[ aquarius records — Rock Pop ]

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

SORRY. Featuring members of the Peechees.

Everett True happened to get a rather sweet journalism assignment for NME and Melody Maker in 1989 to write about the up and coming record label Sub Pop and their cozy collection of albums from Nirvana, Screaming Trees, Dwarves, Soundgarden, etc. He stuck around Seattle during the early '90s and became what some have called "rock-crit godfather of grunge," after hobnobbing with the 'stars' of Sub Pop. Occasionally, True was known to break out into song, opening for a number of these groups as The Legend and landing a 7" on Sub Pop. Nearly a decade later, True who now resides in his native England returns as The Legend with an album on 3 Acre Floor run by the Jewelled Antler eccentric Jason Honea. Musically, The Legend has very little in common with the Northwest sound that he wrote about in the early '90s, rather choosing the instantly urgent jangle of the Go-Betweens, the Terminals, and the general C86 sound of British indie-pop (albeit far grittier). The liner-notes written by True get the gist of the music: "After about 10 attempts we found it best not to change any rhythm or melody too rapidly, and I stumbled across a new approach to making up words. Up to that point, I'd be trying to pull random lines from old soul songs from my memory, and shout them out over the scratchy guitar."

RealAudio clip: Spokane
RealAudio clip: Tacoma

The Legendary Pink Dots venture further into 70s Germanic trance / space rock (Neu!, Gunter Schickert) with hypno-motorik bass thudding and repetitive rhythms becoming the prime elements for the LPD songwriting ---this mainly due to the increased presence and influence of the astoundingly talented Ryan Moore (aka Twilight Circus Dub Sound System). The album flows with wonderful transitions from rich drones to Niels Van Hoornblower's complex sax arrangements. In spite of the title "A Perfect Mystery", Edward Ka-Spel's lyrics here are less cryptic (and perhaps a little pedestrian) on a couple of tracks. However, as most LPD records are full of indiscretions (notably bad Fellini-esque carnival tunes), this is a minor infraction to an otherwise great record by an ever-evolving group of musicians. LPD's crushed velvet and black nail polish romanticism is retained in a baroque sheen that coats the album, but they have long ventured forth from their goth beginnings. And if their recent SF performance ---a beautifully enveloping evening that enthralled all present at the sold-out Slim's--- is any indication this album is destined to reach perhaps LPD's widest audience yet, and deservingly so.

The initial listen to each unheard Legendary Pink Dots album is a frustrating experience as one waits for that one utterly crappy piece of carnivalesque junk to ruin an otherwise decent album of gothic psychedelia. Fortunately for Nemesis Online, that one song is missing... Making this quite an enjoyable LPD record of unnerving lullabies and noirish beats not too disimilar to Portishead.

It's been over a quarter of a century now that the Legendary Pink Dots have been unleashing their dark and brooding psychedelic spaced out sounds and they've somehow managed to maintain a seriously strong cult following despite being ignored by much of the underground music establishment (they've pretty much always been ignored by Wire magazine ferinstance). While we can't say we've stayed up to date with all of their recent output, Plutonium Blonde grabbed our attention in a BIG way from our very first listen and we've since been spending lots of time with its languid and melancholic sounds. Such a perfect blissed out Sunday night record to put on when you have nowhere to go and all you want to do is melt into the couch and daydream. Edward Ka-Spel sounds as iconic as ever and this really does sound like the Dots at their best, creating moody and dramatic songs that remind us of later period Coil covering mid-'70s Pink Floyd. Really nice!

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The Legendary Pink Dots is an unusual crypto-pop collective whose expressive sonic adventures blur the well-demarcated subcultures of '60s psychedelia and '80s doom 'n' gloom. Stained Glass Soma Fountain, a collection of LPD rarities from the early '80s. Primitive keyboards and drum machines playfully march through baroque fusions of New Wave and psychedelia, hinting perhaps at the underappreciated pop of Brian Eno.

*** COLLECTIBLE USED VINYL *** Private press 1971 folk lp recorded in Atlanta, Georgia with covers of Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Kris Kristofferson, and Tim Hardin among others. Signed and dated (1973 to Bill and Doreen). Has a very appealing 'look' to it for sure. Media: VG+ Sleeve: VG+ Vinyl is clean with occasional minor surface crackle. Sleeve has a small corner dent. Otherwise solid.

Urgh!! It's the debut full-length of brutal, blackened, industrial death metal churn n' clank from this Tokyo based duo of Italian expats, consisting of M on "axe/machinery" and R on "vokills". This band's brutish, minimal, monolithic music certainly isn't for everybody, no sir, but those it IS for will love it. You might know if that applies to you already, as a couple years back we rave-reviewed Legion Of Andromeda's self-titled, self-released cd ep, essentially a demo. New recordings of three of those tracks are featured here ("Cosmo Hammer", "Overlord Of Thunder", and "Sociopathic Infestation"), alongside four new compositions. Here's some of we said about the ep, all of which surely still applies here of course: "Each track mostly a single riff, hell, at times it sounds like a single chord, chugging hypnotically, driven by a programmed robotic rhythm, occasionally shifting into a sort-of-chorus, but really it's just a noisier version of THAT ONE riff. All the while, some seriously throat shredding demon grunt, grindcore style belched vokills gurgle and growl over the top. Total knuckle dragging blackened bliss out of the highest order." (Well, that's a bliss out for people like us� we suppose others may find bliss in turning it off!). This album was recorded by none other than Steve Albini (chances are, these guys like Big Black a lot), and compared to the demo ep, Albini cleans their sound up somewhat, just a bit, it's slightly less fuzzed and blown out, more clinical and precise perhaps. But still plenty brootal indeed. 'Tis truly a massive beatdown of heaving bowels-of-hell vocals, oppressive drum machine battery, and wall-of-static axe distortion, all layered and endlessly looping in what becomes delirious, distorted, deathly dementia, like someone took the entire early Earache catalog and reduced it all it down into some of the most psychedelically primitive, monotonously mesmerizing, mechanical heaviness possible. If you liked the Sewer Goddess we reviewed last time, but want something even more sick and EXTREME, then check this out!! In closing, we can't help but quote what the band says about this release themselves: "No filler tracks, no fade-outs, no avant-garde intellectual scum: just 7 slabs of inhuman heaviness fueled by total hate. The world is dead and mankind is shit. LIVE TO HATE. COSMO HAMMER MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE." Cool b&w teeth/fangs cover art, which also incorporates the band's nifty axehammer logo...

MPEG stream: Transuranic Ejaculation
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Solo record number two from aQ pal Jussi Lehtisalo, frontman of Finnish hypnorockers Circle, Ektro / Full Contact label head honcho, and member of too many outfits to count, a few of which would include Ektroverde, Ratto Ja Lehtisalo, Doktor Kettu, Pharaoh Overlord, Rakhim, Grumbling Fur, Krypt Axeripper, Motorspandex, Split Cranium, Steel Mammoth... Sadly, we haven't yet managed to get Jussi's first solo lp, by all accounts a surprisingly beautiful and subdued album, but we did manage to get a bunch of these, the tape version at least (there's a vinyl version as well, which we hope to have soon too), which is also beautiful, but about as far from subdued as you can get. Both side long tracks are dense and layered, and constantly shifting. In some ways taking all the disparate sounds of Jussi's other bands, and somehow mashing them all together, into something surprisingly cohesive. The A side, "Caterpillars", starts off sounding like some sort of abstract deserty ambient experimental doom, with churning guitars, spurts of metallic crunch, clattery bicycle spoke like percussion, woozy Morricone-esque twang and spidery minor key melodies, peppered with occasional twisted little synth trills, all beneath some monstrous growled vokills, before the song transforms into something more woozy and jazzy, a little late night bluesy, with crooned distorted vox, and thick low end rib cage rattling thrum, only to then launch into some seriously twisted buzz drenched rock pound, which initially sounds like it might explode into full on black metal, but instead, the pounding and buzzing is joined by more twisted xylophone like synth melodies, booming sub bass throbs and cool blasts of rad classic metal style harmonized leads, before once again slipping back into a spacey sort of moody, woozy slowcore, driven by frenetic high hat cymbal stutter, and trippy dubbed out snare drums, still more crooned vox, the sound dreamy and washed out, laced with strange swoonsome faux horns and glistening spaced out FX before finally returning to that strange xylophone driven metallic stomp. The flipside is equally schizophrenic, "Here March The Cranes" begins all grinding gnarled guitars in a cloud of cymbal sizzle, which is then joined by some Circle like hypnorock bass, the guitars coalescing into little soaring squalls of majestic fast picking, multiple guitars interwoven, those guitars growing more intense, unfurling wild psychedelic leads, everything getting noisier and noisier, until finally switching gears and mellowing out, into a twisted post rock sprawl, all ethereal guitar shimmer, wild jazzy drummy, and spaced out bass blurts. Soon those growled vox come back in, and the sound turns into some strange sinister epic prog rock, swirling synthy strings, a slow build, more and more intense and tense, before splintering into a stretch of cool droned out noise rock churn, that sound gradually growing more and more spacey and serene, dreamy melodies, more of those faux horns, all manner of strange percussion and swirling FX, as the noise recedes, the sound becomes a hazy, lilting bit of psychedelic dreamdrone raga like drift. Fantastic! Easily one of the coolest weirdest things we've heard from Jussi, which is saying a lot considering his whole career has basically been nothing BUT a series of cool weird releases!! WAY recommended. And limited, limited TO JUST 100 COPIES!!! The cassette comes sealed in a stickered little bag, inside a cool cd sized box, artwork affixed to the inside and outside, and sealed shut with another sticker.

MPEG stream: Caterpillars (excerpt)
MPEG stream: Here Come The Cranes (excerpt)

Last year we raved about a cassette (and then vinyl lp) called Interludes For Prepared Beast, the second solo release from Jussi Lehtisalo, the bassist/mastermind behind our favorite Finns, those mighty hypnorockers Circle (and many more 'NWOFHM' bands besides). Those of you who prefer compact discs over vinyl, let alone tapes, might have felt a twinge of turntable envy then, since you were missing out on an amazing album (our review concluded with: "Easily one of the coolest weirdest things we've heard from Jussi", and that's saying a lot). Thankfully, Jussi, who loves cds as much as we do, has just released Interludes For Prepared Beast on cd via his Ektro imprint - and even better, the disc also includes Jussi's first solo album, from 2010, entitled Rotta, which is also (of course) quite fantastic, and was a limited vinyl release we never even got any copies of the first time around. So even more to be thankful for, and another reason to pick this up. We'll try to be brief about Rotta, 'cause we already wrote a lot about Interludes, as you will see. Simply put, it's gorgeous. Unlike maybe what you might expect from the man responsible for so much bombastic, heavy, progged out rock, Rotta definitely represents Jussi's softer side. Intimate and twilit, Rotta is a spacious sonic tapestry of gentle drones, cyclic guitar motifs, softly pulsating bass, and ambient field recordings interwoven with hushed, echo effected vocalizations (the words all in Finnish, we assume, so we don't know what he's on about, but it sounds deep regardless) and lovely layers of shortwave static n' hiss. The opening track "Veljeni" features some occasional harmonica twang, bringing to mind the cinematic, open spaces atmosphere of the likes of Earth circa Hex. Elsewhere, on "Aikoja Sitten", the vibe gets darker, the track lashed with stormy, sinister synthesizer sounds, before dreamily concluding with monkish vocal intonations over a bed of wavering bell-like tones and other mysterious, entrancing sound-swoosh. Fans of Circle's 'soundtrackier' side, mellowed-out albums like Miljard and Tower, will be in heaven. The "circular" sound of Circle is most certainly very present within these compositions; minimalist, mesmeric repetition being Jussi's forte of course. So that's the first four tracks here, the Rotta portion of this disc, all indeed surprisingly beautiful and subdued, music to totally lose yourself in. Then there's the last two, over a quarter-hour each, representing side A and B of Interludes For Prepared Beast. They also beautiful in their way, but about as far from subdued as you can get. Much heavier, more "gritty" and intense. Both tracks are dense and layered, and constantly shifting. In some ways taking all the disparate sounds of Jussi's other bands (among them Circle, Ektroverde, Ratto Ja Lehtisalo, Doktor Kettu, Pharaoh Overlord, Rakhim, Krypt Axeripper, Split Cranium, Steel Mammoth, and others), and somehow mashing them all together, into something surprisingly cohesive. The A side (track 5 here), "Caterpillars", starts off sounding like some sort of abstract deserty ambient experimental doom, with churning guitars, spurts of metallic crunch, clattery bicycle spoke like percussion, woozy Morricone-esque twang and spidery minor key melodies, peppered with occasional twisted little synth trills, all beneath some monstrous growled vokills, before the song transforms into something more woozy and jazzy, a little late night bluesy, with crooned distorted vox, and thick low end rib cage rattling thrum, only to then launch into some seriously twisted buzz drenched rock pound, which initially sounds like it might explode into full on black metal, but instead, the pounding and buzzing is joined by more twisted xylophone like synth melodies, booming sub bass throbs and cool blasts of rad classic metal style harmonized leads, before once again slipping back into a spacey sort of moody, woozy slowcore, driven by frenetic high hat cymbal stutter, and trippy dubbed out snare drums, still more crooned vox, the sound dreamy and washed out, laced with strange swoonsome faux horns and glistening spaced out FX before finally returning to that strange xylophone driven metallic stomp. The flipside (aka track 6) is equally schizophrenic. "Here March The Cranes" begins all grinding gnarled guitars in a cloud of cymbal sizzle, which is then joined by some Circle like hypnorock bass, the guitars coalescing into little soaring squalls of majestic fast picking, multiple guitars interwoven, those guitars growing more intense, unfurling wild psychedelic leads, everything getting noisier and noisier, until finally switching gears and mellowing out, into a twisted post rock sprawl, all ethereal guitar shimmer, wild jazzy drummy, and spaced out bass blurts. Soon those growled vox come back in, and the sound turns into some strange sinister epic prog rock, swirling synthy strings, a slow build, more and more intense and tense, before splintering into a stretch of cool droned out noise rock churn, that sound gradually growing more and more spacey and serene, dreamy melodies, more of those faux horns, all manner of strange percussion and swirling FX, as the noise recedes, the sound becomes a hazy, lilting bit of psychedelic dreamdrone raga like drift. Fantastic! Easily one of the coolest weirdest things we've heard from Jussi, which is saying a lot considering his whole career has basically been nothing BUT a series of cool weird releases!! All told, 78 minutes and 48 seconds of amazing music that probably one no single person but Jussi could possibly have come up with. Hopefully this disc won't remain Jussi's 'complete solo works' for long, we'd love a volume two someday. WAY recommended.

MPEG stream: Veljeni
MPEG stream: Viimeinen Kalja
MPEG stream: Caterpillars
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The Finnish sport of wife-carrying involves a man with a strong constitution carrying a fine young woman (who, while not neccessarily his wife, must be from his village) along an obstacle course through the woods, swamps, and fields against his fellow competitors. An odd spectacle to say the least, but it may shed some light onto the family reunion activities of the Lehtisalo family. Jussi Lehtisalo has made quite a name for himself as the mastermind of Circle and Ektroverde, and has asked his parents to join him on this peculiar album. The simple hypnosis found on both Circle and Ektroverde are certainly present, albeit in primitive drum machines and infuriatingly off-kilter percussive riffs. Ethereal sounds meander through the rhythms do little to give away their more sinister attributes as coming from dental equipment. A very bleak and very intriguing album.

This is the first we've heard from Minneapolis sci-fi garage combo Leisure Birds, whose second lp comes courtesy of the Moon Glyph label, newly relocated to the Bay Area, and the sound Of Leisure Birds sounds custom made for us (and you we're guessing), blissed out psychedelic kosmische synthscapery mixed with trancey minimal spaced out garage rock drift, sort of Spacemen 3 doing something a bit more kraut-agey. Just have a listen to the opening track, all electronic shimmer, and slow brooding synth swell, which is soon joined by buzzing sitar like guitars, and a muted rhythmic drum pulse, the vocals come in and they're all lazy and hazy and washed out, it's like Moon Duo on tranquilizers, woozy and druggy and so divine, and then out of nowhere, about 5+ minutes in, the song bursts into something WAY more propulsive, driving bassline, pounding drums, distorted guitars, never quite exploding into full on rocking out, but seriously driving and psychedelic. The rest of the record follows suit, bloopy synths and swirling electronics drift in clouds, wrapped around motorik beats, and slithery basslines, locked into hypno-rock trance outs, peppered with lush swirls of majestic chordal shimmer, but more often drifting along soporifically, druggy and drowsy, late night space rock minimalism for gradual come downs, or all night trip outs. There are moments that get pretty rocking, but even then, the sound stays pretty washed out and gauzey, and more often than note seems to gradually transform into another gorgeous stretch of blissed out space rock drift. Most definitely for fans of Moon Duo, Spyrals, Spacemen 3, Radar Eyes, Date Palms, and all things psychedelic, spacey and kosmische... Includes a bonus 7" with a two song epilogue to the record, and also includes a download code (only for the album proper, not the 7"). Super striking futuristic cover art too.

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Latest from these sci-fi garage-kraut weirdos, and it's another heady collection of zoned out, synth heavy psychedelia, and woozy electronic kraut-pop, pop being the key here, as this might be the most poppy thing we've heard from these guys yet. Not on the first track, that one might have you convinced that you're in for something more sort of John Carpenter-ish, or maybe Trans Am-y, percolating synths, drift over tribal percussion, and layered drones, then vocodered vocals swoop in, drifting atop swirling streaks of hush end shimmer, getting briefly all krauty and kosmische, before building to a super heavy synth psych blow out. But then in comes track two, which uses essentially the same elements, but the results fall much closer to Animal Collective or Gauntlet Hair, electronic pop wreathed in synth swirl and anchored by motorik krautrock-like grooviness, but with soaring vocals, and hooks galore, the band managing to embrace a warped outsider poppiness, without losing any of their kraut-psych weirdness, which is a feat for sure. Over the course of the record, the band go full on prog ("Seven Spirals"), creepy and soundtrack ("Tetrahedron"), murky downer pop ("reT 120813") and bombastic pop-syke ("Geodesic Lines"), but all held together by the super distinctive vocals and this new found poppiness, and it totally suits them. Be sure to stick around for the nearly 15 minute closer, a track that reminds us of aQ faves and former ROTW-ers Jaill, albeit a way more droned out, repetitive kraut-drone version, all instrumental, a pop song stretched way out, and embellished with all manner of cosmic synthiness, not to mention a long stretch of hazy, droney dreaminess, before returning, and finishing off with a fierce burst of heavy kraut psych crunch. Killer! LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!! Housed in a swank gatefold jacket.

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Everyone's favorite Swede-heart returns as heart-achingly honest as ever with Night Falls Over Kortedala, his third full-length album. In 2005 we reported obvious comparisons to Mark Kozelek, Morrissey, Erlend Oye, and Stephin Merritt after listening to Lekman's Oh You're So Silent Jens album, comparisons which can be easily called upon when describing Night Falls as well. Much like Stephen Merritt, the thing that we like most about Lekman is his ability to tell a really really good story through song. Artists like Lekman make you feel as if you're there, in the moment being described, because no words are held back to fit into the music, yet the music doesn't suffer as a result. On Night Falls the music teeters between glittery pop mantras (begging yet another comparison: Belle and Sebastian) and down-tempo love ballads lushly arranged with strings, horns, and enough flute to at least make you think of the Love Boat theme song and similar TV themes. It seems as if the music is written into the lyrics, a scene painted so vividly that you have to wonder if most other artists write their lyrics into the music and thus aren't always able to say what they want or even mean. We hope you'll be as pleased with Night Falls Over Koredala as we are.

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Whether intentional or not, Jens Lekman is one heckuva celebrity impersonator. On his new album, the Swedish gent does uncanny impressions of Mark Kozelek, Morrissey, Erlend Oye, and Stephin Merritt among others. Take for instance the remarkably Magnetic Fields-y tune "Black Cab". We should note that where the similarities lie is not just in his varied vocal deliverys, but in the way he also rearranges his instrumentation for each tune -- thoroughly recreating the other artists' sounds, be they Mancini-esque swirling strings'n'harps, warm strummy guitars with gently sparkling chimes or a little tickling of the ivories. A couple of other songs struck us a strangely familiar, and then we realised what they reminded us of... Peter Paul & Mary's "Puff The Magic Dragon"! He's not shy about borrowing either. Take for example the song "Pocketful Of Money". He wisely knew better than to attempt Calvin Johnson's baritone and instead duets with a sample of Johnson singing "I'll come running with a heart on fire" from the Beat Happening tune "Gravedigger's Blues". Whoa, sorta weird. We even suspect he even nabbed a melodic phrase from The Carpenters' song "Yesterday Once More" for his harp embellished seventh song "Rocky Dennis' Farewell Song" which is followed by the oh so Joe Jackson meets Morrissey number "Rocky Dennis In Heaven". Aaah, if you can somehow turn a blind eye to the "hey, this sounds like ____!" distraction, and you like the folks Lekman sounds like, you'll surely find much to enjoy on Oh, You're So Silent Jens. All irkiness aside, we still think this is a very pretty album well suited to accompany a string of spring sunrises.

MPEG stream: Black Cab
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We were sold the moment we saw the album cover! Leland ("a Berkeley Asian-American musician whose background has been primarily hard rock music" as the liner notes tell us) adorned with satin cape, fringed tunic, studded choker and glorious Seventies mustache, wielding his electric guitar like a weapon, looking like Uli Jon Roth's alternate reality Japanese doppelganger, under the prominent text "A SELF-TAUGHT, DECATHLON, HARD ROCK MUSICIAN." Basically worth the price of admission alone, but luckily the strange heavy rock proto-metal found therein proved to be even better! Compiled from recordings produced in the late '70s (six studio tracks and a live recording from SF's legendary Mabuhay Gardens), Leland sounds truly like a man out of time. Coming up in the Bay Area in the midst of punk & new wave's inevitable rise, Leland's brand of twisted airbrushed-van wizard-rock must have seemed completely out of step, but that only serves to make his singular brand of DECATHLON ROCK all the more irresistible. Musically Leland covers a lot of ground considering his tragically brief stint in caped rockin', from glammy boogie woogie to space-age synth balladry to slithering grooves to swinging off-kilter rhythms to dirging proto-doom, but all the while accompanied by a perfectly musty lo-fi production and Leland's unmistakably manic vocal delivery, all high pitched, gravelly and warbly - to our ears not at all dissimilar to Trouble's Erik Wagner! Such a cool relic that has remained buried far too long, and highly recommended for proto-metal enthusiasts lurking in misty realms the world over, especially those of you who were as enamored as we were with Numero Group's Warfaring Strangers Darkscorch compilation, upon which this would have sounded right at home!

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MPEG stream: Goodbye My Loneliness
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With the blink of an eye Lemonade have left San Francisco and relocated to New York, but before they moved away they injected the SF scene with a great shot of left-field dance floor vision, playing at and DJ'ing some of the most sweaty and fun filled parties around town. Musically they pump out hyper-color splashes imbedded in a sound that brings to mind Public Image Ltd, Gang Gang Dance, The Rapture, !!!, Gang of Four, and Tussle. We're sad we don't have the privilege of getting to see them play as often as we used to, but now we finally have their record to blast as loud as we like.

MPEG stream: Big Weekend
MPEG stream: Sunchips
MPEG stream: Bliss Out

A lot of how you feel about a record is determined by when you first heard it, or at least when you listened to it most. Some records remind us of college, others about a specific relationship, a breakup, but it's amazing how music can embody a memory so completely. And how the same music can mean so many different things for so many different people. A lot of folks our age, probably first heard The Lemonheads' It's A Shame About Ray when they were in their early twenties, maybe just out of college, or like some of us, just sort of wandering aimlessly instead of college. And while we're not sure if it's just the above mentioned musical memory, or if these songs actually embody that sort of shiftless rootless confusional youth. Regardless, it's a pretty fantastic record, that sounds as good, and as timeless as it did 15 years ago. The pop minded around here might rank Ray as one of the best pop records EVER. And listening to this again, we still would. It's the sort of record that is so part of our musical lives, it's hard to review, like Slint's Spiderland, when we find out someone doesn't actually own it, we freak out and insist that whoever it is BUY IT IMMEDIATELY. So for folks reading this, who dig pop music, and who don't own this, for fuck's sake, buy it now. It's so catchy and rocking and sad and emo and pretty and hooky and perfect. "Rockin' Stroll" is one of the all time best record openers, super kick ass and catchy, the vocals a lazy drawl over super propulsive riffing, "Rudderless" is all minor key and dissonant melody, but with a main hook to die for, and a killer chorus, "My Drug Buddy" has to be one of the best drug songs ever, sad and sweet and heartbreaking, "Alison's Starting To Happen" another rocker that subtly and sweetly reminds us of the Lemonheads' punk rock past, we could go on song by song, every one perfect in their own way. It's been a while since we've listened to this record all the way through, but immediately we were singing along, every word, drumming, air guitaring, Ray is just so fun, and so simple, but one of those records that never gets old, and we never get tired of listening to it. It would be well worth buying even if this wasn't the super deluxe version, but since it is, even Lemonheads fans who already own it will have to think hard about buying it again, might be worth it. The record includes the original bonus track, their cover of "Mrs. Robinson", the acoustic B-side "Shaky Ground", and the whole record in demo form, really awesome acoustic sketches of each song, that manage to sound just as cool, and way more intimate than the actual recorded versions. The dvd includes ALL the music videos, as well as some live acoustic performances, all wrapped up in a fancy fold out digipak housed in a plastic slipcase, but that's all just the icing, the record's 12 songs are well worth the price of admission all on their own. Absolutely and without a doubt, one of the best pop records of the last twenty years. Buy it. You won't be sorry.

MPEG stream: Rockin' Stroll
MPEG stream: Confetti
MPEG stream: My Drug Buddy
MPEG stream: Alison's Starting To Happen

Our musical hearts can't help but be warmed by a new Lemonheads record. Sure the last few were pretty meh, And for the last decade Lemonheads frontman Evan Dando has been more well known for drug problems and celebrity dalliances that the punk rock and later indie rock that made the Lemonheads so awesome. And hell, even the last few records, while not even approaching the greatness that was Shame About Ray or Lick or Creator, still had a few killer tracks. Varshons is the long rumored Lemonheads cover record, and if one can overlook the two unlikely celebrity guest spots, which would be Kate Moss and Liv Tyler, then probably the biggest surprise here is the song selection. Probably most well known to most folks for their cover of Simon And Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson", the Lemonheads always had kick ass and often unlikely covers in their repertoire, Suzanne Vega's "My Name Is Luka", Kiss's "Plaster Caster", Charles Manson's "Home Is Where You're Happy", the Misfits' "Skulls", New Kids On The Block's "Step By Step", the Stone Poney's "Different Drum", Gram Parsons' "Brass Buttons", and this new all covers record continues Dando's eclectic choice of covers, including tracks by GG Allin, Townes Van Zandt, Sam Gopal (Lemmy's pre-Hawkwind outfit), legendary garage rockers Green Fuz, Wire, UK psych rockers July, punk rock legends Fuckemos, Leonard Cohen, and even pop songwriter for hire and former 4 Non Blonde Linda Perry among others. The story is that Dando and Gibby from the Butthole Surfers (who produced the record) became pals and Gibby started making Dando mixtapes like crazy, from which most of these tracks were culled, which helps explain the unlikely inclusion of Texas punk rockers Fuckemos. But how cool is that, we sure wouldn't mind a monthly mixtape from the man responsible for Hairway To Steven and Locust Abortion Technician! For the most part, none of these tracks is super radical sounding, beyond the fact that the more rocking originals sound a bit stripped down, and the fact that you might not have ever expected to hear the Lemonheads covering GG Allin of Fuckemos, Dando deftly transforms each song, no matter how UN-Lemonheads, into a song that sounds like it could have actually been a Dando original. Dando's voice is much deeper these days, a bit more raw, so the country-ish tunes here sound great, Gram Parson's "I Just Can't Take It Anymore", Townes Van Zandt's classic "Waiting Around To Die", even GG Allin's expletive laced "Layin' Up With Linda" becomes a David Allan Coe-worthy twangy outlaw country hoedown. The Sam Gopal cover is laced with buzzing sitars and skittery tablas, the July jam is all wah guitars and shuffling percussion, tripped out and psychedelic. Wire's "Fragile" sounds awesome all stripped down and acoustic. The Green Fuz track is slithery and slow burning, with warm guitar buzz and muted rhythms, swirling effects and a druggy swirl of backwards guitars. The Leonard Cohen cover, "Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye" is appropriately dark and moody and torch songy, Liv Tyler offering up some breathy hushed vocals that sound great next to Dando's. But then there's the record's one weak spot, a cover of Arling & Cameron's "Dirty Robot", that either sounds like a favor, or a ploy to get in Kate Moss' panties, she being the one contributing the sung/spoken cold Euro new wave vocals over some crunchy guitars, weird vocoders, and some seriously dated nineties sounding electro. We'll just skip that one and hope it worked. Minus that one track, we're pretty into all the versions here, or Varshons, we've missed Dando, his voice and that particular Lemonheads sound, let's hope these covers have gotten him all revved up to make a new proper Lemonheads full length. It's about time!

MPEG stream: Waiting Around To Die (Townes Van Zandt)
MPEG stream: Green Fuz (Randy Alvey & Green Fuz)
MPEG stream: Yesterlove (Sam Gopal)

HOLY SHIT! A new Lemonheads record. We can not tell you how absolutely thrilling that is. Sure, their last record sucked. And Evan Dando's solo stuff was pretty mediocre. And maybe he is kind of a prick. But c'mon! So what?! It's A Shame About Ray was one of the world's most perfect slabs of heartbreaking indie jangle. I don't even really do drugs but "My Drug Buddy" had me absolutely wishing I had my own drug buddy. Could anything be more romantic? Go a little further back, Lovey, Lick, Hate Your Friends, the perfect collision of punk rock brattiness and pop song perfection. And they just kept getting better and better. I can't really think of another band that occupied so much space on pretty much every single mix tape I ever made. Even covering Suzanne Vega's "Luka" which could have and should have been a disaster, ended up sounding miles better than the original. Anyway, any pop kid worth anything is at their very heart, a huge Lemonheads obsessive. How could you not be? So a brand new Lemonheads record is a seriously big deal. And as if we couldn't be more excited, the other 2/3 of the Lemonheads is basically the Descendents!!! Bill Stevenson and Karl Alvarez, FUCK YEAH. So now we've pretty much got the dream band. So how does the new Lemonheads stack up? Well, we've only had this record for a few days, but since the second it's come in we've been listening to it nonstop, and it's growing on us like crazy. Dando's voice is a little deeper, a little more scratchy and weathered sounding, but it suits him, and the new material. The sound is just so instantly familiar it's like a big ol' indie rock hug. Shit, we've been in indie rock heaven lately. Sebadoh III, Archers Of Loaf's Icky Mettle, and now a new Lemonheads. Almost makes us feel like we're in college again. Anyway, imagine It's A Shame About Ray, a little less laid back, a little more mature, but the same sort of mix of sweet jangly minor key laments and super rocking kick ass power pop. The hooks aren't as immediately obvious as they were on Ray, but the more we listen, the more we find ourselves getting bits and pieces lodged firmly in our heads. We're guessing that after spending a few more weeks with it, this might be one of our favorite pop records of the year.

MPEG stream: Black Gown
MPEG stream: Become The Enemy
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One of two new releases from newly launched boutique label/press Black Tent, the other being the long circulating but never released until now Pajo disc of Misfits covers also reviewed this list, and this, the first solo release from Paz Lenchatin, who some of you might know as a member of Tool side project A Perfect Circle, and, more recently, and perhaps relevantly, of The Entrance Band. We weren't sure what to expect, but it's actually quite lovely. Acoustic guitar, violin, ethereal vocals, a sort of folky chamber country, singing strings, all moody and cinematic, a little sun dappled and washed out, the arrangements spare and minor key, the guitars delicate and crystalline, sometimes almost bluegrass sounding, sometimes seriously old timey sounding, the vocals are what set it apart, when Lenchatin isn't doing her best Patsy Cline, her voice is a breathless angelic croon, that sounds like it would be more at home on a Grouper record than here, but it transforms these simple stripped down folk songs into something a bit more transcendent. So so lovely. And the packaging, WOW. 130 gram vinyl, housed in a thick sleeve with a 2 color serigraph on French Paper, comes with a cd (not a cd-r) featuring all the music on the lp. LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES!

MPEG stream: Kentucky Hymn
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MPEG stream: The Parade

All right folks (specifically, psych lovers and/or Japanophiles)... here's a literal "warehouse find", copies of a long out of print cd that we ourselves discovered during a visit to one of our suppliers, recently! It was worth all the dust-induced sneezing to find, too. Fans of Japanese uber heavies Zeni Geva might know the name, as Leningrad Blues Machine was the heavy, shambolic psych outfit led by KK Null's guitar partner in ZG, Tabata Mitsuru (who was also an early member of the Boredoms as well). Bass player Hayashi Naoto also was in UFO or Die, FYI. This blown-out blues explosion of a debut was originally released via Null's Nux Org label in 1993, but the songs on this disc were actually recorded much earlier, as it consists of material from two shows at Egg Plant, Osaka in November of 1987 and February of '88, plus a couple tracks recorded to 8-track in Kyoto's Queer studio, 1987. There's nine tracks total, although the song "Russian Asshole" appears THREE TIMES in different renditions. That's brilliant, we think. Evidently it can be considered the Leningrad Blues Machine's "theme song". And it's a good 'un, a great example of the distortodelic, fuzz and feedback filled garage stomp at which they slay, in the tradition of near contemporaries The Heads, fellow countrymen High Rise, or spiritual forefathers Blue Cheer, whose classic cover of "Summertime Blues" is in fact sampled and looped as the intro to LBM's own "Bad Blossom" here! Speaking of ye olde influences, "Woodstock Monster" definitely channels some Stooges and MC5. But in 1988, stuff like that wasn't exactly off-handedly "retro" the same way we'd think about it today - it was just weird! LBM are also way more chaotic and noisy than a really retro band woulda been back then. You can also hear that they were on the same path as certain Seattle bands around the same time, or a few years later... this is Japanese proto-grunge, from a year or so before Mudhoney's earliest singles hit the racks. In LBM's case, it's grunge with grim grandeur, when you hear the melancholic majesty of tracks like "Roman Castevet" and other lugubrious epics here, which also bring to mind the more recent generation of downer "Tokyo Flashback" acts like Up-Tight, Miminokoto, and LSD-march. Recommended to fans of The Heads, Mudhoney, Zeni Geva, people who think some Russians are assholes, etc. Grab it quick, we really only found a few, and then that's it, they're gone... though we do think that LGM themselves are possibly still active, sometimes, even now. And probably playing some of the same songs. For sure, "Russian Asshole"!

MPEG stream: Russian Asshole
MPEG stream: Woodstock Monster
MPEG stream: Bad Blossom

Finally reissued, and with bonus tracks galore! Yoko rules, y'all should know it. Beginners might want to start with Plastic Ono Band.

Surely you're familiar with the theory "free spirited parents = straight laced kids" (and vice versa)? Well, it sure doesn't apply to the offspring of Lennon and Ono, neither creatively nor socially speaking. Sean Lennon has struck a balance between making the scene with Hollywood starlets on his arm and building a solid body of work of his own. And even though his pedigree looms large and he's definitely drawn on a celebrity cast of supporting characters for this project, his music doesn't show even an inkling of a sense of entitlement. While his debut album was imbued with a wide eyed, first crush kind of openness, the far more ambitious Friendly Fire presents an older and wiser but no less earnest Sean Lennon. He's crafted not only a lovely full album of music, but also a companion film. The cd is comprised of nine unassuming, but very well crafted gentle pop songs plus a T-Rex cover that find themselves at the meeting point between The Raspberries, The Posies and Rufus Wainwright. Super mellow, sweet and charming. The cover art features a number of equally unflashy Neapolitan ice cream colored simple line drawings that do recall those of his father. As far as the accompanying dvd is concerned, we can't comment on the film yet 'cause we haven't had a chance to watch it, but we'll let you know that it stars Lennon, Bijou Phillips, Lindsay Lohan, Asia Argento, Jordana Brewster, Devon Aoki and Carrie Fisher.

MPEG stream: Dead Meat
MPEG stream: On Again Off Again

Annie Lennox sure takes her own sweet time. It's been over a decade since the fabulous Eurythmics disbanded and eight years since the release of her second solo album Medusa. And for this, her long-awaited studio follow-up titled Bare, she delivers what we'd like to think of as her counterpart to Raymond Scott's Soothing Sounds For Baby series. Simply stated, it might be more appropriately named "Soothing Sounds for Grown-ups". Smartie-pants-ness aside, this is really, absolutely 'Adult Contemporary' -- a sleek, lushly produced, deeply personal album just as you'd expect from this fine chanteuse -- much like that of Peter Gabriel or Sting. Although she's definitely not assuming the countless guises that she once did in her Eurythmics days -- sharply suited androgynous redhead, vinyl-clad dominatrix, ultra-blonde '60s lounge singer --ïher vocal performances and personas are as potent as ever in whichever genre she chooses.

MPEG stream: A Thousand Beautiful Things
MPEG stream: The Saddest Song I've Got

From the album cover -- an oddly staged photo featuring four long haired dudes with peculiar, only-in the-seventies fashion sense (high top Converse sneakers or bare feet, tube socks, floral print shirt and white vest and pants, bathrobe, shorts, little red hat...) relaxing at a cafe table -- you wouldn't necessarily guess that this is as heavy as it is. But it is. Though this first (and best) album by Spanish hard rockers Leno dates from 1979, it definitely sounds a few years older than that. Total early '70s heavy proto-metal in sound (which means that if you come into the store looking for it, you'll find it in our new "heavy '70s proto metal" section that lives in our "vintage psych rock" rack) for fans of all that stuff like Dust, Toad, Bang, Buffalo, Budgie, Blues Creation, Socrates Drank The Conium, etc. Wild, riffy stuff with tough, rough wailing (Spanish-language) vocals and lots and lots of *killer* guitar that gets almost Sabbathy in spots. Man, we love finding obscure stuff like this that sounds so classic the second you put it on. Pretty darn kick ass.

MPEG stream: El Oportunista
MPEG stream: Este Madrid

It's been a while since we've heard from these Italian atmospheric epic post-prog, math-metal heavies, who in the past have shared a split with psychedelic doomlords and countrymen Ufomammut, and who gave us the stunning Earthen record we raved about a while back, and if anything since then, it seems like everything we dug about these guys has been further honed, their sound still a swirling, chugging, dense and driving, sprawling epic instru-metal, but just, MORE. More mathy, more psychedelic, more proggy, in fact, where most bands like this deliver a handful of lengthy mega-epics, allowing the songs to continually morph and cycle through the millions of parts, Lento cram their metal prog majesty into short, regular song lengths, the longest barely cracking 4 minutes, a few brief two minute blasts, but with most hovering around the 3 minute pop song mark. But there's no way any of these tracks will be mistaken for pop songs, sure, some are dangerously catchy, but for the most part, each song is a dizzying collision of multiple parts, constantly shifting textures, flitting from moody brood, to howling metallic fury, to fluttery folky drift, to loping post rock drift, to hushed jazzy shuffle, to churning almost blackness, to soaring Godspeed worthy, keyboard wreathed swirl and soar, and really, in lesser hands it all might feel like too much, like a band cramming way too many parts into way too little song, but somehow Lento make it feel strangely natural. It's a wild ride for sure, and one that is pretty sonically dizzying, but the songs all feel linked sonically, some sort of prog-math songsuite, and while their Earthen record had a bit of a churning industrial feel, we likened it to Godflesh, and Jesu, as well as more obvious comparisons like Isis and Nadja, the sound here is way more varied, and organic, more math rock and noise rock, with hints of power metal and post rock and spaced out psych and whatever else these weirdos want to mix into their strange sonic brew. We hear lots of Isis and Nadja still, but plenty of Dutch instrumental metal legends Gore too, as well as LOTS of longtime obscuro aQ faves Fuehler, definitely some shades of the Fucking Champs, the aforementioned power metallisms in places, the mathy chug of Meshuggah for sure, but for the most part, Anxiety Despair Languish is just a fantastically forward thinking, wildly progressive, sonically heavy rock record that RULES, and should have metalheads (and heck adventurous non metalheads) of all stripes losing their shit big time. The vinyl version is 180 gram and includes a download code.

MPEG stream: Glorification Of The Chosen One
MPEG stream: Death Must Be The Place
MPEG stream: Questions And Answers

When we got the Supernaturals Vol.1 cd that teamed up Italy's UFOmammut and Lento (or Lent0?) we knew who UFOmammut were. The snailkings of psychedelic heavy sludge stoner metal awesomeness, a perfect hybrid of Electric Wizard's drugged-out doom and Hawkwind's even spacier, uh, spaciness. Big fans of UFOmammut we already were. But who were this Lento?? Now we have that band's out-on-their-own debut, and now we know. Lento are Italy's all-instrumental answer to Isis. They're Italy's masters of sinister, atmospheric, super-heavy post rock chugga chugga. The seven tracks of Earthen are divided between full-on, blown-out, heavy-riffing clobber and more restrained, near-ambient dronology, usually dynamically within the same song, though there's several tracks given over entirely to the latter, as on "Emersion Of The Islands" a drone-piece with crackling sferic-like sounds... It's a majestic, metallic post-rock soundtrack to a trudging trip across the cratered surface of some airless planetoid, an epic slog under unknown stars, bathed in space radiation, amidst the ruined remains of ancient alien technology... Or at least that's what we're getting from all their drone and grit and feedback, crashing cymbals, and monolithic riffage. Though Earthen's theme, as expressed in the song titles and artwork, appears actually to be more "Subterrestrial" than extra-terrestrial. First off & obviously we'd recommend this to fans of their pals UFOmammut... the rigid, mechanical Godflesh-like elements that we've detected in UFOmammut's music are more prominent here, with some isolationist Lustmord ambience thrown in as well. Certainly check out Lento if you're into Godflesh (and Justin Broadrick's Jesu too), Isis, Nadja, Dumb & The Ugly, Hyatari... and of course if you liked that Supernaturals Vol.1 disc. This, and UFOmammut's new one Idolum also reviewed this list, are both fine follow-ups to that. Similar to that new UFOmammut, this "regular" edition of Earthen is packaged in one of those newfangled rounded-corner jewel cases. There is (or was) a special limited edition of Earthen, too, with arty inserts and all, but we got precisely one of those 'cause they cost so damn much. If you're interested, ask, we might still have it... $49! Otherwise, this $19.98 edition is recommended!

MPEG stream: Need
MPEG stream: Subterrestrial
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We missed the first two singles from these self proclaimed 'ice-poppers', but we're digging this new full length a bunch, the sound not that far removed from the current crop of garage-y jangle pop, not hard to imagine this coming out on Sacred Bones or Captured Tracks, and like some of those groups, these guys look back to the eighties too, but more toward groups like Modern English and Echo & The Bunnymen. There's a definitely new wave vibe, and lots of the tracks here sound like they would have fit perfectly on some John Hughes soundtrack for sure. But unlike a lot of bands with similar influences, Lenz don't seem to spend as much time and energy aping that era's sound and production, although much of this does sound genuinely eighties, but much of it sound way too polished and modern, opener "Moody Michelle" melodically is a total throwback, but otherwise, it's a sweet slab of super hooky jangle pop. "Roman Holiday" though IS a bit more lo-fi, with a distinctly old school production, and a cool angular guitar melody/vocal line that sounds like it could have come from some classic MTV era new wave pop hit, with a verse and a bridge that are equally crazy catchy, and that has us hearing Thompson Twins and Duran Duran, albeit a lot more gritty and psychedelic. But really, of the current crop of retro pop, this Lenz record has been stuck on our turntables, and lodged in our heads nonstop, and if the measure of a record is how hard it is to actually stop listening to it in order to listen to something ELSE, then this is most definitely a new fave. Fans of Blank Dogs, Big Troubles, Craft Spells and other sonically similar eighties jangle pop throwbacks will be in heaven (seventeen?)...

MPEG stream: Roman Holiday
MPEG stream: Moody Michelle
MPEG stream: Feeling
MPEG stream: Humans

Once again, it's time to dig deep into the murky musical underground of the great white north, Finland in particular, home to sooooooooooo many aQ faves over the years: Circle, Aavikko, Pharaoh Overlord, Doktor Kettu, Islaja, Avarus, Circle Of Ouroborus, Dead Reptile Shrine, Cleaning Women, Fleshpress, Magyar Posse, Hanoi Rocks (!), Kemialliset Ystavat, Keuhkot, Smack, Mr. Peter Hayden, Death Trip, Worms, Nightsatan, Reverend Bizarre, Ride For Revenge, Skepticism, Tiermes, Uton, Will Over Matter, we could go on and on and on. Oh and let's not forget recent Record Of The Weekers Billy Boys, who seem like the perfect segue into THIS week's Record Of The Week from another group of Finnish oddballs, The Leo Bugariloves, who are most likely virtually unknown to all but the most obsessive Finnophiles, or Bad Vugum completists, their sound pretty warped and WTF? even by weirdo Finnish standards. The label mentions Suicide, the Residents, and krautrock, which all definitely apply, but the LB's also have a weird sort of lo-fi exotica vibe going on, fusing looped Casio rhythms, to warbly synths, primitive programmed skitter wrapped around angular detuned twang, deep growly vocals delivered in a gruff barked croon, bits of Morricone-ish melody surface throughout, but there's plenty of swagger too, some songs slip into full on glam rock Gary Glitter style big beats, all under fuzzy synthy swirls, and chiming almost rockabilly guitar crunch, others get all Stoogesy, bluesy and buzzy, and still others get sort of Gobliny, some tracks laced with woozy horn bleats, others with swoonsome faux strings, but always, the LB's transform the sounds into their own twisted home brewed outsider avant electro pop concoction, and it's one that's weirdly addictive, and unlike the willfully difficult damaged sonics of the Billy Boys, the music of the LB's is playful, and melodic, and actually pretty fun, sure it's dark and brooding and fractured and fucked up at times, but even then it's often shot through with goofy melodies, or gradually transforms into some weirdly abstract bit of stumbling carnivalesque exotica. We can't help but mention another past record of the week, local outsider one man band Fastest, there's much of the same sort of idiosyncratic cinematic electro rhythmic weirdness going on, but the LB's are Finnish too, so this definitely has that weird ineffable Finnish special something that transforms what could have been pure home recorded weirdness, into something that's kind of warped genius, the LB's peppering their difficult listening with quite a knack for melody, plenty of popsmithery lurking in these buzzing, skittering, twangy, quirky, fractured and fragmented electro pop oddities, so much so, that repeated listens reveal these tracks to be more than just oddities, more like some alternate universe pop gems, that seem to have maybe been slightly damaged in their transmission between universes, and odds are, you'll find yourself impossibly hooked, with any of these tracks liable to get lodged in your head like crazy. The Leo Bugariloves features members of legendary Finnish punk outfits Terveet Kadet and Death Trip (whose collected works reissued on Jussi from Circle's Ektro label we reviewed and raved about recently) but this is about as far as you can get from either of those bands, sounding more like some lo-fi mad scientist concoction of Devo, Fastest, They Might Be Giants, Dirty Beaches and Felix Kubin all run through some cracked Finnish music filter, and then molded into some sort of surreal David Lynchian Las Vegas lounge act. This two disc collection gathers up all sort of vinyl only rarities, long out of print gems, as well as a ton of unreleased stuff, including a handful of live and demo tracks, those tracks in particular displaying more of the group's mesmeric and murky lo-fi krautrock vibe... Twisted, and bizarre, and most definitely baffling, but crazy catchy, yet another batch of fantastically fucked Finnish weirdness that we can't recommend highly enough!

MPEG stream: Absoluuttinen Mies
MPEG stream: Lammolla Ja Antaumuksella
MPEG stream: Hyeena Stomp
MPEG stream: Etsin Ihmista (Vaan Elpa Loydy)
MPEG stream: Hei Kaikki Nuoret
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We're so glad that the world is finally waking up to the genius of Ted Leo. We have been huge fans since his early days fronting the aggro mod-pop band Chisel. And the things that made Chisel so appealing have only intensified and matured since then. Jangly, super catchy hooks, classic riffs, amazingly literate, clever and funny lyrics, and that voice! A soaring almost falsetto that is keening and straining at impossible registers one moment, belting it out at others. So awesome. The sound is still sort of mod-pop, think the Jam/Style Council, Thin Lizzy, Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson all wrapped up in a sensitive thirtysomething emo boy! And all filtered through Leo's knack for inventive arrangements and weird chordal choices. This is not easy or simple pop. This is the kind of stuff that rewards repeated listens. The hooks are there, but they aren't obvious. And the melodies are infectious, but not cloying. And to me that's the best kind of pop record. One that stays fresh and offers something new everytime you hear it. Leo is seriously one of the best pop songwriters around. And he just keeps getting better.

RealAudio clip: Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone?
RealAudio clip: I'm A Ghost
RealAudio clip: The High Party
RealAudio clip: Hearts Of Oak

We've pretty much always loved Ted Leo, and his totally thrilling, energetic mod pop. Ever since his early days with his first band Chisel, Leo has proven himself a master songsmith, always backed up by a crack band, always armed with a clutch of killer songs that manage to be poignant and meaningful, but also catchy and anthemic, guitars howl and riffs crunch, and that voice, so clear and powerful, the second he opens his mouth, he's got you. The Jam has always been an obvious reference point, so too Thin Lizzy, and nothing has changed on that front. In some ways The Brutalist Bricks is a little less immediate, and requires a few more listens before it really sinks in, but that's usually the case with records that are bound to end up favorites. That immediate super satisfying sugar rush of sound is replaced with a record that will have the same impact in a week or a month or a year, maybe even moreso. Songs that blossom a little more with each play. The Brutalist Bricks also sounds a bit more polished, a little more commercial, a smidge less raw and urgent, which will no doubt bug some, but it actually suits him, and like we always say, we'd WAY rather hear Ted Leo on the radio than John Mayer, and even with that extra bit of polish and occasional big studio flourish, none of that would mean shit if these songs weren't great, and if Leo weren't in fine form, thankfully they are and he is. If you dug his other records, you'll definitely dig this one. And anyone into kick ass classic sounding power pop, who hasn't checked out Leo, should absolutely grab one of these right now.

MPEG stream: The Mighty Sparrow
MPEG stream: Mourning In America
MPEG stream: Ativan Eyes
MPEG stream: Even Heroes Have To Die

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

SORRY.

Ted Leo, former leader of the criminally overlooked D.C. mod-pop outfit Chisel, with his pick-up band the Pharmacists, continues on his unique pop trajectory, somewhere between the jumpy caffeinated pop of his old outfit Chisel, the mod emotion of the Jam, Leo is joined on this record by his brother Chris (who fronts the Lapse) on drums and percussion. Brendan Canty (of Fugazi) plays some drums as does his brother James. And Amy Dominguez (who plays on every indie rock record that needs a cellist it seems like) plays cello. This record is so good. Really.

RealAudio clip: Under The Hedge
RealAudio clip: Biomusicology
RealAudio clip: Tinorous Me
RealAudio clip: My Vien Ilin
RealAudio clip: You Coul Die (Or This Might End)

If you've been reading the AQ list, you know how much we love Ted Leo. His gorgeously keening vocals, jangly mod guitars, brilliantly funny lyrics, and unique songsmithery have really made him one of the most appealing singer/songwriters going these days. Screw Rufus Wainwright, forget Elliott Smith. A dense heady mix of the Jam, Elvis Costello, and Thin Lizzy, mixed with an undeniable knack for irresistably catchy indie rock. This sort-of-EP is a bit of a stopover until the next full length with a few originals, a few solo vocal/guitar tracks and some unique covers. The Jam cover is an obvious choice ("Ghosts"), then there's a version of the celtic sixties standard "Dirty Old Town", and a Split Enz cover. THAT could have been a travesty, and although it makes me want to hear the original more than anything, Leo manages to make it enough his own that it's worth checking out! Can't wait for the next full length.

MPEG stream: Tell Balgeary, Balgury Is Dead
MPEG stream: Ghosts

Yippeee! Ted Leo And The Pharmacists are back! The opening track kicks things into gear with sharp crunchy guitars that penetrate right to the roots of your hair and teeth(!). Said guitars are feverishly strummed atop a runaway train drumbeat... oh, and don't forget the handclaps! NEVER! As always, Leo's sound is very mod inspired a la The Jam with a little eighties power pop vocal flavor (Elvis Costello and Rick Springfield) and hard rock (lots of Thin Lizzy) in there. That said, Living With The Living keeps us on our toes with a couple twists that caught us by surprise -- three of 'em being the bizarre jig in the sixth tune "A Bottle Of Buckie", the fiery rock blast of "Bomb.Repeat.Bomb" and the unpredictable reggae turn on "The Unwanted Things". A neat balance of boyish charm, winking pop hooks, and anthemic balls-out rawk power! Bonus alert! The first pressing of the cd includes a five-song cdep, and the initial vinyl edition includes a coupon for a free MP3 download of the entire album plus some extra non-album MP3s! More Leo to love!

MPEG stream: A Bottle Of Buckie
MPEG stream: Bomb.Repeat.Bomb

Is Ted Leo the new voice of our generation? We wish. If only music this catchy and smart could be the sound of today's youth (and the not so young, can't leave ourselves out) instead of Good Charlotte and Hilary Duff. Shake The Streets is the newest release from Ted Leo and his band the Pharmacists and continues where the last record left off, channelling classic rock (Thin Lizzy), mod rock (the Jam), classic new wave pop (Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson) and indie rock (Leo's former outfit, the indie-mod Chisel) into music that somehow sounds like all of those and none of those. Huge riffs collide with indie jangle, Leo's soaring vocals (often slipping into an impossible falsetto) spinning tales of love, loss, politics, drug policy (!) and all sort of other subjects not often sung about in pop music. This is definitely Leo's least immediately catchy record so far, but as is often the case, now that it's been out for a while and we've had a chance to listen to it a bunch, it's blossomed into an absolutely amazing pop record. Unforgettable riffs, those sort of muted major key Thin Lizzy hooks, really strange and convoluted arrangements (not so much so that they ruin the pop element), clever sharp tongued lyrics and of course Leo's crystal clear vocals. Leo's music is really something special, kick ass rock that sounds perfect blasting from your car stereo flying down the highway, but works just as well on a mixtape for that special someone, and works even better sitting on your bed with headphones reading along with the lyrics!

MPEG stream: Me And Mia
MPEG stream: The Angels' Share

This is a reissue of one of those deep "in-the-know" records that we're perplexed that we had somehow never heard of before now, especially given its pedigree. It seems to be one of those weird anomaly recordings that when it's not acting as a "proto" example of genres that now exist today (dub-step and minimal techno), it works as a bridge between genres we never imagined being connected before (new age and industrial music, minimalist composition and new wave, minimal synth and ethno-folk music). It's a rare six-degrees-of-separation record that bafflingly connects Suicide to John Fahey, and it's utterly gorgeous to boot. Craig Leon may not be a well-known name to most, but he was the producer or co-producer behind many of the bands of our youth including Blondie, The Ramones, Talking Heads, Richard Hell, Suicide, The Weirdos, DMZ, The Zero's. The Bangles and 45 Grave. But he's also a classically trained composer and orchestrator who has worked with Lucio Pavoratti, Sir James Galway and The London Symphony Orchestra. Nommos was the first album of his own material, originally released in 1981 on John Fahey's Takoma label and there really is just nothing quite like it. With evocative titles like "Donkeys Bearing Cups", "Four Eyes To See The Afterlife" and "She Wears A Hemispherical Skull Cap", Leon uses minimal synthesis to explore repetitive rhythm and texture in hypnotic trance inducing compositions. The opener, "Ring With Three Concentric Circles" explores a kraut-y kosmiche sound employing cosmic synth washes over skeletal mechanical rhythms, but it's the second track, "Donkeys Bearing Cups" that prognosticates many of the production tropes of modern dubstep and minimal techno, the shuffling almost dance-y mechanized rhythms, as well as the squelched siren noise that opens it. Many of the tracks could be paired down backing tracks for Suicide songs, minus Alan Vega's vocals and Martin Rev's knack for propulsion. Instead Leon seems to dwell on the nuance of his robotic rhythms, tweaking the reverb and decay in bass pulses and cymbal clangs, but encasing them in a beautiful floating stasis. The longest track at nearly 12 minutes, "Four Eyes To See The Afterlife", seems to have the least going on. It's plodding hiccupping rhythm stretching for minutes before we notice a woman's voice almost operatically singing way off in the background. Her voice almost feels like another synthetic texture in the composition and we at first had to turn the volume down to see if we were hearing things, but it's just another impeccable detail that Leon is carefully layering and weaving into seemingly bare-bone compositions making us ever conscious of the meditative nature of the work. This is definitely a producer's record, and an incredible one at that! If you are a fan of modern techno composers like Vladislav Delay, Andy Stott, Demdike Stare, anything on the Dead-Cert label, or even outlier composers like Moondog, Julius Eastman or Barton Smith, this is essential! Download card included!

MPEG stream: Ring With Three Concentric Circles
MPEG stream: Donkeys Bearing Cups
MPEG stream: Four Eyes To See The Afterlife

Here's a unique kind of movie soundtrack, and an excellent one at that! Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man features live recordings of Martha and Rufus Wainwright, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Teddy Thompson, Nick Cave, Antony (of And The Johnsons), Beth Orton, Pulp's Jarvis Cocker, The Handsome Family, Perla Batalla, Julie Christensen, U2 and the man himself, Leonard Cohen. The performances (except for the Cohen/U2 one) were part of Hal Willner's production "Came So Far For Beauty: An Evening Of Leonard Cohen Songs" which took place twice in Brighton, England (2004) and Sydney, Australia (2005). Cool!

MPEG stream: If It Be Your Will
MPEG stream: Chelsea Hotel No. 2
MPEG stream: I Can't Forget

Ambitious power-prog-pop!?! Mixing elements of everything from Magma to the Fiery Furnaces, The Boredoms to the Dirty Projectors, Van Dyke Parks to Heavy Vegetable. A fun and colorful ride.

MPEG stream: Cover Yourself
MPEG stream: Reasonable Snow

1970 obscure Xian acid psych folk classic, reissued!!

The second full length from this Norwegian heartbreaker has arrived! And from the very first couple of songs, who can deny the heartmelting power of Lerche's sensitive boyish croon? In-store play has drawn plenty of enthusiastic queries. Definitely brings to mind the music of Jeff Buckley or Rufus Wainwright -- particularly the latter with the grand Bacharach-ian orchestral flourishes. However on the very next tune, he shifts his delivery to a much more forthright Robyn Hitchcock quirkiness and the music follows suit. Indeed, it's a finely composed, lush and sophisticated pop album that covers a much broader scope than Lerche's impressive debut Faces Down. And although it's certainly much less obvious this time around, in each song you can catch more than fleeting glimpses of his clear Beatles and Beach Boys worship. If you have a penchant for heaping spoonfuls of well-crafted pop sugary sweets, this is for you!

MPEG stream: Track You Down
MPEG stream: Wet Ground

A totally twisted blast of primitive outsider garage rock from this mysterious sixties French combo, whose sound exists in some what-the-fuck nether region between the Shaggs and Hasil Adkins, a woozy, stumbling, low fidelity workout that begins with a warped cover of Gene Vincent's "Be Bop A-Lula", which pretty much lays it all out, detuned angular guitar strum, shuffling drum stumble, slightly off key vocal croon WAY up in the mix, the whole thing loose and off kilter, weaving drunkenly from verse to chorus and back again, total bad ass swagger wrapped in a utter earnestness, the sort of band who can only pull off stuff this weird and fucking nuts, cuz they're convinced they rule, and rule they do. Every time we play this in the store someone asks what it is an invariably ends up buying it. We were smitten from the very first listen. Two long lost eps combined into one mind blowing sixteen minute 'long player', a record that our pals at WFMU are nuts for, as we are now too, and like them, we were suspicious that this was not in fact some modern band taking the piss, crafting some fucked up fractured 'lost gem' but by all accounts this is the real deal, which makes sense cuz this sort of warped genius is tough to fake, and genius it is, catchy has heck, even in its damaged sonic stumble, we find ourselves humming along to every misstep, sour note and warbly vocal, and also find ourselves listening this pretty much more than almost anything else, which really says it all.

MPEG stream: Be Bop Alula
MPEG stream: Eddie Sois Bon
MPEG stream: Depuis Que Ma Mome