[ aquarius records — Rock Pop ]

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Showing results 13201 through 13250 of 19388.

I think we maybe got one of these on vinyl before it went out of print. Qelectronics is Mr Quintron's info-mercial / demonstration record for his unique and twisted musical invention the "Drum Buddy", which those fortunate enough to catch him live have been

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Originally sold only on cassette tape during a Halloween tour, Quintron's latest cd release, The Frog Tape, is broken into two parts -- essentially making side a, side b. The second half, or side b, is indeed field recordings of North American frogs! That's right, an entire album-side of singing frogs!! And according to Quintron, no overdubs! The musical first half of The Frog Tape reminds me of living in Philadelphia and its overall mood. It's hard to describe the kind of naive art and music that comes from a place like Philadelphia -- but this gives one the gist of it -- the antithesis of sonic refinement coupled with quasi-intelligent leanings in the realm of deranged sillyness. Perhaps imagine David Lynch's Eraserhead -- if it were a band. Hailing from New Orleans, Mr. Q has little to do directly with Philadelphia, but whenever he plays there, typically with Ms. Pussycat, it's in a dark, dirty, hot and sweaty North Philly warehouse. Quintron's music blends with the surroundings invariably transforming the space into an electromagnetically charged freakout zone. I think there are linkings that can be made between places like New Orleans and Philly... a gritty love of all things under the surface of society's pop superficiality, coming from a place that will always be held back from success, but I digress. Quintron's Frog Tape layers scuzzy sounds and fucked-up beats from Quintron's patented DrumBuddy with lo-fi art-school vocal effects and much Hammond organ. Fans of Mr. Q will find this a more moody exploration as it's seemingly intended for play on Halloween, but most enjoyable for anytime of the year. Fans of frog field recordings will rejoice with its album-side of authentic swampy frog-singing goodness!

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No one does organ fueled fuzzy garage party rock better than New Orlean's quirky Quintron. Too Thirsty 4 Love has been sounding so damn good blasting from our stereo. Like a way more disturbed B-52's channeling The Cramps, these are the sounds you would want to be going nuts to at the best Halloween party ever. While Quintron is often just laughed off as a joke or novelty artist, the truth is, there is so much blood, sweat, guts and grit to these songs, and this outing is reminding us again of how damn great he really is!

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A new record from Quintron is always a good thing. And this is no exception. More wild and woolly organ madness from the undisputed master.

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Yay, Swamp Tech is on vinyl toooo! So you can spin yer Quintron 'round 'n' 'round! Here's what we had to say about the cd version... Whether or not they actually plan it that way, Quintron albums seem to have a habit of materializing just in time for Halloween. You might recall The Frog Tape CD reissue around this time last year. Those very vocal froggie made for some unexpectedly great spooky party sounds! This album's maybe less creepy and strange than that, but it sure ain't short on the party side of things. Heck, that's something you can always count on from Quintron & Miss Pussycat! Totally frantic lo-fi madness! Eagle-eared Andee thought that the eighth song sounded like a Kiss song, and indeed it is! Quintron covers "God Of Thunder", and what signals party more than a Kiss song? Quintron lets loose a medusa head of cheez-organ noodles while the organ's internal drum machine keeps tickety-tock time and the duo sings songs like "Swamp Buggy Baddass", "Love Is Like A Blob", Fly Like A Rat" and oh yes, "Tea Time". Note: the cd version comes with a dvd, alas, this vinyl version does not!

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Whether or not they actually plan it that way, Quintron albums seem to have a habit of materializing just in time for Halloween. You might recall The Frog Tape CD reissue around this time last year. Those very vocal froggie made for some unexpectedly great spooky party sounds! This album's maybe less creepy and strange than that, but it sure ain't short on the party side of things. Heck, that's something you can always count on from Quintron & Miss Pussycat! Totally frantic lo-fi madness! Eagle-eared Andee thought that the eighth song sounded like a Kiss song, and indeed it is! Quintron covers "God Of Thunder", and what signals party more than a Kiss song? Quintron lets loose a medusa head of cheez-organ noodles while the organ's internal drum machine keeps tickety-tock time and the duo sings songs like "Swamp Buggy Baddass", "Love Is Like A Blob", Fly Like A Rat" and oh yes, "Tea Time". And lest we forget, this CD comes with a DVD too! The liner notes kindly offer this synopsis... "An alligator from New Orleans named Cinnamon finds herself cursed with formosan termites (voiced by Disco Donny) after they visit her sno-ball stand. Then Cinnamon and her friend Lolly Crawfish are on an adventure... aboard a ship with Captain Dreamweaver, visiting the Mother-In-Law Lounge to see Ernie & Antoinette K-Doe (voiced by the real Mre. K-Doe), and even sneaking into the secret world of termite raves! Written and directed by Miss Pussycat". And yes, it is as gleefully entertaining as that sounds!

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This is ex-Slant 6 / Autoclave star Christina Billotte's new band. Joining her is her sister Mira and, as a suprise to us, Mick Barr of Orthrelm and Octis (who keeps his lightspeed squiggly metallic guitar style in check here). Quix*o*tic has the edgy danciness of Slant 6, but that's where the similarities end. Stylistically it's really all over the place but in a good way. There are songs that sound like slightly twisted and odd British psych and folk. There's some '60s soul/funk influenced numbers with creative backing vocals that reminded me of the old Motown girl groups. There are a few unfortunate moments on this record however, namely those few cheesy and embarrassing covers that made us cringe. The worst is without a doubt "Lord Of This World" by Black Sabbath. Yikes, that's really bad! A good song, but we don't care for their somewhat careless cover version. I can't tell if they're trying to be funny or not, but I didn't approve. So, if you just skip the covers this record is pretty darn cool, creative and eclectic. With the covers, it's still eclectic, even more so. Bravo, kind of.

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From the Bay Area folks who brought us the wonderfully twisted, eclectic sounds of Borful Tang, Blanketship and Vulcanus 68, we've now received a new project of mind-loosening aural trips. Qulfus (aka Dominic Cramp who is currently on the road playing organ with Carla Bozulich's Evangelista whose new cd we also have listed this week!) roams freely through the hills and valleys of art-damaged exotica and dank noise soundcapes. The craftily collaged samples and tactile sounds from analog synths, electric bass, pots'n'pans and other unconventional instruments make for a listening experience very much reminiscent of the glorious dark strangeness of Bruce Haack and Gershon Kingsley. Comes packaged in a burlap covered cardboard case.

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Got a whole bunch of new releases from the Universal Consciousness label, a new lp of twisted experimental black noise from Kilt, the final release from shoegaze black metal one man band Wrath Of The Weak, and the latest slab of twisted blackened weirdness from Lord Time. And then there's this, some seriously fucked up outsider bedroom blackened doom folk from the Pacific Northwest, which is even more twisted than that sounds. Imagine intensely strummed acoustic guitars, fluttering flutes, cardboard box blast beats (or maybe it's someone slapping their palms on a table), add some raga like drones, and some seriously harsh blown out vokills, some weird samples, and holy shit, you've got the unpronounceable Quloelfi, whose sound is a seriously demented strain of blackened bedroom weirdness, the sound slipping from furious ACOUSTIC black buzz, to droned out ritualistic psychedelia, to distortion drenched 4 track folk, apocalyptic and menacing, the vocals are sick, a hellish monstrous shriek, that when draped over even the dreamiest folkiness, transforms the sound into something abject and demonic, but even with that shrieking, the band sometimes add a second clean vocal, a twisted counterpoint that only makes it all that much weirder and cooler. Some tracks the drums do sound real, and the guitar does sound electric, but even then, it's got this weird, stumbling low fidelity home brewed bedroom vibe, that makes it super twisted and super unique, especially when the band whip up some seriously majestic black buzz heaviness, using elements that are obviously not typical. We can honestly say we've never heard anything like this, and thus we're sort of obsessed, and think anyone into twisted outsider heaviness, and warped experimental weirdness, will likely be as smitten as we are.

We made the debut lp No Visitors from these Texas drugged out psych/doom/noise/kraut/sludge weirdos a Record Of The Week back June, and well, since these tracks were culled from the very same recording session that produced that record, you could very well consider this a sort of Record Of The Week part two, and really if you dug No Visitors, this is more of the same, blown out psychedelic heaviness, that sounds like a mashup up of the Butthole Surfers, Hawkwind and Shit And Shine, all filtered though AmRep nineties noiserock and Texas knuckle draggers Rusted Shut. Which if you're anything like us, is about all you need to know. But if you're new to Quttinirpaaq, or just need a reminder, give a listen to the first couple samples below. The brief sort-of intro, the sweetly titled "Diary Of A Pig Keeper's Wife", is all detuned trudge, crumbling slo-mo riffage, death march drums, weird, slowed down chant like vocals, this is some sort of wasted, psychedelic ultra doom, but it's on "Chinese Hercules" that Quttinirpaaq really get to flex their musical muscles, locking almost immediately into some seriously tranced out, heavy hypno-rock riffage, that weds super distorted drum pound to churning looped riffage, garbled vox and swirls of noise and effects into some heavy, space, psychedelic noise rock that takes everything we love about White Hills, The Heads and all the rest, cranks it WAY up, and drags it through the filth, resulting in some seriously next level kraut-sludge space-psych heaviness that KILLS. And while it doesn't necessarily get better from there (not sure how it could really), it stays pretty epic and psychedelic, heavy and warped, tripped our and trancey, most of the tracks some weird sort of hybridized psychedelic krautrock and noise rock crush, the band locked into endless grooves that roil and churn mesmerically, while all around sounds swoop and swirl, streaks of feedback, blasts of FX, constantly shifting textures, buried melodies, all blurred and smeared into heaving, noisy, heavy psych weirdness. Some of the tracks here get downright out there, some surprisingly beautiful, still noisy, but infused with surprising melodies, and crafted with a delicate touch, while others are just pure skull caving crush, and still others are almost electronic sounding, seemingly dabbling in the same warped outsider electronics as Shit And Shine. Needless to say this RULES. Everyone who bought and loved No Visitors, is gonna want this too. And if you've yet to check these guys out, Let's Hang Out might just be your new favorite heavy / noise / psych / space jam. You have been warned. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl, clear with 'blood red spray'. Comes with a full color insert, and it's LIMITED TO 300 COPIES!!

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While so much of the mainstream press surrounding this new R.E.M. record offers up phrases like 'the return of R.E.M.' the truth is that R.E.M. have really been a rare example of a band who has sold millions of records and reached the highest kind of success a rock n roll band can achieve, while still continuing to make quality music throughout their entire career. Yes, their last outing Around The Sun was their weakest to date, but many of us here have loved other recent records by them like Up and Reveal. Of course probably everyone at AQ has an early R.E.M. record that they still hold dear to their hearts. Accelerate is for sure the most rocking and 'loud' R.E.M. record in many years, probably since Monster. But we're not always sure if we need R.E.M to totally rock anymore, some of the more subtle and textured atmospheric pop they were creating on Up and Reveal was really exciting, innovative and even rivaled indie mainstays like Yo La Tengo. Stipe and company always know their away around a song and if you like your R.E.M. with guitars turned up high and the rock on full throttle you will find lots to like on Accelerate. While there are moments that can feel a bit forced, and the more laid back tracks tending to please our ears the most, you have to give R.E.M credit as most of their peers who began in the early '80s either faded away or began making records that were totally embarrassing and cringeworthy, and while Accelerate is no Murmer or Reckoning, it's another strong and worthwhile album from one of the better bands of the last three decades.

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With Around The Sun, R.E.M.'s album discography reaches a baker's dozen and they start it off with a total heartstring pulling, major motion picture soundtrack-ready song "Leaving New York". Is this how far they've come (or more specifically, how far they've strayed) from their early days? Apart from the presence of Stipe's unmistakable voice, these songs are for the most part faceless. When taken on its own for what it is, it's really not that, uhh, bad. They've simply become an extreme example of 'mellowing with age' (others might use the less kind word 'bland'). Newer R.E.M. fans will probably still find plenty to love on Around The Sun, but old schoolers might doze off after a few songs. As if to spice things up, Q-Tip drops in to lend some vocals on one song "The Outsiders", but they seem jarring and out of place -- sorta like when your ol' Uncle Louie tries to get hip with the kids by donning some ass-draggin' pants and a backwards baseball cap. It just doesn't fit now, does it?

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We've got a couple more fine releases from Dynamophone Records, the SF indie label we were raving about last list (also see: Balustrade Ensemble, Halou, Po, Pornopop, A Lily, Curium, and Disinterested)! Beneath Trembling Lanterns begins with the distant peal and tinkle of bells and glassy chimes. An enchanted beckoning. Ms Coseboom's cooed vocals are quite akin to retro sugar of Julee Cruise or the womanly knowingness of Jane Siberry. However, the album's overall impression is more modern a la Lamb or Portishead -- a beautiful blend of old and new sounds, styles and instrumentation. Sweet, soft, slow and soothing.

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Ever since Death Cab For Cutie made the leap to a major label, it seems that everyone's been waiting to see what new band on Barsuk fills that indie void. While Ra Ra Riot do have a similarly earnest and sensitive poppy vibe, their delivery is much more peppy and their brand of pop has more chamber undertones and classic power pop chops that the more classic indie rock sounds of DCFC. But judging on the number of folks that had been hounding us to get this in stock after their sold out show at the most recent Noise-Pop fest they may soon be glowing in some bigtime popularity. We hear lots of Elvis Costello and some of the songs sound like The Strokes covering Arcade Fire. We give them some bonus points for covering Kate Bush's "Suspended In Gaffa". Not breaking any new ground but certainly delivering catchy tunes in a fine tradition, and who knows, they might just be the next big thing?

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There's a crazy story behind this record supposedly, something about a mysterious package, containing some strange jewel, one that when exposed to certain frequencies would 'sing', emitting fantastic tones, the jewel itself resilient to all manner of abuse, according to the notes, "its lusterless surface could not be broken." Not sure what that has to do with the record itself, we were imagining that perhaps the conceit was that the tones on this record were produced by that strange object, but regardless of that story's veracity, the music itself, created by this duo, is suitably mysterious and mesmerizing on it's own. A heady, collection of lysergic spaced out psychedelic dronemusic, crafted from guitars, synths and electric sitar, each track a slow burn sonic smolder, long tones, minimal pulses, hushed and rhythmic, total kosmische bliss out, fans of Expo 70 and Tangerine Dream, and all the rest of the sonic space rock explorers, Man Woman Death Birth Infinity is another vehicle in which to escape the bonds of this earth, of this time, and this universe, immerse yourself in these otherworldly sounds, and drift heavenward, floating atop streams of ionic pulses, of tangled psych-drone melodies, of thick, pulsating drones, some of the tracks here anchored by super distorted rhythms, and laced with distorto-shred psychedelia, others introduce chugging electric guitar, and warp them in clouds of swirling electronics and spaced out FX, and still others unfurl hypnotic strands of heady buzz over processed field recordings, building lush layered ragas, every track here some kind of sonic gateway, total trip-out ur-drone bliss, like Spacemen 3 jamming with Sunroof!, which if that doesn't sound crazy good, then you might just be reading the wrong list. Fantastic, spaced out, drone-y, druggy mesmer, that is absolutely and wholeheartedly recommended.

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We reviewed a split 7" from these Colorado noise rockers a while back, where we described them as sounding like "some sort of modern version of big ol' post punk sludge groove, hard not to hear some Scratch Acid in there. Ultra grimy downtuned guitars, super dense and mathy arrangements, woozy basslines, blown out fuzz guitar, growled/shouted vocals. Almost like a way darker, way more punk Pelican in a way." Apparently they liked that enough to put it on the cover (!), and some of that definitely still applies (not the Pelican thing so much here), this is some seriously heavy, crusty, noisy, pigfuck, distorto filth, raw and nasty, think classic AmRep, think Karp, a sort of post metal heaviness wrapped around dirgey punk rock pummel, dense distorted knuckle dragging caveman crush, the vocals a throat shredding howl, somewhere between death metal growl, Killdozer Yowl and Muppety howl, the music buzzy and blown out, super rhythmic, downtuned, heavy and hypnotic. Kinda weird to think Rabbits are from Portland and is made up of guys from Angel Hair / The VSS / Pleasure Forever, cuz damn if this don't sound pretty Midwest to us. Regardless, this is some thick as molasses, punked out sludgy noise rock that KILLS. Total doom sludge metal punk bliss. Fuck yeah. We've got compact disc and colored vinyl.

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We listed a split lp a little while back, that featured these guys teamed up with the equally strangely named Under Mountains. We dug both bands so much we decided to get our hands on whatever we could, thus, this latest 7" from Rabbits. Who are WAY heavier than their cute and fluffy name might lead you to believe. Rabbits are some weird post punk, angular sludge rock hybrid, a super chaotic screamo groove outfit, corrosive guitar lines, totally spastic drumming, howled vocals, a massive heaving swirl of post punk grooves and unhinged post rock fury. Dense and complex, blown out and droney, there's some Scratch Acid in there, but way more revved up and wild, careening like some sort of PCP dosed yeti. The second side slows it way down into some serious sludge territory, sounding almost Melvins-like, with downtuned riffing, relentlessly pounding rhythms, the whole thing heavy as fuck! Packaged in super cool black on black sleeves, each side visually depicting the song titles (sloth on one side, bees on the other) and includes a thick hand screened red cardstock insert.

These guys dropped into the store and left some records for us to check out and holy shit did we have our asses handed to us. It's very rare that we'll hear a split lp with two bands we've never heard of, that will knock us for a loop, BOTH bands kicking serious ass, but here you go. There seems to bee some sort of Colorado connection (Angel Hair, VSS, etc.) and you can hear it once in a while, but this is a lot darker and lot heavier. Both bands have a similar sound, so much so that you could be forgive for assuming they were the same band, but closer listening reveals lots of important differences. Rabbits are some sort of modern version of big ol' post punk sludge groove, hard not to hear some Scratch Acid in there. Ultra grimy downtuned guitars, super dense and mathy arrangements, woozy basslines, blown out fuzz guitar, growled/shouted Yow-like vocals. Almost like a way darker, way more punk pelican in a way. Which is most definitely a good thing. Under Mountains counter with their own furiously dense and heavy, sort of sludgy post-math rock. Lots of angular guitars, some strangely Maiden-ish moments here and there, super complicated drumming, heavy and sludgy but also groovy and pretty dang catchy. They, like Rabbits, could definitely fit comfortably alongside the modern crop of instruMETAL rockers, but both bands, especially UM are a lot mathier and grimier. Reminded us a bit of the recent more rock releases on Rise Above, like Capricorns, Taint, etc. Killer stuff!

Here at AQ, we're well acquainted with multiple 'o's. Most often used in reviews of ultra doom records, you know Moss, Monarch, Asunder, Catacombs, Celestiial, Bunkur, and usually used to denote -more- doom. The slower and the filthier, the sludgier and the more buzzing and trudging, the more 'o's. So describing a band as doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom is not at all unheard of around here. But we rarely see multiple 'o's anywhere else. So what's the deal with Raccoo-oo-oon? What are all of those extra 'o's for? Do they mean anything? And what about the hyphens? What the heck are they all about? Is that how you pronounce the band name, ra coo OO oon. 4 syllables. Or just the more traditional two, as in the middle 'oo' is silent? No matter how you interpret the 'o's and hyphens, it's strange and unusual and not a little bit confusing. Which pretty much perfectly captures the essence of these guys' sound. A dizzying collision of free rock splatter, jazzy skronk, stumbling outsider folk, and full on noise. What makes Raccoo-oo-oon special is the fact that they somehow manage to sound like all of those things at once. An ultra dense blitzkrieg of sounds, that impossibly manages to be heavy and free, skronky and melodic, spastic and pretty all at the same time. We've listed a few other releases from these guys, a clutch of lps and a cd, all of which kicked our asses big time, but as much as we dug those discs, Behold Secret Kingdom trumps them all. Songs, sound, it's all so much more focused, the melodies are catchier, the blown out blasts are even more caustic and abrasive, the vocals are much more 'present', a strange sort of howled primitive wail, the guitars are heavier, more dense, the rhythms, groovier, a surprising amount of 'swing' for a noiserock combo. With Behold Secret Kingdom, Raccoo-oo-oon have sort of emerged as super distinctive noisemakers, in a scene rife with same sounding combos, these guys don't really sound like anybody else. Right out of the gate, the sound is a wall of thick guitars, swirling and keening, loads of buzz and squealing feedback, the drums a dense tribal blow out, the vocals drifting over the top, some strange invocation. It's equal parts krautrock, noiserock, and post rock, all smeared and tangled into a glorious blast of super fresh, garage-y psychedelic free rock whatthefuck. The next track veers into some angular synth drenched new wave noisiness, with squiggly synths, droning high end guitars, thick buzz swaths of sound, relentless, almost funky drumming, and moaning atonal speaking-in-tongues vocals. As hard as it might be to imagine, it sounds a bit like some impossible mash up of Crash Worship, Excepter and Faust, but with some weird new wave-y sheen. The songs are definitely rhythm based, the propulsive drumming guiding everything, the vocals sort of trailing after the drums, the guitars, at once riffing and defining the shape of the songs, but at the same time drifting and swirling totally free, unmoored from any sort of traditional song-based structure and wrapped around the jams like thick tangled ropes of sound. There is occasional sax, which is where a lot of the skronk element comes from, but even sans sax, the songs retain a bit of skronkiness, angular and atonal as often as warm and melodic (maybe more often in fact. Occasionally, the band -really- let loose, the guitars erupt in acidic squalls, the drums splattery and abstract, everything spinning wildly, the result a huge dense cloud of super distorted psychrock freakout. And just as often, they lock into some strangely new wavey garage rock stomp, like a less misanthropic, more groovy and druggy Brainbombs, and as if that weren't confusing enough, they also often just let loose and engage in endless dopesick jamming space rockery, a roiling blown out FX drenched space rock pound, relentless and so goddamn good. And like we mentioned before, the magic here is that Raccoo-oo-oon don't just switch gears from space rock to weird free rock jam and back, all of those different sonic sides bleed into each other, and all over each other, one at a time but then ALL AT ONCE, a slithering, shimmering, constantly shifting, shape changing organic sound sprawl that is as amazing to hear as it is difficult to describe. And if we were in fact, to apply the same sort of rules regarding the extra 'o's, to these guys, that we do in our doom reviews, then we might as well begin calling these guys Raccoo-oo-oooo-oo-ooooooo-oo-o-o-o-ooo-oo-oooo-ooo-oo-oo-oo-ooooooo-oon. Fuck yeah.

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A gentle dreamy little sonic addendum to one of this week's records of the week, the latest from the strangely named Raccoo-oo-oon. But is it really that dreamy and gentle? Well, sort of. Beginning with softly plucked atonal strings and simple pots and pans percussion, all of a sudden lurches into a strangely new wave-y synth jam, propulsive drums, fuzzy slithering synth melodies, sounds sort of like Avarus jamming with Mates Of State. Weird, but pretty dang cool. The flip side begins in a similarly laid back fashion, a super abstract percussion jam, lots of cymbals and bells, clangs and sizzles and clatter, with hollering and hooting way back in the distance, before the band once again explode in a frenzy of fuzzed out rock, this time though, it, a buzzy, slightly jazzy space rock freak out, all thick bass, pounding drums, throbbing synths and moaning and honking alien horns buried beneath the sonic swirl. Killer stuff, and just like the full length, it's impossible to figure out where in the world these guys are coming from, and equally impossible to predict what's gonna happen next, which is precisely why we're digging it so much.�

More blissed out full moon music from these multi syllabic musical mammals (say that ten times fast!). Four tracks spread out over 2 sides... And if the last Mythos Folkways lp is any indicator, blink and you'll miss this... The first half begins all fluttery and folky, dreamy melodies drifting amidst swirls of percussive thrum, all tangled up into some sort of fracture folk, peppered with random free jazz skitter, garbled vocals and dense clouds of FX. It sounds like a band -about- to stumble into action, -about- to fully rock out, tense and dense and abstract and mysterious, for most of the side, but then they DO rock out and it's awesome. A blown out mathy psych jam, drums and cymbals everywhere, guitars grinding and growling and swooping and soaring, all wrapped in thick swaths of reverb and delay and distortion, eventually petering out and finishing off with some soft blissy drift.� The flip side follows a similar sonic pattern, beginning with more abstract skree and clatter, a haphazard improvised ramble, which gradually builds into a tripped out alien krautrock jam, still abstract, but with little propulsive lurches, draped with bizarre falsetto vocals, haunting harmonies, all unwinding into a slithery garage-y groove.� Cool hand screened covers, photocopied insert, and of course way limited...

Man do we hate good-byes. Whether to an old friend or to a favorite band, saying farewell ain't easy. Especially for Iowa City's Raaccoo-oo-oon, who offer up this self-titled lp as their official last release. And though we'll miss tediously typing out all the necessary c's and o's to correctly spell the bands name, we feel this last record is a worthy farewell gesture. Seems like they really gave it all they got here, blown out noisy post-everything chaos, they nobly go down with the ship on this one. Noise rock annihilation, highly recommended for fans of Dead C or Skull Defekts! Don't miss your chance to say goodbye!

These two bands are a match made in hell. Assuming hell is some backwoods primitive pagan free folk jazz flecked noiserock jam session taking place during a full moon in the heart of some dark forest. In this corner, we have the impossible to pronounce Raccoo-oo-oon, from Iowa of all places, who fill up their side of this lp with a length, shimmery almost-jazzscape rife with scrabbly electric guitars, haunting washes of some distant horn section, angular riffing, muted trumpets doused in wah wah, this is some sort of alien psychedelic free jazz. Sort of. Abstract and space, this is an epic space rock jazz freakout fantasy, spacey FX, big waves of skronk and skree collide with tranquil drifts of jangly guitar and simple caveman percussion, a few minutes in, the record skids to a halt as some beast made out of speaker shredding digital glitches and grinding spastic in-the-red guitar rips everything to shreds, but the record quickly picks back up and drones on in a hypnotic blissed out jazz flecked krautrock freefolk groove. And you thought that was way out, the flipside is the work of Brooklyn's Woods, who are a pretty good match for Raccoo-oo-oon, donning a similar cloak, equal parts deconstructed free jazz and avant noise rock. Swooping atonal guitars slip wildly through a dense tangle of staggering stumblin freejazz Neanderthal percussion, surrounded by clouds of dizzy guitar squiggles and swirling psychedelic distortion. Woods are like the damaged offspring of the No Neck Blues Band and Sunburned Hand Of The Man, the child they keep locked in the basement, the one who pounds on the door until they through raw meat down the stairs to calm him down. Mix in some weirdly rock riffs (at points it almost sounds like the band will lock in and rock out, although they never do) and some splattery jazz weirdness, and you've got the wonderfully weird world of Woods. Elaborately packaged in a hand painted, silk screened, sleeve, garish green and black and brown, purple photocopied insert. Pressed on super thick swirled yellow opaque vinyl, and each disc comes with a different colored rabbit's foot attached to the sleeve!

Jeepers it's been a while since we've reviewed an album by these heavynoisyspasticartpunkrock dudes from Nebraska, and we almost neglected to list this new one, but thought we should since there's bound to be a few AQ customers who groove to Racebannon's weird brand of manic, maybe-metallic mayhem, one part Melvins, one part Dillinger Escape Plan, one part anything on Skin Graft or Toyo (RIP). Sounds like: screaming sneering vox, jagged guitar distortion, wiseass brutality... When you're in the mood for it, great! When yr not, well, the 22 separate, entirely silent 7 second tracks that come between track 10 and 33 will be among your faves here. If on the other had you want even more of Racebannon's earhole abuse, keep an eye out for their next release, a 12" entitled Merzbannon, which is apparently one of their previous albums "remixed" by you-know-who.

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The Secretly Canadian label is generally known for stuff (like Songs:Ohia and the Danielson Family) much more quiet and gentle than this, the debut album by a "PA destroying" crew of raucous rockers from Nebraska. They word on these guys was: Heavy (a la screams of their endlessly ranting vocalist(s). The songs on here seem to get better towards the end of each, as the band starts winding down and individual parts are given more space, and get more distinct. Altogether, on "In the Grips of the Light" Racebannon are more noisy than heavy, but either way will interestingly impact your skull. File with other American avant-hard-rockers like Clawhammer, Mount Shasta, US Maple, Liquor Ball, Dazzlingkillmen, Lightning Bolt...

RealAudio clip: Sober and Sad
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Ok, first off, someone in Racebannon needs to be flogged for that title. That aside, this is a fine disc of crazed and metallic art-punk weirdness. More mayhem than a bunch of old Skin Graft bands fighting in an alley with the Load records roster. A real rumble. Refer to our review of their previous album "In The Grips Of The Light" for more descriptives -- this disc is pretty similar but if anything more metal and crushing and, well, Satanic. Actually there's some sort of weird narrative concept to this album that has to do with a character named Rhonda Delight, and the Devil, but figuring it all out to explain to you would require too much reading of what appears to be a libretto in the cd booklet, so you'll have to check it out for yourself.

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SORRY.

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

SORRY. Second time around, Rachel's is just 3 musicians. The music was composed for a play about the artist Egon Schiele. Someone described it as chamber music for indierockers, and that does pretty much sum it up. Such lovely chamber music, it is!

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SORRY. More quietly stunning chamber music from this constantly evolving group of post rockers. Absolutely beautiful!

The Rachel's have always been in a tough position. Indie kids eat up their take on chamber music, but lots of other music folks think, 'well why not listen to REAL chamber music?'. We were always of the mind that it was great that a bunch of indie rockers were exploring and trying something new (well, new to them) and maybe turning some kids on to classical music in the process. And their records were always quite pretty and pleasant. And then they surprised everyone by pairing up with electronic duo Matmos for their last release. But on Systems / Layers, Rachel's have finally bridged the gap between their traditional chamber music side and their experimental side, and the results are fantastic. Still present are the lovely mournful strings and Rachel Grimes delicate piano, but the arrangements are strange and more otherwordly, with plenty of found sounds and field recordings. Alternately dreamy and creepy, familiar and totally alien. Reminds us a bit of a less bombastic Godspeed or listening to classical music on your Walkman with only one earphone on as you explore some new city. We always liked Rachel's but this is the first record of theirs that really made us super excited. Check it out.

This release from Rachel's and Matmos will undoubtedly warrant sufficient critical consternation / amazement / hate / love simply based on the unusual pairing of the two sets of musicians. Rachel's - the indierock answer to a chamber ensemble - present a shortened but reconstructed version of "Full on Night" originally found on their first album "Handwriting." This updated version dynamically rearranges the original such that it maintains its antiquited sound (delicate played piano with a reserved guitar angularity)... It's super sparse at first and mutates by the end of the track into something quite rockin', especially for the Rachel's. San Francisco's electronica duo Matmos, by turn, apply a wealth of electronic trickery to the Rachel's sound. Scraped violin and a guitar din similar to the Moore / Ranaldo duets for guitars and screwdrivers emerge from a digidubscape that gets quite volatile by the end of Matmos' 18 minute excursion. While apparently not overly concerned with keeping the Rachel's material recognizable, Matmos mirrors the out-rock / chop-shop of Brise-Glace -- that project fronted by Jim O'Rourke many many moons back. This is one of those records that the staff in the office is so confounded by that they have to run out to the front room to find out what's playing. I mean, you'd never guess.

We hardly need to write anything about this disc, as it's a band that features the White Stripes' Jack White. For most folks that seems to be enough. If you've even glanced at Rolling Stone or Spin or any music video channel, you're probably sick to death of this band already, without hearing note one. And White has been ubiquitous in publications like Star and Us Weekly, his breakups and dating habits, right there alongside Brad and Angelina, Vince and Jen, and all the baby Apples and Shiloh's. But all that stuff serves to do is to distract from what is in fact a fucking killer pop record. And while White's voice features prominently, as do his songwriting and guitar playing, all completely killer by the way, this record is all about his bandmate Brendan Benson and his perfect pop pen. This is no White Stripes side project, instead this sounds more like the latest and greatest Brendan Benson record, that just so happens to feature Jack White. Benson has been making perfect pop records for years, quietly outdoing all of his pop rivals. Benson's One Mississippi is probably one of the greatest pop records you never heard. As was the follow up Lapalco. Benson's got a killer voice, a great ear for melody, and a seemingly effortless knack for spitting out ultra perfect pop, but with plenty of loud guitars. An unsung power pop hero for sure. So it's a bit sad that it takes teaming up with his longtime pal White to get heard by more than a handful of indie pop hipsters, but so be it. And the fact is that the combination of White's voice and guitar teamed up with Benson's is pretty much unbeatable. This record is great. Ignore all the press bullshit, all the photo shoots and all the hype and just dig in. The opener, "Steady As She Goes" might just be the pop song of the year (and peep the killer video featuring the band racing soapbox derby style featuring Pee Wee Herman as a nefarious race saboteur!). Awesome harmonies, strange studio FX, crunchy guitars, all wrapped around a hook that will get stuck in your head FOREVER. The rest of the record, while never quite reaching the pop perfection of the opening track, is still pretty dang great. Leaning strangely toward some lost seventies radio rock, a hard rockin' pop sound, Zeppelin III, Steve Miller Band, Beatles, etc., but with a serious hard pop sheen. Fans of the Posies, Sloan, Silver Sun, Apples In Stereo and all things glistening Beatles-esque Big Star-ish, big guitar, soaring harmony, foot stomping, hand clapping, kick ass power pop!!

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There was a time when this LA combo was one of THEE aQuarius bands, played in the store constantly, top ten lists, in-stores, the whole shebang. Former aQ staffer Byram, and former aQ owner Windy, were both huge Radar Bros. boosters, but really everyone dug their dark wistful slowcore indie pop sound. Weirdly it's been YEARS since we reviewed a RB record, and our very favorite, The Singing Hatchet, popped up in the early days of the aQ list, so gets a very brief, but still pretty glowing review, worth reprinting here, cuz it probably applies to the band in general, not just that record: "Mellow LA-based slowcore trio Radar Bros make some of the most emotional music we've ever heard. With super-plaintive, Pink Floyd-y vocals, creamy thick guitars, and hook-filled melodies, some of Radar Bros songs are so beautiful you literally have to stop what you're doing just so you can listen to them - yeah, they're that good! Fans of Low, Half Film, Red House Painters, and Palace will LOVE this record." And we have to say, listening to this new one now, we're tempted to think the same thing. The first song started, and it was like we never stop listening, totally warm and familiar, and dreamily enveloping, but there have been some changes, the sound is a little noisier, more distorted, there's even weird drum machine on the first track, but it's all woven into a warm shimmering haze, that simply blends into the classic Radar Bros. sound, and makes it just more, more fuzzy, more psychedelic, but just as hooky, and dreamy, and poppy, and addictive as before. In fact, as we often do, we listened to opener "If We Were Banished" five or six times in a row, before we moved on to "Reflections", which was somehow just as great! Think the above mentioned bands, but maybe this time around, include Teenage Fanclub, Olivia Tremor Control, Sleepy Sun, the sound is definitely more washed out and shoegazey, lots of studio stuff going on, swirling effects, swooping backwards guitars, textures and layers, all of which suits the songs, but the key is that the songs are still fantastic, stripped down, hushed and intimate, slide and lap steel surface here and there, the drumming spare and simple, the vocals warm and just a little bit rough. Long time fans will not be disappointed, and fans like us, who some how missed out on the last few definitely have some catching up to do. And if you've yet to check these guys out, give the samples below a listen, and prepare to be smitten. So good!

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It's been so long since we've heard from the Bros. (three years since "And The Surrounding Mountains" was released) that we'd taken them for broke-up. Well, we're pleased that our fears were unwarranted. There's no escaping the sounds-like-early-Pink-Floyd chorus of remarks that seems to follow Radar Brothers like an albatross whenever they're played. But then again, that's certainly not a bad comparison, or anything to be ashamed of. They can keep milking this musical cow as long as they want as far as we're concerned, cuz they know how churn it better than anyone. As with their previous recordings, their songs are mostly paced in that unique Radar Bros. snail paced tempo, like they're being pulled through molasses and their lyrics are the stuff of fever dreams. Haunting and dispassionate descriptions of horrific scenes, bleak outlooks and unhappy endings are the stuff of Jim Putnam's song writing, which are then hermetically encased in dreamy, opiate paced songs. You find yourself wanting to sing along with a chorus, but are afraid someone might catch you as the lyrics "Hey, is that blood, coming from me..." slip from your lips. With their songs seemingly floating in a space in between major and minor key, like a good blues, Radar Bros. can write sad songs that warm your cockles. It's a creepy and wonderful warmth of feeling, not unlike crying into a pillow until you fall asleep as a child, only to wake up feeling great. And while we don't want to deceive you into thinking the Radar Bros. resemble, even remotely, a blues band, there's also something -- as Allan pointed out -- timeless about the music of The Radar Brothers. They don't seem to take their cues from what anyone today is doing. If there's anyone they're influenced by it would be the aformentioned Pink Floyd (circa Meddle), or (a severely depressed and macabre) Beach Boys. Like their previous recordings, The Fallen Leaf Pages was recorded entirely at Jim's Skylab (now currently under Phase III) studio, and as you might guess it's absolutely gorgeously produced. Fallen Leaf Pages is an album that will grow on you with each listen. Highly recommended!

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Back in November of '99, Radar Brothers' album The Singing Hatchet was our Record of the Week. Didn't think it was possible, but the band has actually gotten even better (to the point of -gasp- converting an AQ staffer or two who didn't like' em before), thus we hereby bestow the same honor on the new record And the Surrounding Mountains. For those of you who're unfamiliar with the LA-based trio of Jim, Senon, and Steve, their sound can be most easily described (and I'm sure they're tired of hearing it) as very similar to Pink Floyd. And not just any ole Pink Floyd, mind you!, but specifically the sad, epic two songs that conclude The Dark Side of the Moon: "Brain Damage" (y'know, "the lunatic is on the grass...") and, god, especially "Eclipse" ("And all that is now/And all that is gone/And all that's to come/And everything under the sun is in tune/But the sun is eclipsed by the moon...") You know how you never want that song to end, it's such a pretty, bittersweet way to close an album? Radar Brothers have made FOUR ALBUMS of that sound all stretched out and atmospheric and personal and warm. The guitars are ever so plaintively strummed so that you hear the chords but also the individual strings, the vocals are hushed and sung usually as a duo, the melodies achingly gorgeous, majestic swells of emotion. They're so great that I find it hard to do anything else while listening to Radar Brothers; like Low and Red House Painters' work, Radar Brothers' songs *demand* stillness and respect -- all your attention. Highly recommended.

RealAudio clip: You and the Father
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The vastly different music groups Dengue Fever and Radar Brothers share the bass playing excellence of Senon Williams. He must be a very busy man -- both have awesome new albums out now! Don't want to belabor the point too much, but the contrast is remarkable between the international technicolor frenzy of Dengue Fever and the Pink Floydian space-rock of Radar Brothers. One gets your heart pumpin' and brings a flush to your cheeks. The other offers unwinding, soothing dreaminess (a possible point of comparison: an earthier Flaming Lips!). Both stir the listener to open channels and let go! Despite the implied audience and artist stage enclosure of title, the Radar Brothers' fourth full length is for roaming open spaces and star-gazing while keeping an introspective mood. No walls in sight. Simply beautiful.

MPEG stream: When Cold Air Goes To Sleep
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THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. Mellow LA-based slowcore trio Radar Bros make some of the most emotional music we've ever heard. With super-plaintive, Pink Floyd-y vocals, creamy thick guitars, and hook-filled melodies, some of Radar Bros songs are so beautiful you literally have to stop what you're doing just so you can listen to them -- yeah, they're that good! Fans of Low, Half Film, Red House Painters, and Palace will LOVE this record.

Wow, out of nowhere (okay, there was a 10" a coupla years ago but we missed out) comes this FANTASTIC trio from Los Angeles whose quiet, mournful sound and plaintive vocals remind us of Neil Young & the delicate side of Pink Floyd. For fans of Low, Scud Mountain Boys, Radiohead, and Rex. Definitely a winner; we highly recommend you hear them.

While they are most certainly still very Pink Floyd-esque in their interstellar expansiveness, the beloved Radar Brothers' fifth album has what might be their most straightforward pop songs to date... and we're digging 'em! The mood is downright upbeat and breezy at times, but it totally works with the band's warm enveloping sound which also suited their earlier slow creeping melancholia just as well. The Illustrated Garden is a wistful instead of solemn listen, and a wonderful follow-up to their last full length, Auditorium. Songs such as "Rainbow", "Radio" and "Horses Warriors" are perfect for cruising down the West Coast on a warm spring or summer day with the top down. As always, recommended!

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We actually had the debut tape from these Chicago fuzz pop garage rockers, released on the seemingly now defunct Plus Tapes label, but for some reason never managed to get it reviewed, which is a bummer, cuz this new 7" is definitely hitting the spot. You can now add another band to the roster of garage pop combos we dig, who like some of their sonic brethren and sistren, are channeling classic sixties girl group pop, even the vocals here, make, but high enough and reverby enough to have us thinking 'girl group' all along, the music is lush and melodic, fuzzy guitars and driving drums, chiming melodies, underpinned by swirling synths, the first track getting downright distorted and crunchy near the end. While the B sides is a short blast of fuzzy almost punky pound, with whirring organs, buried vox, and a super sweet chorus that must go over gangbusters live. Serious sing along potential for sure. Definitely excited to hear more!

First full length from these Chicago fuzzpop garage rockers, and it definitely fulfills the promise of the cassette and 7" that came before, the sound a glorious mix of brooding, organ driven drugrock, paisley underground power pop and Mikal Cronin / Ty Segall style garage pop jangle, with the sound shifting constantly between murky and droney and washed out, to glistening and dreamily majestic, fuzzy, crunchy and hooky, to pounding and propulsive, hints of new wave find their way into much of the record, reminding us of another recent aQ fave the Mind Spiders, but there's still plenty of that reverby jangle pop Phil Spector wall-of-sound haze that defined those earlier releases, and a definite tendency towards tranced out psychedelic memser that positions much of the record alongside the sound of fellow psych-rockers like Moon Duo, Wooden Shjips, the Spyrals and the like. Which of course also means there's some obvious Spacemen 3 worship going on (just check out the woozy dreamy druggy drift of "Disconnection") as well as nods to the Velvets ("Prairie Puppies"), and of course the current crop of similarly minded locals (Thee Oh Sees, etc.), but even with all those sonic comparisons, Radar Eyes definitely make the sound their own, thick low slung basslines, wild gouts of psych guitar tangle, churning rhythmic crunch, shimmering fuzzed out jangle, dreamy vox, big hooks, and be sure and stick around for the record closer, "Side Of The Road", where the band go full on cold/new/dark wave, all pulsing synths and buzzing basslines, programmed rhythms and deep crooned vocals, ominous and haunting and darkly sinister, sounding suddenly like something you might expect to hear on Sacred Bones or Captured Tracks...

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We REALLY like Viennese instrumental glitch-groove trio Radian. This, Chimeric, is their first album in four whole years. And it's awesome. So it deserves a glowing review from us. We're having trouble writing it, though. The problem is, we made the mistake of going back and looking at what we wrote about their previous albums, and feel like we already said it best about 'em then, can't really top lines like these: "Y'know how in subatomic reality, seemingly solid objects aren't solid at all, but filled with empty space interspersed with electrons and protons and such? Radian's music is kind of like that, atomized, spacious, abuzz with crackling energy", and "There's a jazz/improv element as well, but rather than rock/jazz fusion this is more like fission, breaking down elements of both musics, and releasing volts of energy in the process." See? Good stuff, eh? And those sentiments apply here as well. Though, it's not like this is just the same as Radian's earlier work. No, their computer-processed live improv post rock electro-acoustic sound (whew!) has definitely developed, Radian themselves considering Chimeric to be more "Free", though what they mean by that we have to guess, perhaps it's why this Radian record does seem rather more noisy, raw, chaotic, rocking, & heavy than ever before, though. Which is much to our liking, as it brings 'em even closer to sounding like some bands to which we've compared 'em in the past, a "sliced-up Circle" and, especially, a "sci fi This Heat", that uniquely rhythmic British experimental prog-rock unit from the '70s, who are really one of our "touchstone" bands here at AQ that we're always referencing in reviews, always hoping to hear something new that reminds us of 'em (we're the same way about the likes of Comus, Goblin, Earth, Magma, Black Sabbath, and Circle too). Thus, one reason we dig this Radian album so much (and Radian's other efforts too) is 'cause we can hear a lot of This Heat goin' on here. This Heat gone electronically futuristic in some mad scientist's laboratory, that is... The fractured structures, jumbled rhythms, distorted guitar stabs, and rumbling textures found here are totally hitting the spot. We mentioned it's been 4 years since their last album, and it's about time. We NEED more music like this, thanks Radian!

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Y'know how in subatomic reality, seemingly solid objects aren't solid at all, but filled with empty space interspersed with electrons and protons and such? Radian's music is kind of like that, atomized, spacious, abuzz with crackling energy. We loved the last Radian album, Rec.Extern, and are mighty pleased with this new one, another dose of glitch-happy instrumental post-rock from the Vienna-based trio of Martin Brandlmayr (drums, vibraphone, electronics, computer), Stefan Nemeth (synthesizers, guitar, computer) and John Norman (bass). Yeah that's two computers, and no they're not checking their email, they're integrating their live playing with computer processing and programming droning, rhythmic soundscapes of urgent beats and simmering atmospheres... Imagine the likes of Circle, Salvatore, This Heat, and Village Of Savoonga...all sucked into a computer (kinda like Tron) to do virtual battle... There's a jazz/improv element as well, but rather than rock/jazz fusion this is more like fission, breaking down elements of both musics, and releasing volts of energy in the process. Exciting, beautiful, creative, futuristic.

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