A super awesome compendium of the bountiful music released by Cherry Red Records circa 1981 through 1984. 'Twas such a crazy flurry of wonderful UK music in such a short period of time. The box set brings back such warm fuzzy memories of the distinct slightly eccentric and brainy sounds of those years! It comes with the 2cd compilation Pillows & Prayers, a rarities disc and a dvd of music videos! Artists include many longtime aQ faves: Marine Girls and Everything But The Girl as well as Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn individually, The Monochrome Set, Eyeless In Gaza, The Misunderstood, Robert Wyatt, Kevin Coyne, Felt, and many many more!
Eeurgh! This compilation's subject matter might fill you with terror, but the music is mighty easy on the ears. You get ten songs from the 4AD label's odd bedfellows Stephin Merritt, Laurie Anderson, Rufus Wainwright, Brian Eno with Robert Wyatt, Imogen Heap, The Tiger Lilies, King Creosote, Cody Chesnutt, Klashnekoff, and Scott Walker, all addressing plague-related unpleasantries such as boils, lice, locusts, flies, frogs, blood, death of livestock, hail, death of firstborn and darkness. Thematically perhaps not for those with delicate constitutions, but musically there's a little (predominantly adult contemporary leaning) something for almost everyone.
Wow, things were awesome in the seventies. Sure, there was Watergate and an oil crisis and Vietnam...but there were also high school bands rocking out versions of Hendrix and Led Zeppelin! You loved the Langley Schools Music Project, right?
Maybe you also dug the (now out of print) "Schoolhouse Funk" disc of high school marching bands doing funk covers. Here's the next must-have in this burgeoning 'genre', a collection of recordings of high school bands circa 1970-1976 doing their favorite rock hits of the day. From Foghat's "Free Ride" to Santana's "Soul Sacrifice" to B.O.C.'s "Godzilla" this is pretty darn killer, a way to enjoy these 'oldies' without turning on classic rock radio -- the originals can't compare anyway. Check out the drum solo in "Moby Dick", or the way the kid's voice changes during "Purple Haze" (heck, he's probably 13 years old!). You'll hear from the Santa Monica Unified School District Music Dept., the Anaheim High School Original Rock and Popsannay, the Fairview High School "Excalibur" and Jazz Ensemble, the Baldwin Harbor Junior High Jazz/Rock Ensemble, among others. Was it square to be in band back then? 'Cause these kids sound pretty hip to us today.
From crazy fuzz psych guitar leads that seem way beyond their years to sunny, Fifth Dimension style vocal choruses, these tracks are full of extra-curricular excellence. We were especially surprised and impressed by the Roswell New Mexico Goddard High School Stage Band's version of "Evil Woman" -- no, not the E.L.O. song, or even the one by Spooky Tooth, but the much more obscure composition by '60s garage band Crow that Black Sabbath covered on the UK version of their debut album! Cool, and weird.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
German collection of weird experimental electronic pop tunes -- all previously unreleased by the likes of Moog pioneer Jean Jacques Perrey, Jean Michel Herve, Amadeo Tommasi, and Pell Mell(!).
Subtitled Les Plus Grands Groupes De Rock Des Annees 70 En France, here's a 23 track collection of, indeed, swinging '70s French rock n' pop... we imported 'em directly from France just about as soon as we found out about this and scoped the track list. It's on the same label that brought us those Sixties Girls comps, as well as the now out of print Les Variations and Triangle anthologies, amongst other goodies.
Styles here vary, and not every track is a killer, but that's how comps go. We certainly found enough tres bon poppy psych, prog rock bombast, AM radio sunshine, melancholic balladry, glam production and fat beats and flutes and grooves and blues and more to enjoy, for sure! Some of it's seriously cookin', some of it's on the softer side, and either way for the most part we're falling for the combination of Gallic charm and '70 kitsch on display here.
There's some groups here we'd heard of and many more we hadn't. Here's the line-up: Triangle, Time Machine, Les Variations, Dynastie Crisis, Jupiter Sunset, Ange, Alan Jack Civilization, Zoo, Costa-Yared-Costa, Trust, Tai Phong, Presence, Doc Dail, Martin Circus, Alice, Ilous & Decuyper, Labyrinthe, Trianglophone, Starshooter, Pop Tops, Total Issue, and two "bonus instrumentaux" from Le System Crapoutchik and Pachyderm. Too bad there's not much info given in the cd booklet about all these.
Intriguing collection of diverse folks doing versions of classics like "Si Tu Dois Partir": Apples in Stereo, Ivy, John Wesley Harding, Lloyd Cole, Heavenly, Magnetic Fields, Sukia, Air featuring Francoise Hardy, and The Ladybug Transistor featuring Kevin Ayers!
By now, we're used to the idea of rock n' roll in its sixties heyday as a GLOBAL phenomenon, kids everywhere, East and West, North and South, rockin' to that crazy beat. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of quite a few internationally-digging DJs and collectors, the past few years have been especially fruitful ones for reissues of far-flung rock artifacts on labels like Sublime Frequencies, Now-Again, and Soundway.
We've heard groovy groups from Turkey, Cambodia, Ghana, Thailand, India, Indonesia, and seemingly every place else. Certainly there's been a few releases that have delved into the scene in Malaysia and Singapore, but this fabulous new collection on Sublime Frequencies is THEE one to get if you want to learn about the great electric beat music being made by and for teenagers in that part of the world, circa 1964-1970.
Despite the conservative nature of Malaysian society, the rock n' roll revolution took root among its youth too. This Pop Yeh Yeh comp proves it! (The term "Pop Yeh Yeh", by the way, referring to rock music sung in Malay, was apparently derived from the "yeah yeah yeah" chorus of The Beatles' song "She Loves You", though it may have been another British band, Cliff Richard and The Shadows, that was the bigger influence on the nascent Malay rock scene.) While the kids there didn't get as wild in the streets as they may have elsewhere, with drugs and sex and all of that, they were still happy to let their hair down (if only just a bit) to make some sweet rock n' roll records. There's 26 such tracks are collected here, full of catchy melodies, fuzzy guitars, warbling organs... There's energetic dance numbers, and lovely ballads both. Some have the twang of surf music, others the sultry singers and lush arrangements of Hindi movie soundtracks, which were another big influence on Pop Yeh Yeh, besides Western pop rock and traditional Malay folk music forms.
This compilation is an obvious labor of love, years in the making, and can't be faulted for any lack of thoroughness. The physical product and depth of research set the bar pretty high for future collections of this type! It's a big package all right, colorful and informative. The tri-fold digipack contains not one but TWO thick booklets, they're both needed to contain all the extensive liner notes (book 1, a general essay on the history of rock n' roll in Malaysia and Singapore, plus lyrics to the songs on the cd; book 2, detailed write-ups on each and every track on the disc) plus tons of vintage photos of the sharp-dressed young men and women who made this delightful music, which despite all the interestin' reading, is still the main draw here after all! Another winner from Sublime Frequencies, guaranteed to put a smile on your face.
One of two Sublime Frequencies vinyl reissues for Record Store Day (the other being by Omar Souleyman). This fave is out of print on cd, and also already out of print in the this new vinyl version, too. We didn't even think we'd be able to list it, but one our our suppliers got their copies late so we snagged a few post-RSD. But this is probably it. Here's what we said about this great comp before...
By now, we're used to the idea of rock n' roll in its sixties heyday as a GLOBAL phenomenon, kids everywhere, East and West, North and South, rockin' to that crazy beat. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of quite a few internationally-digging DJs and collectors, the past few years have been especially fruitful ones for reissues of far-flung rock artifacts on labels like Sublime Frequencies, Now-Again, and Soundway.
We've heard groovy groups from Turkey, Cambodia, Ghana, Thailand, India, Indonesia, and seemingly every place else. Certainly there's been a few releases that have delved into the scene in Malaysia and Singapore, but this fabulous new collection on Sublime Frequencies is THEE one to get if you want to learn about the great electric beat music being made by and for teenagers in that part of the world, circa 1964-1970.
Despite the conservative nature of Malaysian society, the rock n' roll revolution took root among its youth too. This Pop Yeh Yeh comp proves it! (The term "Pop Yeh Yeh", by the way, referring to rock music sung in Malay, was apparently derived from the "yeah yeah yeah" chorus of The Beatles' song "She Loves You", though it may have been another British band, Cliff Richard and The Shadows, that was the bigger influence on the nascent Malay rock scene.) While the kids there didn't get as wild in the streets as they may have elsewhere, with drugs and sex and all of that, they were still happy to let their hair down (if only just a bit) to make some sweet rock n' roll records. 26 such tracks are collected here, full of catchy melodies, fuzzy guitars, warbling organs... There's energetic dance numbers, and lovely ballads both. Some have the twang of surf music, others the sultry singers and lush arrangements of Hindi movie soundtracks, which were another big influence on Pop Yeh Yeh, besides Western pop rock and traditional Malay folk music forms.
This compilation is an obvious labor of love, years in the making, and can't be faulted for any lack of thoroughness. The physical product and depth of research set the bar pretty high for future collections of this type! It's a big package all right, colorful and informative, with extensive liner notes (first, a general essay on the history of rock n' roll in Malaysia and Singapore, plus lyrics to the songs on the cd; second, detailed write-ups on each and every track) plus tons of vintage photos of the sharp-dressed young men and women who made this delightful music, which despite all the interestin' reading, is still the main draw here after all! Another winner from Sublime Frequencies, guaranteed to put a smile on your face.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
We really shoulda listed this comp a few weeks ago, since it's a sampler of all the cool new stuff out or about to be out on Norway's happenin' Smalltown Supersound label, some of which wasn't yet released when we first got this in. But hey some of it still isn't, though this does feature a track from that rad Sunburned Hand / Four Tet collab Fire Escape we highlighted last list, and a cut from the blissed-out Arp debut that showed up last week (and is highlighted elsewhere this list). Yep, Smalltown Supersound has been kicking ass lately, and if you want to cheaply and conveniently check out the who, what, and why of that bold statement, this is a great means of doing so. Suffice to say, if post-punk krautrocky space disco tracks (each one here being some and/or all of the above) float yr boat, then The Portable Supersound is a smart purchase -- unless you're planning to buy *every* Smalltown Supersound release anyway, which isn't such a bad idea either. From Scandinavia to San Francisco and beyond, there's a dozen cutting edge yet kinda clubby artists on here to get excited about... besides the already abovementioned, this also includes tracks from Kim Hiorthoy, Bjorn Torske, 120 Days, Tussle, Lindstrom, Mental Overdrive, diskJokke, Toy, Lars Horntveth, and last but not least, Japan's The Lift Boys, aka EYE from the Boredoms, whose full-Bore TECHNO! track taken from a 12" vinyl-only release is a good reason to get this all by itself.
We've been meaning to start stocking stuff from the Urck label for a while now. They had sent us a bunch of discs by a band with the strange name of Hop-Frog's Drum Jester Devotional, and to be honest at first we were fearing the worst, yeah we know, don't judge a book by its cover or a band by it's name, but we often judge band's by their names and it usually works out pretty well for us, Bathtub Shitter, Fuck I'm Dead, Pocohaunted, we could go on, but to be totally honest we were sort of expecting some sort of hippy jam band, you know hackey sacks and dayglo jester hats, but thankfully, we couldn't have been more wrong. The sound was devotional for sure, and the focal point was certainly drums, but the sound was more tribal and ethnic, spiritual and dark, more along the lines of Muslimgauze, lots of samples and voices, intricate rhythms, hypnotic and trancey.
So we will eventually review a record proper from Hop-Frog's Drum Jester Devotional, but we figured an even better place to start would be this brand new double disc compilation, featuring lots of bands on the Urck label, as well as a whole bunch of bands we already dig.
The comp is called Post-Asiatic Lost War Dream Music and is subtitled A Compilation Of Eastern Influenced Experimental Music, which pretty much nails it, but within that fairly broad descriptor, the bands veer into all sorts of varied sonic territory.
Right off the bat, there's a handful of bands who would have made owning this comp worthwhile all on their own, Amps For Christ, who offer up a gorgeous sprawling nearly 11 minute long jam, folky and lilting, guitars and sitars woven into drifting dreamlike harmonies, the melodies sunny and wistful, all very free and abstract, but gorgeous and we would have been happy to hear this track stretched out to fill an entire record. Muslimgauze does a stripped down, pure rhythm track, shuffling skittering drums, looped and cyclical, very hypnotic, and very very abstract. Neung Phak deliver a blissy slab of laid back psychpop, whirring organ, simple subtle drumming, twangy guitar, all wrapped around a super catchy Eastern melody. Experimental guitarist Bill Horist delivers some super spare squeak and scrape, chime and clatter, shimmer and swell, eventually that minimal guitar is joined by some sort of fiddle, wailing out a lonesome tune. Z'ev joins up with someone called Ramona Ponzini, for a haunting metallic scrapescape peppered with tribal drumming and with creepy disembodied vocals. There's also several tracks from that amazing Indian Soundscapes record we reviewed a while back, as well as tracks from Soriah, Metal Rouge, Moe! Staiano and F-Space. But the bands we hadn't heard of are just as exciting as those we were already familiar with.
The aforementioned Hop-Frog's Drum Jester Devotional unfurls a drum heavy ceremony, all pounding tribalism, and buzzing steel strings, sounding very East Asian, another track that we would have loved to hear stretched out to fill up the whole disc. Venerable Showers Of Beauty Gamelan, is just that, a DIY gamelan, chiming and resonant, the melodies definitely Asian influenced, but also a bit Western, with many of the tones allowed to drone on and on, giving the track a slightly ominous buzz. C.O.T.A. weave a dark slab of tribal dark ambience, lots of rumble and buzz, a thick bassy pulse and shimmering sitar like strings. We definitely need to hear more from these guys. And we could go on and on and on. This is after all two discs packed with all sorts of amazing music, and a whole clutch of new bands to discover and probably knowing us (and you we'd imagine) decide we need to hear more of. Recommended for fans of any of the above mentioned bands obviously, or anyone looking for into dark, dreamy, buzzy, blissful, tribal sounds. Everytime we play this in the store, someone comes up to ask what it is. Obviously, way recommended.
Packaged in a super thick mini gatefold lp-style sleeve, with liner notes and credits inside.
Nintendo theme music as performed by a bunch of video game addicted indie musicians! First up, is "The Legend Of Zelda (Overworld Theme)" tackled by supremely qualified for this sort of thing math/metal rockers The Fucking Champs. The mathiness continues with Upsilon Acrux (Rush n' Attack) and Ahleuchatistas (Bad Dudes), both prog rock bands who when not practicing their instrumental chops, must be glued to their gaming consoles. Then there's some artists with more of an electronica approach, also quite appropriate here, like Cripple Camp (Ghosts n' Goblins), Animal Style (Tetris), and Christopher Willits (Metroid). Doug McDiarmid of Anticon artists Why? provides a break from the plugged-in, caffienated craziness of some of these tunes with his pleasant piano rendition of the music from Marble Madness. Most far out is maybe Flossin (Kid 606 + Christopher Willits + Hella's Zach Hill, right?) with their spacey, psychedelic and chaotic version of "Castlevania". As with all tribute comps, there's some bands we hadn't heard of before, like Kindergarten Hazing Ritual (River City Ransom) and Twelve Handed Men Of Mars (more from The Legend Of Zelda)... but whoever they are, they know their Nintendo.
Heads up super-popsters! Flying your way are Apples In Stereo, Cornelius, Komeda, Dressy Bessy, The Bill Doss (ex-Olivia Tremor Control), Frank Black, Bis, The Sugarplastic, Optiganally Yours, Shonen Knife, and Devo. Each with a song inspired by Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles (cartoon characters if you didn't know). Puff up kids!
Man, is Andy Votel our favorite DJ/mix complier or what?? (With Garreth Goddard/Cherrystones running a close second.) Obviously, Votel's got the record collection we wish we had... or are working on, but he's got the original LPs and 45s and we've just got the cd reissues. Anyway, his love of '60s and '70s obscure, international prog/psych/folk/funk is right up our alley. The Votel comps we've listed include AQ Record Of The Week honoree Vertigo Mixed, the amazing Welsh Rare Beat disc, and the Folk Is Not A Four Letter Word collection. Now here's the follow-up to that one, eagerly awaited 'round these parts, Prog Is Not A Four Letter Word. And you know how we love prog!
Though, Votel's definition of "prog" or "progressive rock" is deliberately loosey-goosey. Indeed, he pretty much wants to leave out what most people would consider prog -- famous bands like Yes, ELP, King Crimson, Mike Oldfield, Genesis, and their imitators... Not that we were expecting any of those to appear here, but we thought maybe Gnidrolog or Osanna might show up, or Magma or Le Orme. However, Votel's agenda is about the grooves, with a helping of fuzz, and the exotic weirdness factor of foreign-language vocals and ethnic influences too... the sometimes pretentious intellectual/conceptual aspects of prog aren't what is being celebrated here, nor symphonics or narrative suites or virtuoso keyboard solos or caped outfits... though we're sure Votel digs all that too. But this is more about tracks that are freaky and avantgarde yet rhythmic and hooky enough to be a DJ's hidden weapon. What you get here is some really obscure stuff from around the globe that *might* be "prog" rock (it's certainly not "regular" rock!), dating from 1969-1978, more or less prog's heyday. Pretty much the most prog-identified band on here is Britain's Egg (who are even featured doing a classical styled piece, "Fugue In D Minor"). They're in the company of a crazy crew of artists from the Continent and further afield, some we've heard of and many we haven't. Among the names we know, there's Jean-Claude Vannier (with a track from the amazing L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouches recently reissued and reviewed here last year), Bran from Wales (who also appear, with a different track, on Welsh Rare Beat), Poland's Breakout (who also were on the Folk Is Not A Four Letter Word comp), Krautrock jazz fusion act Embryo, Korea's wonderful San Ul Lim, Baris Manco and 3 Hur-el from Turkey (the latter with one of the best Turkish psych tracks EVER, "Omur Bitter Yol Bimez" from their Hurel Arsivi album), and France's Phillipe Bescombes. But we confess we'd never heard of Italy's Picchio Dal Pozzo, Poland's fierce and fuzzy Czerwone Gitary, or Yugoslavia's Drugi Nacin before, among others on here that leave us wanting to hear, and know, more! There are fairly informative liner notes, though, which is always appreciated. And album covers too! Recommended, 'specially if you're already a fan of the several comps of Votel's that we alluded to above, and the Cherrystones Rocks one, and the best Love, Peace & Poetry volumes and so forth...
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
The 10" vinyl came out on UK's Earworm and here's the cd version of this all-star spacerock jam session that occured at last year's Terrastock festival in Providence, RI. You've got members of Flying Saucer Attack, Bardo Pond, Windy & Carl, and Azusa Plane doing what they know how to do so well.
The psych rock maven appropriately known as The Psychomaniac is back with another killer comp, one of the best we've heard from his comp-happy label in fact. Super groovy, super fuzzy, super psychedelic!! First off, though, you might be wondering, what happened to Psych Bites Volume One? Why start with the second volume in the series? Well there indeed is a Volume One, and it's probably very cool, but we haven't had a chance to check it out yet. Also that one's entirely devoted to Australian bands, so this new, geographically unfettered volume isn't precisely a sequel to the first. We'd like to review vol.1 too, but for the moment prefer to direct your attention to this disc, which has SO MUCH GOOD STUFF on it, it's kinda ridiculous. Stuff that, when you hear it, you'll be wondering, why haven't I heard this before? (Maybe you have, we knew a few of these tracks, but there's twenty of 'em here, so not to worry.) Recorded circa 1968-1974, with 1970 most heavily represented, and from all over the world, England, Germany (West -and- East), Holland, USA, Quebec, all the way to Nigeria, the unifying factor being only that these tracks are obscure classics to the max. And full of fuzz, let's not forget.
Let's touch on a few of the many highlights. The disc begins with a band with the bizarre name of Zappatta Schmidt, doing a horn-fueled, sweat-soaked, funky-drummed groover called "Someone In The Crowd" that's like if Otis Redding showed up on that old Chains and Black Exhaust comp... badass! That's followed by "Tomorrow Night", performed by the hopefully-named Chartbusters, more ye olde "hairy funk" with jamming organ, which might sound familiar though 'cause it's an Atomic Rooster cover, and a good one. We can't skip Spencer Mac's "Blues Up In Downtown", which keeps the party goin'. And that's followed by Milwaukee's Motown signings the Messengers telling us what it's like "In The Jungle"... good grief, we're mentioning ALL the tracks so far. Well, here's a few further highlights, though it's hard to choose, as you can see...
Gotta mention the kuriously monikered Kannibal Komix (aka Die Anderen) who offer up their klassic "Neurotic Reaction", which sounds like a cross between something by The Count Five and The Sweet, part freakbeat, part proto-glam, all unhinged and awesome. Heard it before on another comp or two, but always kool to hear it again. Another one we already knew was Ofo The Black Company's Afro-funk fuzz bomb "Allah Wakkbar" from '72 (a standout on the Love's A Real Thing comp from Luaka Bop, and also heard on Afrostrut's Nigeria 70 collection). But what's neat is that the almost as freaky flipside to that single, "Beautiful Daddy", is also included here too, new to us! (This disc also includes more Afro-rock from London-based Danta.) Madeline Chartrand's mesmeric "Ani-Kuni" we know we've heard somewhere before, as well, but can't remember where, so glad to have it here. Tranced out Native American chant meets space age psych, with some electric sitar thrown in for good measure. A treasure.
What else? There's the swinging sixties freakouts of Blackbirds 2000's "Let's Do It Together" and Janie's "Psycho", the latter being the sort of get everyone in the studio and get high and see what funny things wind up on the tape party that Kim Fowley was partial to, too. Oh, and this disc also provides a healthy dose of krautrockers: Frumpy, Krokodil, Orange Peel, and the prae-kraut pandaemonium of The Rattles. All good stuff. And the cd booklet provides notes on everything, plus full color graphix.
So, if you have been digging the comps done by the B-Music crew, or Psychic Circle, or similar various artists international fuzz-psych collections like Obsession, Neurotic Reaction, Cherrystone's Rocks, the best of those Electric Asylum comps (also put together by ol' Psychomaniac), etc., etc. then this is for you!
Looking at the cover of this comp, what catches our eye? Well, of course the words PSYCH and FUNK in big electric pink letters. Pretty much had us right there, we're easy like that. But then the fine print on the sticker on the front adds an extra tingle of excitement: "None of these tracks have ever been reissued"! So what we have here is a survey course on some obscure shit, an international collection of freaky, fuzzy, funky jams from the golden years, circa 1968-1975 or so, mostly from groups we'd never heard of before. The ones did know were a good sign, being super groovy and decidedly eccentric. (Though we do have to point out that at least a few of the cuts here actually have been reissued before, that's how we knew 'em!). Here's the lineup: Hunsu Ozkartal Orkestrasi (Turkey), Kukumbas (Nigeria), Mulatu Astatke feat. Belaynesh Wubante and Assegedetch Asfaw (Ethiopia), Kim Sun (South Korea), Petalouda (Greece), Mehr Pooya (Iran), Staff Carpenborg and The Electric Corona (West Germany), The Group (Italy), Armando Sciascia (Italy), Wadih Essafi (Lebanon), Omar Khorshid (Egypt), Metin H. Alatli (Turkey), George Garanian with The Melodiya Jazz Ensemble (Russia), and Eskaton (France). 14 tracks in all, all of 'em b to the a to the d to the ass. Get ready for plenty of percolating percussion, infectious bass lines, analog synth buzz, chicken scratch guitar, greasy organ, drugged out FX, and in many cases Middle Eastern or African or other 'exotic' ethnic elements as appropriate to their nation of origin. Highlights are almost impossible to pick. All the African stuff is killer (Ethiopiques fans take note), so are the Turkish tracks (you want weird? check out how the Metin H. Alatli cut somehow segues from Richard Strauss Also Sprach Zarathustra 2001: A Space Odyssey monolith music to stoned cocktail bellydance improv!!), so is everything else. We dig how eerieness and jazziness are combined on "The Feed-back" by The Group (aka Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, featuring Ennio Morricone), and also Armando Sciascia's suspenseful "Circuito Chiuso" is pretty eerie too. Both are from Italy, where it seems that it's hard NOT to sound like you're scoring a phantasmagoric horror flick a la Goblin. Also, we love love love the grandiose extended electro-funk from Magmoid progsters Eskaton that closes out the disc. But why keep writing about this, you know you need it - unless your record collection already includes all these rarities, and there's no way it does.
Lovingly compiled with the help of DJs like Cut Chemist and Stone's Throw's Egon, Psych Funk 101 is truly a lesson in, well, a variety of awesome vintage funkiness, in the tradition of other cool comps like Prog Is Not A Four Letter Word, Obsession, Trap Door, and the Afro-centric Love's A Real Thing. Housed in a handsome digipack, it boasts a thick, 36 page booklet featuring a two-page spread on each track, with full color repro of the original LP or 45 sleeve from whence the cut originated, along with a page of text giving more info than you'd expect.
FYI this also came out on vinyl, but was gone so fast, we don't have any to list. However, we are told it is being repressed, soon we hope...
Psych. Funk. India. The '70s. Yes it's gonna be awesome. Sitars and Bollywood stars, badass grooves and acid rock guitars. This excellent new collection comes from the same folks (deeeeeeep diggers they are) who brought us that incredible international Psych Funk 101 comp a while back. They are EXPERTS. It's not entirely a joke that they present these comps in the guise of academic coursework, their research is extensive and if you pay attention you're gonna learn somethin'. According to the liner notes, Psych Funk 101 is considered a pre-requisite to this new "seminar", which is subtitled "Aesthetic Expressions Of Psychedelic Funk Music In India". Fortunately they don't carry the academic gag too far, and keep grad school jargon to an amusing minimum. (By the way, if you don't have Psych Funk 101, well, we figure you can still audit this course... though we DO recommend picking that one up too).
So, what's this Sa-Re-Ga! all about? 20 tracks, all killer no filler, circa 1970-1983, that showcase several "key figures / movements in Indian Psych Funk", from the garagey late '60s Sgt. Peppery stuff you'd expect from a former British colony (and from anywhere else in the world the Beatles had made their way), to the work of genius Bollywood composer R.D. Burman (and his eventual wife, the famous singer Asha Bhosle), to the Go-Go stylings of brothers Kalyanji Aalyanji Anandji, to hard rock bassist Keith Kanga's "wild beat group" Atomic Forest and related acts. Much information is provided about all of those artists and more in what must be the BIGGEST damn cd booklet we've ever seen. 52 pages!! The digipack sleeve can barely contain it. Packed with tons of dazzling full color graphics and learned text. Totally gettin' your money's worth with this one. (It's packaged like the Forge Your Own Chains comp, equally fat and deluxe.)
But even without the frills, just the music alone would make this a must. You can't listen to this without getting a gleeful smile on your face, from the get-go it's great and then somehow each song manages to top the one before it, with insistent propulsive percussion, bombastic orchestration, impassioned vocals, musique concrete techniques, and indeed some heavy, Hindi, FUNK. We're having trouble picking individual tracks to single out, only because they're ALL so good. But we gotta mention just a few of the super standouts, one of 'em being a live version of the classic "Dum Maro Dum" performed Bhosle and Burman and band at the Royal Albert Hall in 1978. That's a song you've heard before, most likely (the Kronos Quartet even recorded it, on their 2005 album with Bhosle), and it helps to realize that not only does a lot of the music on this disc seem like it oughtta be the most popular stuff in the world, in many cases, it really was quite popular, and not just in India. This rendition of "Dum Maro Dum", which means "Take Another Toke" by the way, was their concert's deliriously ecstatic, well-received finale. Then there's "Freak Out Music", another R.D. Burman number, that couldn't have been a hit, but is certainly Freaked Out. (And it's not even the one here by him that combines the sounds of strings with that of smashing glass.)
We also were excited to hear more from Atomic Forest, a band that provided the title track to the great international fuzz compilation Obsession a few years back (now out of print). They do a cover of a Deep Purple tune, "Mary Long", and of course laden it with extra fuzz. Another one for classic rock fans would be Bappi Lahari's "Everybody Dance With Me", which sounds suspiciously like Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" given an exotic Indian disco makeover, with bongos and wild wails... And, conversely, as an early example of Indian groove filtering into the West, the compilers have included a track by krautrocker/fusioneer Klaus Doldinger, "Sitar Beat", which is indeed just that, and must have been a highlight of the 1969 spy movie soundtrack on which it originally appeared. Which is interesting, 'cause the entry by Indian garage band X'Lents, "Psychedelia", originally from the Simla Beat 70 compilation, sounds like it would be perfect for a James Bond style spy movie too.
So, in sum, quite a lesson, and definitely a fun one. We'd go so far as to say this should be a required course/comp. We've been lucky lately with the quality of comps and other archival releases coming out, documenting vintage music from (for us) far off lands. We recently made the Soundway's The Sounds Of Siam a Record Of The Week, now this Sa-Re-Ga! is making us so happy... and we've got our eye on an upcoming Now-Again comp devoted to '70s Indonesian rock and funk, called Those Shocking Shaking Days, we've got high hopes for that one, it promises to be rad too. The vaguely connected network of collectors and DJs who are responsible for these comps, true labors of love, deserve all our thanks!!
As we said, the compact disc version boasts a massively thick booklet, and the swank double vinyl comes with a large 20 page one too.
Another modern day Christmas comp featuring some psych heavies, many of them aQ favorites, including Dead Meadow. Psychic Ills, The Cosmonauts, Quintron and Miss Pussycat, Sleepy Sun, Elephant Stone, The Movements, Iggy Pop and many more. Get it while you can still stomach Christmas tunes!
Subtitled: Heavy Underground (1967-71). Some great, late '60s heavy garage psych stuff here. Yep, another compilation of obscure bands from before you were born or at least before you were buying records. And even if you were buying records back then, chances are you didn't ever pick up any of these, tracks from obscure bands released on obscure 7" singles on obscure labels from obscure places, from Peru to Malibu! And amazingly, these dozen tracks really are all pretty darn killer, no filler. Seriously, We've been listening to this pretty much non-stop since we got it in. Like it says, this is heavy, but in that '60s way -- not really proto-metal but rather psych-pop garage rock jams turned up and turned on, folks gettin' a little freaky with the volume and the effects and the sonic psychedelic drug explorations. Lotsa FUZZ of course, that's a major ingredient.
Here's who's here: Blackrock, Sound Machine, Yesterday's Obsession, Mastermind, Sangre Mexicana, Bhagavad Gita, Protein Bros, Purple Canteen, Los Nuevos Shains, Blow Mind, and Dirty Filthy Mud. It's hard to pick faves, though the B-side of the single by Oakland California's Dirty Filthy Mud, "Forest Of Black" from 1967 is pretty much worth the price of admission all by itself if you're into ye olde heaviness like we are! All in all an excellent comp for the psychedelic minded, a bunch of great-sounding tracks we'd never heard before with a decent helping of vintage graphics and liner notes about each act in the cd booklet.
Two of our favorite words! (Though we normally spell Phinland, Finland.) The current Finnish psych
phenomenon -- Avarus, Kemialliset Ystavat, Circle, Pharaoh Overlord, Kiila, etc. etc. is of course a major AQ obsession. As is vintage psych from, well, heck just about anywhere, but certainly Scandinavia. So this double-disc compilation, subtitled "Finnish Hippie & Underground Music 1967-1974" has got us all excited. There's 29 tracks from almost as many artists, a fantastic trip into the early daze of the Finnish freak-scene. Perhaps another good subtitle would have been: "When Drugs Came To Finland". There's even a few songs about marijuana to set the mood, starting off disc one. But Psychedelic Phinland is just as political, and parodic, and perverse as it is potheaded. There's plenty of Flower Power pop and/or fuzzed-out blues rock, but you'll also find jazz-damaged prog and mystic folk, revolutionary theatre and electronic insanity. There's so much here, we can't mention it all, but look out for heavy psych jammers Baby Grandmothers, "rocking lavatory anarchists" Suomen Talvisota 1939-40, and progrock pioneers Wigwam... then there's there's Eastern-inflected psych-folk from Pekka Streng and the Yippie ranting of Markku Uto...
And then on disc two things get REALLY weird. Yeah this one's even further out, crossing over a bit into "Arktinen Hysteria" territory (you maybe remember, that great collection of early Finnish avant-weirdness from a while back, also released by Love Records). It starts off innocently enough with our new favorite band(name), Those Lovely Hula Hands. Really, that's their name, and they included several 13 and 14 year old sisters playing violins and recorders, singing gently amidst tape-recorded bird-twitter... a song about Tarzan! Then we hear from Pekka Airaksinen and also his band The Sperm, doing extended feedback and tape music experiments. We remember The Sperm from that Arktinen comp and had wanted to hear more. Later on, there's some wonderfully primitive, ceremonial hippy jamming, particularly from a band called Sikiot, who have a krautrockish vibe like Siloah or Amon Duul. And there's plenty more, some other names of note on these cds include J.O. Mallander, Charlies, Topmost, Juice Leskinen & Coitus Int, Apollo, Blues Section, Hector & Oscar, and Kruunuhaan Dynamo...
All of this is pretty much totally obscure, in fact a lot of it consists of previously unissued archival recordings from the vaults of Finland's Love label and other sources... A true labor of Love. Comes with a twenty page, full color cd booklet with English-language notes on each track and tons of cool old photos and graphics.
Recommended!
Our pal Stan at Aether Records put together this comp of modern-day psychedelic bands paying tribute to the psych greats of the past. Like most comps, it's got its winners and losers, but the concept works out pretty well, and it makes for a good introduction to both the contemporary acts doing the cover versions and the '60s/'70s era artists being covered, who range from Woodstock-era big shots to obscure artists mainly known today only to psychedelic record collector freaks, here's some of 'em: The Doors, The Stones, Jefferson Airplane, The Who, The Pretty Things, The Fox, Apple, The Syn, Linda Perhacs, The Churchills, The Incredible String Band... Meanwhile, the international array of artists doing the covers are *definitely* obscure, with the best-known to AQ customers probably being the Bevis Frond, P.G. Six (doing the ISB cover of course!), Abunai!, and SF's own Mushroom. Then there's Israel's psych-popsters Rockfour (who tackle a track by Israel's premiere '60s psych export, The Churchills), Japan's Kaminumada Yohji (whose 'cover' of AQ-fave UK pagan weirdos Comus is actually more of an improvisatory interpretation inspired by Comus, sorry to say) and ten others, some of which Terrastock types will doubtless recognize. Fortunately, Stan provides plenty of background in his detailed liner notes on every band/track. Generally you can't tell past from present with these covers, one exception being female-fronted LA duo Senseri who start things off with what's maybe a too modern-sounding (and cheesy) take on The Doors' "Peace Frog". After that though you're totally in the realm of retro nirvana though, geared towards fans of the genre. Of course fans will have their own ideas of what bands shoulda been on here (both old and new)...
MPEG Download: BEVIS FROND "Grounded" [/audio/pgsixmynameis.mp3]
MPEG Stream: BEVIS FROND "Grounded" [/audio/pgsixmynameis.m3u]
The Sanity Muffin cassette label just keeps bringing out the gems. This one is a fantastic mix of obscure psych guitar gems from Asia from the '60s and '70s. From cinematic Spaghetti Western-ish sojourns to go-go pop, electric guitar weirdness, pastoral exoticism and funky eastern soul. Like the Teenage Dance Music from China, Indonesian guitar, Shadow Music of Thailand and Cambodian Rock comps, this is an incredible mix of little heard guitar driven music coming out of various Asian countries. Here are the groups included: The Red Stars, Cousen Brothers, M. Shariff and The Zurah, Salim I., The Caterpillars, Adnan Othman & The Wanderers, The Tones, The Steps, Jong-Yee Sho, The Hawks, M. Johari & Quandos, TLA Production Group, Mei Fong W/ Tony & The Polar Bear Five, Charlie and The White Cloud Orchestra, Group 123, and Apollo Band.
Super limited to 100 copies! Get it while you can!
Okay, whose w-a-c-k-y idea was this??? Today's "punk" bands take aim at today's top 40 hitmakers. On the "punk" team? Dynamite Boy, Stretch Arm Strong, Noise Ratchet, Nicotine, Reach The Sky and a dozen more. Some of their targets? Destiny's Child ("Survivor"), Pink ("Get This Party Started"), J. Lo (I'm Real"), Britney Spears ("...Baby One More Time") and the
FINNISH PUNK! PRE-ORDER! FINNISH PUNK! PRE-ORDER!
Holy shit does this look amazing. 4 cd's, 132 songs, 78 bands, 5 hours of classic FINNISH PUNK! Comes with a massive 76 page booklet (probably in Finnish though, but bet there are lots of pictures!). We don't have this in stock, nor have we even seen one, but we freaked out when we found out about this and thought you might too. We hardly know any of the bands, Terveet Kadet, Radiopuhelimet, a few others, but considering how much we dig those bands, and Finnish music in general, this seemed pretty amazing. They are a bit pricey, so we're only gonna get as many as we get orders for, so think long and hard, if you want one, add it to your cart, and we'll have one for you in the next few weeks, hopefully. Needless to say, this is a pre-order, so whatever else you order will NOT be held for these, we can ship your Finnish punk box on its own when it arrives, or with your next order. And if you weren't already convinced, have a gander at all the cool-sounding acts/songs on the track list:
CD 1:
1. Briard: I Really Hate Ya
2. Pelle Miljoona & N.U.S.: Olen tyoton
3. Eppu Normaali: Poliisi pamputtaa taas
4. Problems?: Ei taa lama p��h�n k�y
5. Pelle Miljoona: Lahdetaan kiitamaan
6. Se: Ei asfaltti liiku�
7. Pelle Miljoona & N.U.S.: Vakivalta ja paihdeongelma
8. Eppu Normaali: Nipa�
9. Maukka & Nahkatakit: Tahdon sotaa apatiaa vastaan
10. Pelle Miljoona & 1980: Pelkistettya todellisuutta
11. Problems?: Tapan aikaa
12. Ratsia: Lontoon skidit
13. Maukka ja Nahkatakit: Sapinaa�
14. Pelle Miljoona & 1980: Mulla menee lujaa�
15. Eppu Normaali: Mekin tehtiin rakkautta
16. Ratsia: Ole hyva nyt�
17. Pelle Miljoona & 1980: Nuoret sankarit �
18. Ratsia: Tama hetki ja tulevaisuus
19. Hassisen Kone: Muoviruusuja omenapuissa
20. Problems?: Katupoikien laulu�
21. Hassisen Kone: Hassisen Kone�
22. Pelle Miljoona Oy: Viesti�
23. Problems?: Maanantaina
24. Ratsia: Taalta tulee yo �
25. Hassisen Kone: Rappiolla �
26. Pelle Miljoona Oy: Moottoritie on kuuma�
CD 2:
1. Kollaa Kestaa: Musti sotakoira�
2. Sehr Schnell: Orja� �
3. Ypo-5: Energia on A ja O �
4. Briard: Fuck The Army
5. Sehr Schnell: 18 v.v.k
6. Karanteeni: Kaljupainen gangsteri
7. Sensuuri: Kirjoitan seinaan
8. Sehr Schnell: Vaihda vapaalle � ��
9. Kollaa Kestaa: Kirjoituksia kellarista
10. Loose Prick: Mua potkitaan paahan
11. Sehr Schnell: Neuroottiset pohkeet �
12. Ypo-5: Mari pogoaa �
13. Widows: Famous Five �
14. Briard: Miss World �
15. Karanteeni: Sid Vicious �
16. Vaavi: Mihin jai punk? �
17. Vandaalit: Ala pilaa nuoruuttasi
18. Ypo-5: Kaupunki muistaa nuoria
19. Karanteeni: Ei ole meilla mitaan paikkaa �
20. Sensuuri: Kaupunki nukkuu��
21. Widows: Wall Of Berlin �
22. Loose Prick: Kaupunki elamaa �
23. Kollaa Kestaa: Jaahyvaiset aseille�
24. Vaavi: Tytot hymyilee �
25. Kadotetut: Anna syd�mesi �
26. Vaavi: Rakkauden orjat ��
27. Widows: We�re Comin�
28. Sensuuri: Hengissa lapi Helsingin
29. Vandaalit: Betonikolossit � �
30. Fucking World: Human Rights
31. Kadotetut: Hiljaiset kyyneleet
CD 3:
1. Lama: Totuus loytyy kaurapuurosta
2. Rattus: Muotipunk
3. Terveet Kadet: Vapaa Pohjola�
4. Lama: Nimeton
5. Kohu-63: Paavola � � �
6. Terveet Kadet: Mull on liian lyhyt sanky
7. Kaaos: Kytat on natsisikoja �
8. Cadgers: Kaaosta taa maa kaipaa�
9. Appendix: Ei raha oo mun valuuttaa
10. Rattus: Rajoitettu ydinsota � �
11. Bastards: World Burns To Death
12. Terveet Kadet: Tornion kevat �
13. Riistetyt: Poliisivaltio �
14. Lama: Penisten vapautusrintama�
15. Maho Neitsyt: Ne ei myyneet mulle viinaa �
16. Kohu-63: Kaatakaa rauhanjuna �
17. Riistetyt: Ala luota systeemiin
18. Nato: Helsingin yot
19. Antikeho: Suomi -83 �
20. Maho Neitsyt: Mika mun paassa nykii �
21. Dachau: Huomenna haudassa
22. Lama: Ajatuksen loppu �
23. Unicef: Kakimassaa �
24. Kaaos: Mellakka � �
25. Destrucktions: Hinta�
26. Tampere SS: Painajainen olohuoneessa � �
27. Riistetyt: Systeemi tappaa �
28. Fucking Finland: Loputon sota� �
29. Marionetti: Palvele valtioo �
30. Terveet Kadet: Jeesus perkele �
31. Appendix: Huora � �
32. Bastards: Jumalan sotilaat���
33. HIC Systeemi: Ei ikina �
34. Kansan Uutiset: Koira on parempi kuin poliisi �
35. Aivoproteesi: Porojen maa �
36. Klimax: Suvivirsi � �
37. Varaus: Syyllinen �
38. Riistetyt: Bella Ciao �
39. Vaurio: Musta unelma �
40. Maho Neitsyt: Ei tippa tapa � �
41. Kansan Uutiset: Ankee aamu
42. Mellakka: Kiitollinen kansalainen � �
43. Pyhakoulu: Sa keinut �
44. KTMK: Kalinka� � �
45. Euthanasia: CCCP (Stalishnaja Hojo)
46. Maaseudun Tulevaisuus: Verenkuva � �
47. Radiopuhelimet: Saalimattoman ovela mies� �
48. CMX: Lapsi � �
CD 4:
1. Popeda: Erkki ja Leena
2. Se: Tulitikkutytto � � �
3. Vihan Muna: Terasmies �
4. Wrum: Takapihojen rocktahdet
5. Hellhound: Pakoon neonarmeijaa �
6. Raime: Ottaa paahan �
7. Paat: Jet set � � �
8. Tinneri: Mustavalkoinen maailma
9. Sig: Lauantaina � �
10. Se: Punk on typeraa �
11. Maukka ja Nahkatakit: Kun sa tuomitset mut
12. Paat: Rotat �
13. Hymy Taskinen & co: Hei, tytto, hei! �
14. Korroosio: Hei hei hei � �
15. Rattlers: Vaahtopaat�
16. Lola Ego: Kaupungin tytto �
17. Xtaasi: Er�s lauantaiyo �
18. Woude: Vanhat pierut
19. TV:n Orjat: Tavallinen ihminen � �
20. Vau!!: Yo asematunnelin keskitysleiriss� � �
21. Hurskas: Isanmaa huumaa �
22. 000: Silminnakija
23. Teurastamo 5: Elavia ruumiita �
24. 013: En jaksa enaa �
25. 000: Tanaan taalla, huomenna poissa� � �
26. Ne Luumaet: Sam pani kai jotain juomaani
27. Reds: Sydamenmurskaajat �
Another document of Finnish music weirdness featuring a handful of aQ favorites, CIRCLE, in the form of their more sinister side project Rakhim, as well as Finnish cd-r darlings KuuPuu and LauNau. We won't go into too much detail as these are super expensive and we only got 15 or so...
Circle team up with Hans Joachim Irmler from Krautrock legends Faust, for a sidelong heavy percussion jam. The track begins with someone on the kit, busting out some wild fills that eventually coalesce into rhythms, while beneath the drumming is a constant low level clatter of tinkling chimes, muted hand drums, bits of percussive thump and rattle, sometimes whipped up into little flurries of subtle tribalism, but just as often allowed to just shuffle and drift. Part way through washes of muted looped guitar strum surface, accompanied by strange, heavily effected cookie monster vocals, all beneath thick swaths of droning chordal whir. The vocals continue to grunt and growl over an increasingly frenetic percussive backdrop, until everything stumbles to a halt.
The B side features Lau Nau and KuuPuu teamed up with someone called Lauhkeat Lampaat for a double boy/girl free jam, the results are as percussive as the other side, just more abstract, and less propulsive. The vibe is very NNCK or Sunburned Hand, Jew's harp, swirls of video game FX, strange chirping vocals, scraped steel strings, clattery percussion, fragmented melodies, peppered with brief bursts of frenzied drumming, wheezing kazoos, lots of woodblock, disembodied ghostlike vocals, all wound up into a chaotic finale, a wild forest faerie drum circle.
SUPER LIMITED, so much so that we probably can't get more, in a gorgeous blue tinted reindeer-and-snow sleeve, pressed on thick marbled blue vinyl...
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
We reviewed this a while back, a mind blowing, ear destroying, super limited collection of strange sounds, noisy weirndess and fractured heaviness, all gorgeously packaged in a silk screened box with inserts and buttons and all kinds of stuff.
We discovered a small handful of these tucked away, and figured some of you may have missed out the first time around. Maybe your last chance to snag one of these....
Everyone around here is a huge fan of weirdo music label Rock Is Hell, as are most of you judging from how fast we sell out of their stuff and how quickly it all goes out of print. Pretty much everything on Rock Is Hell has blown us away, the Dig That Body Up It's Alive lp, the crazy Nate Denver's Neck etched one sided lp box set thing, the super limited Octis lathe cuts, the XbXrX / Total Shutdown double 5", all gorgeously packaged and jam packed with mind melting sounds. With that in mind we worked out a special deal with Rock Is Hell, which will give AQ customers first (and maybe only) crack at this ULTRA limited 7" box set!!!
The set is limited to only 400 copies, it was almost completely sold out on preorders, minus the 8 or 9 we just got, so this will be your last and only chance to get one of these, if you didn't already preorder one. All the records are on white vinyl with white labels, and the records are housed in a silkscreened cardboard box with an inlay and 2 buttons designed by BONGOUT (http://frre.fr.freee.frfr.e.free.fr/). And all the copies we got have the secret bonus 7"!!! Only 50 or so of those! The singles included are:
Foot Village (USA)
Z's (USA)
Sasqrotch (USA)
Child Abuse (USA)
Death Sentence: Panda! (USA) / Fugu & The Cosmic Mumu (AUT)
Bulbul (AUT)
Bug (AUT) / Reflector (AUT)
Rokko Anal (AUT)
So if you want to be one of the lucky few to own this crazy chunk of sonic and visual weirdness, click the buy button and you'll be all set! So there you go, don't blow it!!!
And remember, ROCK IS HELL!!!!! ----* ----* In Stock, Not Yet Reviewed : ----* If you want to order one of these, just searcgh for the item, then click on the buy button and it will be added to your cart! 3 INCHES OF BLOOD "Here Waits Thy Doom" (Century Media) cd 15.98 ACCUSED, THE "The Curse of Martha Splatterhead" (Southern Lord) cd 13.98 AFRICA GERMANY GERMANY MEXICO TURKEY AUSTRALIA "s/t" (Olde English Spelling Bee) lp 25.00 ALTAR OF OBLIVION "Sinews Of Anguish" (Shadow Kingdom) cd 14.98 ALVA NOTO & RYUICHI SAKAMOTO WITH ENSEMBLE MODERN "UTP_" (Raster Norton) cd+dvd 32.00 ANTLERS, THE "Hospice" (French Kiss) cd 12.98 ARGUS "s/t" (Shadow Kingdom) cd 13.98 ASTRA "The Weirding" (Rise Above) cd 13.98 ASYLUM "The Earth Is The Insane Asylum Of The Universe" (Shadow Kingdom) cd 13.98 BEHEMOTH "Evangelion" (Metal Blade) cd 15.98 BIBLE OF THE DEVIL / BLADE OF THE RIPPER "split" (Scarey Records) 7" 5.98 BIRDS OF AVALON "Uncanny Valley" (Volcom Entertainment) cd/lp 14.98/13.98 BLACK JOKER "Watch Out" (Olde English Spelling Bees) lp 21.00 BLACK SHEEP "Kiss My Sweet Apocalypse 2" (Invada) 2cd/2lp 31.00/39.00 BLIND BLAKE "Bahamian Songs" (Megaphone) cd 17.98 BLK JKS "After Robots" (Secretly Canadian) cd 14.98 CABLE "The Failed Convict" (The End) cd 12.98 CONGA DE LOS HOYOS "Carnival Music Of Easern Cuba" (World Audio Foundation / Soul Jazz) cd 17.98 COURTIS, ALAN / BRUCE RUSSELL / EDDIE PREVOST / MATTIN "The Sakada Sessions" (Azul Discographica) lp 27.00 DDAA "Action And Japanese Demonstration" (Fractal) cd 27.00 DELAY, VLADISLAV "Tummaa" (Leaf) cd 14.98 ELECTRIC PRUNES, THE "Mass In F Minor" (Reprise) lp 14.98 ESPVALL, HELENA & MASAKI BATOH "Overloaded Ark" (Drag City) cd/lp 14.98/21.00 ESSO TRINIDAD STEELBAND, THE "Van Dyke Parks Presents" (Bananastan) cd + dvd 16.98 FENRIZ' RED PLANET / NATTEFROST "Engansgrill" (Indie Recordings) cd 21.00 FLUXION "Inductance" (Echospace) 12" 13.98 GOES CUBE "Another Day Has Passed" (The End) cd 14.98 GRASS WIDOW "s/t" (Make A Mess) lp 12.98 HABOOB "s/t" (Long Hair) cd 27.00 HARBOURS "No Souvenirs" (HR) lp 14.98 HEALTH "Get Color" (Lovepump United) cd HEIMS "Worship Or Die" (Moribund Cult) cd 15.98 HOOD, ROBERT "Minimal Nation" (M-Plant) 2cd 17.98 ILL WIND "Flashes" (Sunbeam) 2cd 25.00 JAFFE, SARA & MIA CLARKE "The Art of Touring" (Square Root Books) book + cd 19.95 JANDEK "Not Hunting For Meaning" (Corwood Industries) cd 8.98 KUUPUU "Lumen Tahden" (Time-Lag) cd/lp 15.98/29.00 LA NUEVA BANDA DE SANTISTEBAN "Sabor A Fresa" (Vampi Soul) cd 22.00 LI JIANHONG "Classic Of The Mountains And Seas" (PSF) cd 22.00 LITMUS "Aurora" (Metal Blade / Rise Above) cd 14.98 MAHER SHALAL HASH BAZ "C'est La Derniere Chanson" (K) 2cd 13.98 MASERATI "Passages" (Temporary Residence) cd 13.98 METH TEETH "Everything Went Wrong" (Woodsist) lp 14.98 NECRONOMICON "Strange Dreams" (Garden Of Delights) cd 22.00 PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART "Come Saturday" (Slumberland) 7" 3.98 PLAIN RIDE "House On The Hill" (Ektro) cd 14.98 PUMICE "Perservere" (Soft Abuse) 7" 6.98 RAVAGE "End Of Tomorrow" (Metal Blade) cd 14.98 ROCKCELONA "La Bruja" (Estereo Fonico Country) cd 25.00 ROXY MUSIC "s/t" (Virgin) lp 21.00 ROYHKA JA RATTO JA LEHTISALO "Hiekkarantaa" (Ektro) cd 14.98 SARKE "Vorunah" (Indie Recordings) cd 21.00 SCIENCE FICTION DANCE PARTY "Dance With Action" (B-Music / Finders Keepers) lp 29.00 SINISTER REALM "s/t" (Shadow Kingdom) cd 13.98 STONE GARDEN "s/t" (Shadow Kingdom) cd 13.98 SUCH HAWKS SUCH HOUNDS (Long Song Films) dvd-r 16.98 SWASHBUCKLE "Back To The Noose" (Nuclear Blast) cd 15.98 TAKAYANAGI, MASAYUKI "Archive 1" (Jinya) 5cd 95.00 TREE PEOPLE, THE "Human Voices" (Guerssen) cd 17.98 V/A "A Orillas Del Magdalena" (Domino Sound) lp 14.98 V/A "Electric Asylum Volume 3" (Past & Present) cd 17.98 V/A "La Belle Epoque" (EMI / Zonophone) cd 14.98 V/A "Songs In The Key Of Z: Volume 1 & 2" (Cherry Red) 2cd 16.98 V/A "The Midnite Sound Of The Milky Way" (Big Beat) cd 16.98 V/A "Transmissions From Sinai" (Arthur) cd 13.98 VIVIAN GIRLS "Everything Goes Wrong" (In The Red) cd 13.98 VOIVOD "Infini" (Relapse) cd 14.98 WARDRUNA "Runaljod - Gap Var Ginnunga" (Indie Recordings / Fimbullijod) cd 21.00 ZOMBY "Digital Flora" (Brainmath) 10" 14.98 ZOMBY "One Foot Ahead Of The Other" (Ramp) cd/2x12" 14.98/25.00 _______________________________________________________________________ Please place your order via our website. [1] We will contact you to verify your order and let you know when it will be shipped. Please note that occasionally it may take a day or two for us to reply. We are not a faceless bunch of computers replying to your order -- we are human beings! [2] If we are out of some of your items and we think we will get them within the same week, we can wait to ship. Or... If it's going to be more than a few days to complete your order, we will ship what we have and then will contact you as the remainders arrive. [ note ] Due to the everchanging nature of the independent record business, we are not responsible for listed price changes (due to supplier price changes) and often cannot update our site fast enough to reflect these changes, but we will always try to let you know of any differences.
Another special release for this year's Record Store Day, that we managed to get enough of to list and review for all the aQ peeps who weren't able to visit the shop in person.
By now most regular readers of the aQ list are well aware of just how much we love Andy Votel's B-Music label, the dizzyingly eclectic home of recordings from Jean-Claude Vannier, Selda, Mustafa Ozkent, Sarolta Zalatnay, as well as purveyors of all things Turkish psych, lost disco, weirdo proto metal, lost soundtracks, Pakistani film music, Hungarian psych prog and more more more.
We raved about the Pomegranates comp recently, as well as The BYG Deal collection, also, the Sound Of Wonder, Well Hung, if there's one thing these guys do better than anyone, it's make mixtapes, transformed into head spinning, ear tickling compilations, so it should come as no surprise that their Record Store Day sampler is another killer mix. And instead of just being ONLY a handful of tracks you can get on other releases (although some in fact are), it focuses on harder to find B-Music gems, whether from WAY out of print records, or not yet released jams.
Beginning with a killer chunk of slice and dice space synth disco from weirdo French mad scientist Jean-Pierre Massiera, the record flits from sound to sound, from country to country, from era to era, but somehow still manages to flow. Persian psych pop slips right into some gritty synth funk, which leads right into some woozy, tripped out Asian psych, finishing off with some awesome Italo fuzzfunk, wild and trippy and druggy and awesome.
The flipside begins with some warped easy listening which is transformed into some seriously far out skittery fuzzy outsider funk, followed by some "synth bass stoner funk", then a Curved Air cover, taken from the Absolute Belter comp reviewed elsewhere on this week's list, sequing into some exotic soaring string driven dancefloor Bollywood style groove, before finishing off with a bit of Welsh Rare Beat.
Awesome stuff. An absolutely killer mix, and maybe the ultimate party platter of the year. LIMITED too, we probably won't be able to get more of these, so best to snag one while they last...
Upstairs is the cd-r imprint for nostalgic electrons and warped lo-fi esoterica run by Daniel Lapotin (aka Oneohtrix Point Never), and what's a better way to kick-start things than with a comp of the accomplices, malcontents, and hangers-on? There's a handful of artists we're familiar with (Julian Lynch, Pulse Emitter, Africa Germany, Caboladies, and of course Oneohtrix who's covering a Grouper song which sounds as weird and fucking awesome as you could imagine!) but a ton we've not got a clue about. For example, take Autre Ne Veut's '80s pop simulacrum filtered through disposable recording techniques; or the anti-aesthetics, bleepity techno of cheap synthesizers from No Fun Acid; or the suitably kosmiche zone tripping from Stellar Om Source; or the wild and woolly oscillations from Nackt Insecten. Pulse Emitter's jagged electronica maps out lunar rhythms for those smooth surfaces of synthetic melodies he's mastered in recent years. Julian Lynch wistfully taps out softened melodies sort of like an idiot savant rendition of Erik Satie with some squiggly ring modulation tossed in for good measure. Gatekeeper brings the compilation to a conclusion with murky recapitulation of early Chris & Cosey smears of shadowy electronica. There's plenty more between all of these points of interest, making for a pretty great album. It's a shame that there's only 75 copies, and Upstairs has already sold out of all of their copies...
Over the last few years, thanks to the enthusiastic efforts of a bunch of excellent globally-focused "research & reissue" labels, the typical AQ customer, as a dedicated sonic adventurer in the pursuit of cool music, has likely amassed quite a collection of vintage international pop, often on the psychedelic side of things, lots of great stuff previously obscure to Western ears. We've been introduced to surf rock from Thailand, funk from India, fuzz rock from Africa, film music from Pakistan, etc., etc. One of our faves has to be B-Music's Pomegranates comp of Persian grooves from the pre-revolutionary era, the '60s and '70s. Now here's a double cd/triple lp collection on Vampisoul deeply mining the same territory. And chances are, you'll recognize some of the names on here, like Googoosh and Kourosh Yaghmaei, from various other reissues/anthologies that have come out recently.
There's 28 tracks/treats dusted off from a scene that "flourished during the 1960s and 1970s before vanishing into exile or oblivion." Sadly, it was the same story elsewhere in the world too - political repression clamping down (with varying degrees of terminal harshness) on the era's vibrant pop music scenes in such far flung locales as Cambodia, Ethiopia, Brazil, and, under consideration here, Iran.
The Shah might have sucked, but as the liner notes here put it, after the Ayatollah took over, "'having fun' was banned entirely"! And what fun this is, the songs selected here chock full of impassioned crooning, lush swirling orchestration, bombastic dance beats, slinky grooves, some doleful acoustic balladry, and of course much in the way of ornate ethnic Eastern motifs... It's like an infectious Iranian blend of 50's exotica, '60s easy listening, '70s disco... with some strong hints of freakier, more psychedelic youth sounds like funk and rock. And most of it would make a great soundtrack if the Love Boat ever took Persian Gulf cruise.
Artists include: Abbas Mehrpouya, Fereidoon Farrokhzad, Neli, Habib, Hamid Shabkhiz, Simin Ghanem, Dariush, Ahmad Zahir (who is from Afghanistan, but presumably had his records released in Iran), Aref, Leila Forouhar, Giti, Hassan Khayatbashi, Googoosh, Shohreh, Afshin Maghaddam, and Kourosh Yaghmaei. The thick cd booklet (or lp sleeve) contains plenty of interesting notes on each of 'em, each artist/track boasting an informative blurb, lyric translations, and full-color photo. There's a comedian with an operatic voice (and unfortunate Hitler mustache), an openly gay poet/TV host/political scientist (assassinated in exile, presumably by agents of the Revolutionary regime), and many attractive songbirds with celebrated hairstyles....
We've all been huge fans of Geoff Mullen's for a while now, and were appropriately freaked out by his recent mindblowing Armory Radio double lp reviewed a few lists back.
But in addition to crafting gorgeous and epic buzzing stringscapes, he also started up a label called Rare Youth, to not only release some of his own records, but to help document the vibrant Providence underground rock scene. As if that scene needed ANY more documenting?! Well, in fact if this comp is anything to go by, it most certainly does!
A super bargain priced double cd (not cd-r), collecting nearly 40 tracks from a bevy of random Providence noisemakers. Some you probably know, Furisubi, Area C, Kites, Black Forest / Black Sea, Workdeath, Black Pus (Lightning Bolt sideproject), but most you probably don't: Unicorn Hard-On, Haunted House, Russian Tsarcasm, Teenage Waistband, Petal Boat, Pedestrian Deposit, Feral Children, I Would Eat That Pizza, Siren Cult, Lucky Dragons, God Willing, Total Gym, Red Delicious and tons more!
The record opens with Black Pus' buzzing blown out noisejam freakout, and from there on out, the sound careens wildly from washed out murky dronemusic, to crushing crumbling white noise skree, to super lo-fi drum jams, to murky punk rock pound, to gorgeous rainy day piano, to gentle tangles of fluttery folk, to super dense blackbuzz noiserock, lo-fi, damaged casio electro-core, creepy 8-bit Goblin style soundtrackery, to gorgeous warbly droned out dreamscapes, touching on a million other sounds and styles, most that don't even have names yet, and require super hyphenated and tongue twisty descriptors.
Needless to say, while very few folks will love EVERY single thing here, most of the tracks and the bands offer up some awesomely twisted, noisy, dreamy, damaged, freaked out sonic weirdness, that in most cases definitely left us wanting more. Dying to hear more music from Haunted House and Summer City just to name a couple.
Super deluxe handmade packaging. A thick cardstock gatefold sleeve, with paste on bright orange artwork and tracklistings, inside a fold out Xeroxed mini-poster with band info and cool art.
Awesome low priced sampler from the Polyvinyl Record Company. Emo and then some: Rainer Maria, Radio Flyer, Pele, Kerosene 454, Aloha, Paris Texas, American Football, AM/FM, Sunday's Best and more...
Crust, grind, power violence, can you take it? Spazz, Dystopia, Suppression, Man Is The Bastard, Excruciating Terror, Stapled Shut, Capitalist Casualites...
Another compilation (number four, duh) of fast and furious, pummelling fastcore/grindcore/metallic punk rock. Some bands you know: 324 (from their recent split with Corrupted), Ruido, Unruh, Damad, Lack Of Interest as well as a ton of bands you don't: Haymaker, I Found God, Overpowering, Self Inflicted, Progeria, Halo Epidemic, Dudman, Pretty Little Flower, Inspite, Hawgjaw, Low Threat Profile and lots more. If you like this kind of stuff, you probably gotta have this.
Thanks to all the folks who came out for Record Store Day last Saturday. It was a blast, lots of music, familiar faces, not so familiar faces, snacks and beer, and most importantly, tons of hanging out and listening to great music, not to mention a handful of records pressed up specifically for the big day. Lucky for those of you without a local record store, we managed to get extra copies of some of the Record Store Day releases, one of which is this super limited lp from Thrill Jockey, featuring a bunch of bands we love, as well as a cool old school zine, featuring all sorts of folks talking records, and record stores, and waxing poetic on how important record stores have been in all of our lives.
But let's talk about the record itself first. First up, an exclusive track from aQ faves Mountains, more gloriously sun dappled pop ambience, all prismatic and warm, drifty and dreamy and divine. Then a brand new Tortoise track, a sneak peek at the new record, an extended jam that is most definitely surprising, all new wave-y with buzzy synths and skittery beats, a seriously fusiony electro vibe, total late night future funk, that gets super heavy in the second half, very post/kraut rocky like a heavier Stereolab! Cool.
Flipside starts out with Double Dagger, who we had never heard but who definitely kick ass, super distorted, howly, drum heavy, bass heavy post punk, arty, angular, crunchy, almost a bit metal, full length coming out soon (or just out) that we will definitely check into. Then another track from another aQ fave, NY's White Hills, called "Eye To Eye" from an out of print cd-r, and it's just what you'd expect, druggy, tripped out, psychedelic space rock, with plenty of wild guitar freakouts, kick ass drumming and looooong asssss stretches of space-y jamming. Not to mention a second half that gets all wah wah classic rock! Then finally, a new Trans Am jam, featuring the Fucking Champs' Tim Soete on back up vocals and lead (!) guitars, groovy, metallic, post rocky, classic rocky, with some awesomely cheesy deep vocals, call and response of course, ripping leads, the whole thing a serious slab of total car chase old school classic rock jammery.
As if that weren't enough, the packaging is fantastic, gorgeous, ultra thick sleeves, and inside, a mini manifesto, for record store day, and a zine featuring all sorts of folks reminiscing about their favorite records, or first records, or favorite record stores, lots of record store owners, band folks: the guy from Double Dagger, Mike Watt, Julia Cafritz from Pussy Galore, Ron House from Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments (also a record store owner), Nathan Means from Trans Am, Stephen from the Pastels, as well as record store folk from Pier Platters, Dusty Groove, Other Music, Reckless, Permanent as well as our very own Andee (who is both a record store owner and former Thrill Jockey recording artist in his old band A Minor Forest)!!
LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES. Most of which sold on Record Store Day. We have a bunch, but odds are these will most likely be the only copies we ever have.
Those cool kids at Three.One.G (aka the label run by Justin from The Locust!) have delivered another tribute album (you might recall their rad Dynamite With A Laserbeam compilation cd dedicated to Queen). This one celebrates "one of the best bands that has ever existed" (their words, not ours, but some of us here might tend to agree)... The Birthday Party! Nick Cave, Rowland S. Howard and co. were (and continue to be) one of the most influential bands on the angst-ridden SoCal music scene that was spearheaded by this label and their comrades Gold Standard Laboratories. But unlike that of many of the youngsters who've followed in their tracks, there was no question that their pit of torment and despair and blind rage was genuine. That said, the churn and rumble and tortured scowls and yowls emanating from this disc definitely do conjure visions of the bands' members and their instruments being forced through the meat grinder mentioned in the title. Some of the renditions definitely pay much reverence to the fierce originals while others tear 'em to bits, leaving little in the way of resemblance. Such is the spirit of Three.One.G. though, so if you're already a fan of the label you already know exactly what to expect. If you're a stranger to these folks, this might be a bit of a jolt. Some Birthday Party devotee might even find some of it sacrilegious. Here's the list of bristly and black-clad 'Party goers in order of appearance: The Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower, Das Oath, T Cells, Cattle Decapitation, Year Future, Ssion, Ex Models, Les Georges Leningrad, Rah Bras, Melt-Banana, Chinese Stars, Celebration, Kill Me Tomorrow, Get Hustle, Numbers, Error, Daughters, and Some Girls.
Reissue of this long lost seventies Swedish release, originally purported to be a Trad Gras Och Stenar album, when in fact, it's something much more interesting. Bo Anders Persson, a member of Trad Gras Och Stenar, as well as Harvester, International Harvester and Parson Sound, traveled around Sweden, collecting field recordings of amateur musicians performing (the title roughly translates to 'Play Yourself'). So this is essentially like a Swedish drone rock, gypsy hippy folk version of Smithsonian Folkways (or Sublime Frequencies).
Wild fluttery flutes, chimes and rattles, whistles and tribal drumming, much of this definitely reminds us of modern soundmakers like Avarus and Sunburned Hand.
Simple hypnotic drumming over acoustic guitars and hand claps, whoops and hollers, still more flutes, violins, strings, hand drums, simple skeletal guitar melodies, lots of jaw harp, will percussion freakouts, occasional stretches of groovy spaced out kraut psych jamming, the whole time, the surrounding sounds become a part of the music, people talking, crowds in the distance, tinkling bottles, birds singing, total idyllic outsider psychedelic hippy jam.
A couple tracks on the B side stand out, one that sounds almost African, gorgeous and moody, percussive, but super melodic, like some sort of marimba, looped and loping and rhythmic and so mesmerizing, and another sprawling rhythmscape, cool, and acoustic, all deep lo thrum, big strings buzzing, a warm whirring sound peppered with all manner of jaw harp buzz, and some almost throat singing, really haunting and mysterious and so gorgeous.
Definitely recommended for anyone into the above mentioned Swedish outfits, but also anyone into field recordings and abstract psychedelia.
Exact reproduction of the original 1970 lp release, and of course, LIMITED!
Human League. Tribute. Covers. Stephen Merritt (come on, who else's voice --- other than Phil Oakey --- is more suited to sing these songs?). More Stephen Merritt (Future Bible Heroes do "Don't You Want Me?"). More Stephen Merritt (The Sixths do "Human"). More. Lali Puna. Momus. Ladytron (doing a very bubbly version of "Open Your Heart"). Optiganally Yours. The Aluminum Group. And still more. Some very very faithful renditions. Some very hi-energy and danceworthy just like the originals. Some go in a very new and different directions (the dreamy wash of Lali Puna on "Electric Dreams", the slow strangeness of Momus).
Subtitled, "The Amplified Side Of Heavenly Grooves". This ain't your momma's gospel music. Nope, this collection brings together some bizarre, funny, and downright groovy '60s/'70s tunes by/for Jesus-loving hipsters. Everything from garage rock to folk to
