[ aquarius records catalogue

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Showing results 2901 through 2950 of 3547.

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Modern psychedelic shamanistic troubadour and lord of fiery feedback howl Keiji Haino, along with legendary political folk radical Kan Mikami and veteran percussionist Toshiaki Ishitsuka (frequent Kazuki Tomokawa collaborator) comprise the so-called supergroup known as Vajra. Through several albums over the years, the improvisational trio has proven to continually evolve and remain as unclassifiable as any and all of their combined solo efforts. From the lyrically charged folk psychedelia of their early discs to the driven rhythmic force of their Ring album to the explosive sonic maelstrom and dynamism of Sichisiki: The Seventh Consciousness (an album not to be missed, Hainophiles!); a new album from Vajra carries with it a sense of newness and excitement. It demands you come without predilection and prejudice. Formed in the early nineties, the trio has grown to complement each others' unique languages. With Mandala Cat Last, they have inadvertantly metamorphosed themselves into a taut unit, rich in melody and musically cohesive. Their improvisations seem so natural and intentional, the fact that they are improvised doesn't even register as a technical aside. A short but sweet forty minutes, these six pieces are, like much of Mikami's oeuvre, tenebrous and graphic with that touch of mysticism only Haino can deliver. The opening cut, "The Sky Looks Green To Me", slowly builds a feral vocal interaction between Mikami and Haino. The disquieting and chilling vocal cries of the moving "Monkeys Don't Pray" are paired with haunting waves of distorted atmospherics and sparse percussive fits. An acapella break in the center of the album (from a revisited passage off of Mikami & Haino's Heisei recordings) is reciprocated by a warm instrumental closing hymn. Really beautiful, and though the lyrics are in Japanese, there are translations in the accompanying lyric sheets (and it turns out one of the songs has lyrics about Japanese cola!) -- which aren't totally necessary as the music, including Mikami's impassioned wails, transcends language and is quite engaging in its own right!

RealAudio clip: Monkeys Don't Pray
RealAudio clip: The Sky Looks Green To Me

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SORRY. 2nd disc from Japanese avant-scene-masters Keiji Haino, Kan Mikami, and Toshiaki Ishitsuka.

3rd album from the amazing Japanese improv-folk-rock trio of Keiji Haino, Kan Mikami, and Toshiaki Ishitsuka. Fans of Keiji's crazy Fushitsusha guitar style should maybe start with this one.

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SORRY. 4th effort from the Vajra supergroup (Keiji Haino, Kan Mikami, and Toshiaki Ishitsuka).

Some cool post rock doom weirdness from Sweden, taking all the usual elements, pounding drums, chugging downtuned guitars, etc, and mixing in plenty of post rock, which yeah, is not such a huge deal these days, but all the PIANO probably is! Yep, Piano! Vaka is piano driven, drum heavy post doom heaviness. The drums, like the piano are crucial to the sound, recorded LOUD, way up in the mix, locked in with the piano, creating these killer brooding slow burning post rock epics, pounding, hypnotic, looped, repetitive, imagine a doomier heavier more stripped down Godspeed, or Neurosis if you swapped out most of the guitars for piano. That all makes sense when you realize Vaka is basically a one man band, the same guy playing drums and piano, crafting his perfect band, a crushing, pummeling, doomic piano / drum duel, with occasional bellowed vox, moaning cellos, and distorted riffage. Because of the focus on the piano and the drums, the sounds often ends up sounding less like doom metal or post rock, and something much more akin to post punk / post industrial a la the Birthday Party, or Einsturzende Neubauten, Swans or even Cop Shoot Cop, very rhythmic, dark, with a hint of cabaret, grand and epic and dramatic and majestic, pounding and for sure industrial at times, definitely melodic, yet still dense and mathy and heavy.

MPEG stream: The Ship
MPEG stream: Born To Secrecy
MPEG stream: I Of Everything

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SORRY. Skweee!

Yet another band in the ever expanding axis of aQ beloved weird and wonderful German metal groups, most of which share members. Avid aQ list readers no doubt remember math metal combo Woburn House, avant black metal horde Klabautamann, mathy folk metal outfit Island and black doom slowcore crawlers Gruenewald, well, you can now black prog doomlords Valborg to that list! Do these guys ever sleep, rest, eat? Well we sure as shit hope not, not if it meant giving up any or all of the projects these guys work on instead, of well, anything else we presume. Needless to say, if you dig any of those other bands, you're probably gonna dig these guys too, playing a sort of gnarled, off kilter, blackened death metal, which is not all that far removed from Woburn House or Klabautamann, or Island, especially Island considering it's the exact same lineup. But in Valborg, the trio unleash thick swaths of woozy downtuned chug, laced with all sorts of tripped out melodies, grunted hellish vox, plenty of clean guitar folkiness, but always a step away from exploding into a burst of blasting heaviness. But no matter what these guys do, whether black metal, death metal, prog metal, they can't seem to keep those various sounds separate, which is precisely why all these bands are so good. From blast beat frenzies, to sea sick arpeggiated waltzes, to tangled Deathspell style blackness, to reverbed space prog, to super catchy almost groovy Khold style metal, often all of the above in a single song,these guys kick out some seriously sick, impossibly varied jams, and we're digging it big time. Guessing some weirdo metalheads out there might too... (By the way, we like how their logo just goes ahead and uses the same triangular shape for the G at the end of their name as it does for the V at the beginning.)

MPEG stream: Wisdom From The Vortex
MPEG stream: Ancient Horrors
MPEG stream: Thunderbolt

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SORRY. Another one of the top vocalists in Cuba, Miguelito Valdes probably received the greatest fame of any Cuban singer in the U.S. Having received his big break singing for Xavier Cugat's orchestra in 1940 - playing at Waldorf-Astoria's famous Starlight Roof in N.Y. The famous song Babalu, made so by performances of it by Cugat and Valdes, became so associated with Miguelito Valdes that he became known as "Mr. Babalu." The recordings here were made in New York City in 1949 (with Miguelito Valdes' orchestra) and 1951 (with Noro Morales' orchestra.)

Rune Grammofon (whose eccentric catalogue also features Supersilent and Arne Nordheim) presents the cd reissue of orchestral works by mythical Norwegian-born composer Valen Fartein (1887 - 1952). "In technical terms, his music is strongly dissonant and based on polyphony. But the overall sound is more colorful than dissonant, more vibrant than strident, and airy despite its dense textures... Valen's world of sound is soft and supple, without the ironic or robust characteristics that dominate much contemporary music." -- Morten Eide Pedersen.

Last year was a rich one for some amazing Tropicalia reissues and rediscoveries of long lost classics. Whether it was the first five Os Mutantes records or classics by Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso or more obscure gems from Luiz Eca, Som Imaginario, Rubinho E Mauro and maybe our favorite of the bunch the collaboration between Alceu Valenca and Geraldo Azevedo. Valenca's beautiful and mystifying vocal delivery and songwriting had us so hooked as that record became one of our most listened to treasures of last year. So of course we've been doing everything in our power to get our hands on more primo Valenca recordings and this one, recorded in 1974 is definitely another solid gold gem. A little more rocking and charged then the record with Azevedo, Mollhado De Suor shows a more extroverted side to Valenca, but still exploring a nice wide range of sounds, which is one of the things we love so much about Valenca. One song he is rocking and all you want to do is jump around in the grass and follow him wherever he decides to go, while the next song might be dreamier and more pastoral, painting him as an artist as comfortable with introspection as he is with bold and upfront fire. That might sound sort of like a modern day songwriter we love lots as well, Devendra Banhart. In fact last time Devendra was in the store he bought a copy of the Valenca & Azevedo cd and we have a feeling that he's been listening to lots of Alceu's recordings lately as a sneak peak listen to his forthcoming record made abundantly clear. On Mollhado De Suor, Valenca is backed by some of the greats in the Brazilian scene of that time, Geraldo Azevedo actually appears on this record too, playing craviola and Brazilian acoustic guitar and AQ fave Lula Cortes is also in the mix playing dulcimer on most of the record. Another 70's gem from Brazil that demands your ears' attention!

MPEG stream: Punhal De Prata
MPEG stream: Molhado De Suor
MPEG stream: Borboleta

One of the best reissues we've stumbled across recently, of a record we haad never heard of. Alceu Valenca & Geraldo Azevedo were Brazilian musicians and composers from the Pernambuco region of Brazil who created a distinct style that mixed elements of psychedelic folk/rock with native northeast rhythms of freco, maracatu, xote, etc. There is something so totally sensual and sexy about this record. It's in their voices and playing and the glimmering recording. With mixing and arrangements in the talented hands of Rogerio Duprat (Gal Costa, Gilberto Gil, Os Mutantes) this has some trademark elements of some of the best and most creative elements of Tropicalia but for sure with their own unique and varied stylings. Totally not a one trick pony at all. What we love so much about this record is that it takes lots of twists and turns but everywhere it goes we more than willingly go right along with it. When it's sweet and sultry it succeeds by not being too polished and by subtly seducing you into its sounds. Almost like what Serge Gainsbourg would sound like at his prime if he was living in Brazil. We also can't stop thinking about how the folks in Blonde Redhead may borrowed a bit from this record as their sensual and compelling melodies seem to have their roots in this recording. Maybe. Just in time for summer, this has proven to be the perfect soundtrack for days filled with sun, romance and adventure. Highly recommended!

MPEG stream: Planetario
MPEG stream: Ciranda De Mae Nina

Finally, a remastered vinyl reissue (in Mono no less) of this undersung sixties bummer-folk masterpiece becomes available for the first time since its initial 1968 release. Dino Valenti (note the spelling, more on that below) is one of the more storied figures of sixties counterculture and the folk-rock movement. An early innovator and influential songwriter (he wrote one of our favorite songs, "Something's On Your Mind", for Karen Dalton) whose ego and largesse kept him from capitalizing on his enormous talent. Born into a family of carnies and gypsies, Valenti was an early key figure in the Greenwich Village folk scene along with Dylan, playing the 12 string acoustic with machine-gun agility. He wrote "Get Together", the proto-typical sixties hippie anthem, but due to legal entanglements from drug busts never saw much fame or money from it until later in his life. A stint in Folsom prison prevented him from joining Quicksilver Messenger Service for their debut, instead joining them later in the early seventies, when they were much less heralded. His 1968 solo album recorded for Epic Records remains the quintessential document of a talented songwriter who disliked the recording process, and tended to unnerve many a recording engineer. The story goes that a full record was recorded by Jack Nitzsche using many of The Wrecking Crew as session players, but Valenti didn't play well with others (his performances tended to veer wildly in tempo and mood making it difficult for musicians to follow along), so the record was scrapped and re-recorded. He cost the studio so much money and bad blood that they didn't bother to fix a misspelling of his last name on the record release, and failed to promote it, so it sank like a stone. No one basically heard it until the nineties when it was issued on cd. Despite statements from friends that Valenti was best heard live in person, his solo album in retrospect is undeniably moving. His twelve string guitar and nasally voice, which may be an acquired taste for some, are beautifully sheathed in warm reverb. Some of the tracks like "Tomorrow" may have been salvaged from the Nitzsche sessions as they have full orchestral treatments, and there's even some studio experimentation with the spacious "Test", but largely it's just guitar and voice in long meandering ballads that showcase Valenti's world-weary outlook with incredible songwriting. For fans of Jim Sullivan, Karen Dalton, Tim Hardin, Townes Van Zandt, Skip Spence, Dave Bixby, Fred Neil and MIJ. Highest Recommendation!

MPEG stream: Tomorrow
MPEG stream: Test
MPEG stream: Something New
RealAudio clip: Children of The Sun

Another vinyl only release from the Tower Recordings' Matt Valentine and it's a doozy. Two massive sides of druggy, psychedelic drone folk clatter. Side A starts with a dreamy smear of reverbed banjo, very gorgeous and thick. Quickly gives way to an extended spaced out clattery free form jam, definitely informed by No Neck Blues Band and the like. Side B is a hazy, shimmery raga of sonic swirls and buzzing melodies, very reminiscent of Vibracathedral Orchestra or Sunroof!. Pressed on gorgeous swirled green vinyl and of course limited.

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

SORRY.

From John Fahey to Jack Rose, we've reviewed loads of amazing modern Appalachia, from straight folk / bluegrass to buzzing droning acoustic ragas. But this just might be the perfect mix of the two, and thus may be the nicest chunk of acoustic / Appalachia / Raga / drone / avantfolk EVER. Really. Tower Recordings' Matt Valentine and Erika Elder give us nine tracks that slip smoothly back and forth between delicate, fingerpicked acoustic bluegrass and almost straight folk workouts, to snarling swirls of dense acoustic drones, with thick buzzing melodies, that wrap you in thick layers of shifting overtones and prickly hum. The vast (and unlikely) instrumentation: guitar, cumbus, oscillator, harmoniaca, big muff, carhorn, dogs, tamboura, kecapi, wood flute, Indian flute, pennywhistle, kazoo, percussion, sruti box, and siren help make the sound super dense and super rich and totally all enveloping. Limited, sorry.

The Tower Recordings' Matt Valentine teams up with some of his freedrone pals for a disc of lengthy, blissed out ur-drones and psychedelic ragas. Subtle, slow burning melodies, and buzzing steel string hum are woven into dense swirling drug psych ambience. Various bits of percussion are sprinkled like glitter throughout, sparkling like distant stars amidst the thick whir of bombinating guitars, and fuzzy stringed buzz. From fiery and fierce to drifting and barely there, this is indeed a divine disc of mesmer, And holy crap is it super trippy to watch this picture disc spin, the colors and shapes, the perfect visual representation of the mind melting sounds within!

Well, that just does it, doesn't it?! In case their existing catalog, which includes reissues of Selda, Jean-Claude Vannier, Yamasuki Singers, Mustafa Ozkent and Bruno Spoerri, didn't already do it, the Finders Keepers label's decision to release the soundtrack of this awesome early '70s Czech New Wave film (one of Cup's faves) totally confirms that they rule... or at least confirms that they share our taste in music and movies! Now, we all know that a soundtrack can be an integral, transformative power in a film, no question, but when one can stand alone sans visuals it takes on a whole 'nother life. Needless to say, we're not talking about those recent lazily compiled nostalgia-button pushing collections of familiar pop songs. Seventies films and their soundtracks were a breed all their own. Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders is a perfect example. A mesmerizing motif-heavy procession of flutes, tinkling bells, harpsichord, organ, and vocal interludes, Lubos Fiser's soundtrack contributes to the establishment and intensification of the nightmare / dream atmospheres of Jaromil Jires' film. At once lulling and unsettling, recurring timorous prepubescent choral incantations are startled by ominous organ exclamations. On its own, the melange of the carnivalesque, music box-y and chamber drones totally captures a distinctly haunting, pixie-dusted delirium. Sound good? If so, you need this now, and of course see the film as soon as possible (it was recently released on dvd)! Definitely for those who were spellbound by the soundtracks to The Wicker Man (the original movie and not the recent Nicholas Cage remake!) or Suspiria. Yes, three very different works, but all equally affecting. Absolutely recommended!

MPEG stream: The Magic Yard
MPEG stream: Brother And Sister
MPEG stream: In Flames

First off, the music IS pretty cool. If you like bombastic, progged out folk/psych symphonics (think Citay meets Six Organs) then definitely check this out, it's good! Leave aside all your preconceptions of its possible pretentiousness (a "New Weird America" tribute to the Czech New Wave of cinema) that seems like someone at Arthur Mag's wet dream, and just bask in its sheer instrumental glory, evocative of its inspiration (the 1970 celluloid cult classic Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders, one of the must surreal, sexy and psychedelic "vampire" stories ever filmed, with a mystical mood quite different from, say, Vampyros Lesbos) but also free standing as a soundtrack to whatever similarly delirious imagery your imagination can conjure. Jittering strings, crashing cymbals, wordless moaning female vocals, storms of heavy-duty psychedelic guitar... grandiose and heavy, also lilting and lovely. It's done with full-on chamber rock instrumentation, which means flutes-a-twitter and harps-a-zing. Atmospheres of dusk, of ancient ritual, of your utmost acid-prog-folk-dreamings are readily achieved. Yep, pretty cool! Onboard for this project are a bunch of well known indie rock/folk artists from the environs of Philadelphia, perhaps foremost among them Greg Weeks, a longtime AQ fave both solo and with his band Espers. Also in the band, other members of Espers, Fursaxa, Fern Knight... the whole Philly "acid folk" scene essentially. Now, we're both fans and friends with a bunch of these folks, and in fact Aquarius was a co-sponsor (along with Drag City and Arthur Magazine, natch) of the recent Valerie Project performance at the Castro Theatre here in San Francisco. But, we can see how some might have a few issues with the whole thing. Issues? Well, as controversies go, this one's pretty minor. Some might be critical of some musicians being "arrogant" enough to make a new soundtrack to to a film that ALREADY HAS an awesome soundtrack -- especially when that soundtrack was recently released on cd to much ballyhoo (you can read our review of it elsewhere on our site if you haven't already). Heck, a lot of people probably only know about this movie because of the soundtrack. So to remake it takes some nerve. But why not? It's not like the original is being erased or something. So we don't have a problem with that. And if folks want to associate themselves with the "coolness factor" of Valerie, well that's understandable too. And like we said, the results are pretty swell. No, it was more the actual fact of the performance that caused some qualms. There were even a couple "protesters" leafleting outside the Castro (among them, former San Francisco mayoral contender Matt Gonzalez! Hmm, you'd think he'd have other demands on his time... but that's why we like the guy, you'd never catch Gavin Newsom up to something like that!), and we can see their point. Basically, it's 'cause the film had NEVER BEFORE been screened in the United States, until now, but WITHOUT any of its original (and like we said, awesome) music, dialogue, or foley work!! You can see how some hardcore cineastes are gonna find that a tad upsetting! All this "controversy" could have been avoided had they simply ALSO shown the film in its intended form, like earlier that day or the night before or something. Heck those protesters could have pooled their dough and put it on. Oh well. Especially since the Valerie Project's "soundtrack" didn't appear to be synced shot-for-shot with the action in the film anyway, perhaps another solution would to have had the band on the stage (instead of hidden in the orchestra pit), with scenes from Valerie projected over them as an imagistic backdrop, presenting it as a rock show, instead of as a legitimate screening of the movie, a move that you'll otherwise never get to see in a theater. Anyway, such quibbling has little to do with the worth of this album, which we like quite a bit!

MPEG stream: Introduction
MPEG stream: Fire Fountain

Another fantastic release from the brilliantly named Yarn Lazer label. This one from Honey Owens who also does time in Jackie O Motherfucker. We mentioned it elsewhere on this list, but there definitely seems to be a preponderance of vocal based music surfacing lately, Grouper, Bastard Wing, Pump Kinn, Lichens, and Valet also uses the voice as a major component of her sound. Twisting and stretching it into broad sonic strokes and dreamy drones. But it's not just vocals, Owens also weaves darkly delicate little sound worlds, of muted tribal percussion, dark cavernous rumbles, lots of buzz and creak, alien transmissions, clattery minimal percussion, crumbling guitar grit, murky swirls of reverb and delay, the perfect sonic backdrop for all manner of processed and unprocessed vocals, ranging from sultry chanteuse like croon, to chopped and delayed Boredomsy "boop boop"s to breathy ambiance. Really beautiful and understated. Packaged in simple and striking silk-screened cardboard sleeves. LIMITED TO 200 COPIES. ALREADY OUT OF PRINT. WE ONLY HAVE ABOUT 30 AND ONCE THEY ARE GONE THAT'S IT!!

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MPEG stream: Blood Is Clean

Brand new vinyl only 12" ep from long time aQ fave Honey Owens and her (often) one woman project Valet. We've been raving about Valet for ages, since the first few cd-r's on Owens' Yarn Lazer cd-r label. Her sound has definitely grown more refined, gotten a bit more polished even, but still manages to sound intimate and fuzzy, warm and languid, dreamy and druggy. False Face Society is another fantastic collection of diamond eyed free folk drift, with Valet now expanded to a quartet, and a lot less reverb than on past outings, so less murk and mumble, in exchange for something a bit more crystalline. The vocals are still delivered in a darkly druggy haze, but the music now glistens and glimmers, shines and sparkles, the combination at once ethereal and ephemeral, lush and layered. And all very dreamlike. Imagine some dark meandering free folk, slowed waaaaaaay down, dipped in acid and then played back frame by frame, a stop motion sprawl of flutter and whir, of woozy warble and unmoored psychedelia. The guitars are spidery and spare, effects are looped within soft clouds of slow shifting textures and spaced out melodies and Honey O's angelic soporific croon. The single song-ed A side amps up a bit part way through, the drums get tribal, and the various abstract strands of sound and melody coalesce into some seriously hypnotic high end shimmer, transformed into a weirdly propulsive bit of Sunroof! like ur-drone, the guitars gradually growing more buzzy and distorted. Two shorter songs n the B side, the first all spaced out synth blurts and distant drifting psych guitars, moaning strings, slivers of feedback and barely there wordless vox, while the second finds Honey O. tackling "Rainbow" all by her lonesome, and yeah, we're talking about THAT "Rainbow", as in Boris and Michio Kurihara's "Rainbow". Here it becomes something super minimal and tripped out, tons and tons of space, reverbed emptiness, shot through with delicate traces of melody, hushed voices, wah wah guitar unfurls lazily, muted understated percussion lurks beneath soft swirls of minimal buzz, and of course Honey O.'s sultry FX-wreathed vocals, the guitars getting more and more psychedelic, over a backdrop that seems content to just hover and shimmer and drift. Druggy, languorous and so so lovely. Packaged in super heavy, full color sleeves, pressed on thick black vinyl, with a photocopied insert, and a download card, so you can get these tracks for your iPod (although, when we tried, we couldn't figure out where or how to download the tracks on the Mexican Summer website).

We've been pretty enamored of this whole new ambient processed vocal dreamdrone movement, our favorites probably being Grouper and Valet, both capable of turning simple vocal melody and some old FX into gorgeous drifty epics. We were warned / promised that this new Valet single was nothing like the rest of her recorded out put, supposedly it was the prettiest and most straight ahead thing she's recorded, and damn if that ain't the truth, not to say this isn't still trippy and druggy and space-y, it most definitely is, it just happens to be more folky and, well, song-like. It's almost straight ahead, simple guitars drift and wave, shimmer and sparkle, amidst a soft background of distant drones and soft whirs, but the vocals are way up in the mix, smokey and sultry, very torch song, still bathed in reverb, but more for mood than obfuscation. A languid late night ballad, a throaty croon singing melancholic tales over that spidery minor key slowcore backdrop, definitely reminds us of Mazzy Star or Galaxie 500. The flipside is more of the Valet we're used to, which balances the folkier flip quite nicely, a bit of spaced out shimmer, looped melodies, and blurred vocals set adrift in soft gently flowing streams of abstract ambience, and murky moodiness. So lovely. SUPER LIMITED! Pressed on clear gold vinyl.

These days, Portland seems to be at the epicenter of a new wave of seriously creative DIY underground 'noise' rock. From the last Yellow Swans record to the wonderfully incestuous Marriage Records crew, there have been a seriously ridiculous number of great releases in the last couple years. The thing is, though, that while you could argue that there is a "Portland sound," every project is totally distinct, so you can't really go lumping them all into some generic category. Well, Honey Owens' newest release under the Valet moniker is absolutely no exception. It's absolutely amazing. If you've been following her work, and you were lucky enough to grab one of the Fire/Beachside 7"s, you have probably noticed a trend toward more structured and more accessible songs. The pop-ophile in us who loves hooks and pretty melodies was pretty excited, while the nerdy drone-monger side was seriously scared. "What if she goes too far? Too poppy?" Alas, Naked Acid is simultaneously a seamless blend of previous works, and -- yes -- a step toward tracks that are more easily digestible. It's like Fripp & Eno had a hippie baby with Karen Dalton and Tangerine Dream. But through it all, one thing that keeps us more than happy is Honey's voice. It's gorgeous, but not at all fragile. Not even so much confident. Instead, it seems beautifully unconcerned with those sorts of paradigms. The overall feeling is one of blissful engagement with melody and texture. Analog synth-sounding drones, gentle strumming, then suddenly everything is heightened by vocals and searing psych guitars. Just like a good movie, the final impression of any artistic experience is at least partially governed by the ending. On Naked Acid, the second to last song is "Fire" from the eponymous 7", which quietly dies down before bringing us to the final piece, a techno song. While on paper it may sound off-putting, it somehow works. If you can picture everything else about this record somehow being woven around some sort of late '90s Detroit techno, created in the wake of Basic Channel and Chain Reaction, then you've got a good idea. Maybe the reason it works so well is simply because it hints at unpredictable ambitions of Ms. Honey Owens, and we've got to say, the future is looking pretty good. Absolutely, wholeheartedly recommended.

MPEG stream: We Went There
MPEG stream: Fire

Another rockin' Radioactive reish. The cover art promises a lot: a Viking longboat burning at sea! But of course this is no proto-black metal, this is an obscure, organ-heavy American psychedelic rock LP from 1969 that'll remind you a bit of early Purple, the Doors, Cream, Iron Butterfly, and others of that ilk/era (Billy Joel's Attila would be another!). At its best, quite hard and energetic, though there are of course some lighter tracks found here as usual within the '60s/'70s proto-metal genre, so you'll have to enjoy Valhalla's mellow, melodic flowers and beads vibe if you're gonna feast on the guitar/organ riff-outs you need.

MPEG stream: Hard Times
MPEG stream: Conceit

MPEG stream: Eternities Ago
MPEG stream: Poison Which Flows In My Veins

We've mentioned these doomy Virginia retro rockers on our list once before, not long ago on account of their quite appropriate split 7" with Bible Of The Devil (featuring the Valkyrie track "False Dreams", also found here), and now we're happy to have their new, sophomore album Man Of Two Visions in stock to list. The band now includes one of the dudes from AQ faves Baroness on guitar, by the way. And Baroness fans might dig like this, though it ain't remotely metalcore or postrock. You gotta be into the old school, melodic heavy metal side of Baroness to ride with Valkyrie! Obvious influences on 'em assuredly include both Witchfinder General and Thin Lizzy, plus the closer to home inspiration of Pentagram and that whole, ol' Maryland doom scene. We're also hearing some Southern stoner rock a la Down and Corrosion Of Conformity (circa Blind or Deliverance). The mood's mainly slow and somber, though they manage to also rock out and let loose with the guitars n' gallop, NWOBHM style. So it's doomy, but not necessarily depressing, with nice harmonies and all. Pretty darn decent effort overall, even if we're not so sure about the mellow instrumental (with keyboards?) "The Green Highlander". Maybe just one instrumental would have sufficed, and we'd pick the album's other one, "The Gorge", a gentle piece for acoustic guitar. And the cover art isn't entirely impressive either. But heck that hardly effects our enjoyment of the (mostly) heavy grooves from this classy, serious band!

MPEG stream: Running Out
MPEG stream: False Dreams

(from the liner notes:) "Marcos Valle is a composer, arranger and singer from Rio, Brasil. This compilation covers his Samba 68 work, right up to his early 80s material. He was responsible for popularising bossa in the US, and struck gold with the Samba 68 LP... In the 60s Valle brought bossa to the masses, with protest songs talking about democracy ... and poverty in the language of the North."

A massive triple lp set of damaged, improvised, outsider free folk from member of various Kentucky rock/noise outfits (Magick Markers, Virgin Eye Blood Brothers, etc..). The stuff we'd read compared Valley Of Ashes to Siloah, Amon Duul 2, Trad Gras Och Stenar and Stone Angel, which seems pretty much impossible, but to be honest, those comparisons are not all that far off the mark. Imagine some impossible blend of all four of those bands, but seriously up the druggy stumble quotient and the damaged lo-fi fuzz and murk levels and you'll be pretty close to getting a feel for VoA's dirgey backwoods krautfolk. Like a folkier NNCK, Valley Of Ashes, weave and stumble through a dark droney landscape of slightly off kilter folk, cracked basement blues, hypnotic alsmot raga-like hum and whir, all with a distinctly Eastern vibe. Delicate chimes drift behind buzzing detuned steel string guitars, clangy pots and pans percussion is wrapped in distant sheets of feedback and laid to rest on a thick blanket of warm fuzz. For being super muddy and lo-fi, at times, everything just clciks and the sound becomes impossibly lush. There are moments when the drifting free folk locks into a seriously stoned groove, getting heavier and much more aggressive, guitars snarling, BIG riffs staggering and lurching, a stone wall of fuzz and clatter, dizzyingly exotic and darkly ominous, a bit like some stoner krautrock band coming completely unmoored, trying desparately to rock, but drifting further and further from the riff, sounding a bit like the No Neck Blues Band on ESP. Some impossible mix of Sabbath, Cromagnon and the Godz. But the fury never lasts long, usually settling back into another perfect doomy dreamy free folk drift... Packaged in a gorgeous thick full color psychedelic sleeve. Be warned though that all of the sleeves are slightly scuffed around the edges. Most won't notice, but bound to get record collector nerds' knickers in a twist!

Killer collab between Justin Broadrick (Godflesh, Jesu, JK Flesh, etc.) and Matthew Bower (Skullflower, Total, Hototogisu, Sunroof!, etc.) along with Samantha Davis who plays with Bower in Voltigeurs, who team up for some seriously old school blackened industrial noise dirge bliss. aQ pal Matt described it as sounding like Skullflower's Birthdeath / Form Destroyer / IIIrd Gatekeeper records "but maybe just a little prettier", which is definitely not that far off the mark. Four long tracks, thick clouds of caustic guitar swirl, blurred riff-noise, and churning chordal thrum, shot through with buried melodies, streaks of feedback, all anchored by a primitive plodding drum machine rhythm. That's the first track at least, best listened to through headphones, which like a lot of recent Bower projects, reveals a whole other world of sonic subtleties beneath the roiling surface, and here it's dreamily keening melodies, some woozy downtuned chugs, and some dense layered noisiness that ends up sounding more trancelike and hypnotic that harsh or brutal. "Ourobous" is more of the same, only with the treble dialed way back, and the low end cranked as high as it'll go, a murky muddy dirge, with a more forceful, double kick driven beat, the dueling guitars sparring in jagged tangles over a swirl of blackened buzz and crunch, until the drums drop out, and the song is transformed into a weirdly mesmerizing ur-drone, one guitar rumbling and whirring while the other unfurls almost black metal sounding riffs, that soar skyward like some black metalized Sunroof! "Naga" pushes the robotic rhythm to the fore, letting the guitars (and this time a very audible bass) grind away, plenty of skree and howl, the bass providing some serious heft, the rhythm section seriously pulverizing, wreathed in a cloud of wild psychedelic guitar freakout. "The Exit Door Leads In" is the longest of the bunch, at 12+ minutes, and is the perfect mix of Godflesh industrial dirge, and Skullflower blackened skree, with all sorts of riffs and melodies and rhythms seeming to gradually come into focus only to dissipate back into the endless psych-noise squall. This final track also seems to have a driving melodic component, that makes it feel the most songlike, sort of gloomy and haunting, like if you stripped away all the guitar noise, you'd be left with some sort of gloomy gothic almost cold wave sounding dirge, but add the guitars, and the noise, and it becomes a dense, darkly driving noise rock space-psych jam that could go on forever and ever, and is the sort of thing that might even appeal to super adventurous fans of outfits like White Hills, The Heads, Carlton Melton and other psychedelic space rockers. Needless to say, fans of Skullflower, Godflesh and and various like minded, Broken Flag beholden, industrial psychedelic noise outfits, will dig this A LOT!! Limited to 500 copies.

MPEG stream: Serpent's Trail
MPEG stream: The Exit Door Leads In

It's well-known that the members of Godspeed You Black Emperor and all of its offshoots -- Silver Mt. Zion and Do Make Say Think to name just two of them -- collaborate and perform together all the time, but just how hard will fans of the Montreal clan weep with joy when they hear this self-titled debut album from Valley Of The Giants? Supergroup indeed! Members of said bands as well as Shalabi Effect, Broken Social Scene and lesser known Canadian pop combo Strawberry thought it would be a good idea to record together. Good idea? How about great idea! Not surprisingly the goodness of each band meshes beautifully, crafting eight richly atmospheric aural treats! Some are hypnotic terracotta-hued instrumentals with layers of foreboding horns and slinking strings that waver and haunt like a mirage. Some are considerably more tumultuous journeys with swelling electric guitar squalls. A particular highlight however are the dreamy female vocals that grace the second song "Westworld" (inspired by the movie of the same name which starred Yul Brynner). Recommended!

MPEG stream: Westworld
MPEG stream: Beyond The Valley

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

SORRY.

So, what exactly is a "brutal orchestra"? That's what this Japanese band describes themselves as, and their brand of loud, dynamic, droning chamber prog with violins and piano vying with wordless vocals (and bass, and drums, and turntables, and electronics, and etc.) in an constantly swelling, cinematic onslaught is certainly orchestral, and kinda brutal (volume, noise, density) but also beautiful. So, OK, brutal orchestra it is. And making 'em even a bit more brutal than they might otherwise be, they've got special guest Merzbow bringing some additional noise n' distortion to the proceedings. Among other guests is, on vocals, Jarboe of the Swans (shades of her collab with Justin Broadrick a while back, as there's a Jesu-ishness to this, somewhat). Also apparently drummer Tatsuya Yoshida of Ruins fame appears here, and a few Boredoms related folks contribute too. So, some high powered personnel present, and put to use! There's two loooong tracks on this album, one with Jarboe, the other with Merzbow, "Sea" (24:43) and "Land" (24:36), titled after things both of which unhappily have proven cruel and threatening to the beleaguered populace of Japan in recent days. Their elemental power is portended here, in the build-build-build ups of these ominous, abstract, slowly unfolding compositions, making this release fit in well with the doomdirge side of Important's avant roster, for sure. May or may not be representative of Vampillia's usual sound, we've seen some YouTube videos that portray them as much more of a surreal, circus-y affair, a facepainted freakshow vibe of artrock absurdity. There's hints of that here, but the entirety of this has more of a coherent, atmospheric impact, almost like a Miasmah label release multiplied in intensity and amplification.

MPEG stream: Sea
MPEG stream: Land

Hype and Vampire Weekend seem to go hand in hand, and while we still don't totally see what all the fuss is about, we sit somewhere nicely in the middle opinion-wise about these unabashed prep-school popsters, as we aren't blown away by what they do but we don't think it's terrible either. This time out it seems as if the overwhelming influence of the Animal Collective has for sure touched the Vampire boys as this sounds a lot like a more commercial and smoothed out version of AC's signature sound. There are some really catchy standout moments here, especially "Cousins" which could have been on the last Dodos record, and we're not afraid to admit that we've listened to that song over and over and definitely find it to be pretty much undeniably one of the most joyful pop songs of the year. They still have their light afro-pop side that feels like a modern day version of Paul Simon or Peter Gabriel. Maybe not the most original or amazing band around but no doubt they are peppy, preppy, catchy and fun. The first batch of these comes with an extra disc featuring three bonus tracks/remixes. And the lp includes a download of the whole record too...

MPEG stream: Cousins
MPEG stream: Horchata
MPEG stream: Run

Two new summery jangly nuggets from these preppy popsters.

Don't know what all the fuss is about with this current flavor of the day, but we suspect that XL Recordings must've gotten a particularly crack team of marketing schemers and hype generators 'cause their name is absolutely everywhere! Sure, it'd be easy to be suspicious and slag this band on that aspect alone, but we won't. They're not bad really, but nothing really special or 'holy shit!' either. Nope, they sound like an adequate cross between Arcade Fire, The Shins and New Pornographers... who've eaten way too many Cracker Jacks. Worth checkin' out if you're looking for some lighter fare along the lines of those two abovementioned bands.

MPEG stream: Oxford Comma
MPEG stream: A-Punk

It's pretty obvious why the folks at B-music (like DJs Andy Votel and Dom Thomas) dig these particular collectible exploito obscurities so much, and why they're so excited to be reissuing 'em in their new "Germanic Miner" series dedicated to "krautsider music"! What could be more B-musical than these two faux soundtracks concocted in the late sixties by a couple of creative German producers, operating at the weird, wacked out intersection of kitschy library music and freaky krautrock? One's a slice of slinky, sorta-scary "horrotica", the other a spaced out sci-fi fest for the Barbarella set. Both are delirious, demented party-pleasers. The Vampires Of Dartmoore and their Dracula's Music Cabinet conjures a sexy frightmare of hip swinging, bloodsucking sounds. "Mord Im Ohio Express (Murder In The Ohio Express)" seems kinda surfy, but mostly this is about groovy porno lounge music, with smoky horns and jazzy percussion, interwoven with screams and creepy sound effects, moaning and groaning, dogs barking and something going boing boing boing... It's a very NON-academic application of musique concrete technique, noises worked into the songs, such as the rumbling explosions that punctuate "Eine Handvoll Nitro (A Handful Of Nitro)". The mix is fairly chaotic, stuff fading in and out, levels up and down. If this WAS a movie soundtrack, it would have been a pretty crazy movie. Tracks reference Hitchcock, Dr. Caligari, and Frankenstein's monster. And sex. Definitely sex. Equally bizarre, if less R-rated, is the Science Fiction Dance Party. Again, it's groovy, jazzy, sometimes fuzzy "instro-hipster" style stuff, laced with loads of goofy outer space sound effects and rocketship radio drama theatrics. It sounds like music for a cocktail party and/or acid test on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. You can imagine Robbie the Robot getting down to this. Distorted alien and/or computer voices abound, song titles include "Visitors Of A.D. 2022", "The Whistling Astronaut", and "Hit Parade In The Light Year 25" (which doesn't even make sense, don't they know that light years are a measure of distance?). As well as whistling, there's some screams here too, as spacemen are presumably being zapped with rayguns, but the music remains jaunty. Even the song "Death Rays Out Of The Universe" is inexplicably upbeat. So, it's all very silly, but a lot of fun. Both albums feature bonus tracks (2 previously unreleased "Petting Party" jams on Vampires, 4 extra tracks on Science Fiction that come back to earth to delve into disco and Eastern exotica instead). The slipcased cds of these are now domestic releases (we waited instead of getting the expensive imports) but the LP versions remain imports.

MPEG stream: Crime And Horror
MPEG stream: Mord Im Ohio Express (Murder In The Ohio Express)
MPEG stream: Tanz Der Vampires (Dance Of The Vampires)

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

SORRY.

Yeah! Back in print and we're thrilled about that. The new reissue has 3 bonus tracks on cd and 5 bonus tracks on the oh so nice double gatefold vinyl edition. Even if you haven't had the pleasure of seeing any of the over 150 Jess Franco's 'horrotica' films from which these songs come from that shouldn't stop you from jumping into this delicious offering of red light sleazy cheesy psych-light instrumental treats. Composed by Manfred Hubler and Siegfried Schwab in 1969 these songs ooze with a playful sexuality that you have to be pretty lifeless not to enjoy. The packaging is exquisite as well with amazing stills from the Franco films and really nice text that gives a background of where these sounds and his films were coming from. Next time you have some people over to your place, turn down the lights, light some candles, put this on the stereo and who knows where the night might take you!

MPEG stream: Droge CX 9
MPEG stream: Kamasutra

Yet another electronic improvisation featuring Christian Fennesz, which are becoming as banal and commonplace as "electronica compilations featuring Kid 606". "Dawn" was recorded in Berlin in November, 2000 with Fennesz performing with Peter Van Bergen on

RealAudio clip: Dawn

MPEG stream: Cher's Prayer
MPEG stream: Waalzt

Not sure how many folks remember Jud Jud, but we were obsessed, a parody straight edge band that was all a cappella, as in every guitar chug, every bit of wailing feedback, was sung, not played, in fact the band name comes from the sound of a chugging muffled power chord, JUD JUD, JUD JUD, JUD JUD. So genius, so when we first discovered this band, we couldn't help but be reminded of Jud Jud. Van Canto are an all a cappella power metal band, and yeah, it's as ridiculous as it sounds, and awesome. Imagine a whole band, all vocalists, each one handling a different instrument, sort of. They do have a real drummer, which makes the sound more metal and less jokey, but only barely. A choir like arrangement of soaring epic power metal, with plenty of "dumm dum dum dumdumdum dum"s and "diddly diddly diddly thum thum"s, but masterfully arranged, with guitar solos handled by the female vocalist, who simply sings the melodies, and the lush acoustic passages arranged for quite impressive three and four part harmonies, and when the band are really 'rocking' the vocalists are growling their "dum dum dum"s and "diddly diddly"s. If you ever wondered what Blind Guardian or Hammerfall would sound like arranged for a choral group, or if you ever dreamed of a barbershop quartet covering Iron Maiden or Lost Horizon, well then, these guys and gal will definitely hit the spot. The highlight here is probably their cover of Metallica's "Master Of Puppets", which as goofy as it is, does sound pretty amazing, the various melodies are arranged into lush harmonies, the slow solo sung operatically, the second fast solo sung through what sounds like a distorted kazoo, and even the heavy parts are arranged for really elaborate harmonies, and when it gets mean, the sung chugging is pretty impressive. It didn't take long for us to become totally obsessed with Van Canto, we've been listening to it not stop, unsure whether we love it cuz it's so ridiculous, or cuz it's actually good, or a little of both, but if you've made it this far and are still reading, you might be destined for a similar path. "DUM DUM DUM DUUUUUUH, DIDDLY DIDDLY, DUM DUM DUM DUDUDUUUUUH...

MPEG stream: Master Of Puppets (Excerpt 1)
MPEG stream: Master Of Puppets (Excerpt 2)
MPEG stream: To Sing A Metal Song
MPEG stream: Rebellion

New line-up, slight name change (dropping the "Generator") for this 1977 album, the band's last studio effort until 2005!

Another awesome VDGG reissue, remastered w/ bonus track action. 1975's Godbluff was their first mid-'70s "comeback" LP and it indeed slays.

[ aquarius records catalogue — V ]