Aquarius Records closed in 2016. This site is an archive — a place to rediscover their extraordinary music recommendations. Nothing here is for sale.
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V/AKing Tubby Meets The Reggae Masters(Jet Star)cd$ 16.98
Though the first word to come to ones head when mentioning the name King Tubby is "dub", you won't find a single track of it here. "King Tubby Meets the Reggae Masters" is a collection of tracks unearthed from his archives after King Tubby passed away in 1989.
V/AKingdom of Elgaland / Vargaland 1992 - 2002(Ash International)2cd$ 14.98
On March 14, 1992, Leif Elggren and CM von Hausswolff proclaimed the existence of the Kingdom of Elgaland / Vargaland, by annexing and occupying all of the border areas between all the countries of the earth, all of the areas up to a width of 10 nautical miles existing outside all countries territorial waters, and the mental / perceptive territories including, but not limited to the Hypnagogic State, the Escapist Territory, and the Virtual Room. Elggren and von Hausswolff have even gone so far as to issue passports to their citizens, draft a constitution, and design any number of governmental signifiers (currency, stamps, a national flag, and even a national anthem). This Kingdom is obviously not striving to attain any political presence within the world's power market, but is interested in channelling the metaphysical principles from Joseph Beuys in this investigation of how utterances of power are communicated from one individual to another. During the past decade, hundreds of people have become citizens of Elgaland / Vargaland, and this album is a sort of who's who of the Kingdom's citizenship, featuring Mika Vainio, BJ Nilsen (Hazard), Ulf Bilting, Ryoji Ikeda, John Duncan, Mats Gustafsson, Chris Watson, People Like Us, Jim O'Rourke, Graham Lewis and Bruce Gilbert (Wire), Fennesz, Oren Ambarchi, and many more. The 48 tracks on this double disc set offer an incredibly wide range of interpretations of the Kingdom: some quite silly, others very ominous; some do relate to the Kingdom of Elgaland / Vargaland, others don't. As a result it's not the most cohesive of albums, but both Allan and Jim fully support the Kingdom of Elgaland / Vargaland. So there.
V/AKnitting On The Roof(Knitting Factory Records/JAM)cd$ 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY. Yes, it's "The Fiddler On The Roof" as interpreted by an interesting selection Knitting Factory friends. The Magnetic Fields do "If I Were A Rich Man," Negativland does "Tevye's Dream", The Residents do "Matchmaker"...you get the idea. Definitely a fun concept. (Although whether this has a deeper meaning in the context of the downtown NYC new Jewish music movement I don't know). KF's Michael Dorf says "the inspiration for this project came from a combination of humor and commercialism." Other participants include David S. Ware, Uri Caine, Eugene Chadbourne, Elliott Sharp, Come, Hasidic New Wave, The New Orleans Klezmer Allstars, Naftule's Dream, Jill Sobule, and the Paradox Trio.
V/AKnormalities V.3 Posthumorites(DKM)7"$ 5.98
V/AKnowing We Was Right From Da Start(555)cd$ 13.98
A collection of out-of-print and/or hard-to-find a-sides from the back catalogue of 555 Recordings of Leeds (run by Stewart Anderson of Boyracer / Steward fame). Tracks by the Aislers Set, Hood, Kid 606, Boyracer, Empress, Steward, The Remote Viewer, The Famous Boyfriend, and much more. 23 tracks total!
V/AKompakt 100(Kompakt)cd$ 17.98
To celebrate their 100th release, Kompakt had 21 artists pick their favorite record from the first 99 Kompakt releases and remix it. So thus we have Kompakt 100, 21 of your favorite Kompakt classics remixed by a handful of your favorite Kompakt artists. Remixers include: The Orb, DJ Koze, the Modernist, Ulf Lohmann, Reinhard Voigt, Jurgen Paape, Markus Guentner, Dettinger, Kaito and more. To dig this collection you definitely have to like all facets of the Kompakt sound. Folks looking for a smooth, dreamy pop ambient compilation will definitely be blown out of the water by the beat heavy tracks, and beat headz might be bored by the swooshy ambient numbers, but those of you who like chocolate in your peanut butter, won't mind verring from four on the floor house, to wheezy, fuzzy ambience and back again. An amazing document of one of the best (and most important) electronic labels around.
V/AKompakt Total 10(Kompakt)3lp$ 24.00
NOW ON VINYL! Another killer collection of Kompakt techno, and while we may tend to lean toward the Pop Ambient side of the Kompakt roster, no label has done more to wear down our resistance to techno than the mighty Kompakt, so much so, that we now find ourselves looking forward to these Total comps nearly as much as the Pop Ambient comps. And once again, Kompakt comes through with, a killer collection of artists, and tracks, expertly sequenced into over two hours of minimal techno bliss. Just have a look at the names and you'll know what you're in for: Dj Koze, Justus Kohncke, Gui Boratto, Matias Aguayo, The Field, Burger/Voigt, Reinhard Voigt, Jurgen Paape and loads more, and along with the usal tight clipped, late night dancefloor grooves there are plenty of surprises. How about DJ Koze's "40 Love", with a rhythm track built around the sounds of a tennis match, including the crowds disappointed "Awwwww"s when someone misses a shot, birds chirping, squeaking shoes, grunts, all woven into a woozy bit of warm throb and skitter. Then there's Coma's awesomely murky midnight pusle and shimmer, and Jonas Bering's super fuzzed out synth jam that definitely reminds us of Justice or Daft Punk, and Matias Aguayo's sunshiney techno pop jam, that almost sounds like Phoenix or something, the warped and tweaked tropical wooziness of the Pachanga Boys and the circusy soundtrack weirdness of Jurgen Paape's oompah jam "Ofterschwang", and in between, plenty of that classic Kompakt sound that we can never seem to get enough of. If you've got 1-9, you obviously need 10, and if you've yet to dip your toes into the Kompakt pool, this is as good a place to start as any...
V/AKompakt Total 5(Kompakt)cd$ 16.98
V/AKompakt Total 6(Kompact)cd$ 17.98
V/AKompilation(Kranky)2cd$ 5.98
Super low price compilation from one of the best labels going these days. Two discs, 21 tracks, many of them unreleased, some from forthcoming releases from the elite Kranky stable: Stars Of The Lid, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Pan-American, Greg Davis, Christina Carter, Growing, Dead Texan, Loscil, Charalambides, Out Hud and more!
V/AKonkani Songs: Music From Goa - Made In Bombay(Trikont)cd$ 17.98
It's been a while since we've heard from the Trikont label, and we've missed them. In the past, they've brought us some all time aQ faves, the Flashbacks series, Africa Raps, so many amazing compilations: Beyond Istanbul, Doom & Gloom, Creative Outlaws, In Prison, Dope & Glory and of course Ho! Roady Music From Vietnam. Always impeccably curated, with extensive liner notes, tons of photos, and an in-depth history of the music and the performers. Konkani Songs is a fantastic addition, Music from India, a sort of Indian light and folk music, ballads, big band jazz, torch songs, festive folky dance numbers, all with a hint of Bollywood, as well as plenty of other influences, Western soundtrack music, Morricone, fifties and sixties European pop, but all so distinctly and uniquely Indian. Anyone into the Sublime Frequencies series will definitely want to grab one of these, sounds both familiar and foreign, far out and classic, groovy Eastern melodies intertwine with Klezmer like accordions, soaring dramatic strings, chiming bells, wild percussion, the sounds slipping from calypso to mariachi, Bollywood to cheesy pop, groovy funk to organ driven sort-of-country, rad groovy surfy garage to dark tango-y waltzes, the sound is uniformly warm and fuzzy, that gorgeous washed out old recording sound. But it's the vocalists that seal the deal, from deep baritones, to sweet songbird croons, some hushed and intimate, some intense and expressive, sometimes a perfect match for the music backing it up, sometimes brilliantly at odds, we've only just begun to dig into the liner notes, there's much to learn about Onkani songs, but based on the songs alone, this could be one of our favorite comps of the year so far.
V/AKonstantin Raudive: The Voices of the dead(Sub Rosa)cd$ 14.98
For those who recall the now out-of-print "The Ghost Orchid" cd collection of EVP -- "Electronic Voice Phenomenon", the mysterious manifestations of unknown voices breaking through radio transmissions, presumed to be voices of the dead -- Konstantin Raudive may be a familiar name. His contributions to that recording (originally paired as a 7" with his legendary book from the mid '70s entitled "Breakthrough") were some of the most hyperbolic and grandiose, claiming that in his research he had contacted numerous recently deceased friends, as well as historical figures like Winston Churchill! Since "The Ghost Orchid" and the follow-up collection drawn from from fellow researcher Friedrich JurgensonFriedrich Jurgenson's EVP recordings have been very difficult to track down in recent months, we thought that this new release of recordings from the archives of Raudive (and his collegue Gerhard Stempnik) would make for an acceptable substitute. Well, it might have been, if it weren't for all of the extraneous, some might say unneccesary, tracks found here: remixes of Raudive's recordings, tracks inspired by Raudive's recordings, and tracks that got onto this album just because they were by DJ Spooky. (DJ Spooky? Get it? These are ghosts. Haha.) At least the folks at Sub Rosa had enough sense to program all of the actual Raudive recordings as the odd numbered tracks with the remixes and so forth being the even numbered ones. So at least you can program your CD player if you wish to avoid the pieces by DJ Spooky, Brett Dean, Scanner, Calla, Lee Ranaldo, David Toop, CM von Hausswolff, Random Inc. and others. Not to say that these remixes are bad (some are pretty cool, total X-Files electronica), but how can you hope to compete with the raw ghost transmissions themselves? Truly voices of the dead or not, they're still creepy radio-noise recordings with German-language lectures to introduce 'em, full of mystery and terror and dense sonic textures. Imagine an occult Conet Project. We're purists, I guess, and would have liked the tracks by the modern-day artists to have appeared on a seperate release from the archival EVP material. But others we're sure won't be bothered at all, and enjoy (and be haunted by) the whole package.
V/AKosher Nostra: Jewish Gangsters Greatest Hits(Essay)cd + book$ 22.00
This just might be the coolest compilation ever. A musical compendium focused on the sound, singers and groups, who were in some way linked to the infamous Jewish mafia, aka the "Kosher Nostra", an organization including such underworld legends as Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, Dutch Schultz, Louis "Lepke" Buchalter and Meyer Lansky, a group who worked alongside the more well known American mafia, and who had a huge influence on popular music, creating a musical movement that was equal parts big band, jazz, swing and Yiddish music, a musical scene which existed parallel to the mainstream, with its own radio shows, record labels, and superstars. Organized by the artist Oz Almog, who is also a curator at the Jewish Museum in Vienna, and who created a high profile exhibition of his original paintings of Jewish gangsters, along with articles, biographies and crime scene sketches, along with someone named Shantel who wrote his thesis on the Kosher Nostra and did extensive research on organized crime and its influence on American musical culture, all of which is detailed in the massive booklet that accompanies this compilation. But even knowing nothing about the roots of these tracks, the music here is amazing, from Connie Francis doing a classic Yiddish tune, to Tom Jones singing the super dramatic "My Yiddishe Mamme", from The Andrews Sisters first big hit "Bei Mir Bistu Sheyn" to Chubby Checker singing in Yiddish on "Misirlou", Solomon Schwartz's fuzzy groovy version of the Jewish classic "Hava Nagila", tracks from Al Jolson (with the Andrews Sisters), Sophie Tucker and loads more. Some of the tracks live, others presented as part of old time radio shows, complete with announcers and advertisements, a gorgeous, and fascinating glimpse into this remarkable social and musical subculture, or as the label describes it "an unparalleled journey back in time to the music clubs, vaudeville theaters and gambling casinos of the 1920s to the '60s bearing compelling witness to this enormously diverse and truly remarkable fusion of styles". Easily our reissue/compilation of the year so far. So totally great! Fantastic packaging, a massive booklet, loaded with extensive liner notes on the music, and the history of the Kosher Nostra, lots of pictures do, the cd in a similarly designed digipack, all housed in a swank slipcover.
V/AKosmos: Soundtracks of Eastern Germany's Adventures in Spaace(All Score Media)cd$ 16.98
Similar to the spirit of those 'Ein Wigwam...' compilations of film music from East German westerns (Vol. 2 we listed just a few weeks back), 'Kosmos' collects the music from East German science fiction films and television programs, which while maybe not
V/AKosmos: Soundtracks of Eastern Germany's Adventures in Space(All Score Media)lp$ 16.98
Similar to the spirit of those 'Ein Wigwam...' compilations of film music from East German westerns (Vol. 2 we listed just a few weeks back), 'Kosmos' collects the music from East German science fiction films and television programs, which while maybe not
V/AKraut! Demons! Kraut!(BK)cd$ 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY. Subtitled "German Psychedelic Underground 1968-1974." From the purveyors of the "Pre-Kraut Pandaemonium" lps and the "Electric Loosers" cds, this collection moves a few years ahead from the 60's German beat groups of those comps to full-on cosmic krautrock rarities. There's an unreleased early Can track on here ("Kama Sutra), also the likes of Exmagma, Electric Sandwich, Limbus 4, and many others--all very obscure and very psychedelic!!
V/AKung Fu Super Sounds(De Wolfe)cd$ 21.00
Soon after heaping tons of praise on the mighty Enter The Dragon Soundtrack, we're thrilled to also see this killer compilation of unreleased De Wolfe library tracks drawn from the legendary Shaw Brothers martial arts films circa 1976-1984. If you've seen a Hong Kong Ku Fu flick of that vintage, chances are good you've seen a Shaw Bros. movie. Influencing everyone from The Wu-Tang Clan to Quentin Tarantino, these low-budget "bashers" with insanely impossible story lines have fed the fertile imaginations of midnight movie geeks for years. These 43 movie cues hand-picked by Gareth "Cherrystones" Goddard, Joel Martin and Jon Jigoku, display quite a sweeping emotional range of sounds: moody spy themes, old west-style standoffs, funky Moog passages, ritual drums, suspicious flutes and percussion, tense orchestrations, haunting siren song. The best part is the names the De Wolfe library gave the cues: "Electro Beat 5", "Nerve Stretch 2", "Tension Trip", "Moonbird", "Bitter Lemons", "Dogarnit". For the library music fan or martial arts geek in your life!
V/AKung Fu! Reggae Vs The Martial Arts(Trojan)cd$ 14.98
The single biggest seller, hands down, of all of the Jamaican music we stock is, without a doubt Lee Perry's Kung Fu Meets The Dragon on Justice League. We're certain that what initially draws people to it is its classic cartoon cover art with a three headed man/dragon, a kung fu posing Upsetter and Chinese iconography to drive the point home. But what keeps this album from ever returning used to the store is the fact that it's just plain great. It's classic, demented, Black Ark era Lee Perry, filled with sonic burps, imponderable engeneering choices and just plain great rhythms and dynamite playing throughout. So does it sound like we're trying to sell you a different album here? Well, I'd (Byram) say that Kung Fu Meets The Dragon is a classic album that needs to be in anyone's collection if they're going to have any dub at all. What we have here is another Trojan theme disc and, one could say, a completely different dish of curried goat all together. So if you get both, your going to have some overlap, once again. There's only just so much classic material out there. Having said that, this is a decent disc in its own right. A great party album, sure. Subtracting the eight Upsetter tracks here that are included on Kung Fu Meets The Dragon and you've still got 15 tracks including a cover of Kung Fu Fighting by Lloyd Parks, several from Prince Jammy (not to be out done by the Upsetter he recorded his own Kamikaze Dub album back in 1979), Big Youth, Junior Byles, Barrington Levy, Linval Thompson, Keith Hudson, Augustus Pablo, Tommy McCook and Dave & Ansel Collins. Be prepared however for a great deal of tracks that pay homage to the martial arts in song title alone. Some will have you scratching your head trying to figure out what the connection is. That aside, it's a great deal of fun. We just wish we could say the cover art was as nice as Kung Fu Meets The Dragon.
V/AL.I.E.S. Presents: American Noise / Volume One(L.I.E.S. Records)2cd$ 23.00
American Noise is a killer label sampler featuring all manner of minimal electronica, from skeletal abstract house, to squelchy acid grooves, to murky late night ambience, to woozy psychedelic electro, and pretty much lots of stops in between. The only thing we'd heard from the L.I.E.S. label before was a 12" from Steve Moore, of Zombi and Majeure, and he's one of the familiar names here, his 12 minute "Frigia" is another fantastic slab of haunting faux soundtrack synthscapery, melding Goblin / Carpenter like creepiness to pulsing futuristic Euro-disco, a lengthy Autobahn like sprawl of woozy pulsing psychedelia and house-y kosmische bliss out. Legowelt is another familiar name, his two tracks here are hazy, washed out electro-house groovers, that wed soft focus shimmering ambience to driving, motorik rhythms, wreathing the sounds in swoonsome chordal swells and distant swirling melodies, splitting the difference perfect between driving and drifting. But beyond those two names, most of the outfits here were new to us: Marcos Cabral, Torn Hawk, Terekke, Bookworms, Xosar, Vapauteen, Two Dogs In A House, Maxamillion Dunbar, Svengalisghost, Bonquiqui, Professor Genius, Beau Wanzer and Unknown Artist (not sure if that's a cheeky band name, like Various Artists, or in fact an unknown artist). And while we dig pretty much everything here, the most exciting discovery is most definitely Jahiliyya Fields, who starts things off with a glorious kaleidoscopic cascade of pulsating synths, and layered drones, a glimmering sprawl of kraut-psych shimmer, that gradually blossoms into a creepy sort of Eastern tinged cinematic ambience, and which had us DYING for more (thankfully there is a full length, a double lp, which we will have soon, and we'll hopefully review it on the next list). Nothing is quite as ghostly and abstract as that first track, but there's definitely lots to dig here, most of the jams are darkly rhythmic, from glimmering Kompakt style minimal techno blissouts, to groovy, super retro sounding eighties style electro-funk, to crunchy, almost Latin sounding big beat workouts, to churning, near-gothic sounding industrial dirges that remind us a bit of some of Dom Fernow's recent projects (Christian Cosmos, Silent Servant, Vatican Shadow). Beyond that, there's also some super soundtracky chase scene electro, heavily collaged loopscapes, noisy and a little chaotic, as well as some cool lo-fi retro electro-pop that sounds like it could be backing tracks for some lost James Ferraro project. Also in the mix, a couple hip hop sounding jams, all 808's and 909's, along with some minimal rhythmic Muslimgauze like murk, and some seriously slinky, slithery slo-mo house music, not to mention one brief but bad ass closer, all super tripped out minimal psychedelic disembodied beats, drifting in a metallic haze. Awesome.
V/AL.I.E.S. Presents: Music For Shut Ins(L.I.E.S.)2cd$ 22.00
A while back we reviewed a compilation called American Noise / Volume One, which was a killer collection of tracks from the L.I.E.S. label, run by Ron Morelli, whose recent album Spit, a hypnotic collection of murky electronic minimalism, was a big hit around here. That comp featured a handful of folks we had heard before (Steve Moore, Legowelt) but loads more we hadn't. A sprawling and super varied sampling of the L.I.E.S. label's best and brightest, more of which is on display here, with most of the new-to-us artists from that first comp returning again (Svengalisghost, Beau Wanzer, Vapauteen, Terekke, Marcos Cabral) along with still more new names. And if anything, this comp might be even better than the first. Whereas American Noise definitely still seemed geared to the dancefloor to a degree, Music For Shut Ins seems to be true to its title, as most of the tracks here are more deep headphone listening, dancemusic for folks who wouldn't be caught dead on a dancefloor, claustrophobic, psychedelic, murky, minimal and abstract, once again straddling the line between the Kompakt and Hospital labels, slipping from dubbed out Euro-house to gristly post industrial electro, from robotic bunkurfunk to slo-mo soul, and from tripped out techno to noise drenched nineties style blunted beatscapes a la techno Animal. Some of our favorites include Terekke's "Amaze", which is all murky, hazy, barely there rhythmic skitter, swirling slowed down vocal samples, all heavily dubbed into a druggy drift, definitely for fans of Burial, Vessel, oOoOO and the like, the washed out hyper rhythmic abstraction that is Gunnar Haslam's "Aisepos", which buries everything under a woozy haze, the beat a bleary cascade of skitter and stutter, laced with soft synth swirls and what sounds like faux horns, but all blurred and smeared into something ghostly and ethereal. There's the distorto-house of Entro & Terri, which sounds like classic club music given a psychedelic noise makeover, or the squelchy FX drenched electro of TX connect, Daywalker & CF offer up some John Carpenter electro, if that even is a thing, all cinematic and sweeping, tethered to a tangle of overlapping rhythms and beats, all washed out and beautifully bleary, while Svengalisghost delivers some churning industrial electro that sounds like it could be another Dom Fernow project (Vatican Shadow, Christian Cosmos,etc.). There's plenty more too, with some tracks definitely falling closer to the actual dancefloor, but even those all seem at least a bit tweaked and twisted. Definitely recommended for all you electronic music shut ins, which most definitely describes many of us as well!!
V/ALHave One On Meipa Kodi Ya City Council(Mississippi)lp$ 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY. Yet another amazing compilation from this Northwestern reissue label. Mississippi, in addition to the bad ass blues and folk comp I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore 1927-1948 reviewed elsewhere on this list, also compiled this amazing collection of rare R+B, pop, high life, juju and choral music from Africa. Mali, Somalia, Kenya, Zambia, even Sierra Leone... The comp opens with the most wicked slice of down and dirty afro funk you will ever hear. Super funky, hot and sweaty afro soul supreme. Dense propulsive funky drumming, killer old soul jangle riffs, and growled and crooned, sexed up vocals, complete with JB style "HEY!"s... So intense and emotional and irresistible. Nothing else on the comp is as wild or as funky, but it's all amazing. Crooned ballads with simple shuffling rhythms, fluttery flutes and a deep warm velvety voice, festive joyous celebratory jams, with wildly strummed guitars, lush vocal harmonies, wild percussion, dark languorous afroblues, every track here is a gem, some funky and upbeat, others moody and mellow, so fantastic. Fans of the Ethiopiques comps, the recently reviewed Yaala Yaala releases, that killer Ghana Soundz collection, and the Afro Funk Explosion comp, heck, if you love this stuff the way we do, then you NEED this. All handmade packaging, recycled record sleeves with pasted on front and back covers. Nice.
V/ALa Foresta Della Morte Original Motion Picture Soundtrack(ToYo)cd$ 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY. Purporting to be an Italian horror movie soundtrack (it's not), this locally-produced comp manages to make you wish there were such a movie, if only to see how the pretty awesome selection of songs on here could be made to fit into it. Contributors include The Need, Joan of Arc, Collosamite, Thrones, Impaled, Armatron, Transitional, Melt Banana, The Champs, Pablos Triangle, and more. As you can see from that list, this is a strangely varied comp indeed, from metal to emo to no wave, but it all somehow seems to fit together just like a "soundtrack" should. Good stuff.
V/ALa Paloma #1(Trikont)cd$ 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY. Another new and truly amazing compilation (the first in a series of ten!) from our current favorite German label, Trikont. On this you'll hear musicians from vastly varied genres and times covering the same song: "La Paloma". From Charlie Parker, to Carla Bley, to Jelly Roll Morton, to Amon Duul, to slack key wizard Ray Kane, to Tex-Mex guru Flaco Jimenez, to... Ahh, there's a bunch here that you and I have never heard of, but that will kick your butt. Must be heard to be believed... No, just plain must be heard.
V/ALa Paloma #2(Trikont)cd$ 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY. Part two in Trikont's ten part "La Paloma" series continues with an equally varied line up of renditions from such notables as Esquivel, Paco De Lucia, Babba Brooks, Hank Snow, Freddy Fender, Xavier Cugat and much more!
V/ALa Paloma #3(Trikont)cd$ 14.98
It never ends... Volumes 3 & 4 of Trikont's hefty "La Paloma" project are now available. As the title implies, and as you may recall from the first two we had in previously, these are compilations of artists from various genres and points in time doing renditions of the song "La Paloma." It's an honorable effort, if not a bit obsessive (the total number of tracks in the series now clocking in at 103). Listening to any one of these anthologies the whole way through and you can start to lose your mind. A new song begins, with new instrumention, a different arrangement and key... And yet, it's the same melody all over again. Definitely not for the faint of heart. Volume 3 has such greats as Dean Martin, Perez Prado, Eddie Peabody, Unbekannte Harfinistin Pariser Metro, Bing Crosby and much more.
V/ALa Paloma #4(Trikont)cd$ 14.98
It never ends... Volumes 3 & 4 of Trikont's hefty "La Paloma" project are now available. As the title implies, and as you may recall from the first two we had in previously, these are compilations of artists from various genres and points in time doing renditions of the song "La Paloma." It's an honorable effort, if not a bit obsessive (the total number of tracks in the series now clocking in at 103). Listening to any one of these anthologies the whole way through and you can start to lose your mind. A new song begins, with new instrumention, a different arrangement and key... And yet, it's the same melody all over again. Definitely not for the faint of heart. Volume 4 features such super stars as Andre Popp, The Harmonica Playboys, Mabibi Na Mabwana, Ich Schwitze Nie and much more.
V/ALaboratory Series Vol. 2(Planetsounds)cdr$ 8.98
Another installment in this series of fringe electronica compilations from the very cool Planetsounds label, who like AQ faves Fflint, continue to dig up amazing and obscure electronica that in a perfect world would send Warp and Lo and all those other labels crying home to their mommies. There are a few recognizable artists represented, Tele:funken (they did a split with Flying Saucer Attack a few years ago), Illuminati (see elsewhere on this list) and the Irritants, but all the others are veritable unkowns. The sound ranges from throbbing low-fi ambient technoscapes to fluttery chiming gurgle and buzz to static-y skittery electronic clatter to creepy shimmery high end skree and hiccupping drum stutter and all point in between. Any one who has been digging Berkowitz, Lake And Dahmer, Cousin Silas and all that Fflint stuff should check this out.
V/ALaboratory Series Volume One(Planetsounds)cdr$ 8.98
Electronica compilation from the UK on relatively new label Planetsounds. Features: Daniel Weaver (ex Stock, Hausen, and Walkman), JJ Howard, Disco Operating Systems, and Magic City (who all record for the RSI label). Black Curtain, Whitecube, and Pendro and Oleum (both of the mighty Fflint Central label) and more!
V/ALabyrinths & Jokes(Hanson)cd$ 14.98
CD reissue of this 1998 LP only compilation highlighting some of the lesser known bands on Hanson (ie: not Wolf Eyes). Long tracks from: NAUTICAL ALMANAC -- retarded chicken scratch guitar, damaged casios, screeching sinewaves, instrument buzz, all stacked in a big squrmy, noisy pile. ISIS AND WEREWOLVES -- Lo-fi carnival soundtrack rock. Feedback and clattery rhythms, wailing guitars and keyboards spit out a fuzzy, skronky Merzbow meets Goblin splatterscape (heavier on the Merzbow). RON OF JAPAN -- A symphony of demented squeak toys gives way to pounding caveman thud which dissolves into an almost melodic, soothing free-noise drone. ANDREW WILKES-KRIER -- Ambient clatter, moaning distant drones, and humming low end rumbles, bird sounds and sparse percussive tinkle. Quite a bit different than the stuff he does now under the Andrew W.K. moniker! THE MINI-SYSTEMS -- Sing-songy electronic melodies under a shifting sea of white noise, amp buzz, gurgle and whir. THE BEAST PEOPLE -- Noisy chaotic, skree-scape of recording dropouts, static and hiss, growling moster vocals, distant screechs, and warbly slow motion melodies wrapped in white noise.
V/ALagos All Routes: Juju & Highlife, Apala & Fuji(Honest Jon's)cd$ 16.98
Damon Albarn and his Honest John's Records went to Nigeria and all we got were two awesome compilations of classic Juju, Highlife and Afrobeat hits culled from rare vinyl that most of will never be lucky enough to score. With the influence of Fela Kuti sewn boldly on heart, some of these songs are actually from bands who really did time as part of Fela's live outfit. Both this and the companion compilation Lagos Chop Up are super solid collections of some of the best sounds coming out of Nigeria from the mid 60's up unti the early 80's. Very good stuff!
V/ALagos Chop Up: Fuji & Afrobeat, Highlife & Juju(Honest Jon's)cd$ 16.98
Damon Albarn and his Honest John's Records went to Nigeria and all we got were two awesome compilations of classic Juju, Highlife and Afrobeat hits culled from rare vinyl that most of will never be lucky enough to score. With the influence of Fela Kuti sewn boldly on heart, some of these songs are actually from bands who really did time as part of Fela's live outfit. Both this and the companion compilation Lagos All Routes are super solid collections of some of the best sounds coming out of Nigeria from the mid 60's up unti the early 80's. Very good stuff!
V/ALagos Disco Inferno(Academy)cd$ 13.98
There's been a deluge of reissues and compilations of groovy '70s music from West Africa coming out lately, on this list in fact you'll also find Soundway's Nigeria Special Vol. 2 reviewed, with another one, their Nigeria Afrobeat Special comp, waiting in the wings. Well we just say, bring it on! If it's as good as THIS, we want to hear it!! Lagos Disco Inferno (the title says it all) is brought to us via the Academy label, who were responsible for that amazing Ofege reissue, among other great releases. Compiled by vintage vinyl fiend Frank Gossner (who does a blog called Voodoofunk), this is packed with a dozen tracks of burning, sweat-soaked funk/disco grooves, total dancefloor fuel, recordings circa 1976-'82 from Nigerian artists including Blo, Pogo Ltd., Doris Ebong, Grotto, Nana Love, Tirogo, MFB, Paradise Stars, Christy Essien, Geraldo Pino, Asiko Rock Group, and Emma Dorgu. Track one, Doris Ebong's "Boogie Trip", with her persuasive vocals and some psychedelic electronic FX, is an insanely funky, and freaky, number that gets the party started right, in fact, it features the sounds of a wild dance party going on in the background (as there should be!). And track after track, the Lagos Disco Inferno party doesn't stop... right though to Nana Love's almost 15 minute tour-de-force "Hang On", which ends the album leaving you wanting more, more, more. Damn. This is simply amazing from start to finish, a f*cking awesome comp, if you don't dig it then we doubt you've even got a funky bone in your body. The acts here could certainly compete with American contemporaries like the JB's, Kool & The Gang, and the BT Express, these exuberant tracks bursting with chicken scratch guitar, fat bass, ecstatic vocal squeals, and tight horn sections being put through their paces (ferinstance, on the aforementioned "Hang On"). James Brown is clearly a big influence, and Christy Essien on "Take Life Easy" sounds like she could have been one of his funky divas. To mention a few others, though we can't begin to pick favorites, we like how Geraldo Pino's "African Hustle" mixes in "Blow Your Head" style JB synth wiggle and vocal exclamations worthy of Jimmy Castor. "Everybody Get Down" by Asiko Rock Group is over 8 minutes of sheer get down grunt indeed. Pogo Ltd.'s insistent "Don't Put Me Down" also delivers the JB's vibe we enjoy (sounding a bit Ethiopiques too), while MFB's "Boredom Pain" has got more of a laidback groove, with soulful vocals and an eruption of fuzzed out acid rock guitar soloing that kicks in part way through - this could easily be something from those recently reviewed records by Amanaz or Witch from down in Zambia... Hey, but rather than talk about all twelve tracks, let's just say two words: get this! And again, two more: get down!! Includes knowledgeable liner notes, the cd in a digipack, the vinyl in a nice gatefold sleeve.
V/ALagos Shake: A Tony Allen Chop Up(Honest Jon's)cd$ 17.98
V/ALaila Je T'aime(Mississippi / Change / Sahel Sounds)lp$ 15.98
**MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT****MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT** One of three brand new Mississippi titles we're listing this week, this one a lovely collection of Western Sahelian guitar music brought to us also in part by Sahel Sounds who also released the incredible Saharan Cellphones compilation and the Ali Ag Amoumine record. Laila Je T'aime is comprised of various field recordings mostly of solo guitarists and singers, but also some larger groups in different areas of the region such as Mauritania, Senegal and Mali. The intimate recording technique not only captures the beautifully soulful vocals and circularly lyrical fingerpicking style, but also the outdoor ambiance of desert life. It really feels like you're present at the moment these songs are being performed. What's also surprising is that while many of the songs recorded seem to have a timeless traditional quality as if meant to be handed down from previous generations, the very last song will be very familiar to western ears. It took us a second to realize what it was, thinking it was just a coincidentally similar melody, but then the vocals kick in with what turns out to be a really lovely rendition of "Message In a Bottle" by The Police! Gorgeous stuff! Comes with a newsprint booklet insert, with color photos and extensive liner notes about artists, and the journey that resulted these recordings.
V/ALal Lal Lal Festival 3(Lal Lal Lal)cassette$ 8.98
Finland's Lal Lal Lal label is one of those cottage industry imprints that's always got something interesting going on, regardless of who's paying attention, releasing a diverse selection of lo-fi hijinks from (mostly) fellow Finnish freaks such as Fricara Pacchu, Avarus, and Maniacs Dream, though they've got some international friends on the roster as well like Howlin' Magic and The Skaters. Apparently a bunch of their acts got together last year for a festival, making rare live appearances some of 'em, and to have something to special to sell at the fest they produced this limited edition compilation cassette, containing tracks from Semimuumio, Suohumala, Fricara Pacchu, Astral Social Club, and Pylon. That's four from Finland and one (ASC, aka Neil Campbell) from the UK. Side 1 is the "danceable" side, perhaps (seriously, they get a groove on). It begins with the "emotional, adult-oriented beat" 'tronica of Semimuumio, a cheerfully synth-laden instrumental ditty, the synthwork getting wilder and more warped as the piece picks up its pace. Then Suohumala chimes in with another pleasant groover, incorporating classical-Casio sounds and a bit of a burbling reggae dub vibe. AQ fave Fricara Pacchu comes next, his track a stomping one with thick flanged-out riffs, all-instrumental like the ones before. Finally on side 1, Astral Social Club's style of cacophonic cut-up loops and beats and effects brings a chaotic throb to the proceedings. All very nice. The cacophony continues on the second side, but in a more freeform fashion, with interesting abstract stuttering and staggered sounds, blips and bleeps and glitched out skree from Pylon, who gets the whole side for this somewhat noisier and much longer track than the others. It's pretty cool too. This entertaining artifact comes in the form of an opaque white plastic cassette, with the J-card cover looking to us oddly very early '90s desktop publishing in its graphical execution. Sadly, Lal Lal Lal say they're winding things up label-wise so this may be one of their last ever releases...
V/ALand Of The Sufis: Soul Music From The Indus Valley(Shanachie)cd$ 15.98
EMI set up recording studios on the Pakastani border, the result is this Sufi hoe down.
V/ALand of the Rising Noise, Vol. 2(Charnel Music)cd$ 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY. Charnel's newest, adventureous compilation of underground Japanese sounds, some names perhaps familiar, some not. Noise, punk, psychedelia and beyond are represented here, some names: Melt-Banana, Shizuka, Amgsphont, Der Eisenrost, Wnico, Contagious Orgasm... Definitely worth checking out.
V/ALast Kind Words(Mississippi)lp$ 10.98
This barely even needs a review at this point, which at AQ customarily means a long and very extensive review will follow, but we're serious this time. We can barely keep anything on Mississippi Records in stock. This small Portland store turned reissue label has been releasing an amazing bunch of old timey gospel and blues comps, African comps, as well as some killer jazz. I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore, Life Is A Problem, Lipa Kodi Ya City Council. All sold out in the blink of an eye. Mississippi have been gradually repressing those, as well as readying a whole 'nother batch of musical goodness. Elsewhere on this list you'll find the Washington Phillips lp, and then there's this here beauty of a comp, Last Kind Words, an amazing collection of old timey blues, gospel, rhythm and blues, a ton of rarities, not the usual blues suspects at all: Edward Clayborn, Isiah Nettles, The Anglin Brothers, Kid Prince Moore, Lulu Jackson, Louis McDaniels & Gid Smith, Sister O.M. Terrell, Robert Wilkins and a bunch more. A couple of our favorite tracks are the title track by Geechie Wiley, her voice so lovely and raw, a gorgeous mournful melody, and a hook that is so catchy, all it takes is one play in the store, and we're all humming it all day, and "Catfish Blues" by Robert Petway, some raw stomping stripped down blues, with some amazing guitar playing, but it's the voice that does it, a raspy soulful croon, that sounds like it was crafted using whiskey, cigarettes and sandpaper, occasionally soaring to an almost falsetto, but just as smoothly slipping into super low growl. As if the music weren't enough, and believe us IT IS, Last Kind Words also features original artwork, by aQ pal and bad ass artist Chris Johanson. Also includes a printed cardstock insert with the track info and very little else. As always SO RECOMMENDED. And as always, be prepared for us to sell out of these right quick. We'll do our best to restock as quickly as possible, assuming the label doesn't sell out too...
V/ALast Time Around(Mississippi)lp$ 14.98
**MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT** **MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT** **MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT** Yep, Mississippi Records strikes again with another perfectly assembled compilation. Or more appropriately, they strike with a perfect cherry picked compilation of yet ANOTHER perfectly assembled compilation, as the eleven songs here represent highlights taken from Tompkins Square's massive 3cd set Fire In My Bones released back in 2007. So, in the event that you own that album already, you might not need this too, unless the vinyl format compells... But everyone else is advised to jump on board and embrace the gospel. Particularily if you'd rather have the 4 hours of that Fire In My Bones comp distilled down to two essential sides of vinyl. The tracks here are of the variety that will make non-believers feel like they are missing out. It is important to note that Fire In My Bones was subtitled "Raw + Rare + Other-Worldly African-American Gospel". Raw and other-worldly being perhaps the best descriptions for the sounds within. Naturally, the enormity of Fire In My Bones might be too much for some folks to handle, so Last Time Around gets a warm welcome here at aQuarius. These songs cover pretty wide sonic ground. You have tracks like opener "Get Back Satan" by Rev. Roger L. Worthy & His Sister Bonnie, where the siblings accompany each other vocally with a beautiful tremeloed electric guitar, reminding us of some of the material on Sonic Boom's recent Spacelines compilation. Isaiah Owens' "You Without Sin Cast The First Stone" offers up a nice contrast with slashing electric guitar that sounds slightly (not too much) and awesomely out of tune, while the vocals go from Son House styled growls to a wailing falsetto. Elsewhere we have Bishop McDaniel, whose "Rock Daniels" is a stomping rocker with a sound that manages to outsleaze many of today's garage rock hopefuls. The gang gospel vocals, of course, take things to levels of heavenly bliss that you just can't reach unless you BELIEVE. Awesome. Kicking off side B, Isaac Haney & The Ebenezer Baptist Church Choir's "At A Time Like This (Part One) is a slow organ led number that serves a beautiful comedown to Bishop Daniel's fire and brimstone. The legendary Precious Bryant makes an appearance here with "The Saints", her amazing clear vocals and cool country strummed guitar making this a standout among the standouts. The album closes with Theotis Taylor's rendition of "Swing Low", where plinky pianos and awesome crooned vocals appear to overpower and distort the microphones for that in-the-red sound that we all LOVE. Mississippi-heads have no doubt already hit the "add to cart" button, and while this pristine collection is great for anyone even slightly interested in gospel music, the performances here are so passionate, energetic, and cool that they will likely win over people who had no idea what real gospel music sounds like. As always, this one gets our highest recommendation.
V/ALatin Goes Ska(Jet Set)cd$ 15.98
We're not sure why this record is titled as such, since it's straight up 1963-64 era early ska from genius producer Duke Reid (who often held his artists at gunpoint in the studio until they cut the tracks to his satisfaction). Most of the comp features the BRILLIANT, sunny day sax stylings of Tommy McCook and the Skatalites. Think easy tempo ska infused with American r&b/soul... Yes it is that good! Highly recommended. From Jet Set, the French reggae reissue label whose releases we plan to carry a lot more of.
V/ALatin Jazz(Smithsonian Folkways)cd$ 16.98
V/ALatinamericarpet: Exploring the Vinyl Warp of Latin American Psychedelia Vol. 1(Sublime Frequencies)cd$ 16.98
Two more installments in Sublime Frequencies' ever expanding catalogue of amazing music from around the world. And by now we shouldn't have to tell you that pretty much every single release is a mind blower. But we will if need be. Any obsessive music freak owes it to themselves to check out and most likely own every single one of these. Some are beautiful and mysterious, some are strange and haunting, others are festive and jubilant, and a handful are truly truly strange. Wild and wonderful, perplexing but fantastically fun. And this one definitely falls into that category. Even before we get to the music, it's easy to tell this is gonna be a weird one, the cover is a wild swinging sixties party, with hot girls and guitars, giant dice, bongos, vests, sunglasses, suspended cubes made out of record jackets, the back of the disc features another swinging mod party and inexplicably a huge black and white image of Batman superimposed over the top. Inside it's hula girls in front of the Easter Island statues, a crazy cartoon of a big mouthed lady juggling numbers and a little kid hanging onto her arm, big ol' electric guitars, and on the disc, canaries in a cage, plus, c'mon! It's called Latinamericarpet!? The music inside perfectly reflects the chaos and craziness on the sleeve. A selection of various lost Latin American psych lps from the sixties, but 'psych' here is VERY loosely defined. This sounds like the best DJ set you'll never hear, spinning awesome garage, fuzzed out psychrock, weird novelty records and everything in between. This is definitely the strangest disc in the series since those Radio discs of randomly captured radio broadcasts. As much as fans of weird world music, and strange found sounds will want this, so will folks who have been digging on all the crazy psych comps of late. This just might trump them all. Here's a quick rundown of some of the sounds and songs here: super groovy fuzzy sixties garage psych, with slippery reverbed guitars and a killer groove, weird synths and organs playing along with chirping and singing birds, strange spoken word tracks with dark orchestral backing, Joe Meek-ish garage jams, instrumental but with a killer Eastern flair, rapid fire melodies and lots of conga drums, Mozart transformed into a groovy fuzzy jam, lush orchestral pop with crooned vocals, sound effects, sped up voices and spoken word, a yoga instructional record, with a gorgeous extended drone for you to practice along to, some super goofy, jaunty children's music, all playful melodies, wah guitars, and Muppets like vocals, lilting easy listening, all Lawrence Welk strings and lo-fi organs, killer warbly reverbed surfrock, with wailing sax and fuzzy organs, classical piano accompanied by what sounds like a small choir, a full on Bollywood style ballad, total Wipeout worship instrumental garage rock jam, groovy exotica, all marimbas and playful percussion, wild mariachi with accordion upright bass, and amazing vocal harmonies, murky muddy surf rock jam complete with a super long extended bad ass drum solo and it goes on and on and on. Every song a surprise, everyone catchy and wonderful in its own way, all woven into a perfect sonic travelogue through the swinging sixties in Latin America, lots of the songs separated by little snippets from novelty records, voices, and sounds, language instructions, snippets of songs, giving the whole thing a similar vibe as past 'Radio' installments in the Sublime Frequencies series, or like we mentioned before, the greatest, wildest DJ set ever.
V/ALaton Compilation(Laton)cd$ 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY. Strangely antique, yet highly appealing, the Laton Compilation is a collection of hypnotechno from Vienna's unusual often irony laden school of electronica. With contributions Pomassl, Alois Huber, M. Soellner, Auralbino, Proof, A. Burger, and Fon, the compilation is surprisingly consistant in its sound, paralleling the monophunktraction of the Voigt brothers / Cologne sound but with more new wave sounds than deep house elements for something resembling early 90s Sheffield bleep techno (Tricky Disco, TGT, LFO, Altern 8).
V/ALe Flow: The French Hip Hop Avant Garde(Trace)cd$ 15.98
Wide ranging collection of French hip-hop, from Parisian gangstah rap to down-tempo slow jams. Featuring MC Solaar with Missy Elliott, Les Nubians, Assassin, Alliance Ethnik, Arsenik & RZA and much more. This is really great stuff. Certainly the best collection of French hip hop we've heard so far. Nice to know MC Solaar isn't going it alone.
V/ALe Jazz Non: A Compilation of Norwegian Noise(Smalltown Supersound)cd$ 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY. A "reply" by Bruce Russell of Corpus Hermeticum to his own compilation of New Zealand noise released in 1996. Hearing the aesthetic connections in the outside music styles of New Zealand and Norway, Bruce put together this compilation to promote his comrades in Norway. Featuring AQ-faves Kjetil D. Bransdal, Supersilent and a score of other cold, northern hemisphere noise makers. Like most comps, not 100% great, and we can't rate it as highly as the original New Zealand one, but it's certainly interesting. Check this out especially if you liked the first comp.
V/ALeaf Compilation(Leaf)cd$ 15.98
A mix by Susumu Yokota includes works by Pole, Four Tet, Rothko, Faultline, Rob Ellis, P'Tang and Susumu himself.
V/ALean Into It: A Tribute To Die Kreuzen(Erosion)cd$ 13.98
V/ALegends Of Benin(Analog Africa)cd$ 24.00
Score three in a row for the always amazing Analog Africa label! First African Scream Contest, then Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou, and now Legends of Benin! Focusing on four composers, Gnonnas Pedro, Honore Avolonto, Antoine Dougbe, and El Rego from the small West African country Benin, recording between 1969 and 1981. All coming from different regional musical traditions but operating in the same fervent musical scene in Cotonou where the Orchestre Poly Rhythmo were also from, that group providing back-up on a couple of tracks here. As with the other two Analog Africa compilations, this one also focuses on tight danceable grooves and rare afro-funk. Gnonnas Pedro was perhaps the most popular of the four, being a master of the style known as Agbadja, derived from early burial rituals focusing on three differently toned percussion instruments, Pedro modernized the sound to such a degree that the first track, the highly infectious "Dadje Von O Von Non" later became the anthem for the national football team. Honore Avolonto, a young tumba player from Togo, was the most prolific composer in Benin, writing songs for pretty much every group around. Amazingly, he had no band of his own, but would score a hit, tour with the band until the hit faded and then write another hit with some other band and be off. He eventually recorded an LP,which became Benin's biggest selling LP ever. El Rego, a boxer in his young life and a brothel owner later on, made one of the first recordings of Jerk music (as soul and funk music was so dubbed) in Benin. His tracks are the most Western influenced, often times singing in English. Antoine Dougbe, is the most obscure and his tracks are among the rarest finds. His style combined elements of Congolese Rhumba, High Life, and traditional Beninese rhythms into a form he called Afro-Cavacha, named after the fast rhythms of pop music from Zaire. Dougbe, often worked with the Orchestre Poly-Rhytmo, but it was often an uneasy relationship since Dougbe's father was a feared and powerful Voudon priest, and the band (most of them practicing Voudons) feared reprisals should they question Dougbe's arrangements and musical instruction. But undoubtedly this religious quality so pervasive in Benin is what created such intensely tight and dynamic music, hypnotic and bewitching and endlessly captivating. Pure Gold!
V/ALess Self is More Self(Ecstatic Peace)cd$ 16.98
As some of you might know, last March, Tarantula Hill, the home-base and performance center of Baltimore's Nautical Almanac burned down in a fire. Luckily some of their friends in the wide world of the noise/experimental music scene have been coming to their rescue. This double-cd comp put out by Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace is a benefit for them with all proceeds going directly to Tarantula Hill. With folks like Aaron Dilloway, Chris Corsano, Burning Star Core and Mouthus you know there will be some serious havoc waiting for your ears. But there are some other folks like Jack Rose, The Haunting and Pengo to bring some more mesmerizing trance inducing sounds into the mix. Good noise for a good cause.
V/ALet's A Go-Go! - Singapore And Southeast Asian Pop Scene 1964-69(Silver Tortoise)cd$ 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY. Yet another fantastic collection of Southeast Asian pop, funky and fuzzy, jangly and garagey, poppy and psychedelic. Let's A Go-Go definitely sounds like it could have ended up on Sublime Frequencies, but in spirit seems to fall closer to one of our favorite comps ever, Teen Dance Music From China And Malaysia, the focus here less cultural and anthropological, and more fun fun fun. There are several tracks from Dara Puspita, whose entire collected work was recently reissued on Sublime Frequencies, and which should give you a good idea of the sort of fuzzy garage pop you can expect here, but besides DP, there's not a single band here we've heard of, but they're all fantastic, Rita Chao, The Bes, Patrina, Hai Fei, The Dee-Tee's, The Crescendos, The Blue Beats, Rocky Teoh, Charlie And His Go-Go Boys, Lotus Liew, Orkes Tropicano... And of course there are a handful of covers, in keeping with Southeast Asia's obsession with Western pop music, the perfect examples being both Patrina's "One To Nine Walkin", and Charlie And His Go-Go Boys' "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'", the first a cool reinterpretation of Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'", almost identical to the original, in arrangement at least, even with the change in title, the vocals a bit more playful and girlish, and there's the addition of a cool almost Christmasy sounding chiming guitar breakdown between every verse! And the second a wild sexy sixties instrumental version, with the vocals replaced by horns, a go-go jam true to the band's name for sure. The whole record is like some super exotic sixties dance party, flutes flutter, drums shuffle, organs hum and wheeze, melodies twist and tangle, the sound definitely Asian, but also Western, from fuzzed out garage rockers, to cool garage-ified Asian folk, most of the vocalists are female, but the handful of males representing are pretty spectacular, the Dee-Tee's "Just Because" is a haunting minor key ballad, the Quests' "The Dancer" is total Beatles-esque jangle (definitely cobbled together from a handful of parts from various Beatles songs), there's a groovy version of "Wooly Bully", there's some sixties space aged garage a la the Telstars and so much more. Totally wild and fun, and fuzzy and funky and so varied, a fantastic comp that will definitely appeal to Sublime Frequencies obsessives, Southeast Asian pop nerds, and anyone who bought Teen Dance Music From China And Malaysia, loved it to death but wanted more more more!