these guys a ticket. Playing them this music though would be an adequate insanity defense...
MPEG Stream: "H"
MPEG Stream: "N"
MPEG Stream: "T"

UCHIHASHI, KAZUHISA & TATSUYA YOSHIDA Improvisations Vol. 2 (Magaibutsu) 3cd 24.00
How do you follow a sprawling double cd of out-there guitar/drums improv? With a triple cd set of course! That is, if you've got the hyperactive musical genius of Japanese drum god Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins, Koenjihyakkei, etc.) and his guitar-wielding partner here, Uchihashi Kazuhisa (Ground Zero, Altered States). No problem. Last year's amazing first volume of jagged live rock Improvisations from this duo was 146 minutes long. To accomplish the 214 minutes (42 tracks) of this second volume, they have brought in some help: there's guest appearances on portions of these three cds from Sato Kenji (bass), Umezu Kazutoki (reeds), Nasuno Mitsuru (bass), Komori Keiko (sax), and the Boredoms' Yamamoto Seiichi (guitar). With Yoshida's uninhibited vocals and use of sampler, and Kazuhisa's mastery of gtr fx as well, this is a veritable cornucopia of chaotic creativity -- intricate ADD prog, full-on freakouts, jazz flavored sketches, delicate melodies, spiky speedballs, fuzzy riffage, and many moods more. Ruins fans will be STOKED. Exhilarating -and- exhausting listening as you'd expect.
Nicely packaged in a tri-fold digi designed by Yoshida with his usual photos of ancient stones in vibrant color.
MPEG Stream: "A7"
MPEG Stream: "B2"
MPEG Stream: "C3"
MPEG Stream: "E1"

UCHPA Qukman Muskiy (Mundo Music) cd 14.98
Discovering new genres of music, especially those involving cross-cultural fertilization of the most unlikely sorts, is always a big turn on for us at AQ. And whether it be go-go beat music from Cambodia, "Anadolu Pop" from Turkey, the Latin-flavored psychedelia of Brazil's Tropicalia movement, the "hillbilly drone" of Henry Flynt, or the black metal jug band dub of Black Ark Oaken Saw (whoops, sorry, that last one doesn't actually exist, yet), we're always fascinated to hear international artists melding their indigenous musical traditions with popular styles from the Western world. So Peru's Uchpa, an electric blues / hard rock band who sing in Quechua, the Native American language of the ancient Incan Empire, is right up our alley. Even Andee, who usually gives Allan a hard time for supposedly liking so much straight-up "blues rock", digs this. The extremely nasal-sounding vocals (which we're not sure is a trait of the singer, or typical of how Quechua normally sounds) give Uchpa a weird enough vibe to fit in here at AQ, no problem. Although in any case we'd probably be tempted to give this the thumbs up just 'cause of the cover picture -- a cud-chewing llama strapped with a double necked acoustic 12 and 6 string guitar! Who doesn't love llamas, and double necks??
Uchpa formed in the mid-'90s and this is their third album, from 2000. They've got a newer one or two but we picked this to import from Peru just 'cause of the aforementioned cover art. Most of the tracks, with titles like "Manakutimusaqchu" and "Yanapaway Yuksimuyta", are kick ass rockers with lots of amped up crunch, and in addition to those frantic, nasal Quechua vocals they've also got some ethnic instrumentation employed alongside the heavy, bluesy, wah-wah laced guitar licks. Basically, you could sum up Uchpa as "Hendrix in the Andes". If you like the Tuvan-rock hybrid of Yat-kha, this might have the same appeal, even though it's from a totally different part of the world.
Includes two QuickTime videos, which lets you see Uchpa's singer performing wearing what appears to be a traditional Incan costume, including a quite remarkable piece of headgear.
MPEG Stream: "Ananao"
MPEG Stream: "Corazon Contento"

UEH s/t (Acid Mothers Temple) 2cd 26.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Acid Mothers Temple followers might already be aware of this obscure French five-piece instrumental psych-rock outfit, if only because of their inclusion on the Acid Mothers Temple Family Compliation "Do Whatever You Want" that we listed not so long ago. This double cd offering (a rare 'real' cd release on the Acid Mothers Temple label) takes off from the sound of the comp's Ueh track (which appears again here): slowly unfolding soundscapes featuring tear drops of melancholy, melodic guitar, deep, warm, almost Bohren-like bass tones, and a sparse, kinda-krautrock-ish rhythmic base laid down by their drummer, the single-named Frederic (who also had a solo track on that AMT Family Compilation, and his own disc on AMT, which we haven't heard). It's psychedelic, we suppose, but really more akin to post rock -- post rock that Temporary Residence Ltd. bands would envy, although Ueh pretty much stick to the quiet part of the usual post-rock loud-soft dynamics formula. Kinda like good old Tortoise. We could imagine this as a Kranky or Strange Audio Attractors House label release as well. Ueh's languid sunset drones and jazzy, vibesy details are really, really beautiful. In our reviews, we try not to quote press releases, but the description we were given of this uses many of the words we'd like to: dreamy, soft, mellow, film soundtracks... You get the picture. Great music for when you're not sure you want to listen to anything at all. Apparently, one disc (the first, louder, jazzier) features their composed songs, while the other disc (the second, quieter, without song titles) is all improvised, but you probably couldn't tell which was which if you had to guess! Limited to 500 copies by the way, of which we have only a few.
RealAudio clip: "Uezi"
RealAudio clip: "disc 2 track 1"
RealAudio clip: "disc 2 track 2"
RealAudio clip: "Escargot"

UEH & KAWABATA MAKOTO Pataphysical Overdrive To My Cosmos (Acid Mothers Temple) cd 16.98
And another Kawabata team-up. Here the hairiest, hardest-working guitarist in the Acid Mothers universe goes into Pataphysical Overdrive with French instrumental post-rock outfit Ueh, whose now out of print double cd on the AMT label was much liked around these parts. Actually this is part split, part collaboration. Two tracks are just Ueh, one just Kawabata, and one finds 'em both inhabiting the same cosmos together. It's 56 minutes in length total though so it's no mere ep. Apparently these discs were issued for a Ueh tour of the US last summer, which we sadly missed out on, dang it.
Of the two Ueh tracks, one's an 18 minute mellow epic, and the other a perhaps uncharacteristically jangly, 3-4 minute poppy rock number that blasts into distorted washes of pataphysical overdrive midway. Meanwhile, the Ueh/Kawabata collab is a nice skitterish krauty droner, and then Kawabata takes over by himself to finish things up with a 23 minute track that combines floating, gossamer beauty with some slightly skronked, damaged primitive psych guitar soloing. No "overdrive" here, it's a lot more lazy and nod-like and plaintive sounding than that word would imply!
MPEG Stream: UEH "Pataphysical Overdrive"
MPEG Stream: UEH & KAWABATA MAKOTO "Sunset On The Moon"

UFO OR DIE Cassette Tape Superstar (Time Bomb) lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Previously cd-only, here's the lovely picture-disc gatefold vinyl version of this, the only full-length recording by the incredible uber-Boredoms offshoot band UFO or Die (Yoshimi and Eye of Boredoms, plus the bassist from Leningrad Blues Machine), described by Eye as Blue Cheer meets the Shaggs. A feast for the eyes and ears, arguably better than the best Boredoms records!

UFO OR DIE Shock Stoppers (Skin Graft) comic + 7" 5.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Repressed. Classic Boredoms side project stuff. Noisy as fuck, wild and wooly and chaotic.

UFOMAMMUT Godlike Snake (Beard of Stars) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Having your head dipped in some sort of molten hallucinogenic liquid...or steamrollered by a flying saucer.... or headbanging with Lovecraftian gods somewhere far out in the ocean of space... that's our meagre attempt to colorfully describe the experience of enjoying this slab of psychedelic stoner doom rock, the 1999 debut disc from Italy's UFOmammut! Chances are, though, that you have some idea already about this might sound like, 'cause UFOmammut's other album, the mighty Snailking, was immediately crowned as an Aquarius Record of the Week when it came out last year, and is still a steady seller hereabouts. Hopefully you already got one of those. This too, we've had before, but it's been out of print for quite a long time and only just got reissued. We figured that since folks liked Snailking so much, and Godlike Snake was just as good, and could easily have been missed out upon the first time around, we shouldn't pass up the opportunity to relist this and make it a Record of the Week as well now that it's back in print. After all, the whole reason we were so instantly amped on Snailking when it came out was in part 'cause we'd been waiting for it for, literally, years, after being blown away by the band's first album, this one. Our review of Godlike Snake ran something like this: "...this stoner rock band is a good 'un, taking a way spacier route to the Dopethrone than most. Wonderfully heavy and mesmerizing, with loads of effects, Moog, and (pardon the expression) "fat" churning drone-grind-groove... A new fave for us in the stoner/doom realm... Especially recommended for those that miss the old Monster Magnet sound, or relish the idea of a heavier Hawkwind." Listening to it now (which a bunch of us have been doing *every day* in the store), we're if anything EVEN MORE into it. Something we hadn't noticed before was how some tracks come across like Godflesh or early Killing Joke melded to Hawkwind. Crushing and enveloping and sooooooo good. It's like Electric Wizard gone spacerock, or an industrialized Dead Meadow.
As with its original incarnation, this includes a trippy video track for the song "Where?" for those with computers. It's now packaged in a standard jewelbox, instead of a cardboard digipack, but the artwork remains pretty much the same. If you like heaviness like we do, don't miss it this time!! Definitely to be considered an AQ doom/sludge/psych ESSENTIAL.
MPEG Stream: "Satan"
MPEG Stream: "Snake"

UFOMAMMUT Godlike Snake (Beard of Stars) lp 25.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
AT LONG LAST, NOW AVAILABLE ON VINYL!! Doom/sludge/psych lovers and collectors, rejoice! Here's what we had to say about this album when we made the reissue of the cd version an AQ Record Of The Week last year:
Having your head dipped in some sort of molten hallucinogenic liquid...or steamrollered by a flying saucer.... or headbanging with Lovecraftian gods somewhere far out in the ocean of space... that's our meagre attempt to colorfully describe the experience of enjoying this slab of psychedelic stoner doom rock, the 1999 debut disc from Italy's UFOmammut! Chances are, though, that you have some idea already about this might sound like, 'cause UFOmammut's other album, the mighty Snailking, was immediately crowned as an Aquarius Record of the Week when it came out last year, and is still a steady seller hereabouts. Hopefully you already got one of those. This too, we've had before, but it's been out of print for quite a long time and only just got reissued. We figured that since folks liked Snailking so much, and Godlike Snake was just as good, and could easily have been missed out upon the first time around, we shouldn't pass up the opportunity to relist this and make it a Record of the Week as well now that it's back in print. After all, the whole reason we were so instantly amped on Snailking when it came out was in part 'cause we'd been waiting for it for, literally, years, after being blown away by the band's first album, this one. Our review of Godlike Snake ran something like this: "...this stoner rock band is a good 'un, taking a way spacier route to the Dopethrone than most. Wonderfully heavy and mesmerizing, with loads of effects, Moog, and (pardon the expression) "fat" churning drone-grind-groove... A new fave for us in the stoner/doom realm... Especially recommended for those that miss the old Monster Magnet sound, or relish the idea of a heavier Hawkwind." Listening to it now (which a bunch of us have been doing *every day* in the store), we're if anything EVEN MORE into it. Something we hadn't noticed before was how some tracks come across like Godflesh or early Killing Joke melded to Hawkwind. Crushing and enveloping and sooooooo good. It's like Electric Wizard gone spacerock, or an industrialized Dead Meadow.
Italian import and limited.
MPEG Stream: "Satan"
MPEG Stream: "Snake"

UFOMAMMUT Idolum (Supernatural Cat) cd 19.98
Been waiting for this for a while! While their collaboration with Lento on the Supernaturals Vol. 1 disc (last year) was excellent and sure sounded a heck of a lot like an "actual" UFOmammut record, technically these Italian lords of druggy doom-from-space haven't released an album of their own since 2005's Lucifer Songs. So it's about time we heard from them again.
Reeling from the impact of opening ritual "Stigma", we are immediately made aware that Idolum finds the band's heaviness intact (of course it's heavy, did bears stop shitting in the woods? is the Pope no longer a Catholic??). UFOmammut are still a psychedelic juggernaut, their trance-inducing riffing aswirl in a densely layered, lysergic morass of outer space FX that the Acid Mothers Temple would envy. It's certainly up there with their previous output, we can't praise it much more highly. Found amidst the seven tracks (66 minutes, 6 seconds total, how 'bout that?) of Idolum are a few new twists, including a guest female vocal performance on a few tracks, adding an extra haunting element to the proceedings. Overall, this album manages a hard-to-beat, skull-smashing cosmic balance of tripped-out melody, ambient hypnosis, and utter crushing sludge dirge destruction equal to our high expectations. Definitely worth waiting for!
The cd we have is packaged in jewel case, the kind with rounded corners (same as the Lento debut that Supernatural Cat also just released, reviewed this list too). We didn't get any of the incredibly expensive limited cd version, but we did get a couple (really, just 2) copies of the even more incredibly expensive super limited numbered 2lp vinyl box edition. It's hefty and handsome enough to be worth the money to huge UFOmammut fans, so act fast if you want one (please). Otherwise, the cd version is more than recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Stigma"
MPEG Stream: "Stardog"
MPEG Stream: "Hellectric"

UFOMAMMUT Idolum (Supernatural Cat) 2lp+cd 63.00
Been waiting for this for a while! While their collaboration with Lento on the Supernaturals Vol. 1 disc (last year) was excellent and sure sounded a heck of a lot like an "actual" UFOmammut record, technically these Italian lords of druggy doom-from-space haven't released an album of their own since 2005's Lucifer Songs. So it's about time we heard from them again.
Reeling from the impact of opening ritual "Stigma", we are immediately made aware that Idolum finds the band's heaviness intact (of course it's heavy, did bears stop shitting in the woods? is the Pope no longer a Catholic??). UFOmammut are still a psychedelic juggernaut, their trance-inducing riffing aswirl in a densely layered, lysergic morass of outer space FX that the Acid Mothers Temple would envy. It's certainly up there with their previous output, we can't praise it much more highly. Found amidst the seven tracks (66 minutes, 6 seconds total, how 'bout that?) of Idolum are a few new twists, including a guest female vocal performance on a few tracks, adding an extra haunting element to the proceedings. Overall, this album manages a hard-to-beat, skull-smashing cosmic balance of tripped-out melody, ambient hypnosis, and utter crushing sludge dirge destruction equal to our high expectations. Definitely worth waiting for!
The cd we have is packaged in jewel case, the kind with rounded corners (same as the Lento debut that Supernatural Cat also just released, reviewed this list too). We didn't get any of the incredibly expensive limited cd version, but we did get a couple (really, just 2) copies of the even more incredibly expensive super limited numbered 2lp vinyl box edition. It's hefty and handsome enough to be worth the money to huge UFOmammut fans, so act fast if you want one (please). Otherwise, the cd version is more than recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Stigma"
MPEG Stream: "Stardog"
MPEG Stream: "Hellectric"

UFOMAMMUT Lucifer Songs (Supernatural Cat) cd + dvd 21.00
NOW AVAILABLE! The non-limited cd edition of the latest UFOmammut album! We reviewed the limited vinyl version a few months ago when we had it, but the special, screen printed limited edition cd version sold out too quickly to list. Now, at last, here's the jewel-case'd "regular" cd version. Which actually is pretty special too, since it in fact -does- come with the bonus dvd disc that we had been told was exclusive to the ltd. edition vinyl and cd versions! Not only that, but the cd features the title track "Lucifer Song" that was on the vinyl but -not- on the ltd. edition cd, weirdly enough. It's a strange case of the regular version of an album being better than the special ed. Not sure what they were thinking, but if you don't have it already you're not gonna complain! (Some of us even felt the need to buy it again, actually...argh).
So, as you may know, Italy's UFOmammut are one of our absolute favorite psychedelic/doom/drone/dirge bands, up there with Electric Wizard and Yob and Boris. Both of their previous albums, Godlike Snake and Snailking, were Aquarius Records Of The Week in their day.
Lucifer Songs (no beating about the bush with that title) is another multi-ton brick in the cosmic-heights reaching pyramidical temple these guys are building with each album, each heavy riff shifting the load like tens of thousands of the pharoah's slaves sweating and heaving in unison to get the job done. And sometimes they really push those slaves hard, the stoned riffery shifting into a higher gear. Though it often sounds more like the slaves couldn't handle the weight and the bricks are crashing down, massive and crushing... with some stretches of relatively calm drone ("Hypnotized", "Astrodronaut") to let the dust settle. These six tracks of space-sludge nirvana are perhaps marred only by the over-use of sound samples, something in metal of which we've always been critics (remember our review of the first Mastodon album? If you're not Necroticism by Carcass, leave the samples alone).
And like we said, this comes with a DVD, featuring low-budget videos for three of the album's tracks as well as what they term "soundscape" abstract psychedelic visuals for all of 'em, which is cool to have, though considering that UFOmammut is the sonic arm of the Malleus art collective (known for many a trippy album cover and rock show poster) we weren't quite as blown away by all of it as we thought we would be.
However, the DVD is well worth it not only for the many visuals that ARE cool but also for the music that plays when you're just looking at the menu (a snippet of "Lucifer Song"). If you have a DVD player that's hooked up to your stereo, put it in and just listen to it! We did... accidentally. You see, our store cd player is also a DVD player (though we have no TV monitor hooked up to it) and so when we got the cd in, we put in what we thought was the audio disc and spent about a half an hour listening to what we later realized was the DVD menu music! We were really into how this creepy synth drone with plodding percussion just looped and faded out and back in again, like the UFOmammut guys were all stoned and just turning the volume knob up and down in the studio. Allan even came out from the back of the store to see what was playing. We kept waiting for it to fade out and then surprise us by launching into a brutal riff a la Corrupted or Boris but then Irwin figured out that we were just listening to the DVD menu music! Pretty cool though, we'll do it again... And of course if you want to hear the -whole- "Lucifer Song" (which is of course cool too), it's right there on the cd half of this package now in its entirety!
MPEG Stream: "Mars"
MPEG Stream: "Astrodronaut"

UFOMAMMUT Lucifer Songs (Rocket Recordings / Supernatural Cat) lp + dvd 30.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
As you may know, Italy's UFOmammut are one of our absolute favorite psychedelic/doom/drone/dirge bands, up there with Electric Wizard and Yob and Boris. Both of their previous albums, Godlike Snake and Snailking, were Aquarius Records Of The Week in their day. This new album, Lucifer Songs, could quite possibly be a Record Of The Week too when we get the cd version -- well actually, we *did* get a cd version, but it was super fancy, screen printed and limited and we only were able to get a handful and they're all gone, sold out now, sorry. BUT don't worry, a regular cd edition is supposed to be pressed in February, and we'll definitely get a lot of those! And in the meantime, we DID get enough of this vinyl version to list... but act fast! Like the limited cd, it comes with a bonus DVD (PAL, but it worked in our computers) that won't be a part of the regular cd package.
Lucifer Songs (no beating about the bush with that title) is another multi-ton brick in the cosmic-heights reaching pyramidical temple these guys are building with each album, each heavy riff shifting the load like tens of thousands of the pharoah's slaves sweating and heaving in unison to get the job done. And sometimes they really push those slaves hard, the stoned riffery shifting into a higher gear. Though it often sounds more like the slaves couldn't handle the weight and the bricks are crashing down, massive and crushing... with some stretches of relatively calm drone ("Hypnotized", "Astdronaut") to let the dust settle. These five tracks of space-sludge nirvana are perhaps marred only by the over-use of sound samples, something in metal of which we've always been critics... remember our review of the first Mastodon album? If you're not Necroticism by Carcass, leave the samples alone...
And like we said, this handsome vinyl release comes with a DVD, featuring low-budget videos for three of the album's tracks as well as what they term "soundscape" abstract psychedelic visuals for all of 'em (including "Lucifer Song", which takes up all of side two of the LP but doesn't appear on the cd version, though of course it's here on the DVD and you can download it too) which is cool to have, though considering that UFOmammut is the sonic arm of the Malleus art collective (known for many a trippy album cover and rock show poster) we weren't quite as blown away by all of it as we thought we would be.
However, the DVD is well worth it not only for the many visuals that ARE cool but also for the music that plays when you're just looking at the menu (a snippet of "Lucifer Song"). If you have a DVD player that's hooked up to your stereo, put it in and just listen to it! We did... accidentally. You see, our store cd player is also a DVD player (though we have no TV monitor hooked up to it) and so when we got the cd in, we put in what we thought was the audio disc and spent about a half an hour listening to what we later realized was the DVD menu music! We were really in to how this creepy synth drone with plodding percussion just looped and faded out and back in again, like the UFOmammut guys were all stoned and just turning the volume knob up and down in the studio. Allan even came out from the back of the store to see what was playing. We kept waiting for it to fade out and then surprise us by launching into a brutal riff a la Corrupted or Boris but then Irwin figured out that we were just listening to the DVD menu music! Pretty cool though, we'll do it again...
MPEG Stream: "Mars"
MPEG Stream: "Astrodronaut"

UFOMAMMUT Snailking (The Music Cartel) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We've been waiting for, like, five years for this! The Italian stoner-prog band Ufomammut's debut Godlike Snake sure was a 'heaviness' hit here at AQ a few years back. A real SLEEP-er. Sadly, it's been out of print for quite a while now, and we've been waiting even longer for 'em to release their long-rumored follow-up, Snailking. But at loooong last, it's finally here! And it lives up to the promise of its predecessor while being sufficently different from it as well to really have made this worth the wait. For starters, though, here's the easiest description of Ufomammut, simply put: Electric Wizard meets Hawkwind. Space rock really doesn't get any heavier (though Tarantula Hawk is up there too). And this new one sure is heavy too. But it's also weirder, darker. Eerie. Sinister. Lots of tripped out frightmare quietude, spacious expanses of fx and ominous drum thwap for your drug-addled imagination to fill with visions cosmic. There's a free jazzish electronics freakout in track five ("God") worthy of Comets on Fire. It's doomed out, bad-trip psychedelia with mumbling, repetitious voice-in-your head samples. You know they must like Sabbath, but their favorite songs may have been perhaps "Planet Caravan" and "Solitude" and "Fx"... Not that they neglect the RIFF, the kind that goes beyond headbanging, that makes you just want to throw yourself against the wall or onto the floor and then curl up in a ball, eyes closed, rocking back and forth. So heavy it's almost mellow. And does manage to be melodic, even when the singer sounds like he's coming down a mountain glowing green...what's he seen? One song seems to be about an atomic blast, with sampled test-site announcements. And whatever the final 28-minute track "Demontain" is about, it *could* be about the aftermath...a spacey dire droning dirge for the nuclear winter, with riffing returning as the rise of the mutants begins, building into a full-on gamma world...? If you've been into any recent AQ 'heaviness' recommendations (Boris, Buried At Sea, Yob...) you NEED this. 'Nuff said.
MPEG Stream: "Hopscotch"
MPEG Stream: "Alcool"
MPEG Stream: "Odio"

UFOMAMMUT + LENT0 Supernaturals Record One (Supernatural Cat) cd 28.00
Stalwart AQ customers, especially the ever-burgeoning subset of AQ customers into the heavier, (low-) end of the musical spectrum, should already be very familiar with one half of the Supernaturals Vol. 1 equation. That'd be Italy's most spaced-out, doomadelic band of amps-to-11 psychonauts, the very very heavy UFOmammut, whose previous albums Godlike Snake, Snailking, and Lucifer Songs have all garnered massive praise both from us and pretty much anyone who thinks that if only we'd been able to put Hawkwind, Electric Wizard and Om albums into the "cultural cache" stowed on board the Voyager spacecraft, the planet Earth would surely long ago have been visited by big hairy aliens eager to smoke up and doom out. And the resultant interstellar jam would sound a heckuva lot like UFOmammut! So a new UFOmammut album, which this is more or less, is cause to celebrate.
Meanwhile, this disc introduces us to another underground psych band from Italy, by the name of Lent0, who are described as specializing in instrumental "ambient postcore". As near as we can tell from this collaborative effort, they must have a lot in common with their friends UFOmammut. We can't really tell who's doing what on this, but certainly these six fairly long tracks of uber distorted rumble, throbbing repetitive riffage, and haunting deep space shimmer are hitting all the mesmeric, droned-out highs we associate with our previous UFOmammut experiences. Maybe it's the eerie sampled voices that occasionally drift through the quieter parts of this that are Lent0's doing? Or the stretches of calmer, more Isis-like, post-rock heaviness that stand like gleaming outerspace monoliths amidst the churning, explosive jams heard elsewhere on this disc? We don't know -- but we'll certainly be curious to check out Lent0's own upcoming album Earthen whenever it comes out. What we do know is that these two bands are right on together at making this brand of mindblowing "metal". To hear anything remotely similar, you'd have to team some Tibetan monks up with Circle AND those aforementioned hairy aliens!
Important info: yes this import cd isn't cheap, but it's a handprinted, numbered, LIMITED EDITION release, in special packaging (accordion folded vellum "booklet" between thick covers) designed and executed by the Malleus psychedelic art collective, of which UFOmammut is the primary musical arm. When these are gone (and they soon will be) we'll eventually be able to get a regular, not-so-deluxe digipack version. You should further be aware that this is but the first in a series of collabs between bands on the Supernatural Cat label. Not a bad start that's for sure!
MPEG Stream: "Painful Burns Smoke As The Presence Sets Us Down In Supersonic Waves"
MPEG Stream: "The Overload"

UGLY CASANOVA Sharpen Your Teeth (Sub Pop) cd 12.98
Heads up for another indie rock super group! The impressive personnel? Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse, Black Heart Procession's Pall Jenkins, John Orth of Holopaw, and Califone / Red Red Meat fellows Brian Deck and Tim Rutili. Together, they are Ugly Casanova. Not sure how their collaborative process went (I've heard grumblings about some mysterious, elusive figure for whom this project is named), but this mostly sounds like Modest Mouse songs as sung by Isaac with the somewhat darker, eccentric influence of Black Heart Procession along for the ride. Moody, ramshackle and weaving with clunky, clatterous found object-esque percussion. Andee said the track called "Ice On the Sheets" reminded him of Red Hot Chili Peppers, but maybe you should be the judge of that one. Fans of their respective groups will surely not be disappointed by this configuration. Produced by Isaac and Brian.
RealAudio clip: "Barnacles"
RealAudio clip: "Diamonds On The Face Of Evil"
RealAudio clip: "Ice On The Sheets"

UGLY THINGS Issue #20 magazine 6.95
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
"Wild Sounds From Past Dimensions", indeed -- this thick tome (192 pages) of a magazine covers in great depth all sorts of psych, garage, proto-punk, etc. rock n' roll from decades past. Definitely one of our favorite magazines! Whether you're familiar with the subjects or not, their features, full of information and anecdotes, are always fascinating. This time, attention is paid to The Yardbirds, Love, Eater, Public Nuisance, The Treniers, The Misunderstood, and many more. Plus, "Food and Wine" editor Johan Kugelberg offers part 2 of his DIY 7" overview and, in the print reviews section, is sure to rile some tempers with his delightfully brutal rip on Sonic Youth and Steve Albini (in his review of Michael Azerrad's Our Band Could Be Your Life). Oh yeah, record reviews, there's lots of those too. A solid week's worth of reading there, I'd think. Mike Fornatale's reviews deserve special mention: #1 he's hilarious, #2 he makes you want to jump up and slap on whatever record he's writing about, his enthusiasm is so infectious. Kudos to editor/publisher Mike Stax and co. for once again demonstrating how good a music 'zine can be.

UGLY THINGS Issue #21 magazine 6.95
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Yay, a new issue of Ugly Things! I don't think there's a single magazine that I (Allan) look forward to a new issue of more than this one. Seriously. And though I don't want to get into an argument about whether rock is dead or not, I can definitely tell you that it lives on in the pages of Ugly Things. Dedicated to "wild sounds from past dimensions", this 'zine is an over half-inch thick, 200-page tome densely packed with enthusiastic writing about garage, psych, beat, punk, n' rock n' roll from the sixties and seventies (mainly). You might find mention of prog and metal and folk and funk and even reggae too if you look hard enough. And there's lotsa lookin' to do -- I read fast, but even with spending every free moment the last few days paging through this thing, I still haven't gotten to the article on Spanish beat magazine Fonorama, or finished the massive cover story on the saga of The Misunderstood or checked out part 2 of the Metal Urbain piece continued from last ish or gotten through the various artists reviews. But I did read already was entertaining and informative. Ugly Things has a stable of lively, often hilarious writers who can make even the most record-collector-obsessive subjects pretty darn interesting. There's tons of reviews (the kind I take notes on to remember to order things for Aquarius), tons of interviews, tons of weirdness -- like a piece by Neuromancer author William Gibson about his one-time meeting with the legendary (and well-dressed) Skip Spence, or Jack Hemsley's article on Tucson teen killer Charles Schmid. There's so much in here it's hard to single stuff out, but maybe I should also mention Johan Kugelberg's article about rare punk rock records that suck, despite their high collectible value. Anyway, every issue is an inspiration and this one's no different. Once again, kudos to Editor/Publisher Mike Stax and co. for another essential installment of Ugly Things.

UGLY THINGS Issue #22 magazine 6.95
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Allan's favorite music magazine strikes again! Ok, maybe if you absolutely hate all (good) rock music from 1960-1980, you won't find anything of interest here. If you ain't got no use for psych, punk, garage, exotica, etc. then yeah go elsewhere for your reading pleasure. But if you're even marginally interested in those genres -- "wild sounds from past dimensions" as the mag's masthead so broadly and enticingly puts it -- then we'd suggest picking up a copy. If you're a music fiend like us you'll soon find yourself absorbed in a story about some obscure '60s band you've never heard of before, but now will be searching out reissues by... In this installment, the Ugly Things crew delves into the dim past to bring forth fascinating facts about Brian Jones, the Pretty Things, the MC5 (actually about the recent 'reunion' tour), Plastic Bertrand, Ace Kefford of The Move, and even Columbian crazies The Speakers. Among much else, including a gizillion often quite amusingly written reviews. And of course there's the continuation of editor Mike Stax's epic story of The Misunderstood. Part III heads off on some strange tangents but if you've come this far the saga remains a page-turner. And all the stuff in there about the draft (and draft-dodging) suddenly seems sadly so much less historical and even more messed up. For us, an issue of Ugly Things is kinda what we hope in a much much smaller way getting an AQ-list email is all about...a visit with some friends who are sharing their enthusiasms and passions about some probably rather obscure music in an interesting way... I personally can't get enough of it and whenever a new issue of UT lands here at AQ it's tough not to just sit down immediately and dig in. Certainly there's a lot of meat here, and we're promised (perhaps) another issue sometime soon in 2005! Whoo-hoo.

UGLY THINGS Issue #23 Summer 2005 magazine 6.95
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A new issue of Ugly Things shows up and I know what I'm going to be doing in any and all upcoming free time that week!! Hours of music-obsessed readin' here, for those of us who share Ugly Things' fasination with the garage and psych sounds of past decades, that is. Packed with essays, interviews, and reviews (only of reissues and archival releases, no new things, even though current bands in the genre appear in the ads). This issue features the fourth part of editor Mike Stax' epic telling of the story of his favorite '60s psych rock act, The Misunderstood. Part four is about the '70s, tracing the lives of the bands ex-members into all sorts of weirdness and adventure, with intelligent crows, Sammy Hagar, and hidden ruby mines entering into the narrative. But of course there's lots more this ish besides: The Belfast Gypsies (aka Them) on the cover, Kim Fowley, eulogies for both Bomp's Greg Shaw and The Outsider's Wally Tax, an unpublished interview with the late Keith Relf of the Yardbirds, Michael Yonkers, and lots more stuff about a whole bunch of bands that we'd never heard of before but enjoyed reading about nonetheless, as always with this informative and entertaining music 'zine. Recommended.

UGLY THINGS Issue #24 magazine 7.95
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Whoo-hoo! As always, the latest issue of editor/publisher Mike Stax' well-researched magazine devoted to "wild sounds from past dimensions" is a major event here. Aware of its impending arrival, we had to block out some time ahead of time just to spend reading the thing, which surely does require some hours indeed, as each ish is bigger (and maybe even better, tough as that's got to be to achieve) than the last. #24 weighs in at 208 pages, more than 50 of 'em filled with small-print reviews of desirable reissues of rare old albums and so forth, the '50s / '60s / '70s garage punk psych beat r&b stuff we need to hear about. A great resource. The rest of the magazine's got the usual columns and features, including super in-depth articles and interviews dealing with various obscure and semi-obscure bands. This time around: The Mustangs, The Bush, The Phantom Brothers, Sweetwater, Stiphnoyds, The Flamin' Groovies, The Rubber City Rebels, Mike & The Ravens, and more. Haven't heard of most of those? Well for just $7.95 you could become an expert on 'em. Seriously, we -always- find something of interest in these stories. A couple of the other features this issue that caught our attention: Johan Kugelberg discusses the joys of what he terms Australian "grillfat rock", Mike Stax waxes enthusiastic about vintage radio show airchecks, Randal Wood runs down the Peruvian '60s scene, Patrick Lundborg lists twenty hard to find collectibles that he'd like to see reissued, and Jeff Jarema talks to the recording engineer who worked on the first Blue Cheer album. Turns out the guy was talking time off from his job as a police officer, of all things, and lets just say didn't quite appreciate the pro-drugs, proto-metal heaviness churned out by the 'Cheer!
Now we count the days until #25 comes out...

UGLY THINGS Issue #25 magazine 7.95
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Curses! It's the worst when a new issue of one of our favorite magazines, Ugly Things, shows up on a "list week"! All we want to do is sit and read the darn thing -- and there's A LOT of it to read, this ish is up to 224 pages -- but instead we can only skim thru and save it for next week when we're not quite so busy writing music reviews. Yeah there will be a lot of work to do then too, but we'll MAKE time to relax and read our Ugly Things. After all, it's about a lot of our favorite types of music: '60s psych, garage, freakbeat, proto-prog, "wild sounds from past dimensions" as they say on the cover. This time around, there's features on The Music Machine, The Attack, Radio Birdman, The Namelosers, Freedom's Children, The Light, The Rubber City Rebels, and much much more... some of these bands more obscure than others but in all cases, whether we'd heard of 'em before or not, totally fascinatin' reading (well, what we've gotten to so far anyway, but we know all of it's gonna be good). We did delve into the articles about South African psych legends Freedom's Children, which included a interesting tidbit about the use of psychedelic lighting at their live shows. Apparently they'd gotten someone to rig up a primitive strobe light, without realizing the effect it might have on people prone to epileptic seizures... soon they figured that out and put warnings on their show posters, but funnily enough non-epileptics, who just thought it was "cool", would go on and have "seizures" anyway, they'd call it "having a frothy". Crazy hippies!
A few other articles of note: there's a fascinating piece entitled "Everything You Know About 'Louie Louie' Is Wrong" (by Bruce Duff -- is he the Jesters Of Destiny Bruce Duff we wonder?).... And perhaps the most bizarre and interesting investigation this issue, is the article about the sneaky "karaoke rock" of Steve Kaczorowski, a possibly delusional wanna be rock star from Long Island who released several now-collectable records of himself singing OVER other people's music, totally uncredited... you got to read it to believe it. Of course, there's also the usual informative and entertaining pages and pages and pages of music, dvd, and book reviews, among which you'll find Johan Kugelberg's offering: "Times Ain't Like They Used To Be: Good Records That Came Out During The Suck Years", delving into some personal faves from 1983-1997. Ok, gotta stop flipping through this and get on with my other reviews, though I don't want to...

UGLY THINGS MAGAZINE Issue #26 Winter / Spring 2008 magazine 7.95
Egads. As usual, our favorite magazine (a thick as a brick magazine, 224 packed pages, more like a tome!) shows up on a "list week" when we're too busy writing our reviews to do what we WANT to do, which is curl up with this new issue and enjoy all of their reviews, interviews, articles, and whatnot. That's what we'll be doing Saturday for sure, this rainy weather is perfect for that. Giving it a skim (and tearing ourselves away from it to get back to work), we can tell you that this ish is, as usual, full of good stuff pertaining to garage, psych, punk, freakbeat, acid folk, and other "wild sounds from past dimensions" as it says on the cover. Some of the contents include a 1988 interview with the late Rob Tyner, singer for the legendary MC5, a history of UK folksters Trees, an extensive, informative piece on the amazing '60s Norwegian scene, another about Napa Valley's, interviews and essays about the likes of The Sons Of Adam, The Pop Rivets, Jeff Simmons, Fire, Cedars, and as always a Pretty Things update. And, unbelievably, much more. Notably, Chris Stigliano shoves Julian Cope aside to present a "Beginner's Guide To Les Rallizes Denudes". And the 13 pages devoted to Johan Kugelberg's expert fan feature on "Punk Before Punk" is probably worth the price of admission alone, looking forward to delving into that one!
Plus of course there's dozens upon dozens of reviews of reissues...and ads and playlists and columns and rants and (sadly) obits and so much much much more, as we keep sayin'. Recommended if you have any interest in the cool, cult, collectable music of yesteryear. And copious free time to spend readin' about it!

UI 2-Sided EP/The Sharpie (1993-1995) (Southern) cd 12.98
Two releases, originally UK imports on Hemiola and Soul Static Sound, finally available on cd at a domestic price. American instrumental trio fans of Tortoise will dig. And hey, Stereolab likes them, see next review.

UI Answers (Southern) cd 14.98
Nearly a decade ago, Sasha Frere-Jones began what has amounted to a prolific career as a music critic for The Village Voice and The Wire, often providing insight into the slippery logic of the groove whether that be about his childhood love of Liquid Liquid and ESG or recent musings on the newest Missy Elliott record. During this time, Frere-Jones has been actualizing his own boogie machine with the sporadically active Ui, which centers on Frere-Jones playing bass alongside percussionist Clem Waldmann and a supporting cast of multi-instrumentalists. "Answers" is just Ui's third album, and is a far cry from the current strain of mutant disco from bands like The Rapture or Tussle which boast a similiar lineage dating back to the golden era of Arthur Baker productions and Gang of Four punked out grooviness. No, Ui would never be caught wearing hotpants or delving into the facile behavior of Fischerspooner; rather, Ui's take on the groove is based upon complexity and willfull angularity, paralleling much of the organic composition found on Tortoise's "Millions Now Living Will Never Die," any of the Minutemen's albums, and the perpetually obscure prog-punk band the Embarrassment. "Answers" is a series of intellectual explorations of the interplay between two basses, drums, and a number of quirky flourishes which counterpoint the mathematically challenging times and herky-jerky chord progressions. This is a solid recapitulation of where post-rock might have gone, if it didn't devolve into banal jazz-fusion pretense.
MPEG Stream: "Get Hot, You Bum!"
MPEG Stream: "Elettrodomestici"

UI Answers (Southern) 2lp 14.98
Nearly a decade ago, Sasha Frere-Jones began what has amounted to a prolific career as a music critic for The Village Voice and The Wire, often providing insight into the slippery logic of the groove whether that be about his childhood love of Liquid Liquid and ESG or recent musings on the newest Missy Elliott record. During this time, Frere-Jones has been actualizing his own boogie machine with the sporadically active Ui, which centers on Frere-Jones playing bass alongside percussionist Clem Waldmann and a supporting cast of multi-instrumentalists. "Answers" is just Ui's third album, and is a far cry from the current strain of mutant disco from bands like The Rapture or Tussle which boast a similiar lineage dating back to the golden era of Arthur Baker productions and Gang of Four punked out grooviness. No, Ui would never be caught wearing hotpants or delving into the facile behavior of Fischerspooner; rather, Ui's take on the groove is based upon complexity and willfull angularity, paralleling much of the organic composition found on Tortoise's "Millions Now Living Will Never Die," any of the Minutemen's albums, and the perpetually obscure prog-punk band the Embarrassment. "Answers" is a series of intellectual explorations of the interplay between two basses, drums, and a number of quirky flourishes which counterpoint the mathematically challenging times and herky-jerky chord progressions. This is a solid recapitulation of where post-rock might have gone, if it didn't devolve into banal jazz-fusion pretense.

UI Lifelike (Southern) cd 13.98
Some will claim that instrumental trio UI is doing the funky tortoise, but we know this is their best album to date, the heavy bass and melodic lines finally coming together for a fleshed out, confident record. Fans of the UILAB ep will like this a lot.

UI Lifelike (Southern) lp 10.98
Some will claim that instrumental trio UI is doing the funky tortoise, but we know this is their best album to date, the heavy bass and melodic lines finally coming together for a fleshed out, confident record. Fans of the UILAB ep will like this a lot.

UI Sidelong (Southern) cd 12.98
New York trio's long-anticipated full-length is finally out; too bad they chose to package the cd in one of those paper sleeves that doesn't even qualify as cardboard and will thus assuredly fall apart next week. Often described as "prog-Tortoise."

UI Sidelong (Southern) lp 10.98
New York trio's long-anticipated full-length is finally out; too bad they chose to package the cd in one of those paper sleeves that doesn't even qualify as cardboard and will thus assuredly fall apart next week. Often described as "prog-Tortoise."

UILAB Fires (Bingo/Duophonic) cdep 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
6 tracks chronicling a year-long collaboration between Ui and Stereolab, featuring 4 (yes four) version of Brian Eno's "St. Elmo's Fire" and one track ("Impulse Rah!") whose writing credit goes to the 2 bands plus Sun Ra. This is very pleasant record -- the music is closer to Ui's sound, yet the presence of Stereolab seems to have been a good anchor for the group, and Laetitia and Mary's vocals mix wonderfully with Sasha Frere-Jones' voice. The 10" vinyl for this is on its way, should appear next week, and is extremely limited (you know Duophonic) so please reserve your copy. The cds should be around for a while.

UJAKU issue #7 magazine 3.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We recently discovered this excellent 'zine from Australia, which has as its focus experimental music from that country/continent (such as the minimal electronicism of Pimmon and Minit, who are two of the better-known names here, at least to us). Part of the beauty of this 'zine is how it serves as an introduction to a interesting scene that you probably haven't heard much about if you live in this hemisphere. Also, there's a healthy review section covering not only Aussie artists but all kinds of other international AQ-approved things from the Melvins to Sensational, from Schoolly D to Mouse on Mars, all well written and individual. You'll also notice some seemingly incongrous coverage of stuff in the metal realm (there's reviews of Immortal and Peccatum, and pics of metal-oriented graffiti!), demonstrating a broadminded taste in all forms of extreme and unusual music, something that we always applaud here at Aquarius.

UKE OF SPACES CORNERS COUNTY So Far On The Way (Corleone) cd 10.98
By now you probably realize, that it's easy to win us over with the right band name, at least initially. Fuck I'm Dead, Bathtub Shitter, Throne Of Blood... Tempting and tantalizingly teasing us with whatever weirdness may lurk inside. Often, it stops at the band name, as if in a single burst of creativity, the band came up with THE NAME, and then were forced to soldier on with the whole job of writing songs and recording a record, made even more difficult by the completely drained reservoir of creative juices.
So as always, we were immediately tickled by Uke Of Spaces Corners County, but then entered with a certain amount off trepidation, having been burned before. Thankfully, So Far On The Way was anything but a disappointment, in fact, if anything, not only did it manage to not disappoint, it also didn't sound anything like we expected.
It's on Corleone to begin with, home of Landed, The Body, Throne Of Blood, Mindflayer and plenty of soundfuckers, so we were sort of expecting something, noisy maybe, and there's the band name, but instead, UOSCC are some sort of folk music, damaged and what-the-fuck enough to seem right at home on Corleone, but undoubtedly folk music, of the freaked out, stumbling and strange weirdo outsider stripe that we dig so much.
The opener, "Dead Pens", is downright gorgeous, minor key distorted main riff, the vocals plaintive and emotional, lyrics appropriately bizarre and random, the track a convoluted crawl, peppered with sound FX and finishing off with a haphazard choir of back up vocalists. But for all its weirdness and musical damage, it's totally beautiful, like Bright Eyes on some brain melting cocktail of Thorazine and peyote...
Things continue on in the same druggy musical haze, on the verge of falling apart, but without losing any emotion or becoming any less catchy. From the distorted beat driven folky strum jam of "Today The Mirror", with it's strange staccato break down, and awesome juxtaposition of damaged drum machine sounding beat and steel string riff. To the hiss drenched Appalachia of "This Old World", an old timey classic transported direct from some a Southern homestead in the thirties, to some broken 4-track in a musty old warehouse in New Orleans today. And like all the tracks, it's the vocals again, tying it all together, soaring and crooning, sometime slipping into a haunting and wavering falsetto, cracking here and there, but always weaving a mysterious and powerful spell.
In some ways it reminds us of a less Brit obsessed Strapping Fieldhands, a lo-fi bedroom folk, strangely lush for all it's lo-fi-ness, and filtered through classic back porch twang, spacy reverb drenched drone guitar, sweet major key melodies, and of course random streaks and squalls of psychedelic noise, angular guitar scrape, splatters of percussion and random other bits of sonic detritus.
Something even freakier than all that freak folk, original, heartfelt, ramshackle, and so goddamn good.
MPEG Stream: "Dead Pens"
MPEG Stream: "Today The Mirror"