[ aquarius records

IMPORTANT (Please read to avoid confusion): Some items below may be tagged with a bold, red, all-caps OUT OF PRINT/UNAVAILABLE notice. This does NOT mean that all other items not so tagged are, in fact, in stock — or for that matter, in print and available, though there's a good chance they are. Some folks get confused on this point, and we can see why, so please read this for further clarification and other important before-you-order information. Unlike some mailorder websites, we don't have an electronic inventory system linked to our site, so you can't be sure of what we actually have or don't have in stock at any given moment without asking us — please email our mailorder department for availability status — or better yet, just go ahead and place your order using our shopping cart function and we'll get back to you with the status of each item. If you have general non-mailorder questions, email the store.

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Kaiser and Smith join together to pay tribute to Miles Davis' electric '73-'75 period, joined by The Rova Sax Quartet, Nels Cline, Elliot Sharp, John Medeski, Lukas Ligeti, Oluyemi Thomas and many others...

Woah! We've got the return of a way, way, way, WAY OUT electric guitar and drums duo document here, an improv maelstrom of uber DISTORTION freakout action that proves there's nothing new under the sun, 'cause this was cranked out by two long haired American hippies back in the early Seventies. In the annals of underground noise, they deserve a special place. This is proto everything! Mick Barr, No Wave, Ascension, Rhys Chatham, Glen Branca, Sonic Youth, High Rise, The Blue Humans, Dead C, Harry Pussy, Lightning Bolt, D!O!D!O!D!, even the Rangda we listed a couple weeks ago... heck, we're hearing all of that here. Wow. A total feedback and bashing attack, but not negative in attitude or anti-musical at all. In fact, it's presented with a lot of positive hippy-dippy charm ("listen for the time when the drums play themselves - when the spirits in the drums themselves are dancing" - that's a quote from drummer Bob Thompson found on the '98 release, and the title Daily Dance comes from the writings of Ken Kesey of Merry Prankster/Acid Test fame). Yet, it makes one of their own influences - The Stooges - seem square in comparison. These two go further in channeling spiritual free jazz a la Coltrane and Sanders into a stripped down, amped up primal "psych rock" context, it's hard to think of many earlier examples of such out-rock exploration. And it was also totally DIY punk too - of course, no label back then, or now for that matter, would have seen much commercial potential in this volume-dealing duo's pioneering skronk fest! Daily Dance was recorded in 1972, and subsequently released as a private press lp in '73 via Carla Bley's New Music Distribution Service. It was reviewed favorably by Creem magazine in '77 (you can see, this didn't get all that much attention when it first came out, but has grown in cult status over the years), with Doug Snyder's guitar squall indeed compared to James Williamson of The Stooges. Snyder also cited the Velvet Underground and Sonny Sharrock as his guitar influences... Japan's Masayuki Takayangi was probably unknown to Snyder at the time but we bet he'd have been into him too, though the Daily Dance duo definitely are more ROCK than they are jazz. Or at least, they manage to combine rock and jazz without coming close to "fusion", not that there's anything wrong with fusion, good fusion anyway, but there's lots of bad fusion and this ain't either. Now it's been reissued on cd for the second time (the previous edition, from '98, is long out of print) and on vinyl as well, making it available to a new generation of improv noise rock freaks. [Vinyl? Yes, unfortunately we're out of stock on the vinyl right at the moment, but will get it back in soon, so please let us know if you want a copy in that format.] Pretty neat to hear music "like this" being made for what might have been the very first time, certainly Snyder and Thompson were "pushing the envelope" as they knew it then, advancing into territory not entirely mapped out by things they'd already heard. And even if it wasn't from '72, anyone who likes loud, full-on freakout, rhythmic skree, and droney noisy textures will be variously entertained, whether it be by the moody, mystic feedback and percussive shimmer that closes out the epic title track, or the dense rumble of "Teenage Emergency" at the end of the disc that makes us think of Sharrock playing some sort of static surf music... Lion Productions, in association with Cantor Records (responsible for the vinyl reissue mentioned above), has done this up nicely, in a fancy Japanese-looking miniature lp style paste-on sleeve, complete with obi. Remastered from the original tapes, and packaged with a 20 page booklet with liner notes and photos. Nice! FYI, this compact disc edition also includes a previously unreleased two-minute bonus track, "Unseen, Unheard", that was left off the both the original and reissued vinyl for reasons of space (and it's not on the previous cd version either).

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Yes! The Sound of Feeling were a short lived but influential avant jazz-pop vocal group who recorded one full length album called Spleen in 1969 and a split LP with Oliver Nelson in 1968. Along with a handful of unreleased bonus tracks from the early seventies, Up into Silence collects their complete recordings. Comprised of pianist / arranger / singer Gary David, the counterpoint microtonal vocal talents of twin sisters Alice Rhae and Rhae Alice Andrece and rounded out musically with 2 bassists and a drummer, The Sound of Feeling updated the jazz-scat vocal style made popular by Lambert Hendricks and Ross and The Singers Unlimited by channeling John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk instead of Ella Fitzgerald or Louis Armstrong. But at times also referencing 16th-century madrigals, Bartok, the poetry of Paul Verlaine, as well as Simon and Garfunkel and Donovan amongst their many touchstones. Beginning with their take on Coltrane's version of "My Favorite Things", the first five tracks are from the split LP with Oliver Nelson. The four others are all originals including "Circe Revisited" which features the unusual instrumentation of Marxaphone, an autoharp type instrument with strings tuned to a microtonal scale. But it's their full length album, Spleen, where the group gets the most interesting. Opening with a bass and piano hook that has been sampled many times, the group's take on Donovan's "Hurdy-Gurdy Man" is one of the strangest and beautiful versions we've heard, taking the song through so many peaks and valleys (and even out on a few limbs) that never materialized in the original. With tracks like "Hex" and "Along Came Sam", it seems they left the jazz world altogether, and entered a lysergic avant chamber pop territory, with the basses, piano, vibes and drums alternating between killer breaks and restrained near-silent passages amongst the oddly tuned vocal acrobatics. The final 5 tracks were previously unreleased as the group were attempting to expand into hipper territories in the early seventies. The best of them, "Born Amongst The Eagles", continues with the amazing drum fills and some very strange vocal effects. Predicting the vocalese fusion style of Ursula Dudziak and Flora Purim, The Sound of Feeling were like a strange cocktail of Patty Water's Out vocals and the cool groove of Norwegian jazz singer Karin Krog. Their recognition is long overdue!

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This early seventies free-jazz-funk supergroup from Philadelphia featured Byard Lancaster, Khan Jamal and Monette Sudler (one of the most amazing female jazz guitar players we've heard!) with a whole host of rhythm support from percussionists Rashid Salim, and Omar Hill, drummer Dwight James, and Billy Mills on bass, many of whom appeared on Jamal's highly praised Drumdance To The Motherland. Community-minded free players, The Sounds of Liberation tear it up through these six numbers on their debut album from 1972, moving with ease through long-form free jazz, as well as groovy funk, and urgent hard-hittingly tight cinematic jams. Each performer gets a turn in the spotlight, but it never departs from the overall energy, feel and flow of the whole album. We think fans of the groovier sides of Sun Ra and Sonny Sharrock or fans of classic Blue Note label jazz and rare groove from the sixties and seventies (Donald Byrd, Horace Silver, Lee Morgan etc.) who are looking for something a little more out but not TOO out, should definitely look into this! Lovingly reissued on Florida's Porter Records label, the lp version is limited to 500 copies with original artwork and mp3 download card.

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

SORRY. We won't say much about this since we only have like 3 copies and it's apparently already out of print... When we first heard this, we were a bit perplexed. The tracks were equally divided between hard funk instrumentals that would fit in any number of blaxploitation flicks, and soulful ballads and anthems sung by a group of young women, with only a couple tracks combining the two styles. We thought perhaps the band was actually a session band for hire that only put a record out as a kind of musical business card of sorts, as we could see some of the tracks being deep cuts for soul and funk DJs, and featured on rare soundtracks or something. But the real story is much stranger. The 1976 sole release by the Bronx based Sounds of The City Experience is a rare example of the 'tax shelter' record. Originally issued on Tiger Lily, a subsidiary of the mob-run Roulette label, Tiger Lily used demo recordings as a way to find artists who would agree to have a record released only to have it deliberately fail, so the label would be able to write off the loss! The band would get a one-off fee and some records to distribute on their own, but nothing more would come out of the relationship. Over 70 such records were released on this label before it folded after a year. This reissue gives us the human story behind this particular band and their ambitions to have a record released no matter what the cost. The band itself is tight, hard-hitting and the vocal range incredible and there are some great tracks here to discover. Showing what a weird thing the music industry can be.

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Remember Spaceheads? Kind of a '90s sensation, 'round these parts anyway (they played Terrastock SF), this underground experimental "abstract dance" duo from the UK made a super groovy, spacey brand of "live electronica" with trumpet, drums, and various electronics n' effects. Well, now they're back, not that they ever really went away. Trip To The Moon is a new ep from 'em, with both Andy Diagram (trumpet/loops/FX harmonizers) and Richard Harrison (drums/percussion) up to their old tricks - which could be taken to mean, they still sound very "nineties". When we first heard this, we were like, huh, kinda reminds us of LTJ Bukem! Features four groovy instrumental tracks, sixteen and a half minutes full of funky beats, nicely melodic trumpet licks (looped), and some fat synth-y bass blurps (which must also be the trumpet, somehow). There are uptempo frenzies of skittering percussion, and also much more mellow jazzical moods too. And yes, the first track "Cosmic Freight Train" is quite aptly titled, with its driving choo-choo-choo rhythm. All aboard!

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This match-up had to happen really, even if it was just so they could call the record SpaceShipp. Legendary Jazz pianist Matthew Shipp teams up with Spacemen 3's Jason Spaceman for two extended pieces of modern minimal dronemusic. Apparently the two performed live together at Patty Smith's Meltdown Festival, and this recording is an extension / corollary of that performance. And it's a doozy. Shipp abandons the piano in favor of the Harmonium, while Spaceman wields his trusty Vox Starstreamer, the two conjure up some seriously deep drones. The opener is the 41 minute "Inner", and is a slow moving near static stretch of massive minimalism, the guitar and organ unfurling long tones, creating all sorts of layers and textures, complex overtones, and subtle barely there rhythms, the obvious references are Reich, Niblock and Palestine. The piece occasionally shifts and the tones become fuzzier, a bit more blown out and buzzy, but they quickly revert to their more murky washed out state. Total divine Ur-drone action, mesmerizing, hypnotic, and dreamlike. The second track, "Outer", is only 11 minutes long, and features Shipp on the Celeste, creating delicate crystalline music box like melodies, while Spaceman creates all sorts of scrapes and buzz in the background, which slowly coalesces into a Spacemen 3 sort of looped buzz, the two elements at odds, but strangely complimentary, the combined sound woozy, warped and warbly, but still haunting and strangely lovely. Gorgeously packaged like all Treader releases, this one features a blue matte paper fold over sleeve, with a metallic gold jellyfish embossed on the front.

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Inoffensive classical guitar jazz in John Zorn's new series of background music for upscale dinner parties, in which the horrors of globalization are discussed without being aware of the irony that all of the guests are sporting clothes from The Gap.

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We've only got a couple of these; so we won't take too long in expounding upon the virtues of the Seattle heavy free-jazz ensemble The Spider Trio. Two of the members of the trio (Jeffrey Taylor and Dave Abramson) are current members of the ever entertaining / ever perplexing / ever compelling Climax Goldwn Twins, with the final member being saxophonist / painter Wally Shoup. Taylor quips that he may be the sole practitioner of a thing called "avant-garde free hillbilly guitar playing;" and yeah, his pseudo-Appalachian boogie deftly counterpoints Shoup's bleat and skronk while Abramson propels the ensemble with oblique fills and angular explosions of dynamic rhythm. Limited to 50 copies, each graced with a hand painted water color by Mr. Shoup.

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Every few years, we get a few offerings from Jeffrey Taylor's vangarde contortionism of freeform guitar wizardry outside of the esoteric contortionism of the Climax Golden Twins. And here, we have his dynamic The Spider Trio, which finds Taylor working alongside notable Seattle free jazz / improv saxophonist Wally Shoup and journeyman percussionist Dave Abramson, who has played with Master Musicians Of Bukkake, Grails, and the aforementioned CGT. These sessions typically highlight Shoup's blurting tumble, bright trills, and moments of volatile, almost-Brotzmann like muscularity on the sax, but the interplay with Taylor's avant-hillbilly / swaggering-boogie riffs make for the best moments on this live recording from the Woodland Theater, a suitably disheveled Seattle venue. It comes together with a Actuel / ESP vibe that would have made Volcanic Tongue quake, if they were still around to quake. Pro-duplicated cd-r in an edition of 100 copies for what that's worth.

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

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G.E. Stinson and friends!

An interesting project -- DJ Spooky, resident illbient black boho issuing missives to the masses from NYC (eeuw, I'm starting to talk like him), enlists the talents of excellent avant / free jazzmen: shimmering piano courtesy Matthew Shipp, cakewalkin' groovy bass from William Parker, squeals and cries from Joe McPhee's horns, athletic, careful drumming from Guillermo E. Brown. And of course, Spooky on laptop / turntables / kalimba etc. I was all set for this to suck, but it doesn't suck. It's "jazzy" trip hop that works. It's actually some of the most accessible work I've heard from these jazz virtuosi, so it's a nice introduction to them if you find truly free jazz too abstract to enjoy. Once in a while some sadly predictable breakbeats cheapen the music, but those segments don't occur too often. Augmented with the vocal flow of Carl Hancock Rux, Napoleon, High Priest (Anti-Pop Consortium). Pauline Oliveros even makes an appearance. If you like the clips below, you'll like the album. WARNING: Just for heavens sake *don't* read the liner notes -- Spooky's so frickin' pretentious he ruins the experience. Let others do the critical analysis, no one wants to hear you analyze your own work, man! It's as if he thinks we won't "get it" unless he takes us by the hand and explains. The guy needs an editor: "Check the vibe as jazz for the gene-splicing generation. An echo of the here and now put through the hard drive... It's a voodoo economics of the sound waves rolling across the basilar membrane... It's a post-rational thing... It's a synaethesia [sic] thing...Use your eyes to hear and your ears to see -- check the rhythm reality." Aaargh! Is he stoned or something?

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Noise/jazz/improv/rock unit Sprawl has a lineup that includes saxophone legend Peter Brotzmann, bassist extraordinare William Parker and reedsman Alex Buess (of Swiss jazz-industrialists 16-17 as well as Ice and God). Since any of those names by themselves pretty much insures top quality, we had high expectations for this disc, and it's no disappointment. Also in the band, guitarist Stephan Wittiuer and drummer Michael Wertmuller (Alboth!, Caspar Brotzmann Massaker). Fans of those bands, Last Exit, etc., must take note. Looks like a 1997 release, but we've not come across it until now, due to it being a Austrian import.

A follow up to last year's successful "Masses" cd, on which UK electronica duo Spring Heel Jack edited and manipulated the raw improvisations of a host of Downtown NYC (and beyond) jazz musicians, in what was one of the the best and most original entries yet in Thirsty Ear's pretty great "Blue Series" of happenin' now jazz. Like that disc, this one also fortunately eschews the obvious "let's add some techno beats to this trumpet solo" kind of thing you might expect from an electronica remix project, and really approaches the music from within, SHJ using their computers carefully to meld disparate performances together into something that definitely remains jazz -- but with an undercurrent of glitchy crackle and drone. It's kind of like a free jazz version of Radian or Pluramon (to cite two computer-aided post-rock/electronica projects, both faves around here). The SHJ fellows are really listening and reacting, like improvisors do, and there are some great musicians on here for them (and us) to listen to. There's two returnees from the "Masses" line-up: legendary British saxophonist Evan Parker and Blue Series curator Matthew Shipp (on Fender Rhodes). And then there's also the likes of trombonist Paul Rutherford, drummer Han Bennink, violinist Ed Coxon, bassist George Trebar, trumpter Kenny Wheeler, bassist John Edwards, and, the oddball in the bunch, guitarist Jason Pierce of Spiritualized fame (who must be responsible for the distorted guitar noise found on "Maroc" and elsewhere). With that kind of talent on hand, SHJ had a lot to work with, and they did a great job, creating layered compositions that retain the player's voices even as they are juxataposed into unimagined new situations. The results are moody, melodic but abstract, rarely (but sometimes) abrasive, nicely noir-ish...android jazz for some Blade Runner coctail bar. Dark, dense, lovely. Jazz purists might scoff, but actually we'd rather listen to this than a lot of straight improv stuff done by the above musicians -- the combination of the instrumentalists' unfettered expression and SHJ's editing and structuring (and sonic additions) really works well here. Recommended.

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Recently, the Spring Heel Jack duo of John Coxon and Ashley Wales took their amazing "Masses" / "Amassed" jazz-meets-electronics project on the road, and we've now got this aptly-titled disc to prove it. Yep, live performances recorded at two shows in England this past January featuring several of the veteran jazz players who appeared on "Masses" and "Amassed" -- Matthew Shipp, Evan Parker, Han Bennink, William Parker -- alongside electric guitarist Jason Pierce of Spiritualized (who contributed to "Amassed") and the Spring Heel Jack guys themselves adding their two cents with electronics and live sampling and so forth. If you're not familiar with the two albums by this project already, basically SHJ recorded a bunch of awesome jazz musicians improvising (not necessarily together), fed that into their computer, edited and manipulated and juxtaposed, and came up with a pretty great jazz/electronics hybrid, that's neither wholly improv nor pre-composed. And it's definitely NOT drum and bass overlaid with jazz samples, fear not. Imagine a jazz version of Radian, if you know that band (another parallel would be to Pluramon). How would it work live, though? A bit differently, but with players of the calibre they've gathered here, it's still gotta be good. SHJ's opportunity for structuring and editing done in post-production is obviously lessened or eliminated, but the duo remain in their role as facilitators, and there's definitely a lot of electricity present, in all senses. The two long tracks here (75 minutes total on the disc) can get really wild and messy with the guitar distortion of "J Spaceman" vying with E. Parker's tenor for supremacy amid a bed of hectic Bennick drumming and SHJ electronic effects. Yet at other times W. Parker's bass and Shipp's Fender Rhodes groove right along with Bennink laying back. The music ebbs and flows, different groupings of players and soloists taking their turns. As a group, everyone seems to be revelling in freedom yet stays responsible to the music the group is making. This would seem a good bet for fans of Sun Ra, Supersilent, Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, and Evan Parker's previous experiments with live electronic accompaniment.

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John Coxon and Ashley Wales (aka Spring Heel Jack) have really got a good thing going with the several electronics-abetted jazz experiments they've been brewing up for the Thirsty Ear label's Blue Series: Masses, Amassed, Live, and now this one, The Sweetness Of The Water. Their usual procedure is to get a bunch of A-list avant improvisers together in various combinations, record, and then create via their deft editing and processing something more constructed and composed, using the computer to do so without obscuring the original spark and feel of the live improviations. In fact it's quite unclear at what point in the recording/mixing process the entirely respectful, subtle electronic elements have been introduced. On this album we hear the talents of trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, sax man Evan Parker, drummer Mark Sanders, and bassist John Edwards, alongside the contributions of the Spring Heel Jack duo. There's some scritchy sonic scribbling, and spacious note-lush drone, and lyrical melodicism (often accompanied by that lovely electronic crackle of which we here at AQ just can't get enough) and all kinds of gorgeous playing to be found here, on what's definitely a 21st century jazz album, in a vein sorta similiar to Supersilent or Trapist. As with the others from Spring Heel Jack and their heavy jazz friends so far, recommended!

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The four ladies of the Norwegian group Spunk know about the possibilities of playful improvisation done right. Since their formation in 1999 they have been experimenting with the combination of the instruments they are well trained on like cello, trumpet, french horn ands mixing those with toys, electronics, percussion and the distinct voice as instrument that Maje Ratke provides. This album finds them in top form. Going from manic outbursts to dreamlike elegance at the drop of a hat. While so much of what bills itself as "free jazz" is actually so far away from actually being free or original, Spunk tap into the right kind of improvisational spirit. You could imagine playing this after early Matmos, Don Cherry's "Mu" and then Bjork's most experimental instrumentation. For seekers of adventurous spirit, once again Spunk have got your fix.

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The always-intriguing European experimental label Grob presents a disc of low-key guitar improvisation from a group consisting of four names well-known in international abstract avant improv circles: Martin Siewert, Burkhard Stangl, Werner Dafeldecker, and Taku Sugimoto (we *love* Taku Sugimoto). Three of 'em on guitar, one on bass, to be accurate. A pluck here, a drone there, mellow tones and quiet crackle. Liquid, minimal, gentle, careful. Patient music, giving respect to silence. No FMP-ish skree here -- at its loudest a swell of buzzing builds that's more soothing than threatening. Recorded live, perhaps processed and perfected in post-production.

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I hate to admit it, but I like this record. St Germain is jazz for people who don't listen to jazz, but listen to Kruder and Dorfmeister or Kid Loco and wouldn't mind if it was, well, a little jazzier. And damn if it isn't. The first track is a Mo Wax style slow burner made from a looped old Blue Note record making for some awesome smoky late night cruising music. There's some crazy breathy hiccupping flute ala Herbie Mann or Roland Kirk and some really nice grooves. The only downside, is St. Germain's propensity for house music. A lot of the tracks start off really wicked, but then are watered down by a generic house 4/4 beat. That aside, this is a pretty cool record (and I do listen to jazz!).

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Here's a weird one. Imagine a late-sixties jazz-funk combo playing fucked up versions of children's songs written in the 40s and 50s by Hoagy Carmichael. Actually, you don't have to imagine that, if you just listen to this disc. 'Cause that's what's happening here. The first eight tracks on this cd were orginally released in 1970 as "The Stark Reality Discovers Hoagy Carmichael's Music Shop" LP. Dunno what kids thought of it, but the heads must have loved it, unless it tripped 'em out too much. The idea (hatched by Hoagy's son Bix, who worked at Boston's WGBH public TV station with musican Monty Stark, the leader of The Stark Reality) was to psychedelize ol' Hoagy's music for hippie youngsters. The result were these awkwardly funky, severely distorted (in every possible way), jazzed-out cuts, featuring Stark's crazily atonal fuzz-equipped vibes and bizarrely straight singing/rhyming. The music appeared in a WGBH kid's show, then was released on LP. That LP is apparently quite an expensive rarity these days, with those that have heard it either thinking it brilliant or insane or both. The LP track "Rocket Ship" was one of Windy's favorite cuts on Peanut Butter Wolf's recent "Jukebox 45" mix cd, and he has now reissued the whole album on his Stones Throw label, so we all can judge its merits, along with several non-Hoagy bonus cuts. The thorough liner notes do their best to explain the whole deal, and indicate that more than one lucky beat-diggin' hip hop DJ has made this their secret weapon. It's utterly ridiculous yet oddly compelling. You'll either have to turn it off after two minutes or it'll become an all-time fave, that's the sort of record this is! Easily the most warped, heaviest jams ever on subjects like basic musical notation, remembering the number of days in each month, and recipes for cooking stew. I mean, some of this makes Sun Ra's wiggiest solos sound normal.

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Reissue of this long out-of-print LP, originally released on Land Mammal in 1979. Formed in the early '70's in upstate New York, Starship Beer obviously share a love for Captain Beefheart and free jazz, the group is augmented by the talents of Pat O'Brian and

Dark, sometimes droning improv from this Swiss post-jazz trio (drums, electric bass, Hammond organ/electronics). Maybe not as crazed as their countrymen Alboth! or 16/17, but still full of appeal to folks with John Zorn records in their collections. On this disc, one of two simultaneously released new Grob-label cds by the band, they take two different compositions ("DB", written

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Ever wonder what it would sound like if Tatsuya Yoshida, drummer extraordinare and mastermind of Japan's hyperkinetic Ruins, somehow collaborated with classic, keyboard-fronted prog rockers E.L.P.? Well, Steamboat Switzerland essentially provide the answer. This instrumental, avant-garde trio of drums, electric bass and Hammond organ say, "Hell yes!" to that concept. From, yes, Switzerland (not sure how the Steamboat part of their name derives, though), these guys have several prior releases of crazy improv-jazz-prog that we've liked, and some others we still need to find. On this album, and not for the first time, they're doing all pieces composed by their colleague Michael Wertmuller, who knows a thing or two about extreme, insane music, after having been the drummer in the amazing '90s jazzcore act Alboth!, who along with 16-17 were basically Switzerland's answer to John Zorn's Naked City. Wertmuller is currently the drummer for Nohome, feedback guitar wrangler Caspar Brotzmann's new Massaker-like trio, whose debut we highlighted last list, and he also plays in Full Blast with Brotzmann's famous father Peter, among much else on his c.v. of course. As mentioned in our Nohome review, Wertmuller is a pretty impressive percussionist, so you'd expect the drummer in Steamboat Switzerland to be darn good too, and he is - thus garnering the comparison to Yoshida at the top of this review, his octopoidal playing pounding and precise. Indeed everybody in Steamboat Switzerland plays with virtuosic passion and precision, presumably taking Wertmuller's music to the level he must have expected, and beyond. Zeitschrei is a spectacular attack of avant-prog, with bombastic organ frenzies ably aided and abetted by the energetic, ADD rhythm section. At its most dizzying, this is some intense, "Flight Of The Bumblebee" skree. Heck, the manic, choppy organ runs here would make Keith Emerson stab himself, not his keyboard! There's also some semi-ambient passages of high end droning and skittering drumscapes, but those moody pulsations are often, if not always, violated by sudden machinegun outbursts of volume and violence. So it's not a mellow listen, but it can be a gripping one. Imagine a bass-heavy mathrock mashup of spooky Hammer Horror / Carnival Of Souls soundtrack music. Or, like we said, Ruins with E.L.P.'s organ. Wowzers!

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We've been waiting for this for a loooong time, the new, third (duh) album from one of our favorite bands, the amazing Philadelphian power trio Stinking Lizaveta. The first thing to say is that we like how the front cover shows band members seated For those who need to know more, let's give you the basics: This is ROCK. Goddamn. An instrumental trio of godly Les Paul guitar, hard-hitting mathrock drums, and virtuoso upright electric bass. It's not exactly metal, it's not jazz, but it's heavy and tight and blows away most other rock outfits on the planet, live especially. And "III", with somewhat fuller production than past efforts, reminds us that Stinking Liz kick ass in the studio too. Imagine Black Flag/Gone mixed with King Crimson, or AC/DC playing Mahavishnu instrumentals, or The Champs falling in love with each other, moving to the country, and practicing yoga. Those are woefully inadequate comparisons, of course, but that's cause this band is its own incredible thing. With "III", they've added some synth and violin to the mix -- and even some half-buried vocals on the very first song -- but primarily what you're going to hear is the basic guitar/bass/drums trio, simply cookin'. With gas. Fuckin' huge propane tanks of it, exploding left and right. Whoops, but then let's not forget the moments of delicate, Eastern-tinged post-rock bliss to be found here as well. Lizaveta's multi-genre rock synthesis results in a unique and varied album, from the tension-buildup of a slowburning track like "Tenuous" to the Frippian ambience of "Diana" to the psychedelic soulshiver of "Naked And Alone" with its doomy Black Sabbath bassline and Yanni's lengthy Fushitsusha style blues-psych guitar blowout. The brothers Papadopoulos (Yanni, guitar and Alexi, bass) and drummer Cheshire Agusta do all this and more, with sincerity, passion and might. Joe Lally (Fugazi) released this on his label Tolotta, best known as the home of stoner rock heroes Spirit Caravan. I'd really like to see both SC and SL go on tour together, that would be something...

RealAudio clip: The Sentence
RealAudio clip: Revelationary
RealAudio clip: The Hanged Man
RealAudio clip: Naked and Alone

Guitarist Stinson and improvising pals (including object of much AQ-admiration Nels Cline, Stuart Liebig and Gregg Bendian) create a bunch of fine jazzrock skree. Nels Clines' liner notes, written in the the form of "the top ten things you should know about G.E. Stinson", includes the useful fact that he's NOT and never has been that guy from the Saturday Night Live Band.

Members of Norwegian jazz/electronic outfits Supersilent (keyboardist Stale Storlokken) and Food (percussionist Thomas Stronen) collaborate in this duo, making their Rune Grammofon debut with Humcrush. Being fans of both Food and Supersilent (especially!) we were interested to hear this...also most Rune Grammofon stuff is pretty good. And this is! Improvised live in the recording studio but well and truly sounding like weird, tuneful 'songs', this album reminds us a bit of the Shaking Ray Levis, or maybe even a free improv version of Sagor and Swing, if you know either of them. The ramshackle rhythmic clatter of drums, the glitchy hiss and buzz of electronics, and the quirky synth tones combine quite temptingly to our ears. Not to many other 'improv' records boast cuts like "Marked East" that we want to hit repeat on right after they're over. From bright and bouncy (like that track) to moody and mysterious, Humcrush is an enjoyable ride.

MPEG stream: Acrobat
MPEG stream: Marked East

Squiggles of electronics and wine-glass clinks bubble up to tickle your ears on Pohlitz, a solo project from Norwegian fusion band Food's drummer Thomas Stronen, whom you may also know from the Humcrush disc he recorded (also for Rune Grammofon) as a duo with Supersilent's Stale Storlokken. But here it really is Stronen strictly solo, a minimalist rhythmic instrumental soundscape of percussion and electronics. Few details are given in the typically handsome and colourful Kim Hiorthoy designed digipackaging, though we are relieved to read that Stronen plays only "beatable items" and thus no NON-beatable items were so abused! From the quiet and restrained sound of most of this there probably wasn't much danger to non-beatable items, anyway. Relaxing, moody, hypnotic pinks and plonks and pulses populate Pohlitz's eight tracks, all recorded live with no overdubs or pre-programming. You have to really listen, but it's impressive, moreso than similar stuff conjured up by laptop jockeys. Very pretty, and chimingly charming.

MPEG stream: Heterogeneous Substances
MPEG stream: Ingenious Pursuits

We thought that the Dutch label Calibre had taken over the task of reissuing ESP-Disk classics, but for some reason they've licensed some of the titles to the Italian label Get Back, who like to release cds in little cardboard lp-styled sleeves. Anyway, either way, we're glad that this album is back in the racks. One of our favorite of the many Sun Ra documents, this recording dates from December 1973, showcasing Sun Ra's amazing early '70s synth-madness and the Arkestra's jazz-funk spaced-out-chants (like the version found here of the classic "Space Is The Place"). The turbulent cosmic journey of the Comet Kohutek is rendered in sound with Sun Ra's arsenal of keyboard electronics, and celebrated with the space-positive grooves of the rest of the band. Great stuff!

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.

Hard to resist a Sun Ra record with a title like that, eh? And drum machine, too! The late, great, interplanetary legend of Afro-cosmic jazz and his band recorded this newly reissued album live on planet Earth (precise location: Milan, Italy) back in 1978, at the height of disco fever. But of course it ain't really disco!! Instead it's far out free jazz grooviness, full of futuristic synth freakouts and even tinny, metronomic drum machine shuffle. All of which you'll find on the worth the price of admission alone 26 minute title track, which also incorporates the Arkestra's signature "Space Is The Place" chant at one point. Nor does this set stint on screaming horns and energetic battery. Or for that matter mellow, melodic moodiness. Highlights are many, among them the gurgling chaos and solar sax blurt of "Sun Of The Cosmos", and the eerie, glistening, jittering "Dance Of The Cosmo Aliens". Featuring the lineup of John Gilmore (tenor sax, drums, voclas), June Tyson (vocals), Michael Ray (trumpet, vocals), Luqman Ali (drums, vocals) and last but not least Sun Ra himself (piano, organ, Moog synth, rhythm machine, vocals), this expanded double cd reissue of Disco 3000 is definitely cause for rejoicing amongst Sun Ra (and cosmo alien) fans. Over two hours total, this includes the original three tracks from the '78 vinyl release along with NINE more bonus tracks taken from the thankfully well-preserved tapes of the same performance, is packaged in a handsome trifold digpack, and comes with a cd booklet with photos, graphics, and liner notes by trumpeter Michael Ray, who had just hooked up with Sun Ra not long before this recording took place. His mind is still blown! Share something of his experience here...

MPEG stream: Disco 3000
MPEG stream: Sun Of The Cosmos
MPEG stream: Dance Of The Cosmo Aliens

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

SORRY.

MPEG stream: The Other World
MPEG stream: Discipline 9
MPEG stream: Dawn Over Israel

[ aquarius records — Jazz ]