[ 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 2751 through 2800 of 4057.

Another warehouse find, this one from the Spiral Joy Band, a sonically similar offshoot of raga drone combo Pelt, who here team up with a guy called John Fail for three extended tracks of some sort of imagined Asian hillbilly music, all long droning tones, scraped strings, tangled melodies, the Eastern vibe is definitely present, especially in the first track, which sounds like some sort of avant Koto battle, culminating in some seriously percussive crashing and banging and buzzing. Atonal and agitated, a swirling psychedelic chaos that gives way to the much more tranquil meditative almost 40 minute second track, which channels the spirit of Henry Flynt, sawed strings, long stretched out streaks of metallic buzz, laid atop one another, the overtones shifting constantly, creating dark tonal shifts and subtle barely there rhythms, like bluegrass slowed way down and pulled apart into some strange sort of Appalachian raga. The track does indeed grow more and more raga like, the sawed strings smoothed out into lush undulating swells, darkly dreamy and gorgeously buzzy. The record closes off with another burst of buzzing strings, like a tuning orchestra wound into a fierce buzzing drone, infused with subtle bits of melody and hints of bluegrass, but those elements are buried beneath a swarm of fantastically thick and corrosive and (in)tense steel string buzz. Wow. Definitely cool. And we only have 5 or 6 of these, so if you want one, better be quick.

MPEG stream: Elegy For Wooden Ladders
MPEG stream: Down From The Skies

As if we didn't know it already 'cause of this being on the up'n'coming stoner rock label RidingEasy (formerly EasyRider), a glance at the fine print in the thanks list here gives the game away, with Spiral Shades vocalist/songwriter Khushal Bhadra offering special thanks to "Black Sabbath, Scott 'Wino' Weinrich, and Pentagram". Yep, Spiral Shades are another heavy psychedelic stoner doom band doing the '70s sounding Sabbathy thing, and like a bunch of other recent entries in the field (including several on the same label) they do it damn well. All the more impressive, 'cause the two members of this band live far apart, on separate continents - Bhadra dwells in Mumbai, India, while Filip Petersen, who handles guitar, bass and drums, hails from Norway. Via the magic of the internet, we assume, they made a love-of-Sabbath connection. Yep, it says here they got acquainted on YouTube! But listening to this, you'd never think communications technology had progressed past whatever it was they used back in the early '70s (rotary dial telephones? air mail letters? pot smoke signals?). The nine tracks of swinging, wah-and-fuzz infused heaviness on here sound stuck in the '70s for sure, Spiral Shades sounding VERY Sabbathy as we mentioned, a la a more esoteric, less-plagiaristic Orchid (though, it must be said, we do hear the chug of "Childen Of The Sea" borrowed by one of the tracks here). Providing a lot of verisimilitude are Bahdra's vocals, a nasal, very Ozzy-ish wail indeed. Goes great with the lumbering riffage and spiraling (that's right) distorto-delic soloing - yeah, the guitarwork can get pretty darn tripped out and atmospheric, there's a reason they called this FX-laden record the Hypnosis Sessions! Heavy head music, maaannn. Notch another one up for the current retro-doom-psych renaissance. If you dig the recently listed likes of Electric Citizen, Salem's Pot, Sons Of Huns, Admiral Sir Cloudsley Shovell, and Ovvl, or such bands as Cathedral, Witchcraft, Lord Vicar, Kadavar, and Sleep (plus of course the old guard of Pentagram and Sabbath too), you oughtta check this out! Compact disc or double colored (red) vinyl.

MPEG stream: Illuminati
MPEG stream: Wizardry
MPEG stream: The Slowing Deep

We have just four (4) copies left of this recent limited edition Tapeworm label release, so here's their description: "Recorded on November 1, 2013 as part of Bergen Kirkeautunnale, Norway. Featuring BJNilsen and John Beaumont's "Black Death," a new project using voice (tenor) and electronics; Charles Matthews' repertoire includes performances of organ pieces by Arvo Part, Giacinto Scelsi and Johann Sebastian Bach; Marcus Davidson's "Ananta" is released for the first time, and Spire regulars The Eternal Chord and The Spire Ensemble also perform. Spire is an organ-based live project curated by Touch's Mike Harding and organist Charles Matthews, and is celebrating ten years of activity."

Weird. And wyrd. Way back in 2005 we started writing a review of this, but then something happened. Something spooky, it seems. The review was never finished, all the discs got set aside, it's like the Mary Celeste or something. But, we just found the stash of discs and since it's still a cool album, why not finally list it now? We've also knocked a few bucks off the price in order to further entice, and once they're gone, they're gone. Here's what we started to say about it eight years ago, completed today: This four-woman band is probably so sick of being called "witchy," but then again maybe not because they named their band Spires That In The Sunset Rise, didn't they? And they really do get into a cauldron bubble, bubble toil and trouble kind of vibe, in the vocal department especially. Female chant and cries and singing and moaning. Some more gothy post-punk vox too, and deeper warlock tones as well, hushed singing over creepy acoustic doom-folk strum and other haunting, droning, rhythmic textures. Instrumentation includes autoharp, bowed banjo, harmonium, cello, drums, bells, mibira, zither, electric guitar, slide, drums, and more, though the intertwining witchy voices are really what puts this modern day pagan folk gem over the top. It's all very Wicker Man, and really quite Comus-y, just like we said about their 2004 self-titled debut, it's both disturbing and dreamy. Glad these remateralized from wherever they'd been mysteriously hidden all these years!

MPEG stream: Little For A Lot
MPEG stream: Sheye
MPEG stream: Sort Sands

This is the debut recording from this Chicago trio of damaged hippie primitivists who unleash a miasmic flow of creepy, primal free-folk ragas woven from guitars, cellos, autoharp, melodica, harmonium, spike fiddle(!), mbira, piano, violin, voice and percussion. Childlike and playful, innocent and haunting, disturbing and dreamy, eliciting acid fried flashbacks to such pagan classics as Comus, Current 93, the Wicker Man and of course NNCK and the Sunburned Hand!

Not long after their excellent debut album Jug Fulla Sun, ex-Saint Vitus/The Obsessed frontman Wino and his new band (a.k.a. Shine) of stoner rock doomsters return with this equally smokin' 5-song ep. Great stuff. However, could the cover art be any worse?

Here's the eagerly-awaited second full-length slab of doom-groove from legendary guitarist and vocalist Wino (aka Scott Weinrich) and his band of stoner rock saviors/survivors Spirit Caravan. Like their 1999 debut "Jug Fulla Sun", this builds on the sound of Wino's previous downer-metal outfit The Obsessed (and his experience singing for psychedelic-punk doom-lords Saint Vitus back in

RealAudio clip: Black Flower
RealAudio clip: Elusive Truth

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

SORRY. Scott "Wino" Weinrich (ex-Saint Vitus, The Obsessed) returns with his new stoner rock power trio (until recently, known as Shine). This, their debut full-length, was made possible by Joe "Wino's biggest fan" Lally of Fugazi's new label Tolotta. Doom, groove, riffs, Wino's trademark Ozzy-tinged vox: this is the real deal. On Allan's top ten for the year so far.

Two new tracks from these stoner metal heroes. The A-side's "So Mortal Be" is typical rockin' Spirit Caravan fare, while on B-side "Undone Mind" bassist Dave Sherman takes over on vocals from Wino, his rougher, more wretched pipes fitting well with the song's doomier vibe. White vinyl by the way.

Joe Lally's Tolatta label sadly seems to have shuffled off this mortal coil (that's why we can't get those first two Dead Meadow albums anymore, too bad for new fans who came to that band via their debut on Matador this year) and Tolotta's flagship stoner rock outfit Spirit Caravan did the same, as well, with leader Scott "Wino" Weinrich moving on to new projects The Hidden Hand and Place Of Skulls, notching more bands on a resume that also includes The Obsessed and Saint Vitus. But demand remains for Spirit Caravan's two Tolotta albums so Meteor City has stepped in with this double cd that combines 'em into one neat package -- plus bonus material that makes this essential for completists even if they've already got the original albums. Perhaps Meteor City will arrange to do the same with the Dead Meadow discs? Hint hint. Anyway, if you're a Wino/Spirit Caravan fan who missed either Jug Fulla Sun or Elusive Truth, now you've got another chance. And in case you're unfamilar with Wino & co., but stoner-curious, here's a quote from our review of Jug Fulla Sun, which was definitely one of the top stoner rock releases of the past ten years: "Doom, groove, riffs, Wino's trademark Ozzy-tinged vox: this is the real deal." In addition to the two whole Tolotta albums, these cds include three totally unreleased songs, plus five 7" and comp tracks, and three demo tracks recorded by the band back when they were known as Shine.

MPEG stream: The Last Embrace
MPEG stream: Powertime

With a name like Spirits Of The Dead and an album title like The Great God Pan, you'd think this would be something super dark and occultic, probably metal, but this new Swedish outfit has more of a gentle, pastoral vibe to 'em than you might expect. Pagan prog rock, really, more than metal, even though they're on metal label The End in the States. Everybody remember wonderfully melodic, McCartney-esque AQ faves Elope, who also hail from Sweden? Well these guys sound kinda like Elope if they took their retro-'70s trip to an extreme and went totally prog! (Well, ok, not too totally prog, since none of the song lengths here get into the double digits...) It's a dramatic (but at the same time laid back) mix of dreaminess and distortion, with sweet singing that reminds us of Burke Shelley from Budgie's mellower moments. Guitarwise, there's lots of blissed out psychedelic soloing full of light and hope, mixed appropriately with fuzzy riffs on the "retro-proto-metal" side of things, a la fellow Swedes Witchcraft, Graveyard, and especially Dead Man... Title track "The Great God Pan" is appropriately folky, with flute, and achingly beautiful singing as heard all throughout. Oh, and of course there's the other Swedish retro psych prog sensations we haven't mentioned yet, Dungen. Yep, Dungen fans who think they might like something just a bit more wicked and Wicker Man-ish should check this out. Likewise if you weren't thrilled about Opeth's new all-prog, no-metal one, Heritage, which we haven't reviewed yet and might not... this is what that album should have sounded like!

MPEG stream: Mighty Mountain
MPEG stream: The Great God Pan
MPEG stream: Goldberry

The latest groove rock offering from ex-Carcass guitarist Michael Amott. No Carcass-y grind here, just swampy, grindy, bluesy stoner rock. But still heavy as fuck, with heaping helpings of Hammond organ ladled all over it.

'70s lovin', long-haired n' heavy (musically speaking, that is -- they look kinda skinny, actually) Swedes the Spiritual Beggars, whom you know as the "stoner rock" band of ex-Carcass, current Arch Enemy six-string wizard Mike Amott, introduce a new singer (the guy from Grand Magus, another one of what must be millions of Swedish stoner rock bands) with "On Fire". It's going to take a few more listens than we've had the chance to experience to determine if this new album is any kind of step up for a band we already like quite a bit, or just more of the same -- but so far, anyway, it seems pretty cool! The Hammond organ still throbs mightily, as they run through rockin' riff-fests and mellow, spacey psychedelic excursions. And the new guy's vocals are just fine, if a little cliched (their old singer Spice wasn't Spiritual Beggar's drawing card anyway). In the mood for a loud n' proud, modern-day take on Deep Purple and the like? This ought to fit the bill.

RealAudio clip: Street Fighting Saviours

The rare first album by Swedish stoner rockers Spiritual Beggars finally reissued on cd with four bonus tracks! Not to be confused with fellow stoner rockers Spirit Caravan, Spiritual Beggars is the band in which ex-Carcass, current Arch Enemy six stringer

RealAudio clip: If This Is All

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

SORRY. Two excellent stoner rock groups go head to head on this split single: Mike Amott's much-loved Spiritual Beggars and newcomers Grand Magus.

MISSISSIPPI Alert! MISSISSIPPI Alert! MISSISSIPPI Alert! Wow! This is unlike any gospel or African music we've heard. The Spiritual Singers were (are?) an evangelical pop group hailing from Brazzaville, that fused Afropop, R&B, garage rock, high off-kilter vocals and epic harmonies into a strange amalgam of groovy far-flung devotionals. Fronted by Berthe Loudi, whose amazing vocal quality borders on the endearingly outsiderish: raw, passionate and high keening at times, almost out of tune but in a way that goes perfectly with the music, tempered by the lovingly angelic quality of the back-up harmonies. The combo features two guitars, bass, organ and some really amazing drumming that kicks up the grooves on the faster numbers and highlights the epic devotional quality on the slower ones. Released in 1980, this is another highly worthwhile entry in the Mississippi catalog. Remember, these are limited!

Jason Pierce is back, taking the gospelized space-pop of his band Spiritualized into the most rawked-out Stooges territory he's traipsed since his days in the legendary Spacemen 3. Seriously, even the vocals on here sound a bit (too much?) like Iggy! It's Brit pop gone bad -- Windy quipped that this sounds like an Unhappy Mondays. So, if you're looking for the blissful sounds found on Spiritualized's classic Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space you'll have to look harder. But if you can dig some punky, psychedelic rock bombast then you'll dig this, and you'll also find some nicely slow, sparse, sad songs on here too. Indeed, while your first impression is gonna be Raw Power, the distorted guitars give way to the kind of raw (heavenly) power you can only evoke with the help of choirs and horns and stuff. Pretty nice overall. [Btw, Windy has a question: has Pierce ever spoken publicly about his Christian beliefs? There's a lot of flirting w/it on this album (name of band, duh... title, duh) -- but one wonders how much of it is admiration for gospel style vs genuine devoutness. Just wondering.]

MPEG stream: This Little Life Of Mine
MPEG stream: The Ballad Of Richie Lee

2 versions each of two songs ("Come Together" and "Broken Heart") -- the Two Lone Swordsmen remix of "Come Together" is SO GOOD that it alone is worth the price of this disc.

In the 13 years since its original 1997 release, Spiritualized's third lp has become something of a modern classic, and not without good reason. You'll probably want to ignore our original half-assed review of this landmark record, because this is the kind of album which has gotten better - monumentally better, in fact - with age. As the sticker on this handsome reissue states, Ladies and Gentlemen is "A psychedelic gospel album full of confessional songs about heartbreak and drug abuse, a flat out masterpiece." True dat. It is also the album where mainman Jason Pierce was able to bypass the whole "ex-Spacemen 3" tag (though, to be fair, that will probably stick with him for all of eternity, never mind the fact that the dude does go by the name J. Spaceman...) as Spiritualized had definitely come into their own at this point. So, by now many of you are familiar with this album's back story, in which Pierce's ladyfriend/keyboardist Kate Radley up and ran off with Richard Ashcroft of the Verve. Of course, she still found time to play on Ladies and Gentlemen, and Pierce's heartbreak is in full effect here. You will be hard pressed to find beauty and misery done better together than on this record. Instead of whining and whinging, Pierce comes off as legitimately despondent, channeling his deepest emotions to create a vast album that is stoic and ultimately quite triumphant, not to mention pretty rocking and aggressive at points. Pierce's voice sounds like that of a man questioning existence - sometimes sweet and desperate, others times pissed and snotty - as he navigates through a chemically induced state of confusion and sadness. The sophisticated string and horn arrangements are really something else, as are the addition of a full on gospel choir and the keyboard talents of none other than Dr. John. These elements are perfectly integrated into the dreamy, druggy haze Spiritualized has always shrouded themselves in, and it comes as no surprise that this is the big one for most of the band's fans. The mood is established right away with the gentle and depressing title track/intro type thing, and the band then launches into the rocker "Come Together", complete with soulful female backup vocals and a sort of fuck all attitude. "I Think I'm In Love" rides on an interesting atmospheric groove with bluesy harmonica thrown into the mix and some cool wah wah guitar accents. "Electricity" is another supercharged rocker with some cool dirty slide guitar work and the generally perfect sound of a band with a budget to match their ambitions. "Cool Waves" is a warm, drug inspired gospel track that works great as the penultimate song before ending on the 17 minute closer "Cop Shoot Cop" with it's lazy but tense R&B groove and a middle part that sounds like some sort of sonic hurricane. We suspect many loyal aQ readers will already own this, but it sure is great having this amazing album available on some nice 180 gram heavy duty vinyl, with deluxe packaging, and if for some reason you've missed out GET THIS NOW! Especially since it's limited (our supplier is already all out of 'em, for the moment at least).

MPEG stream: Come Together
MPEG stream: I Think I'm In Love
MPEG stream: No God Only Religion
MPEG stream: Cool Waves

Ladies and Gentlemen is "A psychedelic gospel album full of confessional songs about heartbreak and drug abuse, a flat out masterpiece." True dat. It is also the album where mainman Jason Pierce was able to bypass the whole "ex-Spacemen 3" tag (though, to be fair, that will probably stick with him for all of eternity, never mind the fact that the dude does go by the name J. Spaceman...) as Spiritualized had definitely come into their own at this point. So, by now many of you are familiar with this album's back story, in which Pierce's ladyfriend/keyboardist Kate Radley up and ran off with Richard Ashcroft of the Verve. Of course, she still found time to play on Ladies and Gentlemen, and Pierce's heartbreak is in full effect here. You will be hard pressed to find beauty and misery done better together than on this record. Instead of whining and whinging, Pierce comes off as legitimately despondent, channeling his deepest emotions to create a vast album that is stoic and ultimately quite triumphant, not to mention pretty rocking and aggressive at points. Pierce's voice sounds like that of a man questioning existence - sometimes sweet and desperate, others times pissed and snotty - as he navigates through a chemically induced state of confusion and sadness. The sophisticated string and horn arrangements are really something else, as are the addition of a full on gospel choir and the keyboard talents of none other than Dr. John. These elements are perfectly integrated into the dreamy, druggy haze Spiritualized has always shrouded themselves in, and it comes as no surprise that this is the big one for most of the band's fans. The mood is established right away with the gentle and depressing title track/intro type thing, and the band then launches into the rocker "Come Together", complete with soulful female backup vocals and a sort of fuck all attitude. "I Think I'm In Love" rides on an interesting atmospheric groove with bluesy harmonica thrown into the mix and some cool wah wah guitar accents. "Electricity" is another supercharged rocker with some cool dirty slide guitar work and the generally perfect sound of a band with a budget to match their ambitions. "Cool Waves" is a warm, drug inspired gospel track that works great as the penultimate song before ending on the 17 minute closer "Cop Shoot Cop" with it's lazy but tense R&B groove and a middle part that sounds like some sort of sonic hurricane.

MPEG stream: Come Together
MPEG stream: I Think I'm In Love
MPEG stream: No God Only Religion
MPEG stream: Cool Waves

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

SORRY.

MPEG stream: Traccia II
MPEG stream: Traccia III
MPEG stream: Traccia X

After five self titled releases, Kalamazoo Ramones/Black Flag worshipping mongoloid sci-fi garage punks the Spits offer up Kill The Kool, not a new full length obviously, cuz then it would be self titled AGAIN, but instead, KtK is a reissue of a super limited tour only release, now all gussied up, with a whole mess of bonus material, the vinyl a double lp cut at 45rpm, but both the cd and lp versions overflowing with the Spits's twisted mix of knuckle dragging caveman space punk and creepy synthy weirdness, a collection of singles, B-sides, outtakes and demos, and as always, even a collection of odds and sods from these guys is totally and impossibly catchy, playing like a record proper. Opener "2018" sets the stage, the band playing what is essentially three chord punk rock, but something about it transforms dumb punk into something twisted and warped and catchy as fuck. "Atom Age" is another gem, all droney and sorta psychedelic, but ultimately just a pounding punk rock anthem. Oh yeah, then in swoops one of the most retarded/genius 'solos' ever, and you sort of get what these guys are capable of. Sure they may sound like classic punk rock on the surface, but it's all just sort of tweaked and off kilter, enough that even the simples blast of bash and pound is something sorta next level. And as mentioned above, lots of the tracks are laced with weird sci-fi synthiness, often just buzzy tripped out intros, but just as often woven into the fabric of the song, and then there are the true oddities, which tend to be our favorites. The lo-fi psychedelic freakout of "Take Pleasure In Someone Else's Pain" that sounds like it could be Simply Saucer, the druggy, dirgey "Chem Trails", the whole song laced with coughing, and weird heavily effected alien vox, the synth heavy "The Liars", which sounds like Gary Numan by way of the Ramones, and then there's the ridiculous freaked out final track, "Spend The Night In A Haunted House w/ The Spits, which is essentially a drum machines, some synth buzz, weird swirling psychedelic ambience, and what sounds like super distorted field recordings of an actual haunted house, people screaming and freaking out, but also 'characters' growling and shrieking and trying to scare the regular folks. Makes for some seriously genius WTF weirdness, which is pretty much why we love these guys as much as we do!

MPEG stream: 2018
MPEG stream: Atom Age
MPEG stream: Kill The Kool
MPEG stream: Rip Up The Streets
MPEG stream: Autobahn
MPEG stream: Spend The Night In A Haunted House w/The Spits

We had never really heard The Spits before. Pretty sure we just assumed they'd be super generic boring punk rock. But one aQ staffer who'd been living in Seattle until recently was shocked that the rest of us had never checked these guys out, and talked them up as being one of his favorite bands, which was enough of a recommendation for us, and holy shit, do these guys rule. This is full length number 5 (we think), all self titled, and all, we presume, packed to overflowing with killer jams that meld Ramones style three chord punk with blown out Devo-style electro-punkpop, and the results are pretty mindblowing, hooks galore, but often buried in murk and buzz, the vocals slipping from a Joey Ramones style yelp to a mush mouthed heavily effected drawl, with even the most straight ahead jams wreathed in weird streaks of processed guitar buzz or twisted electronics, opener, "All I Want" is a pretty perfect pop song, and yeah, total Ramones worship, but the whole track is underpinned by killer sinister sci-fi guitar sounds and lots of buzz and drone, the result is punky pop, but sort of tense and intense. And "My Mess" is all curdled guitar crunch and tripped out doped up vox, wild drumming, and some rad psychedelic effects drenched breakdowns, and while there's not a proper chorus, somehow the whole goddamn song gets stuck in our heads like crazy. Oh and did we mention the bizarre falling apart interlude replete with dialed telephone tones and all the instruments sounding like they're melting before your ears. Then there are jams like "Tomorrow's Children", with muted muddy riffage wrapped around motorik programmed rhythms, and some druggy Hawkwindy vox, with a distinctly electro vibe throughout. We could go on track by track, but it's hardly necessary. 13 tracks, 21 minutes, short sharp, hooky, heavy, buzzy, fuzzy, catchy and totally ruling, these guys might just be our new (old) favorite band!

MPEG stream: All I Want
MPEG stream: My Mess
MPEG stream: Tomorrow's Children
MPEG stream: Electric Brain

"You get a donkey and you get a baboon and you feed 'em a diet of chili and custard for thirty days and then you get 'em to fuck. Their children would be the Germs." -- Kim Fowley That's just one of the choice quotes in this book, which chronicles the LA punk scene in much the same oral-narrative way that the wonderful Please Kill Me did for the NY punk scene of the '60s and '70s. This book starts in the mid-'60s with the Doors, and covers the Runaways, the Screamers, the Weirdos, X, Germs, the Cramps, Black Flag, SST, Slash magazine, etc etc etc. Everyone is mean and says that Belinda Carlisle was fat and ugly -- aw! The authors went straight to the source, if the sources were still living, so this is a story told from the horse's mouth -- the narrative smoothly constructed from the interviews. While not as perfectly-executed as Please Kill Me, this book is nonetheless highly recommended. COOL BEANS "#14 'The Drugs, Alcohol and Sobriety Issue'" magazine + cd 5.95 New issue of everybody's favorite caffeinated, truck driving, taxi cab, bicycling, indie-rock-music-and-life magazine. This time we've got an interview with our own Andee, on his label, his straight edge lifestyle, and his illogical and unfettered love of drug and booze soaked rock. Also Lee Ranaldo interviews William S. Burroughs, Rob Crow (Thingy, Heavy Vegetable, Pinback), Hood, and much more! CD includes tracks by Circle (2 really short, unreleased tracks), Burmese (doing a Brainbombs cover), Daniel Johnston, Hood, Xiu Xiu, Rob Crow, Mono Pause, Shut Up Little Man! and more. THE WIRE #216 magazine 7.50 Latest dispatch from the UK's preeminent avant rock magazine with Richard Hell (!) on the cover, Gordon Mumma, Rhythm And Sound, a cool primer on music's lunatic fringe (Skip Spence, Wild Man Fischer, etc.), and our own Jim Haynes explores Maurizio Bianchi's Sacher-Pelz box in even greater detail than on a recent AQ list. BROKEN FACE #13 magazine 5.98 Newest issue of one of our new favorite zines. Following a similar path as the Ptolemaic Terrascope, but with a much less hippie, more 'avant' bent, but with lots of love for space rock, psych rock and beyond. Issue #13 has a great interview with Vibracathedral Orchestra wherein Neil Campell fesses up to listening mostly to Dr. Dre, an interview with the reclusive Omit, a piece on the Road Cone label, Marrianne Nowottny, 2001 top tens and tons or reviews!!! ----* ----* In Stock, No Chance to Review : ----* AGATHODAIMON "Chapter III" (Nuclear Blast) cd 15.98 AKITA, MASAMI & ZBIGNIEW KARKOWSKI "MAZK (3)" (Naim) cd 15.98 ALVA NOTO / SIGNAL / BYETONE / KOMET "Mort Aux Vaches" (Staalplaat) 2cd 16.98 AMBARCHI, OREN "Mort Aux Vaches: Song of Separation" (Staalplaat) cd 16.98 ANAKSIMANDROS, THE "Life Is A Skullbow" (Veglia) lp 14.98 ANODYNE "The Outer Dark" (Escape Artist) cd 14.98 BEWITCHED "Rise Of The Antichrist" (Osmose) cd 14.98 BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL "Blankangelspace" (Celebrate Psi Phenomena) cd-r 10.98 BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL "Creeping Frost Onset" (Celebrate Psi Phenomena) cd-r 10.98 BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL "Crop Circle Empires" (Celebrate Psi Phenomena) cd-r 10.98 BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL "Long Vanished Spirals" (Celebrate Psi Phenomena) cd-r 10.98 BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL "September" (Celebrate Psi Phenomena) cd-r 10.98 BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL "Shapeshifter" (Celebrate Psi Phenomena) cd-r 10.98 BOBBITO & DJ SPINNA "Wonder Wrote It Part 2" (Self Released) 2cd 17.98 BOUNTY KILLER "Next Millennium" (TVT) cd 17.98 BRYSON, P. MILES "Alejandro's Carneceria" (Illegal Art) cd 14.98 COIL "Time Machines" (Eskaton) 2lp 25.00 COLECLOUGH, JONATHAN "Cake (version 2)" (Siren / Robot) cd 15.98 DARKNESS REMAINS "To Touch The Depths of Sorrow" (Tribunal) cd 14.98 DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE "Stability" (Barsuk) cdep 8.98 FREESTYLE FELLOWSHIP "Sex In The City" (Ground Control) 12" 6.98 FRITH, FRED "Freedom In Fragments" (Tzadik) cd 16.98 FU MANCHU "California Crossing" (Mammoth) cd 11.98 GILES / GILES / FRIPP "The Brondesbury Tapes (1968)" (Voiceprint) cd 14.98 GUNTER, BERNHARD "Redshift" (Trente Oiseaux) cd 16.98 HALO "Guattari (From the West Flows Grey Ash and Pestilence)" (Relapse) cd 14.98 IDIOT O'CLOCK "(Original First Album)" (Alchemy) cd 19.98 JURADO, DAMIEN AND GATHERED IN SONG "I Break Chairs" (Sub Pop) cd 14.98 LAPORTE, JEAN-FRANCOISE "Mantra" (Metamkine) 3" cd 9.98 LICHT, ALAN "An Emotional Memoir of Martha Quinn" (Drag City Books) book 11.98 LOPEZ, FRANCISCO "Untitled #123" (Alien 8) cd 14.98 MISS KITTIN & THE HACKER "First Album" (International Deejay Gigolo) cd 16.98 MUMMA, GORDON "Live-Electronic Music" (Tzadik) cd 16.98 NATE DOGG "Music & Me" (Elektra) cd 17.98 PEANUT BUTTER WOLF "The Best Of..." (Copasetik) cd 16.98 POISON THE WELL "Tear From The Red" (Trustkill) cd 14.98 PRAM "Owl Service" cd ROOT "Black Seal" (Redblack) cd 14.98 SAXON, SKY SUNLIGHT "Golden Vaults Volume 1" (Timeless) cd-r 12.98 TOWN AND COUNTRY "C'mon" (Thrill Jockey) cd 14.98 V/A "Czech Assault" (Relapse) cd 14.98 V/A "Kosmos: Soundtracks of Eastern Germany's Adventures in Spaace" (All Score Media) cd 16.98 WORKSHOP "Es Liebt Dich Und Korperlichkeit Ein Ausgerflippter" (Blue Chopsticks) cd 14.98

Anyone familiar with the Vinyl On Demand label is probably well aware of how utterly amazing their releases are, how well researched, gorgeously packaged, and of course how limited and difficult to track down. We managed to get three titles, all of them amazing, we only have one copy of each, and wanted to give some of our mailorder folks a shot and snagging one of these. So a brief description follows, and we only have a single copy so first come first served. SPK, Industrial legends. This over the top, already out of print box set is a doozy. Compiling recordings that document the band's first 5 years, the box includes 6 lps, all housed in printed numbered sleeves, collecting several long gone tape only releases as well as a handful of live performance. Also included is a shirt, with the same image as the box, size XL, a 36 page booklet, all housed in a gorgeous hinged wooden box. LIMITED TO 800 COPIES. OUT OF PRINT. WE HAVE ONE SINGLE COPY! On your mark, get set, go...

Rob Ellis of PJ Harvey plays a tense mix of Barry Adamson-style Bombast. Features ex-God drummer Lou Giccotelli & ex-PJ Harvey John Parish.

Well, there may not be a new Acid Mothers Temple record this list, but for those of you who find such news disappointing will surely be satisfied with this lp in the interim. SMS features 2/3 of the holy trinity of Japanese psych rock, Kawabata Makoto of Acid Mothers Temple, and Nahnjo Asahito of Mainliner, High Rise, Musica Transonic, etc., missing only the freak out guitar and whale-call wails of Keiji Haino. Oh, so close to being the record that would send all you Japan-psych-freaks over the edge. Haino, Kawabata, Nanjo...I don't think the world could handle it. Instead, the band is rounded out by Shimura Koji from White Heaven, High Rise, and Mainliner, Sasaki Hisashi of the Ruins, and Chicago psychrock freak Plastic Crimewave. And what you get is just what you might expect, massive, rambling, spaced out psychedelic jams, three guitars wide, roiling and seething, rocking and frenzied, occasionally drifting into wild and dreamy cosmic blissouts.

We were a bit thrown for a loop when we first heard this Lampse release by Splint! We've been digging everything Lampse has been putting out (Machinefabriek, Jasper TX, Gultskra Artikler) all of which are more on the noisy, murky, crackly and mysterious side of things. Splint! however has a sound way different then any of their labelmates, but we're always happy to when a label mixes things up and shows us they aren't just a one trick pony. Splint! are a quartet who merge electronics with trumpet, synthesizer, guitar and percussion to create a rich and moody sound that is influenced equally by exploratory jazz (think Bill Laswell's reconstruction of Miles Davis) as it is the sonic explorations of Delia Derbyshire and the archives of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. We weren't grabbed at first, but as the record progresses, it builds and expands, unveiling a more engaging and compelling sound that unfolds blossoming-flower-like after the first couple tracks. In fact there are even moments that make us think of what a group on Rune Grammofon covering later Coil might sound like. So while on the surface this is much different sounding then anything else on Lampse, it still shares those intangible qualities of mystery and suspense that has made Lampse one of our favorite new labels.

MPEG stream: Fooj
MPEG stream: Sintjom
MPEG stream: Bommosytsy

G.E. Stinson and friends!

An exhausting, exhilarating compendium from '90s British noise-rock outfit Splintered, Turned Inside Out collects many of the singles, B-sides, demos and unreleased tracks on an expansive double disc anthology. Splintered was often lumped alongside Skullflower, Ramleh, Godflesh, JFK, Terminal Cheesecake, and other malcontent proponents of industrial-noise-crust damage due to similarities in the revolving door policies for each of those projects, the appetites for taking drugs to make music to take drugs to, and of course, the self-immolating noise-rock girded to massively pummeling drum assaults. Richo Johnson was the man at the center of Splintered, whose ideas on post-punk culture, trashy films, Ballard / Burroughs / Beat poets, and the like were drawn out via his Grim Humour fanzine through which he made a considerable amount of contacts in England, Europe, and beyond. A heavy, monolithic rhythm section was formative to Splintered's sound, upon which Johnson and company would lay scalding, black-hole riffs of unholy psychedelic guitar noise, controlled feedback bursts, tape collages of murmuring newsreel / talking heads discussing the horrors of a graphic crime right next to gardening tips, and Johnson's best impression of Gibby Haynes barking through a megaphone. Even though Splintered was known for recording "singles," these were expansive, nine-minute long tracks pushing the boundary of what could physically fit on a seven inch. The compilation is set up chronologically, with disc one featuring two such gaping cuts that originally graced their single for Stefan Jaworzyn's Shock Records label. The second disc continues through this path of obstinant, noise-rock pummel akin to early Swans or Missing Foundation, highlighted on the awesome, apocalyptic hypno-rock track "Smokescreen "(which actually was one of Splintered's singles, though this version was a cassette comp track instead of the single version for some reason or another... they probably lost the master tapes, is our guess). But by the end of 1996 when Johnson called it quits for Splintered (and continued on under the different project name Theme), the guitars, noises, and vocals were acquiring a heavy doom-drone quality with the drums thudding at a slower, more meditative pace, almost prescient of what Nadja would be doing a decade or so later. Pretty fucking brutal we gotta say.

MPEG stream: Land Fall
MPEG stream: Breakdown, Part II
MPEG stream: (Behind The) Smokescreen
MPEG stream: Blood Orchid

Damn, this might be our favorite slab of wax yet from these fabulous four women from right here in the Bay Area. We love how stripped down and raw these songs come crackling out of our speakers, making us think of a more melodic early Sleater Kinney, as both songs have such infectious hooks yet also have this total immediacy brimming under the surface. Along with the latest Grass Widow record, this 7" is bringing us back to the heyday of Kill Rock Stars, K, and Chainsaw Records glory in such awesome ways!

We knew when we heard their debut 7" from last year that The Splinters were going to be a band to keep our ears on. With their debut full length they've shown just how damn good they really are! As these four ladies from right here in the Bay Area have such a knack for creating uptempo, catchy and super smart post-punk jams. What's most refreshing about The Splinters is that they have carved out their own niche at a time when so many other like-minded bands are all going full on lo-fi in their take on Young Marble Giants, Black Tambourine, Vaselines, etc. Splinters have a totally different, much more song based approach that recalls some of our favorite '90s Kill Rock Stars and K records bands. Lots of the songs on Kick have an awesome Sleater Kinney vibe, but way more stripped down, poppy and hooky. It's like they found the magic of the Carrie Brownstein moments on records like The Hot Rock and merged them into their more economic approach to crafting songs, with no wasted space or filler. We're also reminded a bit of totally awesome and underrated bands from the past like Helium and Slant 6. And while we are sure The Splinters would fit just fine on bills with bands like Girls At Dawn, Vivian Girls, Brilliant Colors, etc., it's so awesome they aren't blindly following any trends but instead making music in a way that feels so true to themselves. Awesome!

MPEG stream: Sorry
MPEG stream: Sea Salt Skin
MPEG stream: Cool

Such a great time for Bay Area bands! Every time we look up there seems to be a new awesome band popping up and playing around town and this new female foursome is the perfect example, grabbing a hold of our ears with such commanding and vibrant energy! Taking cues from greats like The Raincoats, the Vaselines, and the Shop Assistants, the Splinters create songs that are both immediate and wear well with many repeated listens. It wouldn't be a far stretch to find The Splinters landing on a label like K or Merge in the years to come as this is a band that knows its underground rock history yet creates songs that feel so completely present and all their own. There's still something so humble and logical about introducing your band to the world on a good ol' 7", and this nearly perfect slab of classic indie pop is indeed a perfect introduction to the Splinters! Now we vote that their next release should be a split 7" with like minded former Bay Area band Brilliant Colors. But whatever shape their next outing comes in, we will be all ears!

ATTENTION CIRCLE OBSESSIVES! And Finnish underground rock freaks, heck we might as well include Hydra Head nerds and Isis nuts, this one is for all of you. Well, seventeen of you at least. That's as many copies as we could get of the debut single from this new band featuring Jussi from Finnish hypnorockers Circle (among others) as well as Aaron Turner from Isis / Hydra Head Records, as well as one of the guys from Steel Mammoth. And considering that pedigree it sounds pretty much like you'd imagine. Or at least how you wished it would sound. Cranium splitting heaviness for sure. Pounding drums, kick ass riffs, massive HEAVY production, some seriously crusty punk blowouts woven into more metallic chug and crunch, peppered with wild squiggly metal shred freakouts, and bizarre echo drenched vocals, that make this sound very Circle-like indeed. Epic and melodic, a little like Turbonegro gone NWOFHM (that's New Wave Of Finnish Heavy Metal btw). A killer teaser for the upcoming full length. The flipside finds the A side reworked by none other than noise maestro Daniel Menche, who takes all the punk and metal and blurs it and stretches it into smeared gristly walls of pulsing drone-noise, the various elements still present, but looped and layered and all tangled up into thick undulating sheets of white noise drenched rhythmic chaos, droned out and mesmerizing, the vocals in particular transformed into a haunting keening high end tone, woven into a hazy grey soft focus blurpunk drift. Super rad! And again SUPER LIMITED, not sure how many were pressed, but we got SEVENTEEN of them, and that's all we'll ever get, so get yourself one before they're gone!

A few weeks ago we listed the debut, limited edition 7" single from Finnish/American hardcore hypno-punk supergroup Split Cranium. That was the teaser for this here Hydra Head full length, which includes that single's A side (the B side was a Daniel Menche remix) "Scepters To Rust", along with seven other (mostly) short sharp shocks of this band's noisy, gnarly, D-beat driven loud/fast attack. Featuring our pals Aaron Turner (Mamiffer, Isis, House Of Low Culture, etc.) and Jussi Lehtisalo (Circle, Pharoah Overlord, Steel Mammoth, etc. etc.) along with another of the guys who plays with Jussi in Steel Mammoth. Here's what we said about that track on the single: "Cranium splitting heaviness for sure. Pounding drums, kick ass riffs, massive HEAVY production, some seriously crusty punk blowouts woven into more metallic chug and crunch, peppered with wild squiggly metal shred freakouts, and bizarre echo drenched vocals, that make this sound very Circle-like indeed." Well, a Circle-like version of aggro crusty HC punk anyway (if you've got Circle's Panic cd from a while back, you've had a taste of this). And that pretty much goes for this whole album, starting from the 1:47 blast of "Little Brother", Split Cranium cranking out the raw distorted punkrock in race-to-the-finish, fist-in-your-face fashion. None of the first three tracks break the 2 minute mark, in fact, they get shorter and shorter. But then, with "Blossoms From Boils", the band starts to groove a little more, that's where the Turbonegro-doing-NWOFHM comparison we made in our 7" review comes in. They stretch that one out to almost 5 minutes, and as cranium-splitting headaches go, it's a darn catchy one. A couple tracks further along, we come to "Black Blinding Plague", a track that's about 50 percent just feedback, before the crush and churn and sore throat vokills come in and the party really starts. No wonder they got noisician/droneologist Daniel Menche to do that remix! (Though we wonder, was Merzbow not available?). And then a song called "Yellow Mountain" gets to gallopin', upping the "New Wave Of Finnish Heavy Metal" quotient while also bringing in some soaring, clean, chant-like vocals (mixed under/above the gruff shouty ones). Beginning to hear some early Circle here, circa Meronia, but more punked out for sure. That awesome headbanger is followed by the album's grand finale, the 8+ minute "Retrace The Circle". It takes the sound of "Yellow Mountain" and gets more epic and Isis-y with it, building into grand spaced out drone heaviness and ending with a totally distorted noise flourish. Wow. We're sold. For a project such as this, with key members living many time zones apart, who probably spend more time emailing each other than they ever get to spend jamming together in the same practice space, it's damn convincing. But then, we'd expect nothing less from Jussi and Aaron, et. al. And while Circle and Isis fans should of course be interested in this, we feel Split Cranium is good enough to garner fans on their own merits. If we'd never heard of Circle or Isis or Steel Mammoth, we'd still be digging Split Cranium's freaked out HC. Cd version comes in a nice oversized digipack sleeve, & there's also vinyl but we weren't able to get enough to list this week, hopefully more will show up soon...

MPEG stream: Blossoms From Boils
MPEG stream: Scepters To Rust
MPEG stream: Yellow Mountain

[ aquarius records catalogue — S ]