[ aquarius records catalogue

An all too short dose of medievalish ear-candy. Two songs, one a long form folk drone of the likes we are used to hearing from Tara Burke aka Fursaxa. The other is a moss covered but more traditional sounding folk song that sounds like a cover of an ancient but long forgotten tune. Lovely.

With all the attention folks like Grouper, Valet, Inca Ore, and Julianna Barwick have gotten in recent times, its easy to forget that it was the music of Fursaxa that predated their ethereal and ghostly sounds by a few years. Through the years, Tara Burke has consistently released music as eerie and haunting as those above with a distinctive pantheistic foresty vibe that is both ritualistic and witchy but mesmerizing and mystical as well. Previous efforts have been more lo-fi and acoustic, with lots of flutes and bells and blurry squalls of sounds. Her latest, Mycorrhizae Realm, is her more polished and composed to date, sounding like a lost album by Vashti Bunyan or Desert Shore-era Nico in its gentle grace and beauty. Harmonium drones, bird-song flutes, harps, bells, acoustic guitar and her own floating harmonies accompany ancient sounding folk melodies from a lost civilization. Equal attention is placed on song-form as well as sound. Where previous releases had shown Fursaxa coaxing melodies out of the sound she creates, here melody takes center stage to the compositional decisions taking on a less improvisational feeling than before. This makes the songs more focused and constructed, but with the slow majestic unfolding that the mood she conjures require. Breathtaking!

MPEG stream: Celosia
MPEG stream: Lunaria Exits the Blue Lodge
MPEG stream: Sunhead Bowed

While I (Jim) have normally attempted to write reviews for Aquarius that are noticeably different from the reviews I've written for other outlets, I now state my failing in crafting some new syntax for this Fursaxa record, which I think is fantastic. So without further ado, here's what I wrote in The Wire #222. "Tara Burke has earned major endorsement from Makoto Kawabata and Thurston Moore, who have been so impressed by the Philadelphian psych-out maven as to release a couple of recordings of her Fursaxa project on their respective labels. Following the 'Mandrake' CD-R on Kawabata's tiny imprint, this self-titled album published by Moore's Ecstatic Peace is an exceptional set of narcoleptic post-VU semi-rock haze. Working with a couple of her former comrades form the underappreciated Siltbreeze group Un, Burke has scored 19 sketches for monochord acoustic guitars, pedal treated Lowry organ and Farfisa loaded with a grainy texture of raw tape hiss and a general disregard for production cleanliness. She channels these stories like a Wiccan earth mother, with sounds emanating like disaffected recollections of various memories and previously hidden histories. She's not so much interested in telling us specific stories as evoking a psychic connectivity towards those past visions, which are beautifully nostalgic yet vaguely haunting. This album is as good as anything from the Jewelled Antler collective, No Neck Blues Band, and Jackie-O Motherfucker."

RealAudio clip: Euclidian Geometry
RealAudio clip: Quinine Hill
RealAudio clip: Voltaire

MTV / Lilith Fair singer songwriter, gets all urban, even raps a bit, enlists Timbaland, and comes up with a pretty decent danceble club record. Fans of Pink, Christiina Aguilera and other such things will dig for sure...

Through the 3 lengthy recordings of his live performances, Tetsuo Furudate (who had previously released an exceptional collaboration with Zbigniew Karkowski which we also stock) situates lengthy passages of near silence next to eruptions of dissonance; chunks of noise, militant metallic percussion, incendiary guitar feedback (a la KK Null), and slow motion bass drones. It's like listening to a one-man band performing a Hermann Nitsch orchestration through pure strength of will.

Tetsuo Furudate and Zbigniew Karkowski have released their second collaboration under the banner of "World As Will" as an homage to the 19th century thinker Arthur Schopenhauer, whose philosophical principles had been spelled out most thoroughly within a four The Furudate / Karkowski collaborations (an album on Staalplaat and this record published by 23Five) have certainly followed Schopenhauer's fundamentals, with the creation of a violent, masculine, and ultimately tragic orchestrations as actions purely guided by edicts of the will. While based upon live arrangements for big horns, discordant strings, and timpani (in part composed by Karkowski and in part sampled from Wagner), the two offer a punishing collage in which the orchestral sounds spiral downward into brutal stabs of molten digital noise. "World As Will II" may lack some of the loud / quiet dynamics of the first volume, but the two more than make up for it in unrelenting intensity that falls between the totalitarian critiques of Laibach and the sonic bloodletting of Hermann Nitsch. A very difficult album.

RealAudio clip: Part 1
RealAudio clip: Part 2

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The label calls this slab of heaviness from Fury, featuring Sonny Vincent of the Testors, "1972 NYC Proto Punk", but listening to the A side here, we're thinking this is more proto METAL than proto punk, plenty of raw guitar buzz and a kick ass main riff, pounding drums and some seriously muscly vox, the sound is heavy and hard, and pretty dang metal for the time, although there's definitely a serious blooze rock vibe too, oh and let's not forget the shredding leads. The flipside is definitely more on the proto punk tip, a bit more swaggery, groovy, still heavy for sure, with a definite Thin Lizzy vibe, due in no small part to the vocals. But damn, both jams here are killer, and way recommended for fans of both proto metal AND proto punk!!

We've been trying to track down music from this mysterious Norweigian black metal one man band for ages now and finally managed to get enough to list. We're constantly extolling the virtues of retarded / damaged / fucked / outsider black metal (see the Benighted Leams review elsewhere on this list) and we're always on the lookout for more. And Furze definitely fits the bill. In fact, we've been touting Benighted Leams as "perhaps the most retarded black metal band ever" for years now, but it seems like Furze might be just sneak in and steal that 'honor' for themselves. Let's talk about the packaging first. The cover is all black except for some weeds laid out next to each other. The back is all white (!) with a photo of what appears to be two young trick or treaters, one dressed like a witch, the other like a ghost. The Furze logo on the back is printed over three witches brooms. the back of the booklet has a very South Park-like painting of a white sign under a blood dripping sky, The sign reads: "Come, come sit listen to our cogent black metal necrosis". Inside the booklet, Mr Furze is carrying a lantern through a snowy forest. While Necromanzee Cogent is black metal, sonically it sounds way more like a doom record, slow doomy riffs, one track even sounds exactly Black Sabbath, but played by a grade school music class. The whole record starts off with haunting Jandekian mumbling before erupting into clumsy, mid tempo doooooom. Totally random drumming, fuzzed out atonal organ melodies and anguished heavily reverbed moaning, not really metal so much as some strange Scott Walker / Jandek / Nick Cave caterwaul occasionally whispering ominously but more often gurgling and squealing and yelping. There are occasional blasts of -actual- black metal, but it's almost as if he can't manage to play that fast for that long and is forced to slow down and often abandon song structure all together, resulting in lots of creepy ambient bits, with scraping reverbed guitar strings and all sort of weird sounds. Most of the record is a sludgy doomy, plodding thud rock, almost like some long lost Amrep band, but filtered through the frosty blackened mind of some Norwegian black metal troll. Also, somewhat surprisingly there are some really gorgeous blissed out post-rocky guitar ambience, keening guitar melodies suspended in a massive blackened emptiness. Everything up until this point has only served to get you ready for the massive 20+ minute final track "Sathanas' Megalomania". From high end chiming shimmer, to slow building droning creepiness, to church-like organ and plodding drum with deep chanting and scary demonic screeches, to full on epic black metal with REALLY loud monster vocals, to haunting funereal doom until the end of the song where levels and song structure and vocals all seem to go haywire. As the metal maelstrom dissipates, the song becomes a chaotic swirl of weird sped up disembodied voices, snippets of crappy AM radio, snatches of distorted orchestra, squealing feedback and groaning downtuned guitars. Phew. Yikes. After listening to this record we feel like we've been dragged naked over rocks and thistles, through a snowy forest, into a fiery pit where we were quickly eaten by a huge demon, and promptly shat out. You know what we're talking about: tired, filthy, demoralized, violated, bruised and battered. But surprisingly really really good.

MPEG stream: Seance
MPEG stream: Necrosaint Black Metal
MPEG stream: Silver Starlight

Back in the day, when we wanted to talk about the most fucked up and damaged black metal EVER, we generally reference weirdo Norwegian black metal one man band Furze, whose records were pretty much completely nuts, demented and warped, but somehow utterly genius as well. The last Furze record, Reaper Subconscious Guide, found him cranking up the weirdness, but in a truly unexpected way, offering up that record as a tribute to his favorite band, Black Sabbath. In retrospect, we really should have made that a Record Of The Week, cuz the aQ metalheads were totally obsessed with that record. And even non-metalheads found it intriguing. A twisted homage, right down to some seriously Ozzy like vox, but so warped that it was like listening to Sabbath through a funhouse mirror. We weren't really sure if that was a one-off thing, or if Furze would return to the world of buzzing blackness, until we got our hands on this, Psych Minus Space Control, the latest maniacal musical missive from Woe J Reaper, aka Furze, and it is in fact, still an homage to the classic days of heavy metal, and Sabbath in particular, with extensive notes on each song, detailing the instruments used, the inspiration behind each song, all heartfelt and totally confusional and completely genius! Opener "Occult Soul, With Mind", is some lumbering Sabbathy doom for sure, total old school doom, with Furze teaching the riffs to some other guitar player called LFM "in order to have some more dynamic guitar sound", with Reaper also playing Mini-Moog and Mellotron, and explaining in the liner notes: "Why is the soul occult? Ain't the mind just as occult? Please be my guest to let this question roll on... PolyTriad Fingerprints are tapping up! Vol. 3 of the Triad is always outside the circle - the circle..." Woah, umm, okay. The same notes also ask "Do we WORSHIP BLACK SABBATH LIKE A KNELL or do we ride out there with pride??' "Psych Mooz Space Control" is up next, and the notes explain that "This 'mooz' word is 'zoom' read backwards. Psych Mooz Space Control means 'to zoom neither IN nor OUT' - on reality - in order to grasp and define it�" It goes on, in great detail to explain how the meaning has a lot to do with people who oppose religions, and why 'mooz' wasn't used in the album title. The first few minutes of the song are a haunting sprawl of spare solo guitar, droney riffs and spidery melodies drifting in wide open expanses of emptiness, very meditative and mesmerizing, it's not until about 5 minutes in that the song kicks in proper, this time laced with some super creepy (and cool) electric violin, another woozy druggy classic doom jam, that slips from churning murky downtuned chug, to some soaring downright poppiness that s impossibly catchy yet doesn't sound at all out of place. We could go on, song by song, we almost want to reprint the notes in their entirety, but needless to say, they're super fun and funny, and offer a sort of twisted insight, that really actually does add to the listening experience, the rest of the record continues in a similar fashion, slipping from doomy churn, to cosmic blackened psych, no sign of black metal AT ALL (well maybe a wee bit on the last track), so fans of the old Furze, unless you have a soft spot for Sabbath, and appreciated a twisted off kilter homage, then steer clear, for the rest of us, there's all sorts of Sabbathy weirdness, some killer riffing some strange instrumentation (glockenspiel!), plenty of flanger, some seriously tripped our FX heavy vox, all woven into a seriously twisted slab of outsider psychedelic doom, that definitely does Furze's sonic forebears proud! Awesome cover art, tons of liner notes, and a sticker on the front that reads: "Do not upload nor copy this cd. Doing so you kill what you support."

We've long loved Norwegian weirdo one man black metal horde Furze, aka Woe J. Reaper. In fact, in our love of and obsession with the most twisted, warped, fractured and fucked up black metal, we would rank Furze pretty damn close to the top. Three records in (Trident Autocrat, Necromanzee Cogent, and UTD) and few can reach the heights (depths?) of Furze's sonic dementia. Just have a look at past Furze reviews on the aQ site, to see just what sort of confusional brilliance this guy is capable of. So when we discovered that the new, fourth Furze was meant to be an homage to seventies era Black Sabbath, a sonic tribute to the band that is, according to Woe J. Reaper himself, the reason Furze exists at all. The question really was, would the new record simply sound like a Furze record, and be dedicated to the spirit of Sabbath, or would it sound like Sabbath, with Reaper doing his best to evoke the same mood and might and majesty? Howabout a little of both? Right off the bat, Reaper Subconscious Guide finds Furze doing his best Sabbath, but unlike the legions of Sabbath worshipping wannabes, Reaper is capable of capturing that seventies sound, the vibe, and the first track, while not sounding like Sabbath per se, it definitely sounds like it could be some demented lost seventies private press metal artifact. The riffing old school and Sabbathy, but everything else pure Furze, the drumming is super strange, mathy and stuttery and busy, the vocals, even weirder, a crooned mewl, no screeching or voKILLS, but proper (sort of proper) singing. The track is all over the map too, gongs, clean guitar strum, and finally, some black metal, but only sort of, instead, it sounds more like galloping classic metal, pounding and relentless, before the track shifts back to that Sabbath styled chug and croon, but this time lacing the sound with glockenspiel. Yep, glockenspiel. We can't think of a Furze record that would appeal to classic metal purists, and while this one might not either, it's about as close as Reaper will ever get. The rest of the record follows a similar path, old school seventies hard rock guitar parts, wild chaotic drumming, the strange doomy croon vocals, some seriously killer riffs, twisted squiggly leads here and there, and it's Furze, so there's lots of random weird shit going on, not the least of which is the chiming bell like glockenspiel which surfaces at the oddest times. The thing is, without the black metal baggage, if this was some recently unearthed lost doom artifact, people might be freaking out, the perfect balance of classic metal, damaged naivety, and freaked out psychedelic weirdness, makes this a twisted classic. Definitely the least black metal of all the Furze records, but just as awesomely weird and brilliantly baffling! Lots of strange liner notes, and super swank sparkly reflective cover art/logo that ought to appeal to little girls everywhere.

MPEG stream: Earlier Than The Third Might Of The Cosmos
MPEG stream: It Leads...
MPEG stream: Immortal Lecture

We haven't had these in ages, but since Furze is some of our favorite far out black metal EVER, we figured we oughta relist it since we just now managed to get some more copies (and we might not be able to get any more after this as the label is pretty much sold out!). Here's how much we love this stuff (from when we listed it the first time a few years back): Everybody went so nuts for the newest Furze record we listed recently we figured we oughta track down the first one as well. And it's just as freaked out and damaged and totally brilliant. Unlike the weird droning doom of Necromanzee Cogent, Trident Autocrat is all black metal. But that doesn't mean it's not as bizarre, because it most definitely is. The song titles again are totally perplexing: "Zaredoo Knives Endows Thy Sight", "Devacamo Possessed Black", "Witchboundator", "Scolopendraarise" and the lyrics and imagery are quite ridiculous as well. The logo, which features three witches brooms and the slogan: "Trident Black Metal Feast", the back of the record that features a long exposure swirl of light in a spooky hallway, and lines like "The overall vibration of the preacher, The way of sneaking teeth and hypocrisy, It's the destruction ritual of the holy trinity" all combine to form the perfect framework for one of the coolest weirdest black metal records ever. All the BM hallmarks are present, buzzing riffs, growled vocals, chaotic lightning speed bast beats, but the black metal of Furze turns these seemingly typical elements into completely insane musical madness. The growling vocals squirm and morph from demonic growl, to howled distant anguish, heavily reverbed as if they were being recorded at the bottom of a well, to maniacal gremlin like chatter, and creepy cartoony chanting. The riffs, are super affected and sometimes sound totally heavy, sometimes completely brittle, lo-fi and tinny one minute, buzzing and snarling the next. The most surprising thing is how damn catchy some of these riffs are. The first song has been stuck in my head like crazy, and unlike most black metal, you'll no doubt find yourself humming along. Only a half hour long, but so much wonderful weirdness is crammed into those 30 minutes you definitely won't be left wanting.

MPEG stream: Zaredoo Knives Endows Thy Sight
MPEG stream: Devacamo Possessed Black

We talk a good game about different black metal bands being the weirdest or most fucked up, the most damaged, even the most retarded, and there are plenty of bands vying for that top spot, whether they know it or not. But the count is finally in. and Furze are the hands down winner. This latest blast of whatthefuck grimness proves it beyond a shadow of a doubt. Let us count the ways. This new record is in fact TWO new records, making the full title of the album UTD: Beneath The Odd-Edge Sounds Of The Twilight Contract Of The Black Fascist / The Wealth Of The Penetration In The Abstract Paradigms Of Satan. Phew. Then there's the song titles: "Demonic Order In The Eternal Fascist's Hall", "Beneath The Wings Of The Black Vomit Above", "Deep In The Pot Of Fresh Antipodal Weave"... and it only gets stranger. Besides the baffling lyrics inside there is also a warning: "Don't stop the Furzement! 'Furze' is the name of the blade on The Reaper's scythe. Furze is the one and only trademark of the one and only Reaper, made (that vibration in the whole wide world called) "music" !!! That fire which burns (Candlelight) and that which penetrates golden walls by organic thorns (Furze) supports to take heed approach the Reaper." Indeed. Then there is a completely confusing thanks list, some truly strange iconography, and finally the center panels of the booklet are simply an advertisement for Furze's other two albums (because apparently the original artwork, featuring a drawing of Jesus fucking Mohammed, was just too shocking). Alrightee then. All of that would be a bunch of pretentious crap, if the music didn't sound just as fucked up and demented. But it does, maybe even moreso. It's hard to even explain what this sounds like, it is obviously black metal, lots of buzz, loads of distortion, blast beats, growled shrieked vocals, but every one of those elements is totally tweaked. The guitars first and foremost, tinny and razor sharp, slippery and all tangled up, impossibly convoluted riffs, produced in some weird way that allows the guitar to go from ear piercingly loud to murky and muddy, often in the same phrase. Then there are the drums, insane and splattery, blasting and octopoidal, sometimes a blast way down in the mix, sometimes a stumbling fill spilling out all over the next part. The vocals are similarly damaged, shrieking, growling, mumbling, howling, sometimes super distorted, sometimes sounding like they are being shrieked from a hundred yards away, sometimes it sounds like they are being spat right in your ear. And the production?! Holy fuck, drums explode swallowing the rest of the sound whole, before the song eventually blasts forth, the guitars duel with the vocals, a damaged dance to the death, it's almost like Faxed Head producing Benighted Leams, with occasional guitar contributions from Greg Ginn and a doped to the gills Yngvie, mix in some drunken fretless bass and some underwater yodeling vocal bits and some freaked out psychedelic guitar skree, all played through a tiny practice amp. The sounds, and the recording, and the concept, is it possible that this is all just accidental? No, it's TOO weird, too bafflingly obtuse, too perfectly skewed -- this guy is a genius. And the thing is that even within all this confusional sonic damage and demented blackness, these songs are catchy, really catchy, how can some convoluted buzzing slippery buzz saw riff get stuck permanently in your head? Or some shrieked line of obtuse black poetry? Only Woe J. Reaper, the man who is Furze, knows for sure. So completely and utterly recommended. Black metal record of the year for sure...

MPEG stream: A Life About My Sabbath
MPEG stream: Demonic Order In The Eternal Fascist's Hall
MPEG stream: Mandragora Officinarum

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This new disc on PSF from Tokyo's legendary Fushitsusha isn't new at all -- it's a live recording from *twenty five years ago* that goes some way to explaining that legendary status of Keiji Haino's band. So what was Keiji Haino up to in 1978? Not disco! Current fans will have no trouble recognizing his distinctive guitar and vocal stylings. Indeed, the fact that this sounds so much like something Haino & co. could do now -- aside from a certain, slight crustiness to the recording, which adds to the ambiance rather than detracts -- makes us all the more eager for a new Fushitsusha recording that will push beyond, much in the way their last one "Origin's Hesitation" (which took the bold step of removing Haino's guitar from the mix) did. Back in '78 though, Haino's guitar was in full force, his sidemen being, well, sidemen. The two tracks on here (one 14, the other 35 minutes in length) don't stint on the feedback guitar skronk, nor on Haino's lonely, anguished vocal cries. The quieter parts are full of crinkly, piercing tones and drones -- which could be some laptop computer noise but ain't of course. It's his trusty guitar and amp in unholy communion. The rest of the band (a different line-up than more recent incarnations) backs him up ably, the bass plodding heavily or throwing in some jazzy figures, the drums quiet then crashing, the trio together all eventually building (of course) into storming dense chaotic catharsis. Wow. Not too many acts circa '78 could have been bringing the noise like this. So, as the earliest ever released Fushitsusha recording, this cd is gonna be essential for fans who want to check 'em out back at the beginning -- Haino formed the band that very year. And as we said, his trademark style is already quite present, though some stuff he plays on here does sound a bit different from what you'd expect from him these days -- there's some 'no-wave' ish surprise bits that maybe sound more like Rudoph Grey, for instance. One for connoisseurs to debate!

MPEG stream: track 1

This here dvd is pretty much a must for all fans of what might be the world's most intense, original free-rock band. The dark lord of Tokyo psych Keiji Haino and his power trio Fushitsusha were captured on film performing live in Tokyo at the La Mama Club way back on September 26th, 1991. Yes, the same year Fushitsusha released their first cd document, the untitled monumental masterpiece known to fans as Live II or Double Live (PSF 15/16), a true classic of avant-heaviness. They've made a great many great records since then, but it's hard to argue that they ever really topped the output of this era... So of course it's great that this concert was preserved for posterity (they were opening for John Zorn's Painkiller, who were recording the live album Rituals, on which Haino guests) and is finally now being issued on dvd (it was previously available from PSF as a VHS video cassette, and is Fushitsusha's only official video release). Not much point in further description, really -- we figure this one's for Fushitsusha fans and if you're one, you want this. 53 minutes, all regions.

Two new studio albums from black-clad guitar maestro Keiji Haino and band. Both are excellent, edge-of-the-void psych-noise documents in keeping with the Fushitsha legend, recorded in England.

Ok, just like the gone-in-a-flash handful of Keiji Haino's So, Black Is Myself's we listed a few weeks ago, here's another out of print Haino related cd that we have but THREE copies of, that we found hidden in a dusty corner of the same local distributor's warehouse. So, we're not gonna go all out reviewing it, probably either you know you need a copy of this, or you don't, and if you do, act fast! For the record, though, it's the very first (and still one of the only) *studio* recordings by the Japanese guitarist's (former) band Fushitsusha, who were a darkly psychedelic, improvising "free-rock" trio unlike any other. This album, released in 1993, is a particularly unique item in their discography for sure, perhaps due to being a studio recording, this is a bit different from some other Fushitsusha efforts, relying less on amplified distortion and feedback. Instead, it's remarkably clean, quiet and controlled (relatively speaking, this is still seasick miasmic murk, really!), the 10 tracks here, each titled "Magic", I through X, being precisely structured, if counterintuitive, compositions, working their trance-inducing magic via tense, tightly wound repetition, at the edges of which you may hear Haino's familiar angst-filled vocalizations. 'Twas one of the earliest releases on John Zorn's Japan-based label Avant (forerunner to Tzadik), hence the import pricing. While old, these are still "new" copies, complete with obi strip.

MPEG stream: Magic II
MPEG stream: Magic IX

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

SORRY. Keiji Haino's legendary black-clad psychrock trio, live in San Francisco. Seeing 'em live was quite a rush and this is the next best thing if you turn it up loud and stick your head as close to the inside of your stereo speakers as you can.

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

SORRY. Hail, the return of Japanese psych shaman Keiji Haino's legendary psychedelic free rock unit, Fushitsusha! We'll dispense with doing a lengthy background essay, as pretty much anyone who would purchase a $29 import cd by Fushitsusha already knows all about the band; in fact we probably know exactly who you are. Not that we don't want to spread the gospel of Fushitsusha far and wide, it's just that there's some more affordable introductions that could be made. But, even our fellow fanclub members probably want to know if this gets the thumbs up from us. Well, of course it does! But some further attempt at description might help. For a couple reasons, we were quite surprised (and pleased!) when this appeared. We had thought that Haino was done forever with Fushitsusha, actually. There hadn't been a new Fushitsusha release for over ten years (and on the last one, he didn't even play guitar), and it seemed that his 'blues band' Seijaku, and also his trio recordings with Jim O'Rourke and Oren Ambarchi, were what was gonna have to fill the void. Those were great, but nothing knows the 'void' like the true Fushitsusha... Also never thought we'd see a Fushitsusha release with a cover that wasn't mostly black, or at least, purple - but this handsome digipack is a rather lovely blueish green, with metallic silver details, and silver inside and on the obi. Does this shocking new color scheme herald other big changes in the Fushitsusha 'formula' too? Well, let's see... First off, we noted that this cd consists of seven tracks, in just 35 minutes. Good grief, on a lot of other Fushitsusha albums, a single song could last 35 minutes or more, and maybe even continue over onto a second disc! But here, the longest track is a relatively brief 7:04, with most of 'em clocking in at closer to 3 or 4 minutes. But, radio-friendly singles they ain't! Instead, they're intense, concentrated doses of Haino & Co.'s unique reinventions of rock n' roll's most primal urges, rock that's been deconstructed/destructed... The first track, features very prominent bass, played by Mitsuru Nasuno (also of Seijaku, Korekyojinn, Altered States, Ground Zero, Sanhedolin/Sanhedrin, etc.). This repeating, slightly mutating bass riff loops as endlessly as possible for the song's 3:35 duration, accompanied by the stumbling, staggering drummage of longtime Fushitsusha percussionist Ikuro Takahashi (also of LSD March, Kousokuya, and many other projects). Haino isn't playing guitar at all, just singing, in his trademark throat-torn shriek. What? No guitar? Again? But don't worry, it's just a fakeout, he doesn't keep us waiting long, starting with track two, his sweet stabbing sheets of sound come crashing down, Haino's guitar & amp in full effect. Nasuno's bass burble continues, very upfront, but Haino's gorgeously noisy guitar wrangling takes crucial center stage. And the Fushitsusha (blackest of black) magic happens. About halfway into this track, this listener's pulse rate went way up... And so it goes, some songs taking sharp turns you'll need your sealegs for, the disc's relatively short running time crammed with stormy spazzed out improvs, bloodshivering blowouts, and some almost no wavey numbers, again not destined for the hit parade, except on another plane where the likes of the Dead C and Starfuckers and Last Exit are regular Grammy winners. 'Nuff said? No doubt.

MPEG stream: track 1
MPEG stream: track 5
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"The evasive sense of being momentarily glimpsed in 'I Saw It!...' is musically reconfigured as a blasted Romantic landscape, where drummer Ikuro Takahashi's painstakingly amassed beat towers endlessly tumble into ruin and longstanding bassist Yasushi Ozawa's rollered slabs of impacted noise dissolve in the blackness raining down from Keiji Haino's nightsky guitar, which paradoxically seals the piece at the moment of (un)becoming eternity" - Biba Kopf, one of the many origins of Fushitsusha / Keiji Haino poetic hyperbole.

At last, the long out-of-print-on-vinyl debut double live set by Keiji Haino's Fushitsusha is now available on cd! If you've already got the essential Live II, you'll no doubt be drooling for this, & you'll know what to expect: beautiful black-on-black paper packaging; wild, dark music that takes improv psych guitar to the outer limits...

This, the first compact disc documentation of Japanese dark psych guitarist Keiji Haino's incredible out-rock combo Fushitsusha, is nothing short of essential. Highest recommendation.

Happy days for fans of Fushitsusha! Japanese guitarist and vocalist Keiji Haino's legendary "out-rock" unit is back in action, after a long hiatus. First, a few months back, in the spring, there was the unexpected appearance of a new Fushitsusha cd, Hikari To Nazukeyo, with Mitsuru Nasuno on bass and Ikuro Takahashi on drums. And now, already, before the fall, a follow up, from the same lineup, on the same label! (And that's not to mention the several other excellent Fushitsusha-like improv trio releases that Haino's done recently with drummer Oren Ambarchi and either Jim O'Rourke or Stephen O'Malley on bass.) Yep, happy days indeed. This new disc from Fushitsusha, Mabushii Itazura Na Inori, pretty much takes up where the previous one left off. It even looks quite similar, the digipack cover's color scheme a darker, bluer blue mottled with metallic silver. Beautiful. And again, it consists of several relatively short tracks, by Fushitsusha standards, six of them in 55 minutes. The five minute plus opening cut is a moody, bass-heavy intro to the darkness of this disc, featuring haunting vocals from Haino that are far more gentle than his usual yelps can be� it reminds us a bit of the final track on the Nazoranai disc he did with Ambarchi and O'Malley. This one gets into a fantastic, deep, droning, monk-like moan-zone (with perhaps overdubs involved??) that makes what comes next seem even more striking and extreme - the second track on the disc being an eleven minute session of stark skronk. The rhythm section traffics in tumbling, disjointed skitter, underpinned by thumping thudding bass. Haino hovers close to the mic, unburdening his soul in sudden brief outbursts, accompanied by his scrabbling, stab-in-the-heart electric guitar-shards� it builds and builds with subtlety; initially the jarring blurts and blasts of distortion slice into and out of near silence, but eventually the elements come closer and closer together in a dense web of claustrophobic, controlled chaos. 'Tis tangled, tweaked, terror-inducing. Whew! And that's just track two, there's plenty more in store on the rest of the disc, following the same sort of hallucinatory, counter-intuitive "free rock" (that's more free, than rock) style, one that's seemingly all about attack and decay. Some of this is Fushitsusha at their most Starfuckers-ish, so abstract and intense and precise, all encompassing, indescribable, and a little bit insane. And it's emotionally effecting via the sheer sonics alone, without any Japanese-to-English translation of Haino's whisper-to-a-scream lyrics. Once again, we won't overdo it with the exposition, 'cause you probably know if you want this (like, if you already own Hikari To Nazkeyo). The uninitiated, we won't expect to get into the unique avantgarde wonders of Haino & Fushitsusha via a $29 import disc - not when there's some other, more affordable entry points, just ask us. But fans, we've got what you want...

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'Tis a big day for everybody into the legendary free-rock unit Fushitsusha, lead by Tokyo's dark lord of psych and improv, Keiji Haino. Not one, but TWO new discs have just been released! They're on the same Japanese label, Heartfast, that put out the trio's two previous albums, back in 2012. When those discs came out, several months apart, they were welcomed by fans as the first new Fushitsusha's in over ten years. And, they were brilliant. Fortunately, it hasn't been as long of a wait for these two new discs, this time released simultaneously, and also excellent, staggeringly so. Fans are already hitting the "add to cart" button, but we'll go on with some details... First off, these two, Namaewo Tsukenaide Hosii Namaewo Tsuketeshimauto Subetede Nakunattesimaukara (unofficial translation of title from the unofficial Keiji Haino webpage: "Please don't name it. If you name it, it will cease to become all"), which we'll refer to as the silver one, and Madaatatakaiuchino Konoimani Subetenonazowo Sosogikondeshimaou (unofficial translation: "In the now, while it's still warm, let's pour in every mystery"), which we'll call the gold one, both feature a NEW lineup, different from the previous discs on Heartfast. Now on bass, is Chiyo Kamekawa, a Tokyo psych scene veteran (Yura Yura Teikoku, The Stars, Cosmic Invention). The newcomer on drums, is Ryosuke Kiyasu, from the prolific underground Japanese noise/grindcore band Sete Star Sept. Interesting. Kamekawa is not as 'busy' as previous bassist Nasuno Mitsuru, while Kiyasu brings a LOT of youthful energy to his percussive attack when required. Indeed, with Kiyasu on board, it's no surprise that some of this gets FIERCE. Wouldn't be much of a surprise anyway. But there's also lots of contemplative passages as well on these discs, which are both varied, exhibiting a similar range of 'typical' Fushitsusha sounds... there's moody pieces, with percolating bass and drum skitter and guitar skree and sudden silences, converging and diverging in impossible patterns, Haino tearing his heart out with his lungs over top... some tracks even moodier, quieter and more restrained, like the absolutely lovely penultimate 15+ minute track on the silver album, wherein Haino alternates his chiming guitar strum with gentle (really) vocals, singing what sound like isolated syllables of his lyrics in mesmerically haunting fashion, or the second song on the gold album, all muted rhythmic thump and hushed vocals in the shadows. The finale of the gold disc is another, so stark and gorgeous and intense and emotional. Speaking of emotion, then there are the tracks that blast with beyond-hardcore punk intensity, utter over the top freakery, sounding more like something a grind band like Sete Star Sept would do! You'll find a couple totally Napalm Death-ing it in under a minute, with insane inhuman vokills from Haino that make Khanate's Alan Dubin sound like a contestant on The Voice. And, then there's the ones that find a middle way, like the first track on the silver disc, which erupts with staggering "big rock" chords, in a manner that's both chaotic and precise, with an almost melodic progression. We're reminded of US Maple's confusional no-wave here and elsewhere. We're not gonna lie, we think if you're a Fushitsusha fan, you should of course buy BOTH discs. (If you're not a fan, why are you still reading? 'Cause you're curious? Well check out a sound sample and see what you think!). However we realize that two $28 import discs at the same time might be tough on the wallet. So if you decide to get just one (presumably, planning to get the other later on), then which to get? Well, we can't tell ya. Both are great, and we have equal quantities of both, so the best thing to do is just flip a coin. Or, like we said, get 'em both. Of course, with the 7 tracks on the silver one clocking in at 32:48, and the 8 tracks on the gold one running to 42:42, we can't help but notice that music here coulda fit all on one (long) disc, which would have saved everyone some money. But we're sure there's cryptic artistic reasons why that wouldn't have worked. And they certainly look nice, side by side, in their metallic-colored miniature lp style jackets.

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'Tis a big day for everybody into the legendary free-rock unit Fushitsusha, lead by Tokyo's dark lord of psych and improv, Keiji Haino. Not one, but TWO new discs have just been released! They're on the same Japanese label, Heartfast, that put out the trio's two previous albums, back in 2012. When those discs came out, several months apart, they were welcomed by fans as the first new Fushitsusha's in over ten years. And, they were brilliant. Fortunately, it hasn't been as long of a wait for these two new discs, this time released simultaneously, and also excellent, staggeringly so. Fans are already hitting the "add to cart" button, but we'll go on with some details... First off, these two, Namaewo Tsukenaide Hosii Namaewo Tsuketeshimauto Subetede Nakunattesimaukara (unofficial translation of title from the unofficial Keiji Haino webpage: "Please don't name it. If you name it, it will cease to become all"), which we'll refer to as the silver one, and Madaatatakaiuchino Konoimani Subetenonazowo Sosogikondeshimaou (unofficial translation: "In the now, while it's still warm, let's pour in every mystery"), which we'll call the gold one, both feature a NEW lineup, different from the previous discs on Heartfast. Now on bass, is Chiyo Kamekawa, a Tokyo psych scene veteran (Yura Yura Teikoku, The Stars, Cosmic Invention). The newcomer on drums, is Ryosuke Kiyasu, from the prolific underground Japanese noise/grindcore band Sete Star Sept. Interesting. Kamekawa is not as 'busy' as previous bassist Nasuno Mitsuru, while Kiyasu brings a LOT of youthful energy to his percussive attack when required. Indeed, with Kiyasu on board, it's no surprise that some of this gets FIERCE. Wouldn't be much of a surprise anyway. But there's also lots of contemplative passages as well on these discs, which are both varied, exhibiting a similar range of 'typical' Fushitsusha sounds... there's moody pieces, with percolating bass and drum skitter and guitar skree and sudden silences, converging and diverging in impossible patterns, Haino tearing his heart out with his lungs over top... some tracks even moodier, quieter and more restrained, like the absolutely lovely penultimate 15+ minute track on the silver album, wherein Haino alternates his chiming guitar strum with gentle (really) vocals, singing what sound like isolated syllables of his lyrics in mesmerically haunting fashion, or the second song on the gold album, all muted rhythmic thump and hushed vocals in the shadows. The finale of the gold disc is another, so stark and gorgeous and intense and emotional. Speaking of emotion, then there are the tracks that blast with beyond-hardcore punk intensity, utter over the top freakery, sounding more like something a grind band like Sete Star Sept would do! You'll find a couple totally Napalm Death-ing it in under a minute, with insane inhuman vokills from Haino that make Khanate's Alan Dubin sound like a contestant on The Voice. And, then there's the ones that find a middle way, like the first track on the silver disc, which erupts with staggering "big rock" chords, in a manner that's both chaotic and precise, with an almost melodic progression. We're reminded of US Maple's confusional no-wave here and elsewhere. We're not gonna lie, we think if you're a Fushitsusha fan, you should of course buy BOTH discs. (If you're not a fan, why are you still reading? 'Cause you're curious? Well check out a sound sample and see what you think!). However we realize that two $28 import discs at the same time might be tough on the wallet. So if you decide to get just one (presumably, planning to get the other later on), then which to get? Well, we can't tell ya. Both are great, and we have equal quantities of both, so the best thing to do is just flip a coin. Or, like we said, get 'em both. Of course, with the 7 tracks on the silver one clocking in at 32:48, and the 8 tracks on the gold one running to 42:42, we can't help but notice that music here coulda fit all on one (long) disc, which would have saved everyone some money. But we're sure there's cryptic artistic reasons why that wouldn't have worked. And they certainly look nice, side by side, in their metallic-colored miniature lp style jackets.

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Keiji Haino and his psychedelic power trio Fushitsusha have long made some of Japan's heaviest, darkest, most fucked up sounds. They're a legendary "free rock" outfit, up there with the Dead C, Skullflower and few others. They're a unique band that with this At their last San Francisco show a few years back, Haino and Fushitsusha's drummer had an "epsiode" that resulted in, upon his return to Japan, the drummer's retirement from music! Rather than drafting in a new drummer, Haino and bassist Ozawa decided to remain a duo, with Haino taking over the drumming duties. This is the first recording by this new, unusual, reduced Fushitsusha line-up. Unusual because Haino's monstrous wall-of-feedback guitar was probably the reason most people listen to the band in the first place. Well too bad, meet the new, stripped-down, guitarless Fushitsusha! Origin's Hesitation starts off with Haino in a maniacal percussion frenzy, as if he'd always wanted to be the drummer in Fushitsusha and is now just so excited to be behind the kit he can't help but try to play all the drums at once. But after the first track, he calms down a bit with the drumming, putting more of his energy into what must rank as some of his most dramatic, tortured vocals ever. And that's saying a lot. These cries and utterances are accompanied by sparse but deliberate drum and bass hits, using space and silence. Both Haino and Ozawa use live electronics to loop their instruments, but this is a lot more primitive sounding than most "sampler" utilizing music! You might have to already be a fan of Haino/Fushitsusha to get into this -- at least, it's probably not the place for novices to start. Very anguished, very abstract. The heavy guitar sounds that linked Fushitsusha's past work to the rock music of Blue Cheer or Crazy Horse are of course gone, but this is still "heavy" in an emotional sense. And certainly "fucked up." So, after reading all the above, you probably still want to know "is it any good?" Well, Andee of course hates it, as he does pretty much any release where Haino opens his mouth. Allan on the other hand thinks this is kinda cool, even though he does prefer Fushitsusha with guitar. But he likes contrary, counter-intuitive rock bands like US Maple and Starfuckers, which in some ways this echoes. Handsomely packaged, as always with PSF Fushitsusha releases, with cd and booklet in a black paper mini-gatefold sleeve. Smells good!

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

SORRY. Second studio recording from the Tokyo trio, led by the self-proclaimed king of darkness, Keiji Haino. Monstrous, in-the-red guitar destruction only Haino can deliver. Recommended as a starter for those interested in the mysterious world of Fushitsusha.

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

SORRY. Housed in a handsome (black!) foldout "digipak" (oh this ugly new jargon), this is heavy duty gtr noise sans vocals from Keji Haino and Co.

Not. For. The. Faint. Of. Heart. Nosirree, you know this is gonna be wonderfully, brutally OUT. And you probably know if you want it or not already... Japanese psych-improv free rock masters Fushitsusha, lead by shamanic guitarist/vocalist Keiji Haino, teamed up with one of the true titans of saxophone skronk, Germany's legendary Peter Brotzmann, holy crap! Batten down the hatches!! Turns out this fancy new Utech triple cd release is not in fact a new recording, it's an archival find from the '90s, thus boasting the classic Fushitsusha lineup of the era, Haino accompanied by Jun Kosugi on drums and Yashusi Ozawa on bass. Plus of course a very special guest on saxophone. And y'know, they're not a band who can have just anybody sit in with them. No, any Fushitsusha guest (and there haven't been many) had better be heavy duty. Peter Brotzmann, he qualifies. Seriously, he's the guy whose perhaps best known album, from 1968, is called Machine Gun, and to this day he's famed for his uber-intense, scorched earth, red-in-the-head playing style. Who better really to collaborate with Fushitsusha, "the most important rock band of the past 25 years" (according to Haino hagiographer Alan Cummings, writing in this set's liner notes - our Allan also agrees). This triple cd set documents an entire concert (maybe the first complete Fushitsusha show on cd?), recorded April 26th, 1996 in Tokyo. That's two days after Haino and Brotzmann went into the studio to record their duo disc on PSF, Evolving Blush Or Driving Original Sin. As fans, it's amazing to find out now that, there's more, and with Haino's whole band, even better! When at full-bore roar, the Fushitsusha trio create a clangorous, cavernous environment for Brotzmann's sax to soar and slither around in, intertwining with the muzzy sheets of sound emanating from Haino's guitar/amp. Rather than the players competing for sound-space, it's a synthesis; you might not even be able to tell what's Haino and what's Brotzmann amidst it all. And despite the potential (often realized!) for noisier-than-thou onslaughts, there's subtle beauty here too, moody melodious moments, quiet stirrings before/betwixt the storm... disc one, for instance, begins with glistening chiming sounds and restrained percussive skitter-scatter, quite lovely. It's a while before Haino's trademark distorted guitar squall, let alone the saxophone of Brotzmann, even makes an appearance, and that's just fine. We can't rightly review the entirety of these three discs (approximately three hours), words fail. Plus, you should have your own experience of discovery - like finding out that Haino busts out the hurdy-gurdy for some drones on disc two! But as any Fushitsusha fan will expect, it's unique, abstract, massive, magnificent, building from delicate solos and duos amongst the players to HEAVY total group aktion, getting more 'rock' than Brotzmann even ever did in Last Exit. And really, that Brotzmann's on board is a bonus, but even if he wasn't, heck, it's a Fushitsusha triple live of uncommon beauty and power regardless. Utech's art and design is always really nice, but this one's especially elaborately packaged, with many, many inserts wrapped/folded together with the 3 discs (though, be careful with the outer plastic sleeve, as that's what's holding it all together).

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Another awesome find from the diggers at Finders Keepers / B-Music! This '70s Spanish (Catalan) band, as their name implies, plays freaky fusion jazz/rock, kinda like a (more) wacked out Return To Forever! It's psychedelically groovy stuff, high on classical gasses, that at times even reminds us a bit of Bollywood, and much else besides (a goofier Goblin, anyone? Le Orme? Wolfgang Dauner?). Fusioon is for sure fun. Ferinstance, the buzzy, bouncy synth and Spanish-languge chant of the quirky, rhythmic "Farsa Del Buen Vivir" is utterly delightful, deservedly drawing comparisons to old kid-friendly funk fave Stark Reality. The dozen selections here, drawn from Fusioon's singles and lps for the Belter Progressiva label in the early/mid '70s, are percussively propulsive, sometimes soundtrack-suspenseful, and always packed with surprises, including symphonic-sounding bits and electronic blitzes... And as always, the Finders Keepers folks fit this cd out with a booklet full of colorful photos, graphics, and extensive, expert liner notes (by Cherrystones and Andy Votel) delving into the details of Fusioon's career, and in general schooling us about the psych/jazz scene in Franco's Spain.

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Debut full-length from Jake Xerxes Fussell (yes, his real name), a collection of rearranged and re-imagined traditional folk and blues songs. It should come as no surprise once you hear it that this came out on Paradise of Bachelors, the Southern-fixated label that has released other aQ faves Hiss Golden Messenger and Steve Gunn. It's easy to think you know what you're getting when you first turn this record on - these songs feel familiar and ancient, something you've heard in movie soundtracks and Ken Burns documentaries. The songs themselves may be traditional, but the arrangements and atmosphere are fully modern. Fussell (and his crew of musicians which features members of Bonnie Prince Billy's band and Silver Jews) has a remarkable ability to not forget what makes the original versions special and to simultaneously inject his own cosmic twist into them. The result is a dreamy, drifting trip down a new tributary of a familiar river, both adventure and nostalgia.

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

SORRY.

It's taken us a while to get enough of these in to list, but it was well worth the wait, the debut full length from this Bay Area metal crust thrash outfit which features our pal Josh Smith, formerly of legendary SF black metal horde Weakling as well as the Fucking Champs and garage popsters the Makes Nice, as well as members of Face Down In Shit and Look Back And Laugh. The label has this to say about Futur Skullz: "They wish they sounded like Anti Cimex crossed with Whiplash, but in reality they probably sound more like Bad Brains and Metallica.", which we're guessing is a (not so?) humble way of saying they sort of sound like all of those. The Metallica thing is big for sure, but we're talking Kill Em All of course, the same sort of classic thrash riffing, plenty of chug, and some surprising hookiness, but the crust element is pretty huge too, which ultimately might eclipse their metal side. Are they punky metal, or metallic punk? Hardly matters really, the songs are heavy and metallic enough that most metalheads should be too busy headbanging to debate the finer subtleties, while this is definitely punk enough to hit the spot for the same folks who have been digging Acephalix, No Funeral, and the most recent spate of Southern Lord signees, all of which seems to be crust punk. Did we mention solos? Smith gets to unleash the beast as they say, spitting off some seriously shredding solos, which definitely up the metal ante, and are Futur Skullz major selling point, but then that's all balanced by the vocals, a painful glass gargling throat shredding below that goes from gruff howl to near hysterical shriek. Heavy as fuck and totally kick ass, and thus recommended for metalheads and punks alike. LIMITED TO 500 COPIES, vinyl only, includes a download coupon.

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This sure ain't no disco for fans of Stephin Merritt's Future Bible Heroes. Nope! Unlike their last release, this is isn't about high BPM boogie fever at all. In fact it's such a departure that maybe it'd be best saved for the latenight party wind-down (as opposed to the party kick-off). A lot more varied, languid, electroni-glitchy and atmospheric, it sounds like Christopher Ewen - the man behind the music of FBH - got some neat, new music equipment and software since the "I'm Lonely (And I Love It)" ep. And as if to showcase this, every second or third track is a brief under-a-minute instrumental interlude. On the downside, it seems like the lyrics got shortchanged this time around especially on songs like "From Some Dying Star" and "I'm A Vampire" (one of the only upbeat dancefloor numbers). A few excerpts: "It's your blood I crave / I am your bitch goddess / from beyond your grave" and "Damn, I am what? I am what I am and I am impossibly glam and I am happy as a clam cause I'm a vampire." Huh??? I mean, sure, it's not by any means a serious song, but when you've come to know and love the razor-sharp Merritt wit, this comes as something of a serious perturbance. The rhymes are alarmingly and almost painfully simple: "Your eyes are blue on blue / You're too good to be true" - as opposed to his trademark romantic lyrical twists. Even with Claudia Gonson delivering them in her alternately droll and sweetly sing-song voice, the words come off somewhat clunky. Filled with lots of pleasingly pretty melodies and textures, but overall, this cd is rather boggling to say the least.

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After recording a 3-cd boxset of 69 love songs, what's a guy to do? If your name's Stephin Merritt, you hop right into one of your other musical incarnations and hit the dancefloor running. The Future Bible Heroes (not to be confused with his goth combo The Gothic Archies) deliver five straight-outta-the-'80s hi-energy hits ripe for some serious ass-shakin' (well, one's a bit of a slower number), but with lyrics like "... you left an empty room / a useless bed and a suicidal moon..." you know these are more tales of gutwrenching heartbreak and loneliness from the pen of Mr. Merritt. Here he is accompanied by Christopher Ewen on all instruments and joined on vocals by fellow Magnetic Field Claudia Gonson. Go on, dance your tears away.

Attention Stephin Merritt fans! Here's a little slice of early Future Bible Heroes delight. Not to be confused with another EP from FBH out now, this one is called "Lonely Days" and was originally released in 1997, the other is a new remix collection called "Lonely Robot". Of these five songs, the standout is the final instrumental "Berlin On $10 A Day" - splendidly delicate and lovely - but the rest are pretty darn fine as well though. They include an alternate version of their tune "Hopeless", a cover of "Love Is Blue", and Mr. Merritt singing in Japanese on "How To Get Laid In Japan". We should also note that the title number first appeared on their "Memories Of Love" release.

Attention Stephin Merritt fans! Not to be confused with another similarly titled EP from FBH, this one is called "Lonely Robot" and is a brand new remix collection (fyi: the other is "Lonely Days" and was originally released in 1997). This 7-song EP features two new songs and five remixes of songs from their Eternal Youth album. Tackling the remix duties are FBH's own Christoper Ewen, Sunroof (not Matthew Bower's Sunrrof!, doing a fine minimal pulse rendition), Client, Soft Cell's Dave Ball (sooo dancefloor!) and Rob Rives (even more so!). Have to say, Ewen's reworking of "I'm A Vampire" into an extended mix actually fares much better than the original version. Maybe it's because the sorta clunky lyrics of the verses are a bit more obscured by the electronic dance melodies, and the ultra catchiness of the chorus is brought more to the front? Not really an essential FBH / Merritt release, but it does provide for a solid 39 minutes worth of mostly boogie fun with Claudia Gonson's lovely, droll vocals drifting in and out to sweeten the party atmosphere.

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New project featuring the talents of Stephin Merritt, he of Magnetic Fields and The Sixths fame!

Future Old People Are Wizards, eh? We don't have a problem with the band name, it's kind of interesting, but wish they hadn't used a phonetic pronunciation of the acronym for their name as the title of this disc. FOPAW = "Faux Paw". Meaning what? Seems a little silly. Ah well, we forgive 'em, they're Belgian (mmmm, beer). Also, whatever, the music is way cool, Future Old People Are Wizards being a sort of alternative/stoner rock band, grungy and psychedelic and plenty melodic, with lots and lots of spacey synth swirling around the distorted guitars. It's heavy and rockin' one moment, trippy and Beatles-esque the next. The title of instrumental track "Eastern Sabbath" is also pretty overt in describing what that one sounds like, eh. The FOPAW equation doesn't really include any utterly original elements, yet it's a particular, precise blend of styles/sounds you don't hear together everyday, all good stuff, and it works! They've got it dialed in on this debut, definitely. Their label references both Tangerine Dream and Kyuss with regards to FOPAW's sound, yeah we hear that, Eno and Zep too, or try UFOmammut meets Queens Of The Stone Age. Another: imagine Aussie synth lords The Night Terrors teamed up with old aQ stoner-psych-pop faves Elope from Sweden, perhaps? Powerful wall-of-fuzz riff repetition, shoegazing melody, drifting dreaminess (particularly on the super-synthed-out final epic track "Cotton Sheep")... FOPAW do it all, and do it well, making this pretty hard for us to resist, not that we're trying, why would we? Recommended rock!

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Mr Future Pilot is a Scot of Indian ethnicity whose new record is on The Pastels' Geographic label (which hasn't released a bad record yet), and knowing all that, his new album sounds much like you'd expect. Super light, fresh, and unpretentious melodies are

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[ aquarius records catalogue — F ]