THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Argentinian stoner rock heroes Los Natas are a band that definitely seems to have shifted their allegiance from the all-too-common-inspiration Kyuss to the real ancient old stuff, getting really into Pink Floyd and the Greatful Dead and all their own '70s South American psychedelic forebears (obscure bands we gringos don't even know about). You can still hear the Kyuss in 'em, but filtered through an original Latin American/psych record collector creativity. Los Natas' last two records have been great -- both the harder-rockin' Corsario Negro and the spacier, mellower, mostly instrumental Toba-Trance. Now comes Toba-Trance II! While it reprises many of the elements of the first Toba-Trance (ending even with a live version of "Que Rico..." from that album), in parts this sequel seems way proggier. Hard prog. With flutes. Squawking fucked up horn bleats. Serious riffage. Especially on the eleven-minute "Tracion En El Arrocero" which we could imagine as music for some sort of medieval asskicker procession. That's not the lengthiest track on here, either: the 15 minute "Humo de Marihuana" is a genuine spaghetti western epic. Of course it wouldn't be Toba-Trance (or Los Natas) without hippy percussion and limpid, liquid bass undulations, mellow stoned spaced out maaaann. And mention must be made of the Flamenco stylings and psychedelic soloing of guitarist Sergio -- he smokes! Gently beautiful and meltingly mesmeric, the Latin American answer to Pharaoh Overlord or Ghost perhaps. And it's as beautifully packaged as the first Toba-Trance -- great looking graphics, Ektro!
Along with the Tarkus album highlighted on this week's list, we've got more vintage Peruvian psych rock for you here -- a disc featuring rare and unreleased singles tracks circa 1969-1970 from Los Nuevos Shain's, the band formed by Enrique "Pico" Ego Aguirre, who had been the guitarist from garage rock legends Los Shain's (natch). Getting into the heavier sounds comin' out contemporaneously from England and California, Los Nuevos Shain's put their own stamp on covers of songs by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Cream, the Jefferson Airplane, Spirit, Strawberry Alarm Clock, and even Black Sabbath -- for us, it's their version of Sabbath's "Wicked World" that makes this a must have! Had to buy it just for that, to add to our collection of early daze Sabbath covers. (This puts 'em in the company of South Africa's Suck and Japan's Flower Travellin' Band to achieve the distinction of having recorded a Sabbath song way back when.)
Not to give you the idea that this is all that hard rockin' or heavy (for that, look to Pico's subsequent band Pax, reviewed elsewhere on our site). Sure, he does give the ol' fuzz and wah-wah pedals a bit of a stomp, though. Heck they do "Purple Haze". But this also has lots of dreamy poppiness on it too, and we're also quite taken by the boppy loopiness of the track "Guau Guau A Go Go", which features barking dogs in the mix! Basically, a trip to a paisley-painted Peruvian garage, some 37 years ago, to hear an enthusiastic band do a fun run-through of some familiar and not-so-familiar sixties tunes plus a few originals. And by the way, the music on this cd was taken from the master tapes (you know it, 'cause the booklet in this digipack features color photos of the original reels and tape boxes with handwritten labels!). Cool.
Oh my goodness! This is one whale of a good time! It goes without saying that if only Kevin Bacon had had this new Los Straitjackets album back in his Footloose days... well, the world would be a very different and far better place. In no time, this cd/dvd set will have you impressing the gang with your newfound fancy footwork and good taste in tunes. The cd offers up a baker's dozen of Los Straitjackets' primo Lucha Libre wrestlin' masked originals and a trio of covers. Very faithful to their '60s surf garage forefathers and pretty hot stuff unto itself, especially with the Pontani Sisters and Kaiser George spicing things up. Now add the dvd on which the burlesque-alicious Sisters put you through the snazzy steps of a very thorough dance class. Shimmy! Shake! Twist!
Quirky, fun, eclectic pop that brings to mind the playful, sassy female and droll male vocal interplay of groups like the B52's, StereoTotal (similarly multi-lingual albeit less sleekly cosmopolitan), and even the Human League (particularly on the song "Forever"). Their instrumentation runs the gamut: slinky violins, mariachi trumpets, lush synths, oompah-pah brass. In fact, funnily enough, the final track called "Western" made me think it was Oktoberfest! A rollicking good time.
The second full length from Loscil (aka Scott Morgan) doesn't sonically stray from the dreamy, hypnotic path he began with his debut, Triplepoint, but it does come with a theme - submarines. Apart from the song titles which are the names of submarines (eg. Kursk, Triton, and Argonaut), there is definitely a languid deepsea feel to his music. Slowly swellling and enveloping sometimes to the edge of claustrophobic, the layers of echoing pulses, translucent drone washes and subtle hints at melody combine for an overall serene listening experience. Close your eyes and visions of such antiquated colossal vessels drifting through the shadowy depths easily emerge. Lovely!
A few months ago, a buddy of mine and I (Allan) went out to a neighborhood club to see some bands for the first time. One we'd been told was a pretty good '60-ish garage style outfit. Worth checking out. The other we'd never heard of, but you never know. The first band (the one we went to see and whom shall remain nameless) was...ok. We were sitting here, nursing our beers, thinking...pretty good. Yeah, they're doing the sixties garagey thing pretty well. They had the look, the suits, the haircuts, the vintage gear. But we were, ultimately, yawning. Guess it was getting late (it was a weeknight). So we thought we might split when they were done, we'd had our dose of rock for the evening. But, then we though we'd just stick around and see if the second band was any good too. You know, give 'em a chance, maybe check out a song or two. Well this is how it went down: within about ten seconds of their first song, we were out of our chairs and standing as close to the stage as we could get. Utterly electrified. That's when we realized, that the first band wasn't remotely good at all. These guys -- Th' Losin Streaks -- simply blew 'em away, and did what a good band should do -- make you forget that you've gotta get up in the morning, are tired and have had enough beer. They were doing the same retro sixties thing as the first band, but so much more PUNK. This is what rock n' roll is supposed to be. Total high energy mayhem. Amazing showmanship. This is what it must have been like way back when, when bands had to compete, playing for hours in a sweaty dive in the bad part of town or at a crazy frat party where if you didn't rock the house you got beaten with baseball bats (or given wedgies or something, I don't know, I'm speculating). You had to kick ass. Well Th' Losin Streaks take that tradition to heart. Nothing but 100 percent (or more) ass kickin' is what we witnessed. They weren't even past their second song when one of the guitarists was standing on the drum kit. And the other guitarist, a true maniac, was dropping our jaws with his bizarre stage antics. He was good -- even when soloing with just one hand while striking crazy poses and pointing with the other. He's got some moves, that guy! And let's not forget the drummer, a hard hitter who kept it all together and even did a great job singing one of the songs. If I'd been in the opening band and saw all this, I'd have thought about giving up and doing something else with my life.
Ok, what does all this mean to you? 1) if you live in Northern California, go see 'em!! They're from Sacramento (being former members of The Troublemakers, I believe) and I'd imagine live to play live. In fact, they're gonna be playing around the block from Aquarius at the 12 Galaxies on Friday, the 12th of November.
2) they have a record, Sounds Of Violence. It's not gonna destroy you like their show will (although if you play it really loud, get really drunk, and use it as the soundtrack to watching some Hong Kong kung fu classic on a black-and-white TV you might come close to having as good a time as seeing 'em live) but it's pretty darn good, delivering their fuzz-laden Nuggets style punk to your home in fine fashion. And there's even a Guess Who cover. Th' Losin' Streaks prove you don't have to go all the way to Detroit for the garage-rock goods, that's for sure. They're such a rad band I'll even forgive 'em for unnecessarily abbreviating The to Th'!
Another single from Australia's Negative Guest List label. We had reviewed some records by The Lost Domain over the years, mostly way way back, but this is the first we've heard from them in a while, and actually we're not even sure if they're still an active concern, considering the material here is from way back in 1999. The A side here seems like a bit of a goof. A cover of that standard "Drunken Sailor", which actually sounds like it was played by drunken sailors, stumbling and skronky and free form, lots of feedback and buzz, the whole thing on the verge of collapse. But like the Blank Realm 7" reviewed elsewhere on this week's list, the real gem is on the flipside, where the Lost Domain get their Dead C on, unfurling a sprawling miasma of clang and clatter, buzz and skree, that classic nineties NZ noise rock sound (even though they're from Australia), echo drenched, full on free rock abstraction, wild loose drumming, loads of space, buzz and rumble everywhere, the sound lo-fi and cloaked in tape hiss and amp buzz, a glorious chunk of dreamy noisiness that's over way too soon!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
New one (getting better) from this popular San Francisco hard rock trio. Not 'stoner rock', not 'punk', not 'metal', not 'grunge'...not exactly. Loud guitars, tough girl vocals, lots of attitude and rock action. Members of Amber Asylum show up to add
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Finally, on cd. Digipak in fact. One of San Francisco's most popular hard rock verging on metal by way of grunge groups... They're no Sir Lord Baltimore, but it ain't the seventies no more either.
We've are so psyched on this comp, a 'greatest hits' collection of sorts from the late Jay Reatard's pre-solo, post Reatards, garage-rock synth-punk group, Lost Sounds, a band legendary for their insane live shows, whose sound was a supercharged mix of power pop jangle, garage rock crunch and post punk synthbuzz, the songs frantic and frenzied, sweat soaked, bruised and bloodied, even recorded, these songs exude the sort of energy that few bands can muster, even live. Dueling boy/girl vocals over wild chaotic drumming, with some seriously killer songs, which definitely foreshadow Reatard's eventual shift to full on pop, but that pop element here is wreathed in ominous buzz and crusty garage rock creep, the sound is alternatingly wild and loose, brooding and tense, often both at the same time, and while they were definitely loved back in the day, had this band been around today, they would rule the scene for sure, this is the sort of supercharged garage rock synth pretty much every band is shooting for these days, but even the best of them can barely touch the magical mystery of these blown out blasts wild and wooly garage punk bliss. Imagine Blasted Canyons meets Black Bug meets the Fuzztones, and you're getting close, sorta the perfect mix of Reatard's early feral punk rock leanings, and his later power pop proclivities, but the synth really changes everything, transforming already super catchy kick ass garage rock into something almost next level.
We were secretly hoping this would in fact be some sort of complete collection, with everything these guys (and gal) every recorded, but it's still pretty bad ass, a compilation of Lost Sounds' finest moments as chosen by the surviving members of the band. Should definitely inspire you to track down the rest of their records. Pretty much every thing they've released RULES. And anyone who dug Blasted Canyons (last list's Record Of The Week), should definitely check this out.
Killer compilation of unreleased jams, alternate takes and old demos from this garage rock synth punk combo, which was fronted by the late Jay Reatard, and unlike Reatard's solo records, Lost Sounds were a much more intense / aggro proposition, infamous for insane / energetic live shows, Lost Sounds' sound was heavy, and gothy, punky and catchy as fuck, with pounding drums, buzzing synths, chugging guitars, and Reatard's yowled vox. We described Lost Sounds in the past as sounding like Blasted Canyons crossed with Black Bug crossed with the Fuzztones, and that definitely still applies here. Rough and raw, and lo-fi, the sound here is all over the map, and while fans of The Oh Sees, and Ty Segall, and yeah Blasted Canyons, will no doubt dig this stuff, newbies might be better served picking up the recent comp on Fat Possum, Blaq Static, but to be honest, this collection's chaotic all-over-the-place-ness is exactly what makes it such an engaging listen. The opener definitely sounds like the Lost Sounds we know and love, dirgey and dark, synth heavy and hooky, but then there are tracks like "Black Coats / Whitefear", which is essentially acoustic, super stripped down, but somehow seriously fierce, the vocals snarled and swaggery over a minimal backdrop, a sort of Young Pioneers style garage folk punk, then there's the near power pop of "I Cannot Lie", with its fuzzy synth warble, jangly guitar, and whiney keening vox. And that's just the opening salvo, from there on out, the sound flits from raw garage punk, to fuzzy jangle pop, to super melodic drum machine driven crunch, to rad sci-fi synthwave, to blissed out shoegaze, and pretty much every possible combination/permutation, with plenty of short sharp bursts of weird sonic experiments, and sound fragments. And it's weird, the more we listen to this, the better it gets, and while it probably will never be as good as any of the Lost Sounds records proper, it's coming pretty goddamn close!
Another oft-reissued, minor classic from the sixties, flower power pop-psych with a good gimmick: Lothar wasn't the singer, instead Lothar was the name of the group's Theremin, with the Hand People referring to the actual humans in the band, the Theremin as you probably know being an unusual electronic instrument invented in the 1920's by Russian scientist Leon Theremin, that you don't actually touch to play (the instrument, not the scientist). Its weird, wavery sound should be familiar from old horror soundtracks, and the intro to the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations". Also we sold a ton of the album by classical Theremin virtuoso Clara Rockmore that was recently reissued on vinyl by Mississippi.
Lothar wasn't The Hand People's only electronic gadget, either, they also utilized Moog synths, tape decks, and more. So you'd expect something along the lines of Silver Apples, maybe, or the United States Of America, but this isn't quite that avant garde, though some tracks, like "It Comes On Anyhow" with its loops and edits, or the spacey-synthy instrumental soundscape "Paul, In Love", are certainly all about the electronic experimentation. Yet, others like "This May Be Goodbye", are vocal-oriented, laidback, sunshiney songs with the electronic elements almost an afterthought, but nice nonetheless. Really it seems like The Hand People would try just about anything (not sure if Lothar got a vote), musically they're all over the place, the 13 tracks (+3 bonus cuts) on this, their 1968 debut, running the gamut from groovy garage to Byrdsy countryish pop to the abovementioned styles, happily veering into novelty tune territory too, ferinstance their "switched on" version of the Woody Woodpecker cartoon theme (!?), and the freak scene that is "Sex And Violence", a far out goof that sounds a lot like something Kim Fowley could have produced. Pick of the litter is probably the lead-off track "Machines", a bonafide classic consisting of rhythmic clink and clank, disjointed groove and poppy psych, almost proto-Devo if not proto-industrial, and reminding us of some of Bruce Haack's compositions. Neat-o.
Honest-to-goodness psychedelia meets spaghetti western in the form of this Boston-based theremin quartet (!), who wowed the audience at both Terrastock festivals. Recommended.
Discover what sort of trouble four theremins and one violin can get into. Quite a pleasing sort actually. At times the theremins wind and whine around each other emitting sounds not unlike the voices of dolphins at half speed... or the creaky squeals you'd make by letting the air out of a balloon very very slowly. Other moments sweep you into a blanket of drones and chimes. Recorded live at the Charnwood Conservatory in Somerville, MA. Very nice.
As if these guys weren't busy enough with their 'day jobs',�Stephen O'Malley (Khanate, SUNNO))), Burning Witch, KTL, Thorr's Hammer),�James Plotkin (Atomsmasher, Phantomsmasher, Khanate, OLD, Flux, Romance) and�Aaron Turner (Isis, Old Man Gloom, House of Low Culture) still somehow managed to find time to get together and do something a little less... heavy, or sludgy, or crushing, or even drone-y for that matter.�
Wurmwulv is the latest chunk of ambient drift, minimal clatter, and abstract soundscaping from the trio known as Lotus Eaters. Three looooong songs, 50 minutes of strange drifting sound.�
The opening track is a slowed down pipe fight. A warped wander through a sea of chimes and bells, of resonant metal and shimmering metallic drones. Avarus, Anaksimandros, have got nothing on these guys. Ominous and dark, but strangely melodic. From delicate tinkling to dense metal on metal pound, single notes fluttering in space, to flurries of clang and clatter, all the while, way in the background, a deep swirling tidal low end shifts and shimmers.�
The second track is brief, 5 minutes of high end drift, strange electronic interference, gristly rumbles and hissy whirs, while beneath it all, machines creak and groan, mysterious objects scrape and rattle until near the end, the track is suddenly overtaken by a lush wall of warm guitar whorl.
The final track, another lengthy exploration, is an effects laden trawl through a world of constantly shifting low end. Nearly static, layers of rumble and whir, gently and almost imperceptibly shuffling, while over the top, drift tiny alien sonic events and muted squiggles of FX, helicopter like whup-whup-whup's, and faux animal calls, clicks and thumps, all manner of mysterious sound. Eventually, a flurry of high end streaks takes the form of some sort of effervescent symphony, glistening in their own all high end universe, before the low end returns, bringing with it a muted folky drift, a lazy sun dappled slow burning outro...
Gorgeously�packaged in an oversized 6 panel A5 sized digibook, with paintings by Stephen Kasner, layout and design by Aaron Turner. So nice.
While Bradford Cox is Deerhunter's front man and charismatic focal point, there is no denying that his bandmate Locket Pundt plays a major roll in Deerhunter as well, with his blissful guitar playing and daydream vocals helping define the band's sound. Now the rest of the world will get a chance to see what a talent he is with the release of his solo project, Lotus Plaza.
Much like the way Bradford Cox was able to explore more of the ambient textures of Deerhunter with his Atlas Sound record, Pundt seems to be using Lotus Plaza to really concentrate on exploring a swirling blissed out orbit that Deerhunter songs only rarely enter, although when they do, we so often wish they would stay there and luxuriate in those far out sounds. Taking cues from classic shoegaze records like Slowdive's Pygmalion and of course My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, as well as some of Kranky's early records by bands like Labradford, Amp, Windy & Carl, etc., Floodlight Collective is a washed out and blissful affair incorporating melody and song structure but ultimately more concerned with creating mood and ambience. A bit like some of the newer M83 stuff, if it was perhaps a bit less produced and instead was created as a soundtrack for bleary eyed late nights staring at the stars...
So nice!
We were pretty much sold before we'd even heard a single note from the bizarrely name Lou Champagne System, which is indeed the work of Mr. Lou Champagne, and that 'System' is actually a thing, not just a cool band name appellation, it's some sort of "guitar and hookup" invented by Lou himself which "allows him to play guitar and sound like a whole band with no tapes!" There's a picture of him on the cover too, skinny mustache, and skinny Cylon style new wave shades. Plus it's on Medical Records, who were responsible for another recent Record Of The Week, Novels For The Moons by Axxess. And if you thought that one was weird, this one is gonna blow your mind.
"The Lou Champagne System is a real time guitar synth solo act" the original liner notes go on to explain, who with the help of that aforementioned system, whipped up some of the coolest, weirdest post punk / new wave we've heard in ages. A rare private press lp from Canada, originally released in 1983 on Champagne's own label, this unearthed gem, on first listen, elicited a whole range of reactions, ranging from "this is freaking amazing?!" to "what the fuck is this?!", and in most cases it was a little bit of both, cuz while this stuff is pretty weird and a little bit goofy, it's also totally kick ass. And the fact that he played this stuff live using a whole array of pedals and switches and that system. Just check out the opener "Don't Say I'm Here", which takes crunchy almost metallic guitars, swirling analog synths, and primitive skeletal drum machines, and crams it all into some dense, claustrophobic punk wave weirdness. Ranting vocals, hysterical laughter, a bizarre back and forth dialogue between someone called "Fred" and a "Narrator", there's also some rad shredding psychedelic leads. It's the sort of retro weirdness that the current crop of outsider synth wave revivalists are channeling, but nothing compares to the sheer madness/brilliance of the original. "Broken Hearts" is a bit more poppy, the same sonic layout as "Don't Say I'm Here", but for a brief minute it sounds way more commercial like it could have been some obscure eighties hit, but then BAM, the synths get all squiggly, the vocals get even more unhinged, a woozy weirdly psychedelic synth punk freakout that is so fucked and bizarrely brilliant, there's another wild squall of guitar leads, this time sounding like some tangle of malfunctioning electronics.
The other jam here we're obsessing on is the awesomely titled "Propaganda Frustration", with its smoldering slow build synth intro, that explodes into a droned out sprawl of skeletal drum skitter and pulsing synths, and when the song proper kicks in, it's all dark and heavy and propulsive, a sort of Goblin / Carpenter sound transformed into something much more electro-pop, the vocal heavily effected and buried in the mix, a driving late night future groove that sound like those sunglasses on the cover. Then there's "Another Dimension", with a sort of faux synth horn intro, that gives way to some chugging metallic guitars, that almost sounds like Motorhead or something, until those primitive programmed drums come in, then it becomes this weirdly metallic driving synth punk, the vocals over the top and dramatic, you can almost imagine the sort of low budget cable access video that would have accompanied this jam. Oh and did we mention the insane chorus, where the drums go all wobbly and chaotic and sound like they're totally malfunctioning beneath the howled vox? So fucking nuts!
From there on out it doesn't get any less weird, in fact, if anything it continues on its warped trajectory, squiggly synths, skittery stuttery drums, strange synth melodies, the vocals unhinged and maniacal, the songs heavy and punky and fuzzy and synth and totally catchy and baffling bizarre, but we definitely have to mention the awesomely brooding closer, which is quickly becoming our favorite, sounding like some outsider synth dirge version of Blue Oyster Cult's "Veteran Of The Psychic Wars" from the Heavy Metal soundtrack, with it's haunting creep and weird field recorded honking horns and crickets, all beneath super psychedelic swirls of synth and some seriously tripped out gorgeously multi-tracked harmonized vocals, including the way too appropriate lyric "I'm like a man in a fantasy, maybe I should just get stoned..."
Totally and utterly amazing, and baffling, and so obviously absolutely recommended. Total fractured genius outsider post-punk synth wave weirdness that is threatening to become the only thing we want to listen to!
Pressed on white vinyl, LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES, each one hand numbered. Includes a 12" x 12" insert with liner notes / lyrics.
These former Game Theory dudes The Loud Family present their fifth album. (Keyboardist Alison Faith Levy is neither a dude nor from Game Theory however.)
A 1974 folk rock concept album outta County Cork... a real rare record, reissued for the ye olde hippie folk interested among you. 'Tis all about the old Irish myth of King Lir and his cursed swan-children, in a dramatic presentation of lilting Celtic folk melodies with proggish majesty, full of sweet male/female vocal harmonies and electric psych guitar leads. At many moments mellow and dainty, at others darker and fairly rockin', this is nice enough, though they're no Comus (who is?). Often pretty but also a bit precious, perhaps. Includes full liner notes, photos, and 6 bonus tracks including a 10+ minute television broadcast soundtrack complete with narration, which should help out those of us not up on our Irish mythology. Also there's disparate demos and singles tracks (one of 'em, "False Prophets" is quite the stormer, sounding almost proto-metal with Neil Youngish vocals).
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.
Really, where would aQ be without Satan? He sure has helped us promote and sell thousands of metal records. But this classic old school country gospel record with its iconic cover, has done so much more to promote the reality of Satan than any metal record we can think of. Long an example of notable novelty or "bad" record covers, it may come as a surprise to those who have never actually heard it, that it's quite a beautiful commingling of gorgeous vintage country harmonies, and sad tragic southern gothic narratives. Like our favorite Porter Wagoner songs, these are tales of life's darker turns and the unending battle between forces of good and evil. Yet, The Brothers here don't take a judgmental tone, but rather, one of caution and gentle honey-toned persuasion towards salvation.
The Louvin brothers have long been respected artists among contemporary folk and Americana artists, so Light in The Attic has added a second disc of influential Louvin Brothers songs recorded between 1955 and 1962 hand-picked by modern day artists like Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams, M. Ward, The Black Angels, Beck, Kris Kristofferson, Devendra Banhart, Will Oldham, and others, to showcase the fact the Louvin Brothers singing and songwriting talents far surpassed the novelty of their most famous album cover. Includes a 40 page booklet, new notes and info for a free download to a 2010 Charlie Louvin interview. Hails!
Love duets -- strange, twisted, and surreal -- sung by Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr Bungle, Fantomas) and Jennifer Charles (Elysian Fields), and presided over by Nathaniel Merriweather a.k.a. DAN THE AUTOMATOR (Dr. Octagon, Deltron 3030, Gorillaz), the
Dan the Automator strikes again. This here record is the INSTRUMENTAL version of the Lovage album, and in our opinion it is much better! We felt the same way about the Deltron 3030 record, whose instrumental version kicks ass so much we named it Record of the
Love's second lp from 1967, originally issued by Elektra, now available again on 180 gram audiophile vinyl. Seven tracks, including the essential "Seven And Seven Is" as well as the sidelong epic, "Revelation".
This remastered deluxe edition of Love's 1967 masterpiece features seven bonus tracks! If you've never heard this classic record before then you must buy one now. Period. You will love it, promise.
For those who're already fans of Love, know that the bonus tracks are a mixed bag. There are some wonderful outtakes and new songs, some versions of songs that are seemingly indistinguishable from the originals, and one hilarious track where Arthur Lee exhorts his bandmates to relax... and then says "Okay, Take 25"!
Yet another reissue of this all time classic. This time its a two disc set with an entire disc of demo's, out-takes, etc. If you don't own this record, you should!
Most people know Love from their initial run in the mid to late '60s, culminating in the classic Forever Changes album. But there's much more to the story than what you will generally read about, and bandleader Arthur Lee soldiered on under the Love name with various lineups until the mid '70s. The results from Love's less popular phase are mixed, but these scrapped 1971 sessions for Columbia Records make it plain and clear: Arthur Lee still had it, at least in 1971.
Well, it must be said that most aQ staffers - ok, ALL of them except for one - were less than blown away by Love Lost, content to file it in the much maligned "blues rock" bin. Personally, I think these songs stand strongly on their own, but it does help to take things into perspective: if you saw your pioneering band torn apart by drug addiction, mental turmoil, and public indifference (among other things), you might have a case of the blues as well. With that said, calling this "blues rock" is off the mark, if you actually take the time to listen, and truthfully, it's hard to imagine a fan of Love not digging this. Sure, like most bands from the era, a heavy blues influence is there, but there's also a super charged folk vibe that had been with the band since the beginning, and many of the songs walk an interesting line between tough early '70s rock and more the introspective, melancholy numbers that had always been part of Love's agenda. Lee's voice sounds as amazing and self-aware as it always had, and his colorful lyrics are clearly the outcome of a powerful vision. It actually sounds like these sessions were fun, not agonizing, and it's refreshing hearing the band sound this lively. Not really sure why these songs have gone unreleased for almost 40 years, because Love Lost really does sound like a fully realized album, not just a collection of throw away demos. This work stands as a powerful reminder of Arthur Lee's talents and finds itself right at home within Love's untouchable legacy, but definitely don't expect another Forever Changes....
There is almost a curse in creating something that so many people praise as "genius" and as your "defining moment". Such is the case with the legacy of one of the best west coast psych bands of the '60s, Love. For most people the story of Love begins and ends with Forever Changes, their undeniably classic album from 1967, a record that's been included on all sorts of best album of all time lists and has been the subject of entire books and magazines articles. Rightfully so, as it really is one of those classic timeless records that we turn to time and time again. But sadly the attention Forever Changes now attracts has obscured the fact that Arthur Lee (essentially the driving force of Love) created a whole lot of other amazing music that's not on Forever Changes. Lately we've been spending lots of time with Love's 1969 outing Out There which was originally released as a double lp and was pretty much a commercial flop (as was Forever Changes when it first came out!)
After disbanding and changing lineups almost every year in the late '60s and into the early '70s Love was pretty much the vehicle for the enigmatic world of Arthur Lee (who for some funny reason calls himself Arthurly in the credits of this record). Out There contains some of Lee's most devastating material, songs like "I'm Down" paint such a moving and sad portrait of the internal anguish that haunted Lee throughout a lot of his life. This disc really is all over the place, containing more playful and breezy tracks like "Run To The Top" and quite possibly one of our favorite Love song of all time, the ultra dreamy "Willow Willow", as well as the smart ass and anti-military "Discharged", the twelve minute percussive freakout of "Doggone" and the Hendrix like rocker "Stand Up".
While it's not without a few misses this still is one of the best records in the Love back catalog and strong proof that there is more to the story and Arthur Lee's genius than just Forever Changes.
The classic 1966 debut from Arthur Lee and co. remastered in both stereo and mono! Includes their intense take on Bacharach / David's "My Little Red Book", the fast paced, fuzzed out cover of "Hey Joe" and the heart-wrenching tearjerker "Signed D.C.". As
While Sam Jayne might be best known for in Beck's band for the great One Foot In The Grave album (As well as being pictured on the cover), or being Isaack Brock's (Modest Mouse) best bud, but for us Sam Jayne will always be an important name in our record collections for the scrappy and catchy indie rock greatness he created with his band Lync in the 90's. Lync's album These Are Not Fall Colors will always be a bigtime AQ favorite, and in our minds one of the most underrated indie rock albums of all time! But in recent years Jayne has been busy with Love As Laughter, a band much more standard and straight ahead then anything Lync released. And maybe that's why we've never quite fallen in love with Love As Laughter like we did Lync. It's never had that urgency and spontaneous urgency that made Lync so endearing. But you can't be a teen forever and Jayne has grown up quite gracefully, making solid if not somewhat regular records that fit somewhere between Built To Spill and Band Of Horses.
You know that feeling when you meet a new acquaintance who bears an uncanny resemblance to a dear old friend, and you automatically feel a warm familiarity towards him/her? Such is the case with this new Love As Laughter album. Yes, as the title tells us, this is their fifth album, and on it they try a little of this 'n' a little of that (some folksy twang and some 'blues' with kazoo!), but through it all they remain steadfast indie rockers. Really they've nailed the sound with such remarkable accuracy that '90s college radio stations would've gobbled this up in a second. In fact, to put it another way, Laughter's Fifth sounds as though the band took the ghosts of indie rock icons Pavement, the Replacements, Dinosaur Jr. and maybe even some Jesus And Mary Chain too (particularly on track 9 "Pulsar Radio") and slipped those bands' secret formulas into their pocket. Oddly enough back in those days it seemed like L.A.L.'s mainman Sam Jayne's previous band Lync was doin' its noisy, abrasive emo-punk best to fly in the face of such un-fiery fodder. Hmmm, not anymore. A mellowing with age? Dunno, but while they're definitely not breaking any new ground, they have made an album filled with very well-done songs of that ilk.
Baltimore-based quartet (featuring former members of Universal Order of Armageddon and the Great Unravelling) who conjure up the same intense desperation and drug-addled lugubriousness that's already been perfected by the Jesus Lizard and the Birthday Party. Love Life's twist, however, is that it's a girl singing. Her voice is so unbelievable that without reading the liner notes you'd
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Finally, a cd reissue of this extrememly rare, sought-after early '70's document of Japanese psychedelia. Includes a live bonus track. Essentially, freaked-out "krautrock" a la Faust, but from Japan. (There even seems to be a little Sly Stone to them too.)
Love Monster is what the mighty Monster Magnet were called before they became Monster Magnet. These seven songs were recorded in 1988 on a four track, and it sounds like it. The cock rock swagger of later Monster Magnet is woefully absent, and in its place a garage-y hard rock that sounds a bit like Iggy Pop fronting Kiss. Or something. Not a bad thing, just really rough and raw and for
Indie record label giant Matador Records has long been the respected source for legendary indie rock with an eye on forward-looking (or at least very 'now' sounds). So, we guess we can't blame 'em for taking a lil' nostalgia kick now and again. In the press notes for this Australian band's latest album, the label makes reference to "what lazy people like to call 'post-punk'", but laziness has nothing to do with it. This IS post-punk. And they also use the phrase "with a decidedly experimental bent", but there's absolutely nothing 'experimental' about Love Of Diagrams' music. That doesn't mean it's not good, it's just a very misleading description. Anyways, Mosaic draws plenty of influence from the edgy female fronted contingent of that late '70s early '80s period (think Au Pairs, Siouxsie, Romeo Void). Urgent electric guitars, churning bass and insistent vocals propel the baker's dozen tunes that make up Mosaic. Think: an Australian sister band of Electrelane! Cool.
Love Songs is Craig from local bandana thrashers What Happens Next. But this has way more in common with his old band, Your Mother. Funny and fast, catchy and sorta goofy punk rock of the Descendents 'girls-don't-like-me-and-I'm-so-sad' variety. Pretty cool.
From the young Bay Area label whose roster continues to grow with such richly atmospheric mood rock combos as D.W. Holiday, Soltero and The Bother, comes this new quartet. Your introduction to Love Vigilante is a brief one. This record containing two of their drowsy indie pop tunes "Technically I'm Wrong" and "Days Of Auld Lang Syne (A Slacker's Ballad)".
After two cd releases this local band have opted to enter the glorious vinyl realm... a limited 4-song 12" pressing no less! On "Into The Fire", The Love X Nowhere continue the bigger rock trajectory they set on their last release the Odyssey cdep. Comes in a brown cardstock sleeve nicely printed with a circle of black birds and radiating blue lines.
This Bay Area band follows up their 6-song debut with another fine cdep. Considerably less boyish pop and less space-psych than last time, and more manly rock. On this Odyssey they've opted for a bigger slicker arena rock trajectory that brings to mind shades of U2. Onwards and upwards, lads!
SF locals The Love X Nowhere's debut 6-song ep begins with a cloud of swirly keyboards. Visions take shape of a shimmering space ship comin' in for landing, but as the hatch opens we're greeted with straightforward energetic pop rocks. This first song "Unworthy" is propelled by a driving beat and boyish vocal harmonies that sorta reminded me of Sloan. From there things move back to the moodier, spacier and Pink Floyd-ier sound that was hinted at by those first few moments. Layers of trippy psych-folk-y acoustic and electric guitars with mellow male vocals. The highlights are definitely the aforementioned lead-off track and the second to last, a lush string-laden number "#45". Very nice! The cd closes with a thumpin' remix version of the third song "Freedom".
