[ aquarius records — Rock Pop ]

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We're excited to get this brand new second release from England's Urthona, bursting with more of what we termed "shoegazing freeform rural-psych-noise-guitar-drone" in our review of their first disc. The liner notes credit "all sounds, including field recordings in Devon and Wiltshire" to Neil Mortimer, he who is one man mystic band that is Urthona. Ah, field recordings. You know we love nature sounds here at Aquarius. Wind, water, uh... massive howling psychedelic electric guitar blow outs? Since when did you need earplugs for an out of doors ramble? Well, maybe you do, if it's with Urthona! After all, the cover for Urthona's first album I Refute It Thus showed Mr. Mortimer standing atop some Cyclopean stones out on a moor, posed with his Gibson Les Paul guitar thrust downwards like he was summoning feedback from the granite, and the cover of this one depicts an waterproof-anorak-wearing Mortimer again with guitar on a mossy green rock in the middle of a series of cataracts somewhere on a wooded mountainside deep in the wilds of Dartmoor. Does Neil Mortimer always take his electric guitar along on hikes? When he's hiking with his pal, druid dude Julian Cope (who took the photos), apparently so... Thus, while woven into these tracks there are some environmental audio samples taken from Mortimer's soggy tramps about the West Country, including "footfall squelches" mentioned in the liner notes, there's also mega amounts of amped-up guitar (played through his favorite "Durham Electronics Crazy Horse fuzz pedal"). Of course, he's not really recording the guitar out in the great outdoors. But definitely when he's back in the studio making Urthona music, he's got the ancient English landscape he so loves on his mind, channelling that earth energy into waves of glorious rumbling guitar fuzz. There's moodier moments, but mainly what Urthona unleashes is an ever expanding, exploding, grinding white light distortion drone meant to be played loud, generating vibrations as physical and solid as those giant rocks and stones found on the album covers. Amidst which, once acclimated, listeners will discern melodies slowly moving, gentle and glacial. It's something like a more organic, psychedelic, pastoral SUNNO))). Remember think global, act local? Urthona thinks local, acts cosmic. Just as with Urthona's previous disc, this one also consists of three loooong instrumental tracks, this time they are: "Urthona's Barbaric Yawp Sounds Over The Roofs Of The World" (19:06), "The Waters Of The Fen Have Brought Forth Flowers" (17:43), and "Born Psychedelic" (19:56). Each one makes you glad to be alive and appreciative of such "barbaric yawp", indeed! (At least, if you too were born psychedelic.) It's on cd-r rather than cd this time, but the packaging is still super fancy, just like that of the debut, in a tri-fold eco-friendly wallet with insert cards of William Blake artwork and various evocative quotations.

MPEG stream: Urthona's Barbaric Yawp Sounds Over The Roofs Of The World
MPEG stream: The Waters Of The Fen Have Brought Forth Flowers

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

SORRY. Yay! A new release from longtime aQ fave Urthona, also known as UK resident and lover of the great (and often wet, in England) outdoors, Neil Mortimer. Traditionally, Urthona's music draws upon two sources of power - the EARTH and the GUITAR. This disc once again finds the man tramping about the countryside, finding inspiration in the landscape of ancient, lichen-covered rock outcroppings, and rough, wild wind-blown moors... and channelling that environmental inspiration through his trusty electric guitar into some truly fantastic, fuzzed out psych/drone compositions (or are they improvisations?), of what Mortimer calls "elemental amp worship", probably meant to be played loud, though they work their magic at softer volumes too. There are two mega tracks of that here, both mesmeric, the 23+ minute "White Light Occulting" opening the disc with wisps of fuzz and feedback, eventually building to heavier, yet still blissful densities of distortion. "Breathing Instant Infinity", the other long one, at 14 and a half minutes, returns again to the buzz and drone, but gets more active as it goes along, swirling and unfurling in pastoral, post-Hendrix (or Young) psychedelic soloing fashion. In between these two epic workouts, there's one much shorter piece, the title track, 3:38 of mysterious environmental ambience - what sounds like a tape collage of wind, weather, animals, voices, and ???????... actually the liner notes shed some light on at least one of the elements of this track: "The DRAANGGG sound, a recording of vehicles being driven over a cattle grid [what we might call a cattle grate?] on the B3357 outside Dunnabridge Pound, Dartmoor, is a homage to John Levack Drever's album, 'The Cattle Grids Of Dartmoor'." Ha, now we've got to track that down, don't we? (Apparently a disc of field recordings released in 2005.) Anyway, yes, 'tis another fine outing from Urthona, full of distortion and drone and fadeaway shimmer, both physically and psychically potent. It marks the first release for Urthona's new cd-r label Heavy Rural, and while it's a pro-printed cd-r (and consequently cheaper than the usual cd) it has the usual attractive Urthona packaging, in a printed cardboard jacket within a folded cover, with artwork, photos and liner notes. Urthona "does it himself" very nicely, but we wonder why this aQ fave, as we said, isn't at this point signed to some established underground label, like perhaps Immune or Important, 'cause his stuff is so good we're always surprised that we don't hear more 'buzz' about his fuzz...

MPEG stream: White Light Occulting
MPEG stream: Breathing Instant Infinity

"Feedback-laden West Country psychedelic free-noise garage metal" eh? Released by the record label division of druid rock dude Julian Cope's indispensable Head Heritage website? Gotta check that out!! And so we did, and so here it is... Urthona's I Refute It Thus. The cover of this disc bears a picture of a giant granite outcropping on a remote moor in England, beneath white clouds and a curiously pink sky. These massive, lichen-encrusted rocks have loomed over this particular Dartmoor hilltop for untold ages. If you look closely at this photograph, you'll see the figure of a long-haired man standing amidst the stones, facing the dawning sun, holding an upside down electric guitar, headstock jammed into the earth. Now imagine that his guitar is actually powered up, feeding back, plugged in somehow to the cyclopean stones, themselves both a source of earth-energy and also an obvious visual parallel to a wall of Marshall amplifiers... well, that's just about what the music on this cd sounds like!! Rock, from the rocks. (Except, Urthona use Fender amps not Marshalls... the liner notes also tell us Urthona play Les Paul guitars, and "make frequent use of the Durham Electronics Crazy Horse fuzz pedal", aha.) There's three long instrumental tracks on this mystic silver disc... beginning with the woozy, vertigo-inducing electric strum and howl of the ten minute "Urthona Cannot Be Destroyed", which sorta sounds like the Dr. Who theme being played on primitive feedback guitar by krautrock hippies Amon Duul... nice. Track two, "The Bright Burst Of Morning" (19:34) is dronier, calmer, yet expectant with doomic potential. And finally, the third track, "Sun And Moon So Heavy" (21:44) does indeed do justice to its title. Waves of deep, grinding, spaced out guitar, so heavy indeed. Blissful at low volumes, vibrationally destructive at louder ones... seriously you need to be carefully turning this disc up! It's certainly heavy, but in an in-the-red atmospheric way that can reward a quiet listen... The primal sheets of shrieking skree and dense distortion unfurled by Urthona's guitars (multitracked, as it's a one-man-band; Neil Mortimer take a bow) are also intertwined with pretty, folkish melodies, with also brief bouts of hand percussion or field recordings of gurgling waters mixed in... We're put in mind of the gritter moments of Steven R. Smith's Ulaan Khol I. Or perhaps a heavy Keiji Haino session, if he were channelling some cosmic acid-folk concept in his mind's ear. The other Neil (Young) and SUNNO))) could be further comparisons. This cd comes in a unique eco-friendly tri-fold cardboard sleeve, with card inserts bearing details of art by William Blake and quotations from Walt Whitman and Albert Einstein, amongst other thought-provoking text found here. The photograph of the "Hound Tor" on the front is by J. Cope himself... The packaging, designed by like minded pagan droner and fellow Cope associate, Holy McGrail, is fantastic, except that we have preferred if the cd itself had been given its own paper sleeve. The pocket it sits in, along with the two inserts, isn't snug enough to hold it completely securely, and some minor cosmetic scuffing might occur to the disc's playing surface as a result. Bah, but that's a minor complaint, and interferes not a whit with our enjoyment of Urthona's glorious shoegazing freeform rural-psych-noise-guitar-drone!! We love this, and a lot of you are sure to, too.

MPEG stream: Urthona Cannot Be Destroyed
MPEG stream: The Bright Burst Of Morning
MPEG stream: Sun And Moon So Heavy

We're always pleased to receive a new opus from the 'heavy rural psych' act Urthona, headed up by guitarist Neil Mortimer, whose droning, amplifier-worshipping sounds also worship the pagan gods and natural landscapes of his native England. Naturally enough, he's a colleague of the druid-dude himself, Julian Cope, and Cope again joins Urthona for this one, playing drums and cymbals - and he also, in fact, inspired the disc's music, 'cause it's sorta meant to be the soundtrack to Cope's novel One Three One, in which some fictitious psych bands from the island of Sardinia in the early '70s apparently figure into the narrative. So, this is Urthona's imagining of what one of those bands, called Atlantis?, fronted by Sardinia's own Hendrix, a teenage guitarist named Gennargentu, might have sounded like - hmm, a lot like the Urthona we're used to! All of that's very confusional but the end result is another great Urthona disc of guitar drone nirvana, enhanced by organic percussion and Devonian field recordings. There are two long tracks, "Bruxo" and "Reppu", super slo-mo, feedback and fuzz-distorted drone-adelia, rising and falling like the wind or the tide; massive, yet light and luminous. From the bed of drone of "Bruxo" eventually arises another strain of sound, a plaintive melody, presumably Mortimer, channelling "Gennargentu", double tracking or using pedals to sculpt these layers. "Reppu", which begins with a percussive flurry, offers more of a metallic edge of darkness to its drone and mighty heft, sounding a bit like Black Sabbath, but over the course of its 20 minutes finally enters into a bliss-out zone towards the end. Both tracks are very much not static, with constant motion and development, and are ultimately exceedingly mesmerizing!

MPEG stream: Bruxo
MPEG stream: Reppu

Some seasons have passed, earth energy forces have again gathered, and now we are happy to herald the return of Urthona - aka Neil Mortimer, guitar-wielding Briton from the West Country, a man who channels the pagan spirits of his native land in the way the ancients intended - with massive psychedelic electric guitar/amplifier feedback! Just ask Urthona's sometime accomplice, the archdruid dude himself, Julian Cope, he'll tell you. Or ask us. We've raved about Urthona's "heavy rural sound" over the course of several releases. For this one, Urthona conjures up a storm, seriously, that's the idea - this is a concept album about a historic storm that swept across the southern British Isles in November of 1703, or so we're told (we didn't consult an almanac). Must have been a doozy to deserve this disc, which consists of a single epic track (38 minutes and 3 seconds, no more no less). Don't get the wrong idea - this "storm" is portrayed with a lot of nuance, moments of respite, suspenseful dynamics; it's not a full-on blow-out for the duration. All-instrumental, as always, this begins with the (ominous) calm before the storm, a mix of windy, watery field recording ambience and quietly keening guitar feedbackdrone, slowly building, surging, unfurling, as the storm approaches. Mortimer's carefully collected and edited environmental field recordings lend verisimilitude, concept-wise, but it's how they blend with the howl of his guitar that gives this its amazing power, you hear the wind and rain but also what the imagination can only conceive of as celestial sounds, like sad angels singing wordlessly (don't laugh). 'Tis glorious stuff. Imagine, if you can, a Caspar Brotzmann / Chris Watson collaboration. Even at about ten or twelve minutes in, the storm hasn't fully struck, in fact, maybe there's a break in the clouds, some sun shining through, but you know that's not going to last... no, but it's another tantalizing and beautiful feedback-sculpted ten minutes or so more, before the drones of Mortimer's guitar and ambient weather recordings truly build into storm-of-the-century proportions, at the tempestuous climax of which Mortimer's abstract axe/amp wrangling (talk about guitar "squall") is further augmented with some "destroyed drumming" (or maybe this is when the drumming really kicks in, it could have been there all along, just buried under / indistinguishable from the distortion). Better batten down the hatches if you haven't already. And then, at the end, feel cathartic peace, the (sonic) storm having washed away all cares. Altogether a lovely experience for those who dig the elements: wind, water, electric guitar. We're always impressed with the amount of thought and care that Urthona/Mortimer puts in to his music, conceptually and compositionally - and that's carried through with its packaging every time as well. So once again, a super nice physical artifact, the disc coming in a T-shaped four-panel folding sleeve bearing color photos of Mortimer in a red anorak, with his trusty Les Paul, clambering around on WWII era anti-tank defenses on a beach in Dorset. It includes two inserts, a small hand-printed one and a larger, folded one; the latter with b&w photos of stones accompanied by some intriguing quotes.

MPEG stream: The Element's Rage� (excerpt 1)
MPEG stream: The Element's Rage� (excerpt 2)

Time once again, we're honored to announce, that we all are enabled to plug directly into the Earth's own Ur-Drone, 'cause we've got the new album from England's Urthona, psychedelic drone warriors heavily inspired, or even empowered, by the mythic natural landscapes of their rural West Country home, a green and pleasant and pagan land... Previous Urthona missives have all contained long, epic tracks, but this one takes things further, as it's but one single piece, clocking in at 47 minutes, 59 seconds, conceptually concerned with the "elemental cyclic seasons" and patterns of weather in the Southwest of England. "Super-Heavy Hamoazian Reverie" lives up to its title, and you don't even have to know what "Hamoazian" means (The Hamoaze is a stretch of river in Devon and Cornwall, it turns out). There's field recordings from the area's moors and ancient tors woven into/buried under the hazy, echoing guitar distortion, feedback and assorted electronics of the main Urthona dude/druid Neil Mortimer - whose usual amped up, windswept guitar and synthesizer is augmented by more modular synth from prior Urthona collaborator The Asterism, as well as for the first time on an Urthona recording, drums! Though we feel like we've heard some subtle hand percussion on other Urthonas, before. The drums here, though, are more to the fore, when unleashed - while much of this is droning, drifting drumlessness, when they do start pounding the skins, additional krautrocking power is manifested, and maybe it's no surprise that one of the guest drummers here is longtime Urthona associate Julian Cope, who knows a thing or two about ritualistic rock n' roll. The other two (!) drummers are Mr. E from Cope's band Braindonor, and one Albert Snazz. We're beginning to think of the Boredoms, say circa Super Roots 5. And as always, we'll mention Ulan Khol, Keiji Haino, and maybe Neil Young a la Arc. Cope you may remember once appeared on a SUNNO))) album, spouting pagan poetry... and while this is all-instrumental (they confine the poetry to the text found on the cd's sleeve and its inserts), Urthona could definitely (again) be compared to a pastoral SUNNO))) of sorts. This album is a sometimes blissful, but often blistering, trip, certainly meant to be played LOUD for full submission/submergence. There's feedbacky frenzies and quieter, calmer stretches too... sometimes The Hamoaze is flowing strongly, water roiling, other times it meanders gently, into an estuary with "strange eddies and weird tides", where you could certainly still slip beneath its placid surface and drown, down among the "conger eels and U-boat nets"... we're quoting here from the text that accompanies the cd, which is packaged, as with previous Urthona releases, in a handsome, eco-friendly cardboard tri-fold sleeve, with lovely photos/art, including two card inserts bearing quotations from William Blake and Fredrick Douglass.

MPEG stream: Super-Heavy Hamoazian Reverie excerpt 1
MPEG stream: Super-Heavy Hamoazian Reverie excerpt 2

Chuffed to get another gorgeous transmission from the pagan UK dronester known as Urthona! Previously we've enjoyed the heavy organic sounds of his J. Cope approved "shoegazing freeform rural-psych-noise-guitar-drone" via Urthona's I Refute It Thus cd on Head Heritage and Amid Devonia's Alps cd-r on Further. Now he's back, teamed up with a likeminded mysterious entity known as The Asterism, for a cd (not cd-r) on Further called Murmurations. There's two tracks here, "River Severn Bore" clocking in at 24 minutes 20 seconds and the title track, a mere 19 minutes 50 seconds... about what we'd expect, epics! Both pieces are titled after natural phenomena that even though admitting of scientific explanation, still may appear mystically significant even to modern day observers. "River Severn Bore" refers to an unusually high wave that in ancient days inspired legends, "Murmurations" are what vast swirling swooping flocks of starlings are called, as they dance in the air, seemingly synchronized in their movements. Both titles make for excellent inspirations for the sonics here, Urthona and The Asterism's amped up guitars building buzzing drones massive enough to match such awesome spectacles, with their own field recordings captured on hikes in the English countryside mixed in perfectly, the electronic fuzz eventually morphing into a wash of rain/water sounds at the end of "River Severn Bore" ferinstance. That's the denser/darker of the two pieces, throbbing thickly, grinding drones licked with feedback, SUNNO))) and Boris fans should bow down... "Murmurations" is heavy too, but as befits its subject, displays more agile, active movement, sounding somehow exotic and raga-like, with delicate high-end shimmer from guitars and amps echoing the cries of birds from the field recordings that are also present in the mix, as is, we think, some gentle percussion... it falls somewhere between James Blackshaw and Bong, perhaps. Quite lovely -and- fuzzy. Packaging is again a trifold "eco-wallet" affair, recycled cardstock, vegetable based inks, these fellows nature worship taken pretty seriously, in more than just the music...

MPEG stream: River Severn Bore
MPEG stream: Murmurations

Sadly it's R.I.P. for Brooklyn-based artpunk combo USAisamonster, this is indeed their final recording (though we're pretty sure that despite disbanding, they still think the USA remains a monster). As their many previous offerings displayed, these folks are part prog rock, part druggy jamboree, part campfire singalong, and thus pretty unique, and quite delightful. With both singsongy mathrock spazz pop and synth-driven psych-outs, along with references to Native American folklore, this record fits firmly in the grand USAisamonster tradition, and makes for a fitting epitaph to their confusional career. The distorted screaming attack of "Four More Years" stands in contrast to the much more melodic vocal approach found on most of the tracks, vocals which are sometimes chanted in a way that makes us think of The Shaggs just a bit - though unlike The Shaggs, this unit of course has got hella technical chops (just check out the jazz fusion-y guitar soloing of "Heavner"!). With odd timings, plenty of melody, quirky surprises, and their own original, undefinable X-factor, it's difficult to make comparisons to other bands, but if you like, we dunno, say Deerhoof, Lightning Bolt, The Ex, 31knots, Talibam! (a member of which guests here) and, uh, Thingy, you should check these guys out if you haven't already. USAisamonster's legacy is to leave the world of music a little richer... and possibly more bewildered. They will be missed. Don't miss this.

MPEG stream: Grey Owl
MPEG stream: Ranald MacDonald
MPEG stream: No Drugs Til Now

With a name sure to sell copies of their records overseas, this (American) two-piece unit would be wise to step up the availability of their merch. This release, the second to appear on our new arrivals list in the space of a month, shows that perhaps they're aware of the golden marketing opportunity the Bush administration has been providing. Actually, Citizens of the Chronic constitutes a compact disc edition of two previous vinyl releases by the band: 2002's Masonic Chronic 45rpm 12" ep and 2001's Citizens of the Universe LP. In the wake of the duo's excellent, recently highlighted Tasheyana Compost album, this is a most welcome reissue indeed. The disc is packed with tightly wound, yet rubbery math-rock outbursts, again in a politicized punk-hippy vein (not in the 'grebo' sense though!). With vocals varying from chanted poetry to punk shouting to absurdist falsetto 'singing', it's the instrumental 'grooves' that will get you though, full of maddening repetitions, noisy chaos, tight changes, and manic energy. Yet some unexpectedly melodic, almost folky moments crop up betwixt their twangy hardcore assaults. With their sincere, skronk-folk songwriting, Usaisamonster are somehow the hybridization of Lightning Bolt, Suicidal Tendencies, Amps For Christ, and NoMeansNo. Maybe. Anyway, they're pretty great at whatever you want to call what they do. So get Tasheyana Compost, first, and then if you need another dose (like we did), pick this up.

MPEG stream: Ritalin
MPEG stream: Ropetwine

More spiraling, spastic yet melodic punk-prog from this radical Brooklyn band - radical both politically, and in the, like, "rad, dude!" sense of the term. A mere two-piece (with the occasional guest helping out on a couple songs herein, when the use of trombone and throat singing became necessary), The Usaisamonster draw comparisons to Lightning Bolt but go off in a lot more directions fancy and fantastical than that band. Maybe, imagine a hectic hybrid of Lightning Bolt, Koenjihyakkei, Heavy Vegetable, Deerhoof, Sun City Girls, and Uz Jsme Doma... Certainly opener "Cocaine Wedding" sounds something like that. Though later in this album, Usaisamonster mellow out a bit (never, however indulging in much of the campfire hippy folk stuff that imbalanced some of their previous albums). "Above All It's The Songs" is the title of one such mellower song here, one that comes the closest to being playable on '70s AM radio of anything these freaks have done, which is not too close of course. And above all it IS the songs we love 'em for, Space Programs simply being another fine collection of the Usaisamonster brand of bizarre but sincere-sounding songsmithery. Done with distorted stabbing guitars, catchy quirky rhythmic grooves, deliberate vocal chant (a la Om), sudden changes (from gentle placidity to roiling frenzy), and interesting, odd lyrics (as always evincing their interest in Native American heritage).

MPEG stream: Cocaine Wedding
MPEG stream: Frozen Rainbows

Head spinning, herky jerky, bright and bold, yes indeedy one of our very favorite Load-label bands is back with a new album! Who else blends spazzcore prog with folk and hippy punk protest like these guys?? Nobody in the whole wide 'homeland' that every day makes this band's moniker more and more of a commonplace sentiment worldwide. It's no wonder that The Usaisamonster identify so closely with our nation's indigenous inhabitants, seeking some sort of (mythical, perhaps) spirituality, innocence and virtue somewhere in our shared American culture (the track "Okeepa Ceremony" is an example). Yet they don't choose to express their political passions (anger/disgust/horror, mainly) with unpleasant doomy grind or anything like that. No, their ranting takes the form of music that's much more creatively colorful and chaotic, up to and including epics like the 13 minute title cut, which spins from droning build ups to prog riff attack to simple folky strum. So even if you don't always get where they're coming from (or where they're going) the musical trip they take still is usually pretty interesting, or will be in just a matter of seconds. Imagine Lightning Bolt in Indian headdresses, jamming 'round a hippy campfire at an anti-G8 protest, something like that... musically, aesthetically and politically we can dig this album's general ideals, if not always the specifics, but regardless it's quite a spectacle!

MPEG stream: How We Livin' (It's Not Scripture It's The Mass)
MPEG stream: The Greatest Mystery

Mathy, maddening, totally infectious protest rock from what's now the Brooklyn-based duo of Tom Hohmann (drums, keys, vocals) and Colin Matthews (guitar, vocals). We've had some of their hand-decorated LPs and cd-rs before, and were happy to see 'em show up on Load with this amazingly 'produced' effort. Their brand of post-hardcore art rock is hard to describe. Maybe a metallic (not metal, just metallic) Deerhoof? Their complexity and power remind us a bit of Ruins, and definitely Lightning Bolt and other Rhode Island spazz rock. Tasheyana Compost is all about rubbery spiraling grooves constructed with cheap keyboards, tinny, twangy, trebly guitar, and energetic drumming. 'Spoken' styled vocals and chants mostly accompany the music, but then in track 9 ("Pastures") some quasi-operatic by comparison vox surface -- cool. Their vibrant music is matched by the day glo pink cd cover with an American Indian drawn on it...they're down with Native Americans and other oppressed peoples, as near as we can tell from the cryptic lyrics. They kinda have a hippy punk political thing going on, I guess? Their great band name is of course a tip off. Allan says: this really freakin' grew on me. I thought it was gonna be all noisy and sloppy but instead, in it's own way, it's *tight* and catchy as heck. Recommended!

MPEG stream: Poison Snake
MPEG stream: No More Forever
MPEG stream: Love

Always thought this band was called The Usaisamonster, one word like that, but on the cover of this there's spaces between the words, The Usa Is A Monster. In interest of being consistent in our catalog, though, we're gonna continue to run 'em together. And either way, it's a damn good, unfortunately true, bold-statement kind of name, perfectly matched to the radical political attitudes expressed in the songs of this weird Brooklyn art-spazz-core-folk duo. We've been fans of these guys since they first brought us a bunch of self-released cd-rs and LPs some years back, and really really loved their previous Load release, 2003's Tasheyana Compost. The brand new Wohaw, which unleashes more of their rather unique blend of prog, punk and folk, has a similar appeal. It's a bit like a weird combination of Lightning Bolt and Robbie Basho! Herky jerky heaviness (with the 'Bolt's brand of bug zapper distortion) meets what could be traditional folk songs. Children's folk songs even. And there's a definite Native American Indian obsession/appropriation still going on here as well. This is the kind of band that uses big amps and a gizillion effects pedals, but also likes to take off their shirts to play flutes and hand drums (as pictured on one side of the folding cd-insert). Partway through, this album maybe loses some steam for us, going a bit too far in the acoustic-folk direction (something their singing ability can't quite support, to be honest). Suddenly it's campfire sounds and poetry, with nothing electric to be heard. But when they're doing the unique Usaisamonster hybridization of folk and noisecore that we prefer, this is fantastic. Definitely check this out if Lightning Bolt, Deerhoof, Amps For Christ, and/or Thrones are bands you're into, as something about this reminds us of all of them.

MPEG stream: Clay People
MPEG stream: The Hobokon
MPEG stream: Poison Plant

Rockin' the Ozzfest, the Warped Tour, and uh, I think some Blink 182 shows or something too, this emo/metal/pop/punk/hardcore act from Utah has hit the commercial big time already with their self-titled Reprise debut. Screamy but melodic, kinda like AQ faves Poison The Well or something I guess. Whiny emo guys and Slayer fans both will find something to like here. Well, not all Slayer fans. But whiny emo guys who *also* like metal should be happy. Presumably that's who's in the band as well. HUGE HUGE production and about the heaviest/catchiest thing you'll hear on modern rock radio. If this band was on an indie label (which might increase their chances of lasting more than one record) they would be HUGE and there'd be kids sitting outside 7-11's all over the country, sporting USED patches on their back packs.

RealAudio clip: Maybe Memories
RealAudio clip: Poetic Tragedy

Yay, it's Christmastime again. Well, US Xmas time that is. We don't know why they picked that odd name (abbreviated here to USX, dunno if that's an official change or what), but it doesn't matter now anyhow, since we've become firm fans of this band of Southern, psychedelic space rock, Hawkwind-worshipping, country-flecked heavies. Fans like us will be happy that they've got a new album out, and it's good, real good. However, The Valley Path may or may not be the best one for the uninitiated to start with, as it consists of but one long (38:53) song! A real doozy, obviously. Listening to this, we realize USX remind us of True Widow, if they stretched out and drew more on the majestic post-rock dynamics of the Neur-Isis contingent (USX are on Neurot after all), big and bombastic yet seriously moody and atmospheric at the same time. This album/song is replete with weary vocals, epic wailing psych guitar eruptions, wide open drone-twang, sweeping strings, martial drums, ambient field recordings, and sizzling synth FX... Yeah, we think you'll like it, if you dig anything/everything from latter-days Earth and Barn Owl to Godspeed You Black Emperor! to Six Organs Of Admittance to Grails to more recent Zoroaster. Merry USX everybody!

Ut's final recording Griller from 1989 fully demonstrates the radical shift that the band made after they emerged from the NYC No Wave scene in the late '70s. With a much more conventional approach to songwriting, the straight forward tracks and vocals have much more in common with the Riot Grrl movement that was still a couple years away. Even the jagged melodies matched with unnerving vocal trills from Ut's three rotating vocalists (Nina Canal, Jacqui Ham, and Sally Young) were the obvious precursors to what Sleater Kinney would be producing shortly thereafter. Griller is also punctuated by a handful of far more obtuse songs which reflect the earlier, grittier sound with choppy twin guitars, rolling bass, and drum plod paralleling those of Live Skull or early Sonic Youth. Originally released back in the day on Blast First, now reissued through Mute.

MPEG stream: How It Goes
MPEG stream: Canker

While the all-women trio Ut had their beginnings in New York back in 1978 coming out of the No Wave scene that spawned Mars, DNA, Sonic Youth, Swans, and many others, New York did not treat the ladies all that well. Their debut release was to come out on the influential Lust/Unlust label; however, the label folded before the record hit the streets. Shortly thereafter, Ut's Nina Canal, Jacqui Ham, and Sally Young packed up and moved to London, where the trio flourished and received considerable acclaim. In Gut's House was originally released as a double LP back in 1988 through Blast First, balancing their acerbic No Wave edge with a skewed pop-sensibility that would have found them in the company of the Slits or Liliput had they entertained more of a propulsive, groove sound. Instead, the rhythmic backbeat of Ut's sound is more of a morose plod acting as counterweight to the agitated, spiky guitars. When shifted further from a pop structuralism, Ut's narcoleptic nervousness was a gripping doppleganger for some of the great tracks produced by Mars back in the late '70s; but when their sound slipped in the other direction toward a more conventional songwriting approach, Ut's tunes foreshadowed the energy of Sleater Kinney. In Gut's House has long been heralded as a remarkable album and certainly enjoys some noble company due to their No Wave credentials, but is also an album that sparked many others who improved upon their template. Look no further than Erase Errata for the case in point.

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For every band that manages a record every few months, there are bands who we like just as much, but who we don't hear from nearly enough. Such is the case with Finnish combo Uton. In the space of time it takes for us to get a new record from these guys, a band like Circle spit out 2 or 3 (even more if you count side projects). But with Uton it's well worth the wait. Alitaju is another epic expanse of mysterious murk and long form ambience. A dizzying mix of Finnish free folk, and haunting dark ambience. Uton's sound is always both massive and cavernous, as well as intimate and highly detailed. This record is no different. Uton drags us along on a strange and wondrous journey through long muddy swirls of muted melody and wide open stretches of indistinct blur and shadow, almost festive percussion jams draped over wheezing accordions and distorted feedback, all wrapped in foggy swirls of fuzz, chaotic free jazz freakouts with mad drumming, and wildly fluttering flutes, and all stops in between. The long tracks here tend to be slow moving glacial crawls, with all the instruments smeared into one blurry whole, a drifting stretch of warm muted soft sound, that just sort of envelops you with it's haunting mystery and dense creeping beauty, those tracks separated by the more rhythmic passages, almost like a rise in the road,where the fog clears and you can see for miles into the distance, before you dip back down under cover of the grey clouds and billowing fog. As always, gorgeous and mysterious.

It seems like in every Uton review, we inevitably mention both that they are mysterious, and that we don't get nearly enough music from them. And once again, it's been a while since we've heard from these mysterious Finnish forest freaks, who definitely rank way up their in our Finnish music pantheon, and the fact that their record seem to be rare occasions only makes us treasure them more. This latest was in fact recorded two years ago, on a 4 track using only headphones as speakers ("no other speakers were used during recordings and mixing of this record", the liner notes proudly explain). It's also suggested that we "listen near midnight in a dark room (or with minimal light)" which is always good advice when it comes to Uton, whose music is haunting and ritualistic, and most definitely evokes some sort of nocturnal gathering, especially here, where processed voices chant over fluttering flutes and minimal percussion. Swirling squelchy effects drift in fields of deep sonorous rumbles and whirs, manufactured field recordings surround layers of malfunctioning synths, and dreamy melodic cacophonies, and lush swirling swaths of deep low end, this new record darkly restrained, meditative and hypnotic, heavy on the vocal driven drones and subterranean shimmer, with some almost throat singing woven into the woozy whirling thrum, everything driven by murky pulses and buried rhythms, might be the darkest, dreamiest Uton yet, and as always, WAY recommended. LIMITED TO 275 COPIES!!

Part of the problem with having so many things to review and not nearly enough time, is that every once in a while certain things will slip through the cracks over and over again, until suddenly it's been a month, 6 months, even a year. With cd-r's it's an even bigger problem since they are often so limited that we might only have one chance to get all the copies we need, but even having procured those copies, that record might not get reviewed for ages. These last few weeks we've been trying to get a bunch of kick ass cd's and cd-r's reviewed for no other reason than they have been sitting here way too long, when they should be spinning in someone's stereo or jammed into someone's iPod. It's been a while, almost a year actually, since we last reviewed something by Finnish freedrone combo Uton, not counting these two discs that have been sitting here forever! Not because they're not great, they are actually, just because we dropped the ball. Anyway, these were both super limited, so odds are once we sell out of the small clutch we have of each, we won't be able to get more, so if these tickle your fancy, and hard to imagine they wouldn't, you better be quick. Mystery Revolution is in fact a real cd, released on Digitalis last year, and comes in a gorgeous embossed black and metallic gold sleeve, very austere and mysterious, much like the sounds inside. Uton more often than not remind us of a slightly more twisted, definitely more druggy, and way less minimal Jewelled Antler. They weave dark brooding soundscapes, peppered with hum and whir, crackle and hum, the melodies are off kilter and atonal, piano drifts in and out, sounds are scraped and stretched, everything seems to be nestled in warm drifts and shimmery drones, woodwinds flit and flutter, field recordings (or faux field recordings) drift in and out, organs and harmoniums wheeze out warbly textures, childlike melodies are draped over strange rumbles and jagged shards of crunch and clatter, the sounds of music boxes tangle with whistling winds and warm swells, it's a fantastic and wondrous sonic journey as always. And again, be warned, there is a good chance this is out of print, so if you want one, grab it fast!

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MPEG stream: Naurumme Hetken (Seuraava Otto)
MPEG stream: Taivaan Sini Sokea (Soikea)

From the wilds of Finland, via the wilds of New Zealand, comes this burbling cauldron of pagan-free-folk-noise from the mysterious outfit known as Uton. Jewelled Antler released a three inch cd a while back, but this full length really allows Uton to do what they do best, spread waaaaay out, and unfurl a thick spiky carpet of jangle and shimmer, amplifier grit and instrument buzz, clumsy primitive percussion, and creepy ambience. Finnophiles are probably already hip to these guys, but for all of you into No Neck, Thuja, Sunburned Hand and all things drone-y and Krautrocky, check this out!

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The Jewelled Antler collective offers another record outside their immediate ranks of Thuja and company. Although they've had a couple of CD-R releases popping up from tiny labels around the globe, this is our introduction to Uton. This anonymous, acoustic-noise-drone band hails from Finland, although they seem far more at home within the New Zealand community of Birchville Cat Motel, Anthony Milton, and Handful of Dust. "Zwuiji" is the 7th in the continuously impressive "Library Series" of 3" CD-Rs from Jewelled Antler, but is a bit more grating than most from the collective which typically opiates themselves with hazy improvised psychedelia and obtuse folk renderings. Rather Uton revels in mistreating their electric gear in order to fill up the audio specturm with buzzing drones that swarm out of their amplifiers like angry wasps. Scratchy violins and atonally shifting wind instruments hover behind these gritty walls of vibrating feedback which comes across more as a misaligned engine block rattling all of those tones inside your head than as a typical trick with a couple of effects boxes. Certainly the fans of cd-r labels Celebrate Psi Phenomenon or PseudoArcana will want to pick this one up. MPEG Download: "Zwuiji 02" [/audio/utonzwuiji02.mp3] MPEG Stream: "Zwuiji 02" [/audio/utonzwuiji02.m3u]

MPEG stream: Zwuiji 02
MPEG stream: Zwuiji 03

The mighty Sound Way label (the fine folks who brought us the killer Nigeria Special compilations) is back with another fantastic reissue of classic West African popular music, this time documenting the mid-1970s output of the enigmatic and flamboyant Sir Victor Uwaifo, the guitar-boy superstar! You might recognize Uwaifo from his appearance on the Nigeria 70: Lagos Jump compilation where his track "Dododo (Ekassa 1)" was a real skirt blower. These days, when most of us have access to this kind of music only through curated compilations featuring dozens of performers, it's a rare treat to get a more well-rounded picture of a single artist; big ups to Sound Way for delivering the goods! The majority of tracks on this collection are based around Uwaifo's unique hybrid of the traditional rhythm of the 'ekassa' coronation dance with highlife instrumentation. The result is something joyous, funky, and soulful that manages to maintain a laid-back, upbeat feel that is distinct from the frenetic rush of Afrobeat and the other scenes happening in mid-'70s Lagos. In fact, there's a sweet, classic pop element to Uwaifo's songwriting that has more in common with Buddy Holly and Richie Valens than it does with the American funk, soul and disco that inspired his contemporaries. Valens is actually a pretty good jumping off point for comparison, as the electrified version of the ekassa rhythm lends a Latin flourish to the music that recalls Valens' Chicano rock styles saturated with fuzz, wah and a distinctly Nigerian rhythmic sensibility. Unsurprisingly, it's Uwaifo's guitar playing that stand out as the real centerpiece of the record as it skips from traditional highlife accompaniment to psych-tinged, fuzzed-out solos to primitive delay and wah-wah experimentalism, sometimes all within the same song! Uwaifo's jangling open-string solos, jarringly nimble riffing, and ability to switch effortlessly between rhythm and lead again recall Buddy Holly and also classic US surf rock (in fact, the track "Agho" goes so far as to quote parts of "Tequila" - weird, but fantastic!), but there's a lot more going on than that. Check out "Igboroho (Ekassa 24)" to hear Uwaifo pushing his guitar into fractured, no-wave territory; given that it still sounds completely freaked out now, it must've been thoroughly mind-expanding at the time. As with all things from Sound Ways, this disc comes with lavish packaging; meticulously researched and compiled liner notes replete with archival photographs, album art; and song-by-song gloss by Uwaifo himself. It's a fantastic package highly recommended for anyone who's been enjoying the goldmine of reissues of African popular musics we've been seeing over the past year. So good!

MPEG stream: Igboroho (Ekassa 5)
MPEG stream: Egbe Natete
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How long has it been? Seven years? Well it's about time we had a new studio album from these old, old AQ faves. Hopefully they're old faves of yours too, but if not, we're very happy to introduce 'em to you, and this new album will do the job very very well! Hailing from the Czech Republic, this legendary band of radical arty rockers, whose name means "Now I Get It" and is pronounced ooje-May-Dome-uh, or Oozh Smeh Dough-Ma, depending on whom you ask, got their start back in the '80s Prague punk scene, and soon became the PROG punks to reckon with as well; we've described their musical approach as being a sort of "heavy and hyperkinetic ... horn-blasted punk/prog hoedown that mingles the folk melodies of Eastern Europe with the underground/avantgarde of the Rock In Opposition scene" and that's certainly still displayed with fervor on Caves, a spelunking themed album of majestic melodies and energetic pop in their trademark eccentric style. The current UZD quartet, lead by vocalist Miroslav Wanek (and including as always non-musical member Martin Velisek, credited with "brushes, paints" for his distinctive art and design work) is augmented by several guests on accordion, trombone, violin, upright bass, acoustic guitar, and vocals. That's in addition to their usual guitar, piano, trumpet, drums, and bass. So it's no wonder that this ensemble can be such a powerful musical force, driven by their unique vision. After a brief intro, "Cave", consisting of dripping water and spoken poetry (in Czech, as are all the songs, though English translations are provided in the cd booklet), the band launches into the album's first song proper, the brassy, bombastic "Droplet", which has a bit of a Hawaii Five-O gone Eastern European vibe. That's followed by the more somber "Abyss", and then 8 more varied, vibrant numbers, some tracks like punked-up Carl Stalling cartoon music, some getting almost metal in the guitar dep't., others slowing down for gorgeous, mournfully melodic parts... They also get into some quite complex, convoluted rockin' that kinda sounds like Japanese zeuhl heavyweights Hundred Sights Of Koenji with more horns! Fans of uber-insane prog should be pleased, as well as anyone who likes their pop music to sound both dramatic and deeply meaningful (even when you don't know the language). We'd further guess that fans of sundry such current indie acts as Deerhoof, Hidden Cameras, and USAisamonster (RIP) could be potential UZD converts, for various reasons, check 'em out.

MPEG stream: Droplet
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SORRY. The Czech Republic's most wonderous export, masters of making complex pop sound unforced and natural, drawing influences from punk, classical, jazz and anywhere else they see fit.

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SORRY. An Aquarius staff favorite - meaning we love this band and so should you! Pronounced ooje-May-Dome-uh.

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SORRY. Their first album. Finally re-issued with English translations. Beautiful booklet is cut in the shape of a soldier... Yes, they just played here in San Francisco, that's why we have all this stuff. We also got an AMAZING new Uz Jsme Doma pop-up book plus cd (yes, a pop-up book!) but we've already sold out of that - however, watch this space, 'cause we'll be importing more when we can.

WARNING: These are all-region PAL (not NTSC) dvds. That means they'll play just fine in your computer, but not on your TV set, unless you've got a PAL-capable dvd player. Ah, Uz Jsme Doma! (Pronounced ooje-May-Dome-uh). Nobody else like them. Heavy and hyperkinetic "Wagnerian ska", a horn-blasted punk/prog hoedown that mingles the folk melodies of Eastern Europe with the underground/avantgarde of the Rock In Opposition scene. Yep, nobody else like 'em. We at AQ have been fans of this crazy Czech crew for years and years. And we can tell you, it's about time for a release like this! A double dvd featuring both a live concert and a "behind the music" style documentary, yes!! This is awesome for two basic reasons. Firstly, anyone who has ever seen 'em perform can tell you, as incredible as their records are, they're even more astounding live on stage. So a live dvd is of course essential to any fan, and should make new fans as well. Secondly, as big into Uz Jsme Doma as we are, we confess there's many nuances to the band, conceptually, that escape us, simply because we don't understand the Czech language. The documentary portion of this dvd set, which features English subtitles hallelujah, is quite enlightening as it delves deeply into what Uz Jsme Doma is all about. And it's more than just music and lyrics with these guys. Costumes and artwork are equally important. In fact, maybe you remember a Uz Jsme Doma artifact we once sold here (now long gone), that was a cd packaged in an elaborate pop-up book, shaped like a house? Well if not, you'll see it here, the documentary uses it to organize its varied investigations into UJD's history (one of the first rock bands out of Prague, considered "antisocial" by the Communist authorities then in control), meaning, and methods. Their politics and philosophies. You'll find out about the punk scene in '80s Prague. About the band's obsession with seminal San Francisco avant-act The Residents. About why the color yellow was chosen for so much of their artwork. And plenty more. Fascinating for any fan, and again, a good way to get converted into one if you're currently unfamiliar with the band. The live dvd, entitled 20 Flyears, was recorded at their 20th anniversary show at the Theatre Archa, Prague, October 13th 2005 and features 35 songs or bits of songs, the first half an immense medley with ex-members joining in, the second half featuring UJD joined by something called the MIKROCHOR choir. The documentary dvd, entitled "Pudding", features interviews with former band members, critics, friends, etc. and incorporates photos and footage from the band's own archives as well as from various film appearances and stuff from Czech TV docs as well.

After three years of not a sound we were beginning to believe that our fave band from Prague had given up music and moved on to greener pastures. So it sure was exciting to have a new album land in our lap and Rybi Tuk does not disappoint. In one sense they're still the same Uz Jsme Doma: super heavy, high energy punk/prog rock, what's often been tagged 'Wagnerian ska' even though it's neither. What's maybe a little different from before is that on Rybi Tuk, Uz Jsme Doma seem to be experimenting with more open ended song structures, obtuse bridges and other unexpected twists & turns. Some of the songs even seem to hint at the majestic, folky metal melodies of bands like Hammers of Misfortune and Slough Feg! If anything, Rybi Tuk's more complex song structures merely lend to more repeated listens, as it's an album that really genuinely grows on you with every turn. Needless to say the core of what drives Uz Jsme Doma (and what excites us here at AQ), their consummate melodic wizardry, and their cleverly understated counterpoint is still very much here in spades. It's most evidenced of course in Miroslav Wanek's amazing vocal lines. Along with Frank Black (and, you know, they kind of look similar) Miroslav is one of those rare vocalists who can seamlessly slip from a croon to a scream like most professional vocalists slide into their falsetto. Partly recorded in Oakland, CA in 2003, Rybi Tuk features some guest musicians from Bay Area's Idiot Flesh: Carla Kilhstedt, Dan Rathbun (who also recorded the album), Dawn McCarthy, Nils Frykdahl, Jewlia Eisenberg, et al. Being fans, we're glad to have Uz Jsme back and Rybi Tuk is one we'd recommend for the uninitiated as well.

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MPEG stream: Rybi Tuk
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SORRY. Wow, a new studio disc, the first in several years from these amazing mad Czech musicians! As usual, a complex, clever combo of prog-pop and what we, for lack of a superior term, can only describe as "Wagnerian ska" (although it's much much better than that might sound, it's not really ska). A listen to this is likely to be the most energetic thing you'll do all day, even if you're just sitting there in front of the stereo. The horns, the vocals, the guitars (maybe heavier than before), the drums, etc. do their manic best, and the slow, gorgeous parts are there too. Uz Jsme Doma are one of our very favorite bands, both live and on record, and "The Ears" continues that trend! Recommended.

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SORRY. Not only has this great Uz Jsme Doma (crafty Wagnerian Ska with cautious doses of Zappa and the Residents, sez Byram) disc been reissued domestically with English liner notes, they also re-recorded the vocals in English... But about half of the original Czech tracks are appended as a bonus. Either way, crazy and fun. Also, it's the only UJD album with a complete horn section.

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

SORRY. Hailing from the Czech Republic, this legendary band of radical arty rockers, whose name means "Now I Get It" and is pronounced ooje-May-Dome-uh, or Oozh Smeh Dough-Ma, depending on whom you ask, got their start back in the '80s Prague punk scene, and soon became the PROG punks to reckon with as well; we've described their musical approach as being a sort of "heavy and hyperkinetic ... horn-blasted punk/prog hoedown that mingles the folk melodies of Eastern Europe with the underground/avantgarde of the Rock In Opposition scene". Released in 1999.

We reviewed the totally amazing metal-pop-punk of Fallout Boy last list and casually mentioned one of the bonus tracks, a super revved up metallic version of the Police's "Roxanne" not knowing that right around the corner was this compilation of even more Police covers by other of-the-moment emo / metallic pop punk / indie rock outifts. With compilations like this, there is so much potential for suck, but thankfully this here disc is about 90 percent cream. It helps that the Police were an amazing band, and wrote totally brilliant songs. So it's nice to hear different (some drastically) versions of some of those classics. Obviously Fallout Boy's "Roxanne" is a killer, souped up and WAY heavier, but there's also Limbeck's gorgeous and twangy countrified version of "So Lonely", a killer version of "Truth Hits Everybody" by Motion City Soundtrack, and probably the coolest weirdest track on here, Maxeen doing the classic Police b-side "Murder By Numbers", turning it into a creepy new wave epic, with fuzzy synths, high Shellac like guitar parts, and lots of weird dynamics. So good. The rest of the comp is rounded out by bands doing fairly faithful renditions (usually a bit heavier or faster) with only a few cringeworthy 'ballads' to speak of. Been listening to this non stop. As good as it is, it did have us pulling out our old Police records too!

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MPEG stream: So Lonely
MPEG stream: Truth Hits Everybody

This double cd set hits the shelves just in the Saint Nick of time for the Christmakuh holiday season. Thanks to the Idelsohn Society, a wonderful nonprofit dedicated to preserving and illuminating Jewish history through music (they also put out the Songs For The Jewish-American Jet Set comp), Jewish people can make peace with their love of Christmas music and their desire to tinsel a tree. And why shouldn't they? Set to the tune of Jingle Bells, "The Problem" by Ray Brenner and Berry E. Blitzer lays out the holiday conundrum with campy humor: "Jingle bells, jingle bells, it's tragic but it's true / There's joyous fun for everyone, but what's a Jew to do?" (Oy!) If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, it seems. As demonstrated on Disc 2: Merry Christmas, many of the most popular Yuletide songs have been performed by representatives of The Chosen People. Mitch Miller's rendition of "White Christmas", with its all-male chorus and big band swing, easily rivals Bing Crosby's. Mel Torme's beautifully melancholic "The Christmas Song" stands among the best of Christmas tunes and can get even the most devoted Israelite roasting chestnuts on an open fire. Then dreamy Eddie Fisher romantically croons "Christmas Eve in My Hometown" backed by a chorus of angels, Bob Dylan's nasal delivery of "Little Drummer Boy" manages to stir, and the Ramones "Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight)" conjures the all-too-common dysfunctional family Christmas that Gentiles have become so accustomed to. As the set's accompanying booklet explains, the production of Christmas music outpaced music for celebrating the Festival of Lights by 10,000 to 1. That's not too surprising, since Hanukkah is a minor Judaic holiday and only rose to prominence in Jewish American culture due to its proximity to Christ's birthday celebration, a national holiday in the US since 1870. As a result, what we have in way of musically commemorating those eight days of candle-lighting on the Happy Hanukkah disc, are not exactly Billboard-charters, but they are just as worthy a listen. Woody Guthrie's "Hanukkah Dance" has a doe-see-doe old-timey feel for dance-y party times. Klezmer ditties include "Hanukkah Tree" by the Klezmatics and "Klezzified" by Klezmar Conservator Band. "The Latke Song" by Debbie Friedman (the so-called Jewish Joan Baez) cleverly tells the story of Hanukkah celebration from the perspective of the latke itself and reminds young listeners that it's important to feed the hungry. Ella Jenkins "Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel" is the real deal while "Dreidel" by Don McLean (possibly this release's only non-Jewish contributor) is just, perhaps, an ill-chosen metaphor for his own '70s mid-life crisis. The most stirring piece on the Hanukkah disc is a barely preserved version of "Yevonim," sung by the Russian-immigrant sensation, Cantor Yossele Rosenblatt. Greil Marcus writes in an essay contained in the set's booklet : "...the sound is distant, the surviving cylinder worn and scratchy. All that adds to the sensation that something precious is being passed on." That's a lot for one little tune to express and worth the inclusion in your holiday music collection alone!

MPEG stream: Hanukkah Dance
MPEG stream: Yevonim
MPEG stream: Christmas Eve In My Hometown
MPEG stream: Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight)

This mind bending comp back in stock again! You know those Sublime Frequencies "Radio" compilations we love so much, the ones that just sound like someone sitting in a hotel room in another country flipping stations on the radio and recording the results. Well imagine a similar compilation, but in this case, the listener/recorder has an extreme case of ADD, and is flipping between some insane non existent all avant freaked out noise satellite radio station and all the strange little non-stations you discover when you're driving across the country, flipping through the dials at 4am. Little chunks of beautiful pastoral sound, bursts of ear gouging static, voices, snippets of speeches, some crazy guy testifying, some country or classical music that is just out of range so the sound �is all skittery and blurred, delicate swaths of soft plinked piano, blasts of grinding deathmetal, talk radio, skittery rhythms, lots of textures and timbres, noises and melodies, most often swallowed up before they can develop into anything more than a fragment, than a partially formed musical thought, but that's sort of the point. This comp will definitely enrapturously engorge the ears of aural adventurers and noise devotees, but just might rattle the nerves of those less prepared. Despite the incredibly lengthy list of incredibly eclectic artists who participated in this brand new compilation titled (Triskaidekaphobia) 13,000.00 Milliseconds: Venetian Snares, Matmos, Thrones, MGR, I Am Spoonbender, Wildildlife, David Scott Stone (Melvins), Blevin Blectum, Winters In Osaka, Leslie Keffer, Microwaves, Sword Heaven, To Live And Shave In L.A., Wobbly, The White Mice, Skozey Fetish, Brad Laner, Rubber O Cement, Bobb Bruno, Cock ESP, Panicsville, Otto Von Schirach, Crank Sturgeon, Deletist, Drums Like Machineguns, Valerio Cosi, Eats Tapes, Evil Moisture, No Doctors, Two Dead Sluts, One Good Fuck, Leslie Keffer and about a million more.... The nature of 215+ 13-second compositions strung together non-stop without room to take a breath pretty much ensures that this cd will be catalogued in most libraries and music shops in the experimental/noise section. Unfortunate really, since while it definitely has its share of earwax-dislodging aggressive assaults, it also has quite a few shining moments of artful sound design and subtle songcraft that defy genre-fication. And somehow, the bits of noise, and the bits of prettier sound, do balance out, almost seeming to play off one another, or at the very least, slowly seep into each other, helping form what is ultimately a constantly shifting somewhat schizophrenic sonic whole. It's an overwhelming and intense listening experience, another one for the iron eared, or at least the adventure eared, and while we just listened to the whole thing all the way through, for the third or fourth time, for some folks it might work better in smaller chunks, because admittedly for some tracks the 13 seconds seems like an eternity, while others fly by all too swiftly. That said, we just started it over again from the top...

MPEG stream: 1 (Different Dentist / Beta CLoud / To Live And SHave In L.A.)
MPEG stream: 2 (Migrations In Rust / Deep Fried Radio Static / Rubber O Cement)
MPEG stream: 3 (I Am Spoonbender / I Think I Did Something Wrong)
MPEG stream: 4 (Neon Leather Drip / Big Epoch Feat. Bizzart)
MPEG stream: 5 (Cheap Machines / Animal Hospital / Beneya Vs. Clark Nova)

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

SORRY. Here's the weird Italian label Black Widow's massive double cd tribute to horror cinema (Italian and otherwise) featuring an international array of psych/prog acts: Ars Nova, Claudio Simonetti of Goblin, Humus, Northwinds, the Bevis Frond, Nekropolis, Morte Macabre, Tenebre, Malombra, Standarte, Sundial, and many many more. Some bands cover movie themes, others write songs *about* favorite films... An eerie and atmospheric homage to the likes of The Omen, Psychomania, Suspiria, The Devils, The Exorcist, etc. AND, to really make the mouth water, this comes with an really nice 80 page softcover book with essays about the horror movie genre (directors, films) and details on each band's contribution. It's an Italian import, and we don't have many...

Back in the '80s there was an abundance of dance pop 12"s coming out of the UK. Seemed that any ol' song could be hoisted up to dancefloor hit heights via the wonders of the extended mix (or if you prefer: the long version, 12" mix, long mix, discotheque, mixe plurale, dancing remixes et al). Nothing like spending a little more time spinnin' around the dancefloor (or hoppin' about in your bedroom) with your fave songs, eh? This triple cd set corrals some of the most inescapable 12"s and shows just how much of a musical mixed bag the '80s were. If you were born anytime before 1979, most if not all of these tracks will ring a bell (perhaps for some a louder, more garrish bell than others). Each disc contains twelve tracks each, which if you do the math, adds up to thirty six different 12"s (or 432 inches)! Although that barely scratches the surface, the compilation does hit the '80s nostalgia button with alarming accuracy -- from the impossibly vapid (Stephen 'Tin Tin' Duffy's "Kiss Me", Curiosity Killed The Cat's "Down To Earth" and Animotion's "Obsession" ) to the absolutely delicious (Soft Cell's "Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go" and Fun Boy Three's "Our Lips Are Sealed") to the classic (Siouxsie And The Banshees' "Spellbound", Talk Talk's "It's My Life", The Cure's "A Forest" and Bauhaus' "She's In Parties"). You also get ABC, Spandau Ballet, Human League, Yazoo, Kid Creole & The Coconuts, Propaganda, Hipsway, Aztec Camera, Tom Tom Club, The Passions, Pete Wylie, Japan, Blow Monkeys, Simply Red, Simple Minds, Monsoon, The Icicle Works, Tears For Fears, Lloyd Cole, Visage, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Jam, Black, Man Parrish, Scritti Politti and Grace Jones... did we/they miss anybody? Hmmm, the only glaring omissions we've come up with are Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Blancmange, Wang Chung... uh oh, maybe we should stop now. You'll probably find (as we did) that some of these songs that you adored so throughly back in the day have aged far less gracefully than others. Some are downright cringe-inducing (yikes, did I really like THAT!?). For one thing, there's enough of those whiteboy soul affectations here to sink a rather large teakettle. Nevertheless, sure to satisfy even your most insatiable '80s craving! (Pssst, as we write this, Deborah 'Debbie' Gibson is taking the stage at Cafe Du Nord here in SF!)

MPEG stream: Tainted Love / Where Did Our Love Go
MPEG stream: Pull Up To The Bumper

A joint release between new labels Airborne Virus and Mar/ino, an imprint of Michigan's Elsie and Jack label (they released an Aube cd and the Tabata solo record some time ago). Features tracks by 555 artists Empress, Steward and Halkyn as well as many

The mighty Sublime Frequencies label keeps the impossibly cool comps coming, this their second collection of music from Algeria. The first focused on a very specific musical form from the region called Rai, whereas this new one is all about folk and pop music from the same era, and while on the surface it may seem more 'mainstream', it's still fantastically quirky, funky, groovy, and exotic, and all over the sonic map. The seventies were a surprisingly good time for music in Algeria, 45's in particular, which was remarkable considering the socialist government at the time, and the legions of cops, and bureaucrats, and censors no doubt hell bent on suppressing any sort of social movement, and yet, music flourished, certainly a response to 'the man', who perhaps let these hippies have their music, assuming it might relieve some of the social tension of the time. Regardless, the 'hairies' embraced this sound, and were digging these very American influenced sounds, fuzzed out garage rock, groovy exotica, plenty of buzzing sitars, warbly organs, twangy surf guitar, wild percussion, male and female vox, some tracks sound literally straight out of the USA, others are fantastic hybrids of Western music and more traditional local sounds, but all the music included here is lively and powerful and personal and imbued with an energy that went well beyond just music and sound. And sure some of the jams are schmaltzy, almost easy listening, but even then, listening to those tracks, dressing wild and growing your hair our, was still extremely subversive and a serious rebellion, especially considering most of this music was officially suppressed. Like all Sublime Frequencies comps, so fantastic, and leaves us hankering for more more more! And packaged as always, sublimely (ahem), in a heavy full color gatefold sleeve, with a super striking black and white portrait of an Algerian couple in their best rock and roll finery on the front, and inside, plenty of rare photos, liner notes and notes on each song and performer.

Teenbeat Records' sampler for the new millennium, featuring: Panax, The Rondelles, Flin Flon, Butch Willis & D Flat, Mark Borthwick/Holland, Versus, Phil Krauth and more. On each of the fifteen tracks here, you can definitely tell Teenbeat's kingpin Mark Robinson gave the thumbs up. Drifting laidback strumming (Versus), quirky-noisy lo-fi (Jonny Cohen & Co.), polished hook-laden pop (Panax). Indeed it may even be said that this compilation as a whole reflects Mr. Robinson's own extensive musical career. All this for a super low price.

It should be noted that this is a compilation to celebrate 25 years of Rough Trade SHOPS and NOT a retrospective of Rough Trade, the label. Having said that, this is a fine collection of independent music from the past 25 years. Featuring some rare and

Where would we be with out labels like Crippled Dick Hot Wax? We all think we're super obsessive music nerds, Don't we? Sure, we hunt down weird records, buy totally obscure 7"s, have a roomful of records in our house. But c'mon, compared to the guys who run Crippled Dick or Trunk, we're not even in the same record nerd league. These guys also have lots of records, scour cool record stores, and all that. But they also hunt in garage sales, estate sales, flea markets. Not looking for weird record reissues cuz they are the guys who MAKE those reissues happen. And they don't just track down records, they have to hunt down the folks who made those records. Take a look at your cd shelf at home, at take a gander at all the crazy obscure compilations. Someone had to dig up all those tracks, locate every band, sometimes track down out of business record labels. Phew. It's a hell of a lot of work. But it's so worth it!! And just in case we haven't said it enough, we are oh so grateful. These are the guys who fill our lives with insane South American psych rock, early eighties NY No Wave, seventies proto metal and of course rad super rare and long out of print UK post punk power pop singles from the late seventies and early eighties, like the tracks on 7" Up! The cool thing about 7"s is that it was a super affordable way for bands to get a song recorded and distributed. The first real form of DIY promotion. Any band with a few hundred bucks and a couple of songs could have their very own 7" record just like their idols. The result was of course a lot of crappy singles, but amidst the hundreds and thousands of mediocre to downright terrible tracks, were handful of absolute killers. This comp collects a whole bunch of those. Of the thirteen bands on here we'd only ever heard of two (Monochrome Set and Glaxo Babies) but every track on here is amazing. Whether it's a blast of synth heavy robotic new wave ("Gerry & The Holograms" by Gerry & The Holograms), fuzzy garage rock stomp with weird chipmunk vocals ("Zip Nolah" by Cult Figures) or moody croony electronic post punk ("Private Plane" by Thomas Leer), every song is an absolute gem, some funny and funky, some totally bouncy and catchy, some completely bizarre. Probably the most played track around here is "Don't Try To Cure Yourself" by They Must Be Russians, a bizarre song featuring a graphic description of different sexually transmitted diseases during each verse (complete with totally melodic backup vocals crooning "Pubic Hair..." or "Infected Person...") only to burst into a super aggro angular chorus. Funny, but completely catchy and kick ass. Other standouts are "Imposter" by the Moondogs, a completely catchy hard rocking perfect pop song, and the stripped down Elvis Costello worship of Mark Beer's "The Man Man Man" and then there's... heck, we could just go through the whole disc, cuz they're all totally great. Definitely one of the best comps we've heard in a while. Cool packaging with extensive liner notes and a bunch of info on each and every one of these obscure gems! So recommended.

By now, we're sure most of you heard about the horrible accident that claimed the life of DMBQ drummer China, and left the rest of the band as well as their booker / tour manager (and AQ pal) Michelle injured and hospitalized. And as is always the case with situations like these, most musicians are uninsured, and need all the help they can get to help pay their medical bills and try to recover, regroup and make it home. So this here comp is one way you can help. 100 percent of the proceeds goes direct to the band to help them get back on their feet. And as if helping out a bunch of cool folks and a kick ass band to boot wasn't enough, you also get this killer comp out of the deal. New and exclusive tracks from Comets On Fire. Paik, Trans Am, Lightning Bolt, Burmese, Fucking Champs, Ezeetiger, Ludicra, No Doctors, Nate Denver's Neck, and more!!! And if you want to do more, you can donate via Paypal to this address: dmbqpanache@lovepumpunited.com or by mail to this address: Lovepump United, PO BOX 3241, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603. And again our condolences to the band and friends and family for the loss of China, and our best wishes for speedy recoveries all around.

MPEG stream: Wolf Eyes (Middle Version)
MPEG stream: Exitebike

This is definitely a strange compilation. Although all comps are sort of strange by their very nature. Gathering a bunch of different musicians to contribute one song each, usually relating to a theme. Well, the them here seems to be some sort of broadly defined psychedelic music. But the bands and the sounds are so all over the place, it seems to be a much less obviously definable thread that runs through the different artists (minus the fact that maybe they've all released something one Mind Expansion record label?). Regardless, this is a pretty killer comp. A good intro to lots of psychedelic space rock bands, droney hypno-rock bands, haunting slowcore pop bands, and anything in between. Sonically, all of these bands love FX, reverb, and delay and chorus and whatever other pedals they can get their hands on. Hence the psychrock angle. A lot of the bands on disc 2 lean toward some sort of Krautrock, minimal electronic vibe, but still with plenty of psychedelic overtones. A handful of these tracks are exclusive, the majority are not. But it functions quite well as a great psychrock / weird rock mix tape. Lots of AQ faves represented: Spacemen 3, Teenage Filmstars, Amp, Bardo Pond, Paik, Fuxa, Magnetaphone, Piano Magic, Landing, The Telescopes and more. But probably the most exciting part of this comp is how many bands there are we'd literally never heard of. We didn't necessarily love them all, but we did like most of 'em. And our ever growing list of bands to investigate further now includes Mazarin, Venture Lift, Elevator, LSD And The Search For God, Unknown Celebrities, Large Number, Kid Yahtzee and loads more!

MPEG stream: Transparent Radiation (Long)
MPEG stream: Fine Day
MPEG stream: Where The Sky Is Low
MPEG stream: Kiss Me

Despite its title, there's nothing really small about this double cd Morr Music compilation! Sure it collects together a bunch of the label's 2001-2007 singles which I s'pose could be thought of as small, but only if you think seven inches is small. Whoops, was that Freud knockin' on the door? Totally unintentional, honest! Anyways, some of these songs are short and most are super sweet, but they're all big hearted and fully bearhug-able, dreamy indie pop. There's thirty six of 'em from Butcher The Bar (very reminiscent of the late Elliott Smith), Benni Hemm Hemm, Seavault, Seabear, Masha Qrella, Electric President (like a twee Weakerthans), John Yoko with Lali Puna (including a lovely cover of "Papa Was A Rodeo"... that song always makes Cup weep!) as well as the latter on their awesome own, Populous, B. Fleishmann (an old aQ fave), ISAN, Styrofoam, Teamforest, and Other People's Children. Most offer up two tunes, some four. Be forewarned though, some folks might find the instrumental numbers veering too much into the bank commercial-ish tepid docility. Downy and dewy eyed and definitely recommended if you need to mellow out with an aural snuggle!

MPEG stream: Get Away
MPEG stream: Good Ol' Boys
MPEG stream: Papa Was A Rodeo