[ 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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Ex-Silver Summit. Comes with download.

A 4 song stomp through Sonny Smith's various musical alter-egos and genre-hopping style. In collaboration with local SF gals The Sandwitches, Sonny composed these 4 songs for his 100 records projects last year where he wrote and recorded 100 songs under the guise of different bands and singers and asked local artists to design the covers. Each of the 4 artist covers for the songs are represented here in full color (including our very own Scott Hewicker, who painted the titular cover!), as well as a comic book and coupon for digital download. Embracing themes of drowning, death and redemption, these tracks showcase Smith's dark folk, blues and country sides, mythologizing a real-life near-death experience into a moral epic of salvation and grace.

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

SORRY.

Sonny Smith is one of those tireless local songwriters and musicians that afters years of dedicated self-promotion is finally getting his due. This year alone saw the culmination of his ambitious project, 100 Records, where he recorded 200 songs in multiple genres (reggae, soul, country, punk, power-pop, etc.) for singles by fictitious bands with record cover art provided by 100 local artists. When it showed at Gallery 16 in the Spring, the opening was a packed house of local luminaries cheering Sonny on as his band performed a raucous set of the best songs he made. We quickly sold out of his latest band's debut, Tomorrow Is Alright, but we managed to get this 4 song 7" to tide us over between pressings of that lp. Sounding like Jonathan Richman recording an ep for the Woodsist label, the songs here are on the lo-fi folky side, sometimes with girl group back-up singers, a bit of jangle-pop, or some retro cool balladry. His lyrics discernible without his voice being too in the front of the mix like some of Jonathan Richman's work can be. All in all a very nice capsule of what Smith is exploring at the moment. The first few we had of these sold out in an instant, and it took us awhile to get more. The batch we have now is on yellow and blue swirl vinyl, but after these are gone, we'll probably only be able to get black vinyl so act fast!

A few weeks ago, The New York Times had an article about San Francisco's burgeoning garage rock scene with a big focus on John Dwyer of Thee Oh Sees, Tim Cohen of The Fresh and Onlys, and Sonny Smith of Sonny and the Sunsets. Sonny Smith is more of the wild card of the three, zig zagging into country, rock-a-billy and early rock styles, but wherever he goes, the man can sure write a mean hook. Hit after Hit is another great selection of songs that wouldn't sound out of place in an early 1960's jukebox. With great girl group harmonies (provided by The Sandwitches) and lo-fi and catchy freakbeat rhythms, Sonny and The Sunsets, like their more queer counterparts, Hunx and His Punx and Shannon and The Clams, are mining those great old sounds for brand new ears.

MPEG stream: She Plays Yo Yo With My Mind
MPEG stream: The Bad Energy From LA is Killing Me
MPEG stream: Teen Age Thugs
MPEG stream: Acres of Lust

Sonoptic is the SF duo of Chuck Marcus and Alison Faith Levy fashioning loosely structured dronescapes for guitar, tape loops, and analogue synths, which falls not far from the New Zealand murky aesthetic axis of early Dean Roberts, RST, or even Gate. Pretty good stuff!

A few lists back we raved about a recently released 7" from a now defunct local band called the Sopors, who seemingly disappeared without a trace, they were part of the same scene that brought us pop heroes the Ovens, and post Sopors, some of the same members went on to play in Violent Change, whose debut tape we reviewed a while back too. And as much as we love that Sopors 7", and we really do, it barely scratches the surface of what an amazing and bizarre band the Sopors really were. This lp, most of the copies of which reside in boxes and beneath beds and in closets, is the sort of dizzyingly ramshackle and inadvertently brilliant record that inspires extreme music nerdery and slavish fanaticism, and we're not ashamed to admit that we're pretty goddamn obsessed with these guys, and it breaks out heart that they never got their due. Listening to this record now, we're compelled to proclaim these guys our favorite local band, it's catchy as fuck, but totally damaged and off kilter, it seems to us, that the people who lose their shit for Sic Alps and other sonically similar groups, should feel similarly about these guys. Of all the bands who channel that twisted post punk sound, a la Swell Maps, the Fall, Television Personalities, early Pavement, we really haven't heard anyone do it better than these guys, the fact that every song sounds like its on the verge of collapse only makes it that much better. Pop hooks galore, crazy catchy melodies, but all wreathed in angular guitar crunch, blown out lo-fi buzz, the drums so low in the mix they're often inaudible, the whole recording brittle and lo-fi, and tinny and in-the-red, but somehow, all of that stuff becomes a part of the Sopors' sound, a sound which is gloriously fucked up and just about the catchiest shit we've heard in ages. Some of the tracks here sound like lost eighties Yellow Pills style post punk power pop B sides, while others sound like some obscure British angular punk rock, and still others sound like bedroom 4-track indie pop, others almost sound like classic punk rock a la 999 or Stiff Little Fingers, all clanging crashing chords and gruff vox, but EVERY song here is impossibly catchy, some are so catchy it's impossible to believe they're not covers. Not sure what else to say, we're kind of obsessed with these guys, and have been listening to little else. If you dig ANY of the above mentioned bands, or have been loving that Violent Change tape, or love the Ovens, but wish they were more noisy and off kilter and twisted and fucked up, or just want to hear what we would make our record of the year, if it actually come out this year, then dig it! WAY WAY WAY recommended.

MPEG stream: It Turns Me On
MPEG stream: Me And The Others
MPEG stream: Let's Mammalian
MPEG stream: Friend

A list or two back we reviewed a tape from a new local group called Violent Change, a collection of twisted lo-fi pop that managed to be loose and chaotic, but catchy as all get out, and in that review, we mentioned that that group was born of the late great Sopors, a short lived SF band that existed in the same scene that birthed pop geniuses the Ovens, and while Sopors aren't as overly poppy as their brethren, their pop chops are undeniable, and the fact that they create such insane catchiness that at the same time manages to be so loose and ramshackle and wildly unhinged, in some ways, it makes it even better, with some of THEE catchiest melodies, and most irresistible hooks, but set amidst churning lo-fi riffage, and buzz drenched jangle. Just check out "Creation", the band unfurling some of the hookiest indie pop we've ever heard, but throughout, the song sounds like it could collapse at any point, reminding us a bit of early Pavement, but Sopors are somehow darker, their sound meaner and leaner, "Creation" spending as much time churning ominously as it does ringing out big melodies and sweet guitar jangle, if not more. And like Violent Change which would come after, Sopors at heart were a punk band, so on the heels of something as poppy as "Creation", comes "Germ Attack", an 84 second blast of monochromatic punk stomp, but even in the roiling three chord crunch, Sopors lace their sound with sweet melodies, woozy riffage, and tangles of detuned guitar weirdness that transform the sound into something way more than punk rock. "No Solution" has a serious Guided By Voices vibe, from the murky guitar, to the British Invasion vox, and fuck if it isn't as catchy as anything Bob Pollard's whipped up. Listening to this now, it blows our mind that more people didn't catch on. And "Repetition" just seals the deal, another punk pop gem, with thick fuzzy guitars, yelped processed punkish vox, busy melodic basslines, and some sweet hooks, which makes the Sopors sound like some lost eighties band you might have heard on one of those Messthetics comps. So fucking great! We also have the Sopors full length lp which we'll review next time, but if you want one of those (and trust us, YOU DO!!) just ask!

MPEG stream: Creation
MPEG stream: No Solution

Making a seamless transition from charming indie-rock boy in the bay area's great Call & Response to now dishing out some of the most infectious and delicious electronic jams we've heard in a long time, it won't be long until Daniel Judd (aka Sorcerer) is a name on the tips of the tongues of everyone who has been loving the recent resurgence of great dancey and disco inspired electronica. If folks like Lindstrom, Gui Borrato and Strategy have pleased your ears as much as they have ours we think this is a record you should check out for sure. We love how he's able to bring a smooth and suave feeling to what's often a clinical and robotic sound. It's almost how we imagine it would sound if Sam Prekop of The Sea & Cake made a daydream electronic dance record, as it has that same kind of endless breeze and carefree melody that he's perfected over the years. It's like sliding down milky mountain waterfalls into the freshest ocean filled with frothy waves and trays of the tastiest cocktails floating alongside always at arms reach for a delicious sip. Sorcerer have tapped into some delightfully fresh sounding electronic gold. So nice!

MPEG stream: Hawaiian Island
MPEG stream: Surfing At Midnight
MPEG stream: Slow Burning Hands

On his debut, Bay Area one man band Sort Of Invisible (aka the very nice fellow Daniel Bolig) craftily brings together a fully fleshed out array of shoegazer-ish fuzzy guitar washes, ramshackle indie rock acoustic guitars, trippy woozy space-pop keyboards, and boyish vocals. That's right he does it all himself! Picturesque definitely brought to mind a variety of early/mid-90s bands such as Ride and Pavement, but also made a place of its own.

MPEG stream: I Know That You Know That I Know
MPEG stream: Lessons

Sound Asleep (aka Conor Vincent Ghilarducci) has crafted some really really cool electronic instrumental tracks for his debut release Black Top Wash. A broad range of kick-ass, very tactile sounds. Tight rhythm programming. This baker's dozen tracks are in turn ominous, witty and pretty. Ghilarducci skillfully plays with texture in novel ways just as he plays with words in his song titles such as "Abdominal Snowman". His chimey and raindroplet-y melodic cycles step lightly amid the deeep slippery almost digeridoo-ish basslines. For a visual equivalent imagine a big furry monster settling for supper with his wee pals Mouse and Electric Eel while an army of robotic mosquitoes buzz about overhead. Did we mention? Really really cool!

MPEG stream: Nostril Smog Test
MPEG stream: Abdominal Snowman

Here's the second cd-r release from this fine Bay Area electronic artist. The eight instrumental tracks on Dead Things are somewhat darker and dreamier than those of his debut Black Top Wash from 2005. Sound Asleep aka Conor Vincent Ghilarducci does what he does exceptionally well, possessing an impressive grasp of layered textures and moody atmospheres. Check it out!

MPEG stream: Sleeveless
MPEG stream: Burnt Plastic

Seems like hip-hop mixes had disappeared for a while there. All those sloppily pressed 7"s just dropped off the face of the earth. But we're fortunate to have locals still devoted to the art of fusing dancehall vocals to hip hop beats. What's refreshing about the four tracks on Sound Killers is that while most of the dancehall vocals are from fairly well known tracks, some of the hip hop rhythms are from older and otherwise less obvious tracks (ie: R.I.P. "One Minute Man" and Get Yr Freak On"). Included on this 12", two tracks to a side is Cutty Ranks "Limb By Limb" vs. Silas "The Jump Off", Capleton "Tour" vs. Baby "What Happened To That Boy", Supercat "Scalp Dem" vs. Eric B. & Rakim "Paid In Full", and Beenie Man "Girls Dem Sugar" vs. Erykah Badu w/Common "Love of My Life".

Who is The Space Lady, you ask? Well, among San Franciscans who were here from the late seventies to the nineties, many may remember The Space Lady's (aka Susan Dietrich) busking presence on the streets of the Castro. Wearing her plastic winged helmet with a flashing red light on top, and flamboyantly dressed, she would sing dreamy covers of popular hits ("I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night", "Major Tom") and some originals too, with just a Casiotone, or sometimes an accordion and a reverbed microphone, adding a cosmic flair to her sound. Always pushing her wares, she would often pause mid-song to passers-by and hawk buttons, tapes, postcards, all featuring her winged-helmeted profile - Scott here still treasures his original tape! Before San Francisco, she busked in Boston/Cambridge and has been seen in Berkeley too, but nowadays resides in Colorado, where she is still at it. She even travels to Roswell, New Mexico and plays often in front of the UFO museum and research center. Like other notable eccentric street musicians of San Francisco like Omer (notoriously known around the aQ neighborhood as Bum Jovi) and the loincloth-wearing violinist Thoth (who was the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary short), The Space Lady was previously featured in the Songs in The Key of Z compilations of eccentric outsider musicians. All three have moved on from San Francisco leaving our neighborhoods a lot less exciting (though in Omer's case, people are probably getting more sleep now). The Space Lady was the best of them all, and it's so awesome to have her music on vinyl for the first time. Perfect for anyone into the charmingly eccentric outsider sounds of free-spirited performers like Medico Doktor Vibes, Michael Farneti and Mij. Highly Recommended!

MPEG stream: I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night
MPEG stream: Synthesize Me
MPEG stream: Ghost Riders In The Sky

Finally, record number two from these local hard rockers, whose debut self titled cd-r was a huge hit with the aQ metalheads, and while we LOVED that record, we're beginning to think Heart Attack might be even better, a another killer collection of kick ass metal jams, equal parts classic NWOBHM, eighties hair metal and classic early thrash metal, the sound poppy and heavy and hooky. Right up front, if you're fans of groups like Cauldron, Twisted Tower Dire, Slough Feg, Midnight Chaser, and of course classic metal and hard rock combos like Iron Maiden, UFO, Tokyo Blade, Pandemonium and the like, then Space Vacation is definitely right up your alley. Just give the title track a listen, it's been stuck in out head like crazy for weeks now, and it pretty much perfectly encapsulates the group's sound, the heavy riffed out opening, the harmonized guitar leads, the wild drumming, the song shifting into a chugging eighties hard rock, super poppy and catchy, before launching into a furious almost speed metal blowout, chugging guitars, and furious double kick drumming, wedded to soaring clean vocals, plenty of super dynamic stop starts too, and hooks galore, even the heavy parts are crazy catchy. And then there's the shredding last minute or so, wild soloing guitars over furious drumming, and still more killer guitar harmonies. It literally took us about twenty listens before we could stop listening to that one track and dig deeper in the record. But once we did, pretty much all the tracks here are equally catchy. "End Of The Bender" is another killer, with a chorus that won't quit, and another crazy shredding finish, and then there's "Bro Hammer", a churning chunk of classic double kick driven Euro metal style radness, with yet another impossibly catchy chorus. And while there's plenty of heaviness here, and fierce riffing, and insane drumming, and for all the record's NWOBHM aspirations, Space Vacation still mostly sound like eighties hair metal, albeit on the heavier, hookier side, and while there's plenty of cool weirdness throughout, your love of Space Vacation all depends on how much you dig that era of heavy metal, which we dig A WHOLE LOT, so for us Space Vacation is basically the modern version of a metal band that would have literally been our favorite band at age 16, and heck, considering how much we've been listening to this lately, they're coming dangerously close to being just that even now, several decades on. WAY WAY recommended! Includes download too!

MPEG stream: Heart Attack
MPEG stream: End Of The Bender
MPEG stream: Bro Hammer
MPEG stream: Summer Knights

Glad to finally get to list something by these guys, an awesome local melodic metal band who we became fairly rabid fans of just from checking out their MySpace page a while ago, though when you hear 'em, you'll think its something we've been fans of ever since 1984 or so, long before MySpace or the Internet even existed, since they sound sooooooo '80s melodic NWOBHM / arena rock it's amazing. But they're a relatively young band from here in San Francisco, and this debut of theirs Allan here considers a top ten metal album of 2010, easy... and it's just a self-released cd-r, what in the old days you'd call a demo. Wish it was a real cd or vinyl album, it should be, these songs are really fucking good! And please don't let the goofy name put you off, we were surprised too when when we first heard 'em, but Space Vacation are indeed one of the best '80s influenced, heavy but brilliantly poppy metal band we've come across in ages. With galloping riffs, shredding solos, catchy licks, stick twirling hard hitting drumming, and stick-in-yer-head choruses, what's not to love? Classic stuff. The vocals are key, the dude (who also plays lead guitar) is not afraid to SING. Though he'll also happily shut up and play his guitar, as on the Eddie Van Halen-esque instrumental break "Streaker". And the band as a whole is not afraid to be a little (or a lot) cheesy, but in a good way. Good enough to remind us of cool EARLY Def Leppard and other greats. And we'd put this up against anything today of that old school melodic metal ilk, like Priestess, Cauldron, whomever. And you ironic inde rock types can take solace in the clever, not as cliched as you'd think lyrics that both celebrate and subvert the cliches of heavy metal. It's the pop element that puts this over the top, as our pal Glenn, another big SV fan, puts it, "it's like the most rudimentary NWOBHM from 1980 mixed with what you might get from a one-off juvenile indie-pop band formed as a joke by guys from Sloan and New Pornographers for a bachelor party for one of the members." We'd already heard 6 or 7 of these tracks via their MySpace but the others, new ones, are cool too. There's a "blast off" count-down intro going into a track called "Space Vacation"... a bit forced perhaps, doing the band-name-song, but then they hit their stride with "Keith's Sister" and you realize you are on a rocket ride indeed. Songs that as soon as you hear 'em, sound like you've been rockin' out to them forever. And look out for the hidden bonus track(s) at the end... the extra-poppy drinking song "Wicked Hammid"! Something else to look for, online: the band's awesome/silly DIY practice space video for "Keith's Sister" on YouTube, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBREOCxXbH0. If you couldn't tell, recommended, if you like to rock! FYI We've also got a Space Vacation split 7" with an LA band called The Amplifiers, SV's side featuring "Keith's Sister", for those who want her on wax.

MPEG stream: Keith's Sister
MPEG stream: Highway Master
MPEG stream: Die! Heavy Metal!

See our review of the Space Vacation's s/t cd-r to see why you should pick this up! One of our fave tracks from that disc pressed to vinyl, on one side of this split single with a rockin' LA band we know nothin' about.

From the same label that brought us the awesome Champs (er, C4AM95) disc comes some more excellent local SF neo-metal action. Superheavy, technical grindish brutality with an obvious love of Voivod and jazz, and pot...recommended. LP version due soon.

Spaceboy is San Francisco's oddest avant-metallic combo, starting with their name (and album title) and going from there. They smoke a lot of pot and play music like prog rockers gone death metal. Actually it sounds like half the band is playing death metal This, their second full-length (and first for SoCal's premier doom metal label, Southern Lord, home to SUNNO))), Khanate, Warhorse, Boris, etc.) clocks in at nearly an hour. There's eleven tracks, with every odd-numbered track being a brief, spacey instrumental interlude. The songs proper are super-heavy and dark, full of complex technical metal guitars & drums, distorted vox, and stoned drone ambience. All we can do is cite a bunch of stuff that this seems influenced by or kinda reminds us of: Neurosis, Voivod, Meshuggah, Mahavishnu, Hawkwind, King Crimson, Today Is The Day, Old Man Gloom... Listening to this, though, is like trying to peer through some nebular haze in a distant galaxy. It's going to take a while to fully understand the advanced calculus at work here. One thing we do understand: it's heavy!

RealAudio clip: Eye Pillow
RealAudio clip: The Monsoon

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

SORRY. New 4-song release of cannabis-fuelled art-metal prog-pummell from this talented SF combo, one of the first non-Japanese releases on the up and coming Howling Bull America label. A bit spacier than their first album (...but not more boyish). For fans of The Champs (as this features an ex-Champ), Neurosis, Voivod, Alchemist, etc. Heavy.

Not to be confused with the ultra-trippy late-60's Latin American psychedelic rock group of the same name! These San Franciscans are a completely different band, but that's not to say you might not like these folks too. Those who've delighted in anything and everything graced with the wonderful presence of Ms Jolie Holland, and/or The Iron & The Albatross' Ara Anderson will surely wanna sit up and take note of this new cd. All of you more literary types too might wish to close your books for a spell and lend an ear to Yeats Is Great. In addition to those two Bay Area folksy luminaries, this is quite an impressive assembly of like-minded earthy artists joining together to sing, speak, strum, and otherswise celebrate the writings of Yeats.

MPEG stream: He Wishes His Beloved Were Dead
MPEG stream: To A Man Young And Old

More way fun & catchy garage pop from right here in San Francisco. Spencey Dude & The Doodles share a similar scrappy & carefree demeanor as folks like Nodzz, Hunx & His Punx, Younger Lovers, Nobunny, etc. Fun fun fun...

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

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

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

There are no frills on Bay Area's Sprills Of Ore, and none are needed. Just intimate recordings of hushed folksy acoustic guitar, accordion (we think), cello and breathy soft female vocals by Ms Eva Kelly. Nine songs total, and each of them really really lovely!

MPEG stream: Midnight Moon
MPEG stream: Blackened Skies

Finally available on vinyl! After a tape and a couple 7"s, comes the much anticipated debut full length from this new crew of SF psych rockers, who by now should be quite familiar to fans of other Bay Area psychedelic space rock and garage rock, cuz if you dig Wooden Shjips, Moon Duo, Sleepy Sun, Carlton Melton and all the rest, as well as Ty Segall, Mikal Cronin, Thee Oh Sees and the like these guys should be right there in your space/psych pantheon. And while the spacier of those other bands tend toward the more droned out and krautrocky, these guys are much more classically rocking, melding a love of Spacemen 3 and other dronier drug rock with the classics, the Velvets, the Doors, even the Stooges, their songs simple and trancelike, plenty of jangle and simpler stripped down drum stomp, the vocals wreathed in reverb, and nestled in the mix, the guitars alternately chugging and crunchy, chiming and melodic, transforming simple pop songs into something more mesmerizingly hypnotic. Even album opener, Lonely Eye on the surface is simple and spare, but over the course of its nearly 5 minutes, it gets to the point where it could go on forever, and we'd sit there glassy eyed and blissed out. Some of the other tracks are more garagey, like "Disguise", which should totally have Oh Sees fans flipping their lids, although the sound here hews much closer to old garage classics like the Fuzztones or the Lyres, which is most definitely not a bad thing. In fact if anything, much of this new record definitely leans toward that more stripped down garage rock sound, with fuzzy guitar, wandering basslines and fuzzy organs, but here and there, like on "Calling Out Your Name" the band unleash a riff that KILLS, in the case of "COYN", it's a dead ringer for the Stooges, one that the band could have ridden hard, but instead of getting all swaggery, the band sort of blisses out, applying multiple layers of guitars and upping the psych quotient considerably, not to mention some cool rhythmic weirdness, which lurks throughout the record, and reveals itself on repeated and closer listens. And so it goes, the whole record, a killer collection of super hooky, spaced out psychedelic garage pop gems, the sort of sound we can't get enough of, and the sort of sound that should definitely position these guys alongside other garage/space/psych rock luminaries, and again if you dig Crystal Stilts, Thee Oh Sees, Wooden Shjips, or any of the other above mentioned bands, and have not checked these guys out, do yourself a favor...

MPEG stream: Lonely Eyes
MPEG stream: Long Road Out
MPEG stream: Radiator
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A brand new batch of tracks the latest addition to the SF psychedelic space rock pantheon, with just a single 7" under their belts, and now this 5 song cassette, these guys are definitely poised to be another next big thing. After all, folks are so gaga for Wooden Shjips, Moon Duo, Sleepy Sun, Carlton Melton, the Lumerians, hell, we can't imagine those same folks wouldn't flip for these guys too. They definitely have a similar sound, Velvets, Spacemen 3, etc., although here, they open up with a way more straight ahead chunk of sixties style psychedelic pop jangle, stripped down, a little fuzzy, but not buzzy or droney or druggy so much as just hooky and jangly, it's not until the second track that they kick on the pedals, opening with a blast of crumbling distortion, only to fade away leaving just some strummed acoustic guitar, and then bam, the song kicks in, fuzzed out guitars, ear whirring organ, washed out reverbed vocals, motorik drumming, totally blissed out druggy droney psychedelic garage rock. But then they switch right back, and offer up another slab of classic sixties style psych pop jangle, before launching into a track that manages to mix both, that sort of Doorsy / Velvetsy style druggies, wrapped around some swaggery pysch pop shuffle, there's even some harmonica, that manages to make it all sound that much droopier and druggier. Finally the band wrap it up with a short sharp blast of fuzzy drone rock bliss, all hazy and hypnotic, the Spacemen 3 vibe looming large, drawled vox, crunchy guitars, looped and hypnotic and mesmerizing, with some serious hooks hidden throughout, the sort of song that definitely deserves a multi minute psychedelic freakout tacked on the end, but instead winds down after just three minutes. Killer stuff, another ep length tease, but just enough to tide us over until these guys finally get together a proper full length. Like the 7", these babies are pretty limited, so grab one quick before they're gone...

MPEG stream: Black Clouds
MPEG stream: Calling Out Your Name

Okay, all you Wooden Shjips / Moon Duo obsessives. There's some new kids in town, vying for your psychedelic space rock dronekraut affections, and they're called The Spyrals, and they traffic in the same sort of droned out post Velvets, post Spacemen motorik fuzz drenched psychedelic garage kraut mesmer. Which means, pretty much anyone who digs WS or the slightly less rocking Moon Duo, are probably gonna go nuts for these guys too. With songs that sound like they should go on forever, and lord knows we certainly wouldn't complain if they did, the Spyrals manage to pack plenty of blissed out hypnotic drug rock droniness into a matter of minutes, so much so that you'll likely find yourself flipping this single over and over and over and over again. The organs are thick and fuzzy, the guitars chime and churn and jangle and ring out, the drums simple and solid, the melodies are mesmerizing, a little bit of twang here and there, it's pretty much everything you could hope for from this sort of thing, cyclical, repetitive, motorik, propulsive, druggy, dreamy, fuzzy, buzzy, psychedelic and still most definitely catchy. We'd be awfully surprised if these guys didn't blow up big time soon. Which means, you better act fast, these 7"s are CRAZY limited, as in only 30 copies, each one hand numbered, and hand screened. And most likely gone before you know it.

Latest full length from these SF psychedelic garage rockers, who unlike many of their more spaced out and droney compatriots, don't so much drift druggily as stomp bloozily, fusing modern day fuzzed out garage rock with classic sixties style jangle pop and seventies psychedelic blooz. In reviews of past records we mention the usual modern suspects, Wooden Shjips, Sleepy Sun, Moon Duo, Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, and no doubt fans of any and all those groups are gonna still dig the Spyrals, but on Out of Sight, the band have pushed their already retro sound even further, again channeling the Stooges, the Doors, the Velvets, but now sounding like they could actually BE some lost sixties/seventies band, and like Out Of Sight could in fact be some obscure reissue, the sound echo-y and reverby, the guitars and drums simple and stripped down, the vibe a sort of groovy garagey stomp, with some cool psychedelic leads, lots of fuzz, even some harmonica! Fans of the last self titled record will feel right at home, as it pretty much takes up right where that one left off. Let's leap to the title track first, as it might be our favorite here, and it's easy to see why they chose that one to name the record, starting off like some vintage baroque pop, all backwards swirls and sitar like guitar buzz, the vibe promising an eventual blossoming into some early Bee Gees style lush pop majesty, but instead they get right back to rocking, more garagey fuzzy bliss, although throughout there's a definite Eastern vibe and that sitar like melody, which surface here and there, which helps make the track super distinctive. Crazy and catchy, and while this is the track we find ourselves returning the more we listen, the more new favorites emerge, "Now You Know What I Need", with its super fuzzed out main riff which sounds a bit like "Spirit In The Sky", or "Tell All The World" which sounds like some straight up skiffly sixties Beatles style rock, albeit with a bit of a noisier, garagier chorus. Then there's the slithery moody groove of "Down In The Hole", the twangy folkiness of "Easy Now", and "Such A Pain" which gets seriously Stones-y, with a gorgeous main riff, and some super emotive vox, not to mention a big fuzzed out crunchy chorus, and a heavy psych final almost-space jam outro, and garage rockers should definitely dig" Lying", probably the garagiest jam of the bunch, definitely one for the Ty Segall / Oh Sees set. Killer stuff! Retro garage fuzz psychedelic jangle radness that we can't seem to get enough of!! LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!! Pressed on red vinyl!!

MPEG stream: Need Your Fire
MPEG stream: Comin Down
MPEG stream: Such A Pain
MPEG stream: Who's Up There?

Second 7" from these Bay area psychedelic space rockers, featuring a redone version of one of the tracks from their Clouds cassette and a brand new B side, and both kill. As we mentioned in our review of the first 7"s, fans of Wooden Shjips / Moon Duo should be al over these guys, as they traffic in a similarly minimal spaced out hypnorock, borrowing liberally from Spacemen 3, the Velvets, not to mention various kraut and space rock forebears, but they definitely have their own sound, both sides of which are represented here. The A side title track is fuzzy and heavy and distorted, the drums are driving and propulsive, the vibe is swaggery and almost Stooges-y, the guitars wild and psychedelic, the main riff a monster, plenty of reverb and echo, it's the kind of jam that should have other local space/psych rockers shaking in their boots. The flipside, "Long Road Out" is way more retro, the drums stripped down and low slung, the main riff all surfy and reverby, the vocals a laid back drawl, the melodies all buzzy and a little sitar-y, there's even some harmonica, all very fuzzy and dreamily druggy and not a little bit hippie. Great stuff, another couple songs to tide us over until these guys finally release a full length. LIMITED TO 100 COPIES. Pressed on clear yellow vinyl.

MPEG stream: Sunflower Microphone
MPEG stream: Long Road Out

Finally! After a tape and a couple 7"s, comes the much anticipated debut full length from this new crew of SF psych rockers, who by now should be quite familiar to fans of other Bay Area psychedelic space rock and garage rock, cuz if you dig Wooden Shjips, Moon Duo, Sleepy Sun, Carlton Melton and all the rest, as well as Ty Segall, Mikal Cronin, Thee Oh Sees and the like these guys should be right there in your space/psych pantheon. And while the spacier of those other bands tend toward the more droned out and krautrocky, these guys are much more classically rocking, melding a love of Spacemen 3 and other dronier drug rock with the classics, the Velvets, the Doors, even the Stooges, their songs simple and trancelike, plenty of jangle and simpler stripped down drum stomp, the vocals wreathed in reverb, and nestled in the mix, the guitars alternately chugging and crunchy, chiming and melodic, transforming simple pop songs into something more mesmerizingly hypnotic. Even album opener, Lonely Eye on the surface is simple and spare, but over the course of its nearly 5 minutes, it gets to the point where it could go on forever, and we'd sit there glassy eyed and blissed out. Some of the other tracks are more garagey, like "Disguise", which should totally have Oh Sees fans flipping their lids, although the sound here hews much closer to old garage classics like the Fuzztones or the Lyres, which is most definitely not a bad thing. In fact if anything, much of this new record definitely leans toward that more stripped down garage rock sound, with fuzzy guitar, wandering basslines and fuzzy organs, but here and there, like on "Calling Out Your Name" the band unleash a riff that KILLS, in the case of "COYN", it's a dead ringer for the Stooges, one that the band could have ridden hard, but instead of getting all swaggery, the band sort of blisses out, applying multiple layers of guitars and upping the psych quotient considerably, not to mention some cool rhythmic weirdness, which lurks throughout the record, and reveals itself on repeated and closer listens. And so it goes, the whole record, a killer collection of super hooky, spaced out psychedelic garage pop gems, the sort of sound we can't get enough of, and the sort of sound that should definitely position these guys alongside other garage/space/psych rock luminaries, and again if you dig Crystal Stilts, Thee Oh Sees, Wooden Shjips, or any of the other above mentioned bands, and have not checked these guys out, do yourself a favor... For now, only on cd-r, but with possible vinyl version to come.

MPEG stream: Lonely Eyes
MPEG stream: Long Road Out
MPEG stream: Radiator
MPEG stream: Evil Kind

What's that breezy '80s vibe tickling your ears? Might it be Todd Stadtman's debut album Only I Can Save You? Filled with pretty-pretty pop melodies, Stadtman's suitably sensitive boy vocals and a gauzy blend of acoustic and electronic layers'n'loops, at times it's reminiscent of The Style Council (circa "My Everchanging Moods", check out the second song "Something Less Than Tenderness") and Casiotone For The Painfully Alone. Or you might even imagine a lower-fi younger brother of David Sylvian (at least in comparison to Sylvian's most recent Blemish album). The songwriting of his more structured songs is seemingly inspired by the smart popsmith likes of XTC's Andy Partridge and Elvis Costello, while the less song-y ones are more along the lines of Dntel or something from the Morr Music label. A nice and sweet how-do-you-do!

MPEG stream: Something Less Than Tenderness
MPEG stream: String Of Pearls

This here is the second solo album by Mr. Moe Staiano aka Sleepytime Gorilla Museum's found percussionist. Frantic, dizzying and cacaphonous, but not without its elements of structure surfacing every now and again to make the explosions of mayhem all the more impactful. Hyper spurts of music boxes, food pans, oil barrels, sheet metal, brake drums, plastic horns, slide whistles and numerous other objects (yes, including a kitchen sink!) as well as the more conventional guitars, cellos, bass, thumb pianos, contrabass, vibraphones, drum machines, clarinets, musical saws, theremin and drums. There's some seriously twisted yet totally tight rhythmic interludes going on here - just as we've come to expect from Sleepytime G.M. not to mention their previous spectacular incarnation Idiot Flesh. Other slower, more haunting/haunted moments that take place deeper into the album brought to mind Nurse With Wound and Mr. Bungle. These tracks were actually recorded back in 97/98, but are just now seeing their release. However, Staiano does acknowledge this tardiness in his liner notes: "This is a Late album. It is dedicated to those who wait." A wonderfully bizarre listen.

MPEG stream: Al Capone Died Of Syphilis
MPEG stream: Encompassed

Moe! Staiano (former member of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum) is one heck of a dynamic avant percussionist and soundscaper who exercises restraint in both composition and performance, but he's an uncorkable fountain of recordings (as not only a solo artist, but also a collaborator and in his improv ensemble Moe!kestra). He's so prolific that it's hard to keep up with all of his activities. We're trying our best tho'! Inspired by the Dada and Surrealist movements, Staiano's music incorporates found object percussion instruments be they pots, pans, pipes, cooking utensils, industrial machinery or children's toys. Recorded in two separate sessions, this is his first album of purely solo improvisations. Over the course of this sixty two minute long album, Staiano moves deftly through cacophonous, sonically crowded spaces into stark, serene minimalism and back again.

MPEG stream: Three Legs
MPEG stream: Forfeit Breathing

Second album from Moe! Staiano's improv orchestra Moe!kestra. Ear and mind-bending performances!

In case you couldn't deduce from the album's lengthy title An Inescapable Siren Within Earshot Distance Therein And Other Whereabouts - Two Compositions For Large Orchestras, this is quite possibly Moe! Staiano's stormiest and most expansive release to date. The album commences with the three part Piece No. 7 (2001-2003), a gradual unfolding of delicate cymbal washes peppered by fleeting squeals and peals. By the third stage the skies have darkened. One by one, tumultuous deep crescendos overtake the pianissimo passages. At that track's eleventh minute a frail bell sounds almost as an emergency alarm's last gasp that's soon to be drowned out by a swell of all instruments pushing forth at once. Horns and strings fall in shrieks, as the sonic bulldozer levels all that remains. Quite cleansing. Staiano then picks right up with the second piece which is also a triptych. No. 5 (1998) is infused with a bit of carnivalesque levity, but is no less turbulently dynamic.

MPEG stream: excerpt from track 1
MPEG stream: excerpt from track 6

Woohooo! here's another release from the mad percussion wizard of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum (and formerly Idiot Flesh)... it's Moe! Staiano (yes, that exclamation point belongs there). This cd features the debut recordings of his highly skilled, high stamina'd Moe!kestra. Two Forms Of Multitudes is yet another display of Staiano's always impressive, expansive and trippy improvs. Played out on an eclectic mish mash of both conventional and found-object instruments, they're rollercoaster rides of sonic experimentation that leave many a listener reelin'.

MPEG stream: Excerpt from Conducted Improvisation Piece No.5
MPEG stream: Excerpt from Conducted Improvisation Piece No.4

We had never cared much about the Starlight Mints in the past but after listening to Drowaton for about the MILLIONTH time, we are kicking ourselves big time. In fact we're not just kicking, we're hitting and punching and just generally beating the crap out of ourselves. How could we have missed a band this cool and this weird? Even Allan, who has VERY particular pop tastes, just came over to see what was playing. As with all great pop records, it's sort of difficult to describe exactly what makes Drowaton so goddamned good. Sure it's catchy, but not obviously so, it takes a few listens before the hooks really catch, but when they do, you'll NEVER get 'em out. Almost every single person who works here hears something different: David Bowie, the Kinks, the Monkees, Bread, but it doesn't sound that retro at all, there are bits of Iron And Wine, Neutral Milk Hotel, New Pornographers, Arcade Fire, Nada Surf and stuff like that too. Probably if we had to come up with a concise description, or find a genre that best describes Starlight Mints it would be something like psychedelic indie pop. Or dark poppy jangle psych. Something like that. Cuz it really is pretty darn psychedelic, lots of fuzzy synths, warped backwards electric guitar, strange falsetto trills, cool little sonic filigree, plenty of strange instrumentation, "tralalala" vocals, soaring strings, horns, heavily strummed acoustic guitars, some whistling, hand claps, all wrapped up into bursting-at-the-seams perfect pop songs. It's mostly the vocals that remind us of Bowie, a lazy sexy drawl that can swing smoothly into a wild croon before swinging right back again, but the heady psychpop stomp beneath already had us swooning. Hooky guitar crunch collides with effervescent keyboards, sixties pop shimmer gets all tangled up with indie downer bedroom folk, huge swaths of jubilant pop pomp hovers just above slithering swirls of moody piano and warm washes of synthesizer, pounding piano rides atop an unlikely horn section, simple shuffling drums pulse and pound underneath squalls of FX-drenched guitars and clouds of sweet vocal swoon. Wow. So so so good. All of you who dug the Nada Surf we made record of the week a while back will probably love this too. And anyone into ANY sort of killer off kilter pop should for sure give Drowaton a listen!

MPEG stream: Pumpkin
MPEG stream: Torts
MPEG stream: What's Inside Of Me?

The latest tape from this Oakland duo finds these guys drifting ever further into the cosmos, their crumbling soundscapes and blurred fields of synth shimmer, stretched way out, a sprawling, hushed world of minimal sound, a seemingly never-ending drone, softly pulsing, and surrounded by clouds of gristle and crackle, slowly unfurling, and emitting subtle sonic sparks, like buried melodies, and and ripple like shimmers, that background noise starts to take more solid shape on the second track, transformed from a whisper into a dense thrum, a distorted slo-mo stasis, cascading sheets of distortion burnished into woozy blurs, before finally receding and leaving just shadows, barely there voices, all set in a field of digi-dub like crackle, a woozy loopscape like some Philip Jeck fever dream. The second half of Eruptionem dials back some of the low end, instead layering tinny pulsations into a glimmering crystalline stretch of grainy resonance, one that picks up grit and grime as it progresses, the shape becoming more and more Caretaker-like, all crackly and faded, sun dappled and wistful, before unexpectedly splintering into some lurching beats and thrumming low slung bass throb, but things quickly slip back into tranquility, the title track another SUNNO)))-like sprawl, all decaying distortion and slow motion riffage, smeared into a dream-doom haze, before things finish off with a gorgeous bit of Stars Of The Lid like dronescaping, moody and cinematic, minimal, but with a density and tension that gives the proceedings a seriously heavy heart, perfectly paired with the song's otherwise melancholy sonics. LIMITED TO 140 COPIES, each one hand numbered, super swank 6 panel full color J-cards and light blue tapes.

First we've heard from this Oakland outfit, whose sound is a glorious, throbbing, crumbling, super distorted droned out world of grinding, glitched out synths, and heaving blurred heaviness, two tracks of ritualistic psychedelic drone-noise, that manages to blunt the sharp edges, and create something almost kosmische sounding, like Skullflower style ur-drone crush fused to glimmering synthy shimmer, dense walls of sound, crumble and warble, sprawling into oozing expanses of blackened rumble, underpinned by gristly buzz and softly pulsing shimmer, the B side blissing out into some hazy, dreamlike soft-noise thrum, shot through with lilting melodies, the whole thing swaddled in undulating sheets of looped buzz and soft swirls of heavenly chordal thrum, the whole thing building to a huge finale of softly swirling dream-noise. The tape also includes a download coupon, that in addition to the two songs proper, tacks on a bonus 10 minute track, a lush, deep listening, cavernous chunk of droning, dreamy driftiness, lush and all enveloping minimal slow burn bliss out. LIMITED TO 66 COPIES!! Each one hand numbered, already sold out at the label, so the few copies we have is all we're gonna get. The packaging is super over the top too, the tapes dubbed onto old school vintage reel to reel looking cassettes, housed in three color hand screen printed J-cards, and blue or pink dayglo cases.

MPEG stream: Medicine Eagle

We dug the Medicine Eagle tape from Oakland synth-noise-drone combo Starlite Coffins like crazy. Sadly that tape went out of print WAY too fast. But here's their latest, and another chance for you to nab some of this glorious psychedelic noisiness. A full hour of smoldering, layered soft noise bliss, sprawling expanses of blurred buzz and processed synths, woven into softly undulating fields of spectral shimmer, peppered with bits of glitch and all manner of buried percussive murk, the sound slipping easily from ethereal kosmische drift, to grinding gnarled distorto crush. The sound laced with ur-drone like ragas, and hazy melodies, the sound woozy and warble, recorded at extreme volume, the tape speed in constant flux, creating a fantastically uneasy spatial soundworld, that at times reminds us of Our Love Will Destroy The World, Tim Hecker or a much darker, dronier, heavier Expo 70. Some tracks slip into full on washed out Caretaker-like mesmer, all bleary faded shimmer, while others, dial it down even further, slipping into Stars Of The Lid territory, smoldering, slow burning epics, that feel on the verge of blossoming into something explosive and Godspeed-like, but instead, are stretched out into tense, dense dronescapes, that are at once intensely sinister, and washed out and almost ethereal. Gorgeous stuff for sure. As is the packaging, 1960's Op-art style two color hand screened J-cards, the tape a deadstock bi-color yellow and blue cassette, custom inserts and all housed in blue, white or clear cases. LIMITED TO 100 COPIES!!!

MPEG stream: Karass
MPEG stream: Kokonon
MPEG stream: Solstice Prayer
MPEG stream: Peyote Rainbows

One of the three new and not so new titles just in from the electronic music label Praemedia (Tim Perkis' Motive album and the Praeface compilation are the other two)! Stars Like Fleas bring many different influences and styles to their musical palette -- fusing together elements of jazz, experimental soundscapes, chamber music and earthy folk. Vocals are less about conveying recognizable words and lyrics, instead they're layer upon layer of hushed yet emotive, seemingly sub-conscious murmurings and incoherent yearnings. Sort of like what you'd imagine the shy brother of TV On The Radio (or as someone here suggested, Gastr Del Sol meets the Grateful Dead with Michael Stipe singing!). These vocals ebb and flow atop gentle rhythms and glistening electronic and acoustic instrumental embers. On other tracks, S.L.F. bring in NYC art-jazz style horns and cyclical note patterns which also bring to mind moments of Laurie Anderson (track 4 "On A Generous Day"). The perfect soundtrack to kicking back and watching the afternoon passage of "sun lights down on the fence".

MPEG stream: Isabel Of Lilac
MPEG stream: On A Generous Day

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

SORRY. Vinyl version of their major label debut (and finale).

[ aquarius records — Local ]