Split release of stoner rock majesty. First up, the doomier side of the album courtesy of local SF heavies Acid King (the band lead by Dale Crover's wife Lori, featuring as well 'Thee' Guy Pinhas of ex-Obsessed, ex-Goatsnake, ex-Beaver fame). Their four tracks of sludge love are followed by the somewhat 'funkier' stylings (well, there's an organ player in the band) of deep South instrumental combo The Mystick Krewe... Funky spelling anyway. This New Orleans band (boasting members of Eyehategod) aren't actually instrumental on this disc, though, as they are joined by stoner rock legend Wino (Spirit Caravan, ex-Saint Vitus, ex-Obsessed) on vocals, a smart move. Again, heavy stuff. Rock out! Recommended.
Another fucking drop dead record of gorgeous, hazy ambience from this UK mystery man. Droning and buzzing and humming with tinges of middle eastern flavor and No Neck Blues Band style free chaos. Fans of NNBB and Chalk/Coleclough should deinitely check this out.
Excellent remix collection (based tracks from Auch's Chain Reaction style "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye" album), by the happenin' electronica likes of Sutekh, Dat Politics, Goem, Auch, and others.
This is Peel Sessions Volume 2 from the UKs masters of skitter and stutter. While not as brilliant as the last full length 'LP5' or the fantastic 'EP7' it is nonetheless pretty great. If you are new to this whole Autechre thing, start with the older 'Chiastic Slide', but if you're already a fan, this is just more of what you know (and probably love).
Members of Polish avant-hippy collective Atman (aka Magic Carpathians) are involved with this project, the title of which we think translates into English as "Baltic Whisperings". Recordings of seals swimming in the Baltic Sea are augmented with moog, guitar, woodwinds, plus various other instruments and electronics. They've created an aquatic musical document of bathing, breathing creatures and drifting, gorgeous, and sometimes sinister, shimmering soundscapes. This is the kind of "new age" music we can like. Very limited availability.
Fflint Central is a U.K. label run by two extraordinarily nice guys and darn fine hosts (good enough to befriend a sick and bedraggled on-tour Andee and buy him Cokes). Fflint specializes in experimental electronics and harsh abstract noise. One would think that there's enough, or too much of both, but the men from Fflint have that something special (fuck-you attitude? undefinable sound? sense of humor?) that makes these records way better and way more interesting than the majority of the 'electronica' we hear these days. Fans of VV/M, Lesser and other 'troublesome' electonica will dig this stuff. Affordable CD-Rs. Go ahead and take a chance. You may regret it...
Besides having the greatest band name ever, BL&D whip up a malfunctioning maelstrom of stuttering, fuzzed out synth and hiccupping bursts of skull pounding glitchery.
Sputtering clicks and oscillating low end rumbles are draped over chest rattling modulated pulses, creating some of the fiercest, coolest experimental electronica we've heard in a while. Like music for that video game the devil forces you to play in hell, for eternity. Awesome.
Fflint Central is a U.K. label run by two extraordinarily nice guys and darn fine hosts (good enough to befriend a sick and bedraggled on-tour Andee and buy him Cokes). Fflint specializes in experimental electronics and harsh abstract noise. One would think that there's enough, or too much of both, but the men from Fflint have that something special (fuck-you attitude? undefinable sound? sense of humor?) that makes these records way better and way more interesting than the majority of the 'electronica' we hear these days. Fans of VV/M, Lesser and other 'troublesome' electonica will dig this stuff. Affordable CD-Rs. Go ahead and take a chance. You may regret it...
Record number two from the brilliantly named BL+D. This is a little more droney and hypnotic than the first Berkowitz record, but equally as fucked.
Spazzy organ solos degrade into super distorted, hypnotic pulsing, slowly evolving like a Charlemagne Palestine piece, albeit with a full battery of broken down machinery, malfunctioning effects, and distorted alien transmissions. Noisey but still musical, BL+D are like a thinking man's VV/M.
The last official U.S. release from the now retired label/store Howling Bull America (who we will miss something awful and who leave a void in our dwindling little punk rock community that will undoubtedly be filled by more cellphones/S.U.V.s/restaurants). This is the latest e.p. from Michigan's reefer obsessed, downtuned stoners. Crushing and sloooow and heavy as fuck. Three new tracks (including the wonderfully titled "Grim Reefer") and four live cuts (only on the cd).
Yeeeah! This, the new Boredoms album (now a domestic release, good for those whose pocketbooks were unable to handle the $90 import boxed version!), is a worthy follow-up to their amazing, universally-lauded "Super Ae" disc of 1999. It finds the Boredoms venturing even further into "trance" realms (for some of us, this is dangerously hippie; Andee calls Vision Creation "drum circle Boredoms"). This record may actually appeal more to fans of stuff like No Neck Blues Band or Iran than lovers of Japanese craziness. But hell, it's still the Boredoms!
Pressed on white vinyl in an edition of 500. Two Bay Area bands duke it out for the title of aggro art rock poseur. Split release on our friendly friends at Zum and OlyWA's Thin the Herd.
Solo improvisations for oboe, English horn, and Chinese suona by the frontman of Chicago's Lozenge. Pieces range from ear piercing sonic attacks ala Peter Brotzmann to calm, intimate gestures reminiscent of Kaoru Abe or Evan Parker. The liner notes claim that Entymology was recorded in a living room, quite convincing given the personal nature of these pieces. The lo-fidelity of this recording is quite charming as you can hear the gasps for air between notes as well as the clanking sound of the keys of Bruckmann's instruments as he renders them unrecognizable! Look out for an upcoming CD of duets between Bruckmann and various improvisational luminaries!
Calla has found its home in New York, but the heart still longs for the dusty lands of their birthplace -- Texas. Calla is a subtly dynamic and drunkenly theatrical trio that specializes in slow building rock crescendos that have often warranted comparisons to Morricone, though they are far too American and indie-rock to really acquire such a parallel. Think instead a Calexico playing Bedhead songs with a gravel throated Steve Von Till of Neurosis singing. A fine product from Michael Gira's Young God Records.
A Pauline Oliveros project, with Peter Bode and Andrew Deutsch. For this release, they've taken stuff from the technical notebooks of electronic instrument pioneer Harald Bode (Peter's dad?) and with the use of the Bode Vocoder have made his writing part of their improvised drone composition. Other elements include Harald's demo tapes, Oliveros' "Difference Box" device, and Deutsch's synthesizer.
Fflint Central is a U.K. label run by two extraordinarily nice guys and darn fine hosts (good enough to befriend a sick and bedraggled on-tour Andee and buy him Cokes). Fflint specializes in experimental electronics and harsh abstract noise. One would think that there's enough, or too much of both, but the men from Fflint have that something special (fuck-you attitude? undefinable sound? sense of humor?) that makes these records way better and way more interesting than the majority of the 'electronica' we hear these days. Fans of VV/M, Lesser and other 'troublesome' electonica will dig this stuff.Affordable CD-Rs. Go ahead and take a chance. You may regret it...
Cavendish Sanguine is the work of Fflint co-mastermind Barry Williams, and is certainly the least abrasive. But that's not to say it isn't harsh in its own way. Huge swarming walls of buzzing and humming, dissipate into sublime, murky low-end atmospherics. Dark pulses and repeating figures (ala Charlemagne Palestine) slowly become less and less cohesive until they too begin to drone and hum. This one is definitely for the drone minded among you. Fans of Jonathan Coleclough, Andrew Chalk, Mirror, etc.
Celluloid Mata "Sable" is a dark (almost industrial) electronica album heavy on the distorted breakbeat crunch and the harsh electronic collage. Definitely for the Meat Beat Manifesto / Scorn crowd.
Indeed. The self-proclaimed California underground doom metal kings Cold Mourning present their first full-length cd release. Simple, slow, crushing stuff, almost more punk than metal (they even do a Discharge cover). Definitely one for Saint Vitus fans, although the vocals are a bit...rough. So if you're a stickler for good vocals, take a pass. But if sub-Sabbath heaviness is more your priority, go ahead and check 'em out.
L.A.'s kings of grindcore first full length (after a shitload of comps and 7"s). Heavy and noisy and totally hilarious. From the airbrushed cocaine/Conan the Barbarian 70's-van art cover, to the ridiculous between song banter (lifted from Venom and others) to the sort-of-appropriation of metal classics and 70's am radio hits that occasionally surface between bursts of all out grind, this record fucking rules. Think Crossed Out but not as slower and sloppier, or think Man Is The Bastard with a sense of humor.
Awesome.
If you saw the movie, you know how great this is. The music in 'Crouching Tiger...' was just the icing on an already 7-layered-5-different�kinds�of�icing-and�those�little-edible-hard-icing-flowers cake. Even without the visuals, Yo Yo Ma manages to evoke sadness and beauty, emotions and images. So much better than most of the soundtrack/score pap we've been conditioned to accept. And if you haven't seen it, what the hell's wrong with you!?!?!
For all aficionados of the Funk, here's cause for celebration! The long-awaited cd reissues of these early '70s albums by Betty Davis, ex-wife of Miles (famously, the subject "They Say I'm Different"'s second track, "He Was A Big Freak")! Betty belts out her lowdown lyrics over some super heavy funk grooves, kinda like a rawer version of Lyn Collins backed not by the JBs but by the swampier P-Funk band. Betty doesn't hold back and her band does their best to match her attitude. Both records (her third, "Nasty Girl", still awaits reissue but should soon be making the scene) are the quote unquote bomb. The self-titled one is her 1973 debut, and features jams like "If I'm In Luck I Might Get Picked Up" and "Game Is My Middle Name". Larry Graham's the bassist, and Neal Schon (!) appears on guitar. The follow-up, "They Say I'm Different", continued Betty's Afrodelic party, with guests Buddy Miles and others, and made the list of "100 Records That Set The World On Fire" in The Wire magazine a few years back. Tough, sexy funk classics unearthed, don't miss 'em!
Vladislav Delay has a thing for cologne (this is a true fact) -- not the city as you may expect from one whose aesthetic parallels that of Cologne's Wolfgang Voigt and Thomas Brinkmann, but rather the mens' perfume. It may be a stretch to qualify his complex percolations of dubbed-out ambient techno as musical equals to his cologne fetish, but there must be some connection between the two. Where Thievery Corporation reeks of AquaVelva, thus smelling like a soft-core porno, Vladislav Delay has the aroma of something infinitely more sophisticated, like the clean citrus scents from Hermes. "Anima" is his lightest and airiest production to date, almost abandoning the rhythmic proclivities of his dense Chain Reaction record in favor of skittering abstraction that loosely follow a subtle ambient dub rhythm (one complaint: a two-note synth pad sequence that is practically identical to the Twin Peaks theme, and thus Moby's early techno anthem "Go!"). One continuous track.
Florida based electronica artist Richard Devine makes an attempt to draw water at the Autechre well, but comes up a bit dry. More of a "masculine" sounding rhythm programming, lacking in the subtlety of Autechre -- no tempo changes, and very little difference in the rhythmic pattern or palette of sounds in any given piece. It's as though he has discovered the "formula" to start an Autechresque piece, but once he gets it fired up he doesn't know where to go with it.
Dntel's "Something Always Goes Wrong" had a noble beginning back in 1994 when it was slated to be released on some Japanese boutique techno label as a concept record about "our hero and his arduous journey." (?) The presence of swords, damsels, and an evil king keep this concept album outside of the realm of Sci-Fi -- the genre of choice for techno boffins doing concept albums. This is a blantantly romantic piece of electronic abstraction which nuzzles itself right in between early '90s legends of electronica in Reload, Biosphere, and chill-out king, The Orb. The outsider electronica label Phthalo resurrected this album and added two remixes (from Seq and Languis respectively) and two new tracks. Fans of Boards of Canada who haven't heard much of Reload or Biosphere should certainly check Dntel out. Easily the most accessible record to emerge from the damaged minds of Phthalo!
We are all graciously awaiting the release of "The Donnas Hit Menopause" when the age of the band will finally reach the current average age of their male fans. More kick ass, power pop/punk ala The Runaways/Ramones/Redd Kross etc...
It should be stated that Sacramento's Electro Group has nothing in common with electro the genre - so look elsewhere for Miami jeep bass-bin rattlin' beats. Instead, this Electro Group hails from Sacramento and picks up where such contemporary US noise-pop / shoegazing bands as The Lilys and The Aisler's Set left off with their lovable reclamation of the early '90s Creation sound. While each track off of "A New Pacifica" -- their debut album -- is drenched in a thick early My Bloody Valentine distortion, it is primarily the rolling basslines which provide nearly all of the melodies for the Electro Group, thus keeping them sounding much heavier than your average shoegazing trio. Released on the Omnibus label, who was repsonsible for that fantastic Mates of State album, and, like that record, this isn't something you should pass up.
What can we say, other than that this may be the year of the Faust re-issue! Yet another (and quite cheap, all things considered) way to delve into the seminal work of these eccentric krautrock geniuses. Fairly well packaged, with reproductions of the original artwork and notes from the first album (no, not on clear plastic as the LP was) included, as well as the front and back cover images from "So Far" (but not the color prints found inside the original LP or in the previous cd reissues--if you want those, you gotta get the "Wumme Years" box). But, this disc comes with two pages of additional notes by Jason Gross of "Perfect Sound Forever" magazine.
Flux Information Sciences is a NYC band that arrived nearly two decades too late sounding not unlike Cop Shoot Cop or Michael Gira's first band Circus Mort -- dark, angular, sorta heavy art-rock with a 'clowns are scary' bent. They feature members of Gunga Din, and nostalgiacally found their way onto Gira's Young God Records.
The gorgeous soaring voice of Kathy Elzey graces this collection of twelve tropicalia songs by this Elk Grove, CA trio. "Who is Ms Elzey?" you may ask. Well, she's noneother than the mother of Rose Melberg (Softies, Go Sailor, Tiger Trap, Gaze)! And we can clearly hear that the joy of singing runs in the family. If you attended Ladyfest in Olympia, WA last year, you may have been lucky enough to see Rose and Kathy perform together. Quite magical. In Gardenia Azul, she sings completely in Spanish and is accompanied by Ray Elzey on backing vocals, guitar, bass, requinto and pedal steel, and percussionist Cary Avery (who has also played with the likes of Cal Tjader and Jose Feliciano). Although they have been performing for many years, this is their first album --- and quite a beautiful one at that. And although this cd is mainly only available at their live shows, we are fortunate to have them here at AQ. Hurrah!
Those of you who bought the last issue of the fantastic magazine (and AQ fave) Cimarron Weekend, will know all about the Gizmos (probably way too much). This is a collection of all the detritus (demos and such) from Indiana's legendary garage punk weirdos. Featuring rough versions of all their hits: 'Gimme Back My Foreskin', 'Human Garbage Disposal' and of course 'Pumpin' To Playboy'.
Three kids transplanted to Olympia, WA via Searcy, AK. Beth sings in a raw, soulful Southern drawl (I think she kinda sounds like a female version of Danzig, just listen to Jailbreak!) over Kathy's rudimentary drums and stripped down bluesy guitar courtesy of Nathan (also of Boy Pussy USA). Sounds like the soundtrack to a juvenile delinquent flick set in late summer, in the parking lot of a Louisiana roller rink. Sloppy and sweaty and sexy in an awkward not so sexy teenage way. For fans of early Bratmobile, Pussy Galore/JSBX, Sleater-Kinney, and hell, Danzig!
Oh yeah! Finally, a full length from the best worst rap group EVER. God Albino, Duke Crapmore and Flybot Van Damn are three skinny white guys who absolutely destroy on the mic. Fuck Paul Barman and his wacky 'college guy' shtick, this is the shit. Stupid and funky and juvenile and offensive and so so funny. HGRMWG are like the Geto Boys, if the Geto Boys were immature, whiny, skinny white art-school drop outs. We've been following these guys for a while -- they've contributed standout tracks to all three of the WordSound comps as well as cameos on the Spectre records. Primitive loops, lo-fi recording, ridiculous fake voices, and lots and lots of skits! And ANYONE who bought a Steven Schultz record off the last list, HAS to buy this. In fact, I'm just gonna go through the files and send out copies to those people. You know who you are...
An obscure early '70s American power trio that we'd never heard of until a bootleg cd recently crossed our path. Intrigued by the cover photo of three long-haired stoner dudes, we checked it out (hoping for something akin to Sabbath or Budgie but perfectly aware that we were more likely to discover something more like unsuccessful ... wannabes). Lo! Highway Robbery turned out to be bonafide heavy-hitters, playing proto-metal in the Led Zep vein, with moments recalling Sabbath and the Who. Huzzah! Double huzzah, 'cause we then discovered that this, their only album (originally released by Capitol in 1973) had serendipitously just been reissued by Collectables, and we could share our discovery with the lucky patrons of Aquarius. It's almost all super heavy and rockin, despite the obligatory misguided pop efforts made by all not-metal-yet hard rockers of the era, it's got a singing drummer, they've got the look, what more do you want! Fans of current or vintage "stoner rock" should jump on this. Wow, it's always nice to find that there's stuff out there remaining to surprise us.
Reissue of early His Name Is Alive tape releases from 1985 to 1989. Tracks are taken from the first four tapes, earlier versions of tracks that would appear on "Livonia", plus lots of previously unreleased tracks. Totalling in at over 70 minutes, you really get your money's worth here of His Name Is Alive. This is totally great, a lot like the "Livonia" era cuts with more of a raw 4-track, tape experiment feel to them.
Number 9 in the 'Fading Captain' series of Bob Pollard / Guided By Voices related projects. And what more do you need to know? Well, okay, this one is actually a little weirder than your normal Pollard / GBV fare: a rickety framework of spaced out ambience, rhythmic sort-of-retarded drumming and general lo-fi randomness, all supporting some pretty cool not exactly GBV sounding pop songs.
1976 recordings of some classic toasting by I Roy. Produced by Bunny Lee and Recorded at King Tubby's studio.
The latest, self-released effort by this unusual band, a Utah-based collective lead by guitarist Gentry Densley. Their career saw them begin as a Victory-label skate-punk outfit, touched on metal and prog, and now finds them hovering comfortably in the realms of outside jazz improv! This disc follows the "double trio" format (shades of recent King Crimson!) with two guitar/sax/percussion units, one in the left channel and one in the right. 23 tracks, recorded live and edited "for continuous flow" by Gentry. Energy and beauty comingle in Iceburn's explorations, and you can tell that each of the players probably own a stack of Coltrane-era Impulse! label recordings. Nicely packaged in a screenprinted black folding wallet.
Allan's favorite Japanese noise band ('cause they're chubby bankers by day, chubby noise-freaks at night?) return with a disc of live material. Wait, I thought all their recordings were (more or less) live? Anway, this documents a November 5th, 1999 show in Austria and a December 25th, 1999 show in Tokyo (aptly titled "The Strongest Christmas Ever"). For the latter performance, this electronics duo is joined by drummer Tatsuya Yoshida of the Ruins, who does his best to add to the din and contribute to the holiday spirit. As always, NOISY!
Three acapella tracks by the Texas mystery man (totalling in at over 50 minutes). Yes, a capella, no guitar, no piano, no nothing but Mr Jandek's voice. Very disturbing, and not in a good way.
Imagine this scene, the Elephant 6 Collective are having a lil' summertime picnic in the park (yes, the Olivias, Apples, Of Montreal... heck, they're all there). The trio known as Joy Zipper peek out from behind a nearby tree and break out into song. Upon hearing the sweet popness, the E6 gang invite them over and lovely cozy melodies ensue. Dreamy guitar and keyboards. Youthful boy/girl vocals. Moments of quirky twists. Fans of the Apples in Stereo, Death Cab For Cutie or Elliott Smith, take note. If this is any indication, each and every time we've played this in the store we've received multiple inquiries asking who this pop wonder is. Cup says "Yeah!"
Zbigniew Karkowski has been generating physically impressive sound collages for the past 2 decades, with a number of solo projects as well as in collaboration with Merzbow, the Hafler Trio, John Duncan, Sensorband, Aube, and others. Karkowski, like Duncan, approaches sound as a pure energy that has the potential to overwhelm and control the listener with an almost totalitarian force. While his sounds resemble the pure sine waves of Ryoji Ikeda or Noto, he contextualizes such sounds not as theatrical abstractions of '60s minimalism, but as violent rips in time & space.
"Choice of Points for The Application of Force" begins with a noxious low end rumble that fills any space with huge standing waves that resonate through the body. Slowly, gritty chunks of digitized noise explode against the low frequencies, building up to mid-range static buzzing and black-hole energy. An excellent addition to any catalogue of digital clickery, with a definite emphasis on the darkside.
Yet another notable export from the weird wide world of the Finnish underground. And again, courtesy of the mighty Bad Vugum.
If you were at the AQ 30th Anniversary party you may have seen Circle mainman Jussi spporting a Keuhkot shirt, as hey/they are huge fans. Kehkot is a maniacal one man band, that leaps stylistically all over the map from record to record.
'Minun...' starts out sounding like woodblock electronica, Autechre played on sticks and logs. But with ominous Darth Vader exhalations in the background. Eventually this mutates into some sort of psychotic calypso, sounding a bit like bizarre soundtrack music, albeit laced with strange Finnish mutterings. Really weird, and really great.
Two disk anthology of Fela Kuti's grand ouevre. As the title implies, one disk focuses on Fela's jazz oriented cuts and the other on his dance elements -- though parsing those two, which are so entwined in all his music, is somewhat tough. Never the less, this is a pretty good introduction to the music of Fela Kuti, spanning twenty years of his prolific career (with tracks from as far back as 1972 and as recent as 1992) and is recommended to those who are curious about his work, but have yet to make any commitments.
Yet even more silly (but awesome) Dungeons & Dragons / Lord of The Rings metal. This is like the almighty Children of Bodom (blazing fast, duelling lead guitars AND duelling keyboards) but swap the harsh death metal vocals for high melodic New Wave of British Heavy Metal style vocals. Maybe a bit cheesy but still pretty fantastic.
So here it is. The new Lesser record. On Matador no less. We were all a little afraid, that not wanting to blow his big chance (it's quite a leap from Vinyl Communications to Matador), Jay Lesser was going to soften his attack, blunt his weapons, and make a 'nice' record (one the Plaid/Plone/Boards of Canada crowd could get into) which probably would be okay, but lacking the confusional chaos that we here at AQ love so much but which most people have trouble getting their heads around. Fear not. This is THE record Lesser has been trying to make for years. It all comes together just right. Gone is most of the drum 'n bass dabbling of the last record, and in its place a tangled mess of skittering beats (like a malfunctioning Autechre), funky hiccupping beats patched together from a thousand skipping cds, long stretches of ambient noise, radio interference and just completely random sound. Probably the most difficult Lesser record yet. Certainly the most difficult thing you've heard on Matador. But it's worth the work, because underneath all this mayhem and confusion are some amazing songs, catchy melodies super funky beats, hilarious (usually unrecognizable) samples, and some of the most unique amazing 'sound' you've ever heard. Imagine an Autechre / Merzbow soundclash on New Years Eve, in Central Park, and for some reason their rig is intercepting thousands of cellular phone calls / radio transmissions / crowd sounds, and then it begins to rain, and the whole thing short circuits, causing an ungodly assortment of sizzle and crackle and white noise and total mayhem. It's kind of like that, but with a few pretty parts.
I mean, any record that gets a review calling it "a detriment to humanity" (Stanford Intermission) has got to be great. Most musicians, kings, presidents, criminals and supervillains work their whole lives towards that end and still don't make it.
Hopefully this record will steal some of the Kid606 / Matmos / Blechdom / Kit Clayton thunder and put it back where it probably belonged all along.
Fucking essential.
Finally, a new full length from Low! Yet again Steve Albini is at the controls, though it seems he has loosened his production reigns a bit since Secret Name -- having wetted up the mix a bit more with the reverb that Low appreciates so. On top of that, Low continues to push their self-established, simmeringly-quiet barebones envelope by actually filling out their sound with mellotron, violins, piano, etc. But at the heart of it all, it's still the same lovely, patient Low songwriting we love. "Laser Beam" is the highlight of the album, wherein Mimi sings so purely. There's a bit of disagreement here at AQ whether these continued experiments and the new songs are more or less successful than Secret Name, so we can't give it an assertive "yay" or "nay". The jury is still out on this one.
LP has two extra non-cd tracks.
