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At "Beer Frame" editor Paul Lukas' behest, five indie-rock bands celebrate the wonders of the products near and dear to them...Men & Volts get to sing about the Brannock Device, Vehicle Flips provides an ode to the Honeywell Round Thermostat, and Nothing Painted Blue gives Miracle Thaw its musical due. Also, tracks by The Mountain Goats and The Scene Is Now...
The Tompkins Square Label focuses its spotlight locally on the next generation of Northern California acoustic guitarists -- Sean Smith, Matt Baldwin and Adam Snider. Hailing from Berkeley, where John Fahey's label Takoma was (as well as where Windham Hill first began to blossom), these three young and very talented players have been playing in local clubs and cafes for a few years now. Sean Smith, whose stunning debut on Isota we reviewed a few list back and was also featured on the second Imaginational Anthem compilation, is the "elder" of the group, while Baldwin and Snider have their recording debuts here. Lovely and melancholy with beautiful cover art by John Baizley of Baroness (which looks remarkably Pushead-like), this is a great introduction to the local acoustic guitar scene.
A few weeks back, we listed the CD & DVD set of Berlin Super 80 with the caveat that the set was strictly limited, with a second edition of the DVD to be made available shortly. Well, now there's a double LP set, which will be the only way to get the musical program from that aforementioned CD & DVD set. Of course vinyl goes out of print pretty quickly too... Here's what we wrote earlier:
In the late '70s and early '80s, Berlin developed a caustic community of avant-punk musicians, filmmakers, artists, and hangers-on, whose aesthetics of alienation, angst, bewildered ecstacy, terminal revulsion, etc. were certainly impacted by the wall that seperated their city. Einsturzende Neubauten is clearly the most respected export from this community; but it could be argued that Neubauten (or any of the original members from that once close-knit community, for that matter) haven't quite the compulsion to make the magnificently explosive music as they did when the Berlin Wall was still standing. While likeminded bands such as Malaria!, Die Todliche Doris, and Sprung Aus Den Wolken have been served well by recent reissues of their work from that time period, much of the accompanying visual ephemera (film, performance, painting, photography, etc.) has rarely been seen outside of its original context, barring a few exhibitions in art-spaces and festivals.
Fortunately, Berlin Super 80 offers an extraordinary glimpse into the community of existential expressionists who erupted in Berlin during the late '70s and early '80s. Neubauten, Doris, Malaria, and Sprung Aus Den Wolken offer some of their quintessentially great pieces. YThe discovery of previously unknown (although not unreleased) tracks from Mona Mur, Mono/45 UPM, Kosmonautentraum, and Flucht nach Vorn with their propulsive death-disco grooves and skeletal synthesizes make Berlin Super 80 well worth the price of admission.
Be warned, the 2LP is LIMITED to only 1000 copies!
In the late '70s and early '80s, Berlin developed a caustic community of avant-punk musicians, filmmakers, artists, and hangers-on, whose aesthetics of alienation, angst, bewildered ecstacy, terminal revulsion, etc. were certainly impacted by the wall that seperated their city. Einsturzende Neubauten is clearly the most respected export from this community; but it could be argued that Neubauten (or any of the original members from that once close-knit community, for that matter) haven't quite the compulsion to make the magnificently explosive music as they did when the Berlin Wall was still standing. While likeminded bands such as Malaria!, Die Todliche Doris, and Sprung Aus Den Wolken have been served well by recent reissues of their work from that time period, much of the accompanying visual ephemera (film, performance, painting, photography, etc.) has rarely been seen outside of its original context, barring a few exhibitions in art-spaces and festivals.
Fortunately, the Berlin Super 80 DVD & CD set offers an extraordinary glimpse into the community of existential expressionists who erupted in Berlin during the late '70s and early '80s. While many of the same themes work themselves out in both the films and music of Berlin Super 80, there is a greater emphasis on absurdist play and humor in the flickering Super 8 films than in the bleak screams against the sky of Blixa Bargeld and Gudrun Gut. George Marioth's un-planned set of accidents and anti-craftsmans approach to editting is amazingly clever, while Jorg Buttkereit (who later went on to infamy with his Nekromantic series of necrophliac splatter films) offers a sinister biopic of his father. Other film gems include Christoph Doring's cinema verite of his job as taxi driver in Berlin, Wolkenstein & Markgraf's hilarious jumping video, and the casutic montages from Notorische Reflexe.
As for the musical program, Neubauten, Doris, Malaria, and Sprung Aus Den Wolken offer some of their quintessentially great pieces. Yet like the DVD, the discovery of previously unknown (although not unreleased) tracks from Mona Mur, Mono/45 UPM, Kosmonautentraum, and Flucht nach Vorn with their propulsive death-disco grooves and skeletal synthesizes make Berlin Super 80 well worth the price tag.
Be warned, this version is LIMITED, as only the first batch comes with the book and the cd, the second edition is DVD only!
Twist-A-Rama was a '60s teen talent show which broadcast in upstate New York. This compilation subtitled "Crude 1965 Garage Sounds From The Mohawk Valley: New York Garage Bands Vol. 1", is certainly packed full of the raw garage and surf sounds of the time, but is far from crude. Quite an impressive array of original songs from cleancut teen bands such as The Toffs, The Brix, and The Galaxies. Note: this cd was mastered from a mint copy of the LP which was released 35 years ago, and includes all the original liner notes... and surface noise. Yay!
A tribute to the Shaggs, what a weird idea. When I heard about this release I wondered if the bands on it were going to attempt to emulate the musical ineptness that was what made the Shaggs who they were, and if so, then why bother. Or would they turn the crazy songs by the Shaggs into their own style, which could be interesting. Thankfully it is the latter for the most part. Ida does a pretty, soft Ida-like version of "Philosophy Of The World". The Thinking Fellers do a great ethereal version of "Who Are Parents" and the best part is that they enunciate each word so the rad crazy lyrics are quite clear. I must admit there were some songs that bugged me like crazy, songs that were wacky and essentially just bad versions of bad songs, but without the demented innocence that made the Shaggs the Shaggs. But you know anything that reminds us how great and pure the Shaggs were is worthwhile in my book.
Sometimes you just have to know when to say "No Corky!" and lift the needle from the record or press 'eject'. This compilation is one of those times. Hate to say it, but it seems ol' Crippled Dick have let us down this time with Between Or Beyond The Northern Lights. A shame considering how we've applauded and eagerly anticipated their ecclectic array of artists and compilations (including the super groovy, kitschful Pop-Shopping and Shake Sauvage collections as well as releases from Oxbow and Peter Thomas). Subtitled "Rare Fusion From Scandinavia 1967 -1978, this sort of sounds like the bland jazz you'd hear seeping out of the cocktail lounge of a '70s hotel. A bevy of poodling saxophones and muted trumpets, an occasional burp of analog synth, omnipresent tik-teeek-tik hihats, and tootily flute... you get the idea! Eck.
Ah those French and their electronics, if there's one thing we've learned, they're really good at busting out catchy synth lines and addictive dance tunes. France in the late '70s to mid '80s particularly, held an abundance of innovative and distinct synth-based cold-wave acts, many of whom where under the radar and less popular than the likes of Jean Michel Jarre or Richard Pinhas, but still rich in texture and just as brilliant. We read somewhere that Ruth sold just 50 copies of their (amazing) album released in 1985. The fact that we know next to nothing about any of the artists on this comp makes it even better!
If the Tigersushi Collection, So Young But So Cold that we listed a while back tickled your fancy, Bippp will not disappoint. The folks here at aQ have been eating this up! This compilation, put out by Everloving, licensed from the French label Born Bad, is a marvelous collection of raw futuristic energy and minimalist beats. In it you hear the beginnings of cold wave, dark-wave, post punk, and electro pop. Act's "Ping Pong" suggests everything from The Police to early New Order while the quirky efforts of "Touche Pas Mon Sexe" by The Comix is fast, spastic and bouncy with minimal drum machine effects, slicing synth stabs, and swirly, grinding melodies similar to Kraftwerk or early OMD. CKC's "20h25", catchy as all hell, stands out the most with backing robotic vocals, eerie Casio lines, and a somewhat random slap bass break mid-song. In the pulsing, metronomic works of "Pretty Day" by Mary Moore, another gem in the collection and one of the only two tracks with English vocals, Mary sings about love and death in equally coy tones. TGV's "Partie 1" is sort of a punk anthem (as are a couple others in the collection) with interlocking key patterns and quick, nervous yelps.
Seems a little out of place that the last song, "Rainbow Man", is a tune by Ed Banger (present day French electro monarch) label frontman Busy P (who samples the "Touche Pas Mon Sexe" track by The Comix listed earlier on in the comp) though the Collection's title suggests French New Wave "1979-85"..?? Still a damned good track regardless. And maybe the bait to get some of the young 'uns interested in this cool old stuff. Really it's astounding how fresh in quality the bulk of these songs are as well, as if they could've been released within the last five years, on a label like Ed Banger...
Most of the bands on the compilation apparently released vinyl runs of 1000 or less the first time around. Lacking an aboveground hit by a homegrown version of Depeche Mode or Soft Cell, the scene portrayed on Bippp remained largely hidden. As brilliant and often catchy as the tunes are, they remained weirdly confidential. We can only hope that the release of Bippp leads to reissues of full albums by these acts! We already knew we needed that Ruth record back in print.
Also now available on vinyl!! Yay!
Ah those French and their electronics, if there's one thing we've learned, they're really good at busting out catchy synth lines and addictive dance tunes. France in the late '70s to mid '80s particularly, held an abundance of innovative and distinct synth-based cold-wave acts, many of whom where under the radar and less popular than the likes of Jean Michel Jarre or Richard Pinhas, but still rich in texture and just as brilliant. We read somewhere that Ruth sold just 50 copies of their (amazing) album released in 1985. The fact that we know next to nothing about any of the artists on this comp makes it even better!
If the Tigersushi Collection, So Young But So Cold that we listed a while back tickled your fancy, Bippp will not disappoint. The folks here at aQ have been eating this up! This compilation, put out by Everloving, licensed from the French label Born Bad, is a marvelous collection of raw futuristic energy and minimalist beats. In it you hear the beginnings of cold wave, dark-wave, post punk, and electro pop. Act's "Ping Pong" suggests everything from The Police to early New Order while the quirky efforts of "Touche Pas Mon Sexe" by The Comix is fast, spastic and bouncy with minimal drum machine effects, slicing synth stabs, and swirly, grinding melodies similar to Kraftwerk or early OMD. CKC's "20h25", catchy as all hell, stands out the most with backing robotic vocals, eerie Casio lines, and a somewhat random slap bass break mid-song. In the pulsing, metronomic works of "Pretty Day" by Mary Moore, another gem in the collection and one of the only two tracks with English vocals, Mary sings about love and death in equally coy tones. TGV's "Partie 1" is sort of a punk anthem (as are a couple others in the collection) with interlocking key patterns and quick, nervous yelps.
Seems a little out of place that the last song, "Rainbow Man", is a tune by Ed Banger (present day French electro monarch) label frontman Busy P (who samples the "Touche Pas Mon Sexe" track by The Comix listed earlier on in the comp) though the Collection's title suggests French New Wave "1979-85"..?? Still a damned good track regardless. And maybe the bait to get some of the young 'uns interested in this cool old stuff. Really it's astounding how fresh in quality the bulk of these songs are as well, as if they could've been released within the last five years, on a label like Ed Banger...
Most of the bands on the compilation apparently released vinyl runs of 1000 or less the first time around. Lacking an aboveground hit by a homegrown version of Depeche Mode or Soft Cell, the scene portrayed on Bippp remained largely hidden. As brilliant and often catchy as the tunes are, they remained weirdly confidential. We can only hope that the release of Bippp leads to reissues of full albums by these acts! We already knew we needed that Ruth record back in print.
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Tributes are always sort of a tough call. Sometimes you'd rather just hear the originals, or sometimes there's one great version in a sea of total shit. So we're happy to report, that this tribute to Black Flag succeeds on several levels. First, it's Black Flag!! I mean, c'mon, Black Flag rule! And of course deserve to be covered, as well as worshipped. The downside of that though, is that Black Flag are so good, it almost seems pointless to cover them. But it is a covers compilation so that point is moot I suppose. And the selection of bands here is pretty strong, lots of AQ faves (Dillinger Escape Plan, Converge, Coalesce, Burnt By The Sun) and lots of pretty kick ass lesser-knowns (Anodyne, Playing Enemy, Planes Mistaken For Stars). All of whom give us REALLY HEAVY versions of songs we already love. Not all that different (except maybe Dillinger's sort-of-jungle version of Damaged II) but all really good. So it really depends on where you stand on tribute compilations. But metalcore's finest covering pnk rock's finest...you could do a lot worse.
MPEG Download: DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN "Damaged I & II" [/audio/dillingerdamaged.mp3]
MPEG Stream: DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN "Damaged I & II" [/audio/dillingerdamaged.m3u]
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The cult '70s New York punk film Blank Generation sees a reissue on the spankin' new DVD format. With rare, you-were-there shots of the bands on stage and off, there's Television, Blondie, Ramones, Talking Heads, Patti Smith Group, The Heartbreakers, The
20 tracks as awesome as "Ballroom Blitz" by The Sweet?? Well, no, not quite. That would be a tall order. But this Blitzing The Ballroom comp (subtitled 20 UK Power Glam Incendiaries) does boast quite a few corkers. Stormers. Blitzes. Whatever the glam slang is for kicking ass (with bubblegum stuck to yer boots). And, like the '60 garage psych before it that so many previous Psychic Circle comps have dug into, '70s glam's definitely a genre that works great in the various artists compilation format. So many one-hit-wonders (or one-hit-wannabes), you can fill a comp with killer songs from bands (or "recording projects") that made just one or two singles, taking their shot at the top of the pops and then disappeared faster than a melting ice cream cone in the summertime heat. While The Sweet, Slade, T-Rex, and a few other greats from the glam scene have stood the test of time, so many obscurities have been forgotten. And that's what this comp concentrates on, bands with such disposable, adolescent-appeal names as Frenzy, Tiger, Panther, Screemer, Giggles, Stumpy... Nope, never heard of 'em either, but Blitzing The Ballroom demonstrates they're each worth 2-3 minutes of your time. And despite the bubblegum goofiness, they are all examples of glam ROCK. The back cover blurb accurately speaks of the "harder edge" that a lot of these selections share (hence the words "power" and "incendiaries" in this disc's subtitle). Maybe not headbanging but definitely hard rockin' with a silly grin on yer face.
As per usual with the many fine comps from the Psychic Circle label (so many we'll never get to 'em all, but cherrypick our faves), this comes complete with full-color graphics and informative liner notes on each track in the cd booklet, often tracing these acts back to their members' origins in the the '60s pop psych scene, or following their fortunes forward into the punk rock/new wave era. Screemer, for instance, featured a ex-member of heavy Hendrixy NZ rockers Human Instinct. And there's a track here by Peter Dunton, the vocalist/drummer who earlier on was a member of AQ fave proto-metal, prog-psych trio T2! (His track actually doesn't seem all that glam, sounding much like the calm, melodic heavy psych of T2, but that's cool too).
Hmm. Now that they've ventured into the glam singles scene of the early/mid '70s, can we look forward to Psychic Circle bringing us a NWOBHM comp of heavier stuff from later in the decade?? We wonder...
The record-collecting excess of Nick Saloman (Mr. Bevis Frond) pays off for all of us once again, as he presents yet another collection of groovy old '60s/'70s tracks from rare vinyl that he's compiled for the Psychic Circle label. Blow Your Cool is a sequel of sorts to Psychic Circle's winning A Visit To The Spaceship Factory comp but instead of featuring only obscure UK prog/psych gems, this ventures further afield to showcase tracks by weird/cool bands from Continental Europe as well. Thus it's definitely got something of the Prog Is Not A Four Letter Word/"B-music" vibe.
Of the 20 artists included, a few names jump out as familiar to us, and speak well to the quality of the comp. There's Cosmic Dealer (a psychedelic Dutch band who more than live up to their name, which is much better than what we're told their original moniker was: Floating Fudge), Triangle (the title track "Blow Your Cool" is by this French group, it's also on the collection from them we listed last year), Zior, Egg, Freedom, Mogul Thrash (featuring John Wetton), Les Variations (more Francias Metal de Proto we've reviewed before), Blue Beard (with "Sly Willy", also found on the Some Songs Stuck In My Mind comp we listed last week), and The Rattles (feat. Achim Reichel). Then, among the rest, quite a few new-to-us surprises, from the bombastic, poppy opening track "To Live" by Paradise Hammer from England, to the progged-out, wound-up Hendrixy heaviness of Italy's Tritons on their "Drifter". Also on here: Primitive Man, Barry Freeman & Strange Power, The Foundations, Dream Police, Ferris Wheel, Paul Ryder & Time Machine, Jess & James, Bedlam, and Swegas.
As usual, informative liner notes and graphics pertaining to each track are provided in the full-colour cd booklet. What can we say, but keep 'em coming, Nick!
Jonathan Lee of the Dreams By Degrees label commissioned this compilation as synaesthesia in reverse by asking the question, "If blue could be interpreted through music, what would it sound like?" There have been many musicians and artists who have attempted to address the painterly metonym between colors and sound, all of which related each to pre-existing musical / visual cues. There's Ken Nordine's beat poetics on the emotive qualities of various colors, Derek Jarman's gut wrenching film Blue with a bluescreen as the backdrop to a narrative about the tragedies of AIDS, and Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, just to name a few. As each of those offered a unique facet to the nature of the color blue, it's unlikely that any encapsulated anything universal about that color. This Dreams By Degrees compilation similarly contexualizes their collection with a pre-existing aesthetic, here stated as ambient post-rock, emotionally naked shoegazing folk, and bleary eyed electronica. Jef Cantu of Tarentel has constructed a variety of musical interludes of pseudo-Stephan Mathieu glitchy drone transitioning between many of the contributions, providing a seemless dreamy quality to the entire album. Other contributers include Film School, L'Altra, Lazarus, Vetiver, Rivulets, Stratford 4, John Davis, Corbi Wright, Your Friend, Park Avenue Music, Vela, and Sir for an album sounds in many ways like a modern day This Mortal Coil.
As "tribute" comps go, this is a really good one. Usually a tribute succeeds only if the cover versions are really different from the originals (for instance, the pop-punk bands doing metal covers on the "I Heart Metal" tribute). At the very least there can be
Blue Cheer of course is the granddaddy of all metal/stoner bands, with their first two and a half classic albums still being heavier in their own way than most stuff released today. And Black Widow have put together a pretty excellent international line-up of their progeny to pay tribute. Pentagram (who are on here twice, and may as well BE Blue Cheer 'cause they do it so well!), Internal Void, Thumlock, Natas, Fireball Ministry, Ufomammut are a who's who of some of today's best doom/stoner acts. Plus there's some more obscure names from the space/prog axis as well. The only puzzle about this comp is that several bands chose to cover songs from Blue Cheer's not-so-heavy early '70s albums, which turn out well, but I can't figure out why they did that, except to be different and demonstrate what big fans they are. Still, quite a bit of 1968's "Vincebus Eruptum" and '69s "Outsideinside" is represented. Right on!
Bob Blank is one of the most unsung heroes in the history of the vibrant New York music scene of the '70s and '80s. He had such a wide ranging, amazing and colorful sound, and a massive (if under appreciated) influence like so many of the best musical minds of that era (Larry Levan, Arthur Russell, August Darnell). While his roots were for sure deep in the disco scene he had the kind of left of center disposition that allowed him to work on so many different kind of projects and with so many different, and often unexpected artists. Strut has put together a really loving collection of many of the great songs Blank helped bring to life by everyone from Lydia Lunch to Sun Ra, Lola (Arthur Russell) to Gladys Knight and more. While there is an undeniable level of funk and freespirit running through all these songs, they do all demonstrate the breadth of sound Blank was able to bring to records recorded in his legendary Blank Tapes studio located in the heart of Chelsea. Surely essential for folks who loved the recent Ze: 30 collection or the Mutant Disco and Disco Not Disco comps from the past few years. We're beyond stoked that Strut has put this collection together, not only to bring light to the amazing work that Blank created but simply as compilation, this record is just jam packed with so many super pleasing songs.
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For those who remember when there were genuine underground music scenes (or for younger whippersnappers who wanna know what the fuss was all about)... this compilation is a great document of Boston based bands from a brief four year stretch that bridged the seventies with the eighties. Remarkably polished and burstin' out with youthful energy, Boston Underground is nicely varied from earnest jangle pop to sneering garagey rawk to angular no wave. Many of these songs which may seem tame and downright quaint by today's standards were fresh and downright adventurous back then. it's super cool that we're getting a chance to hear these pockets of amazing music that sadly seldom reached the ears of anyone outside of the city limits let alone within them. Check it out!
Since we seem to no longer be able to get a hold of that fantastic '60s french girl group Ultra Chicks series, we're delighted to finally get a bunch of this just-reissued collection of girl group tunes compiled, strangely enough, by controversial industrial culture icon Boyd Rice. No, they're not the highly sought French ye ye girls, but they are very much in the same perky vibe as the abovementioned comps. Rice has selected nine lesser known (or quite unknown) artists to showcase: solo singers Diane Ray, Bernadette Castro, Bernadette Caroll, Susan Rafey, Priscilla Paris, Robbie Winston, and Lori Burton as well as the suitably named groups The Love Exchange and Honey Ltd. The songs range from squeaky clean and girlish like Patty Duke to the more worldly and womanly like Petula Clark and Shirley Bassey. The second tune by Ms Castro sounds like something Le Tigre studied thoroughly. Very cool!
Weird, murky drone and darkly introspective goth-ambient sounds from the Austin indie-electronic underground. Brain Club is a series of mixes compiled by Jesse Jenkins (Silver Pines, Pure X/Ecstasy, Thousand Foot Whale Claw) and Kyle Dixon (Survive, Heathen Earth) of unreleased tracks by Austin-based groups (at least for this inaugural edition), most of whom we've never heard of before, but after checking this out we're really excited to know more about them.
The first side is more ambient with tracks mixing into each other beautifully. After a brief clip of a found spoken word recording by the mysterious "The Artist", Daniel Hipolito's Smokey Emery, the one project here we've reviewed in the past, appears with a short outdoor ambient industrial recording made with multiple tape machines that sound like far away drones recorded in a sewage tunnel which segues into VC Childkraft's soft focus "Magnetik Rose", a ghostly pitch-shifted piece of electronic clusters that sounds like a wind-soaked lullaby. Thousand Foot Whale Claw's shoegaze ambience of "Lost In Those Dunes", brings in a slow-motion crest of gorgeous guitar feedback culminating in the final track of side 1, Heathen Earth's witch-house instrumental of bleak hollow synths, echo-y drums and incidental crashing noises.
Side 2 has three more composed electronic tracks, the first a live track by Bodytronix which sounds like a Dam-Funk instrumental without beats. "Reverie" by Jake Schrock is probably our favorite track and it's also the longest. Sounding like a ballad composed by Roedelius, Vangelis, and OMD, it's pretty melancholic synth composition hits that sweet spot of uncanny eighties nostalgia without trying too hard. The final track by Phantastes called "Flight of Stares" is like last call at the Bat Cave, a murky instrumental goth dance anthem that channels Soft Cell or Alien Sex Fiend filtered through some druggy hazy processing. So good! We can't wait for more volumes if they're as good as this one!
Limited to 300 copies, these won't be around too long, so grab them fast. Comes as a pinkish-grey unlabeled transparent smoke colored vinyl in a hand-printed cardstock half-sleeve wrapped in an oversize ziplock plastic storage bag.
Brainwashed.com is an indispensible website dedicated to all sorts of musical arcana, publishing an insightful number of reviews and hosting the official domains for such diverse artists as Nurse With Wound, V/VM, Matmos, Mirror, Labradford, Trans Am,
Hey, we're not claiming these to be right! Have fun with it yourself, we sure did!
Where this compilation succeeds in its musical content, it royally fails in packaging: three loose cds in a metal tin which requires the booklets to be bent in order to fit, accompanied by a cheap keychain, a cloth patch, and a q-tip (???). All of this is wrapped with an unkempt piece of wire. Arrggg.
This is a rather good collection of 22 tracks taken from the consistently great Fat Cat catalog, plus five previously unreleased ones (including one by SIGUR ROS). Fat Cat has released a lot of navelgazing music, especially at their start, but have since branched out and in doing so are forming their own wideranging aesthetic particular to their own logic (as all good labels should do). It's almost all uniformly slow to midtempo, ranging from bedroom electronic melancholia like that of Transient Waves and Mice Parade; to the abstract deconstructions of Fennesz; to the outer edges of postrock and/or postfolk typified by David Grubbs and Set Fire to Flames; to exuberant post punk of Programme, Giddy Motors, and Party of One; to the noisier experimentalism of Black Dice and Xinlisupreme. But none of the Fat Cat stuff ever gets too 'out there', if you know what I mean, so in that nice way it's a great safe label to trust, especially if you're wanting a listen on the more accessible side of nonetheless experimental genres.
With all of the abovementioned artists, plus Kid606, Matmos, Bjork mit Funkstorung, the Dylan Group, Mum, Grain, Sylvain Chaveau and more.
Geez! Just when you thought you've heard all the Brazilian Psych and Tropicalia of the sixties and seventies worth listening to, comes this monster compilation of complete unknown jams from the era that very nearly blows away anything you considered to be the best. Distributed by the same folks who brought us the killer Psych Funk 101 compilation (a unanimous store favorite), if you dug that compilation you should definitely check this one out. Culled specifically from the rarest of 7" singles (the era's cheapest and most produced format), many of 'em promo only, there are none of the usual suspects, no Caetano, Os Mutantes or any of Rogerio Duprat's star artists. Instead this is the sound of the deeper radical underground, of groups most of which couldn't ever get record deals. The music is way heavier, the vibe more unhinged and funky with big fuzz and often wild, ecstatic arrangements. Here is the checklist of groups on here: Celio Balona, Loyce E Os Gnomes, The Youngsters, Serguel, Fabio, Tony E Som Colorido, 14 Bis, Banda De 7 Leguas, Ton & Sergio, Ely, Com OS Falcoes Reais, Marisa Rossi, The Pops, Piry, and Max Rybell. The cd comes with a HUGE full color booklet with info on all the singles and pictures and the enhanced cd itself features a documentary, called "What Are Fuzz Bananas?" (good question). Meanwhile, the vinyl version comes with a large full color booklet with info on all the singles and pictures. We got the last copies of the first vinyl pressing that include 3-D glasses, though we're not sure why they were included as none of the record sleeve was printed in 3-D as far as we can tell, though they do make the wildly colorful psychedelic drawing in the gatefold sure look neat!
Way Recommended!
A very special Record Store Day 2012 compilation, released on the new(ish) label 12XU, run by noneother than Mr. Gerard Cosloy (formerly of Homestead and Matador Records, among other notable ventures), and in the spirit of the day, it's a benefit, with all profits going to Austin's Trailer Space Records, a DIY shop that hosts all ages shows in addition to selling records, and this comp, named for the edict given to folks coming to aforementioned Trailer Space instores, is equal parts 12XU label sampler and Trailer Space compilation, featuring bands who've played the shop and/or who have records out on 12XU, in some cases both, in others neither. Regardless, it's a pretty excellent collection, with a few names we know: Cruddy, Chris Brokaw, Air Traffic Controllers, and even more we don't, Naw Dude, Carolee, Nazi Gold, Marriage, James Arthur's Manhunt, Followed By Static, The Flesh Lights and more. The sound ranges from the 68 second blast of dirgey distorto garage punk from Cruddy, the dirgey indie post punk of Nazi Gold, the Dead C meets Crazy Horse psychedelic skree of Cosloy's band Air Traffic Controllers, the echo drenched bellowing vokilled crustpunk garage dirge of Naw Dude, the spaced out FX heavy psych rock of Marriage, the fuzzy druggy dirge pop of Followed By Static, the angular bass heavy new wave post punk swagger of the Flesh Lights and more more more. Definitely had us hankering to hear more from all of these outfits.
Limited Record Store Day release, so these will definitely have a limited shelf life. Housed in full color covers, with photos of Trailer Space, and the titular 'Bring Beer' sign. Also includes a download coupon.
You know the drill. A covers record. Not entirely respectful, but not entirely tongue in cheek either. I mean, c'mon, who didn't love Guns And Roses? At least for a while there. Well, here you have some heavyweights tackling their favortie G&R tunes. Most are thrashed out and metalcore-d beyond recognition. A few try to do them straight but have trouble pulling it off with their limited vocal range. Highlights are the totally obliterated "My Michelle" by the Dillinger Escape Plan, the pummelled into submission "It's So Easy" by Unearth and the only sort-of-straight-and-actually-pulled-off cover, "Paradise City" by Eighteen Visions, whose vocalist manages a pretty respectable Axl!
The acid rock experts at Permanent & Riding Easy teamed up to produce this cool comp of underground American hard rock / proto-metal obscurities from the '70s, full of badass bands that would never, ever have had to be told "more cowbell!", bands who aspired to arenas but probably didn't get much beyond the garage, with a lone self-released demo single to their names, most of 'em - real finds, and real rarities, so we'd only heard of, like, one of 'em before! Lotsa fuzzed out grooves, wailing vocals, and heavy riffing guitar, a lot like the tracks on Numero's brilliant Darkscorch Canticles comp, but less mystical and D&D-ish, more straight up hard rockin party times tunes, probably inspired by Led Zep and Grand Funk but coming closer to Frijid Pink and Bubble Puppy. Crank this loud enough, and it's another Record Of The Week for some of us here, and likewise should be for those of you who daydream about the airbrushed fantasy artwork that'll go on the side of the van you'd like to own one day. For the curious, the acts on here are: Box, Snow, Tour, Zebra, Bob Goodsite, Raw Meat (whose track reminds us of Simply Saucer in a weird way), Punch, Bacchus, Lenny Drake, Todd, and Josefus.
The great '70s obscure acid rock comp we've been rocking out to since it dropped last year gets a well-deserved sequel, equally jam-packed with forgotten gems of vintage heavy rock jams! Yeah man, Riding Easy do it again, digging up tracks from ten hard rocking proto-metal bands we'd never heard of before, mostly appearing on one-off singles and such: Ash, Sweet Crystal, Raving Maniac, Crossfield, Spiny Norman, Glass Sun, Volt Rush Band, Buck, Iron Knowledge, Sonny Hugg. (Yep, even the band names are pretty badass, most of 'em!). Comparatively, these acts tend a bit more to the proggy and psychedelic side of things than the last batch, being perhaps just as likely to bust out with a baroque keyboard flourish or flute solo as they are to clock the cowbell. In other words, a lot of Sir Lord Baltimore sounding stuff, yeah! Heck, Glass Sun's killer "Silence Of The Morning" tears it up like a really heavy Nuggets popsike number, and there's a lotsa garagey FUZZ all over this thing, you can't go wrong. So, if you liked the first Brown Acid comp, or that Darkscorch one, you'll groove on this big time!!
(On cd now, with vinyl to come later...)
Compilation of live tracks by Chicago's finest purveyors of what they're still calling "No Wave" or something: The Scissor Girls, Quintron, The Flying Luttenbachers, etc. Originally a very limited edition lp, now made available on cd for those who missed out the first time.
As far as we're concerned, Providence artrock/noise rock label Corleone, never has to do anything ever again, just by merit of releasing Throne Of Blood's genius I Hope You Fail Miserably And Never Accomplish Anything Ever Again record. And before we get into this review, let's once again beseech those guys to reissue that Throne Of Blood. C'MON!!!!!
Okay then, well, it's been 10 years that these guys have been assaulting our ears, so it makes perfect sense that for their tenth anniversary they decide to destroy our eyes as well. And as should be common knowledge by now, Providence Rhode Island is not just a hotbed for music, it's also jam packed with visual artists and filmmakers, so this collection of videos for various Corleone bands is totally eye popping and amazing.
Did you dig the Paper Rad dvd on Load, then you'll probably dig this too. Super varied, from ultra pro shot films to hand made animations, to absolute WTF weirdness. Some highlights: the super eight video ritual for Bonedust, the perfect visual to go along with their hissy drone-y buzz, the gorgeous sepiatone washed out video for The Body, mostly them playing live, but lit weirdly and all washed out like some old filmstrip, the super gross live action / animation mix of Snake Apt's video, featuring lots of applesauce spitting, and blood and guts and gore, the goofy live action video for Lorna Doom's bad ass white boy rap, a live Black Pus show, which is basically just Lightning Bolt's Brian Chippendale rocking out on the kit, the super blown out experimental video for Night Wounds, awesome arty collage intercut with live action for Get Killed, rad weirdo home movies to accompany Uke Of Spaces Corners, an awesome video of Fang Island performing for a class full of little kids who dance wildly, so cute! And on and on and on. And it's also a good way to get acquainted with a bunch of the bands on Corleone, all of whom are pretty bad ass. A killer audio AND video mix tape that will blow out your ear drums and make your eyeballs melt!
Full color artwork, clear dvd case, MASSIVE thanks list, full color booklet with liner notes and video info. ----* ----* In Stock, Not Yet Reviewed : ----* If you want to order one of these, just search for the item, then click on the buy button and it will be added to your cart! 3/3 "s/t" (P-Vine) 2cd 42.00 AFRIRAMPO "Suuto Breakor" (P-Vine) cd 25.00 AHMED, MAHMOUD & EITHER / ORCHESTRA "Tsedenia Gebre-Marqos" (Buda Musique) dvd 14.98 AHOUSEN "s/t" (PSF) cd 22.00 ALCHEMIST "Tripsis" (Relapse) cd 14.98 ALTER EGO "Why Not?!" (Klang Elektronik) cd 16.98 AMBER ASYLUM "Still Point" (Profound Lore) cd 12.98 ANGELBLOOD "Mambo Mange" (Locust) lp 17.98 APACHE "Boys Life" (Douchemaster) 7" 5.50 ARMISEN, FRED PRESENTS: JENS HANNEMANN "Complicated Drumming Technique" (Drag City) dvd 15.98 AVENGED SEVENFOLD "s/t" (Warner) cd 17.98 AXA HOUR OF DARA BLEU "Clones Of Eros" (Fire Museum) cd 13.98 BACH, SEBASTIAN "Angel Down" (Get Off My Bach) cd 13.98 BACHDENKEL "Lemmings" (Ork) cd 17.98 BEHOLD THE ARCTOPUS "Skullgrid" (Metal Blade) cd 12.98 BETTER BEATLES, THE "Mercy Beat" (Hook or Crook) cd 11.98 BORIS / MERZBOW "Rock Dream" (Daymare) 2cd 32.00 BOSMANN, KARL "Eskalation" (You Don't Have To Call It Music) lp 38.00 BROTZMANN, PETER / MANGELSDORFF / SOMMER "Pica Pica" (Atavistic) cd 14.98 BROTZMANN, PETER / PAAL NILSSEN-LOVE / MATS GUSTAFSSON "The Fat Is Gone" (Smalltown Superjazz) cd 16.98 BRYARS, GAVIN "The Marvellous Aphorisms Of Gavin Bryars: The Early Years" (Mode) cd 16.98 CARBONARA, ERIC "Exodus Bulldornadius" (Locust) cd 15.98 CENTURIONS GHOST "The Great Work" (I Hate) cd 16.98 COFFINS / THE ARM AND SWORD OF A BASTARD GOD "split" (20 Buck Spin) cd 13.98 COHEED AND CAMBRIA "No World For Tomorrow" (Sony BMG) cd 11.98 COLLINS, BOOTSY "Ultra Wave" (Collector's Choice) cd 13.98 CONTROL "OST" (Warner / Rhino) cd 16.98 COPE, JULIAN "You Gotta Problem" (Head Heritage) 2cd 27.00 DAUNER, WOLFGANG (QUARTET) "The Oimels" (Long Hair) cd 24.00 DEAD RAVEN CHOIR "My Firstborn Will Surely Be Blind" (Aurora Borealis) cd/lp 14.98/17.98 DEATH AMBIENT "Drunken Forest" (Tzadik) cd 16.98 DOO SOO, KIM "Ten Days Butterfly" (PSF) cd 22.00 DOWN "III: Over The Under" (Down Records) cd 17.98 EQUIMANTHORN "Exalted Are The 7 Throne Bearers of Ninnkigal" (From Beyond) cd 14.98 ERGO SUM "Mexico" (Lion Productions) cd 15.98 ESKIBOY "The Best Of Tunnel Vision" (Baked Goods) 2cd 22.00 FIFTY FOOT HOSE "Cauldron" (Phoenix Records) lp 24.00 FLOWER TRAVELLIN BAND "Satori" (Phoenix Records) lp 24.00 FUTURIANS "Play The Breathtaking Sounds Of Tivol" (Soft Abuse) lathe cut 7" 14.98 GATES OF SLUMBER / SPIRITUS MORTIS "From The Ultima Thule" (Emissary) cd 14.98 GLUTTONY "Collapse Of The Roman Republic (Liber Primus)" (Cyclops) cd 15.98 GRUDZIEN, PETER "The Unicorn" (Subliminal Sounds) 2lp 39.00 GRUPPO D'IMPROVVISAZIONE "Nuova Consonanza" (Cherry Red) cd 17.98 GUSTAFSSON, MATS / PAAL NILSSEN-LOVE "Splatter" (Smalltown Superjazz) cd 14.98 HABIBIYYA "If Man But Knew" (Sunbeam) cd 16.98 HALF MAKESHIFT "L'Anse Amort" (20 Buck Spin) cd 13.98 HAROLD & MAUDE (CAT STEVENS) "OST" (Vinyl Films) lp+7"+booklet 42.00 HIORTHOY, KIM "My Last Day" (Smalltown Supersound) cd 16.98 HUGUENOTS, THE "s/t" (Hydra Head) cd 14.98 HUMAN BEAST "Volume One" (Sunbeam) cd 16.98 IELASI, GIUSEPPE "August" (12K) cd 14.98 IRISH COFFEE "s/t" (Set) cd 25.00 JACKIE-O MOTHERFUCKER "Valley Of Fire" (Textile) cd 15.98 JUNO "OST" (Rhino) cd 14.98 KLIMEK "Dedications" (Anticipata) cd 15.98 LICHENS "Omns" (Kranky) cd + dvd 16.98 MANINKARI "Le Diable Avec Ses Chevaux" (Conspiracy) 2cd 22.00 MARGINAL CONSORT "s/t" (Improvised Music From Japan) 4cd 79.00 MARTIN, AARON "Almond" (Preservation) cd 15.98 MASHAYEKHI, ALIREZA & ATA EBTEKAR (SOTE) "Persian Electronic Music: Yesterday And Today (1966-2006)" (Sub Rosa) cd 16.98 MAYER, NATHANIEL "I Want Love And Affection Not The House Of Correction" (Vampi Soul) cd/lp 17.98/29.00 METZGER, PAUL "Deliverance" (Locust) cd 14.98 MITSURU, TABATA "Lumrapideco" (Utech) cd 16.98 MONSTER MAGNET "4-Way Diablo" (SPV) cd 16.98 NAGOSKI, IAN "Kerflooey" (Ehse Records) lp 16.98 NERVE NET NOISE "Dark Garden" (Intransitive) cd 14.98 NILSEN BJ & Z'EV "22'22" (Ideal) cd 14.98 NOSTRADAMOS "s/t" (World Psychedelia) cd 17.98 OAXACAN "s/t" (self-released) cd-r ep 8.98 OCEAN, THE "Precambrian" (Metal Blade) cd 14.98 ONNA "Katawa" (PSF) cd 22.00 OPETH "The Roundhouse Tapes" (Peaceville) 2cd 16.98 PEEESSEYE, THE "Mayhem In The Mansion, Shivers In The Sack" (Evolving Ear) cd 11.98 PINCH "Underwater Dancehall" (Tectonic) 2cd 22.00 PINHAS, RICHARD "East / West" (Cuneiform) cd 15.98 POCAHAUNTED / ROBEDOOR "Hunted Gathered" (Digitalis) 2cd 22.00 PRIMORDIAL "To The Nameless Dead" (Metal Blade) cd 13.98 R/S ONE "Snow Mud Rain" (Erstwhile) cd 14.98 RE/SEARCH "#4/5 : W.S. Burroughs, B. Gison, Throbbing Gristle" (Re/Search Publications) book 39.00 REICHEL, ACHIM "AR3" (Germanophon) cd 17.98 RELIGIOUS KNIVES "It's After Dark" (Troubleman) cd 13.98 RIGGS, DAX "We Sing Of Only Blood Or Love" (Fat Possum) cd 14.98 ROBEDOOR "Rancor Keeper" (Release the Bats) cd 15.98 ROOT "Daemon Viam Invenient" (Shindy) cd 15.98 ROSENHOLM, ELEANOORA "Vainajan Muotokuva" (Fonal) cd 17.98 ROSETTA "Cleansing Undertones Of Wake/Lift" (Translation Loss) cd 9.98 ROSETTA "Wake / Lift" (Translation Loss) cd 13.98 ROTH, DAVID LEE "Sonrisa Salvaje" (Friday Music) cd 15.98 ROTHER, MICHAEL "Flammende Herzen" (Water) cd 16.98 RUDD, ROSWELL "Blown Bone" (Emanem) cd 19.98 RUINZHATOVA "Original Soundtrack For Dream, Sea, Vacancy, Metropolis" (Kaeru Cafe) cd 14.98 RWAKE "Voices Of Omens" (Relapse) cd 12.98 SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS "Face" (Radium) lp 13.88 SCIENTISTS "Sedition" (ATP) cd 15.98 SCORCHER "Thunder Power" (T.H.E. M.O.V.E.M.E.N.T.) cd 15.98 SEAWORTHY "Map In Hand" (12K) cd 14.98 SIEBENSUNDEN "Teratologen" (I Hate Records) cd 15.98 SIGRBLOT "Blodsband (Blood Religion Manifest)" (Nordiska Forlaget) cd/2lp 15.98/22.00 SIGUROSSON, VALGEIR "Ekvilibrium" (Bedroom Community) cd 15.98 SILMARIL "The Voyage Of Icarus" (Locust) cd 14.98 SIMONETTI, ENRICO & GOBLIN "Gamma" (Cherry Red) cd 17.98 SINCLAIR, JOHN "Guitar Army: Rock & Revolution With MC5 And The White Panther Party" (Process) book+cd 22.95 SKEPTA "Greatest Hits" (Boy Better Know) cd 21.00 SKULL DEFEKTS, THE "Open The Gates Of Mimer" (AA / Nosordo) cd 14.98 SKULL DEFEKTS, THE "The Sound Of Defekt Skulls" (Utech) cd 14.98 SOL "Let There Be A Massacre" (Van) cd 13.98 SOLITUDE AETERNUS "Alone" (Soul Food) cd 17.98 SOLITUDE AETURNUS "Hour Of Despair" (Metal Mind Productions) dvd 24.00 SORIAH "Ofrendas De Luz A Los Muertos" (Beta-lactam Ring) cd 17.98 SPEKTR "Mescalyne" (Moribund) cd 12.98 STRIBORG "Trepidation" (Displeased) cd 14.98 SUISHOU NO FUNE "The Shining Star - Live" (Important) cd 14.98 SUN RA "Disco 3000" (Artyard) 2cd 33.00 TAKAYANAGI, MASAYUKI NEW DIRECTION UNIT "April Is The Cruellest Month" (Jinya) cd 24.00 TERJE, JESPER & JOACHIM "s/t" (Shadoks Music) cd 15.98 THROBS, THE "s/t (Special Collector's Edition)" (Rock Candy) cd 17.98 TIME FLYS, THE "In Crowd" (Douchemaster) 7" 5.50 TORSKE, BJORN "Feil Knapp" (Smalltown Supersound) cd/lp 16.98/21.00 TULUS "Biography Obscene" (Candlelight) cd 14.98 TURBONEGRO "Retox" (Cooking Vinyl) cd 14.98 ULVER "Shadows Of The Sun" (Jester) cd 12.98 UPSILON ACRUX "Galapagos Momentum" (Cuneiform) cd 16.98 V/A "10 Tons Heavy" (Planet Mu) 2cd 13.98 V/A "200" (Planet Mu) 2cd/2lp 9.98/17.98 V/A "A Number Of Small Things" (Morr Music) 2cd 21.00 V/A "Achtung! German Grooves" (Bureau) cd V/A "Asian Flashback: Underground Music From Asia" (PSF) cd 22.00 V/A "Beyond Amsterdam: Baltimore Tracks From The Wire" (Nonesuch) cd 13.98 V/A "Cut It Up Def: Miami Bass Jams" (Cut It Up Def) cd 14.98 V/A "Dr. Boogie Presents: Rarities From The Bob Hite Vaults" (Sub Rosa) cd 15.98 V/A "From Dubplate To Download" (Greensleeves) 2cd 19.98 V/A "Greasy Truckers Party" (EMI) 3cd 38.00 V/A "Lifting The Veil: The Earliest Blues Guitarists" (World Arbiter) cd 17.98 V/A "Melodii Tuvi: Throat Songs And Folk Tunes From Tuva" (Dust To Digital) cd 15.98 V/A "Messthetics #105: D.I.Y. 77-81 Scotland I" (Hyped To Death) cd 13.98 V/A "Papagayo! The Spanish Sunshine Pop & Popsike Collection" (Toytown) cd 21.00 V/A "Pillows & Prayers" (Cherry Red) 3cd+dvd 42.00 V/A "Runeology 3" (Rune Grammofon) cd 9.98 V/A "Smashits" (Shitkatapult) cd 16.98 V/A "Sock It To 'Em J.B." (Body & Soul) cd 15.98 V/A "Space And Time" (Hotflush) cd 21.00 V/A "The Essence Of Swedish Progressive Music, 1967-1979" (Premium Publishing) 4cd 60.00 V/A "The Rubble Collection Vol. 1-10" (Fallout) 10 cd box 96.00 V/A "The Wire: "...And All The Pieces Matter."" (Nonesuch) cd 24.00 V/A "Trojan Country Reggae Box Set" (Trojan) 3cd 19.98 V/A "Waking Up Scheherazade" (Grey Past) lp 28.00 V/A "War II (The Turd Hunt Continues)" (Hip Hop Slam) cd 11.98 V/A "Welsh Rare Beat 2" (Finders Keepers) cd 23.00 V/A (ESHETE, ALEMAYEHU) "Ethiopiques Vol. 22 : More Vintage!" (Buda Musique) cd 15.98 VILE CHERUBS "The Man Who Has No Eats Has No Sweats" (Afterburn) cd 13.98 VILLAINS "Drenched In The Posions" (Aurora Borealis) cd 14.98 WALTER, WEASEL QUARTET "Revolt Music" (ugExplode) cd 11.98 WANDERING MIDGET, THE "I Am The Gate" (Eyes Like Snow) cd 15.98 WARMER MILKS "Let Your Friends In" (Release the Bats) cd 13.98 WILLIS, NICOLE AND THE SOUL INVESTIGATORS "Keep Reachin' Up: Remixed" (Above The Clouds) cd 17.98 WYATT, ROBERT "Comicopera" (Domino) cd 15.98 YEASAYER "All Hour Cymbals" (Are We Free) cd 14.98 YEH, C. SPENCER "Violin, Objects" (Tone Filth) lp 17.98 YOKOTA, SUSUMU "Skintone Collection" (Skintone) cd 14.98 YOUNG, NEIL "Chrome Dreams II" (Reprise) cd 17.98 YOUNGS, RICHARD "Summer Wanderer" (Gipsy Sphinx) lp 17.98 _______________________________________________________________________ ABOUT MAILORDER
Amazing compilation of fucked up / out there / experimental rock from Zerga, the Finnish label run by our pal Pentti who fronts the band Deep Turtle. Obviously, Finland is gonna be well represented with a few bands we already love: Radiopuhelimet, Keuhkot, and a whole bunch we've never heard before: Torpedos, Fun, The Revolutionary Southern AMphetamines, Chelyabinsk-40, Astro Can Caravan, Hinageshi Bondage, Cause For Effect, Manifesto Jukebox, Mothers Against Sex Association, Suonihiuksisto, Kometa, and Vuk. Finnophiles will definitely want to pick this up. But in addition to all the Finnish weirdness, representing other parts of the globe we have Zu from Italy, Boxed In T.W.A.T. from the UK, Bz Bz Ueu also from Italy, Ground / Lift from Austria, Hather And Bollen from Australia / Holland, and Sabot from the Czech Republic. And as you might imagine, the sound is all over the map. Punk, prog, noise, hardcore, psych rock and beyond. We only have 10 copies and we're not sure when/if we can get more. So act fast.
Queer nation underground comes together here for a great mix tape (CD, actually) of some better knowns and some lesser knowns. Features tracks by Sleater-Kinney, Le Tigre, Kiki & Herb (featuring Justin Bond, here doing a hilarious rendition of Sleater-Kinney's "I'm Not Waiting"), the Butchies (NC, feat. Mr. Lady's Kaia), Amy Ray (of Indigo Girls fame), Oakland's
RECORD STORE DAY 2016 ITEM!
Originally released on cd back in 2004 and long out of print, this Sublime Frequencies fave has now been issued on vinyl for the very first time, for this year's Record Store Day!! Here's what we said (raved) about it the first time around:
What? Another collection of Cambodian pop? But you just listed two volumes of Cambodian Rocks? (And, get ready for two more in that series!) It's true, Cambodian music seems to be the flavor of the moment on the obscure world music scene. But bear with us, as this one deserves all the attention afforded the Cambodian Rocks series... and then some. The history of Cambodia's flourishing and rich music scene was - like the greater culture and society of the country in general - cruelly severed in the early seventies by the Khmer Rouge during their "cleansing" program. All our favorite performers, anonymous until Khmer Rocks' own collections were recently released, were undoubtedly victims of the Khmer Rouge during this period. In the following years Cambodians who fled the country set up communities around the globe and among the other parts of their culture they treasured, the music of these lost performers was not forgotten. Throughout the seventies, eighties and nineties the scattered communities set up recording studios and continued to produce music just as amazing as those lost golden years. Enter Mark Gergis (of Neung Phak / Mono Pause and the man who brought us I Remember Syria). From 1999 to 2004 Mark diligently scoured the Asian branch of the Oakland Public Library, checking out each and every Cassette of Cambodian music produced in the period from the early seventies to the present. Many of the cassettes were unfortunately unlistenable; not merely because they'd been played thousands of times, or left on hot car dashboards, but because they were being slowly bulk erased by the library employees themselves as they would unwittingly pass them over the magnetic security system used to prevent book theft. Even with the best intentions of the public library as a repository for culture, Cambodian music was slowly being erased one cassette at a time. Of course there was no public outcry, at this point people had moved on to the newest thing (no doubt something recorded by one person with an electronic keyboard and other MIDI gear). It seems to happen everywhere: recent history is wiped clean for whatever happens to be hot at the moment. So it was that Mark culled together a collection of songs that are as amazing as they are rare. One thing particularly striking about many of the tracks is that, unlike what you'll hear on the Cambodian Rocks collections (all of which were actually recorded in Cambodia), they include both traditional Cambodian instruments alongside western instruments. There are tracks with Khan (the inimitable mouth organ of Southeast Asia) playing alongside electric guitar (which is often times being played in the style of a traditional Cambodian stringed instrument), saxophone, drums, electric bass and organ. Some of the combinations and bizarre genre bends are truly off the wall - such as the track, unfortunately to remain untitled for now, a proto-metal Cambodian pop ditty featuring echoey and brash female vocals and a Queen-era guitar solo. While there are a few of the more modern pop tunes - of the primarily keyboards and drum machine variety - here, none are of the overly westernized Asian pop that is so ubiquitous these days. There are also 6 tracks of older tunes that were recorded in Phnom Penh between the mid-1960s and the early '70s (one of which was overdubbed by an American operated studio with a drum machine beat!) This is a truly amazing collection, certainly the best disc to be released by Sublime Frequencies to date, and aQ international music specialist Byram's top pick for 2004 thus far. Highly recommended!
This RSD vinyl with "restored and remastered audio" includes "extensive liner notes and vital new track and title information", limited to 2000 copies.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Previously issued a while back only on vinyl, "Cambodian Rocks" - now on CD - presents a handful of unknown (to the point that no artist names or track titles are given) Cambodian garage bands from the late 60s and early 70s. The liner notes explain that the compiler (s/he is also anonymous) picked up a bunch of random tapes while in Cambodia and put this together of the best tracks from those tapes. For those who are entranced by the psychedelic exotica found in the "Love, Peace, and Poetry" series, "Cambodian Rocks" makes an exceptional companion. For the most part this compilation is dominated by really good fuzzed out organ / guitar garage rich with understandably crappy production. But along with the garage cuts, there's a track of incredibly unfunky James Brown mimicry that make the Make Up's theatrical irony seem even more insincere than they really are. Appropriated dancehall groove/stomps with Cambodian instead of Jamaican overtones. But the highlight is the appearance of the female led garage band who were featured on the Asian Psychedelic chapter of the "Love, Peace, and Poetry" series. Greasy garage rock not far from the Count Five or the Seeds but with reverb drenched female vocals that hits high notes rarely found even on Bollywood sountracks. Totally essential.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
While most record stores might include Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" as a mainstay album, consistently moving units from its initial release on up to the present, the original Cambodian Rocks collection has been for us a mainstay in its own right. We may not be able to boast the quantities that a larger store might for a staple, but Cambodian Rocks has got to be one of the most universally loved albums here at aQ. So you can imagine we were pretty damn excited when we found out that the collection was being released with full disclosure of musicians, vocalists, recording dates, song titles and lyrics (translated into English!) And if that isn't enough, Khmer Rocks has expanded their version of the collection to two discs! Even better, for all of you owners of the original collection, between these two discs and the original release on Parallel World there are only 5 songs total that overlap! So now you're wondering what the connection is between Khmer Rocks and Parallel World. Well, as far as we can tell, there is absolutely no connection. Seems like Khmer Rocks titled their two discs to capitalize off the original's popularity. And to their credit, they seem a bit more legit, having gone through the trouble of tracking down artists' names and song titles to give credit where credit is due. Not to be too harsh on Parallel World -- their collection is a fucking great compilation, always will be -- but the Khmer Rocks folk seem to be more genuinely indebted to these artists and it shows in their aformentioned efforts. And like Parallel World's collection, all the tracks on these two discs are absolutely great. It would be hard to leave a track out of your iPod if you were short on space. You might just have to get rid of something else. The artists here are all absolute geniuses in their abilities to absorb American rock and roll and tweak it to local tastes. In a lot of ways these bands are like South East Asian versions of the Sun City Girls -- picking up foreign radio transmissions (shortwave radio broadcasts to American military personnel) and subverting them to their own likeness. Some of our favorites are tracks like Meas Samoun's "The Engagement", a completely dirty take on the Santana sound (a lot of these Cambodian rockers seemed to really dig Santana) with an organ (or is it some ridiculously fucked up early seventies guitar processing?) solo that will kill you. Others, like Ros Sereyosthea take an American song part and parcel -- in this case CCR's "Rolling On A River" -- merely inserting their own lyrics and twisting the arrangement. Other twisted renditions sound an awful lot like "Hey Jude", "If You're Going To San Francisco", and "Whiter Shade Of Pale". But more often than not the tracks tend to be originals with a deeply modified American twang and sound less like the cover versions mentioned above. In all cases, the rock on these recordings has an energy of absolute immediacy and urgency that's unlike any of their psychedelic counterparts the globe round.
While most record stores might include Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" as a mainstay album, consistently moving units from its initial release on up to the present, the original Cambodian Rocks collection has been for us a mainstay in its own right. We may not be able to boast the quantities that a larger store might for a staple, but Cambodian Rocks has got to be one of the most universally loved albums here at aQ. So you can imagine we were pretty damn excited when we found out that the collection was being released with full disclosure of musicians, vocalists, recording dates, song titles and lyrics (translated into English!) And if that isn't enough, Khmer Rocks has expanded their version of the collection to two discs! Even better, for all of you owners of the original collection, between these two discs and the original release on Parallel World there are only 5 songs total that overlap! So now you're wondering what the connection is between Khmer Rocks and Parallel World. Well, as far as we can tell, there is absolutely no connection. Seems like Khmer Rocks titled their two discs to capitalize off the original's popularity. And to their credit, they seem a bit more legit, having gone through the trouble of tracking down artists' names and song titles to give credit where credit is due. Not to be too harsh on Parallel World -- their collection is a fucking great compilation, always will be -- but the Khmer Rocks folk seem to be more genuinely indebted to these artists and it shows in their aformentioned efforts. And like Parallel World's collection, all the tracks on these two discs are absolutely great. It would be hard to leave a track out of your iPod if you were short on space. You might just have to get rid of something else. The artists here are all absolute geniuses in their abilities to absorb American rock and roll and tweak it to local tastes. In a lot of ways these bands are like South East Asian versions of the Sun City Girls -- picking up foreign radio transmissions (shortwave radio broadcasts to American military personnel) and subverting them to their own likeness. Some of our favorites are tracks like Meas Samoun's "The Engagement", a completely dirty take on the Santana sound (a lot of these Cambodian rockers seemed to really dig Santana) with an organ (or is it some ridiculously fucked up early seventies guitar processing?) solo that will kill you. Others, like Ros Sereyosthea take an American song part and parcel -- in this case CCR's "Rolling On A River" -- merely inserting their own lyrics and twisting the arrangement. Other twisted renditions sound an awful lot like "Hey Jude", "If You're Going To San Francisco", and "Whiter Shade Of Pale". But more often than not the tracks tend to be originals with a deeply modified American twang and sound less like the cover versions mentioned above. In all cases, the rock on these recordings has an energy of absolute immediacy and urgency that's unlike any of their psychedelic counterparts the globe round.
It would appear that the Khmer Rocks label is slowly rendering the original Cambodian Rocks compilation on Parallel World obsolete. With each volume of their version of the beloved series there are a smattering of those tracks included -- now better served with full disclosure of the artists' names, song titles and even lyrics! With volume 3 there are three more, leaving you with 16 completely new tracks. We figure that by volume 7 or 8 of the Khmer Rocks series we'll all be able to trade in the original. As a bonus, Khmer Rocks has included two tracks at the end of volume 3 of "Romvong Songs", or Cambodian circle dance songs. It's the label's way of turning on all the garage psychsters to some traditional Cambodian music. The first track is actually a lot like the tracks on the Cambodian rocks discs, but with a bit more swing. The second, by Cambodian superstar Sinn Sisamouth, replaces guitar and bass with flute and clarinet along with traditional Cambodian instruments, but it still has the same intensity of those rock tracks. What can we say? Highly recommended!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Whether or not you think Skin Graft's "Now Wave" concept is a dumb marketing ploy (I do), the fact remains that among the thirty three tracks here there's some real corkers, from the likes of UFO or Die, Omoide Hatoba, Ruins, Akaten, Space Streakings, Zeni Geva...whoops, besides our Japanese friends, there's some Americans on here too, let's see, US Maple and Brise Glace and Quintron all have something going on. A fine sampler, sure much of it is previously released (or will soon be) but you don't have it all, do you? Get this and see what you're missing.
By the looks of the first two compilations that Chapter Music has released documenting the Australian post-punk scene, we (and probably a lot of other folks) could use a series history lessons into the finer points of Antipodean punk. Having unearthed two incendiary Primitive Calculators collections from that same time period, Chapter again strikes gold with a stunning collection of terminally obscure bands who were much more talented and intriguing than their lack of recognition might reflect. The only two bands that have even come across our radar are Severed Heads (but here with an incredibly primitive electronic sound and a female singer) and Microfilm (the amazing, Wire-esque dour post punk band fronted by Lisa Gerrand who later went on to form Dead Can Dance); but for everybody else, it's anybody's guess as to whatever became of them. Nonetheless, this comp confirms that the Australian take on post-punk agitation, no-wave convolutions and contortions, and new wave bleakness was as vibrant as what more well know scenes (i.e. New York, Berlin, London) had managed. As on the first comp (which featured a band called the Slugfuckers), volume 2 also sports a band with an incredible name: The Goat That Went "Om." Highly recommended
This is a compilation of Australian post punk and new wave from 1978-82. While not nearly as rocking as the Do The Pop! compilation from a few lists back, this is still a pretty awesome collection. The stuff on this comp leans more towards the no wave, art rock side of the spectrum. Quirky, angular but still punk. There are a few dance-y numbers with badass female vocals that are at times reminiscent of the Slits or Kleenex/Lilliput and some more gritty lofi stuf that reminds us of the Adverts or the Undertones. All in all, a solid document of a time and place that seems like it was most likely totally amazing and inspiring. The perfect companion to the Do The Pop compilation. And if you like the current crop of no wave wonders like SF's Numbers or Erase Errata, you should definitely check this out. Oh yeah, and did we mention there's a band called the Slugfuckers... oh my god.
We can sum up this new Matador release in about three words: pretty cool comp! And as you should guess from the subtitle (or maybe from the anagrammatic title itself), it's geographically centered on Austin, Texas, where it comes as no surprise they have a kick ass local music scene, and we're not talking country or blues or whatever, either. Expertly compiled by none other than former Matador head honcho Gerard Cosloy (who now lives in Austin), with liner notes by him too, these are simply some of his faves currently playing the divier bars and back yards of that town, the kids keeping their local indie rock / punk / pop scene(s) fresh and happenin'. There might be some next big things on here, certainly lots of folks proudly flying the flag for sounds heard first in the '60s, '70s, '80s, and '90s, but forever young...
19 tracks, 19 bands, most of whom, what with us not being Austinites (Austiners? Austinians?), we hadn't heard of before (which is sort of the point of a comp like this, of course). Probably Woven Bones is the only one we knew of already, but now we've got a whole bunch of other bands to look out for. Here's the whole lineup for your perusal: Follow That Bird!, The Young, Woven Bones, Flesh Lights, Dikes Of Holland, Tre Orsi, The Distant Seconds, Kingdom Of Suicide Lovers, Elvis, Love Collector, Bad Sports, Wild America, Harlem, The Stuffies, The Golden Boys, The No No No Hopes, The Teeners, The Persimmons, and the Lost Controls. Not perhaps the best collection of band names ever (Follow That Bird!, really?), but it's the music that matters and Cosloy has certainly selected some quality tracks regardless of the dodginess of some of the names...
You'll have noticed that two Austin area bands who we recently hosted a dual instore appearance by, Silver Pines and Pure Ecstasy, don't happen to be on here, but it sure seems like they should be, definitely their shoegazey pop psych sensibilities are shared by several of the artists who did get included, though there's quite a variety of sounds here, some tracks grungier and grittier, others more poppy and polished, all of 'em pretty darn catchy in their own way. You'll find doses of distorted jangle with a hint of Spacemen 3 influence (several bands, including Woven Bones), plenty of punky garage rock and garagey punk rock (such as Flesh Lights' instantly classic sounding "Crush On You" and the even more punkish likes of The Teeners and their barely one minute long ragged blast "Nazis On Film"), some new wavey rhythmically synthed-out moments (from the Lost Controls, ferinstance)... all sorts of stuff really... and kudos to Cosloy (and the bands), no real duds! Quite the opposite, lots of picks that click. Check it out.
Ok, so originally we were going to review the bizarre "Necro-Demonic dungeon crawl" fantasy boardgame that this cassette is the audio companion to, along with listing the tape, but we already sold out of the few copies of the game we had (yep, we know some nerds!). Maybe we'll get more, we'd like to, definitely let us know if YOU are interested. We haven't had a chance to actually play the game yet ourselves, but boy does it look cool, with creepy black & white & gray art by Fort Thunder comic book artist Mat Brinkman. In the game, each player takes on the role of an evil Necromancer, digging tunnels in an subterranean crypt and creating grotesque monsters out of ooze to fight against his rivals and their hordes, vying to become the sole master of the Darkest Pit. Pretty darn black metal, eh?
In addition to looking cool, apparently it's actually an excellent game, receiving a pretty high user score on the BoardGameGeek website (7.9 out of 10) and we're read lots of good reviews. Can't wait to play it when we find time and learn the rules. If/when we get more copies in, they sell for $84. Like we said, let us know if you'd like us to get you one! Check out the YouTube trailer for the game at www.caveevil.com - which doesn't actually show the game or anyone playing it, instead it's a short movie purporting to show what the horrific, troglodytic existence of these Necromancers is all about. Love the low-budget special effects.
Soooo, anyway, the folks who made the game also have a tape label, and this is the official Cave Evil tie-in release, with some of the same sounds heard on the soundtrack to the trailer. This 90 minute mix features tracks by 15 different underground artists: Night of Ultraviolence, Wizard333, Swordsect, Abandoned Places, Manifester, Cex, MarderIII, Muroc, Hatred, Crypt Enforcer, Whispers of Dead Gods, Tres Quatro, Mammal, OoznDmrr, and Khand, plus sound FX by filmmaker Damon Packard, who did the trailer. It's an ultimate sinister cinematic synth experience, variously featuring blackened drones, eerie dark ambience, primal percussion, majestic synth-horns, and other dungeon-worthy, DIY sonics. Cool, creepy stuff that is certainly whetting our appetites for a session of Cave Evil. Limited to 300 copies on pro-dubbed chrome plus cassette.
If this does well, we'll stock some more Rotten Shape cassettes, all of which the label has assigned a "GVR", or Game Voice Rating, on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being hardest) noting how difficult it is to speak over the music in a gaming setting. The Cave Evil Radio Mix has a GVR of 2.
BACK IN STOCK! We thought these were gone for good a month ago, but we've just managed to get a few more!
Here's the soundtrack to your wildest blaxploitation-fueled fantasies, baadasssss R&B with an acid rock edge. You'll never need to ask, "Mommy, what's a funkadelic?" after this.
"Chains & Black Exhaust" is a compilation of late sixties/early seventies raw, fuzzed-out funk put together by some young, devotedly-crate-diggin' Memphis DJs, who apparently don't think we need to know what exactly we're listening too, 'cause there's no artist info, no track listing, nothing -- heck, the title of the comp appears nowhere on it, even! They give us a tantalizing but unhelpful glimpse of some original 45 labels in a photo in the cd booklet, which is otherwise illustrated with snapshots of black motorcycle club insignia. We can't imagine this lack of info is for copyright reasons, perhaps they just don't want their finds being identified & scooped by other DJs...? And unfortunately, none of us here, despite our enthusiasm for this stuff and general musical expertise, can tell you what's on here, nor did we locate a tracklist on the internet.
Oh well, whoever these mystery artists are, what's important is that they kick out the jams big time here: hard, heavy stuff full of wailing acid-psych wah wah leads, driving organ, killer grooves, and soulful vocals. It's funk verging on rock, with Black Power meets garagey rock n' roll attitude. Of course, these old singles tracks are served up with lots of lovely ol' vinyl crackle, just scratchy enough to lend that extra level of authenticity and atmosphere to the party. Highly recommended -- if you're into *early* Parliament-Funkadelic you'll dig these 16 cuts. This is one of those albums that just sells itself the second we put it on over the stereo -- even our pal DJ Z-Trip bought one instantly. Enjoyed that Peanut Butter Wolf-produced collection of unearthed funk singles? Then you'll love this one too. Right on.
We're told that *perhaps* someday this will get reissued with proper liner notes (the kind that actually tell you who is on the record at least) but that's at least a year or a year and a half off, if ever. So, we'd recommend grabbing these copies now, while you can, before they're gone, again...
