[ aquarius records — Rock Pop ]

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

Showing results 11901 through 11950 of 19388.

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

SORRY.

The Old 97's Too Far To Care was one of our favorite records ever. When that came out in 1997 there was a good chance that no matter when you came into the store, it would be blasting on the stereo. And why the hell not?! It was a perfect rollicking rambunctious blast of super hooky, super catchy No Depression pop. Every song on that record was a classic. But much to our horror, the band plunged into vapid MTV fodder before our very eyes. Putting out a handful of totally lame, faceless records, including an awful solo record from 97's frontman Rhett Miller. We kept waiting, and hoping, that they would bounce back and kick our asses again. Well, after years of waiting, they finally have. Pretty much. Drag It Up while not quite as good as Too Far To Care, is a vast improvement and a darn good record. Catchy and twangy, with wry lyrics and some wicked playing. We knew they had it in them. Our only complaints this time around are the recycled melodies, lots of these songs sound remarkable like old Old 97's tunes (which is maybe why suddenly they sound so good) and the weirdly muddy production. That said though, this is still a pretty darn good record, if only they hadn't set the bar so high.

MPEG stream: Won't Be Home
MPEG stream: Moonlight

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

SORRY. For those of you, like some of us, that were slightly disappointed with the Old 97's last release, here's something to whet those partched lips. Containing four tracks from two long out of print from 1995 & 1996, plus four never before released tracks. More catchy than "Hitchhike To Rhome," and less polished than "Too Far To Care," this album is sure to please.

With baited breath, er, ears, we cracked open the new Old 97's. Would it live up to the brilliance of "Too Far To Care", or follow in the mediocrity of "Fight Songs"? Sadly, the verdict falls to the latter. No amount of re-attempts to listen to this album brings our opinion any higher as well. It seems as if the boys have just lost the ability to write smart and catchy songs, country

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

SORRY. When this came out in 1997 Andee and Byram played this at least three times a day. With hook laden, lyrically shrewd song-writing, the Old 97's are the only band of the "no depression" movement to capture the intensity of early Uncle Tupelo without losing the earnestness or twang. The first song alone, "Timebomb," will get stuck in your head forever. Plus, the final track on the album, a singularly kick-ass number, features a duet with Exene from X.

When this first came out way back in 1997, Andee and former aQ staffer Byram played this constantly, at least three times a day. Literally. It was and still is easily one of THEE best No Depression style records, and even now, 15 years later, it sounds as good as ever. With hook laden, lyrically shrewd song-writing, and serious kick ass rocking, the Old 97's are probably the only band of the No Depression movement to capture the intensity of early Uncle Tupelo without losing the earnestness or twang. The first song alone, "Timebomb," will get stuck in your head forever. And hearing it again after all these years, had us wishing the rest of the Old 97's records were this good. And it just doesn't let up, not a single dud in the bunch, "Big Brown Eyes" is another stone cold classic, not to mention the final track on the album proper, a singularly kick-ass number, features a duet with Exene from X, the sound an even balance between earnest twang flecked classic country balladry and wild rollicking punk infused country rock, with some of the catchiest songs EVER. This deluxe edition features fancy new packaging with extensive liner notes from Old 97's frontman Rhett Miller, but more importantly, a BUNCH of bonus tracks, including four outtakes from the Too Far To Care sessions, and a whole disc of previously unreleased demos, including a handful of never before heard songs!!

MPEG stream: Timebomb
MPEG stream: Big Brown Eyes
MPEG stream: Four Leaf Clover

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

SORRY.

This all time aQ favorite, originally a cute little 3" cd, was recently resurrected and pressed onto vinyl for this year's Black Friday "Record Store Day", but as is the way with those things, got delayed and delayed, and only just recently showed up here. Needless to say, if you don't already own this, or have been dying for it on vinyl, this may be your only chance. And for those of you who like us, dream about the day OMG return to rule, this just might tide you over until then. Here's our (slightly revised) review from when we first listed it way back in 2004: Our favorite primate-obsessed doom metal drone outfit finally return! Old Man Gloom are back with a three inch ep (now 12" lp) to hold us over until their next epic. The centerpiece is the two part "Christmas Eve". The first part is all dreamy drone-y acoustic guitar strum and mournful electric guitar melodies over an ominous rumble that becomes a thick sheet of amps-gone-wild before dissolving into misty ambience again. Part two starts off just like part one but is quickly transformed into a hyper distorted, black hole dirge, with earth crushing downtuned guitars and chanted vocals sounding not unlike Alice In Chains slowed down and run through a bank of distortion pedals (which is definitely a good thing). The rest of the tracks are random bits of OMG ephemera: a thirty second blast of shrieking downtuned metallic grind, two tracks entitled Masami's Music Box I and II, presumably Masami Akita aka Merzbow contributing two thirty second bursts of uncharacteristically sweet melody and ambient hum, and a bonus track, a Mr. Big cover that is so stupid that it's funny (sort of), but has such an amazing ending (why hasn't anyone done this before, but more importantly, how the fuck did they do it) that it would be unfair for us to deprive you of discovering it for yourself. Just don't complain to us when you finally hear it. There is nothing wrong. It's just the OMG Simian Alien Defense League fucking with your mind! Resistance is futile! LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES. In heavy swank cardstock sleeves, printed in yellow and blue, with all new artwork!

MPEG stream: Christmas Eve Pt. II
MPEG stream: Skull Of Geronimo
MPEG stream: Masami's Music Box 1

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

SORRY. Awesome. Simply awesome. Subtitled "A Sound Wave Replication Dissertation On Alien Simian Technology in 13 Chapters", Old Man Gloom's album is a schizophonic album with ultra-heavy post-hardcore/grinding metal in the tradition of Cave-In or Cavity interspersed with deep dronological investigations that could have easily been an Organum or Jonathan Coleclough record. Hydrahead couldn't make this fit with the rest of their catalogue, but released it on their Tortuga subsidiary. Drones, metal, and monkeys... everything that Andee could ask for in an album.

If you've seen the documentary Blood, Sweat + Vinyl, about the Hydra Head, Neurot and Constellation labels, and all the various bands that call those labels home, you'll see our very own Andee publicly profess his undying love for mysterious simian drone metal combo Old Man Gloom. And he's most definitely not alone. For a band that started off as a joke (or at least not as a serious or 'proper' band), OMG quickly became an obsession for lots of metalheads, heck even (and maybe especially) for non metalheads. Their sound a killer concoction of grinding downtuned dirge metal and all manner of experimental drone music, equal parts rocking out and spacing out, even the heaviest jams constantly disrupted by the bands experimental streak, or even more often their twisted sense of humor. And no this is not some joke band, although they can sometimes be funny, and their obsession with monkeys borders on the pathological (but then so does ours, thus another reason we love them), but it's that weirdness and funniness, when wedded to some killer songwriting and some seriously bad ass musicianship (courtesy of members of Isis, Converge, Cave In, Zozobra, etc.) that makes these guys so utterly ruling. And to a degree, the freedom of not taking your band all that seriously definitely makes it more likely that you'll have fun, do whatever the fuck you want, and in the process come up with some mind melting, ear drum shredding shit. But it's been more than 8 years since the last OMG record, so the question is, getting these guys back together again, after all that time, everyone older and wiser, and maybe, heaven forbid, returning to OMG as a proper band, do these musical representatives of the Simian Alien Defense League still got it in them? Thankfully the answer seems to be yes. The sound maybe a bit more modern, but not that far removed from the last OMG missive, starting off with a long stretch of rumbling drones, before some brittle blackened riffage ushers in some crushing downtuned bombast, howled vox, pounding drums, the whole thing wreathed in what sounds like a guitar that keeps shorting out, glitchy and constantly dropping out, which only gives the proceedings a bit of a Faxed Head vibe, which is NEVER a bad thing. The sound shifts to some churning chug, before splintering into a starfield of prismatic effects, processed vox and all manner of blurred sonic shimmer. And we're only about ten minutes in! And so it goes, the heavy parts utterly crushing, the melodic parts crazy catchy, sounding a bit like Torche, that sort of hook heavy sludge pop, and the sounds and songs constantly seeming to malfunction, or implode, or buckle, or crumble, guitars become sheets of static, drums stumble and invert, guitars slip into backwards swoops, low end rumbles thrum and shimmer beneath twangy clean guitars, only to be buried beneath an avalanche of almost symphonic heaviness, only to constantly slip into a grind metal stutter, there's even a gothy steel string acoustic apocalyptic folk jam, that is actually pretty great, and it too rife with all sort of fucked and fractured sounds and production. And finally the record finishes off with the 14 minute "Shuddering Earth", which opens with a blast of super melodic math metal, before slipping into some dark dolorous drift, tons of space, streaked with static, and anguished vox, gradually building to a Harvey Milk like sludgedoom ballad, all about to crack vocals, churning chug, and woozy melodies, but even then, we're only halfway through. A field of minimal crackle/static turns into a sheet of near Merzbow electronic noise, the sounds gradually intensifying, before unexpectedly transforming into a bit of hazy, shoegazy, noise drenched prettiness, that ends in a gorgeous squall of psychedelic high end skree. Fuck yeah! Here's hoping this is not just a one off reunion, cuz even after all these years, we still sorta find ourselves digging OMG more than any of the members' other bands. WAY recommended for sure, and essential listening by order of the Simian Alien Defense League!

MPEG stream: Common Species
MPEG stream: Regain, Rejoin
MPEG stream: Shuddering Earth

Valley King does it again, digging up another retro rock treasure from right here in our own backyard, two tracks of heavy psychedelic blues from Older Sun, who lay down a seriously sweet blast of classic hard rock, a la Mountain, Deep Purple, Grand Funk Railroad, Montrose, Kiss, you get the drift, bit riffs, big hooks, actual vocals, soulful and pretty fucking bad ass, rad shredding leads. The A side "Bad Man" is all seventies anthem, and sounds like it could have been your go-to jam for getting baked in the parking lot of the local 7-11, or for blasting in your parents' car, after sneaking out, picking up your girlfriend and driving around all night. The B-side adds some Van Halen to the mix, starting out all bass heavy swagger and chugging riffage, but when the vox kick in, we get into some almost ZZ Top territory, and another impossibly catchy chorus. Older Sun are band out of time for sure, they may be 'retro rock' now, but if it was 1975, these guys would be ruling the arenas, and playing and partying with with the best of them. Awesome. LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!!! Eye popping, laser-eyed idol cover art by psychedelic rock art master Alan Forbes.

From our pal Mike at the amazing Sleeping Giant Glossolalia comes this latest blast of gnarled metallic guitar heavy whatthefuck from long time aQ fave Mick Barr (Krallice, Ocrilim, Octis, Orthrelm, Crom-Tech) who in Oldest, is teamed up with Brooks Headley (Born Against, Universal Order Of Armageddon), who besides being a rad drummer, is now a fairly well known pastry chef! However, as curious as we would be to hear/see Headley's pastries combined with Barr's axe-work, it is in his role as drummer, that he completes the Oldest duo, which Barr describes as sounding like Voivod meets Darkthrone, but which in fact sounds a lot like Barr's late great Crom-Tech combo. A wild mathy tech metal grindpunk noise-prog blowout that finds the duo unleashing frenzied stretches of tranced out guitars, frantic riffing, the melodies angular and atonal, the drumming dense and complex, the arrangements fractured and fucked up, the vocals a punkish shriek. Intricate and heavy, dizzying and chaotic, the songs super fluid, droney, cyclical and near static one second, lurching stop/start stutter the next, slipping occasionally into chugging classic metal mode or soaring blackened buzz, but always returning to that distinctive twisted technical grinding math/meth metal crush that Barr seems to have a lock on. Fucking awesome. And not even really out until next month, so for now, an aQ exclusive!

MPEG stream: Survivalist Compounds
MPEG stream: Incessant Mortal Creation
MPEG stream: Tower Mockery

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

SORRY.

Old favorites and out of print rare stuff from Palace/Will Oldham. Includes the infamous "Big Balls" AC/DC cover and FIVE NEW SONGS. Guest musicians include Mick Turner and Jim White from Dirty Three, David Grubbs, etc.

LOVELY album showcases Will's growing talents as a real songwriter.

If the Faheyesque fingerpicking that Jim O'Rourke brought to alt.country/indie rock were made even more sparse and given an almost Windham Hill/Michael Hedges/slightly-Renaissance-Faire quality, you'd have the Will Oldham (Palace) instrumental album. This is soundtrack music for a short film based on The Ode to Billy Joe.

Four new instrumentals from Mr. Will "Bonnie Prince Billy/Palace/Palace Songs/Palace Bros/Palace Music" Oldham. The liner notes tell a brief tale of a ship owner and some sailors, but offer little else in the way of recording information or description. Very mysterious. After trawling the internet oceans, we discovered that these four songs were composed as soundtrack pieces for a documentary film by Jason Massot about four modern merchant seamen. Little did we know that if we'd simply looked more closely at the disc and read the small print, we could have found all of this out sans computer. Ah the modern age! Such short attention spans! All the more reason to take some time to immerse yourself in Oldham's somber, contemplative songs. Slowly creeping acoustic guitar and bass navigations that we -- having not yet seen the film -- can say do indeed evoke the gentle rocking of an old ship and the endless rippling of the waves. The most affecting and foreboding of the four is the final "Emmanuel".

MPEG stream: Emmanuel

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

SORRY. 4 songs, none of which appear on the Drag City full length. Recorded up in Santa Rosa with members of the Dirty 3 and Albini behind the board.

Limited as heck, this one-sided 10" with a brand new song from Will Oldham comes packaged with a rather lovely book-like selection of photographs from one Erik Wesselo. The photos are mostly soft-focus landscapes -- forest, sea cliffs, etc. Buy now or cry later, although at $17.98 for one song, this is for uber Oldham fans only.

add to cart [/images/addtocart.gif]/af4105.html Glenn Donaldson (of Thuja, Blithe Sons, Skygreen Leopards, The Birdtree, The Ivytree, etc.) brings us yet another cd-r of his wondrous folk-improv-field-recording, this time, the instruments were dragged to Stonestown Galleria, where the band set up in the bar of popular Italian eatery. So along with gently plucked guitars, and plaintive warbling vocals, and simple childlike percussion, you can also hear the sounds of tinkling glasses, families dining, cell phones ringing and all sorts of other sonic urban detritus. The highlight is probably the 30 minute final track "All You Can Eat Breadsticks", a slowly shifting soundscape of mastication, clinking silverware and piping hot loaves!

MPEG stream: All You Can Eat Breadsticks (excerpt)

After too long in 'out of print' limbo, a few ol' Olivia Tremor Control favorites are now coming back into print on their own label. First 1996's top pop masterpiece Dusk At Cubist Castle was re-issued (we re-reviewed it just a few lists back) and now here's the OTC's stellar follow-up to that album, Black Foliage from 1999. It continued their crafty concoction of psychedelia -- an unashamed pastiche of Beach Boys vocal harmonies, Sgt. Pepper's baroque excess, and the mid-70's surreal pop of Brian Eno. Of the two albums, Dusk is perhaps the better, as the Olivias' propensity for indulging in "ambient" weirdness comes closer to overindulgence here. But being just "almost as good" as Dusk At Cubist Castle is still pretty darn good! Quite a few people agree, as apparently 40,000 (!) copies were sold of the original version, but if you don't already have one of those 40,000, lucky for you here it is again at last, so too you can experience and enjoy the way the Olivias were able to create ten or twelve near perfect pop songs and then dose 'em with lysergic clusters of experimental tinkering. Still fresh.

MPEG stream: Hideway
MPEG stream: A Sleepy Company

While not as instantly memorable or chock full of timeless pop classics as their debut, Dusk At Cubist Castle, the Olivia Tremor Control's second and final record, originally released in 1999, has now been reissued by the fine folks at Chunklet as a super deluxe double lp with LOADS of extra bonus (mp3) material, and listening to this record again more than a decade after its release, we're quickly realizing that being only "almost as good" as Dusk, still means it's about a million times better than most other records. Olivia Tremor Control were one of many bands who were a part of the Elephant Six collective, which also included Neutral Milk Hotel, Apples In Stereo and a whole bunch of others. Elephant Six bands were notable for two things, a sonic nod to the sixties and classic psychedelia, all wound up in a sound that was equal part modern indie jangle and old school tripped out psych, and a penchant for experimentation, and of all the E6 bands, the Olivia Tremor Control seemed to have an experimental streak a mile wide, peppering even their perfect-est poppiest numbers with all manner of freakout and strange instrumentation. And while the band focused more on the 'pop' on their classic debut Dusk, relegating the trippy weirdness mostly to intros and brief interludes, we had previously mentioned (in our original review way back when) that on Black Foliage, the "ambient" weirdness came closer to overindulgence, but again, with fresh ears, and a little time since our last listen, that overindulgence doesn't really sound all that overindulgent anymore, in fact, it positions Black Foliage, as rife with Beach Boys vocal harmonies, Sgt. Pepper's baroque excess, and mid-'70s Eno-esque surreal pop as it's predecessor, as way better than we remember it, that weirdness almost making it a more interesting, and certainly more tripped out, record, a seriously crafty concoction of psychedelia - the Olivias able to create near perfect pop songs and then dose 'em with lysergic clusters of experimental tinkering. A sound that still sounds impossibly fresh today. Needless to say, if you have a thing for jangly psychedelic pop, like Dusk, this too will be right up your alley, and if you're already a fan, you might want to grab one of these quick before they're gone, cuz they've been remastered and include TONS of extra stuff via mp3 download. The records come housed in an eye popping, full color, heavy duty Stoughton sleeve, with a printed insert, and a download coupon, which not only includes downloads of the record itself, but also OVER AN HOUR of bonus material, including a track that was left off the original record due to time considerations, a handful of B-sides, some unreleased audio experiments, unreleased live sessions, a Velvet Underground cover from a VU tribute released in 2000, a live set on NPR, an unreleased track with special guest Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum and more! Wow! Be warned though, we have a bunch of these, but our suppliers are sold out, so these may be the last copies we're able to get.

MPEG stream: Hideway
MPEG stream: A Sleepy Company

Huzzah! This absolutely wonderful album is now, at long last, back in print. If you've already got one, well, let this be a reminder to go listen to it again if you haven't in a while, it's still as lovely and poppy and psychedelic and well-crafted as it was when first released in 1996 and became an instant AQ favorite. If you don't have it, and especially if you haven't heard it, be thankful that it's available again!! The OTC's masterpiece, Music From The Unrealized Film Script Dusk At Cubist Castle (to give it its full title), is just about as perfect a slice of home recorded, neo-psychedelic pop as you can find. Beach Boys inspired harmonies. Lysergic Sgt. Pepperisms galore. Great, glorious songs. Unlike some of their other, experimental or ambient efforts, here the Olivias didn't obscure their songwriting smarts with unnecessary weirdness. Sure there's surreal interludes (and surreal lyrics) but the pop remains paramount. Next to the output of Neutral Milk Hotel (with which really few things can compare), certainly a classic in the Elephant 6 discography.

MPEG stream: The Opera House
MPEG stream: Jumping Fences
MPEG stream: Define A Transparent Dream

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

SORRY. NEW EDITION IN STOCK NOW THOUGH! This is one of the very best pop albums of 1996. Psychedelic and sweet, everyone here at AQ loves this. If you've never heard the Olivias before, start here.

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

SORRY. Finally! A new Olivia Tremor Control release! Three tracks: one is a bubblegum psychedelic pop gem chock full of lovely Beach Boys inspired harmonies that flow in and out of their hurdy gurdy and violin generated ambience, one an experimental droney piece, and one live version of a song from their first album. The title track is a precursor to the forthcoming album Black Foliage Animation (not out until January) while the additional tracks will only appear on this single.

We listed a cd version of this WAY back in 2000, but Chunklet has stepped up to deliver a super swank, newly remastered, & first time on vinyl, version of this classic slab of psychedelic pop from our beloved Olivia Tremor Control. Recorded live at the John Peel studios in the UK, when the band was on tour in 1997, some of our favorite songs get reworked here, sounding surprisingly polished and high fidelity considering the album versions were recorded relatively lo-fi, and thus, here, opener "I'm Not Feeling Human" is a glorious slab of Kinks meets the Beach Boys, via nineties indie rock pure pop bliss, lilting, playful, quirky, catchy, swirling FX, whirring organs, fuzzed out crunchy guitars, fantastic vocal harmonies, all jangly and glimmering and so goddamn good. The rest of the A side is made up of a song suite of tracks culled mostly from the Olivia's classic Dusk At Cubist Castle record, as well as the equally ruling "Giant Day" 7". The sound is supercharged, noisier than the records proper, the psychedelic freakouts, more freaky, but still consistently dreamy and fuzzy and jangly. The flipside is another song 'suite, which is essentially a OTC greatest hits part two, the second suite tending a bit more toward the washed out, an dreamily tranquil, but still balanced out with plenty of fuzzy psych pop crunch. There are also a couple unreleased gems tucked away in the two song suites as well! Pressed at 45rpm, and housed in a heavy Stoughton style tip on jacket, includes a download code as well!

MPEG stream: I'm Not Feeling Human
MPEG stream: Suite One
MPEG stream: Suite Two

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

SORRY. A semi-legit (well, the band is selling it on their website) bootleg of the Olivia Tremor Control's supreme psych-pop, recorded for a '97 Peel Session, mostly culled from the classic "Dusk At Cubist Castle" album, as well as two unreleased tracks and cuts from the fab "The Giant Day" 7". OTC/Elephant Six fans, commence drooling! We're pretty sure this is limited and we're unlikely to get any more when they run out, so, as we like to say, buy now or cry later...

20 track collection of OTC rarities, bumming out collector scum but making the rest of us very happy. You'll find several of the finest examples of GOOD psychedelic pop from the acclaimed 'Elephant 6' collective on this here disc. Included is the truly stunning, impossibly rare 6-song "California Demise" single (which contains 2 or 3 of their hands down best songs ever), the excellent "Giant Day" single, the track from the Apples in Stereo/OTC split single, songs from various Kindercore and Ptolemaic Terrascope comps, and one previously unreleased track. Rumor has it the Olivias just broke up, so at least this 'last' release is one of their best.

RealAudio clip: California Demise Pt. 1

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

SORRY. Raucous stuff from members of Six Finger Satellite and Thee Hydrogen Terrors.

We were never all that impressed by past Olneyville records. This Rhode Island group features ex-members of Six Finger Satellite and trafficked in repetitive minimal post-rock/funk and always kind of fell flat for us. But on this most recent disc things just really seem to click and we're offered up a thick slab of lo-fi post (f)(p)unk jams, instrumental and droning, repetitive and hypnotic. Think a Lightning Bolt 78 played at 16rpm or a smacked out James Brown jamming with the Starfuckers or better yet ESP weirdos Cromagnon trying to cover This Heat. Check it out.

RealAudio clip: free dumb
RealAudio clip: dunce

MPEG stream: Elevator Shaft
MPEG stream: Cowgirl Blues
MPEG stream: Chalino Stump

Ahhh, a sound so immediately familiar and homey, like�a warm summer breeze, rustling leaves and big billowy white clouds in a vibrant blue sky, a sound we hadn't realized just how much we had been missing until that voice, and those melodies washed over us again... The Salvation Blues is the�first record in what seems like forever from�original Jayhawks vocalist Mark Olson, and while the Jayhawks did continue on without him, and while we still dug those records, it was just never quite the same. There was just something so magical about the interplay between Olson's voice and that of his partner in the Jayhawks Gary Louris. And post Jayhawks, Olson went on to play in the�Original Harmony Ridge Creek Dippers with his�wife Victoria Williams, which took the twang and jangle of the Jayhawks in a slightly different direction, and made it even more rustic and countrified, laid back and dreamy... But here we have a sort of return to the glorious old Jayhawks days, especially considering the fact that Louris joins Olson here, contributing harmony vocals, which immediately gives the sound of�The Salvation Blues a distinctly Jayhawks vibe. And we're loving it. Not as rocking as the Jayhawks, not as mellow and country as the Creekdippers, but the perfect mix of the two, the focus on Olson's gorgeous voice, weathered and weary, but still so rich and expressive, the music, subtle but super hooky... a gorgeous blend of the�Beatles, the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers, a dreamy timeless twangy country pop. Jayhawks fans will be in heaven for sure. Packaged in a miniature hardcover book, complete with dust jacket, book of lyrics and photos, and a digipak style cd case affixed to the inside. So fancy and lovely. And SUPER LIMITED, eventually to be released in regular packaging, but for now we have the swank book version.

MPEG stream: My Carol
MPEG stream: Clifton Bridge
MPEG stream: Poor Michael's Boat

From a label whose catalog includes the reissues of Os Mutantes' first three albums and the Monks early demos, an album like Bjorn Olsson's "Instrumental Music" might well have been some lost psychedelic classic. When in reality, this is a contemporary recording from the former guitarist of the Swedish punk band Union Carbide Productions and current member of Spain. "Instrumental Music" is a beautiful recording for shimmering, pulsing sixties' organs, spelling out simple filmic signatures, like the spaced-out/stoner synths of Spaceman 3 attempting to achieve Morricone's grandiosity with Pink Floyd's "Umma Gumma" in their narcoticized short term memory. Definitely inspired by Bo Hansson's great "Lord Of The Rings" album as well. Recommended!

"UPA" is the second solo album from Swedish multi-instrumentalist Bjorn Olsson (formerly of Stoogesy punks Union Carbide Productions, now a member of hip retro-popsters The Soundtrack Of Our Lives). While we're not all quite as taken with this as we were by his solo debut "Instrumentalmusik" (Jim *loved* that album), this is still quite nice. There's less of Bjorn's Bo Hansson worship, more input of varied influences -- from calypso (w/ steel drums and electronics) on the bouncy opening cut to smooth n' mellow '70s grooves to atmospheric droney, folky psychedelia that, like his first album, is very reminiscent of that Italian master of spaghetti western soundtracks, Ennio Morricone. A lot of this is really pretty stuff, mostly lush and lovely, melodic and moody, though our favorite track might be the last, the darker and heavier "Tema I" with doomy distorted guitar and martial drumming, at over seven minutes a powerful finale indeed. Actually, it's the finale twice, as all the songs on here appear two times, with tracks 10-18 being alternate, rawer (?) versions of 1-9, though no explanation is given for that. Still, it's nice to hear 'em again...

RealAudio clip: 1995
RealAudio clip: Tema I

Whoohoo! Another Bjorn Olsson album, that always makes us happy here at Aquarius. So far the Swedish composer/multi-instrumentalist has yet to disappoint. This is his fourth album, the third in what seems to be a seafood-themed series, this one with a crab on the cover. Like his previous discs, this one begs the question: what would Bjorn Olsson do without spaghetti westerns? I don't know if we'll ever find out and that's ok. However, while the spaghetti western style whistling that was so prominent on his last album (one of the best whistling records EVER) is still present, it takes a back seat to Bjorn's guitar. This is his most guitar-centric disc to date, and it means that the melodies with which he's so marvellous seem here seem to possess a definite rock lineage. Certain tracks will seemingly contain echoes of some Beatles, Stones or Stooges song into which it seems Bjorn's guitar strum will soon coalesce, but instead his instrumentals always drift off into a looser, more droned-out zone. Yet the tunes seem so totally familiar, that's his knack. You think you kinda know these songs already, but can't quite place your finger on 'em. Brilliant, 'cause he obviously owes so much to certain other composers (Ennio Morricone!!) yet makes something that you can't really hear anywhere else than on a Bjorn Olsson album. Though, listening to this we can make tenuous connections to such disparate artists as the Sun City Girls (hints of their more garagey folk style), the desert instrumentals of Calexico, and the drone ragas of Henry Flynt. A lot of that has to do with the grimy, dusty quality of the recording. We suspect that Bjorn's tape recorder slowly falling apart, as each album he makes gets more and more lo fi -- which is a good thing! This one's got all kinds of hiss and hum and drop outs and grit that make his music all the more dream-like. Wonderful!

MPEG stream: track 2
MPEG stream: track 8

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

SORRY. Sweden's Bjorn Olsson (a member of The Soundtrack Of Our Lives) returns with yet another album of nostalgic soundtrack-sounding stuff that'll have you asking yourself "where have I heard this before"? Of course, that may be because, when you get through the whole album, you'll have heard many of the songs twice! (Yep, for the same obscure reason he did so on his last album "UPA", ol' Bjorn put the same songs twice on one disc, though the second time around they're definitely different mixes at least.) Anyway, after hearing these tracks a couple times (that is, after one spin of the disc, heh) we found ourselves -- store employees and customers alike -- fairly whistling along, mostly because Olsson's catchy melodies are quite irresistible, but also partly 'cuz several of the best tracks here indeed feature whistling as the melodic lead (think Morricone's "Giu La Testa"). Yep again, as with his previous two albums Bjorn continues to emulate Ennio Morricone, to the point where he's nearly out Heroded Herod. Along with his knack for melody -- super catchy and incredibly reminiscent of specific tunes that will rest on the tip of your tongue -- Olsson's arrangements are increasingly more brilliant to boot. Like a spaghetti western that takes place in a sunny, pastoral meadow or something. A very lovely album, that at first we thought might be a bit too "Hallmark card" pretty, but really really grew on us. Windy's new favorite album, and Byram likes it too! [Note: this is the 2003 album from Bjorn that we used to designate as "lobster" before we learned it was supposed be crawfish, when the REAL lobster came out in 2005. Gaaah.]

MPEG stream: Juli
MPEG stream: Gotenborg
MPEG stream: Instrumental

Sweden's Bjorn Olsson (a member of The Soundtrack Of Our Lives) returns with yet another album of nostalgic soundtrack-sounding stuff that'll have you asking yourself "where have I heard this before"? Of course, that may be because, when you get through the whole album, you'll have heard many of the songs twice! (Yep, for the same obscure reason he did so on his last album "UPA", ol' Bjorn put the same songs twice on one disc, though the second time around they're definitely different mixes at least.) Anyway, after hearing these tracks a couple times (that is, after one spin of the disc, heh) we found ourselves -- store employees and customers alike -- fairly whistling along, mostly because Olsson's catchy melodies are quite irresistible, but also partly 'cuz several of the best tracks here indeed feature whistling as the melodic lead (think Morricone's "Giu La Testa"). Yep again, as with his previous two albums Bjorn continues to emulate Ennio Morricone, to the point where he's nearly out Heroded Herod. Along with his knack for melody -- super catchy and incredibly reminiscent of specific tunes that will rest on the tip of your tongue -- Olsson's arrangements are increasingly more brilliant to boot. Like a spaghetti western that takes place in a sunny, pastoral meadow or something. A very lovely album, that at first we thought might be a bit too "Hallmark card" pretty, but really really grew on us. Windy's new favorite album, and Byram likes it too!

MPEG stream: Juli
MPEG stream: Gotenborg
MPEG stream: Instrumental

This Oly is one gal and she makes some lo-fi sweetie-tronica. A Hot Hooray is her debut release and despite its title, it's far from boisterous. It is light and perky though -- so maybe imagine a shy cheerleader's "Hooray!" That said, the third track "Intro Pieces, Parts, Puzzles - Swallow" with its wistful female vocals and slight abrasiveness brought to mind the recent stuff from Tujiko Noriko (Blurred In My Mirror) as well as Solex. Overall, methinks Oly would fit in very comfily on a show bill (or mixtape) with Casiotone For The Painfully Alone. Earnest, twee twinkliness composed in a bedroom setting amid a mountain of electronic keyboards.

MPEG stream: Intro Pieces, Parts, Puzzles - Swallow
MPEG stream: No Money Fun

A lot of OM related dub on this week's list, elsewhere you'll find a review of the latest dub single from OM mastermind (and former Sleep bass slinger) Al Cisneros, and here we've got a track from OM's most recent full length, Advaitic Songs, stretched way out, spread out over two sides of a 12", and then dubbed the fuck out! You'd have to be deaf to not here the dub influence in OM, even when they're engaged in churning metallic crush, their sound always had a dubbiness to it, lots of space, a definitely groove, but here, that sounds is allowed to flourish into something purely dub, but unlike Cisneros; singles, this dubbed out version of OM, seems to take less inspiration from classic Jamaican dub, and more from the eighties, On-U Sound style digi-dub, and it sounds great, in fact, once again, even though these are remixes, we find ourselves wishing there was a band who sounded exactly like this dubby doomy dreaminess. The sound here is all looped programmed rhythms, vocals clipped, and chopped, doused in echo, and sent swirling into the ether, same with the snare cracks, each crack unleashing a sky full of sonic ripples, but the swoonsome darkly dramatic strings from the original remain, giving the sound a much more moody and mesmeric vibe, the B side adds some Tikiman like toasting (new OM member Robert Lowe? Cisneros himself?) while the track oozes and slithers, a downtempo groove that ends up reminding us of Muslimgauze and African Head Charge in equal measure. Fucking awesome. Here's hoping wither the whole record gets a dub makeover, OR, that the next OM record ends up being a pure, straight up dub record. Here's hoping!

If you've ever heard OM live, well, you know what it's like to see them live. A piece of vinyl, no matter how weighty, can't really compete with that. But, if you'd like to experience OM's stoned live ceremony from the comfort of your own recliner, divan, or yoga mat - and there's a lot to be said for that - the simply titled Live lp on Outer Battery will do the trick. Mean to emulate a '70s classic rock live boot, with raw sound (no overdubs, man) and a simple white sleeve with a pasted on, wraparound b&w cover photo of the band on stage, this document from one date on OM's 2013 European tour is a must for all OM-heads. It features four tracks - on Side A, "Sinai" and "Meditation Is The Practice Of Death"; Side B has "Cremations Ghat I" and "Bhima's Theme". Featuring much echoing drum-thwack, zoned out chant, mesmerically heavy riffage, and a worshipful crowd of Belgians, it is very much like "you are there". While at the same time, OM can help you to "be here now". On "Acapulco Gold" colored vinyl, LIMITED TO 800 COPIES.

The mighty return of the transcendental RIFF! The third Om record! By now the methods and purpose of their ultra heavy music of the spheres is clear. The music on this album, much like the first two, is stripped to its essence. Bass and drums churning out super hypnotic heaviness and repetitive chant-like vocals creating a cyclical whorl of trance-rock divinity. With a lot of new releases from bands we love, change in sound and development of style is important, Om seem to operate with different principles than the average rock and roll outfit. The consistency of their sound lends itself to the eternal nature of the music, as if all three of their records are really just movements in some expansive, cosmic symphony. Within Om's canon, change is felt like the passing of time without the aid of a clock or calendar, existing in the infinite void. And what an ass kicking void it is! The riffs and rhythms on Pilgrimage are certainly just as good as those on either of their previous releases, which means amazingly heavy and heady slabs of stoned out ROCK! The record starts off with the title track, which is an expansive slow burner. Mesmeric and spiritual, soft spoken vocals and a propulsive tom and tambourine beat. The riffs on this track, as well as the bulk of Om's material, have a certain eastern quality, like some strange Sabbath-raga meld, and they go on forever and ever, taking the listener on some sort of mystic celestial voyage. By track two, "Unitive Knowledge Of The Godhead", the fuzzed out bass distortion kicks in, and the sound gets HEAVY! This Sleep-like heavitude continues into the 11 plus minute "Bhima's Theme", by which point in the album the listener is more than likely completely transfixed, eyes a-glaze with the eternal riff burned into their brain. The last song on the album is "Pilgrimage (Reprise)", which makes for a very circular experience, like when listening to the album all the way through, time disintegrates and 32 minutes seems like a split second or a week or an eternity! Heavy, mannnn... Possibly one of the most distinctive things about Pilgrimage is the recording itself. This album sounds fucking great! We mean, for a band that just consists of bass guitar and drums, you could not pick a better engineer than Mr. Steve Albini, whose forte has always been the rhythm section, and he completely nailed the sound! It's warm and cavernous, and completely swallows the listener whole. So, if you are in tune with the amaranthine vibes of Om's two previous records, you will most certainly appreciate this one as a continuation on the path towards the essence of musical anima mundi! RIFF TO ETERNITY!

MPEG stream: Pilgrimage
MPEG stream: Bhima's Theme

Have you been missing Sleep? No, not your forty winks, we mean the mighty stoner metal behemoth that was San Francisco's Sabbath n' sweet leaf worshippers Sleep. The endlessly repetitive riffs, the swinging molasses sludge jams, the massive, mantric starscapes of drugged-out space rock drone and dirge? Yeah, we've been missing Sleep too. They broke up after their magnum opus, the one-hour/one-song album Jerusalem (aka Dopesmoker), members eventally resurfacing in The Sabians and High On Fire. And now Om, the closest thing to the Jerusalem of olde! So if High On Fire's loud and speedy Motorheaded heaviness hasn't quite been giving you that same Sleepy feeling, then here's -another- post-Sleep outfit that might just do the trick. First get rid of the guitars ('cause this is just Sleep's rhythm section, bassist Al Cisneros and drummer Chris Hakius). All they really need is a drum kit, a bass guitar and about 10,000 watts of amplification. Then set the controls for the heart of the sun, and ride all the way there seemingly on a single churning, hypnotic mesmerizing riff, stretched over three long tracks. A super distorted, fuzzed out magic carpet ride into oblivion. The main difference between Sleep and Om (besides the lack of guitar) are the vocals by Al Cisneros. Lots of vocals. And not screaming or growly, we're talking clean, chanting, trance-like vocals, WAY up in the mix. Well, they do sound a bit like the singing in Sleep, just way more prominent. It may be the single thing that keeps folks from getting into Om. But the vocals definitely grow on you, and the laconic sort of slurry sing song-y delivery just further enhances Om's druggy mesmerism. Al's stiffly delivered, endless nasal incantations are in fact now being imitated by the staffers here at Aquarius in our everyday conversations. They definitely give the whole thing a definite Hawkwind / Pink Floyd vibe, which is a VERY good thing. This is most definitely not 'metal', although metalheads will probably dig it. Electric Wizard fans especially! This is relentlessly riff heavy, ultra repetitive, simple, spaced out, hippy drug rock of the highest order. Musically it almost sounds like a Lightning Bolt record played at 16rpm, that effortless bass / drum interplay slowed down to a loping lumber, a slow motion slither, a creepy crawl. Head nodding music for head bangers. A swirling, fuzzy, spacy, mesmerizing, drone rock trip! No wonder ol' Julian Cope wrote it up as a record of the month on his great Head Heritage website...

MPEG stream: Kapila's theme
MPEG stream: Annapurna

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

SORRY. NOW ON CLEAR VINYL! When the first pressing of vinyl sold out, Holy Mountain decided to repress on clear wax. Nice. Here's our review of the music, which remains available on cd too: Have you been missing Sleep? No, not your forty winks, we mean the mighty stoner metal behemoth that was San Jose's Sabbath n' sweet leaf worshippers Sleep. The endlessly repetitive riffs, the swinging molasses sludge jams, the massive, mantric starscapes of drugged-out space rock drone and dirge? Yeah, we've been missing Sleep too. They broke up after their magnum opus, the one-hour/one-song album Jerusalem (aka Dopesmoker), members eventally resurfacing in The Sabians and High On Fire. And now Om, the closest thing to the Jerusalem of olde! So if High On Fire's loud and speedy Motorheaded heaviness hasn't quite been giving you that same Sleepy feeling, then here's -another- post-Sleep outfit that might just do the trick. First get rid of the guitars ('cause this is just Sleep's rhythm section, bassist Al Cisneros and drummer Chris Hakius). All they really need is a drum kit, a bass guitar and about 10,000 watts of amplification. Then set the controls for the heart of the sun, and ride all the way there seemingly on a single churning, hypnotic mesmerizing riff, stretched over three long tracks. A super distorted, fuzzed out magic carpet ride into oblivion. The main difference between Sleep and Om (besides the lack of guitar) are the vocals by Al Cisneros. Lots of vocals. And not screaming or growly, we're talking clean, chanting, trance-like vocals, WAY up in the mix. Well, they do sound a bit like the singing in Sleep, just way more prominent. It may be the single thing that keeps folks from getting into Om. But the vocals definitely grow on you, and the laconic sort of slurry sing song-y delivery just further enhances Om's druggy mesmerism. Al's stiffly delivered, endless nasal incantations are in fact now being imitated by the staffers here at Aquarius in our everyday conversations. They definitely give the whole thing a definite Hawkwind / Pink Floyd vibe, which is a VERY good thing. This is most definitely not 'metal', although metalheads will probably dig it. Electric Wizard fans especially! This is relentlessly riff heavy, ultra repetitive, simple, spaced out, hippy drug rock of the highest order. Musically it almost sounds like a Lightning Bolt record played at 16rpm, that effortless bass / drum interplay slowed down to a loping lumber, a slow motion slither, a creepy crawl. Head nodding music for head bangers. A swirling, fuzzy, spacy, mesmerizing, drone rock trip! No wonder ol' Julian Cope wrote it up as a record of the month on his great Head Heritage website...

MPEG stream: Kapila's Theme
MPEG stream: Annapurna

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

SORRY. FINALLY THE REPRESS IS HERE! These split singles went out of print in a flash soon after we first reviewed 'em on list 244. But more were promised, and now at last they're here, for now... Most of you have already smashed the add to cart button to bits before even getting to reading the review, so we'll keep this brief. A monumental match up of modern psychedelic masters from the NorCal locale. On one side is the mighty post-Sleep behemoth known as Om, a bass and drums duo who churn out extended sludge mantras, and on this track it's no different. A super fuzzed out doomy plod and groove. When we first threw this one, we accidentally had it on 45 and it sounded pretty dang killer and super blown out and weird, until the vocals came in and went all doom chipmunk on us. But at 33 it was even slower and heavier and dirgier just the way it was meant to be. Note: the track on this 7" is the bonus track from the Japanese version of Conference Of The Birds that we listed recently, so a few of you may already have this song! On the other side we have Ben Chasny and his Six Organs Of Admittance, who seem to be upping their own personal dirge quotient in order to compete with the sheer heaviness of Om. There is still some lilting folk, but it's buried beneath wild squalls of psych guitar freakout that sounds VERY Japanese (High Rise, Mainliner, Fushitsusha). Definitely essential.

We've all got our old favorite records that maybe we haven't heard in a while, but it only takes a few bars of the lead-off track to immediately bring it all back and make us wanna dust 'em off again... This was the case when AQ pal and Cup's fellow I Am Spoonbender bandmate Dustin� recently placed a special order for Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark's 1983 album "Dazzle Ships"- �a seeming direct follow-up to Kraftwerk's 'Radioactivity'�- featuring shortwave radio broadcasts, chiming synth lines, speak-and-spells, and earnest, emotive vocals. Take tracks like the bouyant "Telegraph"- it's pure synth-pop goodness, combining an innocent exuberance with considerably more weighty, dark subject matter. An overlooked experimental electronic pop gem, this album is full of wonderful songs and sounds, courtesy of�core members Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey.�In a time when 'the '80s' are seemingly everywhere - and frequently in the most watered-down, cliche forms - it's nice to catch a few quality moments with a brilliant, good old friend. FYI: Jim thinks 'Organization' is way better, but this is definitely OMD's most exploratory moment.�

RealAudio clip: Telegraph
RealAudio clip: ABC Auto-Industry
RealAudio clip: Of All The Things We've Made