Aquarius Records closed in 2016. This site is an archive — a place to rediscover their extraordinary music recommendations. Nothing here is for sale.
Showing results 2501 through 2550 of 3832.
V/ANew Sounds of the Old West Volume 3(Loose)cd$ 17.98
Artists such as Grandaddy, The Handsome Family, Sparklehorse, Evan Dando and Mark Eitzel doing some covers of classic country tunes by the likes of Hank Williams and Kris Kristofferson, along with some old 'n dusty sounding originals.
V/ANew Thing!(Soul Jazz)2cd$ 25.00
In just a few years, Soul Jazz has pretty much cornered the market on gorgeously packaged and imaginatively assembled compilations of forgotten funk, soul that had slipped through the cracks, essential dub and reggae, and even some eighties No Wave! So it was only a matter of time before they tackled sixties free jazz! Soul Jazz places their focus square on the evolving black experience, as it was filtered through musical exploration. Avant garde free jazz indeed, but incorporating all sorts of fuzzy funky soul and groovy bits of R&B into a strangely unique voice of a generation. Most of you probably know a lot of these groups, and most likely many of these tracks, but the impact both socially and artistically becomes much more evident, especially for those new to this stuff, when viewed in the context of the artists they developed alongside, and the voice of a community that resulted from this fertile period and a divine yet unlikely convergence of genius players and mind blowing composers. All it takes is a quick glance at the lineup: Art Ensemble Of Chicago, Sun Ra, Rashied Ali, Frank Lowe, Archie Shepp, Alice Coltrane, Eddie Gale and more. But it wouldn't be a Soul Jazz joint without the introduction of a handful of lesser knowns, who more than stack up to the big names. Paris Smith, Travis Biggs, Amina Claudine Myers, East New York Ensemble and on and on. From the wild block party free for all of Mulawi's "Street Rap" to the brooding shuffling classic jazz workout of Sun Ra's "Angels And Demons At Play" to the haunting vibes of Paris Smith's "Pentatonia" to Amina Claudine Myers' "Have Mercy On Us", a rambunctious percussion free for all that slowly builds into a rollicking Santana-ish jam with warm organs and soulful vocals. Every track on here is amazing. And folks who have been a little wary of "free jazz" might find some of this quite pleasing with some of the free-jazz jagged edges smoothed out with warm grooves and slinky soul, and folks who were never much into funk and soul (like me) might find some of these tracks mighty appealing when that funk and soul is stirred wildly into a broiling cauldron of freaked out avant jazz. Such is the genius of Soul Jazz, and of course all the artists on this compilation. Packaged in a beautiful slip cover with a MASSIVE booklet packed with Soul Jazz's always impressive and informative liner notes!
V/ANew Waves(Family Recordings)2cd$ 30.00
Two discs filled with 55 post-punk new wave songs from the original 45's by the likes of The Cure, Billy Bragg, The Creatures, Sham 69, Elvis Costello, The Ruts, Joe Jackson, The Damned, The Tubes and lots more. If you still have all of these singles on vinyl you probably got yourself a nice little eBay cash cow on your hands. But if not this is a nice way to hear lots from the '77-'83 era of underground (at the time) rock which soon found it's way very much into the mainstream. Some of the best moments on this comp come from the artists who never really made their millions but left a legacy that still stands the test of time. Folks like Lene Lovich (Adult and Numbers should be paying her royalties) and we dare you to find any punk anthem more catchy and fist in the air effective then Sham 69's "If The Kids Are United." And of course some of the big names remind us why they became famous in the first place. Sometimes nostalgia can feel oh so good.
V/ANew York City: Global Beat of the Boroughs(Smithsonian Folkways)2cd$ 15.98
Compilation celebrating the big apple's cornucopia of ethnic populations and the various musical traditions they uphold amidst mainstream media and culture's hegemonic tendencies. 31 tracks, representing a wide variety of groups are collected here: Puerto Rican, Dominican, Albanian, Chinese, Korean, West African, Afro-Cuban, Trinidadian, Bulgarian-Gypsy, Irish, Greek, Eastern European Jewish, Haitian, Colombian, Lebanese, Ukrainian, Italian and more. Includes Smithsonian-Folkways standard heavy booklet of liner notes -- 40 pages to be exact -- and lots of photos as well.
V/ANew York Eye And Ear Control(Get Back)lp$ 13.98
Several ESP-Disc classics have been re-pressed onto 180-gram vinyl by some nice Italians, whoo-ooo! A great early 70's Sun Ra cosmic keyboard/spacefunk concert, *the* essential Patty Waters avant-jazz-vocal platter (with "Black Is the Color Of My True Loves Hair"), a freaky underground scene sound collage document (with the likes of the VU and Allen Ginsberg), and an all-star free jazz soundtrack from '65 with Albert Ayler, Don Cherry, Roswell Rudd, John Tchicai, Gary Peacock, and Sunny Murray! And, as the now-deleted cd reissues of these are becoming harder and harder to come by, just in time.
V/ANew York Latin Hustle(Soul Jazz)2cd$ 23.00
The streets of New York in the '60s and '70s were brimming with a melting-pot of musicians. Puerto-Rican, Latino and African-Americans, all bringing together their musical histories and legacies to create all new sounds like booglaoo, latin jazz, salsa, and a brand of disco that just can't be denied. This Soul Jazz collection brings together some of the biggest names in Latin music (Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Candido, Ray Baretto) along with some more obscure folks (Ismael Quinones Nature Zone, Johnny Zamot) all of whom know lots about creating songs that splash with color and vivacious energy. As always the Soul Jazz packaging is top-notch with informative and well written liner notes and some pretty amazing photos. Every time we need a lift in our spirits we've been blasting this really loud and the next thing we know we're moving just a little bit faster and cracking big ol' smiles! New York Latin Hustle does the trick every single time. Forget about St. Johns Wart this is our sure way to get in a better mood. So great!
V/ANew York Latin Hustle Vol 1(Soul Jazz)2lp$ 24.00
The streets of New York in the '60s and '70s were brimming with a melting-pot of musicians. Puerto-Rican, Latino and African-Americans, all bringing together their musical histories and legacies to create all new sounds like booglaoo, latin jazz, salsa, and a brand of disco that just can't be denied. This Soul Jazz collection brings together some of the biggest names in Latin music (Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Candido, Ray Baretto) along with some more obscure folks (Ismael Quinones Nature Zone, Johnny Zamot) all of whom know lots about creating songs that splash with color and vivacious energy. As always the Soul Jazz packaging is top-notch with informative and well written liner notes and some pretty amazing photos. Every time we need a lift in our spirits we've been blasting this really loud and the next thing we know we're moving just a little bit faster and cracking big ol' smiles! New York Latin Hustle does the trick every single time. Forget about St. Johns Wart this is our sure way to get in a better mood. So great!
V/ANew York Latin Hustle Vol 2(Soul Jazz)2lp$ 24.00
The streets of New York in the '60s and '70s were brimming with a melting-pot of musicians. Puerto-Rican, Latino and African-Americans, all bringing together their musical histories and legacies to create all new sounds like booglaoo, latin jazz, salsa, and a brand of disco that just can't be denied. This Soul Jazz collection brings together some of the biggest names in Latin music (Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Candido, Ray Baretto) along with some more obscure folks (Ismael Quinones Nature Zone, Johnny Zamot) all of whom know lots about creating songs that splash with color and vivacious energy. As always the Soul Jazz packaging is top-notch with informative and well written liner notes and some pretty amazing photos. Every time we need a lift in our spirits we've been blasting this really loud and the next thing we know we're moving just a little bit faster and cracking big ol' smiles! New York Latin Hustle does the trick every single time. Forget about St. Johns Wart this is our sure way to get in a better mood. So great!
V/ANew York Noise(Soul Jazz)cd$ 16.98
The Soul Jazz label just keeps the cool comps comin', this one being another archival '80s collection that just happens to be perfectly in tune with today's trends. The dance music meets punk/new wave genre that all those currently hip NYC (and SF) scenesters are mining. This is the original scene for that kind of stuff, downtown NYC circa 1978-1983. It was a world where slap bass could coexist with machine-gun drumming, angular grooves and angsty vocals. Some are more on the No Wave side of things (Mars, DNA) and others more funk (ESG, Liquid Liquid, Defunkt, Material). This disc's lineup also includes: Konk, The Dance, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, Rahmelzee vs K. Rob (produced by Jean Michel Basquiat!), Bush Tetras, Glenn Branca, The Bloods, Arthur Russell's Dinosaur l, Theoretical Girls, and The Contortions. It's a good mix of total obscurities and can't-miss essentials, packaged with a 30 page booklet full of liner notes and photos. Before you buy another "Electroclash" record, why not spin back 20 years with this? Like those (now missing in action, unfortunately) "Disco Not Disco" comps, this will get you diggin' dancefloor stuff that you might not have otherwise, simply because of how these tracks have been contextualized here, with total boogie-down cuts abutting experiments in academic punk minimalism or deconstructed funk.
V/ANew York Noise 2(Soul Jazz)cd$ 21.00
When Soul Jazz released the comp "New York Noise" a few years back it was not only an amazing collection of lost gems from NY circa '78-'82, it was also the perfect document showcasing the blueprints of sounds that were beginning to be echoed again all over the globe. Dance-Punk, electro-clash, no wave, dub infused funk..all sounds that were blossomed in the heyday of the NY Underground music scene, now were being mimicked everywhere you looked. With Volume 2 we weren't sure if they would be able to put together as cohesive and overall exciting package as they did with the first one, but low and behold they have. It starts off with pt.2 of "Ungawa" by the rhythmically chaotic all female outfit Pulsallama. Along the way we got hit so nice and hard by Rhys Chatham, the person who basically channeled his studies of minimalism with LaMonte Young into blissed out and blistering no wave. Y Pants demonstrate their everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach to pre-riot grrrl glory. Red Transistor show off no-wave at its rough and tumbling best. Glorious Strangers provide the best funk/dub leaning track on the record with instrumentation that you could mistake for a new Tussle single. Jill Kroesen melds pop and skronk like they've always meant to be together. Sonic Youth reminds us of their glory days (and makes us feel old). Damn, this is making us wish we were back in NYC during this era...such vibrant and distinct energy!
V/ANew York Noise Vol.3(Soul Jazz)cd$ 21.00
Frankly, we were very surprised that Soul Jazz was releasing a third volume in their New York Noise series. While the first volume was phenomenal and timely amongst the then current wave of new bands revitalizing the no wave disco sound of late seventies New York, the second volume, despite great moments, felt stretched out with lots of filler. So the real surprise is how good this third volume sounds! It's more thematically selected this time around by Stuart Argabright from Ike Yard with fewer bands represented mostly by two tracks each. Even though the focus here is on more electronic acts than previous volumes, there's kind of a Naked City retro-fifties noir feeling to the selection, whether it be from Ike Yard's own paranoid dub, the oppressive groove of Boris Policeband and Martin Rev from Suicide or the no wave rockabilly of James Blood Ulmer and Judy Nylon, whose blase cover of Elvis' "Jailhouse Rock" sounds like an outtake from Lydia Lunch's Queen of Siam. Killer tracks from UT, Dominatrix, Implog, Dark Day and Snatch round out the collection.
V/ANext Brel(DRG)cd$ 16.98
Someone (I think it was Andee actually) commented that hearing this compilation just made him wanna listen to Scott Walker. And well, you can see his point because although this is a tribute to Jacques Brel, it was American singer Walker who spread the gospel of this Belgian singing great to the masses (as translated from French to English by Mort Shuman and Eric Blau). Perhaps one of the coolest things about this particular tribute is that unlike most others that just assemble a group of flavor of the day (and usually less than appropriate) artists to cover the songs, this one is compiled from original recordings from different decades gone by, and hence conveys much more of a sense of (both the artists' and the audience's) on-going love for this man's music. What this compilation also does unfortunately though is bring to light the occasional near-nursery rhyming and awkward translations that befell some of the songs. Really, you've gotta be one helluva ballsy (male or female) performer to pull off some of those lyrics! Lesser artists simply end up sounding foolish! Case in point, The Divine Comedy's flamboyant crooning of the phrase "stupid ass way" on "Jackie" is one of those latter occasions. Ahem, step aside sir, and hear how the pros do it... David Bowie, Dusty Springfield, Jimmie Rodgers, Nina Simone, Marc Almond (who actually did his own Brel tribute album complete with his own translations), the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, French chanteuse Barbara and of course, the aforementioned Walker. Three of these twelve songs are his renditions -- two of them suitably opening and closing the compilation.
V/ANice Up The Dance(Heart Beat)cd$ 14.98
Imagine one of those reggae collections where the version track follows the vocal, except that instead of there being a rude break where the song stops and then starts again as a dub, the vocals merely drop out for several minutes, returning only at the close
V/ANice Up The Dance: Two Worlds Clash(Soul Jazz)cd$ 16.98
Last list one of our 'Records-of-the-Week' was the awesome "Wild Dub" compilation of punk-era dubs. This week, we've got another culture clash -- though, like "Wild Dub", it's less a clash than a perfect match -- with this mix of reggae meets hip hop mixes. Not to be confused with Heartbeat's venerable compilation of disco-mixes which bears the same title, Soul Jazz's "Nice Up The Dance" is no less of a great collection. While the earlier genres of Jamaican music have drawn inspiration from the States in varying degrees since the 1950's, it's only recently that tables have turned and artists from the U.S. have begun importing ideas from Jamaica -- so much so that rap and dancehall are practically joined at the hip. Dancehall artists are not only cameo-ing on albums by prominent rap artists, but even getting some major label attention of their own. Along comes Soul Jazz to bridge the not-so-wide gap between hip hop and dancehall. On the one hand you have Jamaican artists here like Sean Paul, who has apparently been enjoying some MTV and major label attention right now. His 1996 track "Infiltrate", which has some sick sub-harmonic bass for those of you with subwoofers (the "Playground" riddim), is included here. And on the other you have American artists like J-Live with his track "Satisfied" which pays homage to Jamaican music by using Augustus Pablo's "East of the River Nile" as its foundation, and NY producer Kenny Dope with his trunk rattling dancehall/hip hop crossover classics "Boomin' In Ya Jeep" (featuring Screechy Dan) and "Gunshot" (featuring Shaggy). The best thing about this collection is that it's not some academic attempt to point out the missing links between hip hop and dancehall, but -- like Soul Jazz already has demonstrated time and again -- to collect some of the best tracks into a mix that will stay in your system this summer. This is going to be the album to blast at your next bar-b-q, or in your car on the way to the beach/park/club through the coming hot months (for those of you who are blessed with warm summers). Along with the aforementioned tracks is Cutty Ranks' kick ass come back tune "Who Say Me Done", a fucking wicked Tuva-drone toast from Pompidoo aptly titled "Synthesizer Voice", Steelie and Cleevie's electro-bass remix of Dawn Penn's "No, No, No" (admit it purists, this mix grows on you), another mix of the ever so popular "Ring The Alarm" by Tenor Saw and more. But the absolute bestest, most kick-assessed track on the album is Ward 21's gut pounding, steamroller of a bassline "Petrol" (from 2002 -- no it's not on the Mentally Disturbed album) which features tag team vocals from both the growling baritone and the 200-words-per-minute auctioneer cum toaster. And for those of you that can't live without it, there are some nice liner notes tracing the paths of Jamaican and American music here for you. Highly recommended!!!
V/ANicky Siano's The Gallery(Soul Jazz)cd$ 21.00
Legendary '70s New York nightclub, The Gallery, sported equally as legendary DJ Nicky Siano once upon a time. A time when Bianca Jagger greeted all from its front door perched atop a white horse. A time when people partied without shame. You'd be strapped to see SUCH flagrant decadence these more-earnest days in post-9/11 NYC, but the soul and funk hits from Siano's stay at The Gallery transcend the all-out-blow-out-disco-era to remain some of the best ever recorded. Two tracks (one from The Supremes -- giving a glimpse into Diana Ross' future disco direction) are more straightup disco and still a little hard to take even 30 years later... HOWEVER, all the other soul and funk songs kick major flashy ass-shakin sparkling gold hot pants. Highly recommended.
V/ANigeria 70: Lagos Jump(Strut)cd$ 14.98
There is absolutely no doubt as to the importance Strut Records' 2001 compilation, Nigeria 70: The Definitive Story of 1970s Funky Lagos, played in bringing about the current flood of interest in afrobeat, highlife, disco, soul and (of course) funk from Nigeria and other West African nations. It was the first compilation to really pay homage not only to the songs of that era but to the entire culture that allowed the music to come into being. By doing so, it laid the blueprint for the kind of lavishly packaged, meticulously researched, insanely detailed reissues coming from labels like Sound Ways, Honest John's and Analog Africa. It's hard, even just 7 years later, to remember how mysterious the world of Nigerian funk seemed at the time; it was a an entire world of sound that outsiders had access to only through bootleg LPs and traded tapes with giant question marks next to everything from song titles to the performers themselves. Now sadly out-of-print, the original triple cd Nigeria 70 comp was a revelation - an unparalleled wealth of sights and sounds that showed how much more there was to Nigerian music than just Fela. If, like many of us here at aQ, you are still reaching for the original every time you make a mix tape, then you'll be happy to hear that Strut Records has not only risen from the grave but issued Nigeria 70: Lagos Jump, a second installment to the Nigeria 70 series (no doubt spurred on by the massive success of its many imitators). Rather than try to outdo the first volume, Strut have taken a decidedly lower-key approach to this single disc of astoundingly funky cuts from Nigeria's finest. The liner notes are slim but densely packed: John Collins' introductory essay traces the evolution in Nigerian popular music alongside the changes in the country's cultural and political climate, while the liner notes provide brief but informative notes for each cut. Musically, the collection is an immaculately compiled and sequenced mix of everything from the traditional highlife bounce of Ashanti Afrika Jah's "Onyame" and Rex Williams' soulful "You Are My Heart" to the swaggering afro-rock of The Immortals' "Hot Tears" and the afrobeat/ju-ju mashup of the leadoff track, Sir Shina Peters and His International Stars' "Yabis." Furthermore, we'd be remiss if we failed to mention Chief Checker's "Ire Africa," which manages to balance riddims cribbed straight from Studio One with proto-Rick James disco funk (check out the bassline!) and straight up afro sounds. Amazing! If you've heard the original comp, it's a safe bet that you've already deemed Lagos Jump an essential purchase. If you missed out but have been loving the Nigeria Special comps even half as much as we have, then this disc will freak your beak. If your exposure to Nigerian music of the '60s and '70s subsists solely of the odd Fela Kuti song slipped in between segments on Democracy Now!, then this compilation could be the jump off point for a new musical obsession. This is raw, soulful Nigerian funk compiled by a label with an obvious reverence for the music as well as the culture and people that made it happen.
V/ANigeria 70: Sweet Times(Strut)cd$ 14.98
Yes! Just in time for the bright sunshine and actual summer vibes we've been basking in this last week comes the latest offering from Strut's awesome Nigeria 70 series. A collection of smoking Afro-funk, highlife, and juju from Lagos, Nigeria. Such spirited and body moving tracks drenched in so much soul and infectious energy. It's so awesome to discover lots of new-to us artists, we love when great comps get us searching for more from groups we can't believe we haven't heard from before. Who knows how likely it is to actually find more recordings from some of these folks, which makes thick comp invaluable, as Strut always digs so deep and complete in their curatorial excellence. We're going to be blasting this all summer long and beyond!
V/ANigeria 70: The Definitive Story of 1970s Funky Lagos(Afrostrut)3cd$ 23.00
An ambitiously titled new collection from Afrostrut, the premiere label of Afro-Funk reissues. It's a lot to call a cd set the "definitive" story of funk from Lagos, but Strut really went above and beyond the call of duty on this one. Sure you've got all
V/ANigeria Afrobeat Special(Sound Way)cd$ 16.98
V/ANigeria Disco Funk Special: The Sound Of The Underground Lagos Dancefloor 1974-79(Sound Way)cd$ 17.98
Y'all went crazy for Sound Way's Nigeria Special compilation a few lists back, and we expect Nigeria Disco Funk Special -- the second installment in a 3-part series -- to be just as enticing a proposition. Whereas the first Nigeria Special was a sprawling collection of sounds and styles intended to show the sheer diversity of Nigeria's musical output in the early '70s, this volume is far more musically concise, consisting of mostly instrumental cuts that are heavily indebted to the American funk and disco being imported into Nigeria at the time. This collection of deep funk, Afro-boogie and serious disco will transport you (and your booty) to the sweat-soaked discos of Lagos, where native sounds shimmy up next to imported grooves bringing the dancefloor to a fever pitch of go-go bells, funky drums, wah wah guitar, popping bass and blasting horns. This is tight, dirty funk being filtered through afrobeat and highlife.... the results are absolutely AMAZING! Like all things from Sound Way, Nigeria Disco Funk Special comes with gorgeous packaging, extensive liner notes, archival photos and repros of original album artwork. Take your pick between a super slick digipak for the cd version and a gorgeous gatefold sleeve for the 2LP. This is heavy shit. Don't miss out!
V/ANigeria Rock Special: Psychedelic Afro-Rock & Fuzz Funk(Sound Way)2lp$ 21.00
NOW AVAILBLE ON VINYL! It's appropriate that Nigeria Rock Special kicks things off with a supremely heavy slab of organ/bass/drum groove by Ofege called "Adieu," as this is the third and allegedly final installment in Sound Way's incredible Nigeria Special series. We were skeptical that this volume would be able to live up to the high standards set by the first two, but honestly this is probably the best of the three. No joke, it's so effing good that when we put it on in the store all of us just look at each other and kind of do that squinty head bobbing groove thing where you're kind of like, "holy crap how good is this? SO GOOD!" In fact this is one of those rare compilations that manages to transcend its genre and appeal to people who may not normally be into African music -- it's not every day that you see some of the serious blackened noisemongering customers digging stuff from the "international" section! First thing, the title might be a little misleading... if you're coming to this expecting to hear stoned out proto-metal clomp or extended blues riffage, you might be a bit disappointed. While there are fuzzed out guitar explorations aplenty on this disc, the overall feel definitely leans more towards the funky side of things. If you're a fan of the Boscoe lp we reviewed a few lists back, or the Skull Snaps record, or even Black Merda (or anything from the now sadly out of print Chains and Black Exhaust compilation) you are going to LOVE this record: imagine blown out, psychedelic instrumental passages layered over heavy, heavy, heavy bass and drums with no shortage of traditional highlife and afrobeat flourishes and you're in the ballpark. In fact, with the exception of a few tracks (most notably, Question Mark's "Freaking Out," which, believe it or not, sounds kind of like Can covering something from the Nuggets box), the western influence is actually less present in this collection than it was in the last volume. There are too many standouts to list them all, but we would be remiss not to mention that Mono Mono's "Kenimania" comes on like Fela tackling a Booker T jam; or that Ofo The Black Company's "Enario" is a simmering pot of mid-tempo funk and call and response vocals that holds up as a worthy successor to their mighty "Allah Wakbarr" (a song you might remember from two other essential compilations: Nigeria 70, and World Psychedelic Classics Vol. 3); or that the treble-kicking guitars of Colomach's "Cotocun Gba Gounke" create a mind-blowing hybrid of Middle-Eastern-tinged desert blues and Hendrix-ian pyrotechnics; or that Joe King Kologbo & His Black Sounds' "Another Man's Thing" is a frenetic polemic that switches gears from hyperactive shuffle to deep funk throb-n-stab in the blink of an eye! Look, we know we've been pushing these Nigeria Special comps hard for the last few months but it's for good reason: the three volumes together form a meticulously curated, beautifully packaged collection of songs that spans two decades and demonstrates the intense creativity and musical diversity in post-revolution Nigeria. Taken by itself, Nigeria Rock Special is a gripping, exuberant, and infectious listen from start to finish and definitely comes with as high a recommendation as we can dish out!
V/ANigeria Rock Special: Psychedelic Afro-Rock & Fuzz Funk In 1970s Nigeria(Sound Way)cd$ 16.98
It's appropriate that Nigeria Rock Special kicks things off with a supremely heavy slab of organ/bass/drum groove by Ofege called "Adieu," as this is the third and allegedly final installment in Sound Way's incredible Nigeria Special series. We were skeptical that this volume would be able to live up to the high standards set by the first two, but honestly this is probably the best of the three. No joke, it's so effing good that when we put it on in the store all of us just look at each other and kind of do that squinty head bobbing groove thing where you're kind of like, "holy crap how good is this? SO GOOD!" In fact this is one of those rare compilations that manages to transcend its genre and appeal to people who may not normally be into African music -- it's not every day that you see some of the serious blackened noisemongering customers digging stuff from the "international" section! First thing, the title might be a little misleading... if you're coming to this expecting to hear stoned out proto-metal clomp or extended blues riffage, you might be a bit disappointed. While there are fuzzed out guitar explorations aplenty on this disc, the overall feel definitely leans more towards the funky side of things. If you're a fan of the Boscoe lp we reviewed a few lists back, or the Skull Snaps record, or even Black Merda (or anything from the now sadly out of print Chains and Black Exhaust compilation) you are going to LOVE this record: imagine blown out, psychedelic instrumental passages layered over heavy, heavy, heavy bass and drums with no shortage of traditional highlife and afrobeat flourishes and you're in the ballpark. In fact, with the exception of a few tracks (most notably, Question Mark's "Freaking Out," which, believe it or not, sounds kind of like Can covering something from the Nuggets box), the western influence is actually less present in this collection than it was in the last volume. There are too many standouts to list them all, but we would be remiss not to mention that Mono Mono's "Kenimania" comes on like Fela tackling a Booker T jam; or that Ofo The Black Company's "Enario" is a simmering pot of mid-tempo funk and call and response vocals that holds up as a worthy successor to their mighty "Allah Wakbarr" (a song you might remember from two other essential compilations: Nigeria 70, and World Psychedelic Classics Vol. 3); or that the treble-kicking guitars of Colomach's "Cotocun Gba Gounke" create a mind-blowing hybrid of Middle-Eastern-tinged desert blues and Hendrix-ian pyrotechnics; or that Joe King Kologbo & His Black Sounds' "Another Man's Thing" is a frenetic polemic that switches gears from hyperactive shuffle to deep funk throb-n-stab in the blink of an eye! Look, we know we've been pushing these Nigeria Special comps hard for the last few months but it's for good reason: the three volumes together form a meticulously curated, beautifully packaged collection of songs that spans two decades and demonstrates the intense creativity and musical diversity in post-revolution Nigeria. Taken by itself, Nigeria Rock Special is a gripping, exuberant, and infectious listen from start to finish and definitely comes with as high a recommendation as we can dish out!
V/ANigeria Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Nigerian Blues 1970-6(Sound Way)2cd$ 25.00
Just when it seems like the well of quality West African reissue compilations is about to run dry, the Sound Way label returns with another outstanding collection of rarities. This time the focus isn't on a particular style (as previous compilations on the label such as Afro Baby or Ghana Soundz have tended to do) so much as on the artists, styles and scene that thrived in Nigeria during the cultural moment that followed the Biafran war. The three years of civil war left millions dead and displaced, but also injected Nigeria with a sense of newfound optimism and self-determinance -- just as Nigeria itself had once been a colonial creation, the nation was free to reinvent itself in the wake of brutal conflict. What makes Nigeria Special a compelling listen is the way it reflects this period of expansion and transition by seamlessly placing traditional sounds side-by-side with afro-funk and psychedelic-tinged rock. Similarly, it contrasts the hybrid styles emerging from rapidly expanding urban centers such as Lagos with the rural sounds of their non-Yoruba countrymen. The musical diversity displayed on this collection reflects the growth and upheaval in Nigeria itself - tellingly, some of the most exciting tracks are the result of cross-pollination between old and new. As with all things Sound Way, the 2cds are beautifully packaged with a detailed introductory essay, reproductions of original cover art and detailed annotations for each track. The vinyl version is split over two 2lp sets. The selections run deep enough to please even the most die-hard African music aficionados, while still being a great introductory collection for those unfamiliar with Nigeria's amazing musical output.
V/ANigeria Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Nigerian Blues 1970-6 -- Part One(Sound Way)2lp$ 23.00
Just when it seems like the well of quality West African reissue compilations is about to run dry, the Sound Way label returns with another outstanding collection of rarities. This time the focus isn't on a particular style (as previous compilations on the label such as Afro Baby or Ghana Soundz have tended to do) so much as on the artists, styles and scene that thrived in Nigeria during the cultural moment that followed the Biafran war. The three years of civil war left millions dead and displaced, but also injected Nigeria with a sense of newfound optimism and self-determinance -- just as Nigeria itself had once been a colonial creation, the nation was free to reinvent itself in the wake of brutal conflict. What makes Nigeria Special a compelling listen is the way it reflects this period of expansion and transition by seamlessly placing traditional sounds side-by-side with afro-funk and psychedelic-tinged rock. Similarly, it contrasts the hybrid styles emerging from rapidly expanding urban centers such as Lagos with the rural sounds of their non-Yoruba countrymen. The musical diversity displayed on this collection reflects the growth and upheaval in Nigeria itself - tellingly, some of the most exciting tracks are the result of cross-pollination between old and new. As with all things Sound Way, the 2cds are beautifully packaged with a detailed introductory essay, reproductions of original cover art and detailed annotations for each track. The vinyl version is split over two 2lp sets. The selections run deep enough to please even the most die-hard African music aficionados, while still being a great introductory collection for those unfamiliar with Nigeria's amazing musical output.
V/ANigeria Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Nigerian Blues 1970-6 -- Part Two(Sound Way)2lp$ 23.00
Just when it seems like the well of quality West African reissue compilations is about to run dry, the Sound Way label returns with another outstanding collection of rarities. This time the focus isn't on a particular style (as previous compilations on the label such as Afro Baby or Ghana Soundz have tended to do) so much as on the artists, styles and scene that thrived in Nigeria during the cultural moment that followed the Biafran war. The three years of civil war left millions dead and displaced, but also injected Nigeria with a sense of newfound optimism and self-determinance -- just as Nigeria itself had once been a colonial creation, the nation was free to reinvent itself in the wake of brutal conflict. What makes Nigeria Special a compelling listen is the way it reflects this period of expansion and transition by seamlessly placing traditional sounds side-by-side with afro-funk and psychedelic-tinged rock. Similarly, it contrasts the hybrid styles emerging from rapidly expanding urban centers such as Lagos with the rural sounds of their non-Yoruba countrymen. The musical diversity displayed on this collection reflects the growth and upheaval in Nigeria itself - tellingly, some of the most exciting tracks are the result of cross-pollination between old and new. As with all things Sound Way, the 2cds are beautifully packaged with a detailed introductory essay, reproductions of original cover art and detailed annotations for each track. The vinyl version is split over two 2lp sets. The selections run deep enough to please even the most die-hard African music aficionados, while still being a great introductory collection for those unfamiliar with Nigeria's amazing musical output.
V/ANigeria Special: Volume 2 - Modern Highlife, Afro Sounds & Nigerian Blues 1970-76(Soundway)cd$ 16.98
Soundway has been building quite the amazing catalog with their brilliant Nigeria Special series. A collection of sounds that truly demonstrates that there is an endless wealth of amazing music made in Nigeria during the 1970's. This is volume two in the Modern Highlife, Afro Sounds & Nigerian Blues series and somehow it manages to meet or even beat the excellence of the first outing. What makes the collection so cool is how while still sharing a similar sound and pedigree, there is so much diversity in the sounds and instrumentation. Worth it all alone is the mind blowing track by Twins Seven, complete with otherworldly vibraphones and entrancing call and response vocals. We love how these comps turn us on to specific artists that then send us off on crazy hunts to try to find more songs and records by those artists. But then, that's exactly what a great mix is meant to do. As a whole, Nigeria Special: Volume 2 has such a perfect sunshiny, laid back yet triumphant spirit. It's been our go-to record on Sunday afternoons when people are relaxing on a beautiful day, visiting the store, carefree after a leisurely stroll though the Mission, and the second we throw this on, we always see people casually swaying and tapping their feet as they make their away around the store, and they inevitably ask what's playing so they can grab a copy and hold on to that unbeatable feeling for the rest of the day, and for every weekend to come...
V/ANight Owls 01(Deluxe)cd$ 13.98
While this is certainly a pleasant compilation from the dependable electronica label Deluxe, the wide range of artists represented unfortunately turn in uniformly similar pieces. Not to generalize too much, but most all of the tracks sit somewhere between Boards of Canada-style melancholy chord progressions and Mego-worthy precise clicks, glitches and pops. Very nice, listenable, and
V/ANight Owls 2(Deluxe)cd$ 13.98
Second volume of delicate, spacious electronics and minimal glitch funk from Deluxe, featuring Electric Birds, Bizz Circuits, Sagan, Pan American, Soft Pink Truth (Drew Daniel of Matmos), Warmdesk, Jetone, Emisor and Daniel Gardner.
V/ANight Recordings From Bali(Sublime Frequencies)cd$ 14.98
Let's just start by reiterating what we said in the last list: We're pretty damn excited by Sun City Girls 33.3 percenter Alan Bishop's new Sublime Frequencies label. "Dedicated to acquiring and exposing obscure sights and sounds from modern and traditional urban and rural frontiers" Sublime Frequencies is slipping on the shoes apparently discarded by such pioneering labels as Smithsonian Folkways, Nonesuch Explorer, et al. Unlike previous explorers in such unheard music, Sublime Frequencies is not restricted by academic or commercial purposes. The latter probably deserves a bit more explanation; for where much of the post-Explorer purveyors of "world music" shamelessly produce an endless slough of slick garbage that sounds like the crap you can hear on any U.S. top 40 radio station merely sung in another language (Christ, if I had a wooden nickel for every fuckin' starry eyed NPR music review extoling the uniqueness of some generic world music outfit that combines electronic music with traditional folk, yadda, yadda, yadda the world's forests would be clear cut by now) the recordings you'll hear presented by Sublime Frequencies come from the cracks in the pavement of the culture makers. Through field recordings (many made by Bishop himself in his travels), radio and shortwave broadcasts some of the most fucking great music and audio you've never heard has been culled together. Balls to fidelity, none of the artists here would be allowed within 10 miles of a Putamayo AR executive, this is the punk rock of field recordings! By now we've listed numerous recordings from Bali already, and with good reason: the people of Bali live and breathe music and art. It's no wonder that they've been the source of fascination from artists dating back to Walter Spies and are currently inundated with the clumsey feet of foreign tourists who flock to the island every year. Much like the beloved Indonesian Soundscapes, Night Recordings From Bali is a collection of field recordings -- made by Alan Bishop and Manford Cain in 1989 -- of the sort not likely to be captured by traditional "ethnomusicologists" or found on the likes of an Explorer or even Smithsonian Folkways disc. For instance: "Rubber Television", a recording of a television drama or soap opera accompanied by gamelan, dripping water sound effects that warbles pathetically like they were being recorded with a dying cassette deck (courtesy of Bali's notorious humidity maybe?) While many of the other recordings are of Bali's numerous, well exposed gamelan and sundry other music ensembles like anklung, kebyar and kecak, the man-on-the-spot style recording fuses the sounds of the frogs and insects to the performances where another recordist might have isolated the ensemble. Additionally, there are recordings here of wild life segueing between musical performances and even a recording of a cremation ceremony where the surviving loved ones battle in a traditional tug of war between those wishing to bring the body to the pyre and those resisting the inevitable final journey.
V/ANight Watch, the(LTM)2cd$ 17.98
V/ANihon No Shinungaku: Japanese New Music Festival ver.4(Magaibutsu)cd$ 12.98
Brain-melting musical chaos from Japan! Crazy voices, crashing instruments! According to the liner notes to this cd, "In 1997, 1999 and 2003, a set of performances aroused a storm of frenzy and shriek in Europe... and they will be back with even greater power. This time 3 musicians (Yoshida Tatsuya/Tsuyama Atsushi/Kawabata Makoto) form 7 units!! A capella, comic free form, progressive core, troubadour, cosmic psychedelic....... you'll be experiencing the essence of all kinds of extremes in the current new music scene in Japan on a single night. Never miss it." Or, you can experience those extremes on a single disc -- this one, that Yoshida released on his Magaibutsu label to promote the tour. These three fellows, members of such crucial underground Japanese bands as Ruins, Acid Mothers Temple, and Omoide Hatoba, perform here in various groupings: Akaten, Zubi Zuva X, Zoffy, Seikazoku, Acid Mothers Temple SWR, Ruins Alone, and Shrinp Wark. Some of those will already be familiar to followers of this creatively fertile and incestuous scene, but two are kinda new: Shrinp Wark (Yoshida and Kawabata's improvising tribute to This Heat) and the somewhat self-explanatory Ruins Alone (Yoshida solo, using his drum kit and a sampling bass to singlehandedly perform songs by Ruins as well as Koenjihyakkei and Korekyojinn! The Ruins Alone track here is an insane ADD medley that brings in the William Tell Overture among other things...). There's something here for all fans of everything from spaced-out psych to vocal acrobatics to noisy prog mayhem. AND, in addition to the seven audio tracks, this also includes seven live video clips viewable on your computer! Way cool. Packaged in a plastic sleeve, no jewel case.
V/ANippon Girls: Japanese Pop, Beat, & Bossa Nova 1966-1970(Big Beat International)cd$ 19.98
V/ANippon Girls: Japanese Pop, Beat, & Bossa Nova 1966-70(Big Beat)cd$ 16.98
Along with Funky Frauleins and the French Sixties Girls compilations, how could we resist the allure of Nippon Girls, a swinging mod-tastic compilation of hip-swaying and frug-dancing femme-fronted big beat gems from sixties Japan? We couldn't, and you probably can't either. The cd came out a few years ago, but the vinyl version only just got released so we thought we should finally review this especially after the success of another Big Beat disc, Nippon Guitars, we reviewed a few lists ago. Feeling the influence of Western pop music in the sixties (including Bossa Nova from Brazil and Ye Ye from France), Japanese musicians capitalized on the new sound often by lifting popular songs wholesale and rewriting the lyrics. But the enthusiasm with which these sexy and soulful songs are performed and arranged make them pretty outstanding in their own right. Acid-y guitars, cinematic orchestral flourishes, and sharp and dynamic arrangements are just too infectious to be ignored, especially by beautiful women who look and sound this fantastically fierce. It's party time! Note: the cd version contains the full 25 tracks while the lp version only covers the first 12 tracks from 1967-1969. We assume there will be a follow-up volume 2 vinyl comp with the other tracks.
V/ANippon Girls: Japanese Pop, Beat, & Bossa Nova 1967-69(Big Beat)lp$ 25.00
Along with Funky Frauleins and the French Sixties Girls compilations, how could we resist the allure of Nippon Girls, a swinging mod-tastic compilation of hip-swaying and frug-dancing femme-fronted big beat gems from sixties Japan? We couldn't, and you probably can't either. The cd came out a few years ago, but the vinyl version only just got released so we thought we should finally review this especially after the success of another Big Beat disc, Nippon Guitars, we reviewed a few lists ago. Feeling the influence of Western pop music in the sixties (including Bossa Nova from Brazil and Ye Ye from France), Japanese musicians capitalized on the new sound often by lifting popular songs wholesale and rewriting the lyrics. But the enthusiasm with which these sexy and soulful songs are performed and arranged make them pretty outstanding in their own right. Acid-y guitars, cinematic orchestral flourishes, and sharp and dynamic arrangements are just too infectious to be ignored, especially by beautiful women who look and sound this fantastically fierce. It's party time! Note: the cd version contains the full 25 tracks while the lp version only covers the first 12 tracks from 1967-1969. We assume there will be a follow-up volume 2 vinyl comp with the other tracks.
V/ANo More Rock N Roll(Make Some Noise / Spiky)cd$ 15.98
Great collection of the current crop of electropunk mash up artists, in the post Digital Hardcore vein. Fourteen previously released tracks from Kid 606, Atari Teenage Riot, DJ Scud, Cobra Killer, Bomb 20, Kid Spatula, 2nd Gen, Aphasic, Hellfish & Producer and more!
V/ANo New York(Lilith)cd$ 16.98
Almost 30 years ago, Brian Eno caught wind of a bunch of nihilist musicians in New York's East Village, who were turning the punk revolution on its head in constructing a rock polyglot of mangled free-jazz, Theatre Artaud histrionics, sex-crime funk, and teeth-gnashing rage. Eno gathered together the four major projects from this scene -- The Contortions, DNA, Mars, and Teenage Jesus & The Jerks -- and brought them into the studio in order to document the messy dynamics of this short-lived community. The resulting compilation was the legendary No New York compilation. Depending on who you ask, these four bands on the No New York comp were the only bands to truly inherit the much ballyhooed No Wave throne, much to the chagrin of like-minded projects coming from other neighborhoods of New York City. For reasons that by now have long been forgotten, No New York has remained out of print for decades, thus attaining a mythological status not only for collectors but also for hundreds of art-rock bands who so badly wanted to wear the No Wave badge of honor. Eno had deliberately engineered these recordings buried in grit and mud, hoping to reproduce the frenzy of the Velvet Underground; and even he admitted that these bands had made better sounding recordings for various other labels. Eno's strategies paid off in unifying each and every band through a anxious kineticism that each band would later take in different directions. Led by the spasmodic James Chance, the Contortions overdosed on James Brown's swagger in their sharp funk grooves bloodied by Chance's vocal phlegm and spittle. Teenage Jesus & The Jerks had a 16-year old Lydia Lunch at their helm, scraping air-raid sirens violently across her guitar and adding equally ear-splitting vocal shrieks on top of The Jerks' sweaty militant march. Mars may have been the most sonically adventurous of the four in their toxic psychosis that evolved from throbbing avant-punk riffage into narcoleptic improviation. For the No New York compilation, DNA was in their monstrous synth plod and guitar shard phase which sounds so intesne and so so good. Shitty Japanese bootlegs of No New York have surfaced from time to time, sporting poor digital transfers of roughly handled vinyl, so it's nice to have this offically licensed Russian import which is quite nicely packaged and has much improved sound quality.
V/ANo Noise Compilation(Even Stilte)cd$ 12.98
This international, experimental comp from the Japan-based Even Stilte label features a couple big AQ faves, Birchville Cat Motel and Reynols, among others. The comp's called No Noise, but that title is ironic or something. Somebody call the Better Business Bureau with a truth in advertising complaint. Yes Noise is more like it. And if you don't think the first track (by Japanese skreemongers Dustbreeders aided and abetted by vocalist Junko from Hijokaidan) is noisy enough, first of all you're either deaf or crazy, and second of all, ok see what you think of track two, from Japan's even noisier Guilty Connector. We literally had to leap to the stereo to turn it down. It's noise all right, of the universe collapsing all around you in a howling tumble of feedback and fuzzed out, fucked up distortion variety. Damn. Halfway through, though, this track takes a turn into much less loud realm of insectoid buzz and freeform clatter, which actually is more the sort of "noise" that this comp itself is mostly about. Instead of the full-on, speaker-shredding, ear-shrivelling noise, of the first track and a half, this delves into some smaller noises as well. And also even some shambolic, avant-rock ritual strangeness from Argentina's wonderful Reynols. But mostly abstract, soundscapey drone stuff for the most part. Such as, the aforementioned BCM turns in a track that seemingly tunes in the zings of long thin wires. Electric zapping and humming and hissing. We were also interested to hear from the artists that we weren't so familiar with, like Sky Burial, whose track is a moody drift, rising and falling in rumbling, soothing swells. Someone or something named Phrog provides even more minimal, "microscopic" sounds, vaguely field-recording-ish, as is Dave Phillips' lengthily-titled yet barely-there "From Wars Over Control and Oil to Environmental and Mental Destruction and Renewable Sources and Minds (at a Loss for Words)". Kyoshi Mizutani's "Yamaokmai Tunnel" is another one probably constructed from environmental sources. And Acid Mothers Temple member Tabata, if he used field recordings, they must have been loops of someone shooting down aliens in an anonymous videogame, processed into something much calmer. Somewhat more active is the track by Rudolf Eb.er (of Runzelstirn & Gurglestock infamy), a chopped-up soundscape, that settles into an uneasy, clomping rhythm. (Eb.er also provided the "Body World" styled cover painting for this cd.) So, while far from "No Noise" this comp is a good way to get to -know- some noise, in all its extremes, from around the world. All the tracks here are apparently exclusive, except possibly the GC one. So we were told by the Even Stilte label boss, from whom we picked up just handful of these comps, when he stopped by the store whilst passing through SF recently.
V/ANo Seattle: Forgotten Sounds Of The North-West Grunge Era 1986-97(Soul Jazz)2cd$ 30.00
Obviously, we listen to all sorts of music here, and maybe also obviously, a lot of it is way outside the mainstream, whether it's psychedelic space rock, cinematic avant doom, dirgedronedrift, but when we're totally honest with ourselves (some of us at least, sure you can guess who), there are two genres that we always go back to. The stuff we listen to when we're NOT writing reviews, for pure pleasure, on roadtrips, on iPods, the soundtrack to many a journey, and those two genres would be eighties metal, and grunge. And for sure it has to do with our ages, and when we grew up, and what we grew up listening to, but grunge was HUGE for some of us. We subscribed to the Sub Pop singles club, we hunted down obscure 7"s on C/Z, and other smaller labels, we of course dug the usual suspects, Tad, Nirvana, Mudhoney, Green River and all the rest, but we were (and are) pretty obsessed, digging way deeper, and trust us, we could go on and on about our favorite super obscure (and sort of obscure) grunge outfits: Swallow, Cat Butt, Sprinkler, Thirty Ought Six, Malfunkshun, Love Battery, The Fluid, Green Magnet School, Gruntruck, Best Kissers In The World, Truly, Blood Circus, and yet not a single one of them are found here, nope, the folks at Soul Jazz dig REALLY DEEP, so much so, that even the grunge nerds around aQ only recognized EIGHT of the bands included on this comp, so we were super psyched to get schooled on one of our favorite genres. And to be fair, not all of this is strictly grunge, some of the stuff here is more straight up punk rock, some is pretty experimental, but some is seriously and fantastically grungy. Things start off with a band we knew and loved already, Starfish, whose girl grunge dabbled heavily in shoegaze, sounding to us at least, like a grunge version of Team Dresch, which is most definitely a good thing. Vampire Lezbos are pretty grungy too, and before now totally unknown to us, but all swagger, snarly riffage, some hard rock shreddery, that is until the song explodes into full on punk rock bash and howl, the rest of the song seesawing back and forth between the two. Nubbin are pretty great too, definitely grungy, a little bit jangly and Nirvana-esque, their song "Windyyy" borrowing the opening riff from a much more famous sing with the same (sort of) title. Saucer, who we had never heard before, are total grunge, all sort of hard rock swagger, and laid back riffage, heavy but also sort of stone-y. The first real WTF moment comes from Hitting Birth, who we were of course familiar with, but who we never considered grunge, and they're not grunge here either, more sort of early lo-fi industrial, to be fair it is SORT of grungy, but the metallic rhythms, the strange percussion, there's even some turntable scratching, makes it an interesting sonic reference point for the movement, and we do have to say, it's the coolest Hitting Birth song we've heard. Other favorites include Pod, the pre-Mudhoney, pre-Tad outfit Bundle Of Hiss, the very Skin Yard sounding Helltrout, who were considered one of the heavier bands in Seattle at the time (late eighties to mid nineties), then there's the fuzzy jangle pop of Chemistry Set, that seems to owe more to R.E.M. than anything, and My Name, who are almost like funk-grunge (and we mean that as a compliment), the all female grunge-chug of Shug, and the noisy girl-grunt post punk of Calamity Jane, and so much more. Anyone into grunge will dig this like crazy, and a bunch of these bands have full lengths, well worth tracking down, and of course, it's Soul Jazz, so there's a huge book, full of extensive liner notes, with rare photos, and a blurb on each band, as well as some appendices, like a list of various band members still active today and what bands they play in now, as well as a six degrees of Nirvana chart, that connects each band on the comp to the godfathers of grunge, in some cases in just one move, with a handful of band members having actually played in the group, and at least one having had the group play their birthday party! Available as a double cd, or a fairly pricey 4 lp set, sold in two separate 2lp volumes.
V/ANo Seattle: Forgotten Sounds Of The North-West Grunge Era 1986-97 (Volume One)(Soul Jazz)2lp$ 34.00
LISTED THE DOUBLE CD EDITION OF THIS COMP LAST WEEK, ALSO NOW HERE'S THE VINYL VERSION, IN TWO PARTS... Obviously, we listen to all sorts of music here, and maybe also obviously, a lot of it is way outside the mainstream, whether it's psychedelic space rock, cinematic avant doom, dirgedronedrift, but when we're totally honest with ourselves (some of us at least, sure you can guess who), there are two genres that we always go back to. The stuff we listen to when we're NOT writing reviews, for pure pleasure, on roadtrips, on iPods, the soundtrack to many a journey, and those two genres would be eighties metal, and grunge. And for sure it has to do with our ages, and when we grew up, and what we grew up listening to, but grunge was HUGE for some of us. We subscribed to the Sub Pop singles club, we hunted down obscure 7"s on C/Z, and other smaller labels, we of course dug the usual suspects, Tad, Nirvana, Mudhoney, Green River and all the rest, but we were (and are) pretty obsessed, digging way deeper, and trust us, we could go on and on about our favorite super obscure (and sort of obscure) grunge outfits: Swallow, Cat Butt, Sprinkler, Thirty Ought Six, Malfunkshun, Love Battery, The Fluid, Green Magnet School, Gruntruck, Best Kissers In The World, Truly, Blood Circus, and yet not a single one of them are found here, nope, the folks at Soul Jazz dig REALLY DEEP, so much so, that even the grunge nerds around aQ only recognized EIGHT of the bands included on this comp, so we were super psyched to get schooled on one of our favorite genres. And to be fair, not all of this is strictly grunge, some of the stuff here is more straight up punk rock, some is pretty experimental, but some is seriously and fantastically grungy. Things start off with a band we knew and loved already, Starfish, whose girl grunge dabbled heavily in shoegaze, sounding to us at least, like a grunge version of Team Dresch, which is most definitely a good thing. Vampire Lezbos are pretty grungy too, and before now totally unknown to us, but all swagger, snarly riffage, some hard rock shreddery, that is until the song explodes into full on punk rock bash and howl, the rest of the song seesawing back and forth between the two. Nubbin are pretty great too, definitely grungy, a little bit jangly and Nirvana-esque, their song "Windyyy" borrowing the opening riff from a much more famous sing with the same (sort of) title. Saucer, who we had never heard before, are total grunge, all sort of hard rock swagger, and laid back riffage, heavy but also sort of stone-y. The first real WTF moment comes from Hitting Birth, who we were of course familiar with, but who we never considered grunge, and they're not grunge here either, more sort of early lo-fi industrial, to be fair it is SORT of grungy, but the metallic rhythms, the strange percussion, there's even some turntable scratching, makes it an interesting sonic reference point for the movement, and we do have to say, it's the coolest Hitting Birth song we've heard. Other favorites include Pod, the pre-Mudhoney, pre-Tad outfit Bundle Of Hiss, the very Skin Yard sounding Helltrout, who were considered one of the heavier bands in Seattle at the time (late eighties to mid nineties), then there's the fuzzy jangle pop of Chemistry Set, that seems to owe more to R.E.M. than anything, and My Name, who are almost like funk-grunge (and we mean that as a compliment), the all female grunge-chug of Shug, and the noisy girl-grunt post punk of Calamity Jane, and so much more. Anyone into grunge will dig this like crazy, and a bunch of these bands have full lengths, well worth tracking down, and of course, it's Soul Jazz, so there's a huge book, full of extensive liner notes, with rare photos, and a blurb on each band, as well as some appendices, like a list of various band members still active today and what bands they play in now, as well as a six degrees of Nirvana chart, that connects each band on the comp to the godfathers of grunge, in some cases in just one move, with a handful of band members having actually played in the group, and at least one having had the group play their birthday party! Available as a double cd, or a fairly pricey 4 lp set, sold in two separate 2lp volumes.
V/ANo Seattle: Forgotten Sounds Of The North-West Grunge Era 1986-97 (Volume Two)(Soul Jazz)2lp$ 34.00
LISTED THE DOUBLE CD EDITION OF THIS COMP LAST WEEK, ALSO NOW HERE'S THE VINYL VERSION, IN TWO PARTS... Obviously, we listen to all sorts of music here, and maybe also obviously, a lot of it is way outside the mainstream, whether it's psychedelic space rock, cinematic avant doom, dirgedronedrift, but when we're totally honest with ourselves (some of us at least, sure you can guess who), there are two genres that we always go back to. The stuff we listen to when we're NOT writing reviews, for pure pleasure, on roadtrips, on iPods, the soundtrack to many a journey, and those two genres would be eighties metal, and grunge. And for sure it has to do with our ages, and when we grew up, and what we grew up listening to, but grunge was HUGE for some of us. We subscribed to the Sub Pop singles club, we hunted down obscure 7"s on C/Z, and other smaller labels, we of course dug the usual suspects, Tad, Nirvana, Mudhoney, Green River and all the rest, but we were (and are) pretty obsessed, digging way deeper, and trust us, we could go on and on about our favorite super obscure (and sort of obscure) grunge outfits: Swallow, Cat Butt, Sprinkler, Thirty Ought Six, Malfunkshun, Love Battery, The Fluid, Green Magnet School, Gruntruck, Best Kissers In The World, Truly, Blood Circus, and yet not a single one of them are found here, nope, the folks at Soul Jazz dig REALLY DEEP, so much so, that even the grunge nerds around aQ only recognized EIGHT of the bands included on this comp, so we were super psyched to get schooled on one of our favorite genres. And to be fair, not all of this is strictly grunge, some of the stuff here is more straight up punk rock, some is pretty experimental, but some is seriously and fantastically grungy. Things start off with a band we knew and loved already, Starfish, whose girl grunge dabbled heavily in shoegaze, sounding to us at least, like a grunge version of Team Dresch, which is most definitely a good thing. Vampire Lezbos are pretty grungy too, and before now totally unknown to us, but all swagger, snarly riffage, some hard rock shreddery, that is until the song explodes into full on punk rock bash and howl, the rest of the song seesawing back and forth between the two. Nubbin are pretty great too, definitely grungy, a little bit jangly and Nirvana-esque, their song "Windyyy" borrowing the opening riff from a much more famous sing with the same (sort of) title. Saucer, who we had never heard before, are total grunge, all sort of hard rock swagger, and laid back riffage, heavy but also sort of stone-y. The first real WTF moment comes from Hitting Birth, who we were of course familiar with, but who we never considered grunge, and they're not grunge here either, more sort of early lo-fi industrial, to be fair it is SORT of grungy, but the metallic rhythms, the strange percussion, there's even some turntable scratching, makes it an interesting sonic reference point for the movement, and we do have to say, it's the coolest Hitting Birth song we've heard. Other favorites include Pod, the pre-Mudhoney, pre-Tad outfit Bundle Of Hiss, the very Skin Yard sounding Helltrout, who were considered one of the heavier bands in Seattle at the time (late eighties to mid nineties), then there's the fuzzy jangle pop of Chemistry Set, that seems to owe more to R.E.M. than anything, and My Name, who are almost like funk-grunge (and we mean that as a compliment), the all female grunge-chug of Shug, and the noisy girl-grunt post punk of Calamity Jane, and so much more. Anyone into grunge will dig this like crazy, and a bunch of these bands have full lengths, well worth tracking down, and of course, it's Soul Jazz, so there's a huge book, full of extensive liner notes, with rare photos, and a blurb on each band, as well as some appendices, like a list of various band members still active today and what bands they play in now, as well as a six degrees of Nirvana chart, that connects each band on the comp to the godfathers of grunge, in some cases in just one move, with a handful of band members having actually played in the group, and at least one having had the group play their birthday party! Available as a double cd, or a fairly pricey 4 lp set, sold in two separate 2lp volumes.
V/ANo W... Now! A Musical Petition Against George W. Bush(Passive Aggressive)cd$ 13.98
V/ANodutgang(Go To Gate)cd$ 7.00
V/ANoise Is All In Your Head(Gold Soundz)cd$ 10.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE** Found a couple of these killer comps stashed in the closet. Figured there would probably be one or two noiseniks out there would flip for this. Just have a look at the groups/folks involved: Oren Ambarchi, Thurston Moore, Noxagt, Lass Marhaug, Volcano The Bear, Neil Campbell, Dylan Nyoukis, and a whole bunch more. House in a cool oversized cover. Pretty sure this is long out of print so these are definitely the last copies ever. And on sale to boot!
V/ANoise vs. Subversive Computing(Computationally Infeasible)usb stick$ 21.00
We kind of always wondered why more people didn't do a release like this sooner. Not a cd or an lp or a tape, but a little mini usb drive, packed with sights and sounds, for this particular releases much more appropriate as it's a collaborative project, in which Noise / Experimental Artists go head to head with Subversive Technologists aka Computer Hackers. Ten from each group were asked to contribute a piece of work, which could be anything, music, sound art, images, text, a video, even software, anything that could be converted to binary! The musicians had the theme of "Subversive Computing" while the hackers had "Noise" as theirs. A pretty rad concept for sure, and the result is pretty cool. Most of the songs are in FLAC form, so you'll have to have the appropriate decoder installed. Most of the bands were new to us, although some familiar names popped up: Sarah's Charity, Francisco, Lopez, Family Battle Snake, the sounds are all over the map, from drone to glitch to 8-bit to, well, you get the drift, it's a strange comp, but definitely cool. Then there's the subversive computing portion, which is super interesting, but for the Luddites it might be hard to figure out what to do, and / or what the various programs do. From hiding information in noise music, sample generating software (we think), producing transcripts of random audio, generating a rainbow of sound out of the colors of noise, bitmapped chaos, a poem about noise, a video depicting the visual representation of noise, software that uses hacking to create art, a project that creates awareness of the controversial and incomprehensible privacy policies on the net, and more! Definitely need to spend some time at home, listening, and reading, and exploring, all of these digital goodies are housed in a cool, printed mini usb drive, with a strap, so you can wear it around your neck! Noise freaks, weirdo sound obsessives, computer nerds, and everyone in between, should definitely check this out!!
V/ANoisyMotions(Osmose Productions)dvd$ 14.98
Can't imagine a blackmetalhead who wouldn't consider this DVD absolutely essential. And it just might be enough to lure some unsuspecting innocents to the dark side as well. Videos from Absu, Immortal, Antaeus, Impaled Nazarene, Melechesh, Nortre Dame, Phazm, Arkhon Infaustus, Dark Tranquility, Gehennah, and a bunch more. As well as live sets from Angel Corpse, Immortal, Blasphemy, Inhume, Notre Dame and Sublime Cadaveric Decomposition. Pretty much everything on this disc is a blast, but definite highlights would have to be the two Immortal videos, the first, "Blashyrkh (Mighty Raven Dark)", features Abbath and Demonaz, in full corpsepaint and spikes, playing atop a mountain, above fjords and forests, with superimposed lightning storms, and occasional unintentionally hilarious mad dashes from peak to peak, while still rocking! The second video for "Grim And Frostbitten kingdom" has the band fully rocking out again, this time atop a glacier, again in full corpsepaint, except for fill in drummer Hellhammer, who is sans corpsepaint and wearing a frilly pirate shirt. The whole thing intercut with shots of Abbath singing through a sheet of ice. Wow. Then there's the totally over the top Notre Dame videos, especially "Scarecrows" which features the whole band strapped to wooden posts and singing from atop their perches, in the middle of a corn field. And howabout Impaled Nazarene's black metal "Smells Like Teen Spirit"-ish video for "Armageddon Death Squad." Woah. We could go on and on, but trust us, this is awesome! And for sure don't miss the bonus feature "At Home With Snowy Shaw", a goofy Cribs-like tour of Shaw's (from Notre Dame) horror movie memento stuffed house as well as a little acoustic sing along. So weird. NTSC and ALL REGION! ----* ----* Finally! New AQ wear!! : ----* NEW AQURIUS T-SHIRTS $12.98 Available in sizes S, M, L, XL and 2XL (2XL sizes are $14.98)
V/ANordic Metal: A Tribute To Euronymous(Karmageddon Media)cd$ 16.98
There are a handful of compilations, so well thought out, so well put together, with just the perfect artists and the best songs, that function like an impossibly perfect record. If you could somehow imagine that said compilation was in fact, a record by some band it would be absolutely the greatest record ever. Never has that been more true than in the case of a couple of black metal comps from back in the nineties. One is the amazing Darkthrone tribute, Darkthrone Holy Darkthrone, an absolutely stellar comp featuring Satyricon, Enslaved, Marduk, Thorns, Emperor, Dodheimsgard, Gorgoroth. So it should come as no surprise that another 'perfect record' comp is this one right here, Nordic Metal: A Tribute To Euronymous. While we're still waiting for that Darkthrone comp to be reissued, it's no small consolation that this one has been resurrected, to demonstrate once again, that no matter how amazing bands are now and how far black metal has come, it really was never better than in 1995. A tribute to Euronymous, the fallen leader of Mayhem, who was murdered by Count Grishnack aka Burzum, beginning the non-musical 'Lords Of Chaos' saga of Norwegian black metal that would become tabloid fodder for the next decade, this compilation was actually already in the works as a showcase for the Scandinavian bands of the time, but Euronymous ended up dying before he could release it on his own label Deathlike Silence. So it was completed by his allies at Necropolis Records (RIP) as a tribute to their fallen 'leader'. Like that Darkthrone comp, a look at the bands should be enough to tell you that this is something special: Abruptum, Mayhem, Dissection, Emperor, Mysticum, Marduk, Thorns, Opthalamia, Enslaved, Mortiis and Arcturus. Basically every band that mattered, the bands that defined Nordic black metal. Plus these aren't just any tracks, these are almost all some of these bands' best tracks. Abruptum's "De Profundis Mors Vas Cousumet" is still a tweaked and damaged BM classic, completely unhinged, with angelic female vocals, warbly pitch shifts, blackened blasts, and those vocals... the perfect way to start things off. Next up "The Freezing Moon" by Euronymous and Mayhem, frosty and grim, but melodic and catchy and an all time classic. The reverb drenched blasts sandwiched between gorgeously melancholy melodies. And then Disssection's "Where Dead Angels Lie", maybe one of the greatest black metal songs of all time, with a killer fucking hook and some of the most amazing guitar playing EVER. And it just goes on from there, most serious black metal fans will most likely have all of these tracks, but it's like the ultimate BM primer. If they taught a class in black metal, this would absolutely be essential listening. (And it was indeed studied intently by those of us who were working here at Aquarius back during our big black metal discovery phase in the mid-nineties, we have fond memories of this album!). Other highlights include Thorns' "Aerie Descends", a lurching slow motion blackened trudge, with creepy circusy keyboards and weird whispered vocals, a very cabaret vibe mixed in with seriously grim blackness. Then there's a killer rehearsal version of Emperor's "Moon Over Kata-Shehr" which proves it wasn't the production or the recordings that made them so good, it's the songs. Epic and complex and fucking fantastic. There's some classic Enslaved, and even back then at their grimmest and most buzzy, they still demonstrated all sorts of prog tendencies. Pretty much every track on here is essential. Even if you have most of these, it's like the ultimate classic black metal mixtape, and like we mentioned before, if you've been hesitant to explore black metal, this is probably the best possible place to start!
V/ANorth By North West(Korova)3cd$ 38.00
This three CD boxset documents the post-punk scenes indigenous to Liverpool and Manchester from the 70s and '80s. Most of the tracks can be found kicking around (i.e. Buzzcocks, Smiths, The Fall, Joy Division, Magazine, A Certain Ratio, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, OMD, New Order, etc.), but there's enough rare tracks to make this collection an interesting listen (i.e. Yachts, Pink Industry, Lori & The Chameleons, etc.).
V/ANot Alone(Jnana / Durtro)5cd$ 37.00
Talk of this compilation has been making the rounds for months, and now that it's here we can see why. We can also see why it took so dang long. But it was well worth it. The final product, the lineup, the songs, the packaging, the cause, WOW. The bands are a who's who of indie / avant / alternative rock / folk / electronica / experimental, all over the map. It's dangerously close to being SO eclectic that it's just a mess, but if you approach it as the worlds longest mixtape, made by your coolest friend with the best record collection it all starts to make some sort of skewed sense. But who cares? Look at this lineup: Angles Of Light, Michael Yonkers, Antony And The Johnsons, Thighpaulsandra, Devendra Banhart, William Basinski, Bevis Frond, Teenage Fanclub, Sundial, Six Organs Of Admittance, Suishou No Fune, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Richard Buckner, Vashti Bunyan, Damon And Naomi, Shock Headed Peters, Isobel Campbell, Dolly Collins, Shirley Collins, Bill Fay, Marissa Nadler, Tom Recchion, Colin Potter, 7 Year Rabbit Cycle, Linda Perhacs, Max Richter, Current 93, Jad Fair, Simon Finn, Edward Ka-Spel, Pearls Before Swine, Nurse With Wound, Jarboe, Charlemagne Palestine, Thurston Moore, Jim O'Rourke, Mirror, Matmos, Alex Nielson & Richard Youngs, Larsen, Faun Fables, James William Hindle, The Hafler Trio, Keiji Haino, Allen Ginsberg, Howie B, Ghost, irr.app.(ext)., Cyclobe, Fursaxa and more more more! The liner notes make it impossible to tell just which tracks are exclusive or unreleased and which are album tracks, but again it hardly matters in this context. Like borrowing some cool kids Ipod and setting it on shuffle. And of course the most important part of all this, and the whole reason this compilation exists is that all proceeds go to Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) to support their work in fighting HIV / AIDS in Africa. Packaged in a cool slipcover box, with individually printed cd sleeves, a HUGE book with liner notes from Mark Logan who runs Jnana records as well as information about Medecins Sans Frontieres, as well as track by track notes from each band.
V/ANot Given Lightly: A Tribute To The Giant Golden Book Of New Zealand's Alternative Music Scene(Morr )2cd$ 21.00
V/ANot The Same Old Blues Crap(Fat Possum)cd$ 4.98
Let's not forget the blues. New buget-priced label sampler from badass blues champions Fat Possum (now distributed by big punkcorporation Epitaph and set to conquer the world). Features some wild and wooly tracks from R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough (R.I.P.), Hasil Adkins, T-Model Ford...i.e. lots of old fellers who'll put a boot up your backside. Plus some young 'uns, including Jon Spencer Blues Explosion side-project 20 Miles. So don't just get the blues and sit there depressed, get the blues, put this on, and break things! An excellent introduction to the many somewhat sensationalistic but genuinely non-crap artists on Fat Possum.