V.L.A.D. Motion Institute (Warp) cd 9.99
A new recruit for Warp records, V.L.A.D. offers four tracks of tense electro beats, algorithmic arpeggiations of bleep, and minimalist melodies quite similar to the Richie Devine material from Schematic with parts of the booty-bass squiggliness from Aphex Twin's "Windowlicker" ep.

V/A Cambodian Rocks (original version on Parallel World) (Parallel World) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Previously issued a while back only on vinyl, "Cambodian Rocks" - now on CD - presents a handful of unknown (to the point that no artist names or track titles are given) Cambodian garage bands from the late 60s and early 70s. The liner notes explain that the compiler (s/he is also anonymous) picked up a bunch of random tapes while in Cambodia and put this together of the best tracks from those tapes. For those who are entranced by the psychedelic exotica found in the "Love, Peace, and Poetry" series, "Cambodian Rocks" makes an exceptional companion. For the most part this compilation is dominated by really good fuzzed out organ / guitar garage rich with understandably crappy production. But along with the garage cuts, there's a track of incredibly unfunky James Brown mimicry that make the Make Up's theatrical irony seem even more insincere than they really are. Appropriated dancehall groove/stomps with Cambodian instead of Jamaican overtones. But the highlight is the appearance of the female led garage band who were featured on the Asian Psychedelic chapter of the "Love, Peace, and Poetry" series. Greasy garage rock not far from the Count Five or the Seeds but with reverb drenched female vocals that hits high notes rarely found even on Bollywood sountracks. Totally essential.

V/A Disco Deutschland Disco (Marina) cd 16.98
Oh how we've adored the Germans' take on various musical styles over the years, and we're not just talking about their obvious kosmiche krautrock brilliance. No, it's German musicmakers' handling of the more unexpected genres that have deepened our love affair tenfold. The hip '60s kitten heeled go-go pop of the In-Kraut compilations? The spaghetti (er, sauerkraut?) westerns of the Wig Wam Weste(r)n Weisse Wolfe collections? Yes and yes! Those two genres are unquestionably more commonly associated with French chanteuses and American cowboys, so the unmistakable German inflections that surface always make for a delightful twist on the familiar.
Now Marina Records, who brought us those In-Kraut comps, takes it (or is it retakes it?) to the dancefloor with this compilation of German disco and funk music circa 1975 thru 1980. They're not messin' around. This is straight-up boogie wonderland business. Awesome.
Some highlights include the 8+ minute Supermax track, a lowdown I'm so sexy unstoppable groover... the Giorgio Moroder studio band Munich Machine's classic "Get On The Funk Train"... and a disco-era hit from In-Kraut alumnus Peter Thomas and his Sound Orchestra... among 15 other mainly killer, glitterball dazzlers. Now, if the weird thing is, this isn't really that weird. Heck disco's even back "in" now. Don't go expecting krautrocky craziness, instead just get yer dancing shoes on and yer ass in gear. Seriously, this has been getting spun in the store by AQ staffers just as much or more than anything else lately, and when it's on we've been getting our work done with just a little more groove.
Includes a 14-page booklet of informative liner notes, with such interestin' tidbits as that Berry Lipman's track "Sex World" was used as the theme song for an American porno film, but originated as an instrumental from the German sci-fi TV series Star Maidens...
MPEG Stream: SUPERMAX "Love Machine"
MPEG Stream: LIPMAN, BERRY "Sex World"
MPEG Stream: PETER THOMAS SOUND ORCHESTRA "Opium"

V/A !Policia! (Militia Group) cd 15.98
We reviewed the totally amazing metal-pop-punk of Fallout Boy last list and casually mentioned one of the bonus tracks, a super revved up metallic version of the Police's "Roxanne" not knowing that right around the corner was this compilation of even more Police covers by other of-the-moment emo / metallic pop punk / indie rock outifts. With compilations like this, there is so much potential for suck, but thankfully this here disc is about 90 percent cream. It helps that the Police were an amazing band, and wrote totally brilliant songs. So it's nice to hear different (some drastically) versions of some of those classics. Obviously Fallout Boy's "Roxanne" is a killer, souped up and WAY heavier, but there's also Limbeck's gorgeous and twangy countrified version of "So Lonely", a killer version of "Truth Hits Everybody" by Motion City Soundtrack, and probably the coolest weirdest track on here, Maxeen doing the classic Police b-side "Murder By Numbers", turning it into a creepy new wave epic, with fuzzy synths, high Shellac like guitar parts, and lots of weird dynamics. So good. The rest of the comp is rounded out by bands doing fairly faithful renditions (usually a bit heavier or faster) with only a few cringeworthy 'ballads' to speak of. Been listening to this non stop. As good as it is, it did have us pulling out our old Police records too!
MPEG Stream: MAXEEN "Murder By Numbers"
MPEG Stream: LIMBECK "So Lonely"
MPEG Stream: MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK "Truth Hits Everybody"

V/A (1.8) sec. compilation ((1.8) sec. Records) 12" 16.98
Very high concept compilation, wherein each artist submitted a 1.8 second (!) loop to be used as a locked groove. The loops were then randomly paired up with other artists on the comp. The only limitation to what each artist could create was that their song would end with another artist's locked groove! Phew.
The contributors are Taylor Deupree, Tim Hecker, Roel Meelkop, Duul_Drv, Richard Chartier, Mitchell Akiyama, Kim Cascone and 3x3is9. Glitchy and dreamy, noisy and skittery experimental electronic weirdness. Pretty cool. SUPER LIMITED to 500, hand numbered, on white vinyl and gorgeously creepy cover art.

V/A (K-raa-k)3 Festival Sampler 2002 ((K-RAA-K)3) cd 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Produced in conjunction with a sizeable festival held earlier this year in Belgium, this compilation features a number of exclusive / rare tracks from the artists in attendance, including Main, Oren Ambarchi, Ekkehard Ehlers, David Grubbs, Alog, Vibracathedral Orchestra, Benjamin Franklin, It & My Computer, Twine, Alog, Wio, Toss, and John David, V (who may be the same John from the AQ-favorite 26 project, and now spends his time in the new wave project Glass Candy). K-Raa-K - with their solid spectrum of avant-rock, hazy-improv, and electro-glitch etherealism - continues to be a really interesting label.
RealAudio clip: ALOG "Dogdive"
RealAudio clip: MAIN "Maelstrom"
RealAudio clip: JOHN DAVID, V "Untitled / Sixth Movement 1997"

V/A (Sic) The Broklyn Beats 7" Series (Broklyn Beats) cd 14.98
This comp collects all those super limited, super fierce 7" released on the Broklyn Beats label over the last year or so. Features tracks from AQ fave DJ/Rupture, Godspeed side project 1-Speed Bike, as well as Doily, Criterion, Rotator, Broklyn Beast, I-Sound, and Donna Summer. All over the place and all of it great, from pummeling speaker shredding dancehall to sliced and diced collage-noise to big beats and beyond.
RealAudio clip: DJ /RUPTURE "Rumbo Babylon"
RealAudio clip: 1-SPEED BIKE "I'm A Pretzel On A Stealth Mission To Kill The President"
RealAudio clip: DONNA SUMMER "Popxplosion"

V/A (Triskaidekaphobia) 13,000.00 Milliseconds (Ratskin Records) cd 6.98
This mind bending comp back in stock again!
You know those Sublime Frequencies "Radio" compilations we love so much, the ones that just sound like someone sitting in a hotel room in another country flipping stations on the radio and recording the results. Well imagine a similar compilation, but in this case, the listener/recorder has an extreme case of ADD, and is flipping between some insane non existent all avant freaked out noise satellite radio station and all the strange little non-stations you discover when you're driving across the country, flipping through the dials at 4am. Little chunks of beautiful pastoral sound, bursts of ear gouging static, voices, snippets of speeches, some crazy guy testifying, some country or classical music that is just out of range so the sound  is all skittery and blurred, delicate swaths of soft plinked piano, blasts of grinding deathmetal, talk radio, skittery rhythms, lots of textures and timbres, noises and melodies, most often swallowed up before they can develop into anything more than a fragment, than a partially formed musical thought, but that's sort of the point. This comp will definitely enrapturously engorge the ears of aural adventurers and noise devotees, but just might rattle the nerves of those less prepared. Despite the incredibly lengthy list of incredibly eclectic artists who participated in this brand new compilation titled (Triskaidekaphobia) 13,000.00 Milliseconds:
Venetian Snares, Matmos, Thrones, MGR, I Am Spoonbender, Wildildlife, David Scott Stone (Melvins), Blevin Blectum, Winters In Osaka, Leslie Keffer, Microwaves, Sword Heaven, To Live And Shave In L.A., Wobbly, The White Mice, Skozey Fetish, Brad Laner, Rubber O Cement, Bobb Bruno, Cock ESP, Panicsville, Otto Von Schirach, Crank Sturgeon, Deletist, Drums Like Machineguns, Valerio Cosi, Eats Tapes, Evil Moisture, No Doctors, Two Dead Sluts, One Good Fuck, Leslie Keffer and about a million more....
The nature of 215+ 13-second compositions strung together non-stop without room to take a breath pretty much ensures that this cd will be catalogued in most libraries and music shops in the experimental/noise section. Unfortunate really, since while it definitely has its share of earwax-dislodging aggressive assaults, it also has quite a few shining moments of artful sound design and subtle songcraft that defy genre-fication. And somehow, the bits of noise, and the bits of prettier sound, do balance out, almost seeming to play off one another, or at the very least, slowly seep into each other, helping form what is ultimately a constantly shifting somewhat schizophrenic sonic whole. It's an overwhelming and intense listening experience, another one for the iron eared, or at least the adventure eared, and while we just listened to the whole thing all the way through, for the third or fourth time, for some folks it might work better in smaller chunks, because admittedly for some tracks the 13 seconds seems like an eternity, while others fly by all too swiftly. That said, we just started it over again from the top...
MPEG Stream: "1 (Different Dentist / Beta CLoud / To Live And SHave In L.A.)"
MPEG Stream: "2 (Migrations In Rust / Deep Fried Radio Static / Rubber O Cement)"
MPEG Stream: "3 (I Am Spoonbender / I Think I Did Something Wrong)"
MPEG Stream: "4 (Neon Leather Drip / Big Epoch Feat. Bizzart)"
MPEG Stream: "5 (Cheap Machines / Animal Hospital / Beneya Vs. Clark Nova)"

V/A ... (Edition...) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This curiously titled compilation from Edition... doesn't want to make the process of uncovering its intentions and potential meanings an easy task, by obscuring the context of how this is to be heard, read, investigated, etc. Edition... has packaged this compilation as a digipack, complete with luminously eerie photographs that are grainier versions of Todd Hido or Dianne Jones (who has shot all of the Tarentel covers, amongst other projects) and absolutely no text. All of the liner notes have been compressed onto one of those circular pieces of paper that fits behind the cd itself and is normally filled with obnoxious marketing questions, only to end up in the trash instead of the post. But it would be wise not to dispose of that enigmatic piece of paper, as there you will learn that Colin Potter, Monos, Hazard, Jliat, M. Behrens, Toy Bizarre, Jio Shimizu, and Steven Lance Ledbetter have all contributed to this compilation. Such a line-up situates this "..." within the area of dronologist investigations, transforming shortwave, field recordings, very specific frequency modulations, and organ fans into eerie drone pieces that hover between contemplative and unnerving. Interspersed within these tracks, Edition... has included straight field recordings of errata in shortwave transmissions, fragments from SETI research, and data retreived from seismic sensors after nuclear tests in India in 1998. These very specific references are tenuously linked to the realm of the conspiracy theory. Regardless of how all of these elements are supposed to appear, this compilation makes for a great listen from begining to end.
RealAudio clip: NUCLEAR TEST FROM INDIA "11 May 1998"
RealAudio clip: TOY BIZARRE "kdi dctb 066b"
RealAudio clip: HAZARD "Rotation Evident"
RealAudio clip: MONOS "Glacier"

V/A ...E Tu Vivrai Nel Terrore (Black Widow) 2cd + book 29.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Here's the weird Italian label Black Widow's massive double cd tribute to horror cinema (Italian and otherwise) featuring an international array of psych/prog acts: Ars Nova, Claudio Simonetti of Goblin, Humus, Northwinds, the Bevis Frond, Nekropolis, Morte Macabre, Tenebre, Malombra, Standarte, Sundial, and many many more. Some bands cover movie themes, others write songs *about* favorite films... An eerie and atmospheric homage to the likes of The Omen, Psychomania, Suspiria, The Devils, The Exorcist, etc. AND, to really make the mouth water, this comes with an really nice 80 page softcover book with essays about the horror movie genre (directors, films) and details on each band's contribution. It's an Italian import, and we don't have many...

V/A .AIFF (12K) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Compiling the experimental / minimal / synthetic realms of post-techno from the more dancefloor friendly pulses of Taylor Dupree and Kim Rapatti (whose track is an exceptionally good variant of Sahko's frigid melodies of bleeps set against a skeletal structure of techno beats) to the more piercing sinewave modulations of Komet (Raster Music), Goem (Korm Plastics, Mego) and *O (whose pure tones are some of the most head rattling noises this side of Ryoji Ikeda). All of the tracks are previously unreleased.

V/A 0161 (Skam) cd 19.98
After licensing the "Skampler" to Silent Records, Skam has issued an excellent collection of Manchester's finest beat-heavy electronica. Following the leads set by Autechre (recording here as Gescom), the artists include Bola, Jega, Audiomontage, The Fall (yes, Mark E. Smith does electronica!) and more... The only e-music record in a long time that's good enough to excite Jim!

V/A 1-8 Split Series (Fat Cat) cd 14.98
Fat Cat Records has so far released 10 of their acclaimed split 12"s featuring a medley of engaging tracks from electronica technicians, dronologists, noise makers, and pranksters. This cd collects 11 of the tracks which had been featured on the series, with contributions from Third Eye Foundation, Gescom vs. Ad Vanz, Chasm (aka Robert Hampson of Main), James Plotkin, Merzbow, Foehn (who has contributed some of the finest dronework that few have heard!), Team Doyobi, V/VM, Speedranch & Janski Noise, and Req. Sadly the brilliant darkness from Anthony Child / Andrew Read didn't made it on the compilation, as was the same fate for a track claimed to be done by Pole (which turned out to be a fabrication of Pole's electronica dub and forced Fat Cat to order the destruction of the pressing, thus making the James Plotkin track pretty much exclusive to this cd).

V/A 100% Dynamite (Soul Jazz) cd 21.00

V/A 100% Dynamite (Soul Jazz) 2lp 24.00

V/A 12" / 80s (Family Recordings) 3cd 28.00
Back in the '80s there was an abundance of dance pop 12"s coming out of the UK. Seemed that any ol' song could be hoisted up to dancefloor hit heights via the wonders of the extended mix (or if you prefer: the long version, 12" mix, long mix, discotheque, mixe plurale, dancing remixes et al). Nothing like spending a little more time spinnin' around the dancefloor (or hoppin' about in your bedroom) with your fave songs, eh? This triple cd set corrals some of the most inescapable 12"s and shows just how much of a musical mixed bag the '80s were. If you were born anytime before 1979, most if not all of these tracks will ring a bell (perhaps for some a louder, more garrish bell than others). Each disc contains twelve tracks each, which if you do the math, adds up to thirty six different 12"s (or 432 inches)! Although that barely scratches the surface, the compilation does hit the '80s nostalgia button with alarming accuracy -- from the impossibly vapid (Stephen 'Tin Tin' Duffy's "Kiss Me", Curiosity Killed The Cat's "Down To Earth" and Animotion's "Obsession" ) to the absolutely delicious (Soft Cell's "Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go" and Fun Boy Three's "Our Lips Are Sealed") to the classic (Siouxsie And The Banshees' "Spellbound", Talk Talk's "It's My Life", The Cure's "A Forest" and Bauhaus' "She's In Parties"). You also get ABC, Spandau Ballet, Human League, Yazoo, Kid Creole & The Coconuts, Propaganda, Hipsway, Aztec Camera, Tom Tom Club, The Passions, Pete Wylie, Japan, Blow Monkeys, Simply Red, Simple Minds, Monsoon, The Icicle Works, Tears For Fears, Lloyd Cole, Visage, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Jam, Black, Man Parrish, Scritti Politti and Grace Jones... did we/they miss anybody? Hmmm, the only glaring omissions we've come up with are Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Blancmange, Wang Chung... uh oh, maybe we should stop now. You'll probably find (as we did) that some of these songs that you adored so throughly back in the day have aged far less gracefully than others. Some are downright cringe-inducing (yikes, did I really like THAT!?). For one thing, there's enough of those whiteboy soul affectations here to sink a rather large teakettle. Nevertheless, sure to satisfy even your most insatiable '80s craving! (Pssst, as we write this, Deborah 'Debbie' Gibson is taking the stage at Cafe Du Nord here in SF!)
MPEG Stream: SOFT CELL "Tainted Love / Where Did Our Love Go"
MPEG Stream: JONES, GRACE "Pull Up To The Bumper"

V/A 12k 1008 (12K) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The second compilation from Taylor Deupree's label of electronic glitch sterility features the now standard line up of Richard Chartier, *O, Tetsu Inoue, Kim Cascone, and Goem, with some fresh blood from Komet, Surge, Miki Yui, and Shuttle 358. Can't really say how this varies from last week's collection of "inaudible tones and ear-itching stereo tactics," but if you're into that sort of thing, like we are...

V/A 156 Strings (Cuneiform) cd 14.98
Inspired by past compilations of avant-garde guitar explorations assembled by John Fahey and Fred Frith, the Bay Area's own well-known guitar experimentalist Henry Kaiser has put together this collection of acoustic solos by many of today's most amazing guitar innovators, 19 of 'em in fact: Duck Baker, Stefan Basho-Junghans, Raoul Bjorkenheim, Jean-Paul Bourelly, Nels "AQ Loves Me" Cline, Janet Feder, Fred Frith, Michael Gulezian, Richard Leo Johnson, Mike Keneally, Peter Lang, Scott McGill, Shawn Persinger is Prester John, Rod Poole, Gyan Riley, Miroslav Tadic, Richard Thompson, U Tin, and Kaiser himself (hey, why no Eugene Chadbourne?). These guys (yeah, they're all guys except for Ms. Feder, but what can you do?) hail from around the world and have unique, personal approaches to playing.
Moods here range from the pastoral idyll of Brit folkie Thompson to the minimalist soundscaping of Frith, from the faux-raga like slide work of Bjorkenheim to the authentically Robbie Basho-like exotica of U Tin, from the country pickin' of Lang to the percussive melodicism of Bourelly, from the scraping drone-folk of Feder (we want to hear more!) to the repetitive trance-induction of Rod Poole, from the sprightly, jazzish jingle of Persinger to the melancholic classical playing of Gyan Riley. The disc ends with Steffen Basho-Junghan's epic, experimental, fucked up but lovely sounding "Part 1 from the Virgin Orchestra No.1", a piece that Kaiser cites as the cornerstone of this comp. And it's the pretty great finale to this gorgeous, fascinating album.
Kaiser intends "156 Strings" to highlight those carrying on the work of iconoclastic instrumental steel-string guitar pioneers like Fahey, Basho and Kottke, a tradition driven underground by the more commerical, less challenging New Age guitar genre those same folks helped create.
Also, funnily enough, a portion of the proceeds from the sales of this comp go to benefit H.E.A.R. (Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers). Don't worry, there's no need for earplugs with this one!
RealAudio clip: GYAN RILEY "Eyes of Orion"
RealAudio clip: MICHAEL GULEZIAN "Plook The Asbestos Lobster"
RealAudio clip: JANET FEDER "Lightning Strikes"
RealAudio clip: STEFFEN BASHO-JUNGHANS "Part 1 from the Virgin Orchestra No.1"

V/A 19 Ways To Avoid The Draft (Airborne Virus / Mar/ino) cd 14.98
A joint release between new labels Airborne Virus and Mar/ino, an imprint of Michigan's Elsie and Jack label (they released an Aube cd and the Tabata solo record some time ago). Features tracks by 555 artists Empress, Steward and Halkyn as well as many others including Electroscope, Gang Wizard, Minmae and cLOUDDEAD. An odd collection, for sure. Be sure to check out Mar/ino's new, limited-run releases by Kawabata Makoto and Outerdrive!

V/A 1970's Algerian Proto-Rai Underground (Sublime Frequencies) lp 27.00
Another winner from Sublime Frequencies. And while we made sure to stress that past "vinyl-only" were indeed vinyl only, lately, those vinyl releases have been slowly making it to cd. BUT, for the vinyl folks out there, these do disappear fast, and fetch big bucks on eBay once they're gone, so you're not gonna want to snooze on this one. Listening to this again, now, for maybe the 20th time in 2 days, it's becoming clear we'll probably have to make this a Record Of The Week as soon as it comes out on cd, but for now, even though it's only a highlight, it really couldn't be more of a MUST OWN.
And like many of the Sublime Frequencies before it, we find it hard to not think that maybe folks don't need to be making so much music, releasing so many records, when so much amazing outrageously creative music is already being and has been made all over the world, for so long, much of it never heard outside of a very few people. Maybe we should have some sort of national policy, where bands can turn in their instruments, and in exchange get a recorder, a plane ticket, and an expense account, with which they can roam the world bringing back some of that unheard and lost music. Heck, sign us up right now!
Anyway, this new release is a collection of Rai music from the early seventies, from Algeria, and these particular cuts are samples of some of the sort of "outlaw" Rai performers, a modern strain that has been neglected and ignored, and takes this classic Algerian music form, and adds electric guitar, trumpets, wah wah pedal, and whips it all up into an infectious brew equal parts Ethiopiques, Bollywood and garage rock. Or something close to that. This stuff is truly hard to describe, and the liner notes, while informative, are printed on an eye popping blue on red old school 3-D colored background which makes the text swim and sway before your eyes. And offer more on the history and the players than what Rai music actually is (there's a good description on Wikipedia). But for the purpose of this review, as it should be, we'll just focus on the sound. And what a sound!
Warm whirring organ drones, trumpets EVERYWHERE, really the defining sound, wild chaotic tribal drumming, crooned dramatic vocals, groovy, soulful, funky, raw and lo-fi, like a garage rock Ethiopiques, but with a strangely raw Bollywood vibe, the trumpets peppering the murky grooves with strange fanfares and jazzy melodies, here and there distorted guitars surface, wrapped in wah wah, reverb and echo all over the place, some songs super frenzied, others laid back and dreamy, Indian melodies draped over almost surfy grooves, really pretty fantastic. Hard to imagine that folks who have been digging all the Sublime Frequencies releases, or the Yaala Yaala reissues won't go crazy for this stuff.
Group Doueh, Group Inerane, and now this, a pretty mind blowing, near perfect, far out world music three-fer, and that's not even counting the 30+ release that came before. ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED.
LIMITED TO 1500 COPIES, 180 gram vinyl, super thick gatefold sleeve, full color, with tons of photos and liner notes inside.

V/A 2 Many DJ's - As Heard On Radio Soulwax Pt. 2 (PIAS) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This disc is so great! It's an uninterrupted one hour mix, and it's one of the best I have ever heard. Stephen and David Dewaele, the two Belgian brothers who play in the band Soulwax plumbed their record collections for everything from totally obscure forgotten tracks to universally popular ones. One of the best pieces overlays Salt 'n Pepa singing "Push It" over The Stooges' "No Fun", which you may also have heard on the (now out-of-print) Best Bootlegs in the World comp. I find 2 Many DJs better than the best Bootlegs comp, actually, because [1] it's a perfectly sequenced smooth mix, all the tracks flow into the next, lots of overlap, and [2] it's not just popular hits being mashed up, it's gems from 2 very smart music fanatics' collections. I mean, who knew that Destiny's Child's theme to Charlie's Angels would work so well over Dolly Parton's "9 to 5", or that a Peaches chord progression's secret twin is a Velvet Underground song?
The endearingly simple 2 Many DJs website lists all the tracks used, along with juicy gossip about how hard or easy it was to get clearance for each one and tracks whose owners *refused* clearance. (If you're crafty you'll be able to find these tracks on the net as mp3s anyway -- I'm downloading the Skee-Lo/"Eye of the Tiger" mix right now.)
This is SO MUCH FUN. Look for it to go out of print sooner rather than later -- don't hesitate. Highly recommended.
RealAudio clip: "tracks 1-2 part 1"
RealAudio clip: "tracks 1-2 part 2"
RealAudio clip: "tracks 17-18"
RealAudio clip: "tracks 3-4"
RealAudio clip: "track 21"
RealAudio clip: "track 8"

V/A 20 Film and Stage Classics Jamaican Style (Trojan) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
I don't know if I have ever heard a bad Trojan compilation. Classic ska, rocksteady, and reggae versions of the theme from "Shaft", "Moon River," "The Magnificent Seven," "Summertime," "From Russia with Love," and more.

V/A 200% Dynamite (Soul Jazz) cd 21.00

V/A 200% Dynamite (Soul Jazz) 2lp 24.00

V/A 2000 Teenbeat Sampler (TeenBeat) cd 5.98
Teenbeat Records' sampler for the new millennium, featuring: Panax, The Rondelles, Flin Flon, Butch Willis & D Flat, Mark Borthwick/Holland, Versus, Phil Krauth and more. On each of the fifteen tracks here, you can definitely tell Teenbeat's kingpin Mark Robinson gave the thumbs up. Drifting laidback strumming (Versus), quirky-noisy lo-fi (Jonny Cohen & Co.), polished hook-laden pop (Panax). Indeed it may even be said that this compilation as a whole reflects Mr. Robinson's own extensive musical career. All this for a super low price.

V/A 23 Drifts To Guestling (Iham Products) cd 17.98

V/A 25 Years of Rough Trade Shops (Rough Trade / Mute) 4cd 30.00
It should be noted that this is a compilation to celebrate 25 years of Rough Trade SHOPS and NOT a retrospective of Rough Trade, the label. Having said that, this is a fine collection of independent music from the past 25 years. Featuring some rare and exclusive material, these four CDs cover the wide spectrum of independent music. Bands contributing: Buzzcocks, The Congos, Subway Sect, Television Personalities, Stiff Little Fingers, The Normal, Throbbing Gristle (!), Cabaret Voltaire, Pixies, Swell Maps, Joy Division, The Fall, Scritti Politti, Lee Perry, Cocteau Twins, The Smiths, The Birthday Party, Einsturzende Neubauten, Nick Cave, Sonic Youth, Sugarcubes, Le Tigre, Mudhoney, Coil, Stereolab, Mazzy Star, Chills, Gescom, Cornershop, Chemical Brothers, I Am Kloot, Studio Pressure, Spacemen 3, Talking Heads, Boards of Canada, Gak, Jeb Loy Nichols, Clinic, Huggy Bear, Peaches, Lemon Jelly, Ryan Adams, Tindersticks, Pere Ubu, Native Hipsters, Echoboy, Lambchop, and Young Marble Giants!

V/A 2XH vs. HHR Vol. 1 - Where Is My Robotic Boot? (Hydra Head) 2cd 14.98
This "co-operative venture" between the 2XH and Hydra Head Records labels (both divisions of the same company, in reality) brings together fifteen both relatively well-known and obscure names from both the worlds of current underground metal/grind and experimental electronic drone, spreading their darkness and dis-ease across two entire compact discs. On the first disc, dedicated to acts on the more 'experimental' 2XH imprint, we hear from Final, Shifts, Stephen O'Malley (of SUNNO))) and Khanate), Craig Dongoski, Tribes Of Neurot, Monotonos, Merzbow and Kid606. Indeed, no comp would be complete without a Kid606 contribution, so how about two? His typically crazed tracks bookend the calmer drones of the other 2XH entries, which range from ambient delay-scape of Monotonos to the heavy-duty noise of Merzbow (a good one!) to the shortwave voice sampling cacophony of Mr. Dongoski... We're pretty sure that anyone who liked that Record Of Shadows Infinite comp we reviewed last list will also enjoy these selections. Crossing over to the more metallic disc 2, Hydra Head's half of this, we enter a realm of spastic brutality. Most of the bands represented here, like Jan Michael Vincent Car Crash (who get two tracks like the Kid on disc 1), The Abandoned Hearts Club, The Austerity Program, Gezoleen, Phantomsmasher and Orthrelm -- are basically aggro, arty, ADD avant-metal, all pretty amazing stuff for those into the likes of Melt Banana and Fantomas... There's also a track from Khanate, doing "German Dental Work" live on WFMU, and though they're more of a creepy crawl than careening chaos, they still fit in there on this heavy and manic disc. So, which disc you like better may depend on your mood at the moment (or how you want your mood to be). Both are impressive and make us look forward to vol. 2 (wherein, also, maybe we'll be enlightened about this robotic boot business). Graphically, this disc's artwork is suitably glitchy, computery and dense looking, and the liner notes -- by our own Jim Haynes -- quite adequately explain the aesthetic represented by these two labels and the bands on these two discs.
MPEG Stream: STEPHEN O'MALLEY "Gui-Fang"
MPEG Stream: JAN MICHAEL VINCENT CAR CRASH "North London Book Of The Dead"

V/A 300% Dynamite (Soul Jazz) cd 21.00
Truly dynamite! Yes, it's sooo very true. The third volume of this Soul Jazz Records series is exactly that from start to finish. An extensive array of sounds from Jamaica: ska, dancehall, soul, rocksteady, calypso, funk, and dub. It's all here. The 15 tracks here feature the likes of Prince Buster, Lee Perry, Augustus Pablo, Sister Nancy, Byron Lee, Jackie Mittoo, and more! We also have the first and second volumes ("100%" and "200%") in the series, also great (and also $17.98).

V/A 300% Dynamite (Soul Jazz) 2lp 24.00
Truly dynamite! Yes, it's sooo very true. The third volume of this Soul Jazz Records series is exactly that from start to finish. An extensive array of sounds from Jamaica: ska, dancehall, soul, rocksteady, calypso, funk, and dub. It's all here. The 15 tracks here feature the likes of Prince Buster, Lee Perry, Augustus Pablo, Sister Nancy, Byron Lee, Jackie Mittoo, and more! We also have the first and second volumes ("100%" and "200%") in the series, also great (and also $17.98).

V/A 33 RPM: Ten Hours of Sound from France (23five) cd 14.98
With a government that legitimately funds the arts, France has long been at the forefront of sound art, electronic music, and experimentation in general. This tradition began with the inception of INA GRM, a pioneering institution dedicated to advancements in sound experimentation. While the most lasting contribution INA GRM offers is the Musique Concrete experiments of Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henri, an impressive list of composers have passed through the INA GRM studios, including Eliane Radigue, Luc Ferrari, Bernard Parmegiani, and Michel Chion. However, the impact of INA GRM has been a blessing and a curse for French sound art, as its institutionality offers impeccable facilities and opportunities to those following the program, while marginalizing those who fall outside of its aesthetics and ideals. The historical splinters and fluctuations of French sound art has not gone unnoticed, as Laurent Dailleau organized the third co-presentation between 23five and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The result of Dailleau's efforts was a 10 hour listening room experience, presenting historical material dating back to the early 1950s.
The CD compendium of 33 RPM celebrates the contemporary models that French composers have employed in response to the historical influences of INA GRM. The artists featured on 33 RPM include Kasper T. Toeplitz, Kristoff K. Roll, Jean-Claude Risset, Lionel Marchetti, Christophe Havel, Laurent Dailleau, Mathieu Chamagne, pizMO, Jean-Phillipe Gross, and Mimetic. Armed with current tools of DSP factories and Max-MSP patches, this selection of French artists tends to concentrate on the acousmatic ends of the electro-acoustic spectrum. As with the two previous 23five / SFMOMA presentations, 33 RPM is a great collection.
MPEG Stream: KASPER T. TOEPLITZ "PURR #2"
MPEG Stream: LIONEL MARCHETTI "A Rebours"
MPEG Stream: JEAN-PHILIPPE GROSS "Gris Epais"

V/A 3rd Base (Base Records) cd 16.98
3rd Base features a selection of varied works from Base Records artists such as Rehberg/Bauer, The Smiling Buddhas, Alois Huber, Schlund, The K, Swamp Swallow, Martha Hurry and Aural Screenshots with James Plotkin (Old, Phantomsmasher, Atomsmasher, etc).

V/A 400% Dynamite (Soul Jazz) cd 21.00
"400% Dynamite" is the fourth and undeniably the best in the series of Jamaican grooves as compiled by Soul Jazz Records. There's the dubbed out dancehall raggamuffin chants from Barrington Levy and Tenor Saw & Buju Bantu (whose cut "Ring The Alarm Quick" may inspire us to venture further into dancehall); the soulful rocksteady of Prince Buster and Toots & The Maytals; the classic early ska sounds of The Cimerons. Come to think of it, there's not a single track here which isn't fantastic. I don't even think we can say that about those universally loved Trojan compilations!
RealAudio clip: BUJU BANTON "Ring The Alarm"
RealAudio clip: LLOYD ROBINSON "Cuss Cuss"

V/A 400% Dynamite (Soul Jazz) 2lp 24.00
"400% Dynamite" is the fourth and undeniably the best in the series of Jamaican grooves as compiled by Soul Jazz Records. There's the dubbed out dancehall raggamuffin chants from Barrington Levy and Tenor Saw & Buju Bantu (whose cut "Ring The Alarm Quick" may inspire us to venture further into dancehall); the soulful rocksteady of Prince Buster and Toots & The Maytals; the classic early ska sounds of The Cimerons. Come to think of it, there's not a single track here which isn't fantastic. I don't even think we can say that about those universally loved Trojan compilations!

V/A 45 Second Of: (Simball Records) cd 14.98
99 artists given 45 seconds to do as they wish. It's best to think of this like an audio equivalent of an Exquisite Corpse, the Surrealist parlor game in which a drawing or a sentence would be created by a group of people, who had concealed the nature of the preceding drawings or words, and thus often resulting in absurd creations that characterized the "unconscious reality of the personality of the group." Artists include: Safety Scissors, Stars As Eyes, Lali Puna, D84 (aka Blevin Blectum), Hood, John Tejada, Phthalocyanine, Languis, Sutekh, Tarentel, Martin Rev, Kim Cascone, Jan Jelinek, DJ Spooky, and dozens more. In case anybody cares, the Coelacanth found on this compilation is not the same Coelacanth comprised of Loren Chasse and AQ's Jim Haynes. Oh well.

V/A 45'18" (Korm Plastics) cd 15.98
This is a compilation of various interpretations / performances / covers of John Cage's infamous composition 4'33," by Keith Rowe, Artificial Memory Trace, Thurston Moore, Pauline Oliveros, Jio Shimizu, Voice Crack, Clive Graham, Toshiya Tsunoda, Alignment, and Frans De Waard. Right now, you should already know your opinion of this. Our opinion: this is pretentious crap from people who should know better; and if you must know, there are a couple of tracks with sound on it, and a bunch without. What kind of sound, you might ask? Does it really matter?
RealAudio clip: JIO SHIMIZU "4'33""
RealAudio clip: KEITH ROWE "4'33""
RealAudio clip: PAULINE OLIVEROS "4'33""

V/A 500% Dynamite (Soul Jazz) cd 21.00
From the single most popular series of compilations of Jamaican music comes the highly anticipated fifth volume: 500% Dynamite. It seems as though, with every consecutive release in this series we sell more and more of them. It could be a snowball effect of more people being turned on to the series with every release, or it could be that the comps just keep getting better -- that there really is one hundred percent MORE dynamite involved in the creation of each consecutive release. So is this comp 100% better than 400% Dynamite? Well, the jury could still be out on this one, but it's definitely an explosive collection of Ska, Dub, Dancehall, Rock-steady and Reggae-soul of the kind that we've come to expect from Soul Jazz. The tracks that kind of put this comp on probation are few, but could require some fancy programming of your CD player. Sister Charmaine's dancehall track "The Body" gets VERY irritating with its incessant use of the "This Old Man" (or as Andee puts it: "the Nick Nack Paddywhack song") melody. The Red Rat track, "Goody 2 Shoes", is another bone of contention around here, with many loathing his prepubescent whine while others have found this track strangely growing on them. Everybody seems to agree though that the best track on this album is the hip hop remix of Tiger Ranks' "Party Wit Me" using Eminem's "My Name Is" as the backing track. Also quite nice is the Mudies All Stars instrumental track "Loran's Dance" which sounds almost as if it could have been an alternate take for Curtis Mayfield's "Superfly" film score. As well as the aforementioned there are tracks on here by Augustus Pablo ("East of the River Nile"), Joe Gibbs ("African Dub Chapter Three"), and a surprisingly disappointing cut of Toots & the Maytals' "Bam Bam", plus much more. If you've got all the other discs in this series you should probably consider picking this one up as well, but it appears as though the consensus around here is that 400% Dynamite (some say 300%) is still the best all around collection.
RealAudio clip: MUDIES ALL-STARS "Loran's Dance"
RealAudio clip: GIBBS, JOE "African Dub Chapter Three"
RealAudio clip: TIGER RANKS "Party Wit Me"
RealAudio clip: RED RAT "Goody 2 Shoes"

V/A 500% Dynamite (Soul Jazz) 2lp 24.00
From the single most popular series of compilations of Jamaican music comes the highly anticipated fifth volume: 500% Dynamite. It seems as though, with every consecutive release in this series we sell more and more of them. It could be a snowball effect of more people being turned on to the series with every release, or it could be that the comps just keep getting better -- that there really is one hundred percent MORE dynamite involved in the creation of each consecutive release. So is this comp 100% better than 400% Dynamite? Well, the jury could still be out on this one, but it's definitely an explosive collection of Ska, Dub, Dancehall, Rock-steady and Reggae-soul of the kind that we've come to expect from Soul Jazz. The tracks that kind of put this comp on probation are few, but could require some fancy programming of your CD player. Sister Charmaine's dancehall track "The Body" gets VERY irritating with its incessant use of the "This Old Man" (or as Andee puts it: "the Nick Nack Paddywhack song") melody. The Red Rat track, "Goody 2 Shoes", is another bone of contention around here, with many loathing his prepubescent whine while others have found this track strangely growing on them. Everybody seems to agree though that the best track on this album is the hip hop remix of Tiger Ranks' "Party Wit Me" using Eminem's "My Name Is" as the backing track. Also quite nice is the Mudies All Stars instrumental track "Loran's Dance" which sounds almost as if it could have been an alternate take for Curtis Mayfield's "Superfly" film score. As well as the aforementioned there are tracks on here by Augustus Pablo ("East of the River Nile"), Joe Gibbs ("African Dub Chapter Three"), and a surprisingly disappointing cut of Toots & the Maytals' "Bam Bam", plus much more. If you've got all the other discs in this series you should probably consider picking this one up as well, but it appears as though the consensus around here is that 400% Dynamite (some say 300%) is still the best all around collection.

V/A 600% Dynamite (Soul Jazz) cd 21.00
Volume 6 in Soul Jazz's never-ending x(100)% Dynamite series. 17 tracks picked by Soul Jazz's own soundsystem DJ's including a version of the dancehall classic "Under Mi Sensi" reworked by Alozade And Hollow Point, Yabby You's "Conquering Lion", Johnny Osbourne's "Budy Bye", Tenor Saw's "Golden Hen", Sister Nancy's "Transport Connection" and more. We can't say this one's better than the last percenter, but if you've got all the previous volumes and love them, this one's not going to disappoint.
MPEG Stream: ALOZADE AND HOLLOWPOINT "Unda Mi Sensi"
MPEG Stream: SISTER NANCY "Transport Connection"

V/A 600% Dynamite (Soul Jazz) 2lp 24.00
Volume 6 in Soul Jazz's never-ending x(100)% Dynamite series. 17 tracks picked by Soul Jazz's own soundsystem DJ's including a version of the dancehall classic "Under Mi Sensi" reworked by Alozade And Hollow Point, Yabby You's "Conquering Lion", Johnny Osbourne's "Budy Bye", Tenor Saw's "Golden Hen", Sister Nancy's "Transport Connection" and more. We can't say this one's better than the last percenter, but if you've got all the previous volumes and love them, this one's not going to disappoint.
MPEG Stream: ALOZADE AND HOLLOWPOINT "Unda Mi Sensi"
MPEG Stream: SISTER NANCY "Transport Connection"

V/A 7" Up (Crippled Dick Hot Wax) cd 16.98
Where would we be with out labels like Crippled Dick Hot Wax? We all think we're super obsessive music nerds, Don't we? Sure, we hunt down weird records, buy totally obscure 7"s, have a roomful of records in our house. But c'mon, compared to the guys who run Crippled Dick or Trunk, we're not even in the same record nerd league. These guys also have lots of records, scour cool record stores, and all that. But they also hunt in garage sales, estate sales, flea markets. Not looking for weird record reissues cuz they are the guys who MAKE those reissues happen. And they don't just track down records, they have to hunt down the folks who made those records. Take a look at your cd shelf at home, at take a gander at all the crazy obscure compilations. Someone had to dig up all those tracks, locate every band, sometimes track down out of business record labels. Phew. It's a hell of a lot of work. But it's so worth it!! And just in case we haven't said it enough, we are oh so grateful. These are the guys who fill our lives with insane South American psych rock, early eighties NY No Wave, seventies proto metal and of course rad super rare and long out of print UK post punk power pop singles from the late seventies and early eighties, like the tracks on 7" Up!
The cool thing about 7"s is that it was a super affordable way for bands to get a song recorded and distributed. The first real form of DIY promotion. Any band with a few hundred bucks and a couple of songs could have their very own 7" record just like their idols. The result was of course a lot of crappy singles, but amidst the hundreds and thousands of mediocre to downright terrible tracks, were handful of absolute killers. This comp collects a whole bunch of those. Of the thirteen bands on here we'd only ever heard of two (Monochrome Set and Glaxo Babies) but every track on here is amazing. Whether it's a blast of synth heavy robotic new wave ("Gerry & The Holograms" by Gerry & The Holograms), fuzzy garage rock stomp with weird chipmunk vocals ("Zip Nolah" by Cult Figures) or moody croony electronic post punk ("Private Plane" by Thomas Leer), every song is an absolute gem, some funny and funky, some totally bouncy and catchy, some completely bizarre.
Probably the most played track around here is "Don't Try To Cure Yourself" by They Must Be Russians, a bizarre song featuring a graphic description of different sexually transmitted diseases during each verse (complete with totally melodic backup vocals crooning "Pubic Hair..." or "Infected Person...") only to burst into a super aggro angular chorus. Funny, but completely catchy and kick ass. Other standouts are "Imposter" by the Moondogs, a completely catchy hard rocking perfect pop song, and the stripped down Elvis Costello worship of Mark Beer's "The Man Man Man" and then there's... heck, we could just go through the whole disc, cuz they're all totally great. Definitely one of the best comps we've heard in a while. Cool packaging with extensive liner notes and a bunch of info on each and every one of these obscure gems! So recommended.
MPEG Stream: GLAXO BABIES "This Is Your Life"
MPEG Stream: GERRY & THE HOLOGRAMS "Gerry & The Holograms"
MPEG Stream: THEY MUST BE RUSSIANS "Don't Try To Cure Yourself"

V/A 7" Up (Crippled Dick Hot Wax) lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Where would we be with out labels like Crippled Dick Hot Wax? We all think we're super obsessive music nerds, Don't we? Sure, we hunt down weird records, buy totally obscure 7"s, have a roomful of records in our house. But c'mon, compared to the guys who run Crippled Dick or Trunk, we're not even in the same record nerd league. These guys also have lots of records, scour cool record stores, and all that. But they also hunt in garage sales, estate sales, flea markets. Not looking for weird record reissues cuz they are the guys who MAKE those reissues happen. And they don't just track down records, they have to hunt down the folks who made those records. Take a look at your cd shelf at home, at take a gander at all the crazy obscure compilations. Someone had to dig up all those tracks, locate every band, sometimes track down out of business record labels. Phew. It's a hell of a lot of work. But it's so worth it!! And just in case we haven't said it enough, we are oh so grateful. These are the guys who fill our lives with insane South American psych rock, early eighties NY No Wave, seventies proto metal and of course rad super rare and long out of print UK post punk power pop singles from the late seventies and early eighties, like the tracks on 7" Up!
The cool thing about 7"s is that it was a super affordable way for bands to get a song recorded and distributed. The first real form of DIY promotion. Any band with a few hundred bucks and a couple of songs could have their very own 7" record just like their idols. The result was of course a lot of crappy singles, but amidst the hundreds and thousands of mediocre to downright terrible tracks, were handful of absolute killers. This comp collects a whole bunch of those. Of the thirteen bands on here we'd only ever heard of two (Monochrome Set and Glaxo Babies) but every track on here is amazing. Whether it's a blast of synth heavy robotic new wave ("Gerry & The Holograms" by Gerry & The Holograms), fuzzy garage rock stomp with weird chipmunk vocals ("Zip Nolah" by Cult Figures) or moody croony electronic post punk ("Private Plane" by Thomas Leer), every song is an absolute gem, some funny and funky, some totally bouncy and catchy, some completely bizarre.
Probably the most played track around here is "Don't Try To Cure Yourself" by They Must Be Russians, a bizarre song featuring a graphic description of different sexually transmitted diseases during each verse (complete with totally melodic backup vocals crooning "Pubic Hair..." or "Infected Person...") only to burst into a super aggro angular chorus. Funny, but completely catchy and kick ass. Other standouts are "Imposter" by the Moondogs, a completely catchy hard rocking perfect pop song, and the stripped down Elvis Costello worship of Mark Beer's "The Man Man Man" and then there's... heck, we could just go through the whole disc, cuz they're all totally great. Definitely one of the best comps we've heard in a while. Cool packaging with extensive liner notes and a bunch of info on each and every one of these obscure gems! So recommended.
MPEG Stream: GLAXO BABIES "This Is Your Life"
MPEG Stream: GERRY & THE HOLOGRAMS "Gerry & The Holograms"
MPEG Stream: THEY MUST BE RUSSIANS "Don't Try To Cure Yourself"

V/A A Benefit For Our Friends (DMBQ Benefit CD) cd-r 15.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
By now, we're sure most of you heard about the horrible accident that claimed the life of DMBQ drummer China, and left the rest of the band as well as their booker / tour manager (and AQ pal) Michelle injured and hospitalized. And as is always the case with situations like these, most musicians are uninsured, and need all the help they can get to help pay their medical bills and try to recover, regroup and make it home.
So this here comp is one way you can help. 100 percent of the proceeds goes direct to the band to help them get back on their feet. And as if helping out a bunch of cool folks and a kick ass band to boot wasn't enough, you also get this killer comp out of the deal. New and exclusive tracks from Comets On Fire. Paik, Trans Am, Lightning Bolt, Burmese, Fucking Champs, Ezeetiger, Ludicra, No Doctors, Nate Denver's Neck, and more!!! And if you want to do more, you can donate via Paypal to this address: dmbqpanache@lovepumpunited.com or by mail to this address: Lovepump United, PO BOX 3241, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603.
And again our condolences to the band and friends and family for the loss of China, and our best wishes for speedy recoveries all around.
MPEG Stream: COMETS ON FIRE "Wolf Eyes (Middle Version)"
MPEG Stream: LIGHTNING BOLT "Exitebike"

V/A A Cleansing Ascension (Elevator Bath) cd 14.98
They don't make compilations like they used to; but this one from Elevator Bath is certainly an exception to that rule. A good percentage of the currently released compilations tend towards collections of impossible to find rarities (at best) or (at worst) a random assortment of tracks which never quite made it onto proper albums, so why not lump them all together on some disposable compilation with the good tracks just ending up on the iPod anyway. But there was a day when labels took the job of curating compilations very seriously with the artists rising to the task as well. One can think back to the Perspectives And Distortion comp from Cherry Red back in 1981, or the eccentric electronics on The Elephant Table Music Album, or those weird comps on United Dairies, or even 4AD's Lonely Is An Eyesore. Dare it be said that A Cleansing Ascension might be one of the few modern comps that even comes close to those seminal compilations of post-punk atmospherics and obscure experimentation.
Elevator Bath was birthed in Texas, although relocated to Seattle in 2004; and this compilation marks the 10th anniversary of the label, which has quietly and consistently released an excellent body of deep drone construction, damaged plunderphonic collage, sound ecological research, and even a few things which are down right sublime. The heavy hitters on A Cleansing Ascension are LAFMS ring-leader Tom Recchion and the globe trotting field recordist Francisco Lopez (operating here in a more musique concrete guise), with plenty of Aquarius favorites as well: Keith Berry, Adam Pacione, Matt Shoemaker, and aQ's own Jim Haynes. Shoemaker opens the album with a synthetic soaking of midrange din and drone immaculated sculpted in a blur of mottled hiss. Pacione, Keith Berry, and label boss Colin Andrew Sheffield conjure the more lush moments of Eno's Music For Airports with remarkable flare for restraint through their smoke & mirrors. Haynes does his best Organum impersonation with a cranky motor rumbling beneath a hallowed gasp of refined long-form tones. Rick Reed moves from a Delia Derbyshire squiggle into a deep reverberant bellow. The vastly under-published Dale Lloyd generates a thick rumble dappled with bristled electronics and distant Andrew Chalk-ish half melodies. James Eck Rippie turns toward a clank and clamor of found objects scraping across the patina of vinyl surface noise and Phillip Jeck stabs at turntable manipulation. Tom Recchion's maudlin lullaby reconstitutes haunted melodies of ye olde carnival into a beguiling conclusion to the compilation.
While each track is quite solid, the album also flows very well, with somber drones dominating the palette of sound although similar themes and complimentary sounds seem to return after small detours towards the heavy, the oblique, and the desolate. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: MATT SHOEMAKER "Waning Ataraxia"
MPEG Stream: JIM HAYNES "Like A Thief In The Night"
MPEG Stream: DALE LLOYD "Our Morphosis"
MPEG Stream: TOM RECCHION "Drift Tube"

V/A A Date With John Waters (New Line) cd 14.98
How could anyone refuse a date with John Waters? The legendary directory and cultural icon has hand picked 14 songs to set the mood for love and romance in all its twisted glory. Who better then Waters to pick those perfect old pop hits each with just the slightest hint of subversion and a coy wink. Ike & Tina, Patience & Prudence, Josie Cotton, Dean Martin, Edith Massey and more all singing songs that you just can't not like. The camp value is of course high but these are good songs, great songs maybe, and that can't be denied. Some of us have already bought copies to send to our moms and loved ones. Such saucy fun!
MPEG Stream: MILDRED BAILEY & HER SWING BAND "I'd Love To Take Orders From You"
MPEG Stream: MINK STOLE "Sometimes I Wish I Had A Gun"
MPEG Stream: PATIENCE AND PRUDENCE "Tonight You Belong To Me"

V/A A John Waters' Christmas (New Line Records) cd 16.98
This cd stinks like an ornament filled with dog-poo. Which is a good thing, if you love John Waters as much as we do! "Have a merry, rotten, scary, sexy, bi-racial, ludicrous, happy little Christmas," declares legendary B-movie director John Waters with this Christmas compilation. A truly amazing gathering of songs to help you survive the holiday season with a sinful smile. Starting out this compact disc is "Fat Daddy", sung by Baltimore's one-time coolest rhythm and blues DJ and source of inspiration for Motor Mouth Maybelle in Waters' film "Hairspray". We hear some very off-kilter and, you guessed it, crude numbers leading up to "Sleigh Ride" by Alvin And The Chipmunks, followed by "First Snowfall" by The Coctails (featuring that most wonderous instrument, the theremin), and we wish the disc wouldn't end, but sadly, it does -- and with none other than "Santa Is A Black Man". Waters suggests, "wrap this cd as a gift to yourself, pretend you forgot what it is and act surprised when you open it." We suggest you do that too. How else could you possibly survive the friggin holidaze?!
MPEG Stream: FAT DADDY "Fat Daddy"
MPEG Stream: THE COCKTAILS "First Snowfall"

V/A A Lowtides Rising (Explorations Around The Theme Of NZ Acoustic Music) (Pseudo Arcana) cd-r 12.98
A sampling of New Zealand acoustic music, covering EVERY possible permutation of 'acoustic' you can imagine, from rumbles to shrieks to soundscapes to actual songs. Features a veritable who's who of AQ faves: Birchville Cat Motel, Antony Milton, Seht, 1/3 Octave Band, Sleep, Peter Wright, Pumice and a bunch more. A VERY liberal interpretation of acoustic, but all the more appealing for it!
MPEG Stream: BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL "Lithe Mansions"
MPEG Stream: 1/3 OCTAVE BAND "Walk Towards The Moon"
MPEG Stream: SEHT "We Can Talk Quite Freely"

V/A A Mind Expansion Compilation (Mind Expansion) 2cd 16.98
This is definitely a strange compilation. Although all comps are sort of strange by their very nature. Gathering a bunch of different musicians to contribute one song each, usually relating to a theme. Well, the them here seems to be some sort of broadly defined psychedelic music. But the bands and the sounds are so all over the place, it seems to be a much less obviously definable thread that runs through the different artists (minus the fact that maybe they've all released something one Mind Expansion record label?).
Regardless, this is a pretty killer comp. A good intro to lots of psychedelic space rock bands, droney hypno-rock bands, haunting slowcore pop bands, and anything in between.
Sonically, all of these bands love FX, reverb, and delay and chorus and whatever other pedals they can get their hands on. Hence the psychrock angle. A lot of the bands on disc 2 lean toward some sort of Krautrock, minimal electronic vibe, but still with plenty of psychedelic overtones. A handful of these tracks are exclusive, the majority are not. But it functions quite well as a great psychrock / weird rock mix tape. Lots of AQ faves represented: Spacemen 3, Teenage Filmstars, Amp, Bardo Pond, Paik, Fuxa, Magnetaphone, Piano Magic, Landing, The Telescopes and more. But probably the most exciting part of this comp is how many bands there are we'd literally never heard of. We didn't necessarily love them all, but we did like most of 'em. And our ever growing list of bands to investigate further now includes Mazarin, Venture Lift, Elevator, LSD And The Search For God, Unknown Celebrities, Large Number, Kid Yahtzee and loads more!
MPEG Stream: SPACEMEN 3 "Transparent Radiation (Long)"
MPEG Stream: AMP "Fine Day"
MPEG Stream: THE TELESCOPES "Where The Sky Is Low"
MPEG Stream: TEENAGE FILMSTARS "Kiss Me"

V/A A Mutated Christmas (Illegal Art) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Thirteen tracks of tweaked out plunderphonic xmas madness from the twisted folks at Illegal Art and RTMark. Conceived and organized by NY sample artist Corporal Blossom (whose work has graced past Illegal Art collections, "Deconstructing Beck" and "Extracted Celluloid"), he is joined by DJ Olive, Lustmord ("Silent Night" coated with recordings of bombings and gunfire!), Grassy Knoll, Fognode, No-L, Mom & Daddy, Lovecraft Technologies, Steven (?) and DJ Kudzu. The opening "White Christmas" by Corporal Blossom features an all-star cast of unmentionable yuletide crooners set to a sampledelic hip hop backing track. Mutated indeed!
RealAudio clip: CORPORAL BLOSSOM "White Christmas"
RealAudio clip: LUSTMORD "Silent Night"