[ aquarius records catalogue

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Showing results 501 through 550 of 2775.

"Lace Heart" was originally self-released as a cd-r in 2005 in an edition of 300 copies and quickly disappeared from circulation. Nevertheless, it was one of the recordings in Christina Carter's extensive catalogue that immediately stood out to her fans and became a benchmark for albums that followed. These spectral avant-folk numbers managed a teary-eyed, nocturnal atmosphere through Spartan arrangements for just guitar and voice. Her guitar quietly meanders along simple strumming that may only alternate between just a few chords throughout each of the tracks, peppered with occasional overdubs of distant, shimmering swells of reverberation; and the album drifts in and out of dreamstates through the hypnotic repetitions of her slowly chiming guitar. Her earthen voice occasionally rises out of her arrangements as a beautiful counterpoint, but more often than not her monophonic cooing nestles into the warmth of the guitar as a perfect complement to those elliptical plucks and strums. LIMITED TO 500 COPIES, beautiful printed sleeves, the lps pressed on thick swirled red vinyl, the D side featuring an etching similar to the front cover artwork!

Originally released only on cd-r, Christina Carter's solo venturings while a member of Charalambides are put together here all in one proper go by Kranky. The equation is quite simple -- voice and guitar -- though Christina's musical sense is beautiful and touching. Not in a delicate cheesy way touching, but in an intelligent and innately spiritual way. As though Charalambides' combination of noise, gospel, folk, blues were all boiled down to super skeletal structures from which an ageless and naked sound forms. Christina keeps an evocative distance through simple chord changes and her overall beathless minimalism. But this distance is well balanced by an extra bit of tape hiss, adding a strange sense of presence to her songs. Recommended!

MPEG stream: Silouette
MPEG stream: Going Down

Originally released as an ultra limited cassette, Texas Blues Working now gets a pretty substantial upgrade, a massive super deluxe double lp version, with a 21 minute bonus track! Unlike many of Carter's solo records, that tend toward the super hushed and minimal, Texas Blues Working is surprisingly lush, a much more sonically expansive bit of dreamlike psychedelia, her vocals multitracked and layered, the harmonies ethereal and haunting, the guitars spidery and serpentine, the overall sound ghostly and wreathed in otherworldly echo, the songs super hypnotic, cyclical and mesmerizing, often thick with reverb and delay, but sometimes spare and whispery. But even the sparest tracks seem to gradually spiral into something more lush, especially the vocals, which slip from dreamy and intimate to soaring and powerful. "The Other Planet" sounds like some strange mix of liturgical hymn, traditional folk, and lo-fi lysergic psychedelic, her voice slipping into Kate Bush like trills, the reverby atmosphere especially thick, the guitars buzzy and bluesy. "Bird's Nest" pushes the vocals way up in the mix and adds some truly strange almost alien sounding electric guitar, the result, haunting and druggy and beautifully weird. "Dinner Plate Of Dust" is another one where Carter's angelic vocals are paired with some warped guitar buzz, the two disparate elements somehow woven into something lovely and otherworldly. The bonus track, a 21 minute epic called "Lady Friend", harkens back to some of her other solo records, just vocals and guitar, the guitar playing atonal and Jandekian, here vocals rich and emotional, a little bit raspy, the melodies underneath skeletal and angular, a haunting bit of abstract blues, so dark and lovely. SUPER LIMITED, already sold out at the label. Pressed on ultra thick virgin vinyl, and housed in a gorgeous heavy gatefold sleeve.

MPEG stream: Bird's Nest
MPEG stream: Preserve Our Face

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Strange how many vocal-oriented releases there have been lately. Grouper, Inca Ore, Lichens. And now we have the most recent release from Christina Carter of Charalambides and her partner / group Gown. This half hour track recorded live on the radio is really fucking creepy. Simple minimal guitar beneath swooping, soaring almost operatic vocals. Okay. And Carter's voice is as lovely as ever, but the other voice accompanying her is SO DEMENTED. And loud! Going from an atonal Jandekian howl, to a near painful Keiji Haino like wail, and proceeding to hoot and shout and swoop in wildly, squealing and groaning and careening wildly all over the place. Really crazily out there. Pushes this from being free psych folk to some sort of experimental vocal music. Sort of beautiful sure, but mostly way way WAY damaged and demented. Packaged in an embossed wallpaper sleeve with a small printed insert.

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This is not new, but we only just discovered this head spinning slab of totally demented fifties style (recorded in the sixties) rockabilly genius (or madness!) thanks to our pal Brian Turner at WFMU. And holy crap are we kicking ourselves for missing this. You'd never know from the cover, featuring Carter in a zebra striped jacket mugging with his guitar behind big colored letters, what freakiness lurks inside. And freaky it is. Not all of it. There are of course some straight up old school garage rockabilly jams, but some of the songs are soooooo far out, Carter was a bit like a rockabilly Joe Meek, always after new sounds, on the hunt for new equipment, anything to realize the twisted sounds in his head. He also reminds us of Michael Yonkers! Take for example the cover of Elvis' "Jailhouse Rock" which opens up this collection, a totally twisted off kilter take on the original, with way more aggressive vocals, some weird high end tones over almost the whole thing, and a completely over the top insanely psychedelic guitar freakout (made by grinding the neck of the guitar against a mic stand) right in the middle, which was meant to sound like an actual jailhouse riot going on. As if that weren't enough, besides the usual rock instruments, Carter gathered up various friends and family members to contribute ukulele, accordion, and clarinet, played by a neighbor's 12 year old daughter!! But that's only the tip of the iceberg, the second track is a super rocking garage jam that sounds like early MC5, but then the third "I Got A Girl" is all buzzy garage stomp, with super raw vocals, and a weird looped female "ahhh" that repeats non stop throughout the entire song. Weird? Oh yeah, and it only gets weirder. "Rebel Woman" is a super heavy organ driven Screamin' Jay Hawkins style workout, and then there's the killer cover of "Fever", a classic jam for sure, but made a little bit more creepy with Carter's occasional croak, and his yelped vox throughout, as well as a droney looped sounding main guitar part. "Run Rabbit Run" is a lurching weirdo bit of gloomy garage pop, with growled vox, an amazing main guitar riff, that sounds almost metal at times, some awesome tribal drumming, and a weirdly innocent sounding female chorus. But "Midnight Sun" might just be our favorite, after a spoken intro, the main guitar riff seems to slow down, the guitar creating a woozy dizzying seasick loop, the vocals dramatically crooned, some warm warbly organ, and a hook to die for, we've been listening to this track EVERY DAY. But heck, we end up playing this whole disc over and over and over. A perfect mix of outsider experimentation, classic rockabilly garage rock jamming, sixties psychedelia, and that Joe Meek like kitchen sink inventiveness, plus, it's SUPER rocking, suprisingly heavy, killer stuff for sure. Lots of liner notes and tons of pix too. WAY RECOMMENDED.

MPEG stream: Midnight Sun
MPEG stream: Jailhouse Rock
MPEG stream: Mary Sue
MPEG stream: Fever

There is no doubt in our minds that Pavement has some crazy die-hard fans. This one is for them. Ever dream of hearing Pavement songs done as jazz standards? Well James Carter did and in fact he put together a quartet of mighty fine players to do just that. These aren't just like indie rock hacks picking up the sax, fender and upright bass. These are very competent yet pretty straightforward jazz musicians. It would have been a little more exciting to see what more outside jazz hands did with Malkmus' back catalog. But if you're a diehard Pavement fan you still might want this to feed your obsession.

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MPEG stream: Cut Your Hair

A gorgeous blast of thick, warm, dreamily distorted, heady and heavy electric guitar raga from guitarist Tom Carter, he from the awesome Charalambides, here just unfurling fantastically melodic squalls of divinely twisted guitar wrangling, transforming his guitar and amp into some sort of electronic drone machine. At first it sounds like some dude with a guitar, but give it a second, as Carter weaves impossibly lush guitarscapes that sound like bagpipes or sruti boxes or synths or all three, looping melodies, pulsing rhythms, swirling textures, lush harmonies, reminds us a bit of a heavier more distorted Amps For Christ, in that Carter seems to be recasting classic folk and Appalachia via his own distinct vision. Folks into modern shamen and ritualist musical visionaries like Daniel Higgs or Zomes will find the same sort of blissed out, head trip nirvana here. Awesome. LIMITED TO 120 COPIES.

MPEG stream: Go To The Mirror Boy

For some reason, Tom Carter always seemed like some mysterious musical alchemist, lurking in the shadows, cloaked in the relative anonymity of his group Charalambides. But lately, as his solo efforts outnumber Charalambides releases, and with a move to right here in the Bay Area, he has become one of a handful of modern guitarists representing this new movement of neo-folk, neo-Appalachia, new weird America or whatever people want to call it. Jack Rose, James Blackshaw, Matt Valentine, Ilyas Ahmed, Ben Chasny, and Carter, all offering their own spin on the guitar, and the legacy of John Fahey. Carter, like his fellow six stringers, explores the modern raga, utilizing the buzz as much as the notes that precede it. On Glyph, the last recordings in his old studio and the last before his big move, Carter stretches out on 3 lengthy guitar pieces, all thematically linked, but each quite individual in its own way, from the sort of guitar played to the actual structure and composition. Glyph 1 is all acoustic steel string guitar, and is a sweet slab of tangled neo-Appalachia, fast fingerpicking, some slippery slide, minor key and lots of angular buzz. In fact if there is anything distinct about Carter's style, it's an odd angularity, unlikely melodies, and a strangely jagged technique, but it serves him well, giving his pick and strum an otherworldly vibe. The final track, the quite brief "Glyph 3", is all nylon string acoustic guitar and is thus much softer and less metallic sounding. But as if to make up for that Carter's playing is even more manic and convoluted, dense flurries of notes, and impossible fast fingerpicking, a murky dizzying swirl of abstract guitar exploration, fuzzy and impenetrable. But it's between the two where we find the record's 35 minute centerpiece "Glyph 2", a dreamy trippy psychedelic soundscape for lap steel guitar. Much more minimal and ambient, huge stretches of single notes drifting aimlessly and slowly fading into nothingness, slipping and slithering, all wraithlike, the slide drifting up and down the neck, with haunting melodies floating up like spirits rising from their graves. Lots of buzz, and bits of percussive thump, but more than anything "Glyph 2" is open and endless, an ultra minimal expanse, the abstract twang drifting and shimmering amidst lots and lots of space. So gorgeous. Packaged in a cool hand screened on the outside, hand painted on the inside, thick cardstock sleeve, with liner notes/insert.

MPEG stream: Glyph 1
MPEG stream: Glyph 2

When you envision a monument, don't images of formidable marble and concrete structures or sculptures come to mind? Well, Tom Carter's Monument is nothing of the sort. It's comprised of two tracks (one is a mere two minutes long and the other stretches out to forty seven minutes) of barely-there humming and rumbling soundscapes. Seemingly distant notes from his effected lap steel guitar appear faintly and dissipate like ghostly presences. Really, you'll need to either crank the volume way up on your stereo or have excellent hearing to register the sounds on the first track... the second is somewhat more audible. Although, headphones might help -- we were listening to it in the store, where it had to compete with conversations and traffic sounds. Note: this was previously available as a really limited cd-r pressing on Carter's "band" Charalambides'own label.

MPEG stream: Monument 2

Carter, who as you may or may not know is one half of psych folk dronesters Charalambides, has been stepping out quite a bit lately, this super limited one sided 7" the latest evidence of that. Two tracks, that sort of melt into one, a barely there ambient drift far away electric guitar moans float above a vast spare backdrop of hiss and whir and ambient noise. The guitars build into a thick murky wash of pitch shifted riffing, warbly seasick melodies, crumbling slabs of high end that drifts and crackles as if it were being transmitted via shortwave. Creepy but hauntingly pretty. Limited to 211 copies, we only got a handful. Packaged in a hand stamped, hand stitched, embossed textured paper sleeve. A one sided 7" each copy hand numbered on the actual vinyl!

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You know how you get together with folks and have dinner, or watch a movie or go bowling. Watch a football game, some ultimate fighting or some Olympic curling. Some folks have barbecues, ping pong parties, pool parties. Some folks just sit around and do nothing, just shoot the shit and hang out. But then there are some folks who record their get togethers. Instead of showing up with a bottle of wine or some bread and cheese, they show up with a lap steel, an el guitar, e-bow, a prepared guitar, a 'sex machine' (no, it's not that type of party) and some effects. That's what Tom Carter from Charalambides brings along. But the host has a greater responsibility, so a host, like say Robert Horton, will have a beautiful spread all laid out when his guest Tom Carter arrives. The whole table is overflowing with goodies: a boot, a bowed boot, a computer, a vibrator, the el-toothbrush, slinky, electric barometer, snare drum, another 'sex machine' (maybe it is that kind of party), Casio MT-68, a computer, some field recordings, some microphones, some noise canceling headphones and maybe a nice harmonica. Everything you need for an afternoon of blissful drones, and ominous soundscapes, shimmering and dreamlike, and rumbling and ethereal. This may have started out as a dinner party, but it ended up a series of lovely and mysterious Ur-drones, clattery, slow shifting ragas, percussive tribal free jam drones, Vibracathedral Orchestra, Sunroof!, Ashtray Navigations, Double Leopards, Pelt, you get the idea. A room filled with smoke and sound, swirling and drifting lazily skyward. So lovely. We should definitely do this again sometime...

MPEG stream: Lunar Eclipse
MPEG stream: Hunter's Moon

From the label that most notably brought us those two amazing releases from the Moglass, comes this latest missive from those mysterious Ukrainian drone / sound artists, this time sharing a little disc space with Americans Tom Carter (Charalambides) and Vanessa Arn (Primordial Undermind). Carter and Arn offer up two tracks totalling over 30 minutes, of lonely lap steel guitar, hovering atop drifting sheets of muted feedback, ghostly harmonic traces, and mournful melodies twisted and pulled apart into bits of sound, drifting dreamily through an ambient dronescape of whir and flutter. The Moglass give us three gorgeously creepy and haunting drones assembled from what sounds like bowed metals, reverberating into dark ripples of sound, minor key melodies melt into swirling pools of crystalline warble, flecked with strangely affected guitars, almost percussive, plucking out other alien melodies that give the whole thing an almost post rock vibe. As with everything on Nexsound, gorgeously packaged in a silkscreened cardboard sleeve with a little cardboard obi!

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MPEG stream: Untitled (Tawny Owl)

One of the niftier 7"s to pass through the store in quite a while is the work of Caruso, a young North Carolinian with his first release on the promising UK label Crustaceans and Reptiles. "Titles Are For Babies" is a quick excursion through a number of

We highlighted the vinyl last time, and now it's available on cd too! It's funny to think that if you could somehow remove someone you probably have never heard of from existence how remarkably changed things would be. Case in point, British electronic composer and inventor Tristram Cary, considered by some "the father of electronic music" who gets this loving and long overdue retrospective treatment from Trunk Records (hopefully it's the first of many). Perhaps not as well known as Daphne Oram, Delia Derbyshire, or John Baker, Cary made an indelible mark on modern music, not just for his soundtracks to such Hammer classics as Quartermass and The Pit, and his sound effects work for the first Dr. Who series, but one of his most important contributions was his role in the creation of EMS (Electronic Music Studios), the UK's first ever synthesizer company. Without their first major products, the VCS 3 synthesizer, the suitcase Synthi[A] and the Delaware, The BBC Radiophonic workshop, Brian Eno and Pink Floyd (just to name a few artists) would have had sounded completely different. Born the third son of novelist Joyce Cary, Tristram Cary learned electronics not through artistic or musical means but as a radar operator in the Royal Navy where he first encountered modern German tape equipment. He soon became interested in working with recorded sound, and after studying composition and learning a few instruments, he started building up his first electronic studio. Subtitled, Works For Film, Television, Exhibition and Sculpture, the pieces included here are mostly from his commissions as an industrial sound designer creating sound pieces for industrial films and sculptural World Expo exhibitions. Highlights include "Divertimento" a piece that Olivetti commissioned for the grand opening of their UK training center in Surrey. Combining the cold sounds of Olivetti's business machines against the warmth of the human voice (represented here by the Ambrosian singers ) and a jazz drummer. "Shapes For Living", a short film about product design, premiered at EXPO 70 and most of the non-instrument sounds were created by enhanced and exaggerated recordings of bad packaging, poor design and users struggling with it. "A Hill, Some Sheep and A Living" was for a 1967 television documentary and features an instrumental ensemble. The final track "Narcissus", features a flute player and two tape recorders that starts off soft and pastoral and ends up all kinds of weirdly terrifying as the flute playing through the recorders gets more layered and processed and sped up. Cary died two years ago and Johnny Trunk had been working with him and Cary's son John on this compilation for a couple of years before, so it's nice that this retrospective highlighting a little known, but highly influential player in the development of British electronic music finally sees the light of day!

MPEG stream: Music For Light (Red /Green/White)
MPEG stream: A Hill, Some Sheep and a Living
MPEG stream: The Curious History of Money
MPEG stream: Divertimento (Start)
MPEG stream: Narcissus

A mind-bending Italian library obscurity gets a nice reissue thanks to Penny Records. Daniela Casa may not be as well known as Ennio Morricone, Egisto Macchi, or Alessandro Alessandroni, but his 1970 concept album Societa Malata (The Sick Society) is one of the strangest psych "soundtracks" we have heard. It begins very dreamy, with hypnotic vibes and woodwinds lulling us into a restless sleep state, where we are introduced to the acid guitar grooves, loping bass rhythms and bongos that seem to anchor the majority of the record as we traverse otherworldly landscapes tinged with paranoia, seduction and uncertainty. Moogy flourishes and hectic rhythms add to the fever dream feel. With piano and echoing metallic percussion highlighting the noirish vibe, but it's not all terror. "Esoda" carries a wondering pastoral vibe, even if it does have a creepy tinge, but not as creepy as a track like "Occultismo" with its chorus of ghostly voices, or the final track, "Dittatura", a beautifully doomed march to destinations unknown. It's a wonder how the Italians can make such beautifully dreamy music that scares the bejeezus out of us, but we're entranced every time! Each record comes with a cd version as well, nice.

MPEG stream: Strade Vuoto
MPEG stream: Fabbrica
MPEG stream: Esoda
MPEG stream: Occultismo
MPEG stream: Dittatura

Solo debut from Julian Casablancas of The Strokes, and there's no doubt this man knows his away around infectious melodies and he can most definitely kick out pop songs that can get stuck in your head FOREVER. While the last couple Strokes albums have been a bit hit and miss, there is no denying how great their debut was and despite all the hype that surrounded them it's a record that still stands on its own. We were excited to hear what Casablancas would do on HIS own, especially when we heard it was going to be more of an '80s pop, synthesizer driven affair. And man the good songs on here are sooooo great and catchy! But just like recent Strokes outings there are a few tracks that just fall a bit flat. "11th Dimension" is for sure one of the best and catchiest pop songs of '09, in fact it would have sounded right at home on the latest album from Phoenix. But yeah there are a couple bummer tracks, not full on clunkers but just songs that don't have the same brightness and color which keep this from being a start to finish thriller. But worth it for the several killers....

MPEG stream: 11th Dimension
MPEG stream: Out Of The Blue
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Kim Cascone, Richard Chartier, and Taylor Deupree are the self-appointed American ambassadors of the 'post-digital' agenda: a semiotically convoluted set of theories that draws aesthetically and methodologically from the characteristics of the digitized After this 20 minute document, each artist presents his remix / reinterpretation of the performance. Cascone's track is nothing but a condensed extraction that showcases his software. The most interesting of the bunch, Chartier has expanded upon the low hums and sinewaves as the basis for his remix, with tenative clickery echoing far in the distance. Deupree has extruded various samples forced into elliptical patterns, buzzing with static and rhythmic afterthoughts. All in all cold and sterile, and far from evocative.

RealAudio clip: After
RealAudio clip: Afterimage (remix by Richard Chartier)

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SORRY. Kim Cascone has finally discarded the new age crap of his Heavenly Music Corporation in favor of the chemical darkness of his earlier PGR recordings. Using state-of-the-art technology to advance his process of generating computer music, Cascone's deep listening / isolationism recalls the likes of Thomas Koner or the electronic works of Xenakis. On the new Mille Plateaux sub-label Ritornell.

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SORRY. Rather clever in its packaging/format (it's a small, square cd!! and yes, it plays), Cascone's "Parasites" is the first release for his second label (Anechoic - another Cage reference). Following his computer residualism on Ritornell and Raster, Cascone fashions a constantly mutating strain of electrons that click, clatter, pop, ping, buzz, and blast.

The ubiquity of the remix album has infiltrated the heady realm of the microsonic blip. The remix album of Kim Cascone's "Blue Cube" album (originally on Raster, remixed for Digital Narcis) could be defined in terms of the viral recodification of data from a pure form into a mutatation, with remixes from electron engineers like Pita, *O, V/VM, Robert Henke, Taylor Deupree, John Hudak, Quest, Bochum Welt, Testu Inoue, Dumb Type, Terre Thaemlitz, and Nobukazu Takemura. Most remix albums fail with a broad lack of aesthetic / qualitative consistancy. In keeping a rather small palette to chose from and the uniform desire to maintain the miniscule bleeps of Cascone's original work, the featured artists have done one (and one only) remarkable thing on this remix album in bringing a degree of consistancy to the album.

This album features 14 tracks with various combinations of Andreas Berthing, Kim Cascone, Audrey Kiritchenko, and Kotra remixing each other's source material through digital means. Whatever the source material might have been is irrelavent, as the the end results on "Fourfold Symmetry" are a polite demonstration of the parameters of abstraction of the digital glitch, with a dedicated metholodogy that favors anonymity and anti-emotionality. For all of the rhetoric about the chance operations and coaxing of errors between the man / machine interface, this album is exactly what you'd expect: bristling collages of granular synthesis and digital feedback from Max / MSP patches toppling computerized droning fluctuations of sound. A word of warning about the packaging for the album: Nexsound has given themselves an interesting folio envelope held together by tabs extending from one of the sides of the folio. This design works alright on something flexible like paper (which works just fine for the Moglass album) but this album uses a rigid plastic instead of paper that will tear after repeated usages.

RealAudio clip: 01 - Composed by Cascone, Sources by Kiritchenko
RealAudio clip: 12 - Composed by Bethling, Sources by Kotra

For some reason, we've never reviewed any records by garage folk duo the Dutchess And The Duke, which means that to many folks Case Studies, aka Jesse Lortz, will be an unknown quantity, but sometimes that's the best way to experience a group or a record, especially when it's a new direction and/or a new sound for an established artist, it makes taking the music on its own merits a bit easier. So as you may have surmised, Jesse Lortz is in fact The Duke, one half of the aforementioned group, and fans of that band will definitely find some connections between that groups' songs and the music of Case Studies. But the music of Case Studies is much more stripped down and moody, the songs here apparently based on a year in the life of Lortz, and quite a year it must have been these songs painting lush miniatures of sorrow and loneliness, of bitterness and misery, but also of happiness and hope, or at least the promise of such. Case Studies is at its core, country music, Lortz' deep croon, a dead ringer for country legend Townes Van Zandt, even his phrasing is eerily similar, the music is minimal but rich, the production spare but lush (produced by Greg Ashley), the songs mostly simple steel string strum, fingerpicked melodies and those deep moody vocals, but the voice and acoustic guitar are sometimes fleshed out with mournful strings, reverbed piano, sweet female harmonies, but for the most part, it's Lortz's voice that drives this record, that and his bittersweet (sometimes just bitter) lyrics and subtle way with melodies. Dark and dreamy, hushed and melancholy. Opener "From The Blade Of My Love" is a heartbreaker, the melody, the vocals, the lyrics, the perfect start to a harrowing and ultrapersonal dark country missive, a song suite / melancholy missive that culminates in the droney slowcore twang of "California Ghost Story", a dark dreamy depressive creep, that drifts and shimmers, wreathed in the faded haze of forgotten love, and record closer, a surprisingly jaunty stretch of hushed minimal twang, replete with whistled melody, a glimmer of hope, as if finally, the clouds might part and the sun might shine down. Nice!

Watch her legion of admirers increase tenfold with every passing moment! Will you join them/us? On this, her third full length, Neko Case's voice pours forth in such an untethered and unaffected manner, yet with such power and control. It's truly something to behold. Through seemingly endless touring since Furnace Room Lullaby (on her own, as well as with the New Pornographers) she's honed her voice into an incredibly dynamic instrument. She delivers old classics like "Runnin' Out of Fools" or "Look For Me (I'll Be Around)" with such ease and conviction so seamlessly amid her own splendid songs like "Deep Red Bells" and "I Wish I Was The Moon" as well as "Pretty Girls" from The Gift soundtrack. On much of Blacklisted, her delivery is not unlike that of a lone, world-weary torch singer. Quite simply, her performance is arresting - deeply dramatic and haunting. Perhaps this may be attributed, in part or in whole, to the fact that these days she's holding all the reins. She co-released this album on her own label Lady Pilot with Bloodshot Records, and produced and mixed it with Darryl Neudorf and Craig Schumacher. Also noteworthy is the absence of "and the Boyfriends" from her name, but she's by no means flying solo - although she did play a greater number of the instruments this time around (various guitars, saw, piano). Speaking of which, the accompanying music is a perfect, richly hued match that warmly envelops and lingers around her every word. She's surrounded by an impressive group of musical friends including Joey Burns and John Convertino of Calexico, Giant Sand's Howe Gelb, Kelly Hogan, Brian Connelly of Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet, Dallas Good of the Sadies, John Rauhouse, Tom Ray, and Mary Margaret O'Hara. A stunning album that glistens and glows from start to finish. Highly recommended.

RealAudio clip: Deep Red Bells
RealAudio clip: Pretty Girls
RealAudio clip: I Wish I Was The Moon
RealAudio clip: Look For Me (I'll Be Around)

Hurrah for yet another dose of Neko Case! Yes, along with her new album Blacklisted which we just reviewed in AQL 144, there's this special collection released by the lady herself (also just released on vinyl by her friends at Lance Rock Records). There's been plenty of conflicting reports on the status of the cd even from those very close to the source. Initially a tour-only cd, it seems to be in a very nebulously limited pressing - most likely it'll continue to be in print just as long as the Lady Pilot fancies. That said, doncha think it's high time you had your very own copy!? Anyways, let's get to the actual music, shall we? She recorded these songs in her kitchen while reportedly clad in her trademark flannel pajamas and fuzzy slippers. Her dear Boyfriends are notably absent, although she did get a bunch of her pals to join her refrigerator-side for these intimate recordings. Her partners in crime? Tom Ray, Jon Rauhouse, Andy Hopkins, Robert Lloyd, Brett Sparks, Chris Von Sneidern, Kathleen Judge and Kelly Hogan. Much more spartan than her two previous albums, yet still so rich and haunting with some gorgeous banjo, accordion and an impressive array of guitars. There's stirring renditions of the classic "Poor Ellen Smith", Neil Young's "Dreaming Man" and Hank Williams' "Alone and Forsaken" as well as covers of tunes by her Canadian friends Mike O'Neill of The Inbreds, Sook-Yin Lee, Lisa Marr of cub, Buck and The Beards - each an amazing songwriter him/herself - showing once again what a knack she has for choosing great material to cover. And to top off all this goodness, she reworks two of her own lovely songs "Make Your Bed" and "Favorite". Her voice is an unquestionably mighty force unto itself, but her singing performance is so far beyond mighty lungs and vocal chords. Seeming effortless, it flows from somewhere deep within and beyond, which makes listening such a wonderful, deeply moving experience. Pure, honest and powerful!

RealAudio clip: Andy
RealAudio clip: Make Your Bed
RealAudio clip: Alone And Forsaken
RealAudio clip: In California

Simply in a class of her own. We've said it before and yes, we'll say it again... Neko Case's voice can invoke a power capable of levelling anything in its path emotionally and maybe even physically too -- leaving some hearts melted, some empowered and some broken. That said, this lady knows that you must wield such a force responsibly and wisely, and over the years she's attained full mastery of its might. On Fox Confessor brings The Flood as on her past albums, an ample serving of reverb in the recording process has ensured that her voice embraces your ears with utterly dreamy warmth, but it doesn't overpower its characteristic nuances. We all know (no doubt herself included) that she could floor you just by singing the alphabet or a grocery list, but we (and she) know that there's more to *it* than that. With each album she's steered clear of trends, reinvented herself subtly and honed a different facet of her craft. Here its her songwriting inkwell which has been given a thorough loving and it runneth over with the deepest indigos and the reds of blood and rubies. Yes, the most noticeable shift / development on Fox Confessor is definitely in the lyrics department. An ever-evolving and maturing lyricist, Case has honed her lyrical imagery into what very well are her least literal, but most poetic and vivid to date. The songs are definitely less immediate with fewer obvious hooks than those of her last three albums, but Fox Confessor inhabits a different realm, and is so very deeply moving and enchantingly special in its own ways. Indeed, it comes across much more as the work of a wise, seasoned storyteller than a flavor of the day pop songstress. Certainly not one to rest on her laurels, for her fourth album Case raises the bar once again, challenging both herself and her fans. Plus with the support of her revolving cast of supremely talented players, her musical tapestry has never been more lushly and intricately detailed. This time she's invited Garth Hudson of The Band into her collaborative fold/family which already shines with the likes of The Sadies, Giant Sand's Howe Gelb, Ms Kelly Hogan, Tom Ray, Jon Rauhouse, Brian Connelly, Calexico's Joey Burns and John Convertino. Each of her albums has been lauded as "her best yet", but with Fox Confessor we'd dare to say she's taken things to a whole 'nother spine-tingling level. A side note for fans of her live show... you'll be pleased to find that "John Saw That Number" (or perhaps you might know it as that "holy to the world" song) makes a rousing appearance midway through the proceedings. With its soaring rounds of choruses, it's a particular crowd favorite at her shows she shares with her singin' pals Kelly Hogan and Carolyn Mark ('tho the latter is sadly missing this time around). Need we say? Highly recommended.

MPEG stream: Star Witness
MPEG stream: John Saw That Number
MPEG stream: Dirty Knife

And also, Fox Confessor has just been put out on vinyl (no five song bonus disc though, unlike the new deluxe cd edition). Sorta pricey due to the walloping Canadian dollar, unfortunately. But if you gotta have vinyl, here 'tis. Simply in a class of her own. We've said it before and yes, we'll say it again... Neko Case's voice can invoke a power capable of leveling anything in its path emotionally and maybe even physically too -- leaving some hearts melted, some empowered and some broken. That said, this lady knows that you must wield such a force responsibly and wisely, and over the years she's attained full mastery of its might. On Fox Confessor brings The Flood as on her past albums, an ample serving of reverb in the recording process has ensured that her voice embraces your ears with utterly dreamy warmth, but it doesn't overpower its characteristic nuances. We all know (no doubt herself included) that she could floor you just by singing the alphabet or a grocery list, but we (and she) know that there's more to *it* than that. With each album she's steered clear of trends, reinvented herself subtly and honed a different facet of her craft. Here its her songwriting inkwell which has been given a thorough loving and it runneth over with the deepest indigos and the reds of blood and rubies. Yes, the most noticeable shift / development on Fox Confessor is definitely in the lyrics department. An ever-evolving and maturing lyricist, Case has honed her lyrical imagery into what very well are her least literal, but most poetic and vivid to date. The songs are definitely less immediate with fewer obvious hooks than those of her last three albums, but Fox Confessor inhabits a different realm, and is so very deeply moving and enchantingly special in its own ways. Indeed, it comes across much more as the work of a wise, seasoned storyteller than a flavor of the day pop songstress. Certainly not one to rest on her laurels, for her fourth album Case raises the bar once again, challenging both herself and her fans. Plus with the support of her revolving cast of supremely talented players, her musical tapestry has never been more lushly and intricately detailed. This time she's invited Garth Hudson of The Band into her collaborative fold/family which already shines with the likes of The Sadies, Giant Sand's Howe Gelb, Ms Kelly Hogan, Tom Ray, Jon Rauhouse, Brian Connelly, Calexico's Joey Burns and John Convertino. Each of her albums has been lauded as "her best yet", but with Fox Confessor we'd dare to say she's taken things to a whole 'nother spine-tingling level. A side note for fans of her live show... you'll be pleased to find that "John Saw That Number" (or perhaps you might know it as that "holy to the world" song) makes a rousing appearance midway through the proceedings. With its soaring rounds of choruses, it's a particular crowd favorite at her shows she shares with her singin' pals Kelly Hogan and Carolyn Mark ('tho the latter is sadly missing this time around). Need we say? Highly recommended.

MPEG stream: Star Witness
MPEG stream: John Saw That Number
MPEG stream: Dirty Knife

Just in time for the holiday gift-givin' season, here's something for that special someone who has somehow yet to be turned onto the powerhouse pipes of Neko Case! This is a new special cd edition of Ms Case's most recent album Fox Confessor Brings The Flood. It comes with a 5-song bonus disc! If you're a diehard fan, Anti Records is forcing you to prove your completist-ness! You'll no doubt already have all the songs here except one -- an unreleased demo of "Behind The House"! The rest of the extra tracks are a pair off of her second album 2000's Furnace Room Lullaby and another two from her third album 2002's Blacklisted. (FYI: both albums have been recently remastered and reissued by Anti too). Here's what we said about this album when it first came out early last year: Simply in a class of her own. We've said it before and yes, we'll say it again... Neko Case's voice can invoke a power capable of leveling anything in its path emotionally and maybe even physically too -- leaving some hearts melted, some empowered and some broken. That said, this lady knows that you must wield such a force responsibly and wisely, and over the years she's attained full mastery of its might. On Fox Confessor brings The Flood as on her past albums, an ample serving of reverb in the recording process has ensured that her voice embraces your ears with utterly dreamy warmth, but it doesn't overpower its characteristic nuances. We all know (no doubt herself included) that she could floor you just by singing the alphabet or a grocery list, but we (and she) know that there's more to *it* than that. With each album she's steered clear of trends, reinvented herself subtly and honed a different facet of her craft. Here its her songwriting inkwell which has been given a thorough loving and it runneth over with the deepest indigos and the reds of blood and rubies. Yes, the most noticeable shift / development on Fox Confessor is definitely in the lyrics department. An ever-evolving and maturing lyricist, Case has honed her lyrical imagery into what very well are her least literal, but most poetic and vivid to date. The songs are definitely less immediate with fewer obvious hooks than those of her last three albums, but Fox Confessor inhabits a different realm, and is so very deeply moving and enchantingly special in its own ways. Indeed, it comes across much more as the work of a wise, seasoned storyteller than a flavor of the day pop songstress. Certainly not one to rest on her laurels, for her fourth album Case raises the bar once again, challenging both herself and her fans. Plus with the support of her revolving cast of supremely talented players, her musical tapestry has never been more lushly and intricately detailed. This time she's invited Garth Hudson of The Band into her collaborative fold/family which already shines with the likes of The Sadies, Giant Sand's Howe Gelb, Ms Kelly Hogan, Tom Ray, Jon Rauhouse, Brian Connelly, Calexico's Joey Burns and John Convertino. Each of her albums has been lauded as "her best yet", but with Fox Confessor we'd dare to say she's taken things to a whole 'nother spine-tingling level. A side note for fans of her live show... you'll be pleased to find that "John Saw That Number" (or perhaps you might know it as that "holy to the world" song) makes a rousing appearance midway through the proceedings. With its soaring rounds of choruses, it's a particular crowd favorite at her shows she shares with her singin' pals Kelly Hogan and Carolyn Mark ('tho the latter is sadly missing this time around). Need we say? Highly recommended.

MPEG stream: Star Witness
MPEG stream: John Saw That Number
MPEG stream: Dirty Knife

Ooooh Neko fans, this will surely send glorious shivers down your spine! Back in 2003 shortly after the release of Blacklisted and prior to The Tigers Have Spoken, beloved chanteuse Neko Case performed before a studio audience on the venerable country music tv program Austin City Limits (now over thirty years old!). This cd offers up her complete set of fourteen songs from that show (psst, there's also a dvd version for a few bucks more!). A well balanced mix of originals and covers, it inevitably ends up being sort of a 'Best of Neko Case' compilation (well, up to that year at least!). It offers more proof (not that any more is really needed) that she's definitely one of the few artists around whose performance and personality are just as potently captivating and affecting live in person, on live recordings and on studio productions. As always, she's supported by a stellar group of musical friends -- Jon Rauhouse on pedal steel, guitar and banjo, Tom Ray on stand up bass and Kelly Hogan on backing vocals. The latter once again provides her trademark high dulcet tones as a sweet counterpart to Case's lusty smoldering delivery. It's almost as though Case is being accompanied by an angel. Lovely! Many many fan favorites are included: "Deep Red Bells", "Hex", "Furnace Room Lullaby", "Outro With Bees", and yes, "Favorite"! Plus many wonderful covers too: "Hank Williams' "Alone And Foresaken", Bob Dylan's "Buckets Of Rain", Catherine Irwin's "Hex" and a smokin' rendition of "Look For Me (I'll Be Around)" an ol' classic popularized by Sarah Vaughan. Need we say? Recommended!

MPEG stream: Favorite
MPEG stream: Outro With Bees
MPEG stream: Maybe Sparrow

What can we say about Neko Case that we haven't already? And what else can we add to the crazy amount of press and publicity surrounding the release of here latest record Middle Cyclone? Maybe nothing. But what the heck, we love Neko Case, we have for years. From The Virginian to Furnace Room Lullaby to Blacklisted to Canadian Amp, and of course we were early champions of the New Pornographers, especially the Neko fronted Mass Romantic. Hell, way back in the day, she even played in the band Cub with our very own Cup!! But by now, you've probably been inundated by images of Ms. Case, interviews, magazine covers, there was even a mini documentary on the front page of Amazon, this record is getting one heck of a push, the weird thing is it doesn't really need it. On its own, minus the publicity and all the various other efforts to promote the woman and her album, the music itself speaks for itself. Lush but obviously hand crafted, the lyrics as ever are smart and wry and funny and bittersweet, the songs are fantastic, varied, played by a crack back up band, and then there's Case's voice, which as many others have stated before us is truly a force of nature. One of those once in an era voices. Dark and sultry and sonorous, but so strong and powerful, the old adage about singing the phone book, can now be applied to anything, programming code, microwave instructions, with Case, whatever it is becomes a gorgeous sweetly sour heartbreaker. Plenty has been written about the making of Middle Cyclone too, but for those who don't have TV or radio or internet, we'll tell you much of this record was recorded using a handful of pianos Case got for free on Craig's List, set up in her drafty old barn, on the Vermont farm she now calls home. And that 'piano orchestra' is a wonder, each piano's inconsistencies blending with the other pianos, all blending together into a sound impossibly lush and totally unique. The various parts recorded in the barn also peppered with the sound of crickets and frogs outside, wind whipping through the eaves, all adding to the personal and intimate vibe that the record already had in spades. From brooding ballad, to country rocker, to epic slow burner, every song here is a gem. After a few listens we're liking it way more than Fox Confessor Brings The Flood. There's even a Sparks cover! And a Nilssen cover! Both easily and fully transformed into what are essentially Case originals. And if it wasn't already a stone cold classic, the 31 minute bonus track pushes Middle Cyclone into utter aQ obsession territory, with what is essentially a half hour long field recording of crickets! So great!

MPEG stream: This Tornado Loves Me
MPEG stream: The Next Time You Say Forever
MPEG stream: Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth
MPEG stream: Don't Forget Me

Yay! How long has it been since we've had a new album from Neko? Over two years now, and that's too damn long. In lieu of her new studio album, due out sometime in the near future, we're graced with a nice live album by one of our favorite voices. All the tracks were recorded within the last year and more importantly, all but two (including the title track to her last studio album) are either covers or songs which Neko collaborated on with co-conspirators The Sadies. The exciting news is that the two exceptions are brand new originals ("If You Knew" and the title track to this here cd), and it's no surprise that they're pretty darn great! Neko picks up tunes by a wide range of songwriters including Buffy Sainte-Marie ("Soulful Shade of Blue"), Loretta Lynn ("Rated X"), The Shangri-Las ("Train From Kansas City") and old standards like "This Little Light" (an absolutely rip-snortin' rendition!) and "The Wayfaring Stranger" which is graced by a full chorus of voices on the, uh, choruses. Take that, Grand Ol' Opry! Plus she includes some of her own crowd faves such as the aptly titled, achingly beautiful "Favorite". Knowing Neko, you can bet there's gobs and gobs of 'room' on this recording, and by that we mean the gal loves her reverb. Neko is joined on stage here by The Sadies along with Jon Rauhouse on pedal steel, guitarist Brian Connelly, Kelly Hogan and Carolyn Mark among others.

MPEG stream: Train From Kansas City
MPEG stream: Wayfaring Stranger

Finally Available on Vinyl! What we said when the cd came out: Here it is! The much anticipated follow-up to Neko Case's fabulous debut album of 1997 The Virginian. Have no fear, this ain't no faux-country a la Shania Twain or Dixie Chicks, No! Ms Case has some unbelievable true blue old-school country pipes and spirit (that have drawn many comparisons to kd lang and Loretta Lynn). Indeed, hers is a voice that can lift your heart and let it soar or wrap it in velvet aches... or pick you up by the seat of your pants and give it a swift kick. This time around she's got a band with a solid line-up backing her up; one with whom she's toured and written most of the songs on this album. Plus her usual lengthy list of guest players, among them Brian Connelly (formerly of Shadowy Men From A Shadowy Planet, a truly awesome guitarist in his own right but perhaps most noted for writing the theme to 'Kids In The Hall'), Carl Newman (guitarist/vocalist of Zumpano, Superconductor, and The New Pornographers) and her labelmates The Sadies and Kelly Hogan. Whereas on her first record half of the songs were loving cover versions of many of her old favorites and inspirations, this album is wonderfully all her own.

MPEG stream: Set Out Running
MPEG stream: Bought & Sold
MPEG stream: Mood To Burn Bridges
MPEG stream: Furnace Room Lullaby

Here it is! The much anticipated follow-up to Neko Case's fabulous debut album of 1997 "The Virginian". Have no fear, this ain't no faux-country a la Shania Twain or Dixie Chicks, No! Ms Case has some unbelievable true blue old-school country pipes and spirit (that have drawn many comparisons to kd lang and Loretta Lynn). Indeed, hers is a voice that can lift your heart and let it soar or wrap it in velvet aches... or pick you up by the seat of your pants and give it a swift kick. This time around she's got a band with a solid line-up backing her up; one with whom she's toured and written most of the songs on this album. Plus her usual lengthy list of guest players among them Brian Connelly (formerly of Shadowy Men From A Shadowy Planet, a truly awesome guitarist in his own right but perhaps most noted for writing the theme to 'Kids In The Hall'), Carl Newman (guitarist/vocalist of Zumpano, Superconductor, and The New Pornographers) and her labelmates The Sadies and Kelly Hogan. Whereas on her first record half of the songs were loving cover versions of many of her old favorites and inspirations, this album is wonderfully all her own.

RealAudio clip: Bought & Sold

If you've recently been floored by the voice and music of "Furnace Room Lullaby" (Neko Case and Her Boyfriends' second full length), then you surely must grab hold of this beauty. The Virginian is what started Neko on her recording career down the old country path. Formerly the drummer for Vancouver based pop punk bands Maow and cub, Neko returned to her roots with this album comprised of equal parts originals and covers. Schooled in her youth by her grandmother in the sounds of such country greats as Loretta Lynn and Wanda Jackson, Neko can belt them out with the best. The twelve tracks here run the gamut from rollicking, playful numbers such as "Karoline" and "Honky Tonk Hiccups" to moving heartbreakers such as "Somebody Led Me Away". Also check out the great version of "Bowling Green". Guest stars include: Brian Connelly (Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet), Rose Melberg (Softies, Tiger Trap), Carl Newman (Zumpano, Superconductor). Very recommended, just ask Cup who got to hear these songs on a daily basis when she and Neko were roomies.

MPEG stream: The Virginian
MPEG stream: Karoline
MPEG stream: Somebody Led Me Away

New album from this venerable singer/songwriter and former member of The Nerves and The Plimsouls.

Another phoenix rises from the ashes of beloved Bay Area band Half Film (the other being former HF drummer Jason Lakis' The Red Thread). [The] Caseworker is primarily ex-HF bandmates Conor and Eimer along with their buddies Sean and Monte of another beloved SF band Swell. Together, these four talented individuals craft some of the most lovely dream pop around. They welcome the listener into their soft, soothing airy atmosphere. Quite an impressive, understated 'debut'.

No sharp edges here, everything is smooth and rounded and soothing. [The] Caseworker have pop smarts that set them in league with bands like Pinback and Death Cab For Cutie. It's no wonder though considering the band members' impressive pedigree -- Conor Jonathan and Eimer Devlin were formerly in Half Film and Monte Vallier is from Swell. To boot, AQ pal Will Waghorn provides the solid, steady but slightly unpredictable drumming which helps to keeps things interesting. The warm muted male vocals recall Pink Floyd's David Gilmore or Alan Parsons Project's "Eye In The Sky". The slink of the sliding guitar lines make for a wonderful counterpart to the hazy vocals -- cutting through like headlights in the dark. Soooo good!

MPEG stream: When I Was A Young King
MPEG stream: The Kick

Long awaited new record from Johnny Cash features 4 originals plus, interestingly, covers of such diverse songwriters as Tom Petty, Palace's Will Oldham (Will even sings backup vocals), Nick Cave, U2, and Neil Diamond. Is he really a FAN of, say, Will Oldham, or is producer Rick Rubin turning him onto this stuff (we think the latter). Some of the delivery is a bit wooden, but hey that's Cash's style, and the music definitely benefits from the added talents of Merle Haggard, Benmont Tench, Randy Scruggs, Marty Stuart, June Carter Cash, etc.

RealAudio clip: I See a Darkness (by Will Oldham)
RealAudio clip: The Mercy Seat (by Nick Cave and Mick Harvey)

Right up to the time of his death Johnny Cash was still very much alive, thinking, breathing and making amazing music. The partnership he forged with Rick Rubin was incredibly special, not the normal artist producer relationship as is evidenced in the five albums they made together. These records, in many ways, gave Cash a new lease on life and helped to introduce his music to a whole new generation. You can't escape the feeling that Cash knew his last days were near as he was recording his vocals for this record. Almost like he knew if he stopped making music he would die. There is a vulnerability and hurt in his words yet his undying spirit remained fully intact. While past entries in the American series featured many contemporary and surprising covers (Bonnie Prince Billy, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, etc) this final disc found Cash covering more traditional sorts of tunes by songwriters like Larry Gatlin, Gordon Lightfoot, Hank Williams, Bruce Springsteen, etc. As always Cash always makes the songs very much his own with his timeless crooning and undeniable charisma. There were rumors that Cash had heard a Black Heart Procession record that he fell in love with and was going to cover one of their songs, it never happened but listening to "God's Gonna Cut You Down" you can hear that some of their sound still seeped into his delivery and into Rubin's production. So great how someone who was a legend, and with a clearly defined sound, was always still soaking in so much from the world around him. A heartbreaking, but amazing swansong. A final classic recording in an amazing musical career.

MPEG stream: God's Gonna Cut You Down
MPEG stream: Like The 309

Like Tupac, Johnny Cash keeps putting out records from the great beyond. American VI: Ain't No Grave is billed as his last recordings before passing away. And it marked another collaboration between him and producer Rick Rubin, who really did help inject new life into Cash and Cash's music at the dusk of his career. Like many of the Cash / Rubin American recordings, VI features lots of covers (Kris Kristofferson, Tom Paxton, Porter Wagoner, Sheryl Crow even, etc.). But it's the albums lead off track, the crushing, mournful yet triumphant "Ain't No Grave" that really steals the show. It's like some amazing deep and soulful and apocalyptic country-gospel DOOM. Unfortunately the rest of the record doesn't quite live up to the power of that lead off track, but damn we've been listening to that one on repeat...

MPEG stream: Ain't No Grave
MPEG stream: Cool Water
MPEG stream: Satisfied Mind

Johnny Cash is finally released from prison, so to speak. Previously unreleased, this 1969 live recording finds Johnny performing to a packed crowd of non-incarcerated fans in New York City. The concert is presented in its entirety, with all of Johnny's remarks -- both rehearsed and off the cuff -- included, retaining the live feel of this concert recording that's so often lost in most efficiently trimmed and crossfaded live albums. As well as being accompanied by his band, the Tennessee Three (Marshall Grant on bass, W.S. Holland on drums and Bob Wooten on electric guitar) there are several guest appearances from The Statler Brothers, Carl Perkins, The Carter Family and even Johnny's younger brother Tommy. The resulting 26 songs on the setlist have a running time just under 80 minutes, so you're getting your money's worth in time alone. Along with all this are included a couple reviews of the concert, including one that appeared originally in the New York Post three days after the performance.

RealAudio clip: Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream
RealAudio clip: He Turned The Water Into Wine

[ aquarius records catalogue — C ]