It's not surprising that Rites Of Uncovering sounds like Palace on overdrive, as Arbouretum's mastermind, David Huemann, is a veteran sessions musician for both of the Oldham brothers as well as Cass McCombs. In fact, Paul Oldham takes on production duties through this sort-of concept record based on the writings of Paul Bowles. But avoiding conventional song-structures for a more organic evolving approach of shambling tribal blues and rustic folk motifs plays to Heumann's strengths as a big picture songwriter steering clear of the first person confessional stance of Will Oldham's narratives. If you wish those Bonnie Prince Billy records had a more epic musical bite to them, then Arbourteum might just fill your prescription.
We almost managed to do a list with only ONE Aidan Baker record, but found a stash of these hidden away in the closet and have actually been meaning to list them for a while now. Only have a handful, so these might be the last copies we see for a while.
Arc just so happens to be the the drone / free jazz / krautrock improv trio Baker heads up, the three members employing guitar, flute, percussion, electronics and multiple drumkits to produce the peculiar brand of avant amorphous outsider krautdrone that made their first disc, The Circle Is Not Round, such a hit around here.
Four sixteen and seventeen minute tracks, the first a glistening glimmering long form metallic shimmer, laced with rainfall like percussion, skittery snares, long stretches of glitched out electronics, muted barely there rhythms. The second starts off like a less jazzy Necks, lots of space, softly strummed guitars, strange scattered percussion, soft swarms of electronic FX, backwards swoops, processed cymbal sizzle, subtly ominous and haunting, eventually the drums explode and the pound out a reverb drenched rhythm, while the guitars grow thicker and slightly more propulsive, eventually blissing out and fading out completely. The final two tracks are quite similar, beginning as deep soft shimmers and building in intensity until they become these reverb heavy tribal free jams, thick with droned out shimmers, and layers of fuzzy gauzy ambience, sort of like the Swans meets the Necks, or a blissed out Einsterzende.
Not the sort of stuff we're used to from Baker, but definitely cool, and certainly a bit more challenging than much of his more soothing blissed out drone / dirge output. If you dug the other one, you'll for sure dig this, and if you're looking for something a bit abstract, a bit jazzy, a bit krauty and a bit drone-y, then this could well fit the bill.
Packaged in a striking sepia tone 6 panel digipack style sleeve, and again, we have very few copies, so when we sell out, please be patient while we try to get more.
The Canadian avant-drone guitarist Aidan Baker has been popping up quite a bit at Aquarius in recent months. While he has been quite active in producing numerous drone-based releases, we first took serious notice of his work thanks to the atmospheric doom of his project Nadja. He also turned up on an exceptional 4-way split alongside John Duncan, Z'ev, and Fear Falls Burning. Arc is another project from Baker, finding him working alongside a couple of percussionists in this pastorally psychedelic, improv ensemble. The Circle Is Not Round began as a series of live recordings that Baker blurs into a concoction that lays somewhere in between the spiralling melancholy of a non-aggressive Troum and the '70s prog-ambience of Popul Vuh. Baker's impressionist guitar drones are at the center of these recordings; and while the original live sessions probably slanted more towards the hippie and less the psychedelic end of the spectrum, Baker abstracts all of his sounds with enough backwards masking, tapeloops, and shimmering delay patterns to transform the improv noodling into slow burning dissonant crescendos, earthen throbs, and kosmiche soundscapes with more than a few references to Fennesz, Growing, and even Kompakt's Pop Ambient sound, if you can imagine a guitarist doing his best impersonation of that very digitally constructed ambience.
These Canadians (and their American record label) sure know how to keep their fans satiated over the summer months. They not only reissued the band's debut EP recently, but have also popped out this lil' 7" single. Two songs: one original and one cover of an oft-covered beloved oldie from 1939! Sure to please their ever-growing legions of fans... particularly the ones with record players, although there's been a few turntableless, A.F. completist folks who 'needed' it too. On clear vinyl and packaged in a super pretty vellum sleeve.
Hey, check out this new Canadian band's elegant swagger and dandy bombast. If the number of recent in-store queries about them is any indication, many other folks seem to be doing likewise and diggin' what they hear! The lead-off track with its thumpin' dance beat and swooning male vocals (be forewarned, they occasionally cross the line into overwrought moan'n'wail) is totally reminiscent of Pulp's "Disco 3000". At once, it's both steeped in despair and drenched with fun. However, the next song jumps over to more aggressive, post-punk territory a la P.I.L. meets Interpol (particularly in the vocals, although A.F.'s singer has a peculiar warbly voice all his own which received a chilly reception from some folks around these parts). By the fourth song, a galloping very Modest Mouse-y tune, you sorta get the sense that this group has a multitude of personalities. That said, the one track that seems to encapsulate Arcade Fire's scope comes at the mid-point of the album. "Crown Of Love" is a soaring grande orchestral hand-wringer that suddenly bursts into discoland for its finish (again very Jarvis Cocker/Pulp-ish). But then again, the following song is totally in the swirling Flaming Lips vein (complete with very Coyne-esque singing), and the female-sung closing number comes across as very very Bjork-influenced. So what do all of these elder artists have in common which is also at the core of these young'uns' impressive sound? A complete unabashed flair for drama, untethered emotive vibrato-laced vocals and no fear of a thumpin' beat to get the blood pumpin'. This band can raise the roof and sink into a quagmyre of gloom as they see fit. Sure to tickle the fancy of many fans of those aforementioned bands.
Arcade Fire fans, we're sure you're more than familiar with the song "Intervention" from the band's most recent full length. It's a dandy, right? But do you also recall another tune from the same album, the one with the awesome horn section (otherwise known as the Calexico brass)? Yeah, you know the one... "Ocean Of Noise" (which we consider the aural equivalent of a peanut butter cup)! It's definitely one of Neon Bible's highlights. Well, Calexico went and recorded their very own rendition of the song, and no surprise, it's a splendid, somber, shimmering wonder! So, for the latest Arcade Fire single, Merge Records wisely included Tucson's finest on the flip side. It is THE reason you need this (whether you dig Arcade Fire or Calexico, both or neither). So good!
One of Arcade Fire's most goodest tunes from their latest album Neon Bible is now available to all of you 7" record spinners! Yup, and it's accompanied by a vinyl only tune called "Broken Window" which completists surely won't want to miss!
NOW ON VINYL! 2004's Funeral made it clear that Arcade Fire aren't shy about dishin' the melodrama and bombast, and this time around they definitely make no bones about it. These decidedly unreserved Canucks are laying it on extra heavy. They've taken the goods from Funeral and juiced 'em up even more, delivering an unquestionable fan pleaser that maintains the infectious spark of their debut, but drapes it with more opulent finery. Musically this is most notable in the cathedral organ and choral departments. It may have you wondering if you're attending a wedding or a funeral! However, those musings are swiftly swept away by the soaring, big Chicago style horns in "Windowsill" and "No Cars Go" (another candidate for single material in our books!). We'd say the obvious choice for a first single on the album is the second tune "Keep The Car Running", but has anyone else noticed that it sounds as if it could break into John Cafferty And The Beaver Brown Band's "On The Dark Side" from that '80s flick Eddie And The Cruisers at any moment? In fact, Arcade Fire conjure numerous other touchstones of that decade -- the female vocals remarkably resemble Kim Wilde as the male ones do Bono, the somber opening pulse of the album closer "My Body Is A Cage" echoes Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight". But there sure as heck ain't nothin' wrong with a little bit of musical nostalgia, especially when it's all wrapped up oh so pretty, in thick sonic swaths of lush dramatic dreamery and plush poppiness.
2004's Funeral made it clear that Arcade Fire aren't shy about dishin' the melodrama and bombast, and this time around they definitely make no bones about it. From the super deluxe boxed lenticular packaging to the eleven songs contained within, these decidedly unreserved Canucks are laying it on extra heavy. They've taken the goods from Funeral and juiced 'em up even more, delivering an unquestionable fan pleaser that maintains the infectious spark of their debut, but drapes it with more opulent finery. Musically this is most notable in the cathedral organ and choral departments. It may have you wondering if you're attending a wedding or a funeral! However, those musings are swiftly swept away by the soaring, big Chicago style horns in "Windowsill" and "No Cars Go" (another candidate for single material in our books!). We'd say the obvious choice for a first single on the album is the second tune "Keep The Car Running", but has anyone else noticed that it sounds as if it could break into John Cafferty And The Beaver Brown Band's "On The Dark Side" from that '80s flick Eddie And The Cruisers at any moment? In fact, Arcade Fire conjure numerous other touchstones of that decade -- the female vocals remarkably resemble Kim Wilde as the male ones do Bono, the somber opening pulse of the album closer "My Body Is A Cage" echoes Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight". But there sure as heck ain't nothin' wrong with a little bit of musical nostalgia, especially when it's all wrapped up oh so pretty, in thick sonic swaths of lush dramatic dreamery and plush poppiness.
Only four albums in and Arcade Fire already seem like an institution, but far from predictable, Reflektor is a welcome 180 for these quirky Canadians. Almost entirely absent is the earnest tweeness of their earlier records, and in its place is a sprawling double album of opaque lyrical mystery, throbbing cosmic disco and ethereal sparkling funk (a change that is in no doubt at least partially due to LCD Soundsystem/DFA mastermind James Murphy's place at the production helm). The record's funkier moments bring to mind The Talking Heads sucked through a shining glittery vacuum, while the echo drenched druggy dub of "Flashbulb Eyes" recalls The Clash's more experimental flourishes during their Sandinista phase. Elsewhere the jangly guitars and girl group bass of "You Already Know" conjure some kind of swirling technicolor Smiths, and the primitive stomp and erratic guitar leads of "Normal Person" seem to be the work of an extraterrestrial Stooges. But even at its most straight forward there is a constant sense of mystery and intrigue to Reflektor - the warped ambient glitches, indecipherable background whispers, soaring strings and pulsing synths seeming to imply that there's some sort of code underlying just waiting to be cracked. And yet even during its most confounding moments there's an ever present bittersweet tinge of nostalgia that Arcade Fire have always been so adept at subtly injecting into their songs. It's sort of like a coming of age record, only a thousand years into the future and on the other side of the galaxy, with its head in the stars and its eyes impatiently fixed on the dancefloor.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
We've heard tell that legions of Arcade Fire fans new and old have already been gobbling up this release whole, and it's easy to hear why. It's a fantastic follow-up to 2007's Neon Bible, and such an eagerly anticipated album that it probably doesn't even need any announcement!
Get behind the wheel of this ride through The Arcade Fire's Suburbs, and you'll find it starts out in relatively sedate fashion, gently warming up the musical engines with the lush baroque pop we all know and love, but it doesn't take the band long to rev things up 'til they're cruising at full speed with the top down! As always, these Canadians are a bit difficult to define, still drawing plenty of influence from familiar (and often oddly mainstream) pop elements of the '80s and '90s, and integrating them into their own presentation. It's a strangely cohesive coming together of varied sounds, personalities and inspirations that glints with shades of such eclectic, clever and dramatic forefathers as David Bowie, Pulp, Meatloaf, My Bloody Valentine, and Robyn Hitchcock. At times they're a bit brainy, at others more than a bit bombastic. Add some shoegazin', cabaret melodrama and art school chin scratching, and you might think you have a recipe for disaster. However, they seldom falter, always delivering epically arranged and gloriously produced songs to our ears. A few of them in particular stood out on our first few listens... "Suburban War" has gently swooping melodies that totally push the wistful sentimental buttons; "Modern Man" takes a few jaunty twists and subdued yearning tones that bring to mind their contemporaries Spoon (actually fans of that band might find themselves diggin' a lot more than just this one tune!); while the surprisingly almost punky edgy oomph of "Month Of May" will surely get you on your feet doing the same dance that Molly Ringwald does in Breakfast Club to Karla DeVito's "We Are Not Alone". Alrighty, are you with us?! (Not sure why the vinyl version has to be so pricey, it seems like a trend these days...)
Remastered and reissued for Arcade Fire fans who might've missed it the first time around, here's Arcade Fire's debut EP from 2003. From what we can tell, female vocalist Regine Chassagne seemed to have been suffering from some serious Bjork affectations (which she'd gotten over by the time they did Funeral). Likewise, Win Butler's then very-Coyne-ish vocals and the band's very-Flaming Lips-y overall productions. Nonetheless, if you've dug this band from the beginning, you'll surely find it nice to have the opportunity to hear these songs again in their freshly remastered state. If you're new to the band and are wondering what the big fuss is all about, definitely check out their Funeral album first.
Second installment of Arcana's all-star "futuristic energy music" as masterminded by Bill Laswell, featuring the drumming of the late Tony Williams. Also with Pharoah Sanders, Buckethead, Nicky Skopelitis, Graham Haynes, and Byard Lancaster.
The final two installments in the ongoing campaign to reissue all four records from aQ beloved noise pop heroes Archers Of Loaf. We've previously reviewed their masterpiece debut, Icky Mettle, a record NO indie rocker should be without, and more recently we covered record number two, Vee Vee, that while perpetually in the shadow of Icky Mettle, is nearly as good, and thus about as essential. And now it's time for the last two Archers records, 1996's All The Nations Airports and 1998's swansong White Trash Heroes. While we would never suggest that either of these is as good or as essential as Icky Mettle, or even Vee Vee, we will say, that they hold up pretty damn well alongside those first two.
Most bands mellow with age, but if anything, Archers kept getting weirder and weirder and more obtuse, the hooks less obvious, the songs more gnarled and complicated, the opening one-two punch on All The Nations of "Strangled By The Stereo Wire" and the title track, offer up two short sharp blasts of atonal jangle and wild mathy drumming, tripped out vox and all sorts of tangled and warped melodies, that the band somehow weave into something rocking AND catchy. All The Nations is definitely a grower, but after a few listens, it's pretty irresistible. For us "Scenic Pastures" is the hook that landed us, sounding like an Icky Mettle B-side, all woozy riffage and wiggly melody, jangly and crunchy in equal measure, and crazy catchy to boot, without losing an ounce of off kilter weirdness. The rest of the record is brimming with more classic Archers jams, every one a perfect example of that tweaked mathy take on Pavement-y noise pop that they absolutely made their own, and continues to sound unlike any other bands past or present.
This reissue takes on a handful of singles and B sides (including the awesome "Density"), as well as a whole mess of 4 track demos of all the tracks from the record, as well as a few that never made it past the demo stage, but sound pretty bad ass nonetheless (those are available as downloads with the lp version).
Must be something about summertime and the feeling of nostalgia and memories of our younger days that has had us going crazy over some of our favorite '90s indie rock records as of late. Recent lists prove this, as reissues of Sebadoh and Spoon classics received our record of the week honors. Truth be told Icky Mettle is just as qualified for that honor as well. There was a period during the '90s when we used to joke that if you looked up "indie rock" in the dictionary you would find a picture of Archers of Loaf's Icky Mettle. But really, we sort of weren't joking. All you had to do was listen to it and you instantly understood the full glory of indie rock and how totally heavy and wild and kick ass and catchy indie rock could be. Guitars are crunchy and jagged, ringing loud and true, vocals soaring, melodies you can't EVER get out of your head, and a passionate urgency that makes your heart race and your soul shiver. It's pretty serendipitous that this record just got reissued as it's been playing around here quite a bit, Irwin rediscovered it earlier this summer, it's been rocking Andee's iPod quite a bit lately, and it gets played in the store NON-STOP!!
There is not a dud on this album... it's almost like Archers of Loaf made us the most perfect indie rock mix tape ever, except it's their entire album! The track "Web In Front" might just be THE GREATEST INDIE ROCK SONG EVER. If it's not, it's definitely top five. It jangles, it totally rocks, the vocasl are super intense but completely melodic, the arrangement is bizarre and the parts unlikely, but that only serves to make it that much more unique and unforgettable.
We can't count the times in the past that we've put songs from this record on mixes we've made for friends, crushes, boyfriends, girlfriends, etc. It's got it all: the angst, the heartbreak, the longing, the anger, the catchy hooks, even the quintessential anthem about indie rockers. What a debut full length from a band a drift in a veritable sea of indie rock revolution, the next Seattle, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Helping to raise the bar for all their peers and proteges (Superchunk, Polvo, Pavement, etc.). This is not just some indie rock nostalgia trip, a longing for some unattainable indie rock heyday, this record has totally stood the test of time and still pretty much blows away any pop, rock or indie rock record you care to stack up against it. So utterly and completely and impossibly essential!!
Compilation of various Peel Sessions and singles, plus one new song.
How we love this band!! And sure, the also recently reissued Icky Mettle from 1993 might be the record by this North Carolina indie rockers that most folks hold near and dear, but we say the follow up, 1995's Vee Vee is just as good. What it may sacrifice in punk-pop urgency (which is not all that much really), and balls out debut record go-for-broke-ness, it makes up for with more well crafted songs (some of their best for sure), all without diluting the band's frenetic energy, or the strange gnarled angular riffing that defined their sound and made them instantly recognizable.
Just give a listen to "Harnessed In Slums", which was the 'hit', easily as good as anything on Icky Mettle, the sound super elastic and melty, the core jangle warped onto something woozy and super rocking and in its own way sorta psychedelic. And the next track too, "Nevermind The Enemy", with its super catchy opening riff, and backing up truck beeps, explodes into another killer slab of jangle and crunch, with guitar melodies that sound like the band's playing with slides, all slippery and sonically prismatic. Everything driven by some kick ass drumming, and singer Eric Bachmann's killer raspy vox. It's sorta hard to explain beyond the above just what it is that makes these guys so special, and their sound so unique, and how they managed to fit in with all their North Carolina brethren, while sounding nothing like any of those other bands. But here we are 17 years on, and we have to fight the urge to slip into grumpy old rock guy mode and proclaim that they just don't make bands like this anymore, but hell, why fight it, cuz they really don't. Folks who missed out on these guys the first time around, and who were maybe weaned on a less idiosyncratic indie rock will be blown away, and realize that music can be catchy and hooky, and still be freaky and fucked up and totally original.
The reissue tacks on a whole disc of bonus tracks, including a handful of different mixes, some killer lo-fi 4-track demos, not to mention some even more lo-fi boombox demos. Plus some unreleased tracks, some rare B sides (which are amazing!) and maybe coolest of all, an unreleased cover of John Coltrane's Equinox, that the band make their own, to the point that the first time through, we just thought it was one of theirs!
The final two installments in the ongoing campaign to reissue all four records from aQ beloved noise pop heroes Archers Of Loaf. We've previously reviewed their masterpiece debut, Icky Mettle, a record NO indie rocker should be without, and more recently we covered record number two, Vee Vee, that while perpetually in the shadow of Icky Mettle, is nearly as good, and thus about as essential. And now it's time for the last two Archers records, 1996's All The Nations Airports and 1998's swansong White Trash Heroes. While we would never suggest that either of these is as good or as essential as Icky Mettle, or even Vee Vee, we will say, that they hold up pretty damn well alongside those first two.
Most bands mellow with age, but if anything, Archers kept getting weirder and weirder and more obtuse, the hooks less obvious, the songs more gnarled and complicated, culminating in the bands final record, which was a seriously high note to go out on, opening with the instantly catchy, but weirdly brooding "Fashion Bleeds", with a wiry tension, and cool layered droned out chords, not to mention so weird effected guitar leads, sounding a bit like a way more warped and woozy Afghan Whigs weirdly enough. "Dead Red Eyes" is a gorgeous haunting ballad, Archers style, all swirly shimmer, and thick super distorted bass, and a weirdly stylized vocal, before the band get back to rocking with "I.N.S.", replete with funhouse mirror riffs, dense proggy drumming, and a tangled mathy arrangement, again sounding like not all that much had changed since icky Mettle. And of course the real final statement was the nearly 8 minute closer, the title track, epic and majestic, proggy and droney and hauntingly melodic, the perfect end to a nearly perfect four record streak.
The end of Archers was up there with the end of Polvo, for indie/post/math rock heartbreak, but the music lives on, and seriously sounds as ahead of its time now as it did nearly 15 years ago.
The reissue tacks on some awesome rarities, including a killer 1997 fan club single, which is seriously tripped out, as well as a bunch of 4 track demos, and a few unreleased B sides, including a wild and noisy, weirdly stop/start rambunctious rocker called "Whooh!" which is yet another track that pushes all our Icky Mettle buttons (those are all available as downloads with the vinyl version)!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
There are so many offshoots of the prog/psych realm that cross into other genres, whose listeners would probably really enjoy, but don't ever get the chance due to the inherent flaws of niche marketing. Luigi Archetti's "Cubic Yellow" is one of those... Known for his collaborations with Mani Neumeier (Guru Guru) in Tiere Der Nacht, Swiss avant-guitarist Archetti now presents this exceptional downtempo electronica album with Hoovering swells that sound like Dom & Roland played at 33 1/3 rpm instead of 45 along with skittering breakbeats not unlike a stripped down Amon Tobin. Fans of Biosphere or The Orb should definitely take note of this one!!!
Though we've never gotten around to listing anything by this awesome UK trio, we were impressed with their two previous full lengths from years back, and we're definitely stoked to have this new release. Coconut comes 4 years after the band's last record, and the production courtesy of ex-DFA dude Tim Goldsworthy helps to bring their sound to new territories. Pinning down Archie Bronson Outfit's music is not the easiest thing in the world, but at the same time, there's nothing not to get here. The effects are immediate and the band doesn't fuck around with abstract experimentation, even though the songs themselves are quite adventurous. It seems like there were more British bands going for this kind of thing a few years ago, and maybe this is a better representation of what all those bands actually wanted to sound like. ABO do what they do well, better than most to be perfectly upfront. This causes us to wonder why they aren't a bigger deal here in the states, especially being on Domino and all. It seems like many reviews don't know what to make of it, and maybe ABO hasn't done themselves any favors by touring as support for bands whose audiences could probably care less for this kind of thing. But whatever, Coconut is a superb album. The band is bluesy and quite psychedelic at times, but thankfully without a trace of any hippie bullshit or rock dude posturing. Instead, they seem like garage punk circa 1965 (you know, right before things started getting really weird) played by stoned guys with beards in button up shirts, with a nod to the dance floor (hence Goldsworthy's presence), rhythmic psych propulsion in the vein of Cave (especially on opening track "Magnetic Warrior"), and some major post-punk influences as well (some of us were reminded of The Fall and the Talking Heads, both apt comparisons). Sometimes things get pretty frenzied, but they also know when to hold back and get into a groove, always a good thing. Everything is held in place by the singer's urgent yelp, and the songs flow together really well. Nothing seems forced, and the songs take you where you want to go with their catchiness and overall rocking approach. Throughout it all, the melodies just pour out. It's dark, it's sexy, it's mysterious. It's f'n Coconut, and we hope you dig it as much as we do.
This is the kind of exuberant, indie pop, composed mishmash formerly only found spouting most gushingly from the likes of the Elephant 6 Collective. In the last couple of years younger upstarts have blossomed, predominantly from Canada, such as Hidden Cameras, P:Ano, Arcade Fire et al. It's music that's certainly got its roots in indie pop characterised by a vocal combination of yelped group sing-a-long, melodramatic male crooning and kiddie-style sing-song, playfully peculiar instrumentation, and drawing from a broad array of divergent inspirations (as far as band influences go, Flaming Lips and Olivia Tremor Control immediately come to mind). Disregard the country mentioned in their name, Architecture In Helsinki are from Australia and they jump gleefully from ramshackle hand clappers to sweet hopscotch sockhoppers to funky groovy finger snappers and back again. Listening to In Case We Die is sorta like playin' a game of hide and seek one sunshine-y afternoon in the park with a bunch of your buddies (which just happens to include the girl or boy you've had a secret crush on) -- running, tumbling and spinning around like there's no tomorrow. You think you've got 'em and right when you do they duck out of view only to pop up elsewhere else just outta reach. This album bubbles over with the goodest of giddy good feelings.
Andee calls this style of music "jumprope-y"! Give 'er a listen and you'll see why! If you dig The Go-Team's Thunder, Lightning, Strike album... ahhh, you might think we're gonna say "buy this!" But we're not, we're gonna say "buy Thunder, Lightning, Strike again... or pretty much any other cd!" This is not one of Architecture In Helsinki's brighter moments Think: a rollerskating David Byrne impersonator gettin' down with some cheesy casio keyboards... except for the fourth track when someone let Fred Schneider on the mic (well, not really!) and then Elmo too (no, not really!). This is proably supposed to be fun good times music, but it's bumming us out! Like it or not? You tell us!
Here we have the third full-length from Australia's Architecture In Helsinki, and it's a doozy. Places Like This sees the sextet branching off in all sorts of different directions to put together a record that is as scattered (in a good way?) as the cover art. The best tracks on the record seem to be the straight up pop songs. "Nothing's Wrong" begins with your standard acoustic strum with vocalist Cameron Bird belting out lyrics comparable in style and delivery to Modest Mouse's Isaac Brock (a vocal style Bird employs frequently throughout).
Soon enough bass, minimal drums, fuzzy guitars, and Kelli Sutherland's sharp and airy vocals create an overall sense that AIH has probably been most influenced by bands on the Elephant 6 or Kindercore labels (Of Montreal, Olivia Tremor Control, Neutral Milk Hotel, Apples In Stereo and the like) in golden heyday of perfect indie pop. "Underwater" is a no-frills pop song that reminds us of the softer side of Essex Green or Masters Of The Hemisphere. The track lands smack in the middle of the album and provides a nice respite from the other style the band seems to be toying with -- throwing pop conventions out the window in lieu of a more unstructured quirky pop madness. There is a whole lot happening in some songs, ranging from way too many instruments to sudden time changes, giving the impression that the band may have written some of these songs and thought "now what would these sound like if we were to put it 'em a blender?" The result is sometimes cool, but at other times a bit much. We're on the fence about this one. Have a listen and see what you think, particularly if you are curious to hear what AIH's "2 note apocalyptic swamp axe" sounds like!
It doesn't seem so long ago that these youthful Sheffield lads first burst into our consciousness with their exhilarating brand of punky Britpop, but now we're five albums in, and against all odds the Arctic Monkeys have become a band that one might be tempted to apply the "aging gracefully" tag to. AM finds Arctic Monkeys much more stripped down and streamlined. The reckless abandon and teenage mischief of their earlier records has been traded in for a certain slinky nocturnal sexiness, more suited for night drives to questionable locales than for rides in the back of police vans. There's a palpable hazy drunken wooziness that looms over much of the record. The lyrics are all dusky imagery: romantic obsession, unspoken implications, scandalous secrets, yearning to be owned by someone, yearning to own someone... that kind of thing! And that theme of reading between the lines is perfectly represented in the music. The songs are just as much about what isn't there as what is. The vocals are a lazy stand offish drawl often backed by breathy falsettos - sometimes channeling a sexually charged Morrissey, while the songs themselves are sometimes fantastically minimal. Twangy slithering guitars squirm over dusty sparse drum beats, many of which have a noticeably hip hop feel to them. But really there's plenty for heavier rockers to appreciate here as well. In fact, the band has cited not only Black Sabbath but also cult '70s proto-metallers Sir Lord Baltimore as direct influences on this record and it's not hard to see why. "R U Mine?" and "Arabella" both have a distinctly '70s stoner vibe to them - the latter of which even features a bit of a "War Pigs" homage in the riffing. "I Want It All", meanwhile, is a total glam rock stomp, recalling classic Sweet as much as it does Queens Of The Stone Age (with whom the band has been known to occasionally collaborate). Elsewhere, things take an even more retro turn with "Snap Out of It" which sounds like a classic Motown girl group cut colored a smokey midnight hue, and "No. 1 Party Anthem", a song which betrays its name, sounding more like a beautiful comedown - a glittery and twinkling piano ballad that almost comes across like a more seductive version of Radiohead's "No Surprises". Like so many great records, it's one that takes a couple of spins to really get its claws in you, but once it does it becomes irresistible and addictive - like an unhealthy obsession that feels too good to kick!
Not entirely sure why we never reviewed the Arctic Monkeys' Favorite Worst Nightmare, considering how much we flipped for their debut Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, that second one was good too, but here we are at record number three, Humbug, and their sound has definitely taken a strange turn. It still sounds like THEM, but it's much darker, more brooding and crunchy, less kinetic and snotty and wild. Could be lots of things, musical maturity, regular maturity (after all they were all in their teens when they recorded that first record), lots of people are blaming Queens Of The Stone Age's Josh Homme, who handled most of the production, but maybe 'blaming' is the wrong word, cuz as far as we're concerned, there's no blame to be assigned, if anything Humbug is just a grower. On first listen, nothing stood out single wise, like the first record. But then "Crying Lightning" caught our ear big time, with its big drums and fuzzy bass, and spidery guitar lines, it only took a few listens and BANG, heavy rotation. And so it went with the rest of the record, track by track, blossoming into a new favorite, the sound definitely beefier, heavier, more crunchy, that we can give Homme some credit for, but as for everything else, blame the band, at least for making another killer record of super catchy crunchy new wavey post punk pop. Dig it!
Arctic Monkey's 2006 debut, the awesomely titled Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, remains one of THEE best pop records of this new millennium, snarly, and crunchy, snotty and catchy as fuck, every song was a blast of youthful vigor and pop chops at odds with the bands' youth and the fact that Whatever was their debut. Subsequent records Favourite Worst Nightmare and Humbug showed the band toning down the snotty pop in favor of something much more measured, polished and refined, and while in some ways, that shift was a disappointment, it also revealed the group as something much more than an overhyped blogworthy flash in the pan.
Which brings us to their most recent, record number four, Suck It And See, which based on the title, we imagined might even signal a return to the snotty swagger of their debut, but if anything, the opposite is true. Easily the most 'mature' record yet, with the opening track, sounding almost like it could be some lost Supergrass or Oasis jam, brooding, and majestic, hooky and total classic Britpop. Which is pretty much where most of the record situates itself. But unlike Favourite and Humbug, this one is not a grower - it doesn't have to be, this one is hooky as hell right out of the gate, mixing in a bit of Weezer power poppiness into their distinctly British pop sound, the guitars jangle and chime, the rhythm section is tight and unobtrusive, the vocals are much more smooth and croony, than snarly and snotty, and like we said, the songs are to die for. Probably won't supplant Whatever as out favorite Arctic Monkeys record, but of the other three, it's rapidly becoming our number two...
Okay, yeah, we know. Who really gives a shit about the Arctic Monkeys? Oh, you mean besides the British press and the band's thousands of friends on MySpace and every hipster in tight pants who is "so over" the Killers and Interpol and Franz Ferdinand? We weren't even going to review this. In fact we were prepared to hate. A band with that much hype before they even have a record out can never be a good thing. British new music mag NME voted the Arctic Monkeys one of the 50 best British bands OF ALL TIME!! I'd be afraid to see numbers 51 through 100, the ones who were bumped to make room for a band who at the time had only released a single.
But, and it's a BIG BUT, this record is awesome. Really. It does pain us to admit it, but this is one of the best new records we've heard in ages. Wouldn't go so far as top 50 British bands ever, but shit man, we can't stop listening to this. Seriously, every day.
So waht's it sound like? Well, it definitely fits comfortably right there amidst the Killers, Franz Ferdinand, Maximo Park, Kaiser Chiefs, Cup thinks they sound just like Hot Hot Heat for that brief moment when they were really really good. Not so much channelling 'new wave' but more sort of reimagining the sound of the Fall, but where Pavement turned the fall into ironic indie slouch rock jangle, the Arctic Monkeys twist it into some impossibly hooky dancey drunken night out at the pub.
Angular guitars, sort of scrape-y and edgy and scrappy and jagged, super kinetic almost funky rhythms, killer melodies, bouncy tempos, lots of shuffle and start stop jangle and roar. And killer keening vocals, a little bit whine-y, but scruffy and capable of wailing when necessary. And the most amazingly thick Scottish brogue, ya know when the word "scumbag" sounds like "skoooombeg".
And let's not forget the songs. By now most of you have heard the excellently titled "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor", a perfect blast of bubbly snotty bouncy dance punk. But then there's tracks like "When The Sun Goes Down" with its moody sad boy intro all sweet sad vocals and minor key clean guitars that explode into a pounding kick ass chaotic rocker, with a killer riff and a totally impossible to resist groove. And the thing is, every song on here is just as good. So while the band will probably end up disappearing, breaking up or calling it quits after this record, I mean, how impossible is it to live up to all the critical accolades (imagine being held up alongside bands like the Clash and the Jam, all before the age of 20) but for now, you might as well believe the hype.
They'rrrrre back! Norway's archetypal artsy "post-black metal" supergroup, featuring members of Ulver, Mayhem, and more. We thought they'd broken up after 1998's peak of bizarreness, "La Masquerade Infernale", as all we'd heard from them since then was a
One of the main figures in Arcturus (you may know) is Garm from Ulver (he's also boss of the amazing Jester label, current home to Ulver, When, Rotoscope, Bogus Blimp, Single Unit, Origami Galaktika, etc.) who is responsible for "voices of ghosts and monkeys and general manipulation" and lyrics. His songwriting partner Steinar Sverd Johnsen handles keyboards and composes the music. Out of the rest of the Arcturus lineup, "Lords of Chaos" readers will also recognize Hellhammer (of Mayhem and about a million other Nordic metal outfits) on "drums and flames". The band is rounded out by "high guitar rider" Knut M. Valle and "low guitar driver" Dag F. Gravem. Emperor's Ihsahn contributes "spitting voice" on one track as well.
Together these guys meld majestic keys, blasting drums, soaring vocals, melodic piano runs, rasping screams, and electronic atmospheres into what can only be described as Arcturus music. It's similar to "La Masquerade", but what seems new is how catchy and poppy some of this is. But, at the same time it's also quite metal indeed. Dark and heavy, not allowing the keyboards to overpower the guitars. And, after the gangsta rap and drum and bass remixes found on "Disguised Masters", this record seems almost normal! That is, if you can consider bombastic sci-fi metallic prog pop 'normal'. I guess it is, in the more advanced universe Garm and company inhabit. Brilliant!
Italian "International Popular Group" Area were a '70s prog rock band. But they went far beyond the ELP/King Crimson/Yes worship of many of their peers. Area's music incorporated avantgarde jazz improv, new electoacoustic composition, dramatic and bizarre
This handsome box contains three cds of Area recorded live at their peak circa 1976, in Paris, Lisbon, and Milan. The latter concert takes up two whole cds, and features avant-jazz guests Steve Lacy (sax) and Paul Lytton (percussion). Area perform many of their signature tracks from such albums as "Crac!", "Maledetti", "Caution Radiation Area", and "Arbeit Macht Frei", plus several live-only improvs. Disc three also includes two bonus solo tracks by Area singer (and John Cage collaborator) Demetrio Stratos.
Inside the box, the cds are packaged in miniature lp style sleeves, and are accompanied by a booklet featuring photos, notes, lyrics, and a discography. Definitely a worthy package for fans of Area, but probably too daunting a place to start for those unfamiliar with the group!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
More crazy radical jazzy Italian prog than you can handle! The first four albums by the amazing Area all in one handy box set: Arbeit Macht Frei, Caution Radiation Area, Crac, Are(A)zione. Next to Magma, one of Yoshida from the Ruins favorite '70s prog acts.
Avant hippy Francophone folk psych bongo jazz at its best!!! Seriously, though it is. A great record. Well worthy of the Superior Viaduct vinyl reissue treatment along with the others they've done before by the duo of French chanteuse Brigitte Fontaine & percussionist Areski Belkacem, This one, from 1973 (same year as their equally excellent L'Incendie, hopefully also upcoming as a Superior Viaduct reissue) is so gorgeous and exotic, intimate and dreamy. Multilayered, moaning male/female vocals from our two protagonists weave a delicate spell, accompanied by shuffling beats from ethnic percussion and hooting, fluting grooves. There's la-la-la's and Yoko cackle, eerie strings and folky guitar, rhythmic chant and jazz saxophone. It's an album of various intriguing, mostly minimal moods, from serious avant-classical to moments more playful, with parts that sound like an overheard private conversation (with music) betwixt the duo.
On his recent trip to San Francisco, Ariel Pink made time not only for a secret gig at one of our favorite dives but also for a trip into AQ with his colorful entourage. He not only came to shop, but he also just so happened to come armed with this ultra-limited one-sided 12", a record none of us knew even existed.
Everyone remembers where they were on Sept 11, 2001, and somehow it didn't surprise us to find out where Ariel Pink was on that monumental day, inside his bedroom with his four track right at his side. In his own words this record is: "An epic 17-minute prog-pop suite, literally recorded September 11th, 2001, inspired and addressing the hot-off-the-press adrenaline rush of our nation in shock, caught in real time."
And we have to say that this is pretty much everything we would have hoped for. Classic Ariel Pink stretched out and laced with maximum paranoia. Fuzzy lo-fi pop with spazzed out instrumental passages that's so in its own world you can't help but want to join Mr. Pink in there too. We only have a handful of these left and once they are gone they are gone for good, so good luck!
At the top of this week's list, you'll find that one of our Records Of The Week, is a brilliant and beautiful lost DIY soul/funk/pop oddity by a couple kids named Donnie and Joe Emerson who recorded an amazing album in the late seventies, an amazing and obscure collection of soulful fuzz funk and groovy reverby yacht rock balladry, a true crate digger's holy grail, that has eluded any sort of mass popularity for decades, but which found its way into the collections of a handful of music nerd obsessives, who held it in the highest regard. One of those nerds being none other than outsider pop weirdo Ariel Pink, who is partially responsible for the current surge in interest in Dreamin' Wild, and that record's standout single, the smooth and dreamy ballad "Baby", which AP covers on his forthcoming full-length. That cover version had been making the rounds these last few weeks, leading up to Light In The Attic's long overdue reissue of Dreamin' Wild, and now Ariel Pink's interpretation is available as a single sided teaser 12" for his new album.
And while you might expect AP to fuck up the original, douse it druggy FX and freak it the fuck out, nothing could be further from the truth. AP's version is uncannily similar to the original, a reverential homage that on first listen, sound EXACTLY like the original. In fact when we were just playing it in the store, two aQ-ers thought it WAS the original. Sure, it's a little tweaked, some extra reverb here, some tinny lo-fi production there, AP's voice a bit raspier, but otherwise it's a dead ringer. We imagine the likely scenario is that AP considered the original song simply too perfect to mess with, and was perhaps worried about what the Emerson brothers would think hearing a more typically AP'd up reinterpretation, and instead chose simply to revel in the joy of playing one of his favorite songs and paying tribute to a should-have been classic jam.
Housed in a plain black 12"s sleeve with embossed lettering. Probably limited too...
What a long strange trip it's been for Ariel Pink. Going from total outsider weirdo pop secret to the man pretty much single handedly responsible for inspiring a legion of like minded left-field pop peddlers like Kurt Vile, John Maus, Gary War, Blank Dogs, Wavves, Ducktails, Brian Glaze, Night Control, Neon Indian, and on and on.
Now finally, after all these years, AP's finally enjoying the respect and attention he deserves, and he's been rewarded with his first big time and widely distributed release, on 4AD, of all labels!! Anyone who has seen him and The Haunted Graffiti play lately know that while there is still a total weird and warbly vibe to their sound, they are a much more song based outfit, and way more straightforward than their way more fractured and fucked up earlier sound. Not to fear though, Before Today is not some glossy makeover of the Ariel Pink we all know and love, but it is for sure the most coherent, produced and focused album he's created. From glam-like '70s rockers, to yacht rock on acid, to super colorful fuzzy pop bliss, this is a record that explores so many different sonic territories.
It's also, by far, the 'breeziest' record he's made, the sounds often has us feeling like we're swirling in pink tinged clouds while a '70s soft-rock radio soundtrack bleeds into something a bit more subversive, and all the while, candy coated cereal comes raining down from the skies. AP's been at it for about a decade now, way beyond the lifespan of most 'bands', carving out his completely singular idiosyncratic voice, and it really makes sense, that more and more people are embracing his twisted sound, and showering him with the love and praise he's been getting from folks like us for years...
(By the way, there is vinyl of this too, we ran out and when we tried to restock, the label was temporarily out... might have something to do with the fact that one of the lps we did get, turned out to have a Christina Aguilera record inside it, not the AP one! Almost seems like something AP would do on purpose... we'll keep you posted.)
If you were one of the lucky few to snag a copy of Ariel Pink's self released 2002 cd Scared Famous, when it came with an extra disc, well, this was it, Fast Forward, a collection of AP's earliest recorded songs from '00-'01, and if you DID manage to get one of these, well, then you know how damn great and bizarre this is. Sadly that pressing went out of print in a flash so chances are most of you and most of us don't actually have these songs. So it's cool that Gloriette is giving them their well deserved, first ever vinyl pressing.
It's a little crazy to think that just a little while ago, Ariel Pink was in town opening for The Flaming Lips and then took off on a co-headlining tour with Os Mutantes, cuz when we first heard these songs almost a decade ago we were pretty sure he would remain this really amazing secret of the damaged left-field pop underground. Luckily sometimes the world catches up and catches on, and Ariel has leaped out of the fringe and into the limelight as one of the most original musicians of the last decade, influencing a whole wave of bands and labels along the way, all of whom have tapped into his primitive style of recording and creating damaged pop.
Fast Forward shows just how out there and fucked up his recordings were from the get go yet still always filled with layered pop prettiness that if lifted from the layers of lo-fi hiss would be any slick pop band's dream songs.
So stoked that this is finally available and on vinyl to boot. Best grab one quick as the world of Ariel Pink vinyl tends to be quite fleeting.
Snagged these from Ariel himself on his recent swing through town. Four brand new songs that find him and his Haunted Graffiti continuing to push the boundaries of their outsider pop orbit. "Flashback" is almost like their would-be arena-pop hit somehow infusing their warped world into a Cheap Trick like anthem gone so wrong it's right, and we can't help but love the over the top hair metal feel that runs throughout. While the other song on the 'a' side also has an almost party-vibe to it the two songs on the 'b' side have much more of a melty and drugged out feel. These have been flying out of here since we got them in the store so we only have a handful left and when they are gone, we'll do our best to get more but sadly that's probably all she wrote....
"I'm just a rock n' roller from Beverly Hills / My name is Ariel� Pink!"
Well, okay. Sing it, Ariel! Peculiar popsmith Ariel Pink and his Haunted Graffiti are back, and as absurdly delightful and infectiously catchy as ever. Hella amusingly weird too - just check out the damaged Beach Boys vibe of, uh, "Schnitzel Boogie". Oh, and of course AP couldn't resist titling a track here, "Pink Slime"!
Like his previous album for 4AD, 2010's Before Today, this one displays AP's "new" sound, one that's (slightly) less fucked up, (somewhat) more slickly produced than his pre-4AD output. It took us little while to adjust to the not as lo-fi, not quite so shambolic AP, but now we're fully into it. And really it's not that big of a change anyway. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti still traffic in a twisted take on sunshiney psychedelic '60s/'70s AM radio pop, and '80s synth stuff, blended with darker, more drug addled fare, like the fuzz filled "Early Birds Of Babylon" with its propulsive, "driving at night" postpunk vibe...
Thus, Mature Themes has been on heavy rotation here in the store ever since we got it in, and never fails to bring big smiles to our faces with its mix of dreamy, cotton candy colored melodies, bizarre lovelorn lyrics, and quirky elaborate vocal arrangements (that make us think Ariel is probably a big Sparks fan). Those grins start right from the get-go, when the song "Kinski Assassin" opens the proceedings with lyrics that include (repeatedly) the lines "Who sunk my battleship / I sunk my battleship", delivered in a mopey voice over a hiccupping beat. Love it!
The whole record is full of treats, we're pegging "Only In My Dreams" for a hit (and yeah, they made a goofy video for that one) but there's lots more, every track has its charms. Maybe our favorite is the one from which the lines quoted at the top of this review come, "Symphony Of The Nymph", which is indeed a symphonic prog-pop opus of sorts, with lots of parts, that comes across like a collaboration between eccentric '60s pop producer Joe Meek and equally eccentric "song-poem" composer Rodd Keith, thanks to its echoes of Meek's space age hit "Telstar" and the strange, singsong rhyming lyrics. If that's not a recommendation, we don't know what is. Also, the way Ariel Pink squeaks out his name in a high voice kills us every time.
Also gotta mention the smooth and soulful album closing ballad "Baby", with help from DamFunk on vocals, which we already reviewed when it came out as a pre-album single a few weeks back; it's a cover of a song by Donnie & Joe Emerson, from their 1979 album Dreamin' Wild, that we made a Record Of The week recently when it was reissued. The AP version amazingly sticks pretty close to the original, not noisily messing with it or anything, which points up how wonderfully warped AP's own songs still sound, despite the slightly higher fidelity, cleaned-up production we mentioned above.
Like we said, we've been playing this album a lot, and are probably gonna keep playing it over and over until somebody makes us stop. Just can't get enough of the Ariel Pink sound, and it IS a sound of his own; gotta hand it to him, he's already (a while ago) reached that point where, as shorthand, we describe lots of other artists, many of whom were influenced by him, as sounding like Ariel Pink.
Wow! Ariel Pink is on a hot streak! Just this year alone we've fallen for his limited edition and now out of print Latitudes series cd, his new project Holy Shit and now this new 7" which features some of the best Ariel Pink songs we've heard yet! A totally tasty Smiths cover on the 'b' side and pretty much warped pop perfection dripping from each groove. This is why we still love 7"s so much. So fun to pick up the needle and hear Ariel Pink take us to a wonderful world of Kodachrome bliss over and over again. We're still so smitten...
Long before we were drooling over the damaged pop sounds of folks like John Maus, Night Control, Gary War and Blank Dogs there was the AM radio gone haywire sound of Ariel Pink and his Haunted Graffiti. No one really knew what to do with his songs when they first starting appearing on wax and disc but it didn't take long for people to realize that something pretty special was at work in this mysterious outsider's approach to making warped and hazy fucked up pop. While you look consider folks like R. Stevie Moore as clearing the way for weirdoes like Ariel Pink, but what makes Ariel's output so interesting is that it's not just that it has an 'outsider' aesthetic but that the songs are so fucking good!
This is a collection of odds and ends (hence the title) recorded from 1997-2004 and it ranks right near the top of his recorded oeuvre. This record is just so fantastic, the sort of record that's perfect to have spinning in your bedroom or living room on those days you just wanna lay around all day and get lost in the alternate universe in which these songs swim and splash and frolic. We were only able to grab a handful of these from Ariel himself when he passed through town recently so snag one fast because when we run out it might take us a while to get more...
Ariel Pink is back! He and his Haunted Graffiti gang continue to mess round with a barrel of nutty effects and other ramshackle fun! The results are sorta like when you've reached that half fucked-up point of the evening when you realize everything's more than slightly 'off'. Faces and voices start to slide into distorted grins and grimaces. Multiple layers of helium balloon vocals, bristly electric guitars, willy-nilly keyboards, and other noise making gizmos seem to all be following someone else's lead. In fact, Scared Famous sounds like the kid brother of Ween's Pure Guava album. Warped, weird and scratchy like an old woolen argyle sock in a mud puddle, Ariel Pink's broken melodies are at once endearing and maddening.
