Not sure how we managed it, but this is the first we've heard from noise rock heavies Vaz, which is kind of weird for a couple reasons, one, this is their 3rd or 4th record so far at least, and those past records were on some seriously kick ass labels, and two, Vaz is in fact two members of the late great AmRep outfit Hammerhead, who we LOVED. But better late than never, and this is indeed a serious chunk of blown out super hooky and heavy noise rock, pop at its core for sure, but wrapped in some thick, crumbling ultra distorted riffage, not to mention some tripped out psychedelic guitar action, anchored by the drums, a wild chaotic pound, and the vocals, surprisingly melodic, which positions Vaz more alongside other poppier heavy rock combos like Torche, but Vaz definitely twists up their sound, atonal and off kilter, jagged and frenzied and frantic, sleeping easily from twisted crunch to soaring hookiness and back, with a definite brooding downer pop vibe running through some of the songs too. And some ridiculous hooks tucked amidst all that crunch and pound. We gave this a quick listen when it first came in, and thought it sounded pretty good, but when we finally sat down to really dig in, it quickly became a new fave, sounding suddenly like some impossible hybrid of Nomeansno, The Melvins and Torche, with a hint of the Wipers� and we've been listening to it like crazy ever since, which pretty much says it all.
Killer stuff, and definitely recommended for fans of heavy pop and poppy heaviness.
Packaged in swank silkscreened jackets, includes a free download as well.
We were lucky enough to have Vaz play our most recent South By Southwest showcase, and while we were already fans, of their previous band too, late great AmRep heavies Hammerhead, seeing Vaz live knocked our fucking socks off. Furious and heavy, mathy and dense, and impossibly tight. One of the best drummers we've seen the songs roiling, furious math/noise rock blowouts that totally decimated. This is a super limited reissue of their long out of print debut full length, and fins the band just emerging from AmRep mode, the sound super rhythmic, pummelingly hypnotic, but rife with crazy melodies, hooky as hell, which seems impossible when you're listening to these crushing noise rock blowouts, but these guys come from a time when melody and heavy rock crush were not enemies, it was all in how you got the two tangled up, and even a decade ago, Vaz had already mastered a unique strain of heavy/hooky/rhythmic/mathy noise rock that still sounds incredible.
Opener "Blocked By Satellites" melds a woozy groove to some skittery drumming, droned out guitar, and some seriously crushing riffage, a churning unfuckwithable noise rock gem, that is the perfect example of what made/makes these guys so good, a soaring crazy catchy chorus, the grinding verses and main riff still infused with a subtle bit of melody. But if that track is Vaz at their noise rock heaviest, follow up "Meld W/U-90" is a pop song by comparison, sounding like a precursor to the sludge pop of Torche, emotive vocals draped over wild almost tribal drumming, and layer after layer of buzzing guitar, it does slip into more chugging heaviness, but even then, that main melody will stay stuck in your head for AGES. Oh and yeah, there's some rad mathy freakout, but it leads right back into that crazy poppy verse. And so it goes, every track heavy and hooky in equal measure, weird arrangements, twisted almost-avant guitaring in places, a sound that definitely dates it to a specific time (actually, this originally came out in 2001, but it sounds gloriously mid nineties!), but one that pushes all our, and we're guessing your, heavy / noise / math rock buttons.
LIMITED TO JUST 100 COPIES, each cover hand silkscreened, and each a different color.
The latest from these noise rockers find them delving even further into melody and poppiness, but fear not, their AmRep roots are still showing (two members of Vaz used to play in the late great Hammerhead!), and while much of the sound on recent records is still on display, churning riffage, wild, mathed out drumming, thick buzzing bass, super rhythmic and hypnotic, even in our reviews of their other records, we mention sludge poppers Torche, and describe their sound as being both hooky and heavy, and at least for the first few songs on Visiting Hours, hooky seems to be winning, and we're digging it! It actually sounds a bit like a noisier, mathier Husker Du, with plenty of downtuned chug, and the aforementioned wild drumming, but the vox are way more up front, and weirdly, it kind of reminds us of a noise rock My Dad Is Dead, the same sort of wistful melancholia, especially and specifically in the vocals, and while the sound occasionally erupts into something more noisy and AmRep-y, it always seems to slip back into something more poppy and melodic. That said, as the record progresses, it gets more dense and chaotic and heavy, and by the last song on the first side, it's (d)evolved into blown out math rock radness, until the vocals come in, which deftly pushes it back into poppier realms, without losing any of the heft. The B side follows a similar pattern, but culminates in a churning, gloomy, extended moody dirge, that sounds like Vaz-style death rock and it KILLS. Here's hoping that signals a new sonic shift toward some more tripped out noisy, gothy death rock from these guys in the near future!!!
Huh, what's this? Vee Dee? It's got black and white, 'fucked up and photocopied' looking graphics, let's put it on...wow, some unknown punk rock outfit from decades past? The first song "Flashes Of Her" could be something by Radio Birdman, or maybe even a song off of that Simply Saucer album... Now, this other track is reminding me of the Misfits. Good stuff. What's the story? Is this something outta the pages of Black To Comm fanzine? A band from one of those Bloodstains comps? Nope, these boys are from the here and now -- Chicago to be precise -- and they sure know how to make a retro-sounding (and looking) punk record that kicks ass. They obviously must have cool record collections. But of course that by itself doesn't mean when you get up on stage you're gonna kick the jams out in a manner worthy of your heroes. However, Vee Dee rise to the occasion: they are worthy. They've got the hooks and the history books, so to speak. As you listen to this, you'll hear echoes of classic '70s and '80s punk, everything from the Buzzcocks to Crime to Black Flag. Cleveland's various underground '70s heroes are doubtless another of Vee Dee's inspirations. Lyrically, they're brave enough to sing lines like "The son of Altamont / was dancing with sister Watts" and do songs about the "TV Police" and being a "Blood Zombie" and make it work. Some of the lyrics read like your stoner 11 year old brother wrote 'em but that's rock and roll poetry ain't it? Give me a catchy song called "Kaleidoscope Death Ray" any day! Allan's new rock fave, went straight into his iPod top 20...
Holy shit, is this long overdue, another incredible publication from the mighty Bazillion Points publishing house, this one, a long in the works compilation of the complete collection of the legendary Touch & Go punk zine, not the label, WAY before the label, there was this zine, an incredible collection of incendiary, funny as fuck, snotty and irreverent punk rockness. The work of Dave Stimson and Tesco Vee of the mighty Meatmen, Touch & Go set out to chronicle all of the happenings in the punk rock world, positive AND negative, never hesitating to call bullshit on any band or any record, but just as likely to heap crazy praise on sounds or folks so deserving.
Most of us were too young to be reading T&G back in the day, during the zine's 4 year lifespan, 1979-1983, it was several years before we discovered punk rock, and over the years, we probably only ever saw one or two of the 22 published issues, and always wanted more. So for most of us, this our first chance to experience Touch & Go in its entirety.
Classic old school layout, xeroxed in black and white, and hand assembled, covering all things punk rock all over the Midwest as well as in LA and New York and San Francisco and Boston and any other place kids were making a racket. Inside you'll find pretty much all the bands that mattered (and STILL matter): Black Flag, Minor Threat, Negative Approach, Die Kreuzen, Poison Idea, The Necros, Crucifix, Iron Cross, Discharge, The Misfits, the Avengers, Battalion Of Saints, JFA, SSD, 7 Seconds, the Effigies, Bad Religion, the Minutemen, the Fix, Scream, Faith and more more more. The book also adds essays by Byron Coley (Forced Exposure), Henry Owings (Chunklet), Peter Davis (Your Flesh), Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat / Fugazi / Dischord), Steve Miller (The Fix), John Brannon (Negative Approach), Corey Rusk (Necros / Touch & Go Records), Tesco Vee (The Meatmen), Keith Morris (Black Flag / Circle Jerks) and Henry Rollins (Black Flag / S.O.A.)!
As with all Bazillion Points publications, the book looks incredible, color cover printed inside and out, oversized soft cover, glossy, embossed, with printed fold over flyleafs, and classic flyers covering the end papers, while inside, every single issue, and every single page, close to 600 of 'em actually, of arguably the most important punk rock zine EVER.
So totally recommended. No self respecting music nerd / punk rocker / zine freak should be without one of these...
Record number three from these American noisemakers living in Japan, who apparently have decided that while they're there, they should make the heaviest, loudest, ass kickingest RAWK possible, and hell, doesn't really seem like it could get more heavy, loud or kick ass. Or mean, it is called Listen To This 1000x Then Kill Yourself after all, and there's a note inside crediting there artwork to Stephen O'Malley, even though there's virtually no art at all, we can only assume they're taking the piss. But it's all about the sound inside, and contrary to all the above, it's actually surprisingly melodic, as well as murky, a little lo-fi, definitely super rocking. The first track is a pretty freaked out slab of cyclical hypno-noiserock, a bit like a less spazzed out Lightning Bolt, but from there on out, while still heavy and a bit noisy, it's much more melodic, the second track is all big booming guitars, chords ringing out, blurred and buzzy and droney, the drums abstract and splattery, the track after that is downright dreamy, a sort of Japanese psych take on the Necks, hypnotic, loping and washed out and dreamy, yet still distorted and in the red, just not KILL YOURSELF in the red, more like eyes closed letting the blissed out heaviness wash over you.
It might be the recording, but this new Veee Deee, for all its implied misanthropy is really listenable, heavy, and hectic, manic and a little metal sure, but really warm and psychedelic, even the last track, which is more unhinged and angular and chaotic, with wild free drumming and tangled guitar skree, it too is weirdly melodic and surprisingly not fucked up. The louder you play it, the more the heaviness and freakiness reveals itself, maybe that's true of all records, but even with headphones this is a seriously dense and heavy chunk of noisy psychedelic post rock radness. If you have the other two, definitely grab one of these while you can, but even if you missed out, this is definitely worth picking up for the heavy rhythmic psych inclined out there.
Comes in cool handmade packaging, and includes free link to what's basically another full-length: To All the Girls I've Loved Before - Which One of You Gave Me the Clap?, a hi-fi antithesis to Listen To This 1000x Then Kill Yourself.
Not to be confused with the double e'd Midwestern punk rockers Vee Dee, this is the triple e'd Veee Deee and are American expats living in Japan. Well, at least one of em. AQ customer and long time pal Clay, most well known around here for sending us scathing (and hilarious) anti Keiji Haino hate mail, doing his very best to get Allan all riled up, much to the snicker delight of Andee (another misguided Haino hater).
Anyway, this is all sort of funny, as the sound of Veee Deee is not all that far removed from Haino's white noise psychedelic squall. Whoever is handling the ax duties here, could probably meet Haino on the sonic field of battle and hold his or her own. Dense flurries of rapid fire runs, weird moaning chords, bits of reverbed soft strum, all wound around some fierce and furious drumming.
While there are some Haino-ish elements, this falls way closer to modern freaked out spazz rock a la Strom And Stress, Coptic Light, Hella, Lightning Bolt, especially on the first track, with the band locking into hyper complex convoluted grooves, occasionally slowing things down for some tripped out drift, other times erupting into full on distorted crumbling NOISE. Someone must be manning the recording deck, as there is plenty of fucked up glitch and production weirdness. The second track (of three) is much more rock, with a seriously angular riff, wailed emo vocals, the drums still a chaotic clatter, sounding a little bit like Drive Like Jehu, slowing down for some minimal groove a la Stinking Lizaveta.
The final track mixes the disparate sound of the first two, a definite post rock post punk groove, but here muted and muddy, buried in a sludgy mix, emerging from a cloud of glistening atonal guitar splatter, and throbbing bass, tinkling chime like ambience and what sounds like croaking frogs, and finishing off in a flurry of buzzed out distorted skree. Cool stuff. Can't wait to hear more...
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The first proper full-length by San Francisco gothsters Veil Veil Vanish is one hell of a pop record. Drawing from '80s darkwave and '90s post-rock, "Change in the Neon Light" will easily find airplay in both dark, smoky dance clubs and dark, smoky bedrooms covered in Smiths posters. Although comparisons to The Cure are inevitable, they are not determinative. Sometimes Keven Tecon's voice resembles Robert Smith's in tone, but where Smith relied (more and more) on a facade of whiny drama, Tecon's drama seems angrier and truer. The music, too, is definitely harsher than anything The Cure ever did, and as much influenced by shoegaze and glam as anything else.
The album's eponymous opener glides along a cloud of synthesizer and bass guitar, sounding fuller and fuller as the song progresses. "Anthem For A Doomed Youth" adds a little crunch and grit, the heavily distorted bass contrasting nicely with the acoustic (or at least clean-sounding) guitar in the chorus. The fourth song "Modern Lust" might be the catchiest song on the record, the bouncy synth keeping the track moving and shaking, the lyrics kind of scary and breathy. "This is Violet" has some excellent rhythms and guitar work, loud and fast and heavy, and is easily the best song on the record. The production on the album (done by Atom of Yeah Yeah Yeah's fame) feels large but not overdone, the individual tones complimenting each other perfectly, leaving space and filling in holes when necessary. This is a well put together and well written record that comes highly recommended!
In case their moniker and the album title didn't clue you in, this new Bay Area band has a dark, dark heart. We'd venture a guess that these young gents and gal were raised on a wonderfully wan diet of '80s British rock (think: early Cure, Siouxsie, Echo And The Bunnymen). With such sallow complexions that you only get from sulking in angst filled gloomy shadows, fevers and chills are inevitable. Veil Veil Vanish's hot flushes come in big guitar rushes that also bring to mind Swervedriver, Bailterspace, My Bloody Valentine and Killing Joke. Those dynamic injections give their music more depth, fuses the various influences together and helps the band dodge the cloaked clutches of the '80s goth and post-punk revival camps.
Ooooh, if it's pretty smart girl pop you want, it's pretty smart girl pop you shall receive, and Laura Veirs is the gal for you!
After the reissue of her early countrified concept album Triumphs & Travails Of Orphan Mae, Saltbreakers takes her back to the more straight-up college radio pop sound. Rosy cheeked and lushly produced. We've said it before, but it does bear repeating that an easy comparison is to imagine a female fronted Death Cab For Cutie or Pinback. All three offer the most soothing aural salves for rattled nerves and ice cream-y charms to satiate any sweet tooth. Fans of Tegan And Sara, Mirah or Rilo Kiley also would do well to take note!
Following up her very well-received fifth album Year Of Meteors (released in 2005), indie songstress Laura Veirs shifts gears with a reissue of her second full length Triumphs & Travails Of Orphan Mae, originally recorded and self-released back in 2000.
It's a collection of charming story songs populated with country folk. Veirs immerses herself in the character of the slower paced rural landscape, adopting a bit of a twang in her singing and picked guitar and banjo. Nonetheless, her voice possesses a honey-pie pop kinship with those of the Ditty Bops gals who in turn recall the fine harmonies of early female trio the Andrews Sisters. Lazy day dreaminess pervades the album as it does her later recordings, but this album proves that Veirs can be plucky too both in sound and in spirit.
Apparently Death Cab For Cutie's Chris Walla and Ben Gibbard really really dig the music of this lady, and in-store play here has also drawn quite a warm response. Here's your chance to find out if you're gonna join in this Seattleite's love-fest too! Veirs' intelligent, sweet songcraft makes for a fitting female counterpart to that of fine boy-led pop bands such as AQ faves Pinback and the abovementioned Death Cab. Need proof? Simply check out one of the album's highlights, the second to last tune "Where Gravity Is Dead". Doesn't it snuggle in perfectly between those two bands? She's polished each song to a glistening glow. Her voice is somewhat reminiscent of Cat Power's Chan Marshall and maybe a bit like Mary Timony too, but the music also brings to mind the lushly composed likes of Rilo Kiley or the Cardigans. Leaps and bounds from where her last album 2004's Carbon Glacier left off. Lovely!
Last year we raved about the Insane Technical Sci-Fi Thrash Metal Mastery of this group's 2nd album, Outer Isolation. And, having subsequently seen 'em play n' slay live, we're even more convinced that Arizona's Vektor are one of thee very best metal bands currently going. Live, their music was complex yet ragin', these guys effortlessly, amazingly technical, but ready to party at the same time. Plus one of the guitarists has a tattoo on his arm that sez, 'Sci-fi or die', how cool is that?
Sadly, though, the record label Vektor was signed to, Heavy Artillery, has just folded. And so for the time being, the Outer Isolation cd is out of print, with its planned release on vinyl also in limbo. WTF? But, since Vektor has gotta be a hot property, we imagine they'll soon be signed to another label... However, for the time being, we can't get their newer album. But, we DID manage to grab a last few copies of this, their 2009 debut, for those that missed it. We didn't actually review it when it came out before, either, though we should have.
Utter next-level mind-boggling shred, that's heavy and hectic, and impossibly catchy too, like a brilliant mix of Voivod, Coroner, Destruction, and Megadeth. With their chugging rollercoaster riffs, exquisite neo-classical melodies, and outer space atmospherics, plus the vocalist's uncanny ability to switch from guttural tones to an inhuman shriek (they say in space, no one can hear you scream, but you'll hear this guy, and your dog will hear him better!), Vektor are one of the few 'retro-80s-thrash-revival' acts that we consider to be actually equal or superior to the best bands back then.
Basically, If you liked Outer Isolation, you'll like this too, in fact, how come you don't have it already?? And if you haven't yet heard any Vektor, well, check this out! But be quick, we only got like 5 copies, and then they're gone...
Last year was a pretty great year for Tropicalia. With a reunited Os Mutantes touring all over the world, a killer Soul Jazz compilation that helped more ears fall in love with the thrilling sounds coming from Brazil in the oh so turbulent late '60s / early '70s. So it makes so much cosmic sense that one of the founders of Tropicalia, Caetano Veloso, starts off this year releasing one of his best and most rocking records in years. While his last few outings have veered towards the easy listening schmaltz side of the sonic spectrum with far too many ballads, Ce finds him all stripped down and exuding a youthful energy that we haven't seen or heard for years. Such vibrancy and color! It's so hard to believe he's 64 years old, and we'd be hard pressed to think of many other people his age still making music as compelling as the sounds on Ce, as this blows away anything folks like Bowie, McCartney or Young have made in recent years. Worth it alone for the opening track "Outro", a scorching almost indie-rock sounding anthem, which has our vote for one of the best songs of the year. The album as a whole is so solid and listen after listen we keep falling in love again and again with Veloso's song writing prowess. Recommended!
Now on vinyl! Here's what we said about the cd when we listed it before:
Summer's here and what better way to celebrate than to put on this gorgeous reissue of the very first Tropicalia record, the stunning 1968 debut of Caetano Veloso. As big in Brazil as Sgt. Peppers was in England and America, its fusion of Brazilian popular music with pop, psychedelia and politically pointed lyrics gave birth to the Tropicalia movement and earned Veloso a brief stint in jail for "anti-government activities". Today, even without understanding its political subtext, the celebratory freedom that is conveyed in these vivacious and effervescent songs couldn't resonate more. Leave it to the Brazilians to make the radically political a party as well. Fuck Yeah!
Here's this Bay Area band's lush follow-up to their warmly received debut, and it shows that they've certainly grown in leaps and bounds since then. Elysium's an impressively opulent affair comprised of seven lengthy grand pop orchestrations filled with richly dynamic strings, horns and piano. Very Burt Bacharach inspired and quite akin to Rufus Wainwright and the most recent album by Ken Stringfellow (ex-Posies). The longest track "Chimera Obscurant" is the cd's crowning jewel (or in other words, the album's highlight), a nearly thirteen minute long epic beauty. A remarkably bold and fully realized sophomore release.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Three cds in a little cardboard box, documenting the post-Cale Velvets live in 1969, as recorded by mega VU fan Robert Quine. Back then he was just a guy in the audience with a cassette recorder, this was long before he made his own NYC punk history with
New digitally remastered versions of the original 4 albums, 25 previously unavailable recordings (12 demos, 7 outtakes from the Loaded sessions, 6 live tracks).
More then almost any other band in rock history the Velvet Underground lent themselves to mystery, mystique, and endless trivia, hence the market for a dvd like this one. This documentary takes a look at the band's history starting from their early collaborations with Andy Warhol including the debut record with Nico. Moe Tucker (whose earnest recolections serve as the most interesting part of the movie) and Doug Yule (who replaced John Cale after White Light White Heat) are the two band members interviewed as well as numerous journalists, label folk, and other VU experts...
Deluxe version of the Velvet Underground's debut album. If you've never heard this record, for heavens sake don't wait a moment longer. If you already are familiar with the album, here are some possible reasons to buy this version: Two discs, second of which is entirety of album in *mono* format, plus 4 songs from the album in their 7" versions. Also includes 5 songs from Nico's debut album Chelsea Girl which features the VU as backup band. Btw, I don't think these Nico tracks are on the VU boxset Peel Slowly & See.
It must be said, though, that unless you're some sort of intense audiophile, or a VU completist, I'm not sure why you'd need the mono version of the album. Handsome packaging features transparent slipcase, glossy digipak, and yes, a peelable banana!
Retrospect, the label that put out those 3 awesome Pandemonium reissues (the '80s Alaskan rockers whose Heavy Metal Soldiers disc we made a Record Of The Week recently, the other two highlighted this list) has done a lot of other '80s metal and hard rock reissues too, many of 'em leaning towards the hair/glam/AOR side of things though. Lots and lots, it's kind of insane. Especially since, most... well... we hadn't heard of them, and probably for good reason! Atomik Cocktail? Bad Candy? Ginger Roxx? Nasty Nasty? Sidekixx? But, in scouring their catalog, we did turn up a few gems. Cubic Zirconia, perhaps, but still gems! Here's one we had to share, originally released on Epic Records in 1982, the only album ever from Detroit's Vendetta, a trio led by African-American vocalist/guitarist Niki Buzz.
Certainly it's one for all you Citay fans (sort of) - 'cause the very first song, "Night Time", goes something like this: "Night time, is the right time, in the citaaaay!" And it's damn catchy, we like how Mr. Buzz throws in a sudden little screech when he sings the word "night". Yep, totally cheesy stuff but fun fun fun. The exuberant second track is even cooler, it's called "Jet Eye Knight", and we're pretty sure that's an intentional pun (or whatever) referring to the Jedi knights from Star Wars, then a quite current pop culture reference (Return of the Jedi came out in '83). Even though the song otherwise has nothing to do with Star Wars, it's more or less nonsense. But again, good times. The other songs here follow suit, with titles like "Deadly Like A Rose", "Bite Your Lip", and "Bablyon Rocks". With powerful wailing vox, big beat '80s production, and some really rather heavy riffs & shredding leads for this sort of melodic quasi-metal stuff, this is total cruising around in the car, summertime in the citaaaay music - and we've done just that! Plus, if you're gonna listen to some '80s guilty pleasure cock rock glamminess, why not make it something super obscure like this to keep yr music nerd cred up? So you can still be all snobby with fans of Foreigner, Billy Squier, Sammy Hagar, etc.
Bottom line: we're reviewing and recommending this 'cause we can't stop listening to it, and we're not afraid to admit it!
We love Venetian Snares, every record, we're faced with the possibility of more of we love, or something new and twisted that's bound to confuse and confound. Whether it's splattery drill and bass, or cinematic string drenched soundtrackisms or old school nineties retro techno weirdness, we're pretty much into everything this guy give us.
That said, the most recent full length, Filth, was the first one in a long time that just didn't hit the spot, it just wasn't... well, filthy enough. A little bit of the same old thing, and even then not the same old thing that we loved, definitely sort of blah.
But then comes along Horsey Noises, and we're flipping our lids. The firs thing you'll notice are the vocals. Yep, vocals, the title track is weird fractured electro Depeche Mode-ish slow burn groove, complete with crooned vocals talking about how he wants to make the horse teethed girl make horsey noises. Sick and twisted, and the music suits it perfectly, rubbery buzzy basslines, skittery beats, even handclaps, but all blown out and woozy, lots of atonal abstract melodies, like Venetian Snares remixed through a mainstream pop funhouse mirror. By the end, all the sounds and the vocals are chopped up and twisted and super distorted and twisted all around into a noise drenched electro noisejam. If there was ever gonna be a hit single (there wasn't!) this could be it, if it wasn't so fucked up and jumbled and chaotic and if the lyrics weren't so bizarre. But we love it. Kinda has us hoping VS will sing more in the future. Picture Venetian Snares as some twisted electro pop crooner. Could be cool.
The title track gets remixed, the vocals get pushed way up, but the music is even more far out, eventually exploding into some classic super damaged drilled out jungle craziness. Might be the jam of the record!
The other two tracks are pretty bad ass too, "Horsey Vag Island" is post Aphex, Squarepushery jazz bass bit of looped skittery buzz and stutter, groovy and danceable, but filtered through a sort of ADD, full frontal lobotomy, DJ meltdown. The second track "Pig Dync", about a pig's special part, is a tad more tame, with woozy synths, haunting late night melodies, some total house music synths, but the beats still plenty convoluted, everything chopped up, and thrown back together, even mixes in what sounds like some 'oinks'. Crazy shit. But so good. So good in fact that we might have to revisit Filth. But for now, "Horsey Noises" and the even more mutated remix "Horsey Noisers" will remain in constant heavy rotation in the wild all night dancefloor that exists only in our heads. That's where we dance to stuff like this. Yeah, weird, we know....
As much as we love pretty much everything Venetian Snares has done, from wild drill and bass to damaged techno to furious breakcore and even (especially) his recent foray into dubstep with the kick ass Sabbath Dubs, like most people we were totally smitten by Rossz Csillag Allat Szuletett, Aaron Funk's musical love letter to Hungary, a gorgeous string soaked symphonic epic, dense with orchestral strings and moody melancholy arrangements, then tangled up with Funk's insane and hyperkinetic drum programming. He even learned to play the trumpet and the violin so instead of just sampling parts he could play them himself. The perfect blend of baroque majesty, and insane manic skitter, the drum programming not distracting, but somehow enhancing the emotion and intensity.
Follow up records found Funk returning to a more straight ahead (if anything Funk does could be considered straight ahead) drum and bass template, offering up more twisted and tangled post Aphex jungle, which off course we totally dug, but we couldn't heel hoping for more of that string soaked drill and bass drama like on Rossz Csillag Allat Szuletett.
So here it is, the musical sequel if you will to Rossz Csillag Allat Szuletett. Another gorgeous expansive, super dramatic world of darkness and hopelessness. Each track minor key and mournfully majestic. Not sure if this is really a soundtrack or not, but it sure plays like one, and the trademark Snares drum programming is kept to a minimum, with only 4 tracks (of 14) featuring any rhythms at all. The rest are moody instrumentals, that drift and shimmer, each a haunting mini epic, rife with pizzicato melodies, soaring emotional strings, moaning cellos, choral voices, simple orchestral percussion, harps, choirs, dark liquid pianos, completely breathtaking in scope, falling somewhere between Morricone's The Mission and Arvo Part.
And when Funk introduces his tangled rhythms, it only gets better, those tracks definitely stand out, all the more since they are brief and far between, the rhythms contributing their own tension, sometimes skittering subtly, other times pounding along sides sweeping strings. We used to think that Aphex Twin's "Girl / Boy" was the ultimate chunk of melodic drum and bass, but these tracks, and the ones on Rossz Csillag Allat Szuletett, take it to a whole 'nother level, in terms of complexity, emotional resonance, and sheer musical power.
What can we say, we just love Venetian Snares, pretty much everything he does, whether it's twisted tangled electro, lush symphonic string laden electronic soundscapes or super complex drill and bass, Aaron Funk, the man who is Venetian Snares, just has the magic touch. His drum programming is INSANE, head spinningly dense, frantic and frenzied, the samples ridiculous and WAY over the top, but woven seamlessly into the tumbling explosion of beats and buzzing basslines, the songs managing to be super catchy, even though they're so explosively frenetic. My So Called Life is the sound of VS we like the best, a wild, wickedly fun and funny, super fucked up and freaky, relentless and dancefloor destroying collection of jungle/rave/drill & bass mashups, laced with dancehall style toasting, or choruses created from awkwardly stitched together samples, but those are just filigree for the main attraction, the speaker shredding, ear drum blasting avalanche of wildly twisted beats, as if someone took a handful of the most intense jungle beats, tossed em in a blender, poured the resulting mix into bazooka, and fired it directly into your earhole. So fucking great! Compact disc version due out in 2 weeks, vinyl is here now!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Pre-Dirty Three Mick and Jim (gtr and drums, respectively).
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Pre-Dirty Three trio WITH vocals but WITHOUT violin. There are only about 12 of these in the whole USA, and as far as we know we are the only store carrying it.
What do you get when your band is made up of Shane Embury (Napalm Death), Kevin Sharp (Brutal Truth), Buzz Osbourne (the Melvins) and Danny Herrera (Napalm Death). Well, if you were to believe (don't) the sticker on the front of the jewel case the answer would be "the most handsome band in punk rock." However, the reality is a band that sounds like classic Napalm Death but with a very hi-fi, decidedly unpunk production. Which is a good thing. Massive and heavy. Makes me fantasize about Napalm Death's classic Scum album recorded in a state of the art studio in 2004. If only... But for now, revel in the classic crusty grind of Venomous Concept, replete with an album cover collage of wartime atrocities and a very anarchy-like VC logo. Comes with a video playable on your computer. Minor gripe: The cover art is on a clear sticker stuck to the front of the jewel case, which means if the cover breaks, which they often do, your VC record is suddenly without its proper cover (which -is- actually pretty cool, a clear spine / skull superimposed over the black and white photos).
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
2006 steel cage match, a brutal grind metal hardcore duel to the death between Japan's epic grindthrashers 324 and the old school Earache style supergroup Venomous Concept, feturing Shane And Danny from Napalm Death, Kevin from Brutal Truth and Buzz from the Melvins.
Cover artwork by Kevin Sharp.
Scott from local heavies Kowloon Walled City turned us on to these guys, knowing full well of our love for classic math rock, and holy shit, how did we not know about these guys? Their sound is essentially a modern version of that classic nineties sound, think Rodan, Shellac, June Of 44, A Minor Forest, Rumah Sakit, the same sort of dense, intricate arrangements, melodic and carefully crafted, with a distinct emo vibe, and blasts of explosive heaviness, interspersed with spidery, skeletal passages of delicate melody and woozy loping rhythms, the best parts when those various elements come together. Probably the most distinctive element is the addition of violin, which gives the sound a darkly dramatic vibe, at times conjuring up a slow build tension a la Godspeed, and at others channeling something more like the Dirty Three or Rachel's, but when the drums are pounding and the guitars are crunchy, and the violin is singing, it's pretty goddamn great. The recording too is crisp and clean, letting all the instruments shine, even at its most dense and busy, and the vocals are pretty ace too, usually a weak spot in bands like this.
And while these guys tend toward the more melodic side of math rock (unlike some of the above mentioned bands who leaned toward the heavy), Ventid are certainly capable of some serious rocking, but the fact that the playing is so nimble is what makes this stuff so good, these guys can flit from spidery psychedelic tangle to mathed out churn, to near metallic pound and back again without breaking a sweat. Plenty of stop/starts, and some serious stretches of progged out majesty, and all the while, these guys are writing some seriously catchy songs, you'll find yourselves lulled and entranced by some mathy movement, when all of a sudden a guitar or vocal melody will pop out, and lodge itself in your head. Really great stuff, and kicking ourselves big time for only finding out about these guys now.
Packaged in super cool hand screened jackets, and probably pretty limited.
Wow, when we reviewed those two J.P. Massiera Psychoses compilations, a couple of years back, we somehow assumed that this eccentric French producer recorded so prolifically under so many monikers that many of the groups (especially the space disco ones) were probably just single releases and not complete full length albums. Well, the Mucho Gusto label has proven us wrong once again, by reissuing the full length albums of both Venus Gang and Herman's Rocket, two of the zaniest freakout space disco-funk outfits that Massiera ever created. Commissioned in 1977 and 1978 by an Italian producer to jump on the European Space Disco craze, Massiera teamed up with his half-brother, Bernard Torelli and the singers Mickey and Joyce to create these two amazing groups. Amazing also in the sense that while he used what is basically a cookie-cutter disco template (he blatantly borrows lots from American funk and disco - but really who didn't? And at least he borrows well!), he managed to create such a crazy, unique sound with lots of Moogs, strange vocal effects and lots of spacey noises and sounds. Considered too crazy at the time for marketable appeal (check out the great covers!), both records have gained a cult following over the years and sound so good right now especially with all the modern throwbacks of Italo-disco trying to sound like this, these two groups are by far way freakier and so worth your time. We're curious if all of Massiera's disco incarnations released full length albums, and if we'll be soon gifted with reissues of The Human Egg, Sex Convention and The Starlights too. Here's hoping!
Both albums were only reissued on vinyl, not on cd, but do come with mp3 download cards!
Yet another collection of fantastic and far out musical weirdness from Finnish madman Verde, also known as Mika Rintala, one time member of Circle and Extroverde, but by now, much better known as a mad scientist instrument builder, whose records are constructed using the various and sundry electronic devices Rintala designs and assembles. The inside cover of Verde's new disc offers up a cool snapshot of some of these contraptions, all brightly colored, with tubes and switches and levers and speakers and knobs, and all placed in front of a field of blossoming flowers.
They may be pretty and colorful, but those machines can create pretty out there sounds, which Rintala deftly mixes with bits of jazz, looped droniness, and hypnotic rock. Fans of Circle and the various Circular offshoots will definitely find much to love here. Analog synths swoop and shimmer, wrapped around a repetitive guitar figure and some sizzling cymbals, deep pulsing bass tones throb underneath atonal steel string clang. The result a little bit new age, a little bit abstract electro, pretty hard to describe, as is the whole disc, from old timey jazz accompanied by what sounds like whales songs, wreathed in tape hiss and whirring fuzz, to ominous downtuned looped low end rhythms, peppered with percussive thumps, and squalls of creepy robotic buzz, to wildly malfunctioning electronics wrapped around off kilter guitars and thick sheets of feedback, to gorgeously warped chamber music, played on what sounds like the inside of a piano and some thick warbly rubber band strings, to gorgeous minimal rhythmscapes, with muted percussion, and mesmerizingly woozy melodies, fractured detuned steel string guitar, found sounds, a men's choir speaking not singing and more weird sounds and musics than we could ever find words for.
The cool thing about Verde records, and this one is no different, is that these are not just collections of 'weird sounds', or even sonic experiments, these are actual proper (or perhaps IMproper) songs, pieces, movements, they just so happen to be composed and recorded using a motley collection of hand assembled machines, which if anything, makes the music of Verde more bizarre, but also, way more special and unique.
Some 14 years ago Television guitar-god Tom Verlaine released an unexpected low-key beautiful late night guitar instrumental record called Warm & Cool (which was reissued just a year or so ago by Thrill Jockey). Now he's back with what seems to be the follow up to that outing, and what a nice follow up it is. Slow and steady with nothing to prove, Verlaine's playing is so earnest as he makes sounds perfect for long drives on grey days, as rain splashes against the windshield and your eyes get anonymous glimpses of the surroundings. There is a simplicity in delivery and a timeless quality to his playing that could make this the perfect soundtrack for a 1950's black & white film filled with empty highways and of course the flickering neon lights of a Coca Cola sign on the front of an all-night diner. Yet there is something so meditative and assured about the songs on this record that makes it not just an exercise in nostalgia but instead totally great and engaging mood music that sucks you in and allows to wander those same rainy streets. Each time we listen we go somewhere slightly different and equally as satisfying. Highly recommended!
We still can't get enough of Tom Verlaine's latest instrumental outing Around (reviewed last list). Simultaneous to that release, he put out a new collection of sing songs (you know with vocals and all that) which we've been a bit more hesitant to warm up to initially but as we spend more time with it we've got to say it's not that bad at all. Of course don't expect Marquee Moon, as this is an older more laid-back Tom Verlaine doing a record which recalls some of Lou Reed's solo outings in the 70's. With all sorts of bands like The Strokes ripping off Verlaine's guitar and vocal stylings, it's nice to hear from the man himself. While this may not go be the best thing he's ever done, it's certainly quite nice to see one of the greats aging gracefully, and still making beautiful music.
Any one who loves rock music, and kick ass guitar playing, absolutely must dig seventies guitART rock band Television, and in particular the amazing guitar playing of Tom Verlaine. If not, there's something very very wrong. But don't expect any of that driving, propulsive NY art rock here, nope, Warm And Cool finds Verlaine in a completely different sonic space. This is slow building, smoldering slithering moody minimalism, the riffs are bluesy, but they are so langorous and drenched in reverb, they sound like they could almost be a more citified Calexico or Scenic, all rainy and cloudy and deserted city sounding, streetlights refelcted in oily puddles, the rumble of passing cars, the warm glow of all night diners, the vibe at times is similar to old Tom Waits, sort of desolate and mournful, wandering the empty streets at night, but Warm And Cold is instrumental, so it's all about Verlaine's guitar, shimmering and drifting through dark alleys and boarded up buildings, supported by subtle shuffling brushwork and warm swells of reverberating low end. It does get a little bit jaunty at moments, even slipping in to some chaotic almost free jazz here and there, but the majority of the record is a wonderfully dark and dreary wander through a mysterious twilit city. A lonely latenight soundscape. Think the aforementioned Calexico or Scenic, a slowed way down instrumental Chris Isaac, Giant Sand, Califone, Friends Of Dean Martinez, the warm swoon of Chet Baker, the Texas twang of ZZ Top (although all blissed out and dreamy) and you'll have an idea of the sort of journey you're in for.
Includes digital download, with 5 bonus tracks.
Another awesome release from Sacred Bones, this one from an all girl Italian combo called Vermillion Sands, who mix post punk pound with indie jangle, crunchy guitars, propulsive drumming, angular melody, and sassy sultry vox, all wrapped around some killer super catchy songwriting, reminding us a bit of Brilliant Colors, who in turn fit right in the current crop of retro garage poppers like Grass Widow, Dum Dum Girls, Vivian Girls and the like. But VS do make the sound their own, infusing their songs with plenty of classic girl group shimmer, and a sort of classic garage-y vibe a la Thee Headcoatees. Killer stuff for sure. Anyone into the above mentioned bands or any of the classic female pop combos like The Vaselines, Shop Assistants, Talulah Gosh, Black Tambourine, the Pastels, should definitely check this out.
Another batch of glorious fuzzy girl pop, this one from UK combo Veronica Falls, a surprisingly upbeat song about a popular suicide spot called "Beachy Head", total old school urgent post punk jangle pop, sassy female vox, backed up by deep boy background vocals, cool tendrils of psychedelic guitar melody, fuzzy summery pop for sure, rife with all that sixties reverb and echo, but with just a bit of an ominous edge, and a KILLER chorus. The B side is a sweetly sorrowful beachy ballad, boy girl vocals over Beach Boys shimmer, simple muted percussion and lovely crystalline guitar melodies, warm whirring organ, all woven into a timeless soft focus beach pop ballad. So nice. Obviously for fans of Dum Dum Girls, Vivian Girls, Grass Widow, Brilliant Colors, etc...
Veronica Falls' debut full length from a few months back became a runaway hit around aQ, and for some of us it still gets played constantly. So we were super excited to discover this brand new 7", which really just takes up right where the album left off, the A side a fuzzy chunk of propulsive dream pop, all hazy vox over spidery guitar jangle, a little bit of boy/girl vocal interplay, a little buzz and crunch, but all the edges smoothed away leaving a lush billowing cloud of perfect pop, the song soars and shimmers and is catchy as all get out. And as you might imagine the B side is no slouch either, a more subdued, almost ballad, organs whir, simple skeletal drums drift beneath a warm whirl of soft focus pop, the boy / girl vox again gorgeously dreamy and softly reverbed, the result a dreamily meditative dark pop gem, that has us already hankering for the next full length!
Oh, how we waited for this album! The British quartet's eponymous album from 2011 had become a staple here at aQuarius, hitting all the right sweet spots of jangly, retro indie rock with super catchy girl/boy harmonies that fit perfectly next to old favorites like Unrest, Heavenly, Beat Happening, and whatever your particular favorite C86 band might have been. There was probably a stretch of time when it would be an anomaly if that album *wasn't* being played in the middle of a Saturday afternoon at aQ.
So, Waiting For Something To Happen is an album that undoubtedly has really big shoes to fill; and admittedly, the first couple of listens found us wondering what happened to the tension between the sourpuss punk and the giggly twee, which left us with such a warm and fuzzy feeling on that the first album. Instead, the band has settled into a melancholy jangle that pushes towards those brilliant arrangements John Squire penned on the first Stone Roses record (sans the Madchester grooviness, Veronica Falls still champion the VU minimal-motorik-mono beat) or maybe those tunes Vini Reily wrote for Morrissey's first solo record, proving to be a deft replacement for Johnny Marr. Veronica Falls may have pulled the tempo down a bit, but they are filling in the gaps with a few more baroque flourishes (like something close to a guitar solo, which was entirely absent on the first album); but seriously, do yourself a favor if you loved the first record, pick this up and give it a few spins to let the songs sink into your skull. You'll be rewarded mightily!
We were so into the self titled debut from these UK indie rockers, which was actually a sort of singles collection, so it was pretty goddamn catchy and tough to top, so when record number two dropped, essentially the group's first full length, it took us a little longer to warm up to it, but once we did, it got nearly as many spins as that singles comp. So much so that even one more track from the same sessions is cause for celebration for the pop nerds around aQ. Which brings us to this new single, which features the title track from their new lp on the A side, which if you haven't heard Veronica Falls before, is the sort of track that will win you over immediately. Fuzzy, jangly, crazy catchy, warm and lush with dreamy vocals, and of course a chorus that KILLS. Listen to the sound sample and prepare to have a new favorite pop band. But for the rest of us, who've played both full lengths to death, the real reason to grab this is for the EXCLUSIVE B side, which as you might expect, is another beauty, brief but seriously cool, starting off with some super druggy backwards guitars, draped over muted jangle, we're immediately hearing some strange hybrid of the Breeders and the Swirlies, shoegazey and psychedelic, the whole track laced with those trippy backwards guitars, no drums, just a dense layered wash of softly swirling guitars, more gorgeous vox, and a subtly catchy main hook that will stick in your head like crazy!
After a handful of killer singles comes the debut from this UK indie pop four piece, and it's just as good as those singles promised. In fact, the A side from the most recent single is included here, described by us in a past review as "total old school urgent post punk jangle pop, sassy female vox, backed up by deep boy background vocals, cool tendrils of psychedelic guitar melody, fuzzy summery pop for sure, rife with all that sixties reverb and echo, but with just a bit of an ominous edge, and a KILLER chorus." And we pretty much assumed that like in most cases, said single would be the best track on the album, but somehow EVERY track here is competing for best track bragging rights. The sound very beholden to pop minimalists that came before, Beat Happening, Velvet Underground, all raw and stripped down, urgent and emotional, but still lush and layered, a little bit dark and depressive, and still shot through with sonic warmth and a hopeful melodicism that will definitely find fans of the current group of sixties girl group and post punk influenced indie poppers like Dum Dum Girls, Vivian Girls, Grass Widow as well as fuzzy garage rockers like Ty Segall and Thee Oh Sees and the rest.
Opener "Found Love In A Graveyard" would have to be a contender for pop jam of the year, with its brooding haunting main riff, sweet vocal oooh's and boy/girl vocal interplay, a gloomy bit of pop that blossoms into something super melodic, crazy catchy, jangly and crunchy and so great, with some of THEE most perfect vox ever. So now we're convinced that THIS must be THEE jam here, but then "Right Side Of My Brain" starts up, another killer chunk of crunchy jangle, and yet another bit of dark and moody classic style indie pop with yet another killer chorus, and it's right about then that we decide, "fuck it", why bother trying to pick our favorite track, might make more sense to just proclaim this our new favorite pop record and be done with it. And by be done with it, we mean play over and over and over like crazy!!
