[ aquarius records catalogue

IMPORTANT (Please read to avoid confusion): Some items below may be tagged with a bold, red, all-caps OUT OF PRINT/UNAVAILABLE notice. This does NOT mean that all other items not so tagged are, in fact, in stock — or for that matter, in print and available, though there's a good chance they are. Some folks get confused on this point, and we can see why, so please read this for further clarification and other important before-you-order information. Unlike some mailorder websites, we don't have an electronic inventory system linked to our site, so you can't be sure of what we actually have or don't have in stock at any given moment without asking us — please email our mailorder department for availability status — or better yet, just go ahead and place your order using our shopping cart function and we'll get back to you with the status of each item. If you have general non-mailorder questions, email the store.

Showing results 301 through 350 of 687.

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

SORRY. This is one of my all time favorite grindcore bands. They combined unbelievably kick ass grinding fastcore with the kind of sense of humour you wish all bands had. This is a posthumous collection of everything they did, including the brilliant 'Nutty Antichrist' lp (that featured a demonic Jerry Lewis on the cover). Pummeling and punsishing, fast and brutal, and funny as fuck. Awesome.

With a previous cdr on Last Visible Dog (and a cd on PSF some years before that), Shuji Inaba is a Japanese avant-folk singer and guitarist who hasn't reached the same level of documentation as peers like Kan Mikami and Kazuki Tomokawa. No 13 cd box set for Shuji yet! And some might find the prospect of such a box set quite frightening -- a single disc of his raw acoustic guitar playing and whisper-scream vocalizations will be more than enough for a lot of folks. Others will find Inaba's Rapture Of Being Destroyed to be a harrowing yet compelling listen. With some tracks filled with stark outbursts from silence and others more 'song' like, this is a great record recommended for those who already dig the likes of Dead Raven Choir and the aforementioned Kan Mikami. This Last Visible Dog cd release comes with Inaba's poetic lyrics translated into English by Alan Cummings, always a nice touch although the emotion of the man's singing and playing requires no translation. And to quibble: we suggest that perhaps the word 'flipside' in the title might have been better rendered as 'inverse'... 'flipside' just seems too slangy for stuff this deep and intense.

MPEG stream: Modern Terrorism
MPEG stream: Uranium235

Live acoustic recording of intense, dismal outsider folk from rural Western Japanese singer/songwriter Shuji Inaba. Yoenzanga was previously one of LVD's cd-r releases, back when they were a cd-r label only, and is now blessed with an actual cd edition. You also may recognize Inaba's name as he has had a disc released by Japan's PSF label a few years back. And indeed his raw, emotive balladry is comparable to the politically driven psych folk of fellow PSFers Kan Mikami and Kazuki Tomokawa, whom we love. Alan Cummings provides English translations of Inaba's lyrics in the liner notes, which is a plus, though really (as with Mikami and Tomokawa too) there's plenty just to FEEL in Inaba's harrowing voice and the haunting, sometimes violent, way he plays his guitar that goes beyond language.

MPEG stream: Fate And Fortune
MPEG stream: My Apple

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

SORRY. With the hallucinatory translucent packaging (that is even more so with the bright red 20' to 2000 style disc enclosed) and the engraved cases, Kozo Inada has certainly done his job making his debut cd look really kick-ass. Musically, this follows the increasingly commonplace tropes of the digital glitch aesthetic with multiple tracks of phasing pure tone bleeps and artificial chirps. See also Noto or Ryoji Ikeda.

Some of us came to punk in a seriously roundabout way. Seems like most folks we talk to, got into punk rock, then moved toward heavier stuff and got into metal. But we went straight to metal, then gradually discovered punk rock, so we ended up learning about bands like Fear and Black Flag and Die Kreuzen and the Dead Kennedys well after we had been into Slayer and Venom and Motley Crew or whatever. One effect that had on our taste in punk, was that we liked the stuff that was heavier, and more metallic, Cro Mags, Die Kreuzen, Black Flag, and we got super into West Virginia's Th' Inbred, partially for that reason, sure they were punky and fast, and had a vocalist who sometimes sounded like Jello Biafra and sometimes sounded like Lee Ving from Fear, and their lyrics were snarky and political and funny, but musically they had lot more going on than a lot of punk rock bands, super complex guitar playing, very Greg Ginn influenced, bordering on jazzy now and then, but often gnarled and twisted, and the band were pretty noisy too, easily mistaken for some punky AmRep band, but then able to bust out a super complex almost proggy start stop punk jazz groove, and then explode in a frenzy of pounding pure punk energy, plus they had a wicked sense of humor, as evidenced not only by their lyrics, but their album covers as well (the Jerry Lee and Myra Kissin' Cousins cover for example). Listening to this again, it's hard to believe these guys were even as popular as they were, this is some weird shit, every few tracks the band would throw the crowd a bone, with something full on punk, but they definitely spent most of their time trying everything but! Killer reissue, both albums, the first ep, as well as some bonus tracks, all stuff circa '85-'88, a HUGE booklet jam packed with new liner notes, track listings, tons of photos, and some awesome (and awesomely funny) illustrations.

MPEG stream: Scene Death
MPEG stream: Th' Shitpile
MPEG stream: Fool's Paradise
MPEG stream: Plain Speaking

Another super limited cd-r from the Yellow Swans' Jyrk label, this time, a solo record from frequent YS collaborator Eva, who on her own can weave delicate drones with the best of em! Two lengthy tracks, thirty minutes of slow shifting, lazily drifting otherworldy shimmer, all constructed from Eva's voice run through effects and wrapped in gossamer layers of reverb and delay. Very reminiscent of the recent Lichens record on Kranky, where 90 Day Men's Rob Lowe created a whole record using mostly vocals, but Inca Ore is much more ghostly and feminine and ethereal. Comes in a nice hand painted sleeve. As with all Jyrk cd-r's it seems, SUPER LIMITED, already out of print, and we have the last 30. So again, act fast if you want one of these. Once they are gone they are gone for good.

MPEG stream: When You Are Sleeping I Tell You Secrets

Latest from this one woman dreambliss outfit, and it's a soft focus washed out doozy. It seems like Grouper and Inca Ore are constantly competing to see who can craft the dreamiest slab of disembodied pop, of ghostlike ambient shimmer, and with every release from each of them, we find ourselves proclaiming a winner, until the next disc shows up, and there's a new winner, and on and on and on. But really, we're the big winners in this made up competition, as we can't get enough from either. Both utilize vocals as their main sound source, but both have spread their wings, incorporating more and more instrumentation, creating sprawling expanses of gorgeous blurred ambience. And part of the magic is that the sounds are often smeared to the point that it's difficult to tell what is voice and what is instrument. This latest Inca Ore record is maybe her most song based yet, and it totally suits her. She has always been adept and creating atmospheres and textures, but her knack for hiding catchy melodies and soft pop gems amidst all the drift and murk is really coming through. The opener here is absolutely heartbreaking perfection. Minor key and washed out, with a vocal line, that distorts perfectly, adding unexpected texture, a hidden hook that lodges in your head, the vocals drifting on the glistening minimal soundscape in the background, when the vocals fade out, leaving just the music, it's so utterly sad and funeral, but still fuzzy and dreamy. She covers Merle Haggard and makes the song totally her own. We could go song by song and describe the record in detail, but where's the mystery in that. The first song, and the description above should be enough to suck you in. But once you're in, let yourself go and drift off into Inca Ore's haunting hallowed soundworld. Beautiful full color covers, printed 12"x12" inserts, LIMITED TO 500 COPIES! (Well, actually, some of the copies we have, which we got directly from Ms. Inca Ore herself, are from an earlier, self-released pressing. Same record, slightly different cover art. The copy you get will be randomly chosen.)

A new record (or sort of new, as the A side was originally on a super limited out of print cd-r released on the Yellow Swans' Jyrk label) from Inca Ore, aka Eva, a frequent collaborator with the Yellow Swans, and it's another gorgeously murky swirl of affected vocals, as vocals are the main sound source here, but not regular old singing, no, Eva takes her haunting sing song vocals and drenches them in reverb and echo and delay, letting them pile up and swirl aimlessly, a rich thick soundscape of melody atop melody, vocals moaning and keening, all smeared into a super primitive, yet somehow super lush expanse of creepy psychedelic dreaminess, drifting and shifting and nearly ambient at points, but just as often buried beneath a fuzzy layer of downtuned guitar grit, a thick morass of ghostly sounds and sludgy atmosphere. Like hearing some lost transmission from the other side, broadcast from another plane, through your crappy beat up old radio, wraithlike music, seeping like smoke through that tiny speaker, the original transmission muddied and hard to recognize, wrapped in fuzzy indistinctness and ectoplasmic detritus. Real nice. And limited to 450 copies!

First full length from Inca Ore since the awesome Birthday Of Bless You (not counting a mess of collaborations and splits), and it's more of what we've come to love about Eva Ore's mysterious world of sound. Like Grouper, Inca Ore is definitely vocal based, a breathless ethereal mumbly croon, often heavily effected, or buried beneath a wash of swirling layered soft noise, but where Grouper is murky, Inca Ore is more noisy, her tools are high end to Grouper's low end, a delicate crystalline drift, all rounded whistle like tones, and whispered vocals, will morph into a swirling squall of crunch and skree, the vocals still dreamy and angelic, but wrapped in strange clattery rhythms, fuzzy distortion, streaks of feedback, and a thick lo-fi haze, only to slip seamlessly back into another stretch of high end shimmer, a soft cacophony of muted music box melodies, chiming and reverberating, the vocals so processed, they blend into the field of bells and tones. And so it goes, every song a glorious, gauzy world of delicate sparkling glimmer set amidst slowly drifting clouds of buzz and hiss, soft thrumming percussion, hushed thrum, and dreamy, druggy, softly psychedelic drone drift ambient pop. So lovely.

We weren't too taken with the most recent Inca Ore + Lemon Bear team up, it's too bad that one was the one released on 5RC and THIS one is a super limited cd-r instead of the other way around. The 5RC record was a bit of a cacophonous mess, lots of clang and clatter. It ended up sounding sort of bratty and obnoxious. But we're huge fans of Inca Ore, her two records before that one blew us away, and still get listened to all the time. SO we were ready to blame the mysteriously monickered Lemon Bear, but here we are with another Inca Ore n' Lemon Bear team up and it's gorgeous. A drifting spacious dreamworld of disembodied vocals, shimmering melodies, minimal percussion, all wrapped in clouds of spacey FX, fluttering flutes, warped and mangled strings, buzzing and creaking, voices drifting in and out, detuned guitars plucking out warbly melodies, the whole thing a very blissed out spaced out drift through a glistening diamond eyed dimension. Inca Ore's dreamy half hour perfectly segues into three new songs from AQ faves Starving Weirdos, who weave a haunting sonic travelogue through some ancient wilderness, a soundscape of distant insectoid buzz, whirring tectonic rumbles, glistening shimmering atmospheres, definitely their most eevocative recording yet. You can almost see the mountains in the distance, feel the warm breeze, feel the rocks and grass between your toes, hear the sounds of various animals and insects, almost like the soundtrack to a journey through the forest primeval. So murky and mysterious! Packaged in hand painted sleeves, with printed inserts, and obviously, SUPER LIMITED!! This was a tour only release, we got a bunch direct from the bands but we're not sure how many are left or if we can even get more once we run out...

MPEG stream: OK, Now's The Time
MPEG stream: Nicotine Patch Dreams

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

SORRY. Super limited lp sampling the current state of Portland underground sounds, with a couple well known outfits, and a couple brand new ones (at least to us), all former members of a long lost Portland band called Alarmist. Up first is Inca Ore, who most folks are probably familiar with, and her tracks here are lovely as always, dark and contemplative, lo-fi bedroom folk, deep bell-like tones and whispered vocals, the whole thing super hushed with weird rubbery bass and of course tone of reverb and delay. The strange thing, is that in between these super quiet songs, are super raucous crowd noise, people shouting and howling and cheering, it's weirdly jarring. Up next is Argumentix, and for most folks it will definitely be an acquired taste. Beginning with some strange a capella almost off key vocalizing over a backdrop of murky crumbling distant drones, which quickly gives way to some super lo-fi hip hop (!), lots of bleeps and bloops and strange, sort of goofy rapping. A little bit Magnetic Fields actually. The last few tracks are chunks of abstract noise, weird ambience, clicks and buzz drone, and another bunch of goofy crooning vocals. Argumentix might take a few more exposures to win us over completely. The flip side begins with Ghost To Falco, who we had heard OF, but never heard. Beginning with some random banter, and then a poem, we weren't sure what to expect, but then the band slips into some dark mopey slowcore, a bit reminiscent of The For Carnation, spidery guitars sad mumbled vocals, muted percussion, shuffling drums, dark and moody and quite nice, before slipping into a more traditional sounding, but no less dark sort of indie folk. Finally, long time aQ fave Tunnels returns, but instead of deep long drones, or abstract freaked out psychfolk, he offers up something else entirely, starting things off with a wild squall of blown out psychguitar, but then adds some seriously tweaked, strangled mewly vocals. Hot on the heels of that comes some skittery new wave moaned vocals, gloomy synths, robotic drum machine, before the sound shifts again and becomes a sort of unhinged cabaret super dramatic deep vocals, lots of percussive crunch, all very over the top, yet still gloomy and goth and dark. Weird record. And all over the place even for a 4 way split. Almost plays like a recording of some strange stage production, with bands maybe trying stuff they might not normally, or more likely channeling the spirit of their old outfit Alarmist, who we have not heard, all a bit campy and very over the top in places, but balanced by the darker more somber bits. LIMITED TO 300 COPIES. Packaged in nice thick silk screened sleeves. Includes photocopied inserts with liner notes and track info.

We have very very very few of these so we won't go into too much detail. You probably already know just from the two artists if you need this or not. New work from two of the few women kicking ass in the mostly male 'noise rock' scene. Both huge AQ faves, both who utilize voice and effects, in addition to the usual string-ed instruments to weave dreamlike soundscapes and delicate cinematic ambience. Both are in full effect here, each outfits offering up gauzy beauty and mysterious haunting murk, distant shimmery drones and abstract lo-fi song fragments. Gorgeous as always. Printed insert in a gold paint splattered tape case. And as mentioned above, CRAZY limited and gone before you know it.

Sometimes we just have nothing nice to say about a record. So instead we'll just quote this compelling blurb their label wrote, from the sticker on the front cover: "belief pacts, beatnik poetry, sandpipers and perfume, axed lungs, prison lullabies, pigmented moments, bonneted lambs, January storm fang. I'm listening illuminate with your attention." Um, yeah, sure. Sounds more like a bunch of kids banging jars and howling obnoxiously to us...sorry!

MPEG stream: The Garden Of Awakening
MPEG stream: Glossolalaia The Gift Of The Tongue

Umpteenth album (first on Necropolis, though, after quite a few for Relapse) from these underground American death metal stalwarts. Incantation have always been one of Allan's (few) favorite death metal acts, because they understand that being heavy isn't always about unrelenting, monotonous blasting. Indeed, bands that play fast all the time often don't end up sounding very heavy at all. Incantation contrast their fast parts with slow, doomy parts too -- that really IS heavy. In addition, they're creative with their dissonant guitar riffs, reminding us just a bit of the avant-gardisms of another fave, Gorguts. Brutal, blasphemous (of course) stuff, with speedy, dense textures and awesomely dirgey breakdowns.

RealAudio clip: The Fallen

Another from our favorite long-running doomy dirgey death-metal act Incantation.

Umpteenth album from one of our (few) Death Metal faves.

MPEG stream: Primordial Domination
MPEG stream: The Fallen Priest

One of Allan's favorite heaven-hating death metal combos returns with a new album. Again they blasphemize and destroy. What I like about Incantation is that, unlike a lot of run-of-the-mill Satanic death metal, these guys don't just blast at a completely monotonous hyperspeed at all times. There's more texture and better use of slower tempos than most. It's doomier and dirgier death metal, thick with strangeness and evil.

Incantation maintain their status as one of our all-time death metal faves (of which there aren't that many) with this devastating new album. However, we've noticed that death metal per se is perhaps not the most popular of metal genres that we stock at aQ, but if we described Incantation's music as 'extreme blackened doomic death-dirge' or somesuch, that should hopefully pull in a few of you!! While there are some who would have it that long-running, line-up-changing death metal institution Incantation's glory (gory?) days belong to the '90s, with Vanquish In Vengeance, their first in more than 5 years, it would seem that these vets have their mojo back! You probably won't hear a more solid slab of doomed-out death metal this year. Perhaps because their brand of old school blasphemic blasting and slo-mo brutality has become the 'in' thing amongst the death metal underground, what with acclaimed acts like Hooded Menace, Encoffination, Vasaeleth, and Disma (ex-Incantation members, that one) all righteously worshiping at the Incantation altar, the originators wanted to demonstrate who does it best. Though, they do it here with powerful production (and a mix by Dan Swano) that's not quite as 'underground' sounding as that of their older stuff, or that of most of their current followers, but is no less brutal - if anything, moreso. And they remain dirgey as hell - just check out the 12+ minute album-closer, "Legion Of Dis", an epic of majestic morbidity.

MPEG stream: Haruspex
MPEG stream: Profound Loathing
MPEG stream: Legion Of Dis

They are the best noise band. 'Cuz they're the noisiest. Simple as that. At least that's what Allan thinks, and he's got almost all their umpteen cds. Though we haven't really done a scientific test of noisiness, Merzbow vs. Hijokaidan vs. Masonna vs. Incapacitants, we all agree they sure would hold their own in any imaginable noise contest. Japanese extreme noise duo (and bankers by profession) Toshiji Mikawa and Fumio Kosakai aka Incapacitants have been blowing minds and eardrums for years now. This new disc on Alchemy consists of four brutal wall-of-sound tracks, exploding electronics almost psychedelically dense. One of these tracks was recorded live in Canada at the No Music Festival in 2003, another one captured at club called Lush in Tokyo last year, while the other two are studio recordings (not that it matters much). Their banking experience is perhaps reflected in the song titles "What A Stupid Bureaucrat!!!" and "Fund Trap", while the title of the 22 minute track "Please Don't Try This At Home" almost goes without saying!

MPEG stream: What A Stupid Bureaucrat!!!
MPEG stream: Please Don't Try This At Home

Man, sometimes this business of actually "reviewing" things just seems superfluous...or ridiculous... or even supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. All those terms apply in the case of this, a TEN cd box set by Japanese noise band Incapacitants, that says "Incapacitants Box Is Stupid" right on the front of it fergoshsakes. That's the title, in silvery metallic print on the lid of the black cardboard box that contains these ten compact discs full of sheer, unrelenting, exploding, horrible grinding noise by one of the most extreme Japanese noise bands in the biz. What more need we say? Other than to explain that Box Is Stupid, released on Lasse Marhaug's Pica Disk label, heroically collects the contents of the duo's cassette-only releases from the nineties, stuff released in limited editions that we'd never seen or heard before. And they're all "remastered from the original master tapes" (which you might find to be a pretty funny statement after hearing this). Each cd comes in a cardboard sleeve, bearing graphics from the original cassette releases, or sometime a color photo of the actual cassette(s). The discs are: Stupid Is Stupid [Studio Materials], Stupid Is Stupid [Live Materials], Extreme Gospel Nights, Ad Nauseam [Edition Mikawa], Ad Nauseam [Edition Kosakai], Ad Nauseam [Edition Live], D.D.D.D., The Tongue, Cosmic Incapacitants, and I, Residuum. That's about XX hours of dense, dynamic, uber-distorted NOISE. Also packed in the box is a thick, 40 page booklet, with full color photos from various spasming live Incapacitants actions, and liner notes printed in both English and Japanese from fans/fellow musicians Otomo Yoshihide (Ground Zero, ONJO, etc.) and Jim Sauter (Borbetomagus), as well as personal band histories from both members of Incapacitants, founder Toshiji Mikawa and loyal sidekick Fumio Kosakai. Otomo's essay is entitled "I Love The Incapacitants More Than Anything"!! He doesn't think Box Is Stupid. To him, Incapacitants are the ultimate questing expression of what got him into improvised music and noise to begin with, the legacy of Japanese free jazz masters Masayuki Takayanagi and Kaoru Abe. Elsewhere in these essays, we learn that Eye from the Boredoms was once Mikawa's collaborator in Incapacitants, early on before Kosakai joined. We also find out from Mikawa why they're called Incapacitants (it's worth quoting: "The term is a military one used to designate the various kinds of chemical substances which can be used in times of war or terrorism, not to injure or kill enemy combatants, but rather to render them incapable of resistance. My intention was consciously extreme - to attack the audience's auditory canals with my noise and thus render them incapable of fighting back."). It's clear from their writings that Mikawa and Kosakai both bring a lot of serious thought and artistic passion to the noise they make. And clear from the noise they make that they are INSANE. Just kidding. While listening to Box Is Stupid might drive some folks mad, others of us will find it almost psychedelically trance-inducing. Incapacitants is not only beloved by Otomo Yoshihide, but they're also Allan here at AQ's all time favorite Japanese noise group. Why? Maybe he was smitten by the sharp graphics of their Alchemy label cd releases. Maybe he likes the idea of two middle-aged, mild mannered, slightly chubby Japanese professionals indulging in freaked out electronic mayhem. Maybe they ARE the noisiest. And maybe it just makes sense to pick a favorite Japanese noise artist, 'cause it would be tough to keep up with 'em all. Heck you could go broke trying to buy every Merzbow release, for example. (Though, Allan does own the 50-cd Merzbox, as do several others of us here at AQ.) While Box Is Stupid isn't a fetish object quite on the scale of the Merzbox, it still pushes many of the same absurd noise-lovin' buttons. Gotta have it, if you're a real Incapacitants fan. In fact, that's the definition of anyone who would buy this!

MPEG stream: Stupid Is Stupid
MPEG stream: Bitter Insect

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

SORRY. The latest from this semi-legendary Japanese noise duo. A really painful noise storm as only these mild mannered bankers can create, with their usual delightful finance-related song titles (like "Securitization of Eel"). For some reason, this is Allan's favorite Japanese noise band.

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

SORRY.

Allan's favorite Japanese noise band ('cause they're chubby bankers by day, chubby noise-freaks at night?) return with a disc of live material. Wait, I thought all their recordings were (more or less) live? Anway, this documents a November 5th, 1999 show in Austria and a December 25th, 1999 show in Tokyo (aptly titled "The Strongest Christmas Ever"). For the latter performance, this electronics duo is joined by drummer Tatsuya Yoshida of the Ruins, who does his best to add to the din and contribute to the holiday spirit. As always, NOISY!

Hella noisy. No suprise there!

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

SORRY.

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

SORRY.

Alchemy Records digs into their vaults yet again to re-issue on cd a 1989 Alchemy LP by the notorious Japanese noise act Incapacitants. This makes for Incapacitants' eighth cd release on Alchemy! Wow, what a legacy of high-end skree, low-end rumble,

Japanese noise otaku, here's a limited-to-300 vinyl-only artifact you might be interested in... Collaborating with mysterious British noisican Abdul Squeerter's (In Spite Of Flaming Creatures) project, Allan's favorite ear-flaying Japanese noise duo the Incapacitants are in fine form here. Six tracks of dense, dynamic, electronic noise fuckery. If you need to figure out if you're part of "Vitamin Buckfact"'s target audience, look around your room. Is that a stack of vintage Bananafish magazines in the corner? Some precious Chocolate Monk cassettes in that box over there? Alchemy cds on top of the stereo? Well then this is for you if you act quick! It's basically a Bananfish 'zine love-in (indeed, until now, the only wide-spread documentation of Mr. Squeerter's creativity, or mere existence, was some writing he did for Bananafish).

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

SORRY. Up Records strikes again with another syringe of essential pop that goes straight to the old adrenal glands. Third single from the Seattle trio that brought you the amazing Greatest Thing 7". Think Nothing Painted Blue, Tullycraft, Raincoats. The B-side ("Driving in your car") wins on this one. --Cory Brown.

Energetic pop you can sink teeth into, a là local favorites Pee. Extra-high quality.

Proto-metal fiends, give praise to the fine folks at Rise Above Relics. They've been doing a great job lately reissuing some crucial obscurities from the early '70s - Necromandus, Steel Mill, that Bang box set - and now here's another one we were excited to get in. The one and only, and quite collectable, album from 1973 by a band of heavy rockers from England who went by the somewhat silly name of Incredible Hog (apparently a porcine variation on the Incredible Hulk??). There's been songs of theirs included on a few comps we've had (A Visit To The Spaceship Factory, The Electric Asylum Vol.4) but this is the first ever proper cd reissue of the full album, authorized and remastered and all. The first track is called "Lame" but the 'Hog definitely ain't. If you like your psychedelic blues rock big and burly, raucous and rollicking, the 'Hog are the seventies heavies you're looking for. That lead-off cut, "Lame", is an excellent intro to the album in general; a stomping, distorted rocker with loads of swingin' riffage and wailing vox, that sounds a whole lot like Led Zeppelin mixed with a bit of glitter/glam a la Slade (with the hey hey hey's and handclaps). The next track, the dazed 'n' confused dirge "Wreck My Soul" is even more on the Zepped-out blooze rawk tip, with some blues harp blowin' showing up. They venture into folkier territory on the following cut, "Execution", one of a few quite affecting, mellower melodic compositions found on the record. But mostly they're about banging out the heavier stuff, and they're back at it with the next number, "Tadpole", an uptempo stormer laced with sound FX samples (crashing thunder, crying babies, crazy laughter) giving it a bit of a proggier vibe, which is followed by the cowbell-knockin', Eastern-tinged "Another Time"... and so it goes, Incredible Hog kicking ass all up and down this album, one that any fan of the Led Zeppier side to '70s heavy rock oughtta lay their ears upon pronto. So if you dig bands like Leaf Hound, Budgie, Granicus, Lucifer's Friend, Jerusalem, Possessed (UK), Tucky Buzzard, and Stray, then prepare to add Incredible Hog to that list of proto-metal awesomeness. Bands today can't compare (although, Rise Above's Gentlemans Pistols come close, and no doubt are big 'Hog fans). As always, Rise Above Relics does a bang-up job with the cd packaging, it's ensconced in a slipcover with fat 40 page cd booklet full of detailed notes and vintage pics, all put together with the help of the original band members. They've also managed to dig up four long lost, unreleased bonus trax (hence the "+4" in this reissue's title), recorded back in the day, some of which were meant for a second 'Hog album that never happened. At least one of 'em, a rip snorter called "Burnout", is easily up there with anything on the album itself in terms of sheer proto-metal power, and the others are worthy bonus trackage too. All hail the 'Hog! Incredible, indeed.

MPEG stream: Lame
MPEG stream: Execution
MPEG stream: There's A Man
MPEG stream: Burnout

Here is the DVD release of "Be Glad For The Song Has No Ending", the film about the Incredible String Band. Hugely influential (the Stones tried to sign them, they played Woodstock, Van Morrison covered them), the band played a psychedelic folk music that

1969's "Changing Horses" sees the ISB stretch out with two of their longest compositions/jams to date, both songs around the quarter hour mark, along with a handful of shorter tracks. The exotic, barmy hippy folk of the sixteen minute album closer "Creation" should appeal to today's Terrastock psych-folk fans into Ghost and Six Organs of Admittance and the like! It also reminds us a bit of ISB's quirky contemporaries Twink and Tyranosaurus Rex, or even Comus and the Wicker Man soundtrack. Mystically over-the-top. This might not be an essential ISB album, but if you like this sort of thing you'll want it for that track alone. "I Looked Up" from 1970 is similarily a decent but not crucial ISB effort, meaning don't get it first, but do get it if you are or become a fan. From the trad country-folk stylings of opener "Black Jack Davy" to the many moods of the ten-minute plus folk-prog rocker "When You Find Out Who You Are", this visits all of the ISB's colorful bases...

RealAudio clip: Creation (from Changing Horses)
RealAudio clip: Fair As You (from I Looked Up)

This is a nice treat for fans of the freakiest of the sixties British acid-folk scene, Incredible String Band, as this two disc set covers rare and unreleased tracks from the band's golden era. Due to some amazing research and archival sleuthing, this compilation of tracks recorded between 1966 and 1972 unearths lost outtakes from various albums, alternate versions, live radio performances as well as an early rehearsal recording of a Leadbelly cover. Though all the tracks have merits on their own, the range of line-up changes and fidelities don't make for a completely consistent listen. But the highlights are pretty fantastic including "Secret Temple", a beautiful track sung by Licorice McKechnie that was only available as a BBC recording, a 13 minute live radio version of "Maya", complete with sitar(!), and a six minute multi-epic suite composed for a mime troupe performance ("Poetry Play #1"). Probably not the place to start for unfamiliar beginners, but for fans, there are jewels aplenty!

MPEG stream: The Iron Stone
MPEG stream: The Head
MPEG stream: Poetry Play #1
MPEG stream: Secret Temple

1970's sprawling "U", almost two hours long, was the ISB's soundtrack to a stage show -- a "surreal parable in song and dance" according to ISB's Robin Williamson -- that combined the String Band's musicians with the performance of underground dance/happening group Stone Monkey. Must have been pretty wild, based on this psychedelic music, and the photos crammed into the disc's tiny booklet. It's a bit much to get a handle on -- possibly why this is apparently one of the ISB's more obscure releases. But there's great songs on here, hitting all of the prime String Band motifs: the folk, the raga, the rock, the country... Essential for fans, and recommended to newcomers too, if unafraid of ISB overkill.

RealAudio clip: El Wool Suite
RealAudio clip: Astral Plane Theme

This two-fer 2cd is consistent with these albums' original UK release in 1968, as both "Wee Tam" and "The Big Huge" were issued together as a 2LP set. Again the ISB mix their Celtic and Appalachian folkie roots with "world" influences, and although this is quite mellow and gentle, they also brought in some electric amplification at this point. With female vocals n' whistles n' fiddles n' sitar etc. this is quite pretty stuff, great summer morning sitting in a sunny meadow music. Both records are ISB fan favorites, with gorgeous four-part vocal harmonies, whimsical but sometimes dark moods, and of course lots of Incredible String-ed instrument playing.

RealAudio clip: The Yellow Snake (from Wee Tam)
RealAudio clip: Maya (from The Big Huge)

Yay, 180 gram vinyl reissues of two canonical Britfolk elpees, all right! For those who need some brushing up on their acid-folk history, England's Incredible String Band were a late sixties/early seventies outfit who blended folk rock, psychedelia, and Eastern ethnic musics. Very sixties, very hippy - they played at Woodstock, in fact. With their folky male and female vocals and expertise with a plethora of exotic stringed instruments, a shorthand description might be that ISB was kinda like Fairport Convention with sitars, and crazy costumes. Perhaps less truly traditional than Fairport, they made a bigger splash with the LSD crowd of The UFO Club where they played often with the likes of early Pink Floyd, Tomorrow, and Procol Harum. Their music encompassed British folk, Indian ragas, Dylan, blues, country, hoedowns, etc. - an eclectic stew indeed. Sometimes ISB can come off as a little *too* varied: you might be digging some Eastern drone track and find an abrupt switch to, say, music-hall country a bit jarring. But that just means there's plenty of different things on these albums to like. While originally in 1968 these albums were issued together as a 2lp set, for reissue 4 Men With Beards have elected to do 'em as two individually available records... but you should get 'em both. Again the ISB mix their Celtic and Appalachian folkie roots with "world" influences, and although this is quite mellow and gentle, they also brought in some electric amplification at this point. With female vocals n' whistles n' fiddles n' sitar etc. this is quite pretty stuff, great summer morning sitting in a sunny meadow music. Both records are ISB fan favorites, with gorgeous four-part vocal harmonies, whimsical but sometimes dark moods, and of course lots of Incredible String-ed instrument playing. We're always mentioning ISB in reviews of other folk-psych albums past and present, from Forest and Trees to P.G. Six and Tower Recordings, so it's nice to have some of their essentials here on vinyl...definitely if you're into that British folk-psych vibe you need to investigate this band if you haven't already!

MPEG stream: Maya
MPEG stream: The Iron Stone

Back in print! Remastered with new liner notes, in a swank digipak with all the elements of the original packaging, these look heaps better than the Collector's Choice twofers that were the last reissued incarnation of these classic albums. The 5,000 Spirits and The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter have been released separately this time around, while Wee Tam and The Big Huge are still bundled together as a 2cd set. Here's what we said about them previously: England's Incredible String Band were a late sixties/early seventies outfit who blended folk rock, psychedelia, and Eastern ethnic musics. Very sixties, very hippy - they played at Woodstock, in fact. With their folky male and female vocals and expertise with a plethora of exotic stringed instruments, a shorthand description might be that ISB was kinda like Fairport Convention with sitars, and crazy costumes. Perhaps less truly traditional than Fairport, they made a bigger splash with the LSD crowd of The UFO Club where they played often with the likes of early Pink Floyd, Tomorrow, and Procol Harum. Their music encompassed British folk, Indian ragas, Dylan, blues, country, hoedowns, etc. - an eclectic stew indeed. Sometimes ISB can come off as a little *too* varied: you might be digging some Eastern drone track and find an abrupt switch to, say, music-hall country a bit jarrring. But that just means there's plenty of different things on these discs to like. 5000 Spirits Or The Layers Of The Onion dates from 1967 - it's their second album, featuring only the core duo of Robin Williamson and Mike Heron (Clive Palmer left after the first record to form his own band, C.O.B.) - and was the first solid fulfillment of their Brit folk + Middle Eastern + Indian raga equation, as they added the ouds an' sitars to their original Anglo-American folk interpretations with some wonderfully moody results. We're always mentioning ISB in reviews of other folk-psych albums past and present, from Forest and Trees to P.G. Six and Tower Recordings, so it's nice to finally get these listed in our catalog once again...definitely if you're into that British folk-psych vibe you need to investigate this band if you haven't already!

MPEG stream: Chinese White
MPEG stream: The Mad Hatter's Song

Back in print! Remastered with new liner notes, in a swank digipak with all the elements of the original packaging, these look heaps better than the Collector's Choice twofers that were the last reissued incarnation of these classic albums. The 5,000 Spirits and The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter have been released separately this time around, while Wee Tam and The Big Huge are still bundled together as a 2cd set. Here's what we said about them previously: England's Incredible String Band were a late sixties/early seventies outfit who blended folk rock, psychedelia, and Eastern ethnic musics. Very sixties, very hippy - they played at Woodstock, in fact. With their folky male and female vocals and expertise with a plethora of exotic stringed instruments, a shorthand description might be that ISB was kinda like Fairport Convention with sitars, and crazy costumes. Perhaps less truly traditional than Fairport, they made a bigger splash with the LSD crowd of The UFO Club where they played often with the likes of early Pink Floyd, Tomorrow, and Procol Harum. Their music encompassed British folk, Indian ragas, Dylan, blues, country, hoedowns, etc. - an eclectic stew indeed. Sometimes ISB can come off as a little *too* varied: you might be digging some Eastern drone track and find an abrupt switch to, say, music-hall country a bit jarrring. But that just means there's plenty of different things on these discs to like. Their 1968 follow-up to The 5,000 Spirits, The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter is one of the ISB's best-regarded efforts, taking the sound of their previous effort to more free-form extremes. Dolly Collins (sister of Shirley) helps out on this one. One of the pinnacle acid-folk records to inspire the likes of many modern bands from Current 93 to Devendra Banhart. We're always mentioning ISB in reviews of other folk-psych albums past and present, from Forest and Trees to P.G. Six and Tower Recordings, so it's nice to finally get these listed in our catalog once again...definitely if you're into that British folk-psych vibe you need to investigate this band if you haven't already!

MPEG stream: Waltz of The New Moon
MPEG stream: Three Is A Green Crown

MPEG stream: The Yellow Snake
MPEG stream: Air

Back in print! Remastered with new liner notes, in a swank digipak with all the elements of the original packaging, these look heaps better than the Collector's Choice twofers that were the last reissued incarnation of these classic albums. The 5,000 Spirits and The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter have been released separately this time around, while Wee Tam and The Big Huge are still bundled together as a 2cd set. Here's what we said about them previously: England's Incredible String Band were a late sixties/early seventies outfit who blended folk rock, psychedelia, and Eastern ethnic musics. Very sixties, very hippy - they played at Woodstock, in fact. With their folky male and female vocals and expertise with a plethora of exotic stringed instruments, a shorthand description might be that ISB was kinda like Fairport Convention with sitars, and crazy costumes. Perhaps less truly traditional than Fairport, they made a bigger splash with the LSD crowd of The UFO Club where they played often with the likes of early Pink Floyd, Tomorrow, and Procol Harum. Their music encompassed British folk, Indian ragas, Dylan, blues, country, hoedowns, etc. - an eclectic stew indeed. Sometimes ISB can come off as a little *too* varied: you might be digging some Eastern drone track and find an abrupt switch to, say, music-hall country a bit jarrring. But that just means there's plenty of different things on these discs to like. This two-fer 2cd is consistent with these albums' original UK release in 1968, as both Wee Tam and The Big Huge were issued together as a 2lp set. Again the ISB mix their Celtic and Appalachian folkie roots with "world" influences, and although this is quite mellow and gentle, they also brought in some electric amplification at this point. With female vocals n' whistles n' fiddles n' sitar etc. this is quite pretty stuff, great summer morning sitting in a sunny meadow music. Both records are ISB fan favorites, with gorgeous four-part vocal harmonies, whimsical but sometimes dark moods, and of course lots of Incredible String-ed instrument playing. We're always mentioning ISB in reviews of other folk-psych albums past and present, from Forest and Trees to P.G. Six and Tower Recordings, so it's nice to finally get these listed in our catalog once again...definitely if you're into that British folk-psych vibe you need to investigate this band if you haven't already!

MPEG stream: The Yellow Snake (from Wee Tam)
MPEG stream: Air (from Wee Tam)
MPEG stream: Maya (From The Big Huge)
MPEG stream: The Iron Stone (From The Big Huge)

Featuring members of a whole mess of USBM outfits, most notably, Nightbringer, Demoncy, and Kult Ov Azazel, Incursus are a seriously grim and furious black beast, who after a brief bit of ominous piano, and crumbling ambience to set the mood, explode into a murky morass of Deathspell style gnarled blackness, frenzied riffing, soaring majestic melodies, slipping from woozy midtempo dirges to lightning speed blurred blowouts, and it's at that lightning speed that these guys spend most of Eternal Funeral Trance, but it's not all about speed, although the intense buzz and blast, creates a seriously trancelike vibe, sometimes the sound so fast and buzz drenched that it almost sounds like an undulating black drone, but the band are equally capable of conjuring up hypnotic and weirdly mesmerizing atmospheres, haunting and horrifying, every note infused with a demonic darkness, the sound a sort of Norwegian style blackness, but filtered through a twisted, tangled distinctly American underground sound, infused with the black spirit of Deathspell, Katharsis and Nightbringer, a furiously chaotic, misanthropic, ultraviolent collection of black hymns to the cursed and the fallen. Thus, 'tis WAY recommended.

MPEG stream: A Ravenous Despair
MPEG stream: When Death Enthrones Our Darkness
MPEG stream: Phantasmagoria

[ aquarius records catalogue — I ]