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MPEG stream: Outmospheric Arts Of The Outmosphere
MPEG stream: Cracks Swoon Moon

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

SORRY. The metaphysical world created by Reynols spins on a different axis than the world that the rest of us know. Guided by self-negating guru Miguel Tomasin (who has Down's Syndrome) and actualized by Anla Courtis and Robeto Conzalo, Reynols has previously slowed their world down to a nervous crawl to investigate the Kirlian glow of tape hiss, on their ultra-minimalist masterpiece "Blank Tapes" (which found a perfect home on Bernhard Gunter's Trente Oiseaux label). "-------" finds the Reynolsian globe spinning backward in time with this blast of atavistic noise rock, reminiscent of the earliest work of the Swans, Virgin Prunes, or Skullflower. Reynols' desire to invoke the tumultousness of rock is not anger, fear, or a sadistic need to control, rather it is the ecstacy of pounding: the ability of rock to channel the most primal connections between the body and sound. Musically, "-------" moves though Miguel's skittering mondo beats and the slashing guitar noise of Anla and Robeto, who develop primitive two or three note melodies out of the screeching cacaphony. Miguel's whimsical, incessant, and non-linear banter runs throughout these noise rock slabs of sound, making all together a strangely magical experience.

RealAudio clip: --- --

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

SORRY. Reynols is an Argentinian trio that certainly doesn't do much to fit within the user-friendly conventions of stablized musical aesthetics. The focal point in Reynols is Miguel Tomasin, the lead singer / oracle of the group who suffers from Down's Syndrone; yet despite his affliction, Tomasin brings a festive quirkiness and deeply poetic insight to the process of creating music for Reynols. After conjuring a myriad of unusual ideas and mystical pronouncements, Tomasin works with the classically trained engineers Alan Courtis and Roberto Conlazo to realize his transcendental neologisms within a sonic context. Miguel wants to release an album of blank tapes, and Reynols manufactures such an album that despite the absurd source material is a breathtaking piece of dronology... or Miguel wants to compose a symphony for 10,000 chickens, and behold Reynols goes to a farm, records a bunch of chickens and produces an eerie David Lynchian drone. For "Barbatrulos," Miguel and company have situated themselves as a minimalist heroin rock band, but their sound is far abstracted from the canons of romantic abjection like the Velvet Underground or Spaceman 3. Rather, their fuzzed-out dinscrape dirges are infused with something inexplicably affirmative. I makes no bones about the fact that I don't understand them, but Reynols is one of the few bands that makes me very happy.

Allan asked our friendly Forced Exposure rep (known to some as Hrvatski, Keith to others) what seemed to be a reasonable question: "So is that Reynols cd any good?" Keith's deadpan response, "It's blank tapes." Allan, phrasing the question a little differently, "Well, what does it sound like?" Again the response over the phone, "It's really just blank tapes." A silence persisted from Allan who was baffled and trying to formulate the next question. Keith then responded, "Look we got a lot of these things, so take as many as you want!" making his pronouncement of the ridiculousness of this record as well as his desire to get rid of them. But let's face it: Reynols isn't one guy. It's a band with three people, recording the sound of blank tapes. They are from Argentina. They previously made a recording of 10,000 chickens. And you know what, you can actually hear these blank tapes, with more going on then the average Trente Oiseaux record (i.e. Bernhard Gunter, Steve Roden, and Francisco Lopez). Furthermore, it's really great.

RealAudio clip: blank tapes 3

Fire! Fire! Fire!! Sorry, couldn't help it. This new disc, a mini-album of exactly 20 minutes in length, is what happens when the surreal Argentine experimental rock band Reynols starts playing with matches. It's just recordings of the sound of fire, processed into what in Reynols' universe might be another element entirely. Crackling, popping, flickering, droning, sizzling, insectoid mutter. They've done this sort of thing with blank tapes, grass growing, and 10,000 chickens -- so this fire concept is almost mundane in comparison. What's gotten into 'em? You know a band is weird when a recording of *just fire* seems too "normal" for them!! Anyway, it's nicely done, though the packaging is minimal to say the least: aside from the fire photo on the cd itself, there's no booklet or cover or anything, just a cd in a slimline jewelcase.

MPEG stream: Fire (excerpt)

Taking the CD-R production into their own hands, the Argentinian outrock ensemble Reynols has started releasing CD-Rs of their music in an attempt to pull themselves out of the downward spiral that is Argentina's faltering economy. Fortunately, their country's economic plight hasn't deterred Reynols' spirit, which is still centered upon the self-described prophecies of frontman Miguel Tomasin who happens to have Down's Syndrome. While the "Jaz Ronco Japi Javas" series finds Reynols materializing in their rock guise, the music is far less claustrophobic and bleak than the classic noise rock primitivism of "Barbatrulos" or "-------," rather it takes on a celebratory free noise / drone skree typically found on Vibracathedral Orchestra recordings. On a couple of the tracks in the series, Reynols presents themselves as a jazz ensemble with piano, stand-up bass, and sax, but of course with their own charmingly alien signature. As in all of the rock Reynols albums, Miguel does feature prominently and even shows a greater range of instrumentation in playing organs, guitar, flute, marimba, and "Andino Sax," alongside his staple instrument, the drums. And of course, Miguel sings with his pronounced vocal warble and slurred syllables. Roberto "Moncho" Conlazo and Alan "Anla" Coutis continue in their supporting role, producing some nice drone tracks and monochromatic noise guitar work.

RealAudio clip: Fermo Mogal
RealAudio clip: Trilo Avesario

Taking the CD-R production into their own hands, the Argentinian outrock ensemble Reynols has started releasing CD-Rs of their music in an attempt to pull themselves out of the downward spiral that is Argentina's faltering economy. Fortunately, their country's economic plight hasn't deterred Reynols' spirit, which is still centered upon the self-described prophecies of frontman Miguel Tomasin who happens to have Down's Syndrome. While the "Jaz Ronco Japi Javas" series finds Reynols materializing in their rock guise, the music is far less claustrophobic and bleak than the classic noise rock primitivism of "Barbatrulos" or "-------," rather it takes on a celebratory free noise / drone skree typically found on Vibracathedral Orchestra recordings. On a couple of the tracks in the series, Reynols presents themselves as a jazz ensemble with piano, stand-up bass, and sax, but of course with their own charmingly alien signature. As in all of the rock Reynols albums, Miguel does feature prominently and even shows a greater range of instrumentation in playing organs, guitar, flute, marimba, and "Andino Sax," alongside his staple instrument, the drums. And of course, Miguel sings with his pronounced vocal warble and slurred syllables. Roberto "Moncho" Conlazo and Alan "Anla" Coutis continue in their supporting role, producing some nice drone tracks and monochromatic noise guitar work.

RealAudio clip: Apoloca
RealAudio clip: Jaz Ronco Mentalimo 2

Taking the CD-R production into their own hands, the Argentinian outrock ensemble Reynols has started releasing CD-Rs of their music in an attempt to pull themselves out of the downward spiral that is Argentina's faltering economy. Fortunately, their country's economic plight hasn't deterred Reynols' spirit, which is still centered upon the self-described prophecies of frontman Miguel Tomasin who happens to have Down's Syndrome. While the "Jaz Ronco Japi Javas" series finds Reynols materializing in their rock guise, the music is far less claustrophobic and bleak than the classic noise rock primitivism of "Barbatrulos" or "-------," rather it takes on a celebratory free noise / drone skree typically found on Vibracathedral Orchestra recordings. On a couple of the tracks in the series, Reynols presents themselves as a jazz ensemble with piano, stand-up bass, and sax, but of course with their own charmingly alien signature. As in all of the rock Reynols albums, Miguel does feature prominently and even shows a greater range of instrumentation in playing organs, guitar, flute, marimba, and "Andino Sax," alongside his staple instrument, the drums. And of course, Miguel sings with his pronounced vocal warble and slurred syllables. Roberto "Moncho" Conlazo and Alan "Anla" Coutis continue in their supporting role, producing some nice drone tracks and monochromatic noise guitar work.

RealAudio clip: Flatdas Sutan
RealAudio clip: Contle Mante

For some reason, this 'real' cd Reynols disc is cheaper than the cd-r albums of theirs we listed not long ago. Maybe 'cause it's domestic, not an Argentine import? No matter what, you're always getting a deal, 'cause we're convinced that this Reynols stuff is in fact priceless. Now, there's essentially two types of Reynols records: the 'rock' albums (like "------" and the Reynols/No Reynols double cd) and the conceptual ones (like "Blank Tapes" and the "10,000 Chickens" 7"). This new disc falls into the 'rock' camp, such as it is: damaged, monomaniacal drumming, psychedelic, noisy guitar jamming, and of course Reynols' frontman Miguel Tomasin's otherworldy, shamanistic vocals. Good stuff, in other words. As the first track of this 50-minute journey begins, you're lost somewhere, in a tunnel or cavern. There's an ambient rumbling sound, and some haunting, echoed cries from Miguel. Then, with track two the distorted rock n' roll drone kicks in, all heavy-like, building in noisy intensity until track 3 interrupts the storm with a calmer, mantric mood, only to be interrupted itself with more fierce feedback guitar at the four and a half minute mark. Other songs feature Hare Krishna -worthy warbling chant, acoustic strum, and rattling hand percussion, as well as more of their primitive psych rock dementia. From simple, vocal-led tracks of trancey emptiness to guitar-based fuzzed-out chaos, the results are only enhanced by the raw, reverby production. Reynols is always strange, and strangely compelling, appealing to us in sort of the same way that much of the music of Keiji Haino does. Listening to Reynols isn't just about enjoying some weird songs, it's about taking a trip into their world and trying to see and hear things the way Miguel and his compatriots do. These are field recordings from inside their minds.

RealAudio clip: Agrando Disa
RealAudio clip: 7 apolca baluba
RealAudio clip: Trilo Pampeho
RealAudio clip: Camio Flatdas

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

SORRY. With over 50 records under their belt (300 if you count all the ones that "don't exist"), Reynols has more to do with executing a concept than maintaining an aesthetic continuity, with previous wonders of aural conceptualism like "Blank Tapes" (a minimalist hour of blank tapes released on Trente Oiseaux). Fronted by Miguel Tomasin, the lead singer who claims he doesn't sing, and flanked by the sonic arsenal of Alan Courtis and Roberto Conlazo, Reynols presents an art-damaged rock album in "Polos Mosco." The songs from the album are structurally simple but dominated by an excess of vibrato reverb which warbles harmoniously with the garage-rock-meets-Sonic-Youth guitar attack as well as Tomasin's incantations. While AQ's Spanish is downright non-existent, it's probably safe to say that Tomasin is about as comprehensible as Jandek. With all of the oddball mythologies, Reynols may in fact turn out to be the Sun City Girls of the new millenium. Plus Allan and Andee think he sounds like Space Ghost's Brak!!

"Pupola Ridos 192000" is the CD-R that the Argentinian avant-rockers Reynols sold on their 2001 tour throughout the US and is now available to a broader audience through Reynols' own production house Valubamafiforo. Reynols has toured the US several times, and each time the frontman of the group Miguel Tomasin has declined to venture up to the US because of his belief that the United States does not exist. Nevertheless, Miguel does claim to channel his spirit to these non-existant territories to help fellow Reynols members Roberto "Moncho" Conlazo, Alan "Anla" Coutis, and "Pacu Conlazo" get through their performances. Regardless, this disc does prominently feature Miguel singing his atonal warbling, spluttering along behind the drum kit while the rest of the band produces creepy dronework similar to their Pauline Oliveros collaboration and their more abrasively bleak noise-rock as heard on "Barbatrulos" or "-------."

RealAudio clip: Ranja Manama
RealAudio clip: Pupola Ridos
RealAudio clip: Cuaplo Gason

In their "Met Life" series, Locust Records has commissioned experimental artists to produce a field recording of a dynamic aural evironment and then respond to that recording using any methods of their choosing. So, the Argentinian out-rock ensemble Reynols presents the sounds of city workers in Buenos Aires jackhammering a ditch in a busy city street. While Reynols could be implying that this field recording is an obtuse channelling from Minecxio -- that's the mythical alternate dimension that Reynols have cited as the source of their 'musical' ideas, which have included in the past a symphony for 10,000 chickens and an album comprised entirely of blank tape (which is anything but silent). However, Reynols' field recording of jackhammers seems pretty straight. Their "response" to this field recording is another matter altogether. With gritty guitar noise freakouts lurking in the distance, Reynols sets up a psych-fug throb of primal percussion, close-fisted organ arpeggiations, and bellowing trumpets, turning the pneumatic monotony of the jackhammer into an atypical, instrumental waltz of cosmic melodies and drunken rhythms. MPEG Download: "Rampotanza Ronil Grodorempelente" [/audio/reynolsrampota.mp3] MPEG Stream: "Rampotanza Ronil Grodorempelente" [/audio/reynolsrampota.m3u]

MPEG stream: Rampotanza Ronil Grodorempelente
MPEG stream: Rampotanza Ronil Grodo Rempelente: Response

The weirder-than-thou Argentinian trio Reynols have made a lot of records. That much we can all agree on. Some are conceptual (Blank Tapes, ten thousand chickens, even a 'dematerialized' cd) some are more rock -- messed-up, primitive, psychedelic rock. And this is one of those. It's also two other things: one of the best Reynols we've heard (which, from us, is high praise 'cause we love Reynols) and unfortunately quite limited in availability. We've got six (6) of these, dunno if we'll ever be able to get more, fyi. Fans should consider rushing down here pronto, in other words. From track one, side one (ok, it's a cd so there's only one side, but with Reyols you never know, there could be an imaginary 2nd side) it's a blissful marriage of Miguel's gentle soul singing and a throbbing bed of percussion, heavy amp-drone and stabbing, soothing guitar-skronk. Detours (like the very 2nd track) are made into celebratory, shambling grooves, like Reynols are busking for 'change' in the way I'm writing this review. But most of Sosina Arada Mica could be a Reynolisan religious ceremony, totally spacey and effects-laden. The drone-quotient is high, and so are you.

MPEG stream: Claquer
MPEG stream: Mentalimo

This new cd-r release from the always-colorful (and bizarre) Argentinian band Reynols sports a full color cover, perhaps a first for the no-frills Last Visible Dog cd-r label. Recorded live at the Fusa Auditorium in Buenos Aires, September 20th 2001, this is half performed by Reynols (Miguel Tomasin, Moncho Conlazo, Anla Courtis, and Pacu Conlazo) and half by their near-doppelgangers No-Reynols (Juan Manuel Acevedo, No-Moncho Conlazo, No-Anla Courtis, and No-Pacu Conlazo). But whether being led by the whim of Miguel Tomasin or Juan Manuel Acevedo, these groups both fully inhabit a noisy, droney, damaged, beyond-psychedelic, not-really-rock primal stomp territory explored by few others. The disc starts off quite mysteriously and quietly, sounding like a echoey exotica-plus-feedback session, punctuated by distant applause and what might be the strains of some commercial Latin pop. Are they on stage, in the jungle, or in a void? It's hard to tell. Soon, a stiff, insistent percussion frenzy builds, accompanied by indistinct drone guitar and nonsense vocal interjections. This rapidly grows into a full fledged shamanic incantation of whirling dervish, junk-rock intensity. Howling, grinding, blowing "music" that makes the perfect warm yet alienated background to the throaty, wailing crooning of Miguel (or is it Juan Manuel?). It's so wacked and yet lovely. This umpteenth Reynols document shows that they're indeed an Acid Mothers Temple for those truly moved by authentic weirdness and emotional expression that trumps psychedelic pastiche.

RealAudio clip: Rovatino Surido Almericamo
RealAudio clip: Papapapapa Pa

In keeping true to the uncanny laws of nature in the Reynolsian universe, No-Reynols came into creation because the world had slipped out of balance due to the invincible musical force that is Reynols. This is not to say that No-Reynols is the evil

RealAudio clip: N9 Colesio Americama
RealAudio clip: Amete Pulpo Un Groda
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RealAudio clip: 7

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

SORRY. Within the Reynolsian post-rational pantheon, Pauline Oliveros holds the unique position of being the band's astral godmother. Oliveros has been in close contact with the Argentinian avant rockers since 1994 and only recently has their collaboration been documented, first as a super limited tape release, and now as this cd which is somewhat of a reworked version of that cassette release. Following the brilliant single-source-material manipulations found on "Blank Tapes" and "10,000 Chicken Symphony," Reynols reinterprets and recomposes recordings from Oliveros for just intonation accordion and voice. Reynols -- unlike most remix artists -- takes great care to add something that is distinctively of themselves without diluting the beautiful complexities of Oliveros' signature style. "Pauline Oliveros In The Arms Of Reynols" is a massive recording of the glacial swells of Oliveros' accordion which are matched with Reynols magically dark production -- adding distant (and somewhat threatening) bird choruses and glistening guitar distortion washes to the mix. This extended dronological investigation is broken near the end of the record by Reynols' Miguel Tomasin expounding his ideas about life and this recording. Even if our Spanish were better, his playful neologisms still would probably be beyond us, as our metal grasp of his idiosyncratic mythologies is somewhat limited. Nevertheless, this is an amazing document.

RealAudio clip: We are still thinking about the title...
RealAudio clip: We are still thinking about the title?

Nice 180 gram Rhino vinyl reish of this 1978 poppy punky new wavey classic from Glaswegian rockers the Rezillos, which includes such energetic "hits" (in an alternate, much cooler universe, at any rate) as "Flying Saucer Attack", "(My Baby Does) Good Sculptures", "Bad Guy Reaction", "Top Of The Pops", and their hard hitting cover of early Fleetwood Mac garage stomper "Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight". Though the Rezillos were one of Scotland's first Pistols-era punk bands, they liked their '60s stuff, doing some other '60s covers besides the Mac, also suitably punked up. Faye Fife's vocals provide some melodic balance to the more sneering-sounding, tougher male ones. Not that she doesn't sound tuff too. Super good tunes, good times, yeah!! Don't just take it from us, J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. has been quoted as saying that Can't Stand The Rezillos is the best album Sire ever put out. And that's saying a lot, since in just '78 alone Sire released albums by the Ramones, the Talking Heads, the Dead Boys, and the Flamin' Groovies, among many others...

MPEG stream: Flying Saucer Attack
MPEG stream: Cold Wars

Latest missive from these mysterious dronesters. This being probably their most spare, minimal work to date. Shimmering tones and barely-there ambience. Think an even more STRIPPED DOWN Stars Of The Lid. It's that subtle and ethereal. Notes hover almost motionless like wisps of smoke frozen in midair. Super minimal, totally mesmerising, lowercase drone. You can almost feel the air suck out of your ears when the record stops. Totally obscure reference: Remember in the movie Phantasm, there was a gateway to another world, and the gateway was two vibrating metal posts (like a tuning fork) that disrupted the time space continuum creating a portal to that other world. This record kind of sounds like that gateway! Good stuff.

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

SORRY. The second full album of improvised dronology very similar to AMM or the more acoustic oriented Zoviet France played with circuits, wires, analogue feedback, things bowed, 'McNaughton' (what/whoever that is...), delay units, smoke, and 'that fucking flute'.

Either you've been eagerly awaiting this new full-length album from Italy's best, most baroque, bombastic symphonic metal band since their last release (the "Rain Of A Thousand Flames" ep), or you could care less. Double bass drums, crazy keyboards and They call what they do "Hollywood Metal" but that refers to a Hollywood that only makes blockbuster fantasy films about dragons and wizards...not surprisingly, Peter Jackson gets a mention in band leader Luca Turilli's thanks list! If you want to take a chance on some ridiculous yet amazing metal, you could do no better than check this out!

RealAudio clip: The March of the Swordmaster
RealAudio clip: When Demons Awake
RealAudio clip: Steelgods of the Last Apocalypse

These over-the-top, sword-swinging Italians return with not a new album but a 42-minute "ep" teaser for their upcoming 2002 full-length. As always, they've cranked out some utterly ridiculous yet wonderful symphonic fantasy metal. The thirteen minute While supplies last, we'll be stocking the digipack version of this disc, which folds out into a pop-up monster, and features a cd-rom video clip for the title track. The video is unbelievably cheesy, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

RealAudio clip: The Poem's Evil Page

We knew from the bastardized artwork on this 12" which uses Millie Jackson's classic Feeling Bitchy cover as its blueprint that there might be some super fun & funky sounds in these grooves and boy were we right! Lorenz Rhode comes from Dusseldorf, Germany and we get the feeling his home listening probably includes everything from Kraftwerk, Daft Punk, Go Plastic era Squarepusher, lots of late '70s/early '80s funk to all kinds of synth heavy space-funk odysseys. We're sure folks like Lazer Sword, Chromeo, Simian Mobile Disco and Dam-Funk will all be loving these sounds. We sure are. Don't ever think Germans don't know how to let loose and boogie cause here is some golden proof that they know how to make totally great and contagious party sounds.

Finally available on cd, Emitt Rhodes' first record after disbanding his '60s baroque-pop group The Merry-Go-Round. Since The Merry-Go Round only recorded one album, Rhodes was contractually obligated to give A&M another record, marking the beginning of a promising solo career plagued by similar obligations and label pressures. While Rhodes voice sounds very much like Paul McCartney, uncanny for a Californian, American Dream's pop-perfection arrangements actually read likes a lost Beatles record on most of the songs, that is if John Lennon decided to sit that one out. His use of session musicians on this record gives this a different feel from the sound he developed later for his absolutely amazing self-titled album on Dunhill a year later, where he built his own studio and recorded all the instruments himself. So American Dream sounds closer to a second Merry-Go-Round record than a proper debut solo record (In fact, the only other available release of American Dream is on a best of The Merry-Go Round compilation). But that shouldn't take away from the fact that this is a great record from an incredible talent who never really got his due. That's a shame because his early records are soooo good!! Much better than Paul McCartney's solo records we daresay. Seek them out!

MPEG stream: Pardon Me
MPEG stream: The Man He Was

Finally, after a handful of shoddy reissues, bootleg compilations, and a never ending quest to track down every bit of recorded brilliance from this unsung pop genius, comes this amazing and comprehensive collection from the greatest pop singer song writer you've probably never heard of. Some folks might be familiar with Rhodes from his time in psych pop combo The Merry-Go-Round, but it's on these 4 solo records, that Rhodes truly blossomed into something of a pop music marvel, playing almost all of the instruments himself, drums, bass, piano, guitar, writing, recording, singing, and creating some of the most timeless pop music you'll ever hear. Often called 'the one man Beatles' (in fact there's a new documentary about Rhodes with that title) due in no small part to his voice, a dead ringer for Paul McCartney's, as well as his songwriting, which definitely owes much to the Beatles and the Wings (McCartney again obviously), in fact, sometimes it's incredible how much some of these songs sound like they could have been Wings tracks, but unlike the Wings' tendency toward bombast and overkill, these songs remain sublime and simply brilliant. Besides the McCartney comparisons, there's also the Kinks, the Bee Gees, among others, you might have even heard Rhodes on the soundtrack to The Royal Tenenbaums, and he did have some moderate success, with at least one album and one single charting, but for the most part hovered just below the radar, which is criminal once you hear these songs, 4 albums, every song a practically perfect pop gem, from brooding heartfelt ballads, lush soaring chamber pop, to jangly power pop, his vocals gorgeous, the harmonies angelic, the arrangements incredible. All four records are fantastic, but his self titled debut, from 1970, ranks up there as one of THEE absolute greatest pop records of all time. Every song could have been a hit, just listen to the sound samples below, the first 5 tracks from that record, impossibly catchy, and dreamy, and lush and so goddamn good. Especially "Long Time No See", with it's strangely morose minor key main melody, fuzzed out psych guitar, strange mix, and super dynamic arrangement, really dark, but still so catchy. As for modern musicians who owe a debt to Rhodes, we'd wager Elliott Smith was a huge fan, and if he wasn't he sure would have been, and Ted Leo is another, mostly the voices, and the knack for crafting hooks. And while most singer songwriter music from the 70's sounds dated, ALL of these tracks sound as fresh and exciting as ever. If you've never heard Rhodes, you're in for a treat, this collection is one of those rare records, that had practically everybody here in a tizzy, and thus gets played nonstop. Total pop perfection. Absolutely recommended and totally essential.

MPEG stream: Long Time No See
MPEG stream: With My Face On The Floor
MPEG stream: Somebody Made For Me
MPEG stream: She's Such A Beauty
MPEG stream: Lullabye

On his second release, Bay Area artist The Rhombus (aka Cody Hennesy) offers utterly soothing, warm, down to earth folk pop. The softest spoken acoustic guitars and male vocals are joined by some equally mellow shufflin' electronic textural and rhythmic elements. Everything is ultra hazy and blissed out. For fans of Arab Strap, Badly Drawn Boy, Casiotone For The Painfully Alone and The Delgados seeking something a little lighter and more playful. Really really comfy good!

MPEG stream: Target
MPEG stream: Rice

We first heard about Italian one man outsider black metal band Rhuith, via the Hammer Smashed Jazz blog, one of our favorites, a blog that doesn't offer bands' music for free, instead highlighting cool releases and directing folks to places where they can buy em. So this band Rhuith, were apparently a killer weirdo black metal band from Italy, who besides crafting grim twisted outsider buzz, also has a serious obsession with dark pop and classic eighties music, which most definitely found its way into the band's sound, but also meant that he would often cover music from that era, as well as offering up blackened versions of distinctly non-metal tracks, Depeche Mode, Portishead, Placebo etc. Our kind of band for sure! So we finally got in touch, and small world, ends up, Rhuith is a long time aQuarius mailorder customer. Which sort of makes sense, considering his twisted take on black metal and the fantastically unlikely hybrid that is Rhuith. So we managed to get a whole bunch of his most recent release, Voormithadreth, a four song demo, LIMITED TO 66 COPIES! Which just so happens to include two bonus tracks from another out of print releases, one of which is his Portishead cover, which is worth the price of admission alone. SO what does Rhuith sound like? Imagine a super lo-fi take on classic black metal, the riffing frenzied and buzzy, the drums way down in the mix, pounding away, but the vocals, holy shit, so over the top and out there, slipping from long slow reverbed mooooooans, to effects drenched shrieks so loud they blow out the whole song. Another track sounds all swampy and garage-y, midtempo and groovy, the vocals even more freaked out, with some strange dubbed out effects, so it almost sounds a bit like a black metal Butthole Surfers. The 48 second long "The Owls" is a furious bit of primitive blast and buzz that leads into the loping Burzumic dirge that is "The Son, The Lion And The Phoenix", a keyboard flecked bit of creepy black doom, with more crooned vocals, and a second half that's all warped and twisted guitars, and swirling distorted effects, weirdly pretty. Two bonus tracks, the first a gorgeously poppy bit of blackened jangle, a killer main guitar part that sounds straight out of the Breakfast Club soundtrack, but super distorted, the sound crumbly and raw, the vocals a hissy demonic shriek, a killer combo of harshness and pure eighties pop, peppered with some super creepy minimal breakdowns, all spoken word and low slung drones. And then the Portishead cover, an amazing version of "Over", no drums, just super blown out downtuned guitars, playing that main riff over and over, the vocals deep and emotional and dramatic, this could easily be a Rhuith original, and dare we say it adds a whole new vibe to the original, and the more we listen to this, the more we just might like the Rhuith version better. Dark, and haunting, and hypnotic, just today, we've probably listened to that one track 10 times. Can't wait to hear what he decides to cover next. But it's not just the covers that make Rhuith so special, he has definitely cultivated a unique sound, one that touches on lots of stuff we dig, but twists it all up into something new and bizarre and bad ass. It's rare to be digging a record so much, that you find yourself ALREADY looking forward to the next one, but that's exactly how we're feeling with Voormithadreth! Packaged in a dvd case, with a black and white cover, and inside a xeroxed insert, both the cover and the disc itself hand numbered.

MPEG stream: Sadoqua
MPEG stream: Over (Portishead Cover)
MPEG stream: The Son, The Lion And The Phoenix

It's been a while since we've heard from Italian one man black metal band Rhuith, who had a penchant for strange covers, including Depeche Mode, Placebo and Portishead. On this brand new tape, he teams up with fellow Italian noisemaker Rotorvator, for a truly twisted and brilliantly tweaked chunk of abstract industrial pop flecked blackness. The opening track sets the stage, with its simple motorik drumming, swirling shimmery atmospheres, bizarre howled vocalizations, and blasts of blown out industrial crunch, which eventually leads into the second track, a much more metal proposition, but still weirdly industrial and also seriously twisted, the guitars murky and buzzy, the drums mechanical and super distorted, the vocals a buried in the mix monstrous growl, the whole thing laces with weird almost techno sounding synth stabs, the vocals getting more and more croaky, over the churning trancelike rhythm, the sound shifting from muted and muddy, to bright and brittle, everything hazy and washed out but still distorted and seriously heavy. The rest of the record spirals into creepy depressive dirge, spidery minor key guitar melodies, hushed haunting falsetto vox, clomping percussive thumps, thick squalls of psychedelic blacknoise, an ultra distorted noise drenched blackened pound, infused with wild shrieks, detuned guitar crumble, and swirling buzz, which slips into a murky gurgly drone, before exploding again into some super distorted, raw and frantic black metal pound, the guitars in-the-red, the vocals super hot and WAY up in the mix, the drums a robotic programmed d-beat. Eventually the sound slips into something more spaced out and synthy, even a little new agey, the sounds panned hard careening from speaker to speaker, laced with stuttery chopped up rhythms, deep growled vox, chiming harmonics, streaks of effects and glitched out electronics, the tape speed constantly in flux, the distorted sounds growing more and more distorted, the bass woozy and pulsing, a sort of low slung new wave that quickly transforms into a hysterical noise metal plod, that pounds and pounds until the tape runs out. So bizarre, and bafflingly brilliant, noisy and sort of poppy, rhythmic and atmospheric and just totally far out. But sadly CRAZY limited. We got about 10 copies, and will NOT be able to get any more. Comes in a cool black and white fold out poster sleeve.

We know we're only a few months into 2007 but we're pretty sure that Candylion will be right there at the top of the list of our favorite pop records of the year! While we've always sort of liked Super Fury Animals, we have to say this solo outing by front man Gruff Rhys surpasses anything they've ever done! So totally catchy, quirky and impeccably crafted, Candylion is pretty much everything you could want in a pop record. It's so fitting that this record showed up right when Spring finally sprang on SF... this is the perfect soundtrack to carefree afternoons, balmy evenings, topdown freeway excursions as the wind blows in and the sun glows in the sky. Rhys demonstrates great taste and a pretty impressive knowledge of obscure psych rock/pop of the past, in creating his own timeless masterpiece. Whether singing in English or his native Welsh (as he does on a couple tracks), he's a master of vocal melodies and the perfect instrumental accompaniment. When you listen closely you realize there is so much going on from Gameboy beats to flute to pedal steel to stylophone, but like all great pop maestros Rhys knows so perfectly how to incorporate all those elements smoothly and subtly to create dense and dreamy near perfect pop. So totally recommended!

MPEG stream: The Court Of King Arthur
MPEG stream: Cycle Of Violence
MPEG stream: Gyrru Gyrru Gyrru

Hmmm, rhythm and sound. What else is there? What else do you need? Especially when the rhythm is a shuffling dubbed out reggae filtered through that Berlin minimal techno heroin-house aesthetic we love so much, and the sound is the gorgeous vocals of reggae vocalists like Sugar Minott, Paul St. Hilaire (aka Tikiman), Jah Cotton and others. Thus we have this latest outing from Rhythm & Sound, the German production team of Mark Ernestus and Moritz von Oswald. On their last record from a few years back, With The Artists, Ernestus and von Oswald teamed up with various reggae vocalists, and See Mi Yah is a bit of a continuation of that, a modern minimalist version of the 'one rhythm' album, where each vocalist takes a turn singing over the same rhythm. But unlike most one rhythm records, Ernestus and von Oswald arrange and mix the rhythm differently for each track, so See Mi Yah ends up sounding like one totally gorgeous, 46 minute long, druggy, drifty, shimmery, hypnotic slab of blissed out dub. Which it basically is. The See Mi Yah rhythm is a lush bit of heroin-reggae (think Chain Reaction heroin house meets the dubbiest of reggae) a drifting skeletal pulse above a murky and dense soundscape, shuffling and throbbing, slowly shifting and stretching farther and farther out. So completely mesmerizing. Vocalists include: Sugar Minott, Paul St. Hilaire, Freddy Mellow, Bobbo Shanti, Ras Donovan, Ras Perez, Koki, Walda Gabriel, Rod Of Iron, Jah Cotton and Willi Williams. So glad we finally were able to get this in, been waiting for it for a while due to lame distribution problems!

MPEG stream: See Mi Yah
MPEG stream: Dem Never Know
MPEG stream: Rise And Praise

All hail Rhythm & Sound, our favorite German produced, blissed out murky reggae dub outfit ever. Simple and spare, dreamy and laid waaaaay back. Every track a druggy, dark and hypnotic jam. This disc gives R&S's recent See Mi Yah album the remix treatment, and who are we to argue with more looped digital dubbed out bliss? The tracks that work best for us, are the ones that are stripped even further down, stretched farther out, and taken as far out as possible. Worth it for the Vainqueur remix alone, a looped reggae groove transformed into a fuzzy slab of 'heroin house', like some Gas dubplate being pumped out of some Jamaican sound system. So good. The opener, remixed by the Basic Channel guys, is a killer as well. Still spare and spacious, but a little more propulsive and a bit more techno. The Villalobos remix is cool too, a weird stuttery jam, with chopped up horns, falsetto vocals and bad ass toasting. The rest of the disc follows the same sort of pattern, the stripped down originals given a slight rhythmic overhaul, but with a definite dancefloor bent. Lots of techno mixes and four on the floor beats, but it works, since the originals were so sparse already and just begging to be reworked and remixed.

MPEG stream: See Mi Version (Basic Reshape)
MPEG stream: Let We Go (Villalobos Remix) w/ Ras Donovan and Ras Perez
MPEG stream: Rise And Praise (Vainqueur Remix) w/ Koki

We've been getting these Burial Mix 10" singles in here for some time now and probably the single most asked question regarding them has been "when the hell are they going to release these on CD?" Well, the time has come. Rhythm & Sound created a stripped down post-Detroit techno sound reminiscent of Chain Reaction and the Stefan Betke/Pole continuum of Euro-dub artists. Unlike others though, Rhythm & Sound took it one step further and acquired the talents of some excellent modern roots vocalists like Paul St. Hilaire (Tikiman), Cornel Campbell, Shalom, The Chosen Brothers, Love Joy, Jennifer Lara and Jah Batta. Asphodel has pragmatically chosen to release the singles as two separate discs, one of the A-sides including the vocals and one of the B-side dub remixes; cuz sometimes you feel like a nut, n' sometimes you don't.

MPEG stream: Queen Version
MPEG stream: Troddin Version

We've been getting these Burial Mix 10" singles in here for some time now and probably the single most asked question regarding them has been "when the hell are they going to release these on CD?" Well, the time has come. Rhythm & Sound created a stripped down post-Detroit techno sound reminiscent of Chain Reaction and the Stefan Betke/Pole continuum of Euro-dub artists. Unlike others though, Rhythm & Sound took it one step further and acquired the talents of some excellent modern roots vocalists like Paul St. Hilaire (Tikiman), Cornel Campbell, Shalom, The Chosen Brothers, Love Joy, Jennifer Lara and Jah Batta. Asphodel has pragmatically chosen to release the singles as two separate discs, one of the A-sides including the vocals and one of the B-side dub remixes; cuz sometimes you feel like a nut, n' sometimes you don't.

MPEG stream: King In My Empire
MPEG stream: Jah Rule

Mark Ernestus and Moritz von Oswald (aka Maurizio) are the shadowy figures whose anonymous productions through the Basic Channel, Chain Reaction, and Rhythm & Sound monikers / labels remain the foundation for German electronica as we know it. While the two As Basic Channel morphed into Chain Reaction, Ernestus and von Oswald began Rhythm & Sound to explore and exaggerate dub techniques within their techno constructions. There isn't much to the Rhythm & Sound approach, but that's the point, with an uncluttered yet seductive drum machine pulse, an incredibly deep bass line, and a metallic organ riff as the offbeat rhythm. But, the cavernous dub which softens all of the sounds into amorphous currents and dissolves time into a languid stupor is what makes Rhythm & Sound so effective.

RealAudio clip: No Partial
RealAudio clip: Smile
RealAudio clip: Imprint

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.

While they definitely possess their own unique sound, when placed among their contemporaries Rhythm Of Black Lines fall in step with the likes of Pleasure Forever (particularly on the ninth song "Dark Mountain"), 90 Day Men, Laddio Bolocko and TV On The Radio. ROBL craft their intriguing music out of residual artifacts of post-rock, Goblin and Morricone film scores, post punk, pop and jazz among other things. The results are at once darkly intoxicating, cerebral and filled with moody tension. And yes, many male vocalists get compared to Thom Yorke these days and I wouldn't want to lump ROBL in with the pack 'cause their far from it, but Omar Chavez and Clint Newsom's hazy dual vocals are indeed reminiscent of the more creative, richly expressive vocalizing of Yorke (rather than his more tried 'n' true melodramatic moan and wail). Along with the vocals, the distinguishing presence of tenor sax, trombone, congas and strings adds much atmosphere and depth to the band's core guitar, bass and drums. Very cool!

MPEG stream: Is It In Or Is It Out?
MPEG stream: Dark Mountain

The wonderfully drugged out, quasi Middle Eastern sounding instrumental psych jams of Rhyton have come floating, floating back to us again, in the form of Kykeon, the Brooklyn-based trio's fourth fab release. We've been big fans of 'em so far - in fact, we made their now-out-of-print debut a Record Of The Week back in 2011. And this new one's quite lovely and hypnotic, too! Featuring the multi-instrumental talents of present and former members of No Neck Blues Band, Egypt Is The Magick #, Psychic Ills, Stygian Stride, and others, Rhyton continue to ply their unique style of psych-sploration on the six new cuts here, employing such instruments as electric saz and bouzouki, as well as an arsenal of electronic devices & effects. As usual, amidst the faux-ethnic exotica, they make good use of spacey noise and distortion, and provide plenty of percolating Can-like rhythms, and outright you-could-dance-to-it grooviness at times. The track "Topkapi" in particular sounds like a super stoned, almost dubby version of something by vintage Turkish psych/folk faves Mogollar or 3 Hur-el, for sure. The album gets nice and heavy too, with the likes of "California Black Box Vapors", doing the blown out stoner guitar jammage thing, yeah. All throughout, the band's meandering Middle Eastern psych vibe is in full, enjoyable effect. So grab your hookahs and crank this up!

MPEG stream: Tokapi
MPEG stream: Pannychis
MPEG stream: California Black Box Vapors

Earlier this year, as we hope you recall, we made the "totally tripped out and hypnotic, stonery psych explorations" of Rhyton's self-titled debut for Thrill Jockey an aQ Record Of The Week� it was a limited edition lp, and even more limited cd, and neither version lasted long, flying out of here fast. Sorry if you missed it. Good news then, that at least the Brooklyn-based trio (featuring members of No Neck Blues Band and Psychic Ills) is back already with a new release, this one vinyl-only, and also limited - to just 619 copies, we're told. On The Emerald Tablet, Rhyton offer up three more slowburning, instrumental psych jams (two of them quite long). Over steady percussive pulsations, side one's 19-minute opus "Obligation" slowly meanders, replete with echoing, effected whale call guitar distortion and improvised, sorta snake charmer melodies. Frazzled fuzz (from electric saz?) smolders amidst this laidback, krautrock inspired throbulation. Think Davis Redford meets Richard Bishop, something like that� There's a slight edge of jazzy skronk, too, moreso on side two's 13 and a half minute finale, with the esoteric-sounding title of "Trismegistus Sto Smaragda". That one's kinda like the first long track, meandery, but with more swing to it, and more chaotic sprawl. And in-between you get the spacey "Revert To Daze", six or so minutes that do sound quite dazed, but melodic and Middle Eastern-y too. 140 gram vinyl, jacket art by Arik "Moonhawk" Roper, includes mp3 download code.

MPEG stream: Obligation
MPEG stream: Trismegistus Sto Smaragda

We at aQ are big fans of Brooklyn-based psych-splorers Rhyton (made their Thrill Jockey debut a Record Of The Week in fact) and Rhyton it seems are fans of us too it seems, since they were nice enough to dub us an exclusive limited supply of a new cassette of theirs, originally something they made only for merch sales on a recent European tour. aQ is the only store carrying this release, and we only have 20 copies, that's it forever! Unity Bailout is 30 minutes, four tracks, of live and rehearsal recordings, the sort of spacey, druggy, drifting jams we expect from these guys (members of No Neck Blues Band and Psychic Ills, by the way). The tape starts off with the 12 minute "Mold Channel", a sprightly, trippy-hippie improv session of head-nodding abstract humid burble all right. Then the darker, dronier "At Endless Buggy Pt. Alpha" begins, featuring more militant marching drum beats and skree-ier guitarwork. Flip the tape and that piece continues into "Pt. Beta", adding some more mumbled, distorted vox, the guitar (and electric saz?) lines getting more sinuous and scrambled, noise and volume building, that buggy of theirs heading down a bumpy road indeed, losing a wheel or two along the way! Such a style of caveman krauty damaged jam is in full effect on the tape's final track too, the almost ten-minute long "In Silent One", even louder and heavier and kinda Haino-esque, with fuzzy feedback guitar carving whale-calls through the murk, propelled by steady drum splatter. It gets pretty freaky, satisfyingly so, 'specially if you like the idea of Burnt Hills or Doktor Kettu jamming on some almost unrecognizable Dick Dale surf licks or something like that. The pulsating moldy walls of Rhyton's presumably subterranean practice space sure absorbed a lot of intense stoner vibes during the recording of this tape. Thanks, Rhyton, for letting us in. The tape's covers are hand stamped metallic ink on black paper.

MPEG stream: Mold Channel
MPEG stream: At Endless Buggy Pt. Alpha
MPEG stream: In Silent One

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

SORRY. So, sure, "experimental/improv/psych" bands based outta Brooklyn are probably a dime a dozen these days, so what makes the debut from this new Thrill Jockey signing worthy of glorious Record Of The Week status here at aQ? Well, for one thing, Thrill Jockey have had a pretty good track record in that area lately, with aQ fave bands like White Hills and Barn Owl, and fans of either ought to check out Rhyton. At least, we had to give it a listen, and when we did, WOW! Totally tripped out and hypnotic, stonery psych explorations embraced our ears - and we think gently tingled any mystic sixth or seventh senses we may possess. Their jamming has a fuzzed-out edge, and a definite exotic, Eastern vibe, buzzing with electric saz for one thing... as if they're not from Brooklyn, they're from Brooklynistan! The mesmeric music of Rhyton is a mind-melting mind-meld involving three well-matched musicians, a supergroop of sorts, the trio consisting of D. Charles Speer from the No Neck Blues Band, Jimmy SeiTang of Psychic Ills, and Spencer Herbst from some bands we confess we've not heard of before. Speer is on the strings, playing electric saz, electric mandolin, and baritone guitar. SeiTang is on bass and tape delay. Herbst is on drums and percussion (and videocassettes, we read somewhere?). A good set up for playing something that's rock, but not. Over the course of the five, mostly long, mainly instrumental tracks here, Rhyton easily convinced us to make this Record Of The Week, or maybe hypnotized us into doing so! We just couldn't say no to their repetitive, reverby bath of shuddering soundwaves, sub-bass pulsations, meandering raga-like "split stereo, dual amped" leads, and loads of oscillators, loops, n' effects. Relatively mellow opening track "Stone Colored" eases us in, giving us a sense of, if not where Rhyton is going, at least how they're gonna get there. And, as the cliche says, the journey is the destination. That's before the 12+ minute "Pontian Grave" heavies things up even more, and the raw side of Rhyton's experimentation is revealed. And so it goes, Rhyton getting into outre modes of instrumental psychedelic possession, centerpiece "Teke" being the perhaps the most druggily dubbed-out of the album's varied transmissions...and then, on the fantastic final cut, "Shank Raids", we REALLY hear the Middle Eastern influence come to the fore. It's not just the electric saz they've been making use of, on this one the rhythms n' melodies sound straight out of the Turkish psych songbook, stately and spacey, but also gnarly, warped and distortion-damaged, almost what it would be like to Greg Ginn's Gone, or Black Flag circa The Process Of Weeding Out, attempting a Mogollar or 3 Hur-el cover, yeah! There's a whiff of Sun City Girls to this as well. Eastern aspects aside (or not), Rhyton's unique vibrations are on roughly the same wavelength as those of such outfits as Carlton Melton, Davis Redford Triad, White Hills, Titan, Bardo Pond, etc., and thus this should appeal to quite a few of you. So we say, get it! And get it quick, as the compact disc edition, packaged in a slim handmade sleeve (abstract art glued on front, hand-stamped text on back), is ultra limited to only 200 hand-numbered copies!! We got a bunch, but that bunch is probably all we'll get. Meanwhile, the similarly-appointed vinyl version is just a bit less limited, 500 copies made, and it comes with a postcard insert and free download code.

MPEG stream: Pontian Grave
MPEG stream: Teke
MPEG stream: Shank Raids

Huzzah! These two amazing early seventies records by the obscure French prog-folk outfit Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes have turned up *unofficially*, and won't be around for long so you know what that means: Don't Sleep! Ame Debout (1971) and Paix (1972) were the second and third records by the group which lasted about a decade over seven lps. Ribeiro's commanding and unusual voice, stemming from her Portuguese origins, was the perfect vehicle for multi-instrumentalist and instrument creator, Patrice Moullet, who wrote all of the music and was the constant mainstay as principal member of Alpes. Moullet and Ribeiro first met on the set of Jean-Luc Goddard's film, Les Carabiniers, and soon after Moullet wrote music to accompany Ribeiro's poetry and later formed a full band. Ribeiro has often been called the French Nico, but her voice has far more range and power, like Sandy Denny of Fairport Convention or Judy Henske. But what really set the group apart was Moullet's artistry with innovative instrumentation, creating unique instruments such as the percuphone, cosmophone & orgolia, which gave the group a spacey almost mystical vibe. Indeed they are like a proggier version of Fairport Convention or Pentangle but much more psychedelic and strange and less rooted in folk traditions. However you cut it, this is French progressive folk at it's best. Both albums come highly recommended!

MPEG stream: Ame Debout
MPEG stream: Diborowska
MPEG stream: Aria Populaire
MPEG stream: Dingue

Huzzah! These two amazing early seventies records by the obscure French prog-folk outfit Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes have turned up *unofficially*, and won't be around for long so you know what that means: Don't Sleep! Ame Debout (1971) and Paix (1972) were the second and third records by the group which lasted about a decade over seven lps. Ribeiro's commanding and unusual voice, stemming from her Portuguese origins, was the perfect vehicle for multi-instrumentalist and instrument creator, Patrice Moullet, who wrote all of the music and was the constant mainstay as principal member of Alpes. Moullet and Ribeiro first met on the set of Jean-Luc Goddard's film, Les Carabiniers, and soon after Moullet wrote music to accompany Ribeiro's poetry and later formed a full band. Ribeiro has often been called the French Nico, but her voice has far more range and power, like Sandy Denny of Fairport Convention or Judy Henske. But what really set the group apart was Moullet's artistry with innovative instrumentation, creating unique instruments such as the percuphone, cosmophone & orgolia, which gave the group a spacey almost mystical vibe. Indeed they are like a proggier version of Fairport Convention or Pentangle but much more psychedelic and strange and less rooted in folk traditions. However you cut it, this is French progressive folk at it's best. Both albums come highly recommended!

MPEG stream: Roc Alpin
MPEG stream: Jusqu'� Ce Que La Force De T'aimer Me Manque
MPEG stream: Paix

[ aquarius records catalogue — R ]