[ aquarius records — Rock Pop ]

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Showing results 1751 through 1800 of 19388.

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Who else but Bjork could get the congotronics of Konono No. 1, the infectious production of Timbaland, the extraordinary drumming of Chris Corsano, the majestic kora playing of Toumani Diabate, the spastic noiserock of Brian Chippendale from Lightning Bolt and the emotionally charged voice of Antony (from Antony And The Johnsons) all together on one single record? Nobody else of course. This decade has found Bjork experimenting with a wide range of formats and modes of expression. With Vespertine she practically gave a how-to-exercise on infusing the laptop with warmth and personal poetry. Selmasongs reminded us that it's still possible to create a meaningful, sad and beautiful musical. Medulla, found her experimenting with the possibilities of the human voice and her collaboration with her beau Matthew Barney for The Drawing Restraint 9 allowed her to further explore her love of the avant-garde and the myriad of sounds found all over the world. In many ways Volta carries pieces from each of those projects and intertwines them in pop minded ways, some songs are dancey and charged, others dramatic and dripping with passion, and despite the wide variety of guests, it's still her singular voice and vision that holds everything together. She's one of those rare artists who manages to appeal to almost everyone, be they metalhead or popkid. The album starts with Bjork singing "We Are The Earth Intruders...", and we are thrilled to be included in that 'we', something we'd be hard pressed to say about any other artist. But when Bjork sings 'we' it's nearly impossible to resist joining in and being a part of her endlessly creative, colorful and inspiring world of sound.

MPEG stream: Earth Intruders
MPEG stream: The Dull Flame Of Desire
MPEG stream: Innocence
MPEG stream: I See Who You Are

For those who can't get enough Bjork (we know who you are) how about this, the two audio compact disc, two video dvd disc edition of Voltaic, the live companion to the eccentric Icelandic singer's latest album Volta! No, we're not reviewing it, really, just letting you know it's here... calling your name...

Funkstorung has previously made a name for themselves with a few singles for their Mask label (which could be seen as an anagram for Skam - who are certainly the origin for Funkstorung / Mask in terms of aesthetics). If you liked the last Autechre and Boards of Canada records, you shouldn't let this pass you by! Funkstorung fractures three different remixes from the last track from Bjork's Homogenic album that range from disjointed breakbeats to weird drum & bass.

Stoner rock's best known drummer, Mr. Brant Bjork (he's the former sticksman of both Kyuss and Fu Manchu) presents his second solo disc. In spite of the "and the Operators" part of the band name, this really IS a solo record, as Brant sings, drums, plays "Ain't nothing gonna stop the rock tonight...I got rock tonight...feeling good it's so right...I got the rock tonight...ain't nothing gonna stop the rock tonight." It's all knowingly dumb, good fun. I wasn't expecting much from this record, and as a result was pleasantly surprised and captivated by the catchy, summertime stuff Brant came up with here. The album closes with some dentist office funk to mellow you out after all the rock tonight.

RealAudio clip: Hinda65
RealAudio clip: My Ghettoblaster
RealAudio clip: Cheap Wine

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

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They're never gonna be our favoritest band, but we can't help but like 'em a lot. Why not an absolute favorite? 'Cause these guys and gals from Austin, Texas, are maybe just a little bit too safe, too obviously derivative in their sound. But then why do we like 'em so much anyways? No, not because they have a song here called "Mission District", but 'cause their sound is one we love, one built on bands that ARE our faves: Spacemen 3, Loop, Joy Division, and of course the Velvet Underground, from whom they copped their name ("Black Angel's Death Song" being a track from Velvet Underground and Nico, and The Black Angels make the connection explicit by naming their publishing company Death Song). The Black Angels sure do a good job of synthesizing and celebrating their influences, creating throbbing, druggy, hypnotically repetitive spaced out psychedelic pop, full of fuzzy guitars and swirling sitars, heavy and jammy, moody and melodic too. With floating female vocals that remind us not only of Nico, but also a bit of Siouxie and the Banshees. Directions To See A Ghost is this band's second album, the cd again packaged in a deluxe digipack, with a tactile, op-art cover design like their debut, Passover. And if you liked the music on that one, you'll like this too. What they lack in originality, they make up for in solid, sounds-like-something-we-already-know-and-love songwriting and soundmaking of the shoegazing variety. We'd especially recommend this to fans of Wooden Shjips, they definitely have something in common, a retro psych vibe with several shared inspirations. Though, the Shjips experiment more, while The Black Angels are content to emulate. That said, they do it well, and if you like what they like, this will be a satisfying listen indeed!

MPEG stream: You On The Run
MPEG stream: Deer-Ree-Shee

Got another lucky 13 tracks here of the gloomy garagey stonery jangle from Austin's Black Angels. Once again they deliver the retro moody psych pop, heavy on the fuzz and reverb and Farfisa organ, made more distinctive by the spooky, weary femme vox - shades of Nico (they're named after a VU song) and Grace Slick and Siouxsie. It's got some '80s sounds to it, they're definitely still into Spacemen 3 and all, and of course we're hearing '60s, lots of '60s stuff - makes sense they're from Roky Erickson's backyard. Their doomed out '60s vibes conjure The Doors and Jefferson Airplane even more than the Velvets. For more modern references, let's say Psychic Ills and Wooden Shjips and that sort of thing; fans of those bands may well want to wander in the bluish gloaming through the tall weeds of that imaginary meadow where The Black Angels are rockin'...

MPEG stream: Don't Play With Guns
MPEG stream: Broken Soldier
MPEG stream: I Hear Colors

Man is has this band been hyped to death. There are plenty of next big things, a new one very week, but we have been hearing about this band for ages without actually hearing them until now. And you know what? They're pretty good. Not sure if we'd necessarily include them in our personal list of 'next big things' but hell if this is the band with the golden ticket, the one that's getting the push and will end up all over MTV we could sure as hell do a whole lot worse. The Black Angels' very retro vibe definitely reminds us of the Raveonettes. But where the Raveonettes channeled that whole Spector girl group vibe, the 'Angels lean more toward a druggy shoegaze thing, taking much influence from Loop, Spacemen 3 and of course the Velvet Underground. Along with lyrical themes of '60s radical Vietnam-era politics, death and darkness, the Black Angels also do some musical time traveling with plenty of super sixties fuzz guitar, and that sort of jangly snare like it's attached to a tamborine, and some truly druggy tranced out vocals (that remind us quite a bit of Georgian garage rockers the Rock*A*Teens). At their most rocking there's even a hint of UK psych rockers the Heads, but for the most part this is warm and reverby, laid back and blissfully drugged out. We would be remiss if we didn't mention the fact that there are some moments when the vocals are wailing and dramatic and the sound veers dangerously close to U2 territory, but that's really a small complaint considering how gloriously druggy and droney the rest of the record is. We may not have been as gaga over the record as 99 percent of the music press, but we sure as hell are blown the fuck away by the packaging!! This disc comes in the most amazing digipack, an op-art pattern of black and white spirals, but all of the spirals are embossed, raised up, so it's nice to touch and the added third dimension makes the lines swirl and shimmer. It's like some crazy textured sixties mod popart carpet shrunk down and wrapped around a cd. WOW!

MPEG stream: The First Vietnamese War
MPEG stream: Black Grease

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We first heard these Portuguese psychedelic space rockers via their super limited Record Store Day release on Permanent this year, that we were never able to get enough of to review (although we might have a couple in the store still, if you want one, just ask!), so we were psyched to get this new one on Cardinal Fuzz, and on first listen we were actually reminded of Swedish afro-psych outfit Goat, the sound driven by thick buzzing bass and loping tribal drumming, over which, thick, distorted guitars soar and howl, not so much riffs, as thick gouts of sound, blurred arcs of psychedelia, shaped into strange Eastern melodies, the track spreading out over a whole side of the lp, eventually, a few minutes in, the drums exploding into something more rocking and propulsive, the guitar following suit, the result a wild, tranced out heavy psych groove that explodes into a wild squall of psychedelic heaviness, before settling into a stripped down drift, all spidery guitar melodies and that thick bass buzz, but now joined by jazzy sax, giving it a sort of jazz-psych vibe, which quickly builds to another Goat like psych-funk blowout, all dizzying guitar freakout, and churning hard psych heaviness, with the horns swooping back in for a kick ass, free jazz / hard psych finale. The flipside is another blast of groovy psych, the guitars blown out and gorgeously in-the-red, the bass again thick and buzzing, the drums loose-limbed and sort of funky, the band again, slipping easily from churning metallic crunch, to soaring, almost progged out majesty, to super melodic pop flecked jangle, to stripped down psych-funk, and then back to tranced out wild psych freakout. So good. And so absolutely recommended for fans of Goat and other spaced out psychedelic groovers... Like all Cardinal Fuzz releases, this is extremely limited, and we're one of the only places in the US carrying it, so these are likely the last copies we'll be able to get. Comes housed in a super swank full color jacket, pressed on clear red vinyl, with NO download.

MPEG stream: Africa II

The return of our favorite, blown out, minimal, psychedelic synth punks comes in the form of this frantic two track blast of gothed out garage rock pound. The screeched vocals of BB record past have been replaced by a dramatic moody croon, draped over some of THEE most distorted synth buzz you've ever heard. This is the kind of synth wave that induces punk rock pits. The "Frozen Energy" of the A-side is driven by sequenced pulsations, and lockstep drumming, a wicked chorus, and those goddamn synths. Imagine a super charged, meaner and moodier Soft Moon maybe. Regardless if you dug past BB records (the last full length came out on our very own Andee's tUMULt label) odds are this will push those very same buttons. The B-side is nearly as bombastic, if not a bit more gloomy and glum, with spidery, sinewy basslines, some Cure-like jangle guitars, a pounding piano buried in the mix, and a wonderfully mopey main melody, not to mention the swirls of spaced out synth that pulsate and shimmer, and wrap the whole thing in a gauzy fug. It's like a gorgeously downcast pop song doused in FX, and smeared with sonic murk and we can't get enough. Sorry, it's not the cheapest 7" in the world, though...

MPEG stream: Frozen Energy
MPEG stream: Push You

Most female fronted, angry rock bands probably get tired of getting tagged Riot Grrl, especially since for all intents and purposes, Riot Grrl ceased to be relevant years ago, maybe even ceased to exist entirely. BUT, if anyone was hoping to spawn a revival, Black Bug would be the band to make it happen. The A side of this 7", "I Don't Like You" is a mother fucking ANTHEM. The main riff totally distorted and so in-the-red it threatens to just fall to pieces, but then the chorus kicks in, and another guitar, EVEN MORE distorted and heavy and high in the mix, lurches into action, and lays waste to EVERYTHING. The drums are a mere pitter pat when faced with such blown out riffage, but it doesn't even matter. The vocals, though, seal the deal, distorted, wrapped in effects, howled with haughty pissed intensity, as loud and corrosive as the guitars it snarls around. And the hook, shit, if you gussied it up and got rid of some of the guitars and re-recorded it in a real studio we're talking something like the Breeders' "Cannonball", but instead, as is, it's a fierce fucked up, filthy fucking ANTHEM! Like the Raveonettes if they were 13 years old, obsessed with Turbonegro, and SO pissed at their shit for brains boyfriend. Or maybe Daisy Chainsaw, but with a singer who is less waifish and sexy, and more bad ass and scary as shit. Reminds us a bit of Monarch punk rock alter ego Rainbow Of Death. The flipside is not quite the ANTHEM as the A side, but it still slays, processed synthy buzz, tons of effects, this one more groovy and almost dance-y, in a sort of robotic way, more sassy pissed girl vocals. It's not hard to imagine Black Bug waiting outside some dance club and then kicking the living shit out of Uffie. Hellz Yeah!! Cool thick black and blue sleeve, pressed on coke bottle clear vinyl.

This is the first we've heard from Swedish new wave garage rock,synth punk trio Black Bug since their mind blowing full length on tUMULt from a while back. Which itself was a furious collection of, as we described it then: "equal parts cold wave gloom, riot grrl yowl, in-the-red punk rock, and ultra raw blown out garage pop - from howling pounding furious crunch, to warped woozy synthy drone, to dour pulsing minimal cold wave, to super anthemic almost emo garage rock, and every variation in between. The recording raw and lo-fi, the drums, the synths, the bass, the vocals, in various stages of blown out distorted crumble, the drums clipped and weirdly processed, pushed as loud as they can go, the synth too, fuzzy, buzzy, wreathed in a sort of decaying haze, the vocals wild and unhinged and super emotional, sometimes a playful yelp, sometimes a cold croon, other times a full on hysterical shriek." Indeed. And even then we were wondering why the hell BB weren't HUGE. And this brand new three song 7" has us again wondering how long it's gonna take before the rest of the world finally catch on. Cuz this stuff is so good, heavy, fuzzy, poppy, groovy, synthy, noisy and catchy like crazy. The sound on this new 7" finds the band dialing back a bit on the blown out crunch, but only a bit, the opener sounds like some seventies cop show theme fused to the chase scene music from a long lost futuristic thriller, a sort of pulsing kraut synth crunch, the bass thick and fuzzy, the vocals a softly distorted howl over the top, all wreathed in surprisingly swoonsome melodies, the result weirdly dramatic and cinematic. The second track is more like old school BB, and definitely sounds like an outtake from the full length, skittery machine like rhythms, lo-fi synth buzz and echoey vox, a definite Riot Grrl / DHR / synthwave hybrid, a retro futuristic chunk of garage-y synthpunk laced with creepy Gobliny melodies, and infused with hooks galore. The B side / title track is a killer, all dirgey and ominous, another sprawl of futuristic sinister synthwave, and another jam that could be some sort of soundtrack, only this time it's some seventies zombie sci-fi thriller, the creeping, moody cinematic synths all tangled up into impossibly poppy hooks, the sort of hooks that you'll find yourself humming days later, the track continues to shift back and forth from hooky synthy fuzz pop to creepy seventies psychedelic soundtracky synth buzz and back again. SO GREAT!!

It's hard to be objective about this Swedish synth wave gloom punk garage rock outfit, 'cuz our very own Andee released their debut self titled record on cd back in 2011, and that record was a big time unanimous aQ store fave, not to mention a big hit with aQ customers. Heck how could it not be really? We probably won't be able to describe them better than we did in that review, so maybe we'll just borrow a bit for this new record. We described that record as "visceral and immediate, emotional and bombastic, a bloody screaming sonic gem, equal parts heart and hooks, groove and grind, blast and buzz, an insanely catchy chunk of ultra blown out, bloodied and bruised GENIUS that we literally could NOT stop listening to." And the band specifically as "a furious feral synth driven monster, their sound equal parts cold wave gloom, riot grrl yowl, in-the-red punk rock, and ultra raw blown out garage pop, but even that's a bit reductive, there's something magical about what these three conjure up, both in sound and song, with just synth, bass, vocals and programmed drums. Their sound is all over the map, from howling pounding furious crunch, to warped woozy synthy drone, to dour pulsing minimal cold wave, to super anthemic almost emo garage rock, and every variation in between. The recording is raw and lo-fi, the drums, the synths, the bass, the vocals, in various stages of blown out distorted crumble, the drums are clipped and weirdly processed, pushed as loud as they can go, the synth too, fuzzy, buzzy, wreathed in a sort of decaying haze, the vocals of frontwoman Lily are wild and unhinged and super emotional, sometimes a playful yelp, sometimes a cold croon, other times a full on hysterical shriek." Heck, it's obvious why we were and ARE so goddamn smitten. And if anything this new record is just as good. Managing to still sound buzzy and blown out, furious and fierce and punk as fuck, but also new wavey, and crazy poppy. The big difference this time around, is that there's way more boy vox, which gives this a whole different vibe, it sounds gloomier and more dramatically post punk, a quick run through of the first four songs, a head spinning 1-2-3-4 sonic punch that will have you reeling, and not only buying this record, but trying to track down everything they've ever recorded. "You Scream" starts things off, all robotic rhythm, crumbling distorted riffage, a woozy dizzyingly psychedelic percussion, the vocals a brooding croon, the whole thing laced with little bits of twang, giving it a subtle whif of the Cramps, some serious garage rock stomp, but one that's driven by synths and drum machines as much as guitar. The second track is from a BB single we reviewed a while back and is all dirgey and ominous, a claustrophobic sprawl of futuristic sinister synthwave that could be some sort of soundtrack, some seventies zombie sci-fi thriller, the creeping, moody cinematic synths all tangled up into impossibly poppy hooks, the sort of hooks that you'll find yourself humming days later, the track continues to shift back and forth from hooky synthy fuzz pop to creepy seventies psychedelic soundtracky synth buzz and back again. "Police Helicopter" is from the same 7" and lays down a weirdly jaunty beat, wreathes it in some low end synth buzz, before a creepy computerized voice intones some ominous phrase, and a second synth swoops in and wraps everything in thick crumbling melodic buzz, and then transforms into a crazy catchy melody, before peeling away, leaving a chiming music box melody, only to swoop right back in, another jam, that could be some modern re-envisioning of Carpenter/Goblin, and folks into the current wave of retro futuristic synthscapery, would do well do dig some Black Bug for sure. Then there's "TV Screen", which is from a BB single we never got, and is a fierce, muddy, murky blast of Brainbombs like buzz, the sound woozy and off-kilter, the drums buried in the mix, the main riff KILLER, and buried in all that buzz and fuzz are some squiggly sci-fi melodies. Weird thing is, it sounds a lot like one of our favorite Bongwater songs, albeit blown out and doused in buzz! And heck that's just the first four songs. We're stopping right before "Masks", which might be the catchiest jam here, with the weirdest, most warped guitar sound yet, and "Delta" which sounds like it could have been plucked from some Dark Entries reissue, murky lo-fi synth wave gloominess, or "Threads" which is all lysergic dirge pop that should have John Maus and Ariel Pink looking over their shoulders. Overall, Reflecting The Light is less fist in the face, guitar to the guy, synth to the solar plexus blown out noise drenched garage punk, although there's still plenty of that to be found, but the songs are more carefully crafted, the production varied, but at times massive, the synths so thick and caustic, it's like you have your headphones plugged directly into them, and then there's plenty of slow creepiness, that would most definitely sound right at home on any of those recent Death Waltz John Carpenter reissues. So good. And every time we review a BB record we wonder again, why aren't they huge?! Fans of weirdo garage rock who might be up for something even more weird and far out, we can't recommend Black Bug enough!!

MPEG stream: You Scream
MPEG stream: Reflecting The Light
MPEG stream: Police Helicopter
MPEG stream: TV Screen
MPEG stream: Onkestenen

We have been DYING for this. The Black Bug I Don't Like You 7" was probably our favorite single of the last however many years, we've played it to death, over and over, just waiting for a full length to materialize, hoping and praying it would be even half as good as the 7", but maybe steeling ourselves for disappointment. But thankfully that steeling was totally unnecessary, as the full length more than lives up to the impossible expectations set by that two song salvo. This Swedish new wave garage punk 3 piece are a furious feral synth driven monster, their sound equal parts cold wave gloom, riot grrl yowl, in-the-red punk rock, and ultra raw blown out garage pop, but even that's a bit reductive, there's something magical about what these three conjure up, both in sound and song, with just synth, bass, vocals and programmed drums. Their sound is all over the map, from howling pounding furious crunch, to warped woozy synthy drone, to dour pulsing minimal cold wave, to super anthemic almost emo garage rock, and every variation in between. The recording is raw and lo-fi, the drums, the synths, the bass, the vocals, in various stages of blown out distorted crumble, the drums are clipped and weirdly processed, pushed as loud as they can go, the synth too, fuzzy, buzzy, wreathed in a sort of decaying haze, the vocals of frontwoman Lily are wild and unhinged and super emotional, sometimes a playful yelp, sometimes a cold croon, other times a full on hysterical shriek. But it's not just the sound, the songs are incredible, short sharp bursts of new wave gloom pop. "Fell In Love With" is like a lo-fi riot grrl Soft Cell, with stuttery drums, insanely distorted synth and blown out bass, and Lily's vocals so intense and snarly, a depressive descending melody that is totally irresistible. "Inside Out", one of the few songs with male vocals, courtesy of Lily's partner Ruslav, a brooding propulsive chunk of synth doom, Joy Division via Cold Cave, like a more raw and lo-fi Sixx or Soror Dolorosa. "The Wave" is like an ultra raw lo-fi Aavikko a sort of woozy alien krautrock, "Beating Your Heart Out" is the buzz synth breakup song you blast in headphones to soothe your black and broken heart, a cathartic buzz drenched dirge, "I've Got Eyes" sounds like it could have been on Captured Tracks or Sacred Bones, that sort of modern retro synth wave weirdness that anyone into Blessure Grave or Blank Dogs should lose their shit over, "Make Her" is like some lost riot grrl anthem, run through a bank of busted effects pedals and broadcast through a wall of blown speakers, warped and warbly and crumbling before your ears, but somehow, still heavy and hooky and fucking incredible. This whole record is visceral and immediate, emotional and bombastic, a bloody screaming sonic gem, equal parts heart and hooks, groove and grind, blast and buzz, an insanely catchy chunk of ultra blown out, bloodied and bruised, gloom-wave noise-pop genius. Record Of The Week, fuck that. Record Of The Year!!!!

MPEG stream: Fell In Love With
MPEG stream: Beating Your Heart Out
MPEG stream: Inside Out
MPEG stream: Razorface
MPEG stream: Well Well

The first 7" by this dynamic duo, was a serious blast of synth drenched post riot grrl fury, all new wave garage stomp and ass kicking punk rock genius! Record number two dials back the synth and new wave elements and ups the swaggery garage vibe, with these two new tracks. The A side features the boy half of this duo on lead vocals, shouting out a staccato invective over a groovy swinging garage jam, sounding a bit like a more upbeat Brainbombs, which is NEVER bad, simple, stripped down Pussy Galore / Royal Trux style RAWK. The flipside finds Lily back on the mic, lamenting about how she knows she's not the prettiest girl but she doesn't need to hear that from YOU, all over another bad ass garage blues jam, some serious riot grrl revamped, a KILLER main riff, an amazing hook, all murky and muddy and blown out, fierce throaty, angry girl vox, if only the White Stripes were this bad ass.

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SORRY. A teasing single of hauntological pop courtesy of the esteemed minds at Death Waltz. Nope, like their recent Pye Corner Audio 10" in this same series, this is not a soundtrack; but Black Channels would be well suited to the task of coming up with a score that could be witchy, gothy, gloomy, macabre, ghosty, spooky, Cronenberg-y, or any combination thereof. We're not given much in the way of informational background about this British duo, who simply credit themselves as Simon and Becky; and these three tracks certainly live up to the shorthand description of 'Broadcast meets HTRK'. Becky's breathy voice wavers between recalling the futurist dream-pop melodies that Trish Keenan once brought to Broadcast, and then diving into much darker territory with a seductive monotone akin to Jonnine Standish from HTRK; while the electronics, guitars, and rhythms are arranged into spacious and spectral tunes of slow-motion post-library music seances. Limited to a scant 450 copies, we must add.

MPEG stream: Oracles
MPEG stream: Depth Of Field

Two man heavy riff-machine Black Cobra return with another pummeling release on At A Loss. Picking up right where Bestial left off, Feather And Stone shreds from the start. Brutally punishing circular riffs, heavy as all hell doomy moments, throat ripping screams, and incredibly hard hitting and precise drums. The fact that this massive sound comes from two fellas is pretty damn amazing. The album has all kinds of peaks and valleys. Amidst the constant time signature shifting, and brain-burning riff heavitude, there are a couple of beautifully dark intros and outros thrown in, giving the album a very balanced feeling. But it's mostly just crushingly heavy and ripping. If you can imagine a heavier, much more misanthropic Karp, that's kind of what they remind us of. Feather And Stone is a must for anybody needing a little taste of thrashing triumphant, sometimes doomy and dark, sometimes fast and techy, but always heavy and punk as fuck ROCK music. It tastes good. This is also an enhanced disc, including some pretty righteous footage of the Cobra ripping at Roadburn! Proving these guys really are that HEAVY, even with just the power of two! For fans of Cavity, Karp, Floor, Torche, and things that kill shit!

MPEG stream: Five Daggers
MPEG stream: Ascension

We were introduced to the Peak Oil imprint through the lugubrious drone album by the Slow Walkers - a (probably) one-off collaboration between Liz Harris (aka Grouper) and Lawrence English; but a lugubrious drone album is not what you will find here. Black Deer, aka William Burnett aka Willie Burns, delivers a hybrid of DFA-styled disco-punk, summery bedroom techno cuts, and analogic minimal wave. The lead track "It's Like The Way It Used To Be" locks acid squelching sequences and meandering rounded melodies onto a motorik kick-drum pulse, with plenty of kosmische / autobahn references. The best tracks on the album - "First Of September" and "New Break" in particular - are those that align with the nervous if infectious productions from James Murphy or even Arthur Russell, woven with jittery guitars wracked with clockwork delay, automaton synth patterns, and Peter Hook style disco basslines. Limited to 400 copies and housed in hand-silkscreened cover.

MPEG stream: First Of September

Finally, this rare 1978 French disco masterpiece sees the light of day in its original dark and sleazy form. A few years ago, the Rephlex label released a series of 12"s of tracks from this album claiming it was a rare discovery found in a French gas station from an obscure French library release under the name Junior Claristidge, a pseudonym for Bernard Fevre. Everyone originally thought this was a hoax, and was a modern group trying to create a fake retro disco record, but then Bernard Fevre, a French library composer from the late seventies came out of the woodwork and confirmed its origins. Shortly after, Fevre created a new project called Black Devil Disco Club, based on the successful response to the Black Devil rediscovery and used it to make new music based on old unused dance recordings from that period. Fevre is now getting a full on rediscovery with three of his most sought after library records from the seventies being reissued for the first time: Black Devil, Suspense and Cosmic 2043. While the Black Devil Disco Club records were good, their steely sheen was a little too polished compared to the sonic dirtiness of the Black Devil originals, which sound like Giorgio Moroder and Arthur Russell in a darkly exotic reverie of drugged out fleshy vice. Strobes pulsing in a painted black room, poppers popping, hands groping, lots of congo driven disco beat and vocodered male and female vocals. Imagine Bruce Haack's Electric Lucifer in a hedonistic night of orgiastic dancing after the fall of man, and you get the idea. Enter if you dare! Download card included!

MPEG stream: H Friend
MPEG stream: One To Choose
MPEG stream: We Never Fly Away Again
MPEG stream: Follow Me

Been just a little confused by this Lo Recordings release... and we're not the only ones. Ok, get this: a 1978 French disco single by the hitherto unknown Black Devil's Disco Club (perhaps, or was it titled Disco Club by an artist named Black Devil?) was reissued on 12" vinyl a couple years ago by the Rephlex label. 'Twas some pretty cool dance music for retro-minded folks, full of spacey electronics and bongo rhythms, the sort of thing that jaded DJs are always happy to dig up from the vinyl past. Now we get this album by the same artist... or is it? And is this new stuff, or old? Or a bit of both? (Most likely). Verrrrry mysterious. (Though we're sure that in certain circles all is obvious about this, not to us though.) Anyway, what really matters is, have we still got some pretty cool dance music for retro-minded folks? And the answer is yes. Super groooovy, what sound to us like sampled '70s Italo-disco synth beat stylings, full of analog sizzle. Goofily effected vox intrude amusingly as well, at times. It's a bit Giorgio Moroder, but more organic somehow. 6 tracks, 32 minutes, (maybe) 28 years in the making, and right on time, really. The mystery of it all is heightened by the packaging -- an all black jewel case, with the credits ("written and produced by Bernard Fevre") and track titles printed only on the cardstock slipcover. Inside the jewelcase, in lieu of a cd booklet, you get a folded, 10" x 10" one-sided, black-and-white photo of Mssr. Fevre (presumably), taken back in '78? Dunno.

MPEG stream: The Devil In Us
MPEG stream: I Regret The Flower Power

It seems that art world darlings Black Dice have abandoned their super spastic noise assaults in favor of a more subtle, spacious, psychedelic approach, a path not unlike the one the Boredoms followed on the way to making "Super ae" and "Vision Creation Newsun." What happened? It's like someone set those responsible for "Cold Hands" loose in the forest with some shrooms, a couple Amon Duul records and a mission to get in touch with their primal selves. However they got their inspiration, the results are a glorious realization of intensity achieved through built-up layers of evocative, tension filled sound rather than freak-punk pummelling. This is an affair of shimmery guitars, cascading oscillations, tinkling chimes, and even a new agey wind line, worrisome until it gets obliterated via sample manipulation. An element of tribalism pounds its way into Beaches & Canyons, both through hypnotic drumming and yelping "Ah oh ah oh oh ah ah oh YEW! YEW! YEW! YEW!" vocal outbursts. The whole thing teeters precariously on the edge of hippy-dippydom, but Black Dice manages to pull off the jams while avoiding wanton self indulgence. Expansive, unexpected and awesome.

RealAudio clip: Endless Happiness
RealAudio clip: Seabird
RealAudio clip: Big Drop

Nothin' like starting off your morning with a big ol' cup of coffee and a big ol' earful (well, 37 minutes or so) of Black Dice. The cover art is, um, great...a pretty rainbow as the background, some nice fluffy clouds, and a lady's upturned bottom covered discreetly with little black cheerio things all pasted a bit left of center. Mmm, sonic AND visual collage. "Broken Ear Record" has an almost consistent beat as its backbone that makes me think of mustached cartoon men working underground in a futuristic metropolis where things like dancing and pressing certain colored buttons are verboten but everyone does it anyway because it feels so damn good. This record is workin' in the kind of coal mine Devo would dig if they did things like dig coal mines. Things get a little Add N to (X)-y at times, not that that's a bad thing. As our lovely new staffer Kerry stated, track seven sounds a lot like a battle between a couple of toy dogs. And then someone whips out a jackhammer and things go a little nuts...but mind you not TOO nuts.

MPEG stream: Track 1
MPEG stream: Track 2

When we first put this on, I was pleasantly surprised. The first song starts off with intense, rumbling and droning feedback, offset with what sounds like a malfunctioning music box. Actually quite cool. But it only takes a minute or two for everything to devolve to the lowest possible level. Yelping, screeching, stupid and inept, lame art-punk crap. Actually, referring to this as

The Brooklyn art-rock outfit Black Dice has an affinity for farting squiggles of electronic noise that left to their own devices would be very ugly and not very listenable. But Black Dice's 'Cone Toaster' single -- like its precursor album Beaches and Canyons -- salvages those sounds by interlacing them into really simple, tranced out percussive grooves and recalls the hyper-real esctacy and whimsically plastic psychedelia of The Boredoms' Vision Creation Newsun. Coincidentally, Yamataka Eye of The Boredoms is rumored to have contributed to the 'Cone Toaster' track. And Eye did in fact remix the b-side 'Endless Happiness' which comes from the Beaches and Canyons album. Released on the uber-hip DFA Records, so you don't need us telling you that this is cool. You already know.

Following up their recent Miles Of Smiles ep, here's a full-length of organic, electro-acoustic glitch and wild rhythmic overload from this hard-to-pin-down, arty outfit. Always one step ahead of our expectations, I guess...whatever they are. This features eight sometimes melodic, mostly fucked-up tracks electronic and somehow seemingly "ethnic" experimentation, one of them recorded live on their tour with Animal Collective. True, some of these tracks just sound like one sound effect after another, but the best ones on here are somehow really songs, though full of tape warped textures, hen-coop hullabaloo, and noisy beats. Lots of sounds falling past yr ears on here!

MPEG stream: Treetops
MPEG stream: Creature

Glitchy blippy trippy flipped out bombast from Brooklyn's own Black Dice! This is futuristic noise-rave music! An entirely beat driven sound, drawing on everything from Razor X-esque dance hall to the minimal sounds of the Chain Reaction label, but all filtered through the hypercolored sound pallet of the most forward thinking noise artists around. The music, while remaining noisy and abstract, is surprisingly hooky. Melodies are buried beneath the clanging of drum machines and dubbed out white noise textures. Heavily processed vocals float, from time to time, over a multimetric cacophony of layered rhythmic patterns, which results in something that is as infectious and groovy as it is disorienting and woozy. This music is how we imagine the club music of some super advanced race of space aliens might sound. Extraterrestrial crate bangers! If you dug on 2005's Broken Ear Record, or if you're just looking for something entirely refreshing and original in the world of "noise" music, this is definitely worth checking out.

MPEG stream: Kokomo
MPEG stream: Scavenger

Tigerbeat 6 brings you a new ep from hardcore to freaky ambient turncoats Black Dice. Featuring sounds processed and tweaked with oudated electronics, ungrounded electrical buzz, and showcasing a big ol' tribal drum circle (uh oh). After an extended intro of floating tones, the second track brings us some of the fucked up noise rock that was conspicuously absent from a recent show here in SF. What will become of Black Dice? Will the youthful fashionistas learn to love the new Black Dice, or will they turn their backs? This 3" is one teeny piece of the continuing saga.

RealAudio clip: Lost Valley
RealAudio clip: Head Like A Door

Despite being on DFA, this sounds rather more like an Anomalous release. This two-track cd ep from Brooklyn's always-interesting, ever-exploratory, formerly-punk outfit Black Dice is a pleasant blend of electronic drones and samples and ethnic/krautrock flavoring. The thirteen minutes of the first, title track are heavily based on processed field recordings -- nighttime cricket noises, a purring feline, Thuja-ish stick crackling and other indistinct sources -- a mix that's then interrupted (or augmented) by what sounds like a some sort of blurrily recorded jamboree maybe from Africa or Southeast Asia. Following that, the fourteen minute track two, "Trip Dude Delay", dabbles in simple melody, effects and drifting vocals and sounds a bit more like a 'band' than the soundscape sampling of track one. Very mellow, very nice, even when they get louder and noisier halfway through (when their Boredoms Super Ae stylings are made evident).

MPEG stream: Miles Of Smiles
MPEG stream: Trip Dude Delay

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

SORRY.

So, can you really call a song "Pinball Wizard", if it's not actually "Pinball Wizard"??? We guess you can, if you're Black Dice. They don't give a damn. Or maybe it IS a version of "Pinball Wizard", but so fucked up Black Dice style as to be unrecognizable. Whatever it is, it's the opening track on this new platter from Brooklyn weirdos Black Dice, the entire nine tracks of which represent another damaged dose of what we've previously referred to as their usual "sampled and collagey, beat driven electro-noise" shenanigans. Piled with broken beats, looped noises, distorted vocal blurts, farting synths, etc., their lysergic grooves sound kinda like a really woozy drugged out Pop Will Eat Itself making an album for the Boredoms' Super Roots series or something. All kinds of chaotic craziness, but weirdly catchy though!

MPEG stream: Pinball Wizard
MPEG stream: The Jacker
MPEG stream: Shithouse Drifter

NYC art-punk noise terrorists return with two new tracks on San Diego's Three.One.G. Comes with a deluxe forty page booklet of collage art and photos by drummer Hisham.

Brooklyn's Black Dice are back in action with another serving of their signature sampled and collagey, beat driven electro-noise. Repo turns and pulses like colors in a kaleidoscope, the sounds of cosmic tin cans colliding while clumsy break beats thud and pound. And while Black Dice fans won't be too surprised by anything on Repo, probably the coolest thing about this release is the 20 page booklet that comes overflowing with outrageous collaged black and white artwork by the band! Can you dig it??

MPEG stream: Nite Creme
MPEG stream: Glazin

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

SORRY.

Looking for more Black Dice action? Well, here's three remixes (DFA, Luomo, and ZZ Pot), an edit, and a video of the song "Smiling Off" from the band's most recent Broken Ear Record. It's mostly beat-beat-beat on this one. The ZZ Pot remix is the most interesting of the bunch, being the least club-ready (though it's still got some of us dancin') and throwing a little more noise candy into the pot.

MPEG stream: "Smiling Off
MPEG stream: "Smiling Off

MPEG stream: Toggle
MPEG stream: My Lil

The latest from local label Valley King, is the first release from Black Elk Medicine Band, the solo project of Isaiah Mitchell of recent aQ Record Of The Weekers Golden Void, as well as psych rock shredders Earthless, and in BEMB, at least on this single, Mitchell is joined by Phil Manley (Trans Am, Life Coach, The Fucking Champs, etc.) and John McBain of the mighty Monster Magnet (and Carlton Melton!). You'd never know it on the B side, which just happens to be the one we listened to first - a dark, brooding, seventies sounding psychedelic drift, swirling soft tangles of slow burn guitar shred smolder, draped over a thick, ominous sprawl of sinister synth buzz, sounding like Mitchell's homage to Funkadelic's "Maggot Brain", the same sort of dark psych brood, tense and emotional and moody. But flip the record over, and Mitchell and crew let loose with a heady barrage of spaced out psych that wouldn't sound out of place on a Golden Void or Earthless record. A simple skeletal programed rhythm pulses away beneath clouds of heavily flanged riffage, and yep, some seriously soaring heart of the sun shredding, sounding almost like a snippet of a much longer jam, fading in, the action already underway, the band locked into some seriously tripped out psychedelic mesmer, Mitchell laying down another blast of tangled super emotive guitar god leads, over a tranced out motorik background, eventually fading out, as if the actual jam, the one we just got a single side glimpse of, continued well on into the forever. LIMITED TO 500 NUMBERED COPIES!! In a swank sleeve featuring all new artwork from artist Alan Forbes, each one signed!

MPEG stream: As The Sun Rose On December 29, 1890
MPEG stream: Santa Ana

Joining our beloved Mission District neighbors Ray's Vast Basement and The Modular Set on SF label (and arts collective!) Howell's Transmitter are two fine new groups, Black Fiction and Michael Zapruder's Rain Of Frogs. Ghost Ride is Black Fiction's second full length (their self-titled debut came out last year). These curious popsters do their fair share of exploring and incorporating bits and bites of countless musical styles. When the dust settles and all the pieces settle, the outcome follows a similar patchwork-y path as Beck, Animal Collective and/or Elephant Six Collective (Olivia Tremor Control, Apples In Stereo, et al). Indeed, they might insert a tabla rhythm and a slice of soul here or a shufflin' hip hop beat there, but their sweet melodies and twee boy vocals reveal an indie pop core. Overall the album takes a laidback loping pace, however while that may be the case most of the time, occasionally it's as if a bright sunbeam comes along and stirs them into a minor frenzy of frolicking. Check out the ninth tune "Something Else" for an example of such an outburst. A delight.

MPEG stream: Something Else
MPEG stream: You Must Not Bury Someone