Christian Vander = Magma. He's the mastermind behind the monumental music of spiritual prog/rock/jazz group Magma, one of the late twentieth century's (and now early 21st century's) obscure musical visionairies. Not, perhaps, in the godlike catagory with his hero John Coltrane, but a genius nonetheless. This double cd set is brand new on Magma's Seventh Records, but consists mostly of tracks recorded between 1972 and 1975, with a two minute piano/voice coda newly recorded this year. It's Vander solo, purely solo (live in concert), on his main instrument: the drums! Two discs's worth of epic, incredible drum soloing, yes! That might sound tedious and self-indulgent, but, if you're in the right frame of mind/soul, it's not. It's really a religious experience, as Vander turns his drum kit into a virtural orchestra for his personal spiritual celebration via percussion. Some vocals make an appearance, such as the bizarre high pitched yelps and low guttural proclamations at the start of the twenty-two minute "Korusz III" but mostly, it's drums, lots of drums...and some mysterious indeterminate noises...if there every was anybody who could coax 'feedback' out of an acoustic drum kit, I suppose Vander could... I haven't quite deciphered the French liner notes, but apparently the Korusz concept has something to do with the elements, with the cymbals symbolizing (cymbalizing?) fire, etc. There's also lots of great black & white pictures here of a seemingly-possessed Vander (who always looks a bit cave-man) behind his kit, wild hair flailing, beating the drums with abandon. In sum, true Magma fans (no, not fans--there must be a more appropriate word: followers? devotees? acolytes?) need this. Maybe not anybody else could handle it. You remember "Metallica Drummer"? Well, this is for the "Magma Drummer" in you... Amazing, exhausting, AND energizing.
Magma fans, here's a qualified heads up. Magma maestro Christian Vander does a bird-themed "orchestral" release (voices, piano, percussion, and keyboards -- no real orchestra, unfortunately, but it sounds loads better than Glenn Danzig's orchestral synth effort, remember that?). The vocals are definitely the thing here most in the Magma vein, totally over the top at parts, Vander and his wife Stella taking the lead but with plenty of choral back-up from their zeuhl cohorts. Musically, it has got its massive and majestic moments, with pretty piano interludes linking big, stirring emotional passages.
So, the big question: without the Magma connection, would I really be listening to this sort of thing? Well, and this is tough for a guy with a Magma wristwatch to admit, but, probably not... it's a bit too Peter & The Wolf at times. The vocals are awesome, the fake flutes aren't. Still, I bought one!
We really have to quote the label's press release on this, just for kicks: "Fifteen years in composition (1982 - 1997) and more than four years in the making, this music is something entirely new, bridging the compositional efforts of the 20th Century post Schoenbergian greats to create a 21st Century music which grasps the essence of the vast interior stillness behind all sound and pierces the intensity of silence behind all noise. Disavowing all mechanical tempos, this free-flowing masterpiece reveals itself through the formless form of vortices and spirals, cascading, recursive, ineffable. 65 minutes of fluttering wings, of song, of cries, of absolutely different sensations, this is a neo-impressionist composition of revolutionary proportions and aspirations." "I have found in the motion of swans and crows a parallel with the inner motion of the Kosmos itself. Or, at least, this is what I perceive in it."--Christian Vander, 6th March 2002
Wow. Dunno about all that, but as a bird-inspired cosmic keyboard symphony from the mastermind behind one of the most astounding '70s prog rock rock bands ever, this will tempt diehard Magma fans, though it is quite a bit more expensive that other Seventh label releases we've got, probably due to the fancy mini-lp sleeve style packaging this boasts, which unfortunately bears a graphically kinda crappy looking cover painting (of course, as is so often the case, there's some really nice artwork to be found in the cd booklet that could have made for a wonderful cover instead of what they chose...oh well, just look in the booket not at the cd sleeve when you're listening to this).
MPEG Download: "Sahiss Siiaaht" [/audio/vandersahiss.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Sahiss Siiaaht" [/audio/vandersahiss.m3u]
Magma's Christian Vander (with his wife, vocalist Stella Vander) and others.
Best drummer in the world? Well that can be argued, and we don't want to get into that right now (good thing Elliott's not here anymore, I bet he and Andee could go on for hours discussing their favorite drummers...). But the point is that Magma mastermind Christian Vander definitely deserves to be included in the pantheon of percussionists who might be considered for the title of world's best. He'd certainly get the vote of quite a few fans of wigged-out prog rock, as exemplified by the band that he's led since the late '60s, the science fictional, spiritual French prog institution known as Magma. Such fans will probably be very interested in this release, a dvd version of what's essentially Vander's "drum instructional video", originally issued on video cassette in 1988. No, it's not a regular drum clinic thing like you might get from Carmine Appice or Dale Bozzio...
It's basically an interview (in French, with English subtitles) with Vander, the burly Magma mastermind smoking cigarettes while sitting (naturally enough) at his drum kit, ready to physically illustrate his answers to any drumming-related questions, which is pretty much what this film's all about. The Q&A is both philosophical and practical, touching upon specific Magma compositions, Vander's drumming theory and technique, and his influences (various American jazz drummers that his rather hip parents happened to know, and of course the music of John Coltrane). You'll learn about how he used to practice with his wrists underwater, with hammers, and with weights on his feet (which he doesn't recommend!). The disc is indexed into 33 sections, with titles like "How It All Started", "The Single Stroke Roll", "The Wrists", "The Respiration", "MDK", "The Memory Of Things...", "The Obsessive Music", "Before The Stroke", and "Striving For Ascension". Intercut with the interview segments, Vander provides many drumming demonstrations, shot from various camera angles, and sometimes repeated in slow-motion for clarity. Of course, he does some pretty amazing stuff. If you love drum solos, this is for you! (And connoisseurs of "drummer faces" will certainly find much to amuse them here -- Vander definitely gets into a "possessed" mode when he's doing his thing on the kit.) Probably essential for any Magma fans who are also drummers. Heck, for drummers who've never heard of Magma too. But non-drummer Magma fans should also find this interesting and enlightening, as it reveals a lot about one of the major elements of Magma that makes them such an incredible band. Approx. 1 hr, NTSC, all regions. ----* ----* In Stock, Not Yet Reviewed : ----* If you want to order one of these, just cut and paste the info into the comments area on the order form, or just email mailorder@aquariusrecords.org. A CERTAIN RATIO "Live America 1985" (Melodic) cd 14.98 ACID KING "III" (Small Stone) cd 15.98 AFRIRAMPO "Kore Ga Mayaku Da" (Tzadik) cd 15.98 AKIYAMA, MITCHELL / GUNTER MULLER "Points and Slashes" (Erstwhile) cd 14.98 ALIAS "All Things Fixable" (Goodwithmoney) cd 14.98 ALLIEN, ELLEN "Thrills" (BPitch Control) cd 15.98 ANNIE "Anniemal" (679 Recordings) cd 14.98 ARCHETTI, LUIGI / BO WIGET "Low Tide Digitals II" (Rune Grammofon) cd 16.98 BACKDOOR MEN, THE "Sodra Esplanaden #4" (Subliminal Sounds) cd 16.98 BLUT AUS NORD "The Work Which Transforms God / Thematic Emanation Of Archetypal Multiplicity" (Candlelight) 2cd 13.98 BRIGMAN, GEORGE AND SPLIT "I Can Hear The Ants Dancin'" (Solid) cd 16.98 C-RAYZ WALZ "Year Of The Beast" (Definitive Jux) cd/lp 16.98/17.98 CAPTAIN BEEFHEART "Prime Quality Beef" (Oz-It Morpheus) cd 15.98 CARTER, CHRISTINA & BLACK FOREST / BLACK SEA "s/t" (Time Lag) cd 13.98 CARTER, TOM & MARCIA BASSETT "Zaika I-IV" (Eclipse) lp 14.98 CHRYSTAL BELLE SCRODD "Belle de Jour" (Klang Galerie) cd 17.98 CHRYSTAL BELLE SCRODD "The Inevitable Chrystal Belle Scrodd Record" (Klang Galerie) cd 17.98 CLEANING WOMEN "Aelita - The Queen Of Mars" (BV2 Productions) cd 17.98 CLEANING WOMEN "Pulsator" (BV2) cd 15.98 COMUS "Song To Comus: The Complete Collection" (Castle Music) 2cd 27.00 DAISY CHAIN, THE "Straight Or Lame" (Sundazed) cd 14.98 DECAYES, THE "horNetZ" (Mind's Ear Records) cd 22.00 DECEASED "As The Weird Travel On" (Thrash Corner) cd 14.98 DEERHOOF / SICBAY "split" (Modern Radio Record Label) 7" 4.98 DOCTOR WHO AT THE BBC RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP "Volume 1: The Early Years, 1963-1969" (Mute) cd 21.00 DOCTOR WHO AT THE BBC RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP "Volume 2: New Beginnings, 1970-1980" (Mute) cd 21.00 ENO, BRIAN "Another Day On Earth" (Opal / Hannibal) cd 16.98 EVERGREEN TERRACE "Sincerity Is An Easy Disguise In This Business" (Eulogy) cd 13.98 EXPERIMENTAL AUDIO RESEARCH "Worn To A Shadow" (Lumberton Trading Company) cd 14.98 FANNYPACK "See You Next Tuesday" (Tommy Boy) cd 17.98 FIFTHS OF SEVEN "Spry From Bitter Anise Folds" (Les Disques du Soleil) cd 15.98 FIRE "Could You Understand Me" (Skyf Zol) cd 17.98 FOO FIGHTERS "In Your Honor" (Sony) 2cd 17.98 FOREST "As A Song In The Harvest Of Grief" (ISO666) cd 14.98 FORREST, JASON / DONNA SUMMER "Mastadon Razor / 100% Goodiepal" (LJUD) 7" 9.98 FREEFORM "Outside In" (Skam) cd 17.98 FUNERAL MIST "Devilry" (Ajna Offensive) cd 14.98 FUNKADELIC "America Eats Its Young" (Westbound) cd 17.98 FUNKADELIC "Free Your Mind..." (Westbound) cd 17.98 FUNKADELIC "Let's Take To The Stage" (Westbound) cd 17.98 FUNKADELIC "Maggot Brain" (Westbound) cd 17.98 FUNKADELIC "s/t" (Westbound) cd/cd 17.98/17.98 FUNKADELIC "Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On" (Westbound) cd 17.98 GENE LOVES JEZEBEL "Discover" (Beggars Banquet) 2cd 13.98 GENE LOVES JEZEBEL "Immigrant" (Beggars Banquet) 2cd 13.98 GENE LOVES JEZEBEL "Promise" (Beggars Banquet) 2cd 13.98 GET UP KIDS "Live At Granada" cd GONZALEZ, WALLY "On The Road" (Vicor) cd 15.98 GONZALEZ, WALLY "Tunog Pinoy" (Vicor) cd 15.98 GRIFFIN, VICTOR "Late For An Early Grave" (Outlaw) cd 14.98 H.P. LOVECRAFT "Dreams In The Witch House: The Complete Philips Recordings" (Rev-Ola) cd 14.98 JENNINGS, WAYLON "When Sin Stops" (Masked Bandit) cd 14.98 JORGE, SEU "Carolina" (Mr Bongo) cd 16.98 KALEIDOSCOPE "Faintly Blowing" (Repertoire) cd 19.98 KIRCHIN, BASIL "Abstractions of the Industrial North" (Trunk) cd 17.98 KORAY, ERKIN "s/t" (MIZ) lp 28.00 LARSEN "MUSM" (Enterruption) 2lp 17.98 LIPPOK, ROBERT & BARBARA MORGENSTERN "Tesri" (Monika) cd 15.98 LONG LIVE DEATH "Bound To the Wheel" (Secret Eye) cd 13.98 MASADA "Sanhedrin" (Tzadik) 2cd 34.00 MESHUGGAH "Catch Thirtythree" (Nuclear Blast) cd 16.98 MONOLAKE "Polygon Cities" (Monolake) cd 16.98 MONOSOV, ILYA & PRESTON SWIRNOFF "Seven Recorded Works" (Eclipse) lp 13.98 MONOSOV, ILYA & PRESTON SWIRNOFF "The Shining Path" (Eclipse) lp 13.98 MOOG "A Documentary Film By Hans Fjellestad" (Plexifilm) dvd 19.98 MOPING SWANS, THE "Lightninghead To Coffeepot" (Fading Captain) cd 10.98 MY CAT IS AN ALIEN "When The Windmill's Whirl Dies" (Eclipse) 2lp 15.98 NDEGEOCELLO, MESHELLE "The Spirit Music Jamia: Dance Of The Infidel" (Shanachie) cd 16.98 NEGURA BUNGET "Inarborat Kosmos" (Code 666) cd 13.98 NELSON, WILLIE "The Ghost" (Masked Bandit) cd 14.98 NILE "Annihilation Of The Wicked" (Relapse) cd 14.98 NORDENSTAM, STINA "The World Is Saved" (V2) cd 14.98 OCEAN, THE "Fluxion" (Throne) cd 13.98 ODD NOSDAM "Burner" (Anticon) cd 14.98 OFERMOD "Mysterion Tes Anomias" (Norma Evangelium Diaboli) cd ep 13.98 OL' DIRTY BASTARD "The Definitive Story" (Atlantic) cd 17.98 OWENS, BUCK "After the Dance" (Masked Weasel) cd 11.98 PAUL NEWMAN "This Is How It Is Lost" (Emperor Jones) cd 13.98 PEPPERMINTS "Jesus Chryst" (Paw Tracks) cd 15.98 PERNICE BROTHERS "Discover A Lovelier You" (Ashmont) cd 14.98 RUBY, JACK "Hi Fi" (Auralux) cd 17.98 RUINS OF BEVERAST, THE "Unlock The Shrine" (Van) cd 13.98 SCHMIDT, CHARLIE "Xanthe Terra" (Strange Attractors Audio House) cd 13.98 SHOCKED, MICHELLE "Threesome (Limited Edition)" 3cd 33.00 SKULLFLOWER "Orange Canyon Mind" (Crucial Blast) cd 15.98 SO SO MANY WHITE WHITE TIGERS "s/t" (Weird Forest) picture disc 11.98 SPIRES THAT IN THE SUNSET RISE "Four Winds the Walker" (Secret Eye) cd 13.98 SPOOKY, DJ & DAVE LOMBARDO "Drums Of Death" (Thirsty Ear) cd 15.98 SUGIMOTO, TAKU "Live In Australia" (Improvised Music of Japan) cd 27.00 TAR PET "The Artist Revealed Is Taralie Dawn" (Eclipse) lp 14.98 TARENTEL "Ghost Weight" (Acuarela) cd 11.98 TARWATER "The Needle Was Travelling" (Morr Music) cd 16.98 TRAFFIC SOUND "Yellow Sea Years" (Vampisoul) cd 21.00 TRAVELING BELL "Scatter Ways" (Secret Eye) cd 13.98 UFO OR DIE "Shock Stoppers" (Skin Graft) comic + 7" 5.50 V/A "Folk Is Not A Four Letter Word" (Delay 68) cd 14.98 V/A "Ikon Records Story" (Frantic) 2cd 26.00 V/A "Inside Deep Note Vol. 2: Music Of 1970s Adult Cinema" (Grammofonpladen) cd + dvd 16.98 V/A "Made In Sheffield" (Plexifilm) dvd 19.98 V/A "Passion Of Laja Aijala" (BV2 Productions) cd 16.98 V/A "Soul Sisters: The Sights And Sounds Of The African-American Underground" (Black Beauty) cd 14.98 VOLCANO THE BEAR "Catonapotato" (Digitalis) cd 14.98 WHITE ROCK "Tarpit" (Troubleman Limited) cd 13.98 WHY? "Sanddollars, The EP" (Anticon) cd ep 9.98 WOODEN WAND AND THE VANISHING VOICE "Xiao" (Troubleman Unlimited) cd 13.98 XENAKIS, IANNIS "Electronic Music 1: La Legende d'Eer" (Mode) dvd 26.00 ZION I "True & Livin" (LiveUp) cd 15.98 ZS "Karate Bump" (Planaria) cd 8.98 ZZZZ / UZ JSME DOMA "split" (PolyVinyl) 7" 4.98 _______________________________________________________________________ ABOUT MAILORDER
Early '70s Vander solo record that is really a scaled-down Magma in disguise, doing soundtrack music for a film version of Tristan & Isolde. I really want to see the movie after hearing this music, can't imagine how they work it into the action. Very hyper stuff -- Ruins fans be aware that is is the sort of Magma that will remind you most of that band. Recommended.
More Coltrane-worship from Magma's Christian Vander and co.
More inspired jazz, Coltrane 1965 style, from Magma's Mr. Vander.
Impulse! style jazz from Magma's Vander. Includes a version of Coltrane's "Like Sonny".
The seemingly tireless John Vanderslice keeps 'em coming. Fans will surely be delighted by this, his fourth full length and follow-up to Life and Death Of An American Fourtracker. Continuing to do that which he does exceptionally well, Mr. Vanderslice has crafted a dozen more of his distinct, intelligent indie pop tunes. His music is at once expansive yet still very down to earth. From what we can tell, unlike his last couple of full lengths, Cellar Door doesn't seem to be bound by concept and quite possibly as a result it may be his most scaled down and direct work to date. And yet it's still filled with his distinct achingly pretty, soaring melodies and lush array of instrument arrangements. The second to last song "When It Hits My Blood" is a particular heartmelting highlight. Splendid!
Whether he's manning the helm of his Tiny Telephone recording studio or performing his own music, John Vanderslice is a renowned Bay Area crafty, creative and tireless fellow. This is his sixth full length. Very much akin to the recent recordings by Bright Eyes, Mountain Goats, and M. Ward, it might be his most focused and most straightforward pop album to date. Emerald City picks right up from where 2005's Pixel Revolt left off with its nine lush, very easy on the ears folk-edged pop songs whose melodic breeziness stands in stark contrast with his emotively delivered lyrics. They bring a sobering gravity to the proceedings addressing concerns of post 9/11 despair, ongoing political turmoil and personal heartache.
Always a pleasure to hear and to see is the fellow who goes by the name John Vanderslice. Hot on the heels of his second full length Time Travel is Lonely, he's brought forth another concept album. This time he sticks closer to home, telling an equally lonesome tale... of home recording (hence the four-track mentioned in the title). One wonders if this is, in part, autobiographical . An increasingly skilled arranger, he knows the value of a subtle, slightly off-kilter detail. Some well-placed gentle twang here, some sparse, faint piano there, and over it all, John's lilting, earnest voice. There's still a very prominent Jeff Mangum / Neutral Milk Hotel influence that flows through the proceedings, but he's tempered it with the input from a bunch of his Barsuk labelmates and fellow music pals, namely members of Spoon, Death Cab For Cutie, Mates Of State, Beulah and the Mountain Goats.
From the label that brought us Death Cab for Cutie comes a local project worthy of your attention: John Vanderslice's solo debut. As any fan of MK Ultra would know, John's brand of pop is complex, interesting, uncompromising, and most EPIC. Like Neutral Milk Hotel, whom Vanderslice obviously adores (enough to name this album after an NMH lyric), there's enough emotional intensity and Brit-pop-worthy melodicism here to satisfy the most demanding of sweet tooths. Recommended.
In every review of a John Vanderslice album you'll undoubtedly find some mention of how nice a guy he is, and that's certainly true... He's also got a great recording studio here in SF... And on average, he's also released one fine album a year for the last five years, and he continues his abundant creative output with Pixel Revolt. Although his two chosen subject matters might be rather disparate (albeit we're sure equally close to his heart) -- the current political climate and the end of a personal relationship -- this album is definitely his most cohesive sounding and contains some of his most accessible, engaging songs to date. His usual roaming sonic explorations seem to have been set aside in favor of keeping more close to 'home' (i.e, traditional song structures). Pretty melodies are in abundance. Over the years, he's drawn comparisons to Neutral Milk Hotel (whom he admittedly admires immensely), Death Cab For Cutie (former Barsuk labelmates), and Mountain Goats, but these days we actually thought that he's sounding like more recent Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst (hey, no complaints there!).
John Vanderslice reaches the seventh album marker with what is arguably his most immediately engaging work to date. He hasn't completely left behind the roaming patchwork-y feel of his previous albums, but each song seems a bit more focused and encapsulated. Softly rumpled like a comfy sweater, Vanderslice's hushed vocal delivery draws the listener in close, and as always, his achingly earnest introspective songs take a pluck at your heartstrings. Slowly playing out intertwined melodies in gentle fashion, the album's multi-layered instrumentation is lush but never seems heavy handed. Gauzily drifting in and out of focus, Romanian Names maintains an airiness throughout. As a point of reference, at times we found it to be quite akin to the latest solo album by Grandaddy's Jason Lytle or Calexico's more pop moments. Good stuff!
The nicest of nice fellows John Vanderslice (formerly of MK Ultra) is back with the follow-up to his debut "Mass Suicide Occult Figurines" continuing his exploration of the indie rock/pop realm. Once again giving a hearty tip of the hat to his faves Neutral Milk Hotel, but also revealing shades of Eno's "Here Come The Warm Jets" period. A bit more melancholic this time around. Lonely
Been wanting to list this for a while, they finally came back in, Aguirre's 180g gram vinyl reissue of this vintage library music lp by cosmic composer Vandroogenbroeck, originally released in 1980. It's kind of a no brainer how cool this is - 'cause it's got striking cover art by H.R. Giger, Vandroogenbroeck was a crucial member of trippy Swiss krautrock psychonauts Brainticket in the early '70s, and weird synth-laden library music is always a good bet too, especially when the tracks are given such descriptors as "mysterious vision, ethereal" and "pathetic, dark, mystic" to pick two from the back cover. To the layman, the music here is not far removed from the electronic work of more recognized 20th century avant gardists. Kind of the hippy version of Subotnick in other words. Eerie sci-fi sounds abound here - the whistling, echoing sounds of the dancing "Asteroids", the abstract unease of "Interstellar Insects", the nervous percussiveness of "Elements", the sweeping intensity of "Lost Planet", the sinister burbling bubbling drones of "Dark Plasma", etc. We could imagine it being used for some outer space, Outer Limits type of suspenseful low budget TV show. Makes for good listening with the lights off, eyes closed, staring into inner space, too.
Oh, and compact disc folks, sorry this hasn't been reissued on cd - not by itself, anyway. But it IS available on the third disc of a 4cd box set of Brainticket albums and related rarities released by Cleopatra in 2011, called Vintage Anthology 1971-1980, if you're interested we can try to order you one, they're like fifty bucks, but does include Brainticket's classic Cottonwood Hill, the Drum Circus album, and a lot of of other cool stuff along with Biomechanoid.
Vanessa Van Basten is not in fact a person, but an oddly named Italian band, a duo in fact, who collaborate with an ever shifting extended musical collective to create, lush, sweeping, super melodic, epic and majestic slow building moody post rock. Somewhere between Mogwai and M83, Explosions In The Sky and Jesu, these guys craft sweeping landscapes of propulsive rhythms, of chiming guitars, spidery melancholy melodies, big booming drums, lush layered atmospheres, sometimes laced with female vox, piano, occasionally super heavy, churning riffs and grinding crunch, electronics, programmed beats, all woven into a surprisingly emotional and organic whole. There's even sax once in a while that transforms the sound completely, turning into some weird retro classic rock, before slipping right back into something more mathy and almost metallic, or something lush, epic and Godspeedy, or something blown out and superdistorted and shoegazey.
Think Isis, Godspeed, Pelican, Mogwai, M83, Explosions In The Sky, Jesu, Nadja, Snowblood, that sort of thing, super varied, but at its core, epic emotional melodic post rock. And be sure and stick around for the hidden track, a super processed, totally distorted, blown out, heavily effect, digitally fucked with dirge metal freakout that might be the best thing on the record!
Vanessa Van Basten are from Italy and are a they, not a she. We were never able to get copies of VVB's last record, so we wanted to make sure we didn't miss out this time around. Two long tracks, total post rock nirvana, equal parts, Mogwai, Pelican, with plenty of nineties style mathrock mixed in, a bit of Polvo, a little Pitchblende, the result is a super rocking, epic and majestic sound that may borrow much in terms of sound and influence, but is totally all their own.
Anyone who's been digging any of the various post rock, math rock and shoegaze stuff on the list lately will no doubt be digging VVB's particular strain of instrumental rock, with the occasional sample filling in for vocals, these guys definitely rock, there are moments where the sound drifts and shimmers, but when the band are on, they are ON, super heavy, aggressive riffing, kick ass drumming (replacing the drum machine that drove the last release), and some awesome songwriting, super dynamic with plenty of push and pull, back and forth, not the usual start slow, get loud, although the title track does lean in that direction, beginning as a brooding drift, before the drums kick in and the song slowly transforms from minor key shuffle to super crunchy almost metallic heaviness, before getting all glimmery and shimmery and finally slipping back into a softly tangled mathy fade out.
It's definitely short, 2 tracks, 23 minutes, but these guys pack a lot into those two tracks, and again, any one digging on Pelican or Isis or Anapparatus or Conifer or any of that stuff, this will definitely hit the spot.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!!! Packaged with a thick cd booklet in an oversized black and red sleeve.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
The long unavailable solo soundtrack debut of Greek composer Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou (aka Vangelis) finally gets an official reissue. The soundtrack to this obscure 1970 French film directed by Henry Chapier (so obscure that the only info IMDB has on it is this eight minute opening sequence found here: http://www.ina.fr/video/VDD08000001/sex-power-video.html), has only seen previous release as a bootleg cd-r and it has been rumored that Vangelis himself has suppressed many attempts to reissue it. Sex-Power, starring a young Jane Birkin, is similar to Zabriskie Point in that it seems to be a desert quest for meaning by young beautiful intellectuals giving up on society for more earthly concerns like walking in the desert naked, and apparently having lots of sex... But regardless of the arty tone of the film, in our book, you can't go wrong with the music of early seventies Vangelis. Early Vangelis recordings are often marked by exotic instrumentation (tribal percussion, water gongs, flutes, and ethnic string instruments) as well as piano, early synthesizer and ethereal female vocal choruses. Like Morricone's majestic early soundtrack work, Sex-Power has a strange free-folk mystery of lilting passages and beguiling pensive mystical soundscapes. It was recorded the same year Vangelis's prog band Aphrodite's Child released their final album, the legendary 666.
Recommended for fans of the soundtrack work of Jean-Claude Vannier, Lubos Fiser, and Alain Goraguer, and of course very limited!
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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Vaniish emerge in the wake of the demise of San Francisco's goth pop quartet Veil Veil Vanish, whose anthemic album Change In The Neon Light was a dramatic sashay of glam pop ballast and urgent emotional bellowing in equal parts to Interpol and The Cure. Personal loss and tragedy left frontman Keven Tecon needing to re-evaluate where his art needed to be. He rechristened the project Vaniish, recruiting his previous collaborator Amy Rosenoff in Veil Veil Vanish to pick up the bass, along with guitarist Adam Beck and perennial Aquarius staffer Nick Ott on drums. There's certainly a maturing in the songwriting from Tecon that is notable between the two projects, with Vaniish becoming far more introspective, more droned-out, and more texturally complex. The immediate references that jump to the foreground are the very first Dead Can Dance album, which if you were to think of modern day takes medieval chants, let us kindly ask that you refresh your memory on the grimly militant goth-punk album that is the debut Dead Can Dance album. A very taut rhythm section of bass and drum offer metronomic pulses as the ground for Vaniish's proto-shoegazing wash of droned synth and flanged guitar. Tecon tempers his vocals within this archetypally 4AD / Creation production as more existentially circumspect as opposed to the brash hedonism of his former self. This was an album that instantly became a staff favorite here at the shop!
Another missive from the Wooden Wand Universe, a dizzying world so filled with hokum and smoke, character changes and rotating pseudonyms that it's really hard to keep things straight. We may be only half-right on the details, so bear with us. Vanishing Voice, (the choral and instrumental Body of the Wooden Wand Mind) taking advantage of Wooden Wand's momentary dalliance with spiritual advisor Satya Sai and the Sky High Band in California, has retreated into the dark woods of Norway (or perhaps Vermont?) to imbibe in some dirty pagan Ur-folk jams. Kicking up a whirring dust devil vortex of clatter and murk, the title track is a side-long excursion and sounds fresh off the Gypsy Freedom sessions except minus the free jazz horns and howling vocals. The three ghostly tracks on side B, offer up some haunted banjo picking, subdued chanting, wolf howls and something we can only describe as "baby skree", which sounds like the mewling of a lost baby animal whose cries are unraveling like thread through the branches. Remember that scene in the Blair Witch Project, where the lost campers wander into that grove of trees with all those creepy hanging stick sculptures and strangely wet piles of rocks?
Well, this record sounds like it was recorded there. Truly Fucking Spooky!
On their debut outing for Important, Vanishing Voice (sans Wooden Wand) give us another heaping spoonful of freaked out forest psyche madness. Composed of two tracks (with a mysteriously extra song title but no song), the first is the epic 40 minute title track (or it could be called "Peace Symbols", -we're very confused on the song listing), which takes on a long whirling vortex of clattering percussion (provided by Magik Marker's Pete Nolan) and damaged electronic passages before propelling momentously forward with a Krautrock-like acid jam. The second song (we think it's called "The Last Evil") begins with a twisted sing-a-long that reminds us of "On Top of Old Smokey" but perhaps sung by the mutant children from the recent remake of The Hills Have Eyes, before developing into further mutated lo-fi weirdness.
San Francisco's The Vanishing proves that a Goth band with a female lead vocalist doesn't have to sound like Siouxsie & The Banshees (but it's not necessarily a bad thing if they do since several other AQ goth novices think this does indeed sound quite a bit like Siouxsie!). Not that I don't find Siouxsie's records quite good (especially "Juju" and "Kaleidoscope"), but the small Gothic resurgence that's paralleling the New Wave revival has mostly been mimicking the aloof theatrics of Joy Division, Bauhaus, Sisters Of Mercy, or Siouxsie, without really saying anything beyond their heroes. Fortunately, the trio of Jessie Trashed (formerly of the Subtonix), Brian Hock, and AQ's own Sadie Shaw (also of The Lies, The Husbands and the co-director of the 8mm indie-gore film "Charm") have developed a pretty unique (or referentially obscure) signature sound. The Vanishing builds an intense, dissonant gloom through monotonous, distorted basslines and Carnival of Souls' organs twisted into sinister melodies, all without any guitars. Jessie's haunted vocals have been treated with an eerie tremolo warble as a well-executed complement to The Vanishing's throbbing music. As Sadie has admitted to having never heard X-Mal Deutschland before, I can safely say that The Vanishing has unintentionally arrived at a Goth sound previously carved out by that oft-forgotten 4AD band. And that's fine by me!
Born from the grim, death disco of the Subtonix and the oppressive gloom rock of The Lies, The Vanishing are no strangers to the Goth aesthetic and manage to pull off the typically stilted genre with a considerable amount of panache. "Songs For Psychotic Children" is the debut album for The Vanishing, who at the time of this recording included the SF's reigning Goth queen Jesse Trashed, Brian Hock, and Aquarius' dearly departed (not dead, just moved on to a new job) sweetie-pie Sadie Shaw who recently left the band to pursue her garage band The Husbands. Rather than turn to portentous swan songs and plodding atmospherics like the kind often produced for Projekt or Cleopatra records, The Vanishing finds success almost entirely through the theatrical wailings and panicky screams of vocalist / bassist Jesse Trashed, who has developed a vocal style that's clearly in keeping with the traditions of Goth culture, but separate from icons like Siouxsie Sioux, Nina Hagen, and Danielle Dax. Driven by her expressive, intense voice and sinewy basslines, The Vanishing furthers their black clad references with Sadie's haunted carnvival organs which would not be out of place on the seminal "Carnival Of Souls" soundtrack and with Brian exhuming the propulsive rhythm sections of the forgotten Batcave bands: Sex Gang Children, Specimen, and The March Violets. "Songs For Psychotic Children" comes together flawlessly, and marks a very good start for this local band.
From the electro-schtick of Soft Pink Truth's rewiring of punk to the DFA's revisitation of the 99 Records catalogue with a artful sense of irony, we are living in an age that has glorified certain stylistic conceits of the '80s. In looking at these revisionist histories, you could get the impression that the '80s were in fact very cool and had none of the banal dreck of disposable major label pop that persists today. Where most of the '80s retro fascination has its tongue firmly planted in cheek, The Vanishing exhumes the whole bloated corpse of the '80s Goth community. There's not just a bunch of black clothes, clove cigarettes, and blood-red wine to go with The Vanishing's Goth revivalism; there's also Nik Fiend's pasty white make-up, smeared black eyeliner, and ripped fishnet stockings and Daniel Ash's insistence on throwing sax solos into Bauhaus songs. Yeah, the Vanishing do a great job of reclaiming this particular Goth sound from the '80s; but that's also their undoing, as the Vanishing aren't really interested in attempting to update this sound. If they are attempting to do on Still Lifes Are Failing, well then they haven't done a very good job. But if it's The Cure's Pornography and Xmal Deutschland's Fetisch that their going for, well that's another story. The Vanishing's spry death disco grooves and primitive synth lines builds a seering claustrophobia which in most instance is the evil little sister of the DFA cocaine beats. So The Vanishing can only really be recommended if you've got that streak of Goth that tickles you from time to time. But if Adult. and The Rapture aren't dark enough for you, then boy do we have a record for you!
The batcave meets the blues rock on the dancefloor for this split by two Bay Area hotties!
Jean-Claude Vannier is best known for his amazing work as an arranger and producer for some of French pop's greatest stars like Serge Gainsbourg, Jane Birkin, Francoise Hardy, and Brigitte Fontaine. We also got a taste of his singular, warped and mind melting musical vision when Finders Keepers unearthed his fucked up masterpiece from 1972, L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouches.
Now they've dug deep into his vaults for this short but sweet (under half an hour) collection of rare, unreleased archival recordings from 1968-1973, that demonstrate what a master of mood and sound Vannier is. With tracks that range from tribal and trance inducing ("L'ours Paresseux 1969") to the perfect soundtrack for an absurdist cartoon ("Claquez Klaxons") to a chant filled show stopper that sounds like an Ella Jenkins record doused in acid ("Le Ballet Des Accouchesuses"). You can imagine how folks in the Stones Throw crew, or the late J Dilla, would be drooling over the chance to sample so many of these tracks. Vannier's music is like an amazing crossbreed of David Axelrod, Raymond Scott, and Joe Meek, but with such a pronounced French sensibility.
Some reissues of long-lost gems arrive here with little fanfare and turn out to be great nonetheless. This one though, came our way emblazed with blurbs proclaiming its immense awesomeness quoting the likes of Jim O'Rourke, Tim Gane, Jarvis Cocker and David Holmes. And guess what? Those guys do indeed know what they're talking about! This IS pretty fantastic. Here we have an action-packed instrumental concept album whose title translates into English as The Child Killer Of The Flies, which musically narrates a simple but creepy story by Serge Gainsbourg (written *after* he heard the album, not before, and included the liner notes, explaining each track title) about the horrific revenge of flies on a child who had tortured them. This musical story-telling is by way of schizoid arrangements of tracks that range in sound from groovy pop to jazz to avant-garde tape music to fuzz guitar rock! Sounds good, eh? Good n' weird for sure.
L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouches is a "Fellini-esque psychedelic symphony" originally released (but poorly distributed and relegated to general obscurity) in 1972, credited to a unknown group called Isolitudes. The man behind Insolitudes, though, was one Jean-Claude Vannier, a musician and producer from the happening '60s French pop ("Ye Ye music") scene who had scored film soundtracks and collaborated with Serge Gainsbourg, most famously providing the arrangements for Gainsbourg's highly-rated L'Histoire De Melody Nelson album (the reissue of which we wish we had in stock also, but haven't been able to get a hold of lately). This record is thereby cited as the follow-up to that one-of-a-kind conceptual classic. Itself it's pretty much one-of-a-kind too. Funky and groovy, as well as deliriously, disorientingly hallucinogenic, this will hit you with lush string arrangements one moment, sound effects of sheer terror the next... it's psych, it's prog, it's funk, it's musique concrete. There's even a chorus of car horns put to good use here! It's the freakiest 'sploitation soundtrack that never was. This reissue includes two bonus tracks from a rare 7" single entitled Point D'Interrogation, and also boasts extensive and informative (and quite laudatory) liner notes by DJ Andy Votel. Very recommended!
Repressed, improved edition - remastered, w/ updated liner notes. Check elsewhere on our site if you want for the lengthy, full review of the cd version, but we're trying to do short reviews this list, so we'll just say it's a long-lost gem indeed, thankfully reissued again, a "Fellini-esque psychedelic symphony" from 1972, by the guy who provided the arrangements for another one-of-a-kind conceptual classic, Serge Gainsbourg's highly-rated L'Histoire De Melody Nelson album. Funky and groovy, as well as deliriously, disorientingly hallucinogenic, this will hit you with lush string arrangements one moment, sound effects of sheer terror the next... it's psych, it's prog, it's funk, it's musique concrete. There's even a chorus of car horns put to good use here! It's the freakiest 'sploitation soundtrack that never was. Very recommended!
The name might not seem immediately familiar to you, but avid readers of the aQ list might remember Vantzou from her membership in aQ faves The Dead Texan, a Stars Of The Lid offshoot fronted by the Adam Wiltzie half of SOTL, and whose self titled (and now sadly out of print) full length on Kranky from a few years back, was a huge favorite around here. Vantzou provided the stunning visuals on the accompanying dvd, and also provided vocals, but here demonstrates quite a Stars Of The Lid like flair for dramatic cinematic soundscapery. The tracks here dark and dreamily brooding, all lush strings draped over distant mysterious drones, subtle smears of echo and reverb add just the right amount of mystery, layered swirls of sound billow around hazy washed out melodies, slow glacial swells of sound which give way to more traditional chamber music, only to quickly slip back into warm whirls of hauntingly majestic drift, notes and tones left to float and gently decay, sinking gradually through layers of reverberent shimmer, blurred and gently smeared into something that sounds more more akin to Indignant Senility or The Caretaker, and at times, like on record closer "Joggers", indeed like an even darker and more abstract Stars Of The Lid.
Yet another Bardo Pond offshoot/side project, this time it's Bardo brothers John & Michael Gibbons, who manage to strike out for musical worlds beyond the reach of past Bardo missions, while retaining a tenuous sonic link to the Bardo Pond universe they helped create. Vapour Theories seem to be exploring their own world of drifting lilting spaced out Neo-Appalachia, simple strummed steel string guitars form the basis of the seven minute opener, and the twenty plus minute closer, while the two tracks in between are more of the abstract drone drift variety. The first track takes the buzzing steel strings and positions them above a distant psychedelic swirl of abstract psych guitar and droning saxophone, while the epic final track lets the guitars meander lazily, a gorgeously laid back soundscape of twang and strum, old time melodies wrapped in steel string buzz, lovely late afternoon dreaminess, minor key, but not really mournful, more sort of reflective and contemplative. And so lovely. The two tracks between, lean much more toward the brothers' Bardo Pond soundworld, the first, a buzzing high end drone, warm and fuzzy and super slow shifting, over a dense tangle of tablas, the second a truly blissful drift through a landscape of lazily unfurling reverb guitar, their notes suspended for ages before drifting off, melodies lazy and slowly intertwining, harmonics chiming and ringing out, a sonic pond full of delicately intersecting ripples.
For fans of Bardo Pond, the new wave of Appalachian guitar (Rose, Blackshaw, etc.) and all things dreamy and psychedelic.
Varghkoghargasmal. When we first discovered this German one man band, it was via a cassette, with a black and white photocopied cover, a washed out image of some wintry forest landscape, accompanied by the legend 'wooden metal'. Needless to say we were totally intrigued, only to discover, that there wasn't anything really that metal about it, or wooden even. Not sure if 'wooden' referred to the trees, or to acoustic guitars, but none of that mattered once we head the music inside. A twisted confusional mix of slowed down Dick Dale style surf riffage, stumbling drums, haunting melodies, warbly organs, all wrapped around a simple motorik almost krautrock groove. We had no idea what to call it, or really even what to think, other than being totally smitten, transfixed and ensorcelled. Definitely ensorcelled.
So here we have the brand new album from Avenger, the man solely responsible for Varghkoghargasmal, and if anything, it's even more haunting and mysterious, more creepy and strange, and somehow way more beautiful.
It's a difficult sound to explain, the guitars are clean, but are often still playing in a black metal style, frantic riffing or rapid picking, but just as often the guitars are spidery and minor key, unfurling lugubrious tendrils of creepy twang, or reverbed shimmer. The vocals are minimal, a hushed whisper here and there, a Viking style chant during one song, but it's mostly left to the music, which is incredibly evocative, it's like some sort of acoustic black metal, mixed with slowed down surf rock, dark languorous krautrock, and a distinct Morricone vibe as well. And then there are the drums, which by design or by happenstance, are a definite sonic focal point, as they are WAY up in the mix, and they are all over the place, the fills are chaotic, the rhythms stumble and stutter, but in their imperfections lie a truly unique sort of emotion and feeling not found in most music. The drums anchor everything, locking into foresty krautrock grooves, sputtering into dense little tumbling squalls, the prefect framework for Avenger's rickety moonlit jams.
Most of the songs creep and crawl, sometimes behind a curtain of rainfall, the sound of the forest spirits, flickering firelight, fireflies lighting up the canopy overhead, pianos pick out mournful melodies, the drums, lurching along, a perfectly imperfect accompaniment, organs wheeze, synths whir, steel strings twang, the whole thing so impossibly transcendent, effortlessly evoking ancient atmospheres and deep emotions. When the band lock into a more rocking groove, and the rhythm builds into something propulsive, the guitars stretch out into long streaks of buzzing melodies, the organ plays along like some old time music box, and the sound transforms before your ears and transports you to some truly mysterious otherworld.
There are some black metal references for sure, mostly the ambient bits of Burzum, and some of the riffing recalls suicidal black metal, albeit played with no distortion and more melancholy really than miserable, some of the more frenzied parts even sound like Iron Maiden played on acoustic guitars, and sometimes the guitars manage to sound like banjos, but still the creepiest and prettiest moments occur when the sound winds down into something much more minimal and muted, letting the keyboards weave fluttery melodies, over whirring drones and spare guitar melodies, only occasionally flecked with little flurries of haphazard drumming.
One of the few records that we can unequivocally describe as being utterly unlike anything else you will ever hear! Hauntingly beautiful, beautifully bizarre, and WAY WAY recommended.
One final teaser before the tUMULt release of Varghkoghargasmal's Drowned In Lakes full length. Another glorious slab of "wooden metal" from this German one man band, that as always, is not particularly metal, or wooden. In fact, it's more like some strange off kilter krautrock, warbly organs, stumbling drums, lurching grooves, off kilter tempos, simple downtuned clean guitar strum, haunting keyboard melodies, all tangled up into a gorgeous creepy forest jam. The track begins all doomy and droney, the keyboard wavering over the deliberate drumming and the muted riffing, very spare and space-y, eventually locking into a more propulsive groove, the drums impossibly off, in an amazing way, totally in their own dimension, the guitar a mere mumble, except for the spidery melody that holds the whole thing together, the keyboard louder than anything else. Imagine a cross between Avarus and Benighted Leams and you might get something close to Varghkoghargasmal. Awesome as always.
Splitting the disc with V. is October Falls, another one man band, this one from Finland, who specializes in dark ambient folk, and here, it's just that, all mournful minor key acoustic guitar, lilting and sorrowful, moody and meandering, so darkly pretty.
Super thick sleeves and jackets, a handful are on colored vinyl, so you might get lucky, LIMITED TO 300 COPIES, each one hand numbered.
Last list we featured Docdail and Triangle, now here's more rare Francais Metal de Proto for y'all, this time from Les Variations! That's right, another French band from the late '60s/early '70s playing an unexpected blend of hard rockin' proto-metal, psychedelic freakiness, Moorish exotica, and groovy pop. This double disc set includes Variations' first two albums -- Nador (1970) and Take It Or Leave It (1973) -- plus 13 bonus tracks.
Nador is the primary reason to get this, as Take It Or Leave It more-or-less lives up to its title. But Nador is a seriously smokin' album, with the exception perhaps of one cheesy commercial pop tune and a detour into oldies rock n' roll territory (the Jerry Lee Lewis piano-pounding of "Mississippi Woman"). At its best though, which is most of the time, Nador is the high-energy, heavy-duty French answer to the likes of Led Zep, the Rolling Stones, and the MC5! Zut alors! Pounding stormers like "Generations" and "What A Mess Again" are gonna please anyone into long-haired, bell-bottomed riff-rock. Meanwhile, Variations mix it up with segues into mysterious Moroccan hippie-raga, as on the acoustic instrumental title track. Basically imagine Leaf Hound with some North African ancestry. We've read that Nador was the heaviest album from a French band ever when it was originally released, and we believe it.
The bonus tracks following Nador are also equally badass, with lots of wild psych guitar and headbangin' rhythm action goin' on. "Come Along" sounds pretty much *exactly* like something by local San Francisco retro-stoner power trio Genghis Khan, actually. There's also the excellent psych-pop ballad "Down The Road" as well.
Disc two's Take It Or Leave It certainly rocks and rolls too, but starts to suffer from some of the fashion faux pas the '70s were known for, shall we say. Way too much honky tonk piano this time around, and overproduced arrangements. The psych side of things is long gone. But it has got its moments though. And several of the bonus tracks found on this disc most definitely live up to the killer standards of disc one ("I Was Down" and "The Jam Factory" ferinstance). So while Nador's great by itself, we're happy to have these two discs worth of Variations! Vive la Francais Metal de Proto!!
"American Songs 1770-1998."
Our definition of pure pop perfection would have to be Scotland's Vaselines! They embody everything a perfect pop band should be. They are charming and clever, dirty and sweet, sensitive and sassy. They have the ability to rock out or get all dreamy with equal potency. Coinciding with their reunion tour that will find them playing San Francisco in just a few days, Sub Pop has compiled pretty much all of their material onto this 2 disc collection. The first disc includes all of their studio recordings (the Son Of A Gun EP, the Dying For It EP, and the full length Dum Dum). The bonus disc includes three demo versions and two live shows from '86 and '88. Fair warning to fans, the first disc is identical to the Vaselines collection that came out a few years back, so if you have that, you'll be getting this for the demos and live stuff on disc two. Or cause you want it on vinyl, if you opt for that format. And if you have no Vaselines, well, needless to say this is ESSENTIAL.
Now that we have all that out of the way we can go back to gushing about why The Vaselines are the perfect pop band and how they pretty much influenced all the rad underground (and overground) pop stuff we've loved in the decades since they first hit the scene. Nirvana, Belle And Sebastian, Yo La Tengo, Hole, Vivian Girls, Beck, Dum Dum Girls, The Breeders and so many more owe so much of their sound, style and aesthetic to the Vaselines and everything they created during their short existence from 1986-1990. They predated the era when indie bands began to experience more widespread success and appreciation, but their songs and style pretty much set the blueprint for the alternative nation that would explode in the years following their breakup.
Listening to these songs is like hearing some crazy greatest hits collection as every single song is so totally classic and memorable, hard to believe that it's actually just their complete discography. Every song was truly unique and so goddamn catchy. Some of their songs were popularized when Kurt Cobain declared his undying love of the Vaselines and had Nirvana cover "Son Of A Gun", "Molly's Lips" and "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam". The Vaselines had a charisma that makes their songs appeal to such a wide cross section of music fans. They are the band K records wish they could have had, and have been trying to sign ever since. The Vaselines had the wit and smarts so many of their Glasgow followers try a little too hard to emulate, but most of all they had SONGS, songs that are so damn endearing and so completely timeless!
First new music from these Scottish indie pop legends in 20 years, and it sounds like they never left. Well, almost. Some of us got to see the reactivated Vaselines play at the Sub Pop 20th anniversary celebration in Seattle, and they sounded incredible, the core two piece of Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee augmented by members of Belle And Sebastian, a lineup that lent some serious heft to their sound, that heft is well represented here on this 2 song teaser for their upcoming full length, only their second proper album in 2+ decades, and the first new music since 1990's full length Dum Dum.
And right out of the gate, "Sex With An X" sounds like it could have been beamed here straight from the early nineties, sure a little more full and lush, not nearly as ramshackle, but still playful and coy, jangly and simple, the lyrics mantra like, sweet boy / girl harmonies, a killer main melody, a little crunch, hand claps, summery pop perfection for sure. The flipside, "Roaster" though, which is exclusive to this single, is maybe even better (reason enough to buy this, since the A side will be on the full length), darker, and fuzzier, a little grungy and low slung, minor key, still laced with sweet harmonies, but much more reminiscent of Kelly's post Vaselines band Eugenius, Vaselines style jangly indie pop infused with a some spaced out shoegazey crunch. Both songs are really good, but we're so digging the B side, it kind of has us hoping for more of the same on the full length. We'll just have to wait and see...
Includes a download code as well.
First new music from these Scottish indie pop legends in 20 years, and it sounds like they never left. Well, almost. Some of us got to see the reactivated Vaselines play at the Sub Pop 20th anniversary celebration in Seattle, and they sounded incredible, the core two piece of Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee augmented by members of Belle And Sebastian, a lineup that lent some serious heft to their sound, that heft is well represented here on this 2 song teaser for their upcoming full length, only their second proper album in 2+ decades, and the first new music since 1990's full length Dum Dum.
And right out of the gate, "Sex With An X" sounds like it could have been beamed here straight from the early nineties, sure a little more full and lush, not nearly as ramshackle, but still playful and coy, jangly and simple, the lyrics mantra like, sweet boy / girl harmonies, a killer main melody, a little crunch, hand claps, summery pop perfection for sure. The flipside, "Roaster" though, which is exclusive to this single, is maybe even better (reason enough to buy this, since the A side will be on the full length), darker, and fuzzier, a little grungy and low slung, minor key, still laced with sweet harmonies, but much more reminiscent of Kelly's post Vaselines band Eugenius, Vaselines style jangly indie pop infused with a some spaced out shoegazey crunch. Both songs are really good, but we're so digging the B side, it kind of has us hoping for more of the same on the full length. We'll just have to wait and see...
Includes a download code as well.
Finally, for all the hip hop headz who were bummed by the end of the mighty Cannibal Ox, there's something to soothe the pain: The debut full length from Cannibal Ox's Vast Aire. We have to admit that we were a bit worried that the Def Jux beat makers (El-P, etc...) were a big part of Cannibal Ox's dark and damaged hip hop. Fear not. Madlib, RJD2, the Beatminerz and a handful of other folks have stepped in to keep things funky and fucked, just the way we like it. Bizarre loops and samples are cut and chopped into a bouncing, head nodding rhythms, stacked high with weird synth sounds, fuzzed out guitars, crackly record static, and all sorts of sonic randomness. Vast's flow is smooth with just a little rasp, spitting all sorts of dense and clever and way out rhymes. His smooth delivery is balanced out by a handful of guests including Aesop Rock, Sadat X, MF Doom, S.A. Smash and even his former CanOx partner Vordul.
Death & Unity With God was originally one of those tiny edition tape boxsets that Hospital Productions released at some point in 2014. Yes, those six cassettes will be reprised at some point onto a 3cd anthology through Modern Love; but for now, we have this 2lp set which sports 12 of the 20 songs. Missing are a handful of the slug-paced techno torpor tracks from Vatican Shadow; and while the vinyl set is pretty outstanding, the complete package will be found on the triple cd set!
Vatican Shadow is, of course, Dominick Fernow - the man also behind Prurient and the Hospital Productions empire. Over the past three or four years, Fernow has shifted his focus almost entirely to toward Vatican Shadow, using a loose critique of religious indoctrination as the conceptual framework for his spare rhythmic exercises in crunchy Middle Eastern electro dervishes. The precursor this work is obviously Muslimgauze; and the work on Death & Unity With God continues along this same trajectory, linking the distinctly American cult of personality catastrophes (Jim Jones, David Koresh, Timothy McVeigh) with the ideological endgames of Al Qaeda and the Islamic State. The political rhetoric to this work quickly wane in the seductive power of Fernow's rhythms, and that may be the point. But more likely this disconnect recalls a common critique of Fernow's work as being thoroughly surface oriented with a armor-plated facades of masculinity, intellectualism, etc. covering up something that's hollow, missing, or lacking. This however is all thrown out the window when it comes to how good a producer Fernow can be, with Death & Unity With God being one of his most subtly dramatic piece of modern day electronica. Bleak electrical chorales and dread-inducing rumblings haunt these 12 tracks that are girded upon slowly unfurling spare rhythms whose breakbeats slink with an desert-dry Arabic groove alternating with nocturnally muted techno, laced with arid dub echo, gothy whipcrack snares, and motorik noise hypnosis. There's only 300 copies of this pressing; and these will not last long.
Death & Unity With God was originally one of those tiny edition tape boxsets that Hospital Productions released at some point in 2014. Yes, those six cassettes sprawled across 20 tracks, of which only 12 were pressed onto the double vinyl edition that came and went earlier in 2015. But now, as promised, Modern Love delivers a complete package in the form of this triple cd set!
Vatican Shadow is, of course, Dominick Fernow - the man also behind Prurient and the Hospital Productions empire. Over the past three or four years, Fernow has shifted his focus almost entirely to toward Vatican Shadow, using a loose critique of religious indoctrination as the conceptual framework for his spare rhythmic exercises in crunchy Middle Eastern electro dervishes. The precursor of this work is obviously Muslimgauze; and the work on Death & Unity With God continues along this same trajectory, linking the distinctly American cult of personality catastrophes (Jim Jones, David Koresh, Timothy McVeigh) with the ideological endgames of Al Qaeda and the Islamic State. The political rhetoric of this work quickly wanes in the seductive power of Fernow's rhythms, and that may be the point. But more likely this disconnect recalls a common critique of Fernow's work as being thoroughly surface oriented with a armor-plated facades of masculinity, intellectualism, etc. covering up something that's hollow, missing, or lacking. This however is all thrown out the window when it comes to how good a producer Fernow can be, with Death & Unity With God being one of his most subtly dramatic pieces of modern day electronica. Bleak electrical chorales and dread-inducing rumblings haunt these 20 tracks that are girded upon slowly unfurling spare rhythms whose breakbeats slink with an desert-dry Arabic groove alternating with nocturnally muted techno, laced with arid dub echo, gothy whipcrack snares, and motorik noise hypnosis. The near 26-minute "Al Qaeda (Branch Davidian)" is one such track that never made its way onto wax and is a creeping exploration of slug-paced techno torpor which sounds like an exhumed Muslimgauze track intended for 45rpm played a 33. The depressive-electronics of "McVeigh Figures" pocked with gunshot echo and better-than-witch-house shadowiness make for some of most evocative and downright haunting that Fernow has ever created.
So fucking good, this one is!
There was a time when great poppy garage gems were being blasted out of just about every practice space here in San Francisco. It seems like those days are now gone, but luckily The Vaticans have filled that void with some totally fun-filled girl-group inspired garage-pop that hits its mark dead on. Like a more scrappy, stripped down take on early B-52's, the non-electro elements of Stereo Total or the no-frills garage stomp of The Headcoatees. Bubblegum garage-pop done oh so right!
Wierd Records have brought us some amazing records over the last few years, from Led Er Est, Martial Canterel, Xeno & Oaklander, Staccato Du Mal and others, but this one might just be the coolest, and the weirdest (wierdest?) of the bunch. From the above mentioned bands, it's obvious that Wierd traffics in darkwave / coldwave / newwave music primarily, and this debut from Canadian outfit Vaura, definitely does fit in there, somewhere, sort of...
But unlike those bands, Vaura is HEAVY, the sound dense and epic, and times intense and downright crushing, while at others, droned out and dour. At their gloomiest, we're reminded of French retrowavers Soror Dolorosa, the sound a sort of death rock, beholden to groups like Joy Division and the Cure, but there's no denying the metal element, hinting at the likes of both Liturgy and Katatonia, which makes more sense when you know Vaura's pedigree. A group you might not expect to include members of Dysrhythmia, Kayo Dot, Secret Chiefs 3, and maybe most surprising of all Gorguts, who are responsible for what might be one of aQ's favorite death metal records of all time, Obscura. So the real question is maybe what is a death metal guy doing in a band like this, and how the heck did these weirdos and metalheads end up with a dark, gloomy, heavy record on Wierd? And really the answer is who cares. We're just happy to have this strange slab of moody heaviness, and it's quickly become the only thing we want to listen to.
The sound is a bit confusional, but only when you're trying to describe it, cuz on paper, it seems like a mess, like a weird whatthefuck that would never work, but in action, it's awesome. Hooky and heavy, brooding and moody and metallic, thick guitars, chiming and shimmering one second, churning and chugging the next, sinewy basslines, the vocals deep and dramatic, subtly processed, the songs proggy and intricate, some incredible drumming, the songs super melodic, even poppy in places, but occasionally peppered with bursts of gloom infused black metal, complete with blast beats, and deep ominous vox, atonal chords, often splintering into a grinding almost death metal, but more muddy and gothic and less distinctly metal, everything wreathed in cool textured psychedelic guitars, dense squalls of dark sonic energy, layered chordal thrum and swirls of FX and streaks of feedback. And while the sound seems to always return to a sort of dark, and heavy, gloom rock, it's what the group do to and with that sound that makes this so transcendent.
And while the record definitely works as an album, the individual songs and sound are super varied, from the washed out black metal flecked gloominess of "Obsidian Damascene Sun", with its furious double kick drumming, and swirling psychedelic guitar filigree, to the churning bombastic almost doom-ed heaviness of "Uncreated Light (Transfiguration)", to the strangely ritualistic sounding "The Column's Vein", all rumbling low end, and chanted monklike vox, to the acoustic gloom-folk of the title track, a gorgeously moving softly psychedelic steel string ballad, the record culminating in our favorite track, "The Zahir" which begins as a barely there rumbling drone, underpinning steel string guitar strum, some softly crooned vox and chiming harmonics, which disappear in a squall of massive distorted riffage and swirling feedback, the whole song transformed into a whirling propulsive sprawl of melodic drone-psych, a brooding slow build that becomes a heavy gloom pop, driving and intense, in comes some metal vokills and some tangled super catchy guitar melodies, all over tribal drumming, and thick buzzing guitars, the sound gradually falling apart, and transforming into a woozy detuned dirge, only to explode into a crushingly heavy, gloriously blown out Godspeed style epic outro, wild streaks of psych guitar, pounding chaotic drumming, clouds of swirling effects, definitely the sort of thing that should have been stretched out for another 20 minutes or so, but instead, collapses in a field of glitch and static, buzz and crumble. So fucking awesome. A practically perfect slab of heavy gloominess / gloomy heaviness. And a new aQ favorite for sure.
Emerging once more from the shadowy subterranean recesses of bleary Brooklyn, aQ's favorite misery merchants Vaura have returned with their second dose of heavy glistening gloom rock (and their first for avant-metal tastemakers Profound Lore). By definition a side project of sorts, Vaura features members of Dysrhythmia, Kayo Dot, Gorguts and Secret Chiefs 3... and sound exactly nothing like you would expect a band with that pedigree to sound. There's a myriad of influences here - all brought together with an admirable cohesion. Black metal, '80s goth, post rock, psychedelia... The elements are all there, but The Missing is at its core an atmospheric rock record. Although you wouldn't believe that from the first 30 seconds of the album. The introductory title track opens with a gorgeous wall of sound black metal tremolo grind, a pummeling frantic drum blast and a minimal spacey guitar lead, immediately bringing to mind the recent crop of euphoric black metal bands like Alcest or Deafheaven. But only half a minute later the track crumbles into a bittersweet mid paced dirge of plodding toms, shuffling militaristic snares and deep brooding vocals - much more akin to Ian McCulloch or Andrew Eldritch than any spike gauntleted shrieker. There's also a distinct similarity to mid period Katatonia in the numbed, almost frail vocal approach. Much of The Missing in fact seems to recall a very specific time in recent metal history - a period in the late '90s when extreme metal bands, usually on the doomier end of the spectrum, started experimenting with more traditional rock & roll elements. The uptempo mournful melodic rock of "Incomplete Burning", with its strummed acoustic guitar mingled with distant distorted leads and reverb washed vocals, is pure Judgement-era Anathema - invoking the same sense of wistful psychedelic melancholy. Elsewhere on songs like "Pleasure Blind" and "Putting Flesh to Bone" the slinking basslines creeping under warm ethereal strings bring to mind Beyond Dawn's subtly surreal Electric Sulking Machine. "The Things We Hide", with its dissonant plucked Eastern melodies and sinister echoed vocals, even recalls the more atmospheric moments of British avant-death weirdos Akercocke, as does the pummeling blasting, warped clean guitar and droning synths of "Passage to Vice". It's not all so wonderfully obscure though. There's plenty of Joy Division in those distinctive post-punk basslines and that disjointed repetitive drumming, and the aforementioned Sisters of Mercy are clearly a big influence. "Braced for Collapse" even brings to mind some of Sunny Day Real Estate's more downtempo moments. And could this record have come at a more perfect time? It's that time of the year... The days are getting darker, the winds are getting more bitter, and our playlists are getting even gloomier to match. If the atmospheric goth tinged heaviness of Pinkish Black - or maybe even In Solitude's latest - are your idea of a perfectly dismal night in, then you couldn't do much better than lighting those ceremonial candles, laying out your finest black velvet, and spending some quality alone time with The Missing.
As a rule, we're usually not so keen on live albums (from rock bands, that is -- jazz is another matter). Who needs to hear a bunch of crowd noise and clapping? Live albums are notorious for time-wasting drum solos, cliched stage banter, poor sound, bad mixes, and unwanted cover versions ("Hound Dog", y'know, that sort of thing). Plus half the time they're faked. Of course, that doesn't mean some aren't classics: Kick Out The Jams, Lights Out, Live At Last, Tokyo Tapes, Band Of Gypsies...
And while we're NOT suggesting that this particular recording by this late-'70s Greek hard rock outfit is as good as any of those, it is still pretty good for a live album from a band we've never even heard of before! And, it's also the only way you're gonna get to hear 'em since the Vavoura Band never made a studio album back then. And if you're into heavy '70s hard rock proto-metal action, you probably DO want to hear 'em. Heavy, bluesy, a little proggy, with some some ethnic folk influences, these guys (who were apparently famous for trashing their equipment a la The Who) manage to remind us of both Hawkwind and Black Sabbath at various points on this record. They also remind us of a really freaky longhaired '70s bar band in full guitar-splooge mode -- 'cause that's what they are, basically. Pretty cool. 12 tracks, 11 live, 1 studio, recorded mostly circa '77-'79 with one track from '81. English vocals for the most part.
