THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
We're proud to be carrying the very hard to find German label Trikont, who have amassed an incredibly diverse selection of cds featuring music from all over the world. This particular compilation collects songs of death, from as wide-ranging a spectrum of artists as: Tom Waits, Albert Ayler, Robert Wyatt, and groups from Ghana, Italy, Holland, and much more.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
We're proud to be carrying the very hard to find German label Trikont, who have amassed an incredibly diverse selection of cds featuring music from all over the world. This particular compilation collects songs of death, from as wide-ranging a spectrum of artists as: Nico, Diamanda Galas, Cassandra Wilson, local singer Gary Floyd, Lou Reed, Geto Boys (!), Lydia Lunch, Miranda Sex Garden, and many more.
Soundtrack to the Susan Sarandon/Sean Penn movie. Previously unreleased songs from Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith, Johnny Cash, etc, Plus (if you can believe it) on 2 songs Eddie Vedder collaborates with Qawwali giant Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. You'd think such a pairing would sound awful, but it doesn't at all. Really.
The title for this compilation of gloom 'n' groove bands, "Death Before Disco" is a loaded historical allusion dating back to the late '70s, when rock purists held an irrational, fascistic antagonism toward the culture of euphoria and leisure that disco offered as a legitimate alternative to the American hegemony of straight, white-boy rock'n'roll. Well, with Princehouse themselves claiming that this compilation "represents where Princehouse is coming from and what we're into" (i.e. electro-punk dance bands who often exhibit plenty of disco slipperiness), "Death Before Disco" is an ill-fitting title to an otherwise good (and well-timed) compilation of mutant, death disco with tracks by Adult., I Am Spoonbender, The Pattern, The Numbers, The Vanishing, Ghost Orchids, Gogogoairheart, A Tension, Hint Hint, Dance Disaster Movement, The Pleased, The Lovemakers, Broker / Dealer, Paradise Boys, and Kill Me Tomorrow. Most all of the tracks had been featured on other albums, giving it a sort of K-Tel feel; but the curatorial decisions work well enough in favoring the infectiousness of rhythms dolled up with black eyeliner and plenty of artworld / designer-drug attitudes, typified by the excellent cuts from The Vanishing and Dance Disaster Movement. The compilation noticeably detours with two blue collar rock'n' roll cuts from The Pattern and The Pleased, the latter sounds *exactly* like The Strokes. Those strange additions aside, "Death Before Disco" is worthwhile medicine for those waiting for another fix of Fisherspooner or The Rapture.
MPEG Download: VANISHING "Black Umbrellas" [/audio/dancedisastercestlavie.mp3]
MPEG Stream: VANISHING "Black Umbrellas" [/audio/dancedisastercestlavie.m3u]
Thanks to Nick at Addicted To Noise www.addictedtonoise.com [http://www.addictedtonoise.com] for turning us on to this hilarious cd packaged in plain white cardboard box. Will Beck sue? Here are 13 artists such as the Evolution Control Committee, Corporal Blossom, and Steev Hise messing with the boy wonder. We do not know of any other stores that are carrying this yet, as it is mainly available at the Illegal Art website [http://detritus.net/illegalart]:
Psychedelia in film and Psychedelic music sometimes serve at cross-purposes. In films, trippy visuals and dreamy passages often define the strangeness of the music, a factor that is often missing when hearing the music out of context. While true psychedelic music can overbearingly take center attention, a quality that doesn't work with most narrative films. Take for instance this new Cherry Red collection of obscure Italian soundtrack pieces from master composers, Morricone, Umilani, Rota, Piccioni and others from the strange and trippy side of their filmography. While the films, such as Fellini's Toby Dammit (An Eli Roth horror favorite) and Polanski's What? featured creepy sub-plots, surrealistic dream interludes, drug freakouts, as well as off-beat comedy, spy capers and other absurdities, the musical approach was less psychedelic as we know it and more of a liberal cross-pollination of musical genres and forms. Eastern raga and jazz? Why not?
Baroque harpsichord and creepy organ dirges? Sure! Multi-tracked flutes and wah wah guitar? Awesome. While not everything here is as trippy as you would expect, this is a pretty extensive survey (28 tracks!) of little heard soundtrack music that will serve the creepy and surreal moments of your life quite well.
Another excellent compilation from Soul Jazz, even though we were a bit perplexed by it at first.
What we thought was going to be a southern rock primer (a la Marshall Tucker Band, Molly Hatchet, etc.) was only part of the story. Sure Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers are represented, but so are Johnny Cash, Joe South, Big Star, Boz Scaggs, and Cher(!?). It turns out the connection between these artists is behind the scenes, as the session players and studios behind much of seventies southern rock (namely Muscle Shoals, but also studios in Memphis and Nashville) had a hand in much of the country and soul production of the fifties and sixties. So this is more of a primer of the development of a regional sound, which comes across sound-wise as the peak of country crossover meets the roots of seventies rock, with the crossover acts edging towards rock, and the rock acts showing there mellower side. But it's all deep cuts here, no "Sweet Home Alabama", thankfully. Though some artists we thought should have been included are only represented through cover versions, which explains the presence of Cher who covers Dr. John's "I Walk On Gilded Splinters". But we were very happy to see Bobbie Gentry getting some love with three songs included. Often relegated to one hit wonder status, she made several great records with some of the finest southern production there is.
So those looking for more hell-raising, whisky drinking boogie rock, this might not be the comp for you. But those who dig the brilliance of southern studio production, this has that in spades! Here is a complete artist list: Lynyrd Skynyrd, Barefoot Jerry, Joe South, Bobbie Gentry, Area Code 615, Allman Brothers, Cher, Cowboy, Link Wray, Boz Scaggs, Leon Russell, Tony Joe White, Dan Penn, Linda Ronstadt, Big Star, Travis Wammack, Johnny Cash, and Billy Vera. Comes with a 68 page full color booklet chock full of pictures and history of this prolific musical region.
Also here in the vinyl format, spread over two double lps, as per the usual Soul Jazz procedure.
Another excellent compilation from Soul Jazz, even though we were a bit perplexed by it at first.
What we thought was going to be a southern rock primer (a la Marshall Tucker Band, Molly Hatchet, etc.) was only part of the story. Sure Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers are represented, but so are Johnny Cash, Joe South, Big Star, Boz Scaggs, and Cher(!?). It turns out the connection between these artists is behind the scenes, as the session players and studios behind much of seventies southern rock (namely Muscle Shoals, but also studios in Memphis and Nashville) had a hand in much of the country and soul production of the fifties and sixties. So this is more of a primer of the development of a regional sound, which comes across sound-wise as the peak of country crossover meets the roots of seventies rock, with the crossover acts edging towards rock, and the rock acts showing there mellower side. But it's all deep cuts here, no "Sweet Home Alabama", thankfully. Though some artists we thought should have been included are only represented through cover versions, which explains the presence of Cher who covers Dr. John's "I Walk On Gilded Splinters". But we were very happy to see Bobbie Gentry getting some love with three songs included. Often relegated to one hit wonder status, she made several great records with some of the finest southern production there is.
So those looking for more hell-raising, whisky drinking boogie rock, this might not be the comp for you. But those who dig the brilliance of southern studio production, this has that in spades! Here is a complete artist list: Lynyrd Skynyrd, Barefoot Jerry, Joe South, Bobbie Gentry, Area Code 615, Allman Brothers, Cher, Cowboy, Link Wray, Boz Scaggs, Leon Russell, Tony Joe White, Dan Penn, Linda Ronstadt, Big Star, Travis Wammack, Johnny Cash, and Billy Vera. Comes with a 68 page full color booklet chock full of pictures and history of this prolific musical region.
Also here in the vinyl format, spread over two double lps, as per the usual Soul Jazz procedure.
Another excellent compilation from Soul Jazz, even though we were a bit perplexed by it at first.
What we thought was going to be a southern rock primer (a la Marshall Tucker Band, Molly Hatchet, etc.) was only part of the story. Sure Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers are represented, but so are Johnny Cash, Joe South, Big Star, Boz Scaggs, and Cher(!?). It turns out the connection between these artists is behind the scenes, as the session players and studios behind much of seventies southern rock (namely Muscle Shoals, but also studios in Memphis and Nashville) had a hand in much of the country and soul production of the fifties and sixties. So this is more of a primer of the development of a regional sound, which comes across sound-wise as the peak of country crossover meets the roots of seventies rock, with the crossover acts edging towards rock, and the rock acts showing there mellower side. But it's all deep cuts here, no "Sweet Home Alabama", thankfully. Though some artists we thought should have been included are only represented through cover versions, which explains the presence of Cher who covers Dr. John's "I Walk On Gilded Splinters". But we were very happy to see Bobbie Gentry getting some love with three songs included. Often relegated to one hit wonder status, she made several great records with some of the finest southern production there is.
So those looking for more hell-raising, whisky drinking boogie rock, this might not be the comp for you. But those who dig the brilliance of southern studio production, this has that in spades! Here is a complete artist list: Lynyrd Skynyrd, Barefoot Jerry, Joe South, Bobbie Gentry, Area Code 615, Allman Brothers, Cher, Cowboy, Link Wray, Boz Scaggs, Leon Russell, Tony Joe White, Dan Penn, Linda Ronstadt, Big Star, Travis Wammack, Johnny Cash, and Billy Vera. Comes with a 68 page full color booklet chock full of pictures and history of this prolific musical region.
If you've been keeping up with the fairly recent wave of late '70s, early '80s French post-punk and new wave experimentation, then you're definitely going to need this. Des Jeunes Gens Modernes - Modern Young People - oscillates between the pop electronics of Ruth and the angular guitar stabs of Metal Urbain. Officially, the compilation is in conjunction with a show at the Agnes B gallery in Paris, but for those of us too far to just stop by, this is the next best thing. Also, we've got to admit, college was a long time ago, and our French is pretty rusty. So, attempting to decipher the fold-up insert was a bit of a challenge, and instead of potentially embarrassing ourselves we'll just tell you that it's there. In addition to the bands mentioned above, there are some other rare favorites on here. Guerre Froide, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, and Charles de Goal all make appearances. You may remember Guerre Froide's "Demain Berlin" from the Flexi-Pop series, as well as the band Visible. If nothing else, let it be known: GF's absolutely anthemic and completely amazing "Ersatz" is finally back on vinyl! That alone makes this worth buying! For sure one of the better, if not the best, of the whole early 80's French electronic/punk revival compilations. If you've got any interest at all in that scene then you need to pick this up pronto, because there's no telling when half of these tracks will be available again, not just in general but on vinyl in particular!
FYI: unfortunately, the sleeves of pretty much all the copies we were able to get had one slightly crushed corner. It's not a terrible defect but we felt we should mention it, buyer beware and all that. It already took forever to get these in stock so we weren't gonna send 'em back and wait for another batch in several months, which might not be in any better shape anyway. But just so you know.
The first volume in this series arrived back in 2008 and had long been a popular staple here at aQuarius; so the second, long-awaited volume is quite welcome in these parts. Here we have a compendium of weird science post-punk tracks documenting the obscure French experiments in punk, Italo-disco, minimal wave, and prog electronica. As the neverending crate-digging for this period has shown in the high caliber reissues on Dark Entries, Vinyl On Demand, and here on Born Bad, French post-punk stands the test of time, perhaps much better than many of the other aesthetic banners from various times and places.
The multifaceted ADN'Ckrystall opens the anthology with an introverted bedroom ditty for muffled chanson situated on a framework of naive-sounding synth-wave minimalism. X Ray Pop and Eli & Janco keep things lighthearted with a couple of zany DIY cuts full of glam vamping and bubbly hedonism. A frenzied anxiety of electronic overload and dancefloor mania comes through the punchy bass-synth heavy number from Medikao, the cocaine-diva drama from KaS Produkt (whose So Young Young But So Cold was the titular anthem from another compilation of French post-punk a while back) and the Gang Of Four jitteriness of Les Stagiaires. The other tracks come by way of Les Fils De Joie, La Bande Au Col Roule, Radio Romance, A.R.T, Frantz Kultur & Les Krames, Meca Rythm, and Perspective Nevski. Thirteen tracks in all, five of which are designated as previously unreleased! Definitely recommended, like the original volume.
Straight from sunny Southern California comes this blackened compilation (on cd or purple vinyl) from the hordes of the Black Twilight Circle, the coterie of incestuous projects of all things black and bizarre. Desert Dances & Serpent Sermons isn't as thorough as the massive Tliltic Tlapoyauak compilation that they released back in 2014, but what it lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality. 4 tracks by 4 bands, at least 2 of which we've heard of before (Volahn and Arizmenda) and two band new to us (Shataan and Kallathon). All four tracks are superb additions to the BTC oeuvre, spiritual expeditions into the desert night by way of bestial black metal. The real prize here, though, is the opening track by Volahn. That particular one will surely go down as our no-bullshit favorite black metal track of the YEAR. A seriously Morricone western intro that builds into Volahn doing what they do best - jawdroppingly epic and melancholic black metal. A wonderful addition (or introduction) to the Black Twilight Circle discography, which is quickly becoming some of the most impressive black metal being made in the US.
Windy & Carl (no this is not me), Demolition Doll Rods (doing "What Goes On"), Princess Dragon Mom (a.k.a. Warren Defever of His Name Is Alive), Gravitar, etc.
Second volume in Soul Jazz's stellar Deutsche Elektronische Musik series, collecting classic and rarities of, as the rest of the title helpfully explains: "Experimental German Rock & Electronic Music", which is probably better known to all of us as KRAUTROCK! The tracks here are from the years 1972-83 and features, like the first volume, a good balance of classic artists/tracks and more obscure rarities. All it should take is a list of artists to get most folks pretty excited: A.R. & Machines, Can, Agitation Free, Roedelius, Popol Vuh, Amon Duul II, Faust, Asmus Tietchens, Neu!, Gila, Conrad Schnitzler, Michael Rother, Pyrolator, You, D.A.F., Harald Grosskopf, and loads more. Odds are if you're already a krautrock obsessive, there's a good chance you have most of these tracks already. But even so, as a krautrock mix, it's pretty tough to beat, and who knows, there are definitely a few artists and tracks you might not have heard.
And as a primer / introduction, it's pretty bad ass, a good balance of driving motorik grooves, swirling kosmische shimmer, dreamy electronic ambience, avant electronic experimentation, wispy new age drift, brooding, proggy psychedelia, swirling analog synthscapery, pulsing hypnorock mesmer, electronic flecked, rhythmic space rock, the compilation touching on all of the different sounds these artists explored under the umbrella of 'krautrock'. There are a few oddballs, which in most cases adds to the weirdness and coolness of the comps, but in one specific case, ends up being maybe our only complaint. One oddball is Niagra for instance, who we had not heard before, but whose track here is super dense and rhythmic and gloriously psychedelic. But then there's D.A.F.'s "Co Co Pino", which is a cool new wave-y blast of hysterical vocals, skronking sax and funky rhythms, which on its own would be awesome, but in the context of the otherwise sort of tranced out hypnotic flow of the mix, ends up being a strange slightly disruptive sonic hiccup. But overall, a killer comp, an awesome krautrock mixtape, that is WAY recommended for krautrock newbies, along with the first volume, but even if you're a grizzled old krautrock vet, mixes are all about song choice and song order, and even the krautrockers around here who already have most of these records, have been digging this mix BIG TIME!
The cd version comes in a jewel case, and full color slipcover, with a BIG booklet, loaded with liner notes and photos, and then like most Soul Jazz compilation releases, the vinyl version is split into two halves, both double lps, each available separately.
Second volume in Soul Jazz's stellar Deutsche Elektronische Musik series, collecting classic and rarities of, as the rest of the title helpfully explains: "Experimental German Rock & Electronic Music", which is probably better known to all of us as KRAUTROCK! The tracks here are from the years 1972-83 and features, like the first volume, a good balance of classic artists/tracks and more obscure rarities. All it should take is a list of artists to get most folks pretty excited: A.R. & Machines, Can, Agitation Free, Roedelius, Popol Vuh, Amon Duul II, Faust, Asmus Tietchens, Neu!, Gila, Conrad Schnitzler, Michael Rother, Pyrolator, You, D.A.F., Harald Grosskopf, and loads more. Odds are if you're already a krautrock obsessive, there's a good chance you have most of these tracks already. But even so, as a krautrock mix, it's pretty tough to beat, and who knows, there are definitely a few artists and tracks you might not have heard.
And as a primer / introduction, it's pretty bad ass, a good balance of driving motorik grooves, swirling kosmische shimmer, dreamy electronic ambience, avant electronic experimentation, wispy new age drift, brooding, proggy psychedelia, swirling analog synthscapery, pulsing hypnorock mesmer, electronic flecked, rhythmic space rock, the compilation touching on all of the different sounds these artists explored under the umbrella of 'krautrock'. There are a few oddballs, which in most cases adds to the weirdness and coolness of the comps, but in one specific case, ends up being maybe our only complaint. One oddball is Niagra for instance, who we had not heard before, but whose track here is super dense and rhythmic and gloriously psychedelic. But then there's D.A.F.'s "Co Co Pino", which is a cool new wave-y blast of hysterical vocals, skronking sax and funky rhythms, which on its own would be awesome, but in the context of the otherwise sort of tranced out hypnotic flow of the mix, ends up being a strange slightly disruptive sonic hiccup. But overall, a killer comp, an awesome krautrock mixtape, that is WAY recommended for krautrock newbies, along with the first volume, but even if you're a grizzled old krautrock vet, mixes are all about song choice and song order, and even the krautrockers around here who already have most of these records, have been digging this mix BIG TIME!
The cd version comes in a jewel case, and full color slipcover, with a BIG booklet, loaded with liner notes and photos, and then like most Soul Jazz compilation releases, the vinyl version is split into two halves, both double lps, each available separately.
Second volume in Soul Jazz's stellar Deutsche Elektronische Musik series, collecting classic and rarities of, as the rest of the title helpfully explains: "Experimental German Rock & Electronic Music", which is probably better known to all of us as KRAUTROCK! The tracks here are from the years 1972-83 and features, like the first volume, a good balance of classic artists/tracks and more obscure rarities. All it should take is a list of artists to get most folks pretty excited: A.R. & Machines, Can, Agitation Free, Roedelius, Popol Vuh, Amon Duul II, Faust, Asmus Tietchens, Neu!, Gila, Conrad Schnitzler, Michael Rother, Pyrolator, You, D.A.F., Harald Grosskopf, and loads more. Odds are if you're already a krautrock obsessive, there's a good chance you have most of these tracks already. But even so, as a krautrock mix, it's pretty tough to beat, and who knows, there are definitely a few artists and tracks you might not have heard.
And as a primer / introduction, it's pretty bad ass, a good balance of driving motorik grooves, swirling kosmische shimmer, dreamy electronic ambience, avant electronic experimentation, wispy new age drift, brooding, proggy psychedelia, swirling analog synthscapery, pulsing hypnorock mesmer, electronic flecked, rhythmic space rock, the compilation touching on all of the different sounds these artists explored under the umbrella of 'krautrock'. There are a few oddballs, which in most cases adds to the weirdness and coolness of the comps, but in one specific case, ends up being maybe our only complaint. One oddball is Niagra for instance, who we had not heard before, but whose track here is super dense and rhythmic and gloriously psychedelic. But then there's D.A.F.'s "Co Co Pino", which is a cool new wave-y blast of hysterical vocals, skronking sax and funky rhythms, which on its own would be awesome, but in the context of the otherwise sort of tranced out hypnotic flow of the mix, ends up being a strange slightly disruptive sonic hiccup. But overall, a killer comp, an awesome krautrock mixtape, that is WAY recommended for krautrock newbies, along with the first volume, but even if you're a grizzled old krautrock vet, mixes are all about song choice and song order, and even the krautrockers around here who already have most of these records, have been digging this mix BIG TIME!
The cd version comes in a jewel case, and full color slipcover, with a BIG booklet, loaded with liner notes and photos, and then like most Soul Jazz compilation releases, the vinyl version is split into two halves, both double lps, each available separately.
Leave it to the fine folks at the Soul Jazz Label to bring us a stellar Krautrock compilation that is as heavy on obscurities as it is on classics. Don't let the fact that the Neu!, Faust and Amon Duul tracks will probably be familiar to the most casual krautrock listener, or that pretty much all the classic bands in the canon (save for Kraftwerk and Klaus Schulze) are represented, deter you from this well-researched and beautifully sequenced compilation. Why? Well, because this compilation does a great job of showcasing the many diverse facets of the music that defined krautrock: Kosmishe electronica, hippie commune folk, motorik rhythms, proggy jazz-funk and lysergic cinematographic soundscapes. There are plenty of rarities from bands we've barely heard of such as Between, E.M.A.K., Michael Bundt, and Ibliss, as well as bands and artists we love like Kollectiv (aka Kollektiv), Conrad Schnitzler, Deuter and Gila that perhaps casual fans may not know much about. Plus many of the more well known groups are represented by less well known tracks or later periods. The Can tracks, for example. "Aspectacle" and "I Want More" are from later records, while the great Tangerine Dream track "No Man's Land" is from an early eighties record, a less seminal period for most classic Krautrock, but one filled with plenty of amazing discoveries for those brave enough to wade through some crud. Thankfully Soul Jazz did that work for us! Here is the full listing of bands: Can (2 tracks), Between, Harmonia (2 tracks) Gila, Kollectiv, Michael Bundt, E.M.A.K., Popol Vuh (2 tracks), Conrad Schnitzler, La Dusseldorf, Faust, Neu!, Cluster, Ibliss, Moebius, Roedelius, Amon Duul II (2 tracks) Ash Ra Tempel, Tangerine Dream, and Deuter.
Comes with a full color booklet showcasing the history of the bands and music. Perfect for both newbies and longtime fans! Awesome!
Leave it to the fine folks at the Soul Jazz Label to bring us a stellar Krautrock compilation that is as heavy on obscurities as it is on classics. Don't let the fact that the Neu!, Faust and Amon Duul tracks will probably be familiar to the most casual krautrock listener, or that pretty much all the classic bands in the canon (save for Kraftwerk and Klaus Schulze) are represented, deter you from this well-researched and beautifully sequenced compilation. Why? Well, because this compilation does a great job of showcasing the many diverse facets of the music that defined krautrock: Kosmishe electronica, hippie commune folk, moterik rhythms, proggy jazz-funk and lysergic cinemagraphic soundscapes. There are plenty of rareties from bands we've barely heard of such as Between, E.M.A.K., Michael Bundt, and Ibliss, as well as bands and artists we love like Kollectiv (aka Kollektiv), Conrad Schnitzler, Deuter and Gila that perhaps casual fans may not know much about. Plus many of the more well known groups are represented by less well known tracks or later periods. The Can tracks, for example. "Aspectacle" and "I Want More" are from later records, while the great Tangerine Dream track "No Man's Land" is from an early eighties record, a less seminal period for most classic Krautrock, but one filled with plenty of amazing discoveries for those brave enough to wade through some crud. Thankfully SouL Jazz did that work for us! Here is the full listing of bands for this volume: Can, Between, Harmonia (2 tracks) Gila, Kollectiv, Michael Bundt, E.M.A.K., Popol Vuh, Conrad Schnitzler, La Dusseldorf, Faust, and Neu!.
Comes with a full color booklet showcasing the history of the bands and music. Perfect for both newbies and longtime fans! Awesome!
Leave it to the fine folks at the Soul Jazz Label to bring us a stellar Krautrock compilation that is as heavy on obscurities as it is on classics. Don't let the fact that the Neu!, Faust and Amon Duul tracks will probably be familiar to the most casual krautrock listener, or that pretty much all the classic bands in the canon (save for Kraftwerk and Klaus Schulze) are represented, deter you from this well-researched and beautifully sequenced compilation. Why? Well, because this compilation does a great job of showcasing the many diverse facets of the music that defined krautrock: Kosmishe electronica, hippie commune folk, moterik rhythms, proggy jazz-funk and lysergic cinemagraphic soundscapes. There are plenty of rareties from bands we've barely heard of such as Between, E.M.A.K., Michael Bundt, and Ibliss, as well as bands and artists we love like Kollectiv (aka Kollektiv), Conrad Schnitzler, Deuter and Gila that perhaps casual fans may not know much about. Plus many of the more well known groups are represented by less well known tracks or later periods. The Can tracks, for example. "Aspectacle" and "I Want More" are from later records, while the great Tangerine Dream track "No Man's Land" is from an early eighties record, a less seminal period for most classic Krautrock, but one filled with plenty of amazing discoveries for those brave enough to wade through some crud. Thankfully SouL Jazz did that work for us! Here is the full listing of bands for this volume: Can, Popol Vuh, Cluster, Ibliss, Moebius, Roedelius, Amon Duul II (2 tracks) Ash Ra Tempel, Tangerine Dream, and Deuter.
Comes with a full color booklet showcasing the history of the bands and music. Perfect for both newbies and longtime fans! Awesome!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
NOW ON VINYL!!!
Yay! Always cool to get a new comp of crazy, colorful, psychedelic pop rock treats from way back when (and way far off too, internationally speaking).�The comic bookish cartoony cover art gets the swinging '60s (and early '70s) concept across, plus we were already fans of a couple previous comps on the same label, Neurotic Reactions and Some Songs Stuck In My Mind. So we were curious to hear this, and quite pleased with what we heard! 15 cuts full of fuzzy guitars, funky drum breaks, exuberant vocals, Hammond organ orgies, and other facets of freaky, garagey goodness, all from rare 45s by bands straight outta Argentina circa '69-'75, part of something called the "Rioplatense scene".
The lineup: Bosques, Dynamita, Los Fantasmas, Gipsys, Caballo Vapor, Kon-Tiki, Brujos, Wooky Toky, Los Barbaros, Victoria, Them (no, not that Them), Asfalto, Jarabe De Menta, and Little Green Men. Lots of great stuff. We love the backwards effects on Kon-Tiki's "Viaja Al Ayer (Turn Back Time)" which sounds like something by Peru's We All Together, old AQ faves. It's actually one of the prettiest, most restrained songs here, the others go for a variety of pop music that, y'know, really POPS. Like, ferinstance, the sheer organ-heavy FUNK of Caballo Vapor's cut. Or the unhinged mayhem of Gipsys' "Oh! Malala" (they get two tracks here, and the other one, "Kamasutra", is pretty wicked too). Wild, wacky, and fun are what you should expect, especially from the band that calls themselves Wooky Toky...
Yay! Always cool to get a new comp of crazy, colorful, psychedelic pop rock treats from way back when (and way far off too, internationally speaking).�The comic bookish cartoony cover art gets the swinging '60s (and early '70s) concept across, plus we were already fans of a couple previous comps on the same label, Neurotic Reactions and Some Songs Stuck In My Mind. So we were curious to hear this, and quite pleased with what we heard! 15 cuts full of fuzzy guitars, funky drum breaks, exuberant vocals, Hammond organ orgies, and other facets of freaky, garagey goodness, all from rare 45s by bands straight outta Argentina circa '69-'75, that the detailed liner notes in the illustrated booklet will explain were part of something called the "Rioplatense scene".
The lineup: Bosques, Dynamita, Los Fantasmas, Gipsys, Caballo Vapor, Kon-Tiki, Brujos, Wooky Toky, Los Barbaros, Victoria, Them (no, not that Them), Asfalto, Jarabe De Menta, and Little Green Men. Lots of great stuff. We love the backwards effects on Kon-Tiki's "Viaja Al Ayer (Turn Back Time)" which sounds like something by Peru's We All Together, old AQ faves. It's actually one of the prettiest, most restrained songs here, the others go for a variety of pop music that, y'know, really POPS. Like, ferinstance, the sheer organ-heavy FUNK of Caballo Vapor's cut. Or the unhinged mayhem of Gipsys' "Oh! Malala" (they get two tracks here, and the other one, "Kamasutra", is pretty wicked too). Wild, wacky, and fun are what you should expect, especially from the band that calls themselves Wooky Toky...
Spanish import, limited to 500 copies.
Besides being a delightful tribute to '60s electronic pop music pioneers Bruce Haack, Esther Nelson and their Dimension 5 record label, this is also a benefit to raise funds for autism charities. This boasts super-cute graphics, but unfortunately there's very little in the way of liner notes, so for those of you who are unfamiliar with the world of Haack and Nelson, you'll have to do a little or a lot of your own research (perhaps check out the Haack - The King Of Techno DVD released earlier this year). One thing that you should know though is that it appeals just as much to the wee tots as it does to the grown-ups who've chosen a... ahem, chemically altered listening experience. Some of the covers remain faithfully within the realm of the Haack/Nelson's kitschy child-view while others venture out on their own personalized trippy excursions. SF's Oranger's rendition of "Catfish" sounds amazingly like veteran good time popsters Young Fresh Fellows, while Beck's version of "Funky Lil' Song" sounds amazingly like Beck. The star-studded list of participants also includes Stereolab, Money Mark, Apples In Stereo, Tipsy, Eels, Irving, Fantastic Plastic Machine, DJ Me DJ You, Brother Cleve, Geoffrey Owens & Mary Christopher, Anubian Nights, Blue-Eyed Son, The Stones Throw Singers, From Bubblegum To Sky, Chris Kachulis, and Danielson Famile! Pretty neat!
We've been waiting for this one with all kinds of excitement and anticipation. The always eclectic and forward minded folks at Tigersushi have compiled one of the more intriguing and rewarding comps of recent times. Digging deep into the vaults of the slow and drugged out side of disco's past they have miraculously connected dots that we always dreamed would finally be joined together. Dirty Space Disco brings together folks from the more avant and krautrock worlds like Roedelius (of Cluster), Conrad Schnitzler, and Clara Mondshine, setting their tracks up alongside disco luminaries and obscure dance floor burners from Sylvester, Fern Kinney, Odyssey, Undisputed Truth and more. This is all about the moody, seductive and way late night side of disco.
We've been big fans of the current movement of artists tapping into this seductive sound (Lindstrom, Chromatics, Prins Thomas, etc.) but we're so happy to have the blueprints and origins of those sounds all on one disc. Though he's not included in this collection we know Arthur Russell would be so happy to see this disco / avant-garde match up finally happen. We're in love with so much of this comp but it's pretty much worth it alone for Sylvester's "I Need Somebody To Love Tonight" one of the greatest spaced out disco gems of all time, from his amazing Stars LP which came out in 1979 and features the innovative production of Patrick Cowley, one of the unsung heroes and pioneers of the San Francisco electronic/dance scene.
Luckily just about every other track is just as fantastic. This collection has been at the top of the charts on KUSF (our local college radio station, where both Irwin and Andee have shows) ever since it went into rotation and it's no surprise because it's the kind of collection that easily wins over folks who thought they just weren't into disco just as much as it pleases those of us who are huge disco freaks!! Highly recommended!
Here's the sequel, already, to last year's great Dirty Water comp of proto-punk (sonically and/or spiritually) music from the '60s and '70s, including many often-overlooked, unlikely gems and surprises, plus some "standards" as well. It's another double disc set, with 39 tracks on the compact disc version (and 19 on the slightly less comprehensive vinyl). We were already impressed with what compiler Kris Needs (former editor of British underground '70s rock mag ZigZag) included on the first volume, and this one just as cool. Some bands make a return appearance (MC5, The Silhouettes, Death, the Flamin' Groovies, Suicide, Mott The Hoople), and deservedly so, but there's lots of room for songs by artists dipping into the dirty water for the first time. From famous folks like the Velvet Underground, Bo Diddley, David Bowie, Patti Smith, Captain Beefheart, Blondie, and Big Star to not so well known names like The Vice Creems (Needs was the singer!), The Tidal Waves, The Unrelated Segments, Kilburn & The High Roads, Doctors Of Madness, and The Human Expression, amongst others. This is quite an eclectic collection, and while, say, ESP-label proto-punk bands of radical hippies from downtown NYC like the Godz and The Holy Modal Rounders are obvious choices, many others aren't. For one thing, it's not even all rock 'n' roll. The supposedly "punk" side of jazz is represented here by Albert Ayler and Dizzy Gillespie, the former punk for being so "free" and "out", the latter simply for ripping it up bebop style, we assume! Reggae (Tapper Zukie, Junior Murvin), funk (Parliament, though the track here is oddly more of a gospel tune), and folk (Woody Guthrie) are also included. Krautrock, too, via Faust. The proto-punk thing of course makes more obvious sense regarding entries from the realms of '70s glam, '50s rock n' roll (Eddie Cochran), and '60s garage (The Zachary Thaks) and psych (The United States Of America).
And happily, at least one of the suggestions we made in our review of the first Dirty Water is included here, heavy hippies the Edgar Broughton Band. There's also some more heavy psych from the likes of Blue Cheer, The Misunderstood, and Stackwaddy. So once again, a killer collection of tracks that might be familiar to you (but given new context here) and/or that might not (but you'll be glad to hear), forming a primer part II to a "secret history of rock 'n' roll", elaborated upon in Needs' extensive liner notes that come in a huge 86 page booklet (cd version, at least). It's also quite well programmed, like they way Death's "Freaking Out" segues perfectly into the Dizzy Gillespie track, makes sense!!
One suggestion for vol. 3: Blue Oyster Cult!
Forget about making your own eclectic mix of edgy proto-punk rock and pop, you don't need to, it's been done. It's all here, folks. Well, enough of it anyway, spread over two cds or four sides of vinyl. 33 alternate-universe "hits" (or 23 on the vinyl version), from underground bands in the '60s and '70s who, if not always properly punk, were still actually punker than most punk bands EVER. That is, if someone had asked us to put together a compilation revealing the gnarled roots of "punk" back in the '60s, and then branching into an examination of some left-field, outside manifestations of the same in the '70s, we couldn't do it any better than this, compiled by Kris Needs, who used to edit the UK rock mag ZigZag back in the '70s. He knows his stuff.
From Detroit, NYC, London, LA and elsewhere, there's slicked back '50s rockers, '60s psych garage, '70s prog singer songwriters, downtown NYC art-noise, pub rock, krautrock, and even reggae... connected only by attitude and/or artistry... some cuts being rare and wondrous one-off flashes of genius, other simply displays of what the band in question was capable of doing all the time. Some tunes you'll have heard before, of course, but need to hear again. And there's probably more than a few that might be new to you too. A definite primer on a secret history of rock n' roll we wish wasn't so secret. Some of it's harder, some of it's poppier, some it's glammier, some of it's weirder... but it's all good.
Some big names/usual suspects: Suicide, Silver Apples, The Stooges (with a distortion-filled, 12 minute long live track, "Do You Want My Love?"), Flamin' Groovies, The Monks, the New York Dolls, The Seeds, T.Rex, even Sun Ra - demonstrating the outside jazz influence on the MC5, with his "Rocket Number Nine", which the compilers follow with the Five's "Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa)"... About the only obvious band missing, and we can only imagine it was due to a licensing issue or somesuch red tape, are Radio Birdman, but The Saints are here to represent the Aussie punk explosion. The comp even includes recent discoveries Death, from Detroit, nice to see them now written into the aforementioned secret history, a few years ago they were too unknown even for that. Others in the lineup: The Standells, The Deviants, Pink Fairies (doing "Do It", later covered by the Rollins Band, y'know), Gene Vincent, Jook (who dey?), Mott The Hoople, Zolar X (yay!), The Up, David Peel & The Lower East Side, The Silhouettes, The Last Poets, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Third World War, Dr. Feelgood (with "Roxette", if you look it up a performance on YouTube you might get your mind blown), Peter Hammill (of Van Der Graaf Generator), Can, Red Krayola, Rocket From The Tombs, The Dictators, The Hollywood Brats (doing a Kinks cover, previously unreleased on cd), and Culture. Not bad, eh?? Ok, maybe if there was a third disc we'd expect to also hear Crushed Butler and Amon Duul II and Angel Face and Les Rallizes Denudes and The Sonics and the Imperial Dogs and Gaseneta and the Edgar Broughton Band and a few others, but heck, this is a pretty good start!
And it comes with a HUGE booklet (76 pages) filled with detailed info from Needs on all these artists, crucial and obscure (or both). Really well done. You want a Xmas present to immediately up someone's hippness quotient (or impress them with yours)? Try giving 'em this comp, as well as a copy of Savage Damage Digest zine, also reviewed this list.
FYI, as alluded to above, the double lp format has fewer tracks (lacking, feristance, that Stooges number) and no huge booklet, but is still a good spread of stuff, and comes on 180 gram vinyl, for those that want some proto-punk 'tude for their turntable.
The past few years have been good to disco. Somehow it's managed to rise above its mucky kitsch value in which it had become historically mired. The popular conception that it was just a mess of ridiculous clubs jamming The Andrea True Connection packed tight with sequins and cocaine is apparently not wholly true. Not every club played Andrea True. But amidst the silly outfits and copious drug use, there were some fantastic songs and artists that expanded on the innate dance potential within funk and soul. As the ubiquitous cowbell and 4/4 rhythmic pattern of disco spread across the world like a glamorous plague, different regions seemed to add their own take on the dance phenom. Perhaps most notably were the Italians. Ah, even in pop culture, where would dance music be without the bassline arpeggiations of Giorgio Moroder? The clearest trademark of much Italo Disco, along with the synthetic drum sounds, and the overall spacey, futuristic bent. That is to say, there was a specific sound that became relevant and distinctive. And while this compilation really does have some amazing songs - like the semi-obvious "Now Baby Now" from Kano - not every song really does a good job at conveying what it is that makes this very recognizable genre what it is. Moreover, even as a disco collection, there are some notably weak moments. For instance, Revanche's "1979 It's Dancing Time," with b-rate, throw away choral vocals that cheaply hint at the Philadelphia sound. Not to mention the insanely dated and just plain cheesy title. Then there's D. D. Sound's "Burning Love," a secondhand version of the wonderfully sleazy, inventive Rinder and Lewis work that earmarked the AVI sound from LA - geez, will someone reissue that stuff?! There is a booklet inside, which is fairly informative, if not a little self-serious. An example is contained within the first paragraph where the author of "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life," Bill Brewster, very boldly claims that if not for Italo, then "dance music would have remained decidedly more monochrome and house music would almost never have happened." We're going to say that Larry Levan and Frankie Knuckles might disagree a bit. Sure it was definitely an important chapter in dance music history, but let's not get completely carried away. Okay, enough of the negative aspects. There are some great songs on here that are totally worth owning, like Kasso's "Brazilian Dancer." What an amazing song! Totally in the vein of French group Voyage's completely epic and timeless "I Love You Dancer." Bands like Daft Punk and Phoenix can just send them a thank you letter and royalties at any point in time. So, completists will want this, but maybe it's not the best starting place for someone just working their way into this type of music. Although if you're a big fan of disco already, then you have probably been searching for one or more of these tracks at some point.
Strut is back! After releasing 2 amazing comps of the finest in underground leftfield disco and post-punk dance rarities, Strut called it a day. This was heartbreaking news as we were hoping Strut would become a stalwart reissue label like Soul Jazz or Numero Group. Miraculously, they have defied the odds and with the help of K7! and risen once again, hopefully to stay around for awhile. And with their return comes this third volume from the always exciting Disco Not Disco series. Billed as Post Punk, Electro and Leftfield Disco classics from 1974-1986, the bulk of the cuts are heavier on the eighties side with classic tracks from Shriekback, Quango Quango, Material and Konk. But also with rare leaps into Belgian and German territory with Liaisons Dangereuses, Kazino and Gina X performance (which due to an 11th hour dispute may or may not really be a Yellow Magic Orchestra track). Vivien Goldman and Delta 5 represent classic late seventies British post-punk while a Kid Creole remix of James White and The Blacks "Contort Yourself" offers a breezier twist on the New York scene favorite. The proto-disco fusion groove of Isotope is the earliest and our least loved track, but the white hot store favorite status goes to A Number Of Names' "Sharivari" and The Pop Group spin off project, Maximum Joy's minimal dub winddown "Silent Street / Silent Dub". So Killer! Strut's essential comps do not stay in print for very long so don't miss out on the first of 2008's awesome party jams!
As you probably know, the first volume of Strut's Disco Not Disco compilation has been a big hit here at AQ, with customers and staff alike. Well, we're happy to report that volume 2 is also great. It's a look back at the early days of *underground* disco
50 songs of Australian garage rock 1976-1987, almost all of it fucking great! Most of us are familiar with the The Saints and Radio Birdman, but included on this compilation are a bunch of amazing lesser knowns running the gamut from dirty rock to jangly pop to crusty garage to Detroit influenced punk. Bands like The Hoodoo Gurus (one of Andee's favorite bands ever), Died Pretty, The Lipstick Killers, The Sunnyboys, The Scientists, The Lime Spiders, The Screaming Tribesmen, The Hard-Ons, The Celibate Rifles, The New Christs, The Eastern Dark, The Exploding White Mice, The Stems and more. 2 1/2 hours!! It's like Christmas or something, I (Sadie) already loved The Saints and Radio Birdman but hadn't heard any of these other bands and I'm freaked out at how much awesome garage rock I've been missing out on. Andee told me that the Celibate Rifles are rad, and they are! Other kick ass bands are the Scientists (who also have a collection on Sub Pop), the Lime Spiders, the Victims, oh I could go on and on! Just buy this. One of the best compilations we've heard in a long time! (Particularily great if you got that excellent recent Sub Pop Radio Birdman collection reviewed on list #118, and want to hear more from their scene, or the scene that they inspired.)
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Let's hope that nobody confuses this compilation with any of the "Documenta" shows, as there is really nothing in common with this compilation and the massive art exhibit in Kassel, Germany. Rather this is the second in a series from Agenda (the avant-rock subsidiary of UK house label Peacefrog), featuring "some of the finest moments in the movement of modern acoustic and electroacoustic grooves." What Agenda means by such half-baked lingo is the groovier side of post-rock, and has gotten together a pretty good sampling from the Hausmusik crowd (Lali Puna, Tarwater, Tied + Tickled Trio, and Notwist), plus cuts from Mum (the Icelandic, not the German band), Labradford, Calexico, American Analog Set, Windy & Carl, Mice Parade, State River Widening, Bergheim 34, Re, and Savath & Savalas. It should be noted that while some of these tracks are qualified as "rare," nothing's unreleased or exclusive.
The first of two Kris Kristofferson tribute albums to come out in this here year 2002, Don't Let the Bastards Get You Down was put together by local man about town Nick Tangborn. Like a Dwight Yoakum of his day, Kris Kristofferson was equally involved with
Train wrecks, war, drought, despair, atomic bombs, sinking ships, and more, are all to be found in the songs compiled by Christopher Wagner for the latest in a string of themed compilations from Trikont.
Wagner, in his introductory essay "In The Shadow Of The Apocalypse", takes the position that the modern age brought with it a newfound sense of fear and alienation that isolated individuals from religion, tradition, and community, leaving them with an overarching, unrelenting sense of melancholy that pervaded all aspects of their lives; for him, these recordings are a musical testament to the zeitgeist of that era. Heavy stuff indeed (what else would you expect from a compilation cd that uses a passage from Walter Benjamin as an epigraph�?).
But what really stands out in this selection of songs is the depth and breadth of responses to disaster that the musicians are able to present. To be sure, you'd be hard pressed to find more plaintive, harrowing or emotionally evocative recordings than "That Great Ship Went Down" by William and Versey Smith (familiar to anyone who's heard The American Anthology of Folk Music) or "Off To War I'm Going" by The Carolinan Twins, but tracks such as these are starkly contrasted by The Allen Brothers' buoyant, kazoo-driven, "Jake Walk Blues" and the gruesome yet disconcertingly matter-of-fact narrative found in The Dixon Brothers' "School House Fire." Doom & Gloom is a success because the songs themselves are never overshadowed by the academic conceits of the compilation itself -- the thematic thread is always there, but what you hear first and foremost is the humanity, humility and resilience found in the music. Seriously recommended.
Like some long lost noise rock manifesto, all three volumes of this legendary Amphetamine Reptile compilation, gets bundled into a single double disc primer, that lays out everything you could ever want to know about nineties noise rock, but were too much of a pussy to ask.
Detuned blues rock meets pigfuck scuzz, near metallic riffage, collides with knuckle dragging stumble, howling noise drenched bombast wraps it's filthy tendrils around some seriously hook heavy pop tuneage. There's not a dud in the bunch, just check out the list of bands: Mudhoney, Helios Creed, Boss Hog, Vertigo, King Snake Roost, Surgery, Guzzard, Jawbox, godheadSilo, Boredoms, Superchunk, Jesus Lizard, Dwarves, Tad, God Bullies, Halo Of Flies, Cows, Lubricated Goat, Helmet, gas Huffer, Unsane, Cosmic Psychos, Chokebore, the U-Men, Bailter Space, Steel Pole Bath Tub, Braniac, Today Is The Day, Rocket From The Crypt, Gaunt, the Chrome Cranks and more more more! Comps can definitely be a dicey proposition, more miss than hit, but goddamn if this isn't practically perfect, wild, noisy, spastic, chaotic, grungy, blown out, swaggery, snarly, pissed as fuck, and somehow still crazy catchy.
Needless to say, this is abso-fucking-lutely essential, and if you're new to the whole nineties noise rock thing, this might be all you ever need (but probably not haha!)... (Fyi, vinyl includes download.)
RECORD STORE DAY 2016 ITEM!
Much like Sacred Bones' annual Todo Muere release for Record Store Day, Robotic Empire return with the third in their series of Nirvana covers compilations, this one the entirety of Nirvana's Bleach record, reimagined by a bunch of our favorite bands, as well as a handful we had never heard before. Really if you dig Nirvana (and how could you not?) the lineup here should have you sold before even hearing a note: Daughters, Rob Crow's Gloomy Place, Thou, This Will Destroy You, Young Widows, and for those who don't mind a little emo in their grunge, Circa Survive and the Fall Of Troy both do killer versions, and there are groups like Defeater, The Saddest Landscape and Basement who were pretty exciting new discoveries. Some of the bands play it pretty straight, the biggest difference is swapping out Kurt style vocals for all manner of shrieks and bellows, which may rub some people the wrong way, but it casts these songs in a way different and WAY heavier light. Thou's version of "Floyd The Barber" is soooooooo heavy, and This Will Destroy You turn "Paper Cuts" into some kind of super abstract, experimental doom. We're a bit partial to the songs with real singers, as these songs are so good, which means some of the 'hmmm, i'm not so sure about them' bands end up really shining, Circa Survive in particular kill it on "Love Buzz", and Rob Crow's Gloomy Place totally rework "Swap Meet" into something that more resembles some lost Heavy Vegetable jam. All in all, not a bummer in the bunch!
We have limited stock on these, they're the copies we have left from Record Store Day, so that means these are SUPER DUPER LIMITED, and will probably be gone pretty quick, so grab one while you can. Includes a download code too!
Not once, but twice has the Summersteps label commissioned an entire album of Jandek covers. Given the unmistakable idiosyncratic signature of Jandek's vocal warble and shrill guitar picking, it's not an easy task to reinterpret Jandek without watering down the original, even when you're a songwriter as strong as Jeff Tweedy or John Darnielle (aka The Mountain Goats). These are two of 21 artists who took on the challenge, alongside Eric Gaffney, Okkervil River (boldly covering what may be Jandek's best individual song "Your Other Man"), Six Organs of Admittance, Kawabata Makoto, Home For The Def (doing an is-it-brilliant-or-is-it-stupid hip-hop take on Jandek's "European Jewel"), Rivulets, and whole bunch of other people we've never heard of.
We know people who work at other record stores give each other gifts of music for birthdays and Christmas. Makes sense, that's what they love, right? But from another perspective, there's something just a little too easy about that... "here, I bought you this from the store where we all work". So, 'cause of that, here at AQ we don't have much of a tradition of giving cds and lps as presents.
But, Allan was thankful that Andee broke with tradition last year and mailordered him a copy of this hard to find cd for Xmas. (Andee got himself one too, of course). And now we've finally managed to contact the label directly, over in England, and order a few to sell here at AQ as well.
Definitely any lover of early '70s proto-metal heaviness needs to put this on their wish list. Downer Rock Genocide is a collection of super rare tracks by some really obscure heavy psych/prog acts who kicked around the same scene as early Black Sabbath. And it's pretty darn killer. There's 16 tracks by 14 bands, here they are: Flying Hat Band, Clear Blue Sky, Necromandus, Egor, Monument, Iron Maiden, Gnidrolog, Iron Claw, Red Dirt, Slowbone, Bram Stoker, Hackensack, Bum, and Writing On The Wall. We'd heard of some but others were new to us, unearthed from way down deep in the murky underground of decades past.
Too many gems here to talk about 'em all, but we'll mention a few... Flying Hat Band (2 tracks from them, from a never released 1973 album) was where Glenn Tipton slung his axe before joining up with Judas Priest. No wonder they hired him! We'd never heard FHB's stuff before, and already this comp is worth it just for the badass rockin' doom of their first cut, "Seventh Plain". It's like Comus meets Judas Priest! Clear Blue Sky, who also contribute two demo tracks, is one of the bands we -had- heard before (their album is a Sabbathy treat). And Sabbath lovers will really want this for "Nightjar" by the Tony Iommi produced Necromandus, easily that band's heaviest and best track. So good.
What else? The Iron Maiden on here is NOT the Iron Maiden you're familiar with, it's another, earlier band with the same name but a much doomier disposition. Actually who they really sound like is Wishbone Ash, Argus-era, all folky and epic. Gnidrolog is another one we knew, a great, super dramatic prog act in the vein of Van Der Graaf Generator, who offer up their doomiest "Long Live Man Dead". Red Dirt are a gruff slice of raw, primitive bluesy heaviness, that just got Cup to remark "that music has hairy balls!". Iron Claw kick out the jams big time on "Lightning" from a 1971 cassette only release, Egor tear it up on the blown-out live track "Street" also from '71, Hackensack deliver some wild fuzzed out soloing and wailing vocals on their kick ass cut "River Boat" circa '72, and Bum bring us the pagan "God Of Darkness" from way back in '68. Did Sabbath hear these guys? All of it good stuff for fans of bands like Sabbath, Budgie, Leaf Hound, High Tide... and Witchcraft today. Give yourself the gift of downer rock.
Some of these tracks are from albums, many are demos or archival live recordings. So sound quality varies, but not the occult-inspired, heavy-riffing, proto-metal awesomeness.
Long overdue reissue of this wonderful soundtrack to the film Downtown 81, which starred the now-deceased artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, and was written by Glenn O'Brien. Here we've got 20 tracks representing the breadth and range of the hip downtown NY
This is not only a cool document of a scene that was breathtaking in its diversity, but this is also a very handy sampler to the music of this time, much of which is now recognized as seminal. It's rare that a soundtrack documents a scene well (as opposed to just featuring throwaway tracks by bands who saved their best stuff for their own albums), but this album does it! The booklet's got a bunch of film stills and lots of information on the bands.
Listen to *all* the soundclips to get an idea of the range of styles represented on this great record.
Live at WMBR, Cambridge MA, 7/13/92. Features Smog, Palace Bros, and the Sea Note Players, all tracks previously unreleased.
The humble drum machine. It's had a tumultuous existence, equally loathed and loved, no more so than in metal (where for the most part it tends to be loathed). Without it, there's be no techno, or hip hop, or grime or industrial music. Or maybe there would be, but it would sound drastically different. It opened up a whole new world of sound, allowing musicians to program beats and sounds that they couldn't necessarily play or make themselves. So it was only a matter of time before extreme musicians discovered the sort of speed and brutality one could wring from that little box. It's nothing new, metal bands, grind bands and the like have been using drum machines for ages, but as extreme music gets more aggressive, more fucked up, more complex and more extreme, folks making this sort of music are pushing the limits of what a drum machine can do. Before, a band couldn't be any faster than their drummer could play. Now there is no limit, 100 bpm, 200 bpm, 300 bpm or more, speed is now no longer an issue. Nor is arrangement. Now a deft drum machine programmer can fit millions of beats and an insane number of different rhythms into a one minute song. Faster, more furious, more freaked out, we love it. From the murky blackened dizzyingly complex mechanical drums of black metal outfits like Draugar, to the pounding industrial grooves of Godflesh, to the lightning fast blasts of Agoraphobic Nosebleed, we can't get enough, we love the sputtering stuttering pounding skittering drum machine. Not as a replacement for real drums, and a real drummer (lord knows that usually the best part of seeing a band live is seeing a kick ass drummer totally destroy) but as another tool in the already formidable arsenal.
So here we have Drum>MachineGun, an audio report on the current state of grind. And metal. And more specifically, just what these grindmetal freaks are doing with their drum machines. And what they're doing is totally fucking mind blowing and face melting and completely confounding. Forget about music you think is fast, or heavy, or complicated, or freaked out, or fucked up. Because whatever you think, these songs, and these bands are more. Much more. 20 bands playing 67 songs in 73 minutes. Average song length about a minute. Average number of parts per song? More than our puny minds can handle. If you could imagine the most insane, most complicated, heaviest weirdest grindmetal band in the world, this comp is the record they would make. Each band linked in some ways, sometimes obviously, sometimes not so. But it makes for an incredibly cohesive listen. Which is rare for comps in general, especially one with 20 bands and almost 70 songs.
Probably our favorite discovery amongst the bunch is Noism, who might possible be our new favorite band. Imagine a group that sounded like a skipping Pig Destroyer cd. Or like multiple Agoraphobic Nosebleed cds playing at the same time. A totally mind blowing freaked out shredfest, impossibly convoluted rhythms, bizarre and brutal riffage, splattered all over the place, but sometimes lopping and skipping into bizarre industrial metal breakdowns, like a death metal Oval or something. Drum patters that are mind blowingly complex, and chugging squiggly guitars that somehow sync up perfectly. It's like a super scratched up, skipping grindcore 45, played at 90 rpm. We are dying for more than these 5 minutes. Then there's Jet Jaguar Kr3 Kill Spree, maybe the weirdest of the bunch. Imagine any of the other bands on this comp, having their blasting grind picked apart, chopped into tiny pieces and then flung haphazardly into a swirling black froth by V/VM or someone equally demented. An industrialized black metal music concrete. There are riffs and harsh vocals and all that but they are scattered amidst all sorts of bizarre sounds, damaged FX, and random looped samples. Some familiar AQ faves are present as well as a whole bunch of bands we'd never even heard of but were immediately blown away by. On the familiar side, BIG faves Black Mayonnaise, who we hadn't really expected to find on this comp, but they do indeed employ the machine made drums, although BM use them much differently. A sludgy ambient freaked out drug dirge world of fucked up home recorded doom. Noxious ambience, dense clouds of grinding guitar grrr and swooping FX drenched synths, all over a relentlessly pounding simple machine made beat. Like Hawkwind with a drum machine, or a super blissed out on-the-nod Butthole Surfers, a deliriously dark lugubrious creepy crawl. And no drum machine grind comp would be complete without Agoraphobic Nosebleed, the patron saints of mechanical grind, the lords of drum machine destruction. A technical grind metal juggernaut, who choose to instead indulge their industrial techno jones here, spewing forth a thick wash of pounding doom drenched gabber, with creepy vocal snippets, whirling clouds of synth fuzz and lo-fi hiss, all over a relentless 4/4 pound. Then there's Nemo, who we last heard from years ago on a split cd released by the now defunct Rage Of Achilles label. And we went absolutely apeshit for their new wave video game death metal grind. Wishing for a full length that never came. Thankfully not much has changed. If anything, they've gotten weirder and faster and more fucked up. It's like classic eighties metal chopped up and sped up, splattered with drum machines, run through some 16 bit video game system, and then performed by some grind metal super group. Yowza!
On the new to us side of things, there's Mecha Bongzilla, who we're tempted to believe is Bongzilla's faster, less stoned alterego, but it's a bit hard to tell. One track is downtuned buzzing blurry techgrind, but with INSANE vocals, like some alien gargling with a mouthful of kazoos and croaking frogs. Although their other track is downright sludgy and doomy so who knows? Also, Mad Cow who spit out weird echoey blast beats and spastic rhythmic splatter underneath thick sheets of low end guitar grind and super fucked black vomit vocals. Oh and a bunch of bird calls, monkey sounds, and a totally bizarre sped up super affected Elizabeth Clare Prophet sample right in the middle!!!! Woah!
Ok, it'll probably be easier to go through the rest of the bands in list form:
Artificial Intelligence Agency: more of a strange series of interludes, mostly weird sound effects, movie snippets, found sounds, bizarre FX, and only the occasional bit of music, and it's NOT metal, more some sort of weird ambient porno funk.
Voltron: chugging super fast gurgling vocalled death metal grind, with guitars and vocals so indistinct they are just blurs of low end sound and of course lightning fast drum machine blasts.
Submachine Drum: murky lo-fi industrial grind, so fast it's all a dizzying blur of hyperspeed drums and looped processed guitar riffs.
Slough: Not related to the similarly named Slough Feg... and take away the Feg and you've got a guttural grindmetal shred fest. Impossibly downtuned guitars, all a growing gurgling blur.
Scumfusion: some seriously shredding grind, but with plenty of wheedily lead guitars, grinding sludge metal riffs over ridiculously fast rhythms and super weird processed vocals, that sound like some underwater alien. Surprisingly melodic, but still furious and fierce, pounding and pummeling.
Prosthetic Cunt: We reviewed these guys' full length ages ago, a gleefully perverse and sick sick sick take on ultragrossoutgrind. Super blown out guitars and a drummachine cranked to 11 and programmed at about 300 BPM. And of course lots of goofy movie samples.
Ocrilim: No comp of insanely technical grind would be complete without some Mick Barr madness. Ocrilim is Barr (Orthrelm, Octis, Crom Tech) shredding wildly to sputtering spastic machine drums. SO insanely inspired but incredibly hard on the ears. In a good way.
Nerve Not Found: Prog gone grind. Keyboards swoop in and out of super complicated arrangements. Like the Locust covering Magma.
Hellz Army: Pounding DHR style industrial gabber. Big static repeating guitar riffs and pounding four on the floor drum machine pummel with bizarre samples of fifties rock, Space Ghost and tons of other random weirdness.
Genghis Tron: We sure do love these guys. Imagine Slayer sped up to impossible speeds, a grinding super technical satanic death metal, then mix in a bunch of fuzzed out new wave synths, hip hop breakbeats, samples and prepare to have your mind melt.
Decomposing Serenity: These guys represent the old school. Super blow out death metal gore grind. Downtuned riffing, chugging guitars, machine made blast beats, and a vast array of gurgling, strangled, alien, monster growls. Bits of this are almost even funky, making them sound at times like a gore grind Chili Peppers.
Data Clast: Another grind new wave hybrid, but with a bit of a prog bent. Heavy and super pummeling but with plenty of thick fuzzy synths, and convoluted song structures, complex arrangements, and processed guitars that skip and stutter as much as they riff. And of course some huge slow and low grumbling monster gurgle vocals.
Cocoon: Stretched out industrial black ambience, one of the few tracks whose drum machines are more a part of their whole vibe than the driving focal point. Crackling, rumbling drones, clouds of drifting glitch, and shuffling stuttering rhythms, an ominous dreamlike subtly drum machined drift.
This is the kind of record that leaves you bruised and bloody, beaten and exhausted. Like having the musical shit kicked out of you. This is a seriously intense bout of heavy listening. Hard listening. Nothing easy about this at all. Super furious, totally relentless, loud as fuck, faster than a speeding bullet, grinding and gurgling and bellowing and blasting and skipping and looping and crushing and pulverizing and pummeling and shrieking and shredding and so goddamn amazing.
- MPEG stream: 1
- MPEG stream: 2
- MPEG stream: 11
- MPEG stream: 17
- MPEG stream: 30
- MPEG stream: 37
- MPEG stream: 40
- MPEG stream: 42
The idea behind this series through Tranquility Tapes is simple enough: present collaborative works from the far reaches of the cassette underworld of synthwranglers. For the most part, the resulting sounds are grimy, crystal-powered oceanic washes of deep listening synth churnings cast through the necessary filter of stoned tape hiss, slumped meanderings, and low-wattage recording techniques; and for the most part, all of these projects seem wholly obscure. There's no information other than a name like Cream Juice, Dozens, or Roped Off to go on; and cursory searches don't provide any clues whatsoever, although many of the projects have some affiliation in some way shape or form with the cassette imprint Orange Milk, which as of the posting of this review is as enigmatic as most everything on this tape. The one thing we do know about is Coyote Image Revisited, which is the collaboration of Rachel and Grant Evans of Hooker Vision fame and their numerous solo projects (Rachel's Motion Sickness Of Time Travel being the most well known), and who deliver a piano and tape fragment collage akin to any number of William Basinski's loop mantras. Other highlights include the tape-loop hypnosis of gong vibrations and Zoviet-France like tricks from Perspectives, the wheezing minimalism of Urkas and the weirdo radiophonic blorping from Cream Juice. Pro-duplicated edition of 150 copies on a 60 minute tape.
An album of Queen covers where each song is so unlike the original that it's only slightly recognizable. And the Queen connection turns out to be enough of a good thematic idea to hold this record together! The point isn't really the Queen songs, but the
On the other hand, Allan thinks this is a compilation of bands he mostly wouldn't normally want to listen to, ruining a bunch of songs he loves, but can't deny the humor value, and imagines that Freddie wouldn't be too upset. Queen were pretty campy after all.
From the wide-swath obscurity curators at the MPLS label - who recently brought us the fabulous Claude Lombard reissue - comes this first time on vinyl reissue of a great compilation of live British indie-pop that originally appeared on the wonderful Sarah Records label. Sarah Records was the warm, greatly missed heart of British indie jangle and C86 pop of the late eighties and nineties, and were the precursor advocates of the sort of blithe sophisticated pop to which bands like Saint Etienne, Belle & Sebastian, The Aislers Set, and The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart would offer their gentle allegiance.
A dual purpose memorial of sorts, these are rare live tracks originally released on cassette by Sarah Records in 1992, to commemorate one of the stalwart British eighties clubs, EEC Punk Rock Mountain, which shuttered its doors to many forlorn tears in 1987. These live tracks were recorded across six concerts performed in 1991 at various clubs around the world, Hamburg, Paris, Leeds, Athens, Seattle, and Tokyo by bands who had played at EEC Punk Rock Mountain regularly: The Orchids, St. Christopher, Gentle Despite, The Wake, The Field Mice, and Heavenly. A sweet reminder of a bygone era of warm DIY scrappiness and generosity from one of the most consistent scene-building labels of its day.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
From indie/new-wave to math rock with Don Caballero, Hourly Radio, Ke Chandara, Glorium, Cordial, Stratego, Cerberus Shoal, and more! Comes with a free map!
Second compilation of essential British Acid Folk (Gathering In The Mushrooms was the first.) compiled by Bob Stanley of Saint Etienne. Featuring well known figures such as John Renbourn, Steeleye Span, Shirley Collins, Anne Briggs, and Pentangle along more obscurer groups such as Midwinter, Stone Angel, Shide and Acorn, and Mellow Candle.
