[ aquarius records catalogue

CASH, JOHNNYAt San Quentin - Legacy Edition Box Set(Columbia)2cd+1dvd$ 45.00

Boy, we sure had a lot of trouble getting these boxes. As did lots of other stores we'd imagine. It's a shame too since this would have made an amazing Christmas gift (as it was released right before Christmas). But we have 'em now, and the good thing about it not being Christmas anymore is you don't have to feel guilty about buying it for yourself! One hell of a kick ass box set. Of the five discs that are housed in this cloth-bound volume, four of them are of unreleased material. Three of those are out-takes from the various Cash American sessions and the other an entirely new album of gospel songs from John's mother's hymn book. As a bonus to this material one is also rewarded with a best of disc compiled from the entire Johnny Cash on American series. Of course those already owning the original issues may not find much use for it, but it might come as a further tempation to fence riding erstwhile Cash fans. The cherry on the top as it were is a 104 page (hardcover cloth-bound) booklet with photos and Johnny's personal comments on each and every song. Don't hesitate lest it disappear again!

See? We told you that you could get these three cds separately! Originally released as a three disc set, the career-spanning God, Love and Murder themed cds were compiled by the Man In Black himself. As one of the last masters of the Southern morality tale, Cash through his commanding voice sang songs of good and evil under the ever vigilant eyes of God, who hands down the mercy of justification right along with the misery of the sinner. From his earliest Sun recordings to the latest Rick Rubin produced work, almost every facet of his career is chronicled here. Cash's work exhibits variations in production techniques, but retains the singular voice that could only be Johnny Cash. While the Murder disc is easily the most complex, Love and God are really necessary to complement his violent tales. Soooo, fyi... after some consideration, if you do want the set in its entirety it's still available for $30.00.

The long running TV show Austin City Limits has been dipping into its rich vaults as of late. Elsewhere on this list is a totally stunning live performance from the show that Neko Case recorded a few years back. Digging a couple decades back finds this never before released live performance by the late great Johnny Cash. After a twenty or so years of being on Columbia, the 1980's found him bouncing from one record label to another, never quite getting the freedom or respect he so rightfully deserved, and would finally begin to claim again right before his death. But even in those tumultuous times, there would be no denying Johnny's power as a live performer. This live set from 1987 finds him visiting many of his classics and he's joined by June Carter Cash on the bittersweet "Where Did We Go Right?" Needless to say even with Cash gone, we'll no doubt be hearing lots more from the man in black.

MPEG stream: Folsom Prison Blues
MPEG stream: (Ghosts) Riders In The Sky

See? We told you that you could get these three cds separately! Originally released as a three disc set, the career-spanning God, Love and Murder themed cds were compiled by the Man In Black himself. As one of the last masters of the Southern morality tale, Cash through his commanding voice sang songs of good and evil under the ever vigilant eyes of God, who hands down the mercy of justification right along with the misery of the sinner. From his earliest Sun recordings to the latest Rick Rubin produced work, almost every facet of his career is chronicled here. Cash's work exhibits variations in production techniques, but retains the singular voice that could only be Johnny Cash. While the Murder disc is easily the most complex, Love and God are really necessary to complement his violent tales. Soooo, fyi... after some consideration, if you do want the set in its entirety it's still available for $30.00.

The Man In Black himself compiled this career-spanning anthology of his work with each of the cds reflecting the major themes of Cash's songs - Love, God, and Murder. As one of the last masters of the Southern morality tale, Cash through his commanding voice

See? We told you that you could get these three cds separately! Originally released as a three disc set, the career-spanning God, Love and Murder themed cds were compiled by the Man In Black himself. As one of the last masters of the Southern morality tale, Cash through his commanding voice sang songs of good and evil under the ever vigilant eyes of God, who hands down the mercy of justification right along with the misery of the sinner. From his earliest Sun recordings to the latest Rick Rubin produced work, almost every facet of his career is chronicled here. Cash's work exhibits variations in production techniques, but retains the singular voice that could only be Johnny Cash. While this one, the Murder disc is easily the most complex, Love and God are really necessary to complement his violent tales. Soooo, fyi... after some consideration, if you do want the set in its entirety it's still available for $30.00.

Attention Johnny Cash fans, be forewarned: This is actually Disc Four from the Cash Unearthed cd boxset released all by itself with no special changes, omissions or additions. So, if you bought the box, you've already got this. However, if the fact that Unearthed was five discs long and the $79 price tag proved to be too daunting, My Mother's Hymn Book is a definite highlight of the collection and a stunning, resonant album all on its own. The title says it all. The gospel songs, clearly so close to his heart and deeply rooted in his being, are indeed drawn from his mother's hymnal. It's perhaps one of the most profound and most personal historic documents of the life of Johnny Cash. All extraneous elements are stripped away, the spotlight shining squarely on Cash's voice and guitar. Truly mighty.

MPEG stream: Where We'll Never Grow Old
MPEG stream: If We Never Meet Again This Side Of Heaven

It's to be expected when a legendary recording artist passes away that any recording studio that had the minutest relationship with said artist will unearth from their vaults lost or unreleased recordings, alternate takes, demos, b-sides and what have you. But it is much rarer to see that the unearthed vaults containing the unreleased recordings belonged to the artist himself. And that's just what we have here: 49 tracks on 2 CDs from the personal file of Johnny Cash recorded at the House of Cash circa 1973. With just acoustic guitar and voice, these stripped down songs and stories are prescient of the American Recordings he made with Rick Rubin 20 years later. Though they lack the impending weight of death that hovered throughout the Rubin sessions, nevertheless these are some of the most intimate recordings of the post-Man In Black era. He even unwittingly adds his two cents to the Da Vinci Code debate on "If Jesus Loved A Woman". Walk the Line, indeed!

MPEG stream: Jim, I Wore A Tie Today
MPEG stream: The Cremation of Sam McGhee
MPEG stream: If Jesus Ever Loved A Woman

1965 concept album (his first?) resulting from Cash's growing obsession with the stories of the old west. Along with several originals by Johnny Cash which were inspired by historic tales, there are plenty of standards like "I Ride An Old Paint", "The Streets of Laredo", "Bury Me Not On the Lone Prairie" (but not "Cool Water" oddly enough), as well as several tunes from such heavyweights as Carl Perkins ("Ballad of Boot Hill"), Ramblin' Jack Elliott ("Mister Garfield"), Harlan Howard ("The Blizzard"), June Carter ("The Road To Kantuck") and much more. The choruses, strings, guitar, bass, drums, the occasional banjo (or "five-string lute" as it's diplomatically called here) and heaping helpings of reverb on Johnny's voice might be a little too rich of a production for some people's blood. The lush mid-sixties production sounds more like what one would expect from an Eddy Arnold or Marty Robbins record. But for those who enjoy the occasional over-produced country record, this is definitely worth checking out. The omni-present pulsing bass is a warm accompaniment to Johnny's sometimes singing, sometimes narrating voice. Along with all the session musicians involved, there are appearances from Johnny's family of friends The Carter Family and The Statler Bros. Includes two bonus tracks not included on the original LP.

RealAudio clip: The Road To Kantuck
RealAudio clip: Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie

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Johnny Cash has done a pretty great job of both remaining relevant and making consistently great music. This album is pretty wonderful. It's got a healthy mix of Cash originals (indeed "The Man Comes Around", based on the Book of Revelations, is one of the best songs he's ever written, IMO) and covers of such unlikely sources as Nine Inch Nails, Paul Simon, Sting, Depeche Mode, the Eagles, etc. To Cash, if a given song is exceptionally well-written and suited to his stylistic interpretation, then he'll do it. No genre snobbery here. He infuses all the songs with an epic, anthemic tone some of them didn't know they had in 'em! (There are only a couple duds -- a stiff "Danny Boy" and an ill-chosen Beatles tune.) The guest musicians are also unlikely, and as much as I hate random celeb-littered projects, believe me they're not annoying at all. Guests include Fiona Apple, John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers), the legendary Billy Preston on piano, Roger Manning Jr (Jellyfish), etc. This is a really nice record, classic and modern and smart at the same time. Recommended!

RealAudio clip: The Man Comes Around
RealAudio clip: Hurt (Trent Reznor)

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

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No, this is not a new release by the legendary June Carter Cash -- it came out last year -- but we were listening to it the other day and thought we oughta list it 'cause we hadn't already. These are her final recordings captured on tape shortly before her passing in May 2003. However, Wildwood Flower is by no means a solo effort, it features a number of Cash relations. A wonderful family gathering, it conveys the down-home warmth and true love of the Cash clan. Such a rare and wonderful thing to behold. In addition, some of the non-music recordings included on this album are a total hoot such as Lady June's tale about Lee Marvin. Oh my!

MPEG stream: Temptation
MPEG stream: Big Yellow Peaches

It seems like most of the recent reissues on Omni have had a distinctly kitsch element to them: Lorne Green, Dee Mullins, Gil Trythall's Country Moog, but there are plenty of lost country classics that Omni have given new life to, records by Hoyt Axton, Porter Wagoner and others, and now this, a cd collecting two classic lps from Tommy Cash, younger brother of the man in black. And one listen is all it takes, there's no mistaking that voice, it definitely ran in the family. These songs are fantastic, classic country for sure, but unlike the dark desperado gunslinger jailbird jams of his big brother, the songs of Tommy were much more working class, often extolling the virtues of the working man, more traditional, and thus always overshadowed by his older brother. So much so that until recently, we didn't even know there was a Tommy Cash, and had never heard either of these records, although we had heard "Six White Horses" we just somehow never realized it was Tommy Cash. A brooding bit of storytelling country, a tribute to the fallen greats, JFK, MLK, a dark and gorgeous timeless country classic for sure. Then there's "Rise And Shine", another total classic, with a strange horn fanfare peppering the otherwise traditional twang, with a chorus that will stick in your head forever. And there's 28 more songs, a fantastic collection, once you get into it, the similarity vocal-wise to Johnny begin to fade, but every once in a while some turn of phrase, or some specific pronunciation, will remind you that this is indeed the little brother of the man in black. Deluxe Omni packaging, tons of full color vintage photos, original album art reproduced, new liner notes, reprinted original liner notes and more!

MPEG stream: Six White Horses
MPEG stream: One Song Away
MPEG stream: Rise And Shine
MPEG stream: The Honest Truth

ANTONY alert!!! CURRENT 93 alert!! OK, now that we have your attention, we can tell you about this gem of an ep recorded over a few years back in '99-'01 and now finally seeing the light of day. Michael Cashmore is best known for his stellar contributions to Current 93 over the years. Playing a major role on C93 classics like Thunder Perfect Mine, Soft Black Stars, All The Pretty Little Horses and the latest C93 outing Black Ships Ate The Sky. Last year he released an amazing solo album of guitar and bass compositions, and now we have The Snow Abides, which finds him collaborating with one of our favorite vocalists, Antony of Antony & The Johnsons. Antony croons in his immediately recognizable style with David Tibet providing the dark and moving lyrics, oh what melancholy bliss! Piano, violin, oboe, cello, flute and percussion all woven into a gloriously dramatic whole with grace and style, making the instrumentals on the record just as captivating as the tracks with Antony's show stopping vocals. So nice!

MPEG stream: The Snow Abides
MPEG stream: My Eyes Open

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SORRY. You know you want this you Acid Mothers obsessives you. Too bad we only got a handful of these. So act fast or be banished to the dark realms of eBay forever. Two blasts from the Acid Mothers Temple Starship courtesy of AMT's lone female ass kicker Cotton Casino, whose surly onsatge demeanor, beer in one hand cigarette in the other, would have you expecting some leather clad Hawkwindy biker space rock. Instead we're presented with one track of dreamy Japanese folk, lilting and foresty, under a starry sky of space-y swooshes. The flipside sounds just like a cheesy seventies sci fi soundtrack (sort of like the music during the credits of a Japanese B-movie) but with plenty more of those AMT swooshes and swirls and blips and bleeps. White vinyl with cover art by Pete Fowler!

The adorable Acid Mothers Temple chanteuse steps out all on her own with this truly solo album (no guests, no sidemen). It's got a bold title, but hey, who doesn't love Cotton? Rather than try to demonstrate that she can match the mothership's psychedelic overload freakout intensity all by herself, she veers off into a more intimate, personal realm of J-pop inflected, melodic voice-and-synth tunesmithery. It's airy and breathy and embellished with the quietly burbling and swooshing sci-fi keyboard sounds she wields so effectively in AMT. Definitely very different from the general run of Acid Mothers side projects, that's for sure! Recommended, if you're in the mood for some gently psychedelic, spacy pop with a wistful feel and exotic ambience.

MPEG stream: Melt Down
MPEG stream: Silence

Seems pretty perfect that on one of the coldest days we've experienced here in SF in a long time, we got this new collection of odds and ends from the always so cuddly and comforting Casiotone For The Painfully Alone to keep us all snuggled up and warm. Unless you are a total fanatic who has every single rare split 7" and compilation track, then this collection will offer up lots of new sweet Casiotone pop gems. We can't help but fall for the way Owen crafts such simple, endearing songs, that while emotional and full of memories and nostalgia never become schmaltzy or sound forced. In fact Owen Ashworth (the man behind CFTPA) is really carrying the flame of those early Magnetic Fields records, creating something Stephen Merrit might create armed with only a 4-track and some rudimentary electronics. Lots of awesome tracks to be found here plus the prerequisite odds & ends covers - Missy Elliott, Bruce Springsteen (best cover of "Born In The USA" ever!), and Paul Simon. Aww such sweet sweet sounds....

MPEG stream: White On White
MPEG stream: Holly Hobby
MPEG stream: Born In The U.S.A. (W/ Concern)

Originally released on the Cassingle label, the debut album from AQ fave one-man band Casiotone For The Painfully Alone now happily gets reissued on Tomlab (also home to his dreamy, sweet second full length "Pocket Symphonies For the Lonesome Subway Cars"). What can we say? It still gives us the warm fuzzies. If you require a more in depth description... here's what we said the first time around: Owen Ashworth has set his ruminations on the awkwardness of crushes and infatuation with rock stars to music. With just a couple of casio keyboards, a distortion pedal or two, and a 4-track, Owen's Casiotone for the Painfully Alone somehow succeeds, teetering between affected bedroom-rock naivete, and excerpts from a musical diary never meant for strangers' probing eyes. A recommended album for fans of early Sebadoh and Magnetic Fields, and especially the legendary early Mountain Goats cassettes.

RealAudio clip: When The Bridge Toll Was A Dollar
RealAudio clip: Casiotone For The Painfully Alone Joins The Foreign Legion

Even though Bobby Malone Moves Home is credited to CFTPA, the moniker Owen Ashworth, AKA Mr. Casiotone, has used for numerous releases of his perfectly doleful dreamy casiocore, Ashworth shakes things up a bit on this new 5-song cdep (note: there is also a 2-song 7" vinyl version). For one thing, he's opted for a full band with acoustic instruments this time around. There's piano, guitar, cello, drums and other vocalists too. In addition to the charming title track, there are four live tracks with the audience demonstrating their hushed yet warm appreciation. Particularly of note is the lively "It Wasn't The Same Somehow". Ashworth seriously rocks out! The rest is more characteristically soft and pretty and utterly sincere. So nice.

MPEG stream: Bobby Malone Moves Home
MPEG stream: It Wasn't The Same Somehow (Live)

Yaaay, a new album from our dear pal Mr. Casiotone For The Painfully Alone (aka Owen Ashworth)! Seems like it was only yesterday that his last full length Twinkle Echo was released, but it was actually 2003. Wow, time sure flys! Anyhoo, Etiquette picks right up where that album left off, even in the cover art department with another lovely, enchantingly odd painting by his pal Heidi Anderson. Tho' Ashworth might portray a perpetually bashful, lovelorn teenager in his lyrics and stage presence, the musical manner in which he conveys his heartfelt confessions and sentiments has blossomed and flourished with each subsequent album. Yes, his beloved trademark bedroom-y lo-fi quality of bittersweet valentines being played out on thriftstore-scored toy electronic keyboards still surfaces here and there, but the compositions have gotten increasingly ambitious. Indeed this is his most grand (but still unmistakably CFTPA) to date. No longer a one man band (or at least not for the time being), he has a bunch of friends joining in the musicmaking fun which certainly contributes a good deal to the breadth of the recordings. Lots of different voices singing and playing a much more varied array of instruments. One thing tho' that we must take issue with is that while there are times and places when the phrase "menstrual blood" should be mentioned, a Casiotone song ("Love Connection") seems like the last place you'd want to hear it... sung. It sure made us hit the brakes and go, "Whoa!" Don't get us wrong, we're not squirmish, but when we spend the better part of a CFTPA album getting up to 'holding hands' speed, it's a bit of a nasty jolt to be reminded of that time of month. Maybe they should've taken a cue from the same song's later lyrics "Some things are best left unsaid"? Perhaps somewhat unfortunately that's also the album's final song. Ah well, just press 'play' once more. You'll be right back to the beginning again, and all will be well.

MPEG stream: New Year's Kiss
MPEG stream: Scattered Pearls

AQ's sweetest pal Owen Ashworth moved from SF to lo-fi pop haven Portland, OR a short time ago. And we've dearly missed his quiet, but completely passionate enthusing over our mutual pop faves -- in particular, Young Marble Giants. The minimal, sweet music that

RealAudio clip: Lesley Gore On The TAMI Show

Dear friends, now that Casiotone's first two albums are out of print individually do not despair! They've magically reappeared together here on one disc! And here's what we said about both albums back when they were first released... Answering Machine Music: Originally released on the Cassingle label, the debut album from AQ fave one-man band Casiotone For The Painfully Alone now happily gets reissued on Tomlab (also home to his dreamy, sweet second full length "Pocket Symphonies For the Lonesome Subway Cars"). What can we say? It still gives us the warm fuzzies. If you require a more in depth description... here's what we said the first time around: Owen Ashworth has set his ruminations on the awkwardness of crushes and infatuation with rock stars to music. With just a couple of casio keyboards, a distortion pedal or two, and a 4-track, Owen's Casiotone for the Painfully Alone somehow succeeds, teetering between affected bedroom-rock naivete, and excerpts from a musical diary never meant for strangers' probing eyes. A recommended album for fans of early Sebadoh and Magnetic Fields, and especially the legendary early Mountain Goats cassettes. Pocket Symphonies For Lonesome Subway Cars: AQ's sweetest pal Owen Ashworth moved from SF to lo-fi pop haven Portland, OR a short time ago. And we've dearly missed his quiet, but completely passionate enthusing over our mutual pop faves -- in particular, Young Marble Giants. The minimal, sweet music that he creates under the moniker Casiotone For The Painfully Alone is certainly lo-tech and lo-fi, but totally high on shy boy romance and earnestness. Pocket Symphonies (released on German label Tomlab) maintains the intimate bedroom recording feel of his debut Answering Machine Music. Owen's soft vocal delivery once again really brings to mind the Mountain Goats' John Darnielle, but also Mike Donovan of SF's Church Steps, with the barely audible, almost spoken, hesitant vocals, programmed drumbeats and occasional static-y casio-noise bursts... or, I imagine, Stephin Merritt (Magnetic Fields, Sixths, etc) as a young schoolboy. If you haven't seen Owen play live, you're missing a precious experience, this big bespectacled boy behind tiny synths, one heel shyly pivoting left and right to keep time. Super simple but with an undeniable catchiness. Sixteen fragile'n'pretty, electronic toybox heartstring pullers.

MPEG stream: When The Bridge Toll Was A Dollar
MPEG stream: Casiotone For The Painfully Alone Joins The Foreign Legion
MPEG stream: Lesley Gore On The Tami Show

Oh how we miss having Owen Ashworth, aka Casiotone For The Painfully Alone, as a neighbor since he moved away from the Bay Area a few years ago, but luckily his busy touring schedule finds him in town quite often, so we do get frequent visits, and the store is always brightened by his easy going and sweet demeanor, and lucky for us he's own of those rare folks whose music is a direct reflection of his personality. Owen's latest offering finds him in top form, with many of the short tracks being instrumental it makes sense that some of them were written for the soundtrack to the indie film Stay The Same Never Change, as they do such a perfect job in setting a breezy and daydreamy atmosphere. In many ways this is CFTPA at their/his stripped down best, while we did like some of the recordings that came out of Owen expanding his efforts with a full band, truth be told the true charm of his music comes directly from his rudimentary DIY approach to electro-pop. The few tracks that do have vocals had us thinking a lot of Stephen Merrit when he's doing Future Bible Heros and the overall feeling of this twenty minute ep captures a colorful and rich, melting sensation that's as earnest as it is endearing.

MPEG stream: Ice Cream Truck
MPEG stream: Lesley Gore On The Tami Show
MPEG stream: OMG

Everyone's fave one-man band Owen Ashworth returns with his third full length. In the two years since he departed SF and shortly thereafter released his sophomore effort Pocket Symphonies For the Lonesome Subway, he's become one very well-travelled fellow (actually as we speak, he's over in Japan touring with Xiu Xiu!), and it definitely shows in his new music. Twinkle Echo reveals a much more mature, self-assured, finely tuned Casiotone For The Painfully Alone, and proves to be a smooth progression onward from his past two albums. No big detours though, it's all simply more of his deeply heartfelt, lo-fi Casio-driven odes, but they've been captured on record much better this time. Wonderfully warm and intimate. The only thing that you might notice a difference in is Owen's vocals. His formerly hesitant near-whisper delivery has taken a slightly deeper, hoarser and more insistent tone, but never fear, it still fits very well amid the sweet-tart, woozy toy keyboard melodies and tick-tocking preprogrammed rhythms we know and love so well. Sure to please the growing circle of CFTPA devotees.

MPEG stream: Blue Corolla
MPEG stream: Twinkle Echo

Hooray for our dear pal Owen Ashworth! Over the years his instrument palette has expanded a good deal beyond the keyboard named in his moniker. As well, his music production has flourished out of the bedroom and into a much broader arena; and his songwriting delves deeper into darker subject matter than the beloved lighthearted musings and unrequited crushes of years past. And yet, his music still embodies a beautiful intimate earnestness, sweet tart romantic yearnings and a biting sense of humor. Though he's still the gallant knight of indie pop, his fifth full length is definitely far less twee and far more composed than his early recordings. It might seem that this is more of a 'serious' CFTPA, but then again there has always been a subtle undercurrent of gravity to his music. On Vs. Children, he incorporates organ, Mellotron and piano, which makes for a nicely rounded, enveloping listen. That said, although the music might get you in a cozy mood, his lyrics will keep you on your toes. He continues to prove what a really really good storyteller he is! Ever endearing and engaging!

MPEG stream: Tom Justice, The Choir Boy Robber, Apprehended At Ace Hardware In Libertyville, IL
MPEG stream: Killers
MPEG stream: Natural Light

Hot on the heels of the split 7" Casiotone For The Painfully Alone did with Fox Pause comes another short'n'sweet C.F.T.P.A. release (this one's available on 2-song vinyl and 4-song cd)... And just in time for Valentine's Day, no less! This one man band (aka Owen Ashworth) seems to have a bottomless heart-shaped box of schoolboy lo-fi pop-tronic bonbons. On the first two tunes of this cd (the two that make up the 7" version), his trademark rudimentarily programmed drumbeats and perky Casiotone keyboard melodies once again make us muse as to whether or not Ashworth and Stephin Merritt might be long lost brothers. That said, in more ways that one, the standout track is definitely the somber finale on the cd version. An alternate version of his song "The Subway Home", its plucked cello strings bring to mind the final droplets of rain that fall from leaves after a stormy night. Moody loveliness.

MPEG stream: When You Were Mine
MPEG stream: The Subway Home

Mr. C.F.T.P.A. himself Owen Ashworth just brought these new snazzy t-shirts in! Two color combos: navy blue with silver print of his hand-drawn logo, and baby blue with red print. Assorted sizes. Stock varies depending on whether Owen's in town or on the road, so please ask for size availability.

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. Limited pressing of 500

We just got these brand new Casiotone For The Painfully Alone 7" records straight from the man himself! It's a split 7" with his pal Sara Han aka Fox Pause. His side has three of his wonderfully doleful heartache tunes with his trademark deep boyish near-spoken delivery and his comparatively spritely percolating Casiotone rhythms and melodies. Her side has four much more peppy twee songs. She sings in the opposite end of the octave range from him. High, sugary sweetness.

Hot on the heels of the split 7" Casiotone For The Painfully Alone did with Fox Pause comes another short'n'sweet C.F.T.P.A. release (this one's available on 2-song vinyl and 4-song cd)... And just in time for Valentine's Day, no less! This one man band (aka Owen Ashworth) seems to have a bottomless heart-shaped box of schoolboy lo-fi pop-tronic bonbons. On the first two tunes of this cd (the two that make up the 7" version), his trademark rudimentarily programmed drumbeats and perky Casiotone keyboard melodies once again make us muse as to whether or not Ashworth and Stephin Merritt might be long lost brothers. That said, in more ways that one, the standout track is definitely the somber finale on the cd version. An alternate version of his song "The Subway Home", its plucked cello strings bring to mind the final droplets of rain that fall from leaves after a stormy night. Moody loveliness.

MPEG stream: When You Were Mine

The Casket Lottery was borne of the mighty Coalesce, but their sound is far removed from Coalesce's pummelling metalcore. More a bizarre hybrid of emo, power pop, weird almost-prog, new wave and just balls-out rock. Huge emotive swells of thick rich chords,

RealAudio clip: Code Red
RealAudio clip: The Bridge
RealAudio clip: Searchlights
RealAudio clip: Since You

A little odds and ends collection from one of our favorite emo bands. Lots of soaring, sad boy vocals, BIG guitars, almost-metal riffery, melancholy melodies, and catchy punky pop. Think Sunny Day Real Estate, the Get Up Kids, and that sort of thing. This disc collects all the Casket Lottery's tracks from comps and splits, a handful of unreleased tracks, some demos, and lots of wicked covers, the Cure, the Police, Government Issue, Kill Creek, Shudder To Think and a brutal spot-on cover of Helmet's In The Meantime with vocals courtesy of Coalesce's Sean Ingram. Nice.

MPEG stream: In The Meantime
MPEG stream: Synchronicity II
MPEG stream: A Priest Walks Into A Bar

The labyrinth is the common concept linking the four pieces on Casserley's record, which is dominated by dark breathy drones and fragments of ambiguously located piano, ring modulator, flutes, percussion, and guitar. If you're familiar with his collaborations with avant saxophonist Evan Parker, you won't be dissapointed by this album.

Not sure what it is exactly that makes Cassetteboy manage to sidestep being nothing more than an overplayed bad joke, but there is most definitely SOMETHING. Most mashups, cut ups, Negativland style wacky plunderphonic records get played out in no time at all, the sort of records you -maybe- put on a mix tape now and then or throw on at a party, but ultimately they end up at the bottom of some pile gathering dust. But we find ourselves listening to Cassetteboy all the time, over and over, and laughing our asses off. Random bits of dialogue, movie clips, all manner of music, and lots of immediately recognizable voices, all chopped up and mixed up and re-assembled into super snarky, bitter, fuck the world sound snippets and song fragments, rife with anti-social sentiments, anti-government propaganda, some truly messed up Harry Potter porn, a crazy funny, awesome anti-Streets track, and all manner of perplexing non-sequitur humor, and loads of peurile silliness. Just give the sound samples a listen. If the Harry Potter clip doesn't make you laugh out loud, well, then this is probably not the record for you, but if it does, then you are in for a treat, as there is plenty of stuff even sillier, more outrageous and way more offensive.

MPEG stream: Lambonaise Tonight
MPEG stream: Clever Girl
MPEG stream: Gownday
MPEG stream: Saltgrain
MPEG stream: From This Day On
MPEG stream: Yer Little Pipedream

As much as we feel like we oughta hate this stuff, Cassetteboy are just so good at their schtick that we can't seem to get enough. This is a bit like Negativland, only with that dry British humor and a much wider self deprecating streak. Most bands who do the whole cut and paste, spoken word taken out of context, weird sound bites over dance music thing end up sounding stupid and like they're trying way to hard to be funny and cool and hip and still somehow failing miserably. Cassetteboy on the other hand, sound like they're just fucking around, and thus there's no hipster weight to what they're doing, but the stuff they're doing is so perfect, and so funny, we can't help but dig it. Cassetteboy sound like blokes you'd want to have over, and sit around listening to crazy fucked up music. Mick's Tape is indeed a mix tape, made up of CB's wacky and sometimes tasteless chop jobs, turning innocent speeches and silly folks songs and instructional recordings into laugh out loud nasties. Then some bizarre and random actual songs (Ivor Cutler, Curtis Mayfield, Ramsey Lewis, Astrud Gilberto, Fennesz, Happy Mondays, Fela Kuti, Shalamar) as well as somekiller tracks from MF Doom, Jaylib, and Squarepusher. It's basically the ultimate aQuarius mix, tons of insane weirdness and laugh out loud silliness, some killer classic tunes, some super dope hip hop, some way out experimental noise, all woven together into a somewhat cohesive but joyously chaotic whole!

MPEG stream: This Woman Stinks!
MPEG stream: Good Morning, How Are You, Shut Up!
MPEG stream: Cobblers
MPEG stream: C U In Court
MPEG stream: Gopher It
MPEG stream: Hoes Down

The newest exercise in plunderphonia comes from merry old England in the form of Cassetteboy! Taking cues from People Like Us, Negativland, Tape-beatles, and John Oswald, Cassetteboy excel in the art of making people say naughty things. As such The Parker Tapes is probably not the best disc for those who don't enjoy the baser and more puerile forms of humor (or channel surfing style editing.) But for those who do revel in such things, Cassetteboy is the best source for your plunderfix. Unlike most of the artists who work in the realm of media reappropriation, Cassetteboy is decidedly un-musical. Which isn't a rib against them. Though there are bits of music sampled in the course of events, it's the narrative of television and radio voices that are the primary focus of Cassetteboy's wrath. The 98 tracks crammed onto this disc don't lend themselves to much in the way of instrumental interludes. But goddamn is this stuff funny, from subtly changing Bowie's lyrics to "here I am shitting in a tin can.... and farting in a most peculiar way...." to Bill Gates admitting that Microsoft gets in to schools to control our kids... to an awesome monkey themed montage to... well, you get the idea. Relentless and stupidly brilliant. EVERYTIME this is played in the store, customers are either silently chuckling, laughing uproariously or coming up to find out what the hell we're listening to! This is the party cd/mix tape/answering machine message record of the year!!

RealAudio clip: [Track 24]
RealAudio clip: [Track 38]
RealAudio clip: [Track 51]
RealAudio clip: [Track 58]

Another collection of total outsider whatthefuck from Ultra Eczema, this one from Cassis Cornuta, aka Daniel De Wereldvermaarde Botanicus (really?), a Dutch noisemaker, who has been brewing up all manner of fractured and fucked up sonics since the early seventies. A confusional mix of loner synth psych, damaged robotic new wave, and melting lysergic sound collage, all blurred and smeared into a head spinning slab of seriously sick soundart. Warped synths, crumbling effects, woozy keyboard melodies, a stumbling chaotic abstract drift that occasionally coalesces into cool retro analog new wave weirdness, all primitive drum machines and analog synthesizers, but just as often seems to fall apart, or ooze into some other strange sonic shape. As if the sounds here weren't trippy enough, each lp has multiple holes drilled in the center, no less than 3, some as many as 20, so you can play the record off center, sometimes dramatically so, altering the sounds, and making the record sound even more wacked out and demented that it already did. Super rad. Could be a cool secret weapon for the DJ looking for a room clearer, but even (maybe especially) off center, it's surprisingly listenable, if you're in the mood for warped ultra weirdness of course. LIMITED TO 300 COPIES, super nice artwork as with all Ultra Eczema releases...

While some reissue labels specialize in digging up the obscure '60s garage or '70s psych of collector's dreams, Shadow Kingdom's idea of a long lost gem is something like this, a pretty much unknown quasi-metal American rock act from the early '80s that went precisely nowhere with their strange brand of theatrical, "magickal", poppy, proggy hard rock / metal, despite a lot of spunk and even some talent too. This disc contains Cassle's 1983 ep plus a bunch of unreleased songs from the era filling it out to full-length cd status. We say quasi-metal 'cause while they've got the medieval name of Cassle (i.e. Castle - it seems they liked to spell things differently, they were originally called Miraaj), and do indeed sport some fairly heavy, gritty guitars and fantasy/horror themes, they're really much more Rush than Maiden. And they've got keyboards. Yup, so '70s prog/pomp rock outfits like Rush, Styx, and Kansas were probably as big or bigger influences on 'em than the then-contemporary riffage of the NWOBHM. It's also a set of influences they share with another Shadow Kingdom band, Manilla Road. But that's what gives this a lot of its charm, some kids from LA trying to do the pomp thing on a budget and without worrying much about being "cool". Well actually, they probably did think this was cool. And if you're like us, you might think it's cool too. How can you not love it when they actually sing "A dungeon, a dragon..." in one of their songs here, "Revenge (Cassle Walls)"?! They're no Manilla Road but this is still pretty fun, it kinda reminds us of Sorcery's Stunt Rock soundtrack, and Legend US (From The Fjords), a bit. Cd booklet includes new liner notes, full lyrics, and color photos of the band back in the day.

MPEG stream: Midnight Fantasy
MPEG stream: Revenge (Cassle Walls)
MPEG stream: The Ringmaster

[ aquarius records catalogue — C ]