[ aquarius records new arrivals

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Showing results 51 through 100 of 111.

Canadian garage-psych from 1970, now in a legit cd reissue. Apparently a much sought-after collector fave.

Furious and ultra complex jazz/grind from Seattle. Produced by the guy from Converge. Lots of insane tempo changes, stumbling free-noise and crushing walls of grinding guitars. On UK label Rage Of Achilles.

Not only does DJ Jester currently drive the East Coast Boca Burger-mobile (he applied for the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile but alas got the veggie version instead), he's also found time to make what is easily the best turntablist record we've come across since

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Abso-fucking-lutely brilliant record that got little attention when it was imported to the US last year. Temporary Residence has finally issued the all-instrumental Maander stateside, and perhaps now the German 6-piece will get the recognition it's due.

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Kaptain Sun are from Sweden and obviously owe quite a bit to their fellow countrymen Entombed. They mix in a bit of Cathedral, make it a bit more melodic, a little more straight ahead and mid tempo and add some heavy stoner groove. Pretty cool. On UK label Rage of Achilles.

Czech death metal vets Krabathor's new disc continues their brutal career, never letting up on the heaviness or the crazy Morbid Angel-ish guitar solos. They've drafted American death icon Paul Speckman (ex-Master) into their ranks, but that thankfully did

"Automatic Radio" is collection of three performances from LA sound artist Brandon LaBelle, which (as always) includes complete notes on the work at hand. The first piece is a series of closely mic-ed human utterances mimicking animal speech, with the intention of locating the tension inherent in "speaking as a body (sensuality)" and "speaking as an individual (social behavior)."

"Music On A Short Thin Wire" is another conceptual excercise from LA experimentalist Brandon LaBelle, who seems to have recently run into the problem of favoring intent over content. On this album, LaBelle has amplified the first eight releases on the

A Polish collective playing mysterious, moody and melancholy jazz-inflected music. This is apparently their 12th or 13th release! Tapes, synth, guitars, female vocals, etc. On Obuh, the label responsible for various Atman-related releases of avant-garde hippy

Super furious, metallic hardcore (heavy on the metal) from Germany. Pummelling and complex, noisy and chaotic. For fans of Knut (last AQ list), Botch, old Cave In, Converge and stuff like that. Really Great.

Double cd studio and live collection from '70s British folk guitarist/singer John Martyn. Well, he's still around but it seems that this collects tracks from his '70s heyday. His stuff is really less folky than moody, mumbly lite rock, actually. Tim Buckleyish. The liner notes say a lot about Martyn and his career but fail to tell us much about the when/where of these tracks.

During the '80s, Kyoshi Mizutani was a member of Merzbow with Masami Akita - the man who's name is often synonymous with Merzbow, in spite of the many individuals who have helped with his ongoing Merzbow project. For this album, Mizutani presents six different and mostly untreated field recordings with tenuous connections to bird songs. The first track features the most overt manipulation

Here is the much-anticipated "lost" first album from those Modest Mouse boys. Includes many oddities from back in '94. "Why," you may ask "was this never released?" Well, the story goes that Isaac and the MM gang simply decided to set it aside, in favor of

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Let's face it. When Mogwai's 'Young Team' came out, that was it. The final word on the 'quiet/loud moody instrumental indie rock' sound. They had done it. What does a band do then? Where do they take their music? While they were trying to figure that out, So when we heard the new Mogwai, we were ready to write it off, and we sort of did. It was slow, listless, and not at all like 'Young Team' which I think we had all been secretly hoping it would be. But once we got over all our non-musical issues, and actually sat down and listened to it. Close, we were singing a different tune. It definitely doesn't sound all that much like Mogwai. And it actually does sound quite a bit like Godspeed (or what I imagined a Godspeed cover band started by the guys in Mogwai and the guys in Teenage Fanclub might sound like) but that's not a bad thing. Much in the way that Godspeed took the Mogwai sound and made it their own, it seems like this time around it's Mogwai's turn to say 'yeah? well watch this' and take their twisted sound back, and twist it even more, into a tranquil and dreamy, beautifully lush and absolutely epic album. A record you can sink right into. Glistening shifting guitar layers and textures, skittery and lazy rhythms, dramatic minor key swells all accompanied by drowsy vocals. A lot more vocals than we expected, but dang if they aren't nice. And it feels like beneath all this grandeur and epic sound, there are actually little hidden nuggets of catchy pop, just obscured enough to keep it interesting. On their last release it was the horrendous cover art that didn't fit the music, this time it's the title itself that's the culprit (Rock action? Hardly). Ah, but we know those Scottish lads to be a mass of contradictions. Nevertheless, this is a fantastic record. Mesmerizingly beautiful and totally essential.

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UK label Rage of Achilles again dredges the depths of America's metal underground and comes up with a winner. Alabama's Molehill are slow and dirty and dirgy and ultra heavy. Oh, and did I say slow? Screamy slow-motion southern dirge-rock with plenty of

Mouse On Mars' aesthetic may be far from punk rock, but they have employed punk's calculated rebellion against a canonical text, authority, or figurehead. Both "Idiology" and Matmos' recent album "A Chance To Cut Is A Chance To Cure" mark a reactionary trend within electronica to dismiss the clean, cold digital sounds that have permeated the genre (see the "Clicks and Cuts" compilations Mouse On Mars are still smart enough to keep this album from devolving into the vapid surface music of more mainstream acts like Thievery Corporation or Chemical Brothers. There's plenty of overt wackiness and happy-go-lucky clumsiness to make their best house grooves stumble with a charm that's hard to beat.

I'm a sucker for a certain kind of earnest male singer songwriter. Like Sparklehorse, Nick Drake, Tom Petty, Mark Eitzel, Mark Olson (Jayhawks, Creekdippers) -- those guys with a certain kind of warbly voice that can't quite hide all that inner pain and a chin-up resolve to make it through the heartbreak. A certain kind of toned down rock flavor that's way more Neil Young than it is

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Mum hails from Iceland, a land whose musical exports have received proportionally higher praise per capita than bands from any other country on the planet. And, yes, Mum has been hailed as the next big thing from Iceland after Sigur Ros. This outfit places

Another new Nebula record. Definitely their best record although not a whole lot has changed. These ex-Fu Manchu folks play fuzzed out, drugged out, groovy stoner rock and play it well. And just because this is nothing new, doesn't mean it isn't still loads

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Reissue of rare 1968 collectible from this obscure (but of course legendary) psychedelic San Francisco band. A bit dour in a good way, imagine Moby Grape, with unison harmony vocals like a depressed Mamas and Papas. Another reason to get this is the glorious silver hexagonal digipak, a miniature of the original LP sleeve's "cosmic cube" design. It folds out and everything!

Latest in the new movement of punk rock bands turning into pop rock bands (ala the Get Up Kids, Into Another, Sensefield, Dashboard Confessional, everything on Vagrant). And don't get me wrong, I'm all for it. It's just funny how the kids now have their Get Up Kids patches nestled comfortably next to their Earth Crisis and Doom patches. Whatever. No Motiv have all the right

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The very earliest recordings from country star Buck Owens. Though he's most known for his pioneering honky tonk sound, influencing a future generation of country stars including Dwight Yoakam and Clint Black, he's heard here in a much more raw and immediate

Anyone into the magical vibe of late '60s/early '70s British psych folk must get this, the absolutely lovely solo debut from multi-instrumentalist and Tower Recordings founding member Pat Gulber. Together with percussionist/producer Tim Barnes, he's taken

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Rhino releases a very nice anthology covering the broad swath of Gram Parsons' short (he died in his mid-twenties) but brilliant career, thru almost all the bands he took part in, including the International Submarine Band, the Byrds, and the Flying Burrito If you don't already have his solo records and the single Byrds album he appeared on (Sweetheart of the Rodeo), then why not give this anthology a try. It's got one previously unreleased Int.Sub.Band outtake (that's quite good), copious liner notes, including notes on each song included, plus lots of photos of Parsons in his Nudie suits that I'd never seen before, some words from Emmylou, and it's all packaged in a very nice slipcase. Recommended. Note: we always carry the two solo albums he made -- GP and Grievous Angel -- which have been released on one disc.

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Starting in 1969, Trojan records began a special subsidiary label devoted to releasing the singles representing the best works from Jamaica's most profound producer, engineer and performer: Lee 'Scratch' Perry. In three years the label, Upsetter Records,

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Espen Sommer Eide of Rune Grammofon-label post-rock-electronica act Alog presents his second solo disc of sampled live instruments and electronic manipulations. Mostly a non-beat-oriented mellow, moody, soupy soundscape, with gentle loops and Tarwater-ish

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Moments on this ep hint at the lovely wonder that was Piano Magic's "Low Birth Weight" album but falls just a bit short of reaching the sparkling splendour of that release. However, if you loved "LBW" but were sadly disappointing by their most recent

The British outfit Piano Magic have always walked the fine line between post-rock and electronica. With this 4-track 12", they receive the remix treatment courtesy Isan, Future 3, Ensemble, and Opiate, thus demonstrating how PM might sound if they went full steam in that e-music direction. It's burbly, delicate and serene like a Boards Of Canada or To Rococo Rot record.

A decidedly and perhaps appropriately lo-fi recording of this SF/LA spazz-noise-rock pair. Yes, one is Pink (ex-Landed, ex-Burmese, current OCS, Coach Whips and Dig That Body Up, It's Alive) and one is Brown (ex-Tarentel, ex-Lumen). As is hinted at

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Long-delayed (but finally released) new live disc from the Bill Laswell-led, contantly mutating Praxis outfit. This time around, the line-up features bassist Laswell, long-time Praxis participant Buckethead (y'know, the new Guns n' Roses guitarist!), former

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50 minute video starring former Skratch Piklz Qbert, D-Styles, DJ Flare, and Yogafrog. All animated! We haven't seen it yet, but hear that the story involves personifications of the four arts of hip hop (MCing, B-boying, Graffiti, and DJing) who are being oppressed by an evil lord. For those of you who don't want to buy this video, we are renting it (local customers only).

I think we maybe got one of these on vinyl before it went out of print. Qelectronics is Mr Quintron's info-mercial / demonstration record for his unique and twisted musical invention the "Drum Buddy", which those fortunate enough to catch him live have been

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It's about fucking time! This is one of the best and most overlooked hard rock/metal records of the past 15 years, a big fave of Andee and Allan here at AQ. Its obscurity might have something do with the fact that that they were, as frontman Greg Strzempka But the bottom line is always the songs. And Raging Slab, at least on this record, has SONGS coming out their ass. Unforgettable hooks and sing-along choruses. So catchy and fun (and funny) without being stupidly ironic. Bizarre lyrics that are sung so forcefully and with such emotion that you find yourself singing along full force: "GET OFF MY JOLLIES!!!!" or "I can bust a gut on Heebie Jeebies and holy rollers poppin wheelies", or "Just try and shave my wooly bully, I'll use the fur as fuel for folly." In fact all the lyrics are almost nonsensical but oddly satisfying and completely compelling (especially when you're in full on air-guitar, or 'air lead vocalist' mode). This should have been the "Nevermind" of groovy boogie stoner hard rock, but the money and success and fame somehow didn't happen. But now with this reissue, folks have another chance to catch on to this slab of truly unique, Southern-fried metal-rock nirvana.

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When Rothko's first album "A Negative For Francis" came out a couple years ago, it appeared that this all bass (almost), all instrumental UK trio had the potential to single handedly alter the course of post-rock away from Tortoise's jazz fusion

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Huge groovy Swedish stoner sludge. Warm fuzzy guitars, crashing drums and soaring vocals. On UK label Rage of Achilles.

This rare album (only 500 copies of the LP were originally issued in 1974) is now finally reissued on cd! "Blau" (Blue) is the second solo effort from legendary krautrock electronics pioneer Conrad Schnitzler, following his amazing debut "Rot" (Red) and his

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Subtitled, Another Suplex Prune Hittite Fantasy! But I think this needs a little more explanation. Argh. Ok, some of you will remember Steven Shultz for his remarkable "History of Vats" cd, or his more recent rap album, the "I Forgot To Get A Rap Name!" The four cds come packaged in a cardboard box, complete with a thick booklet providing you with the entire libretto, and more. Basically, this is the Conet Project of "comedy"! (that is, if you can consider this comedy...) This also features a special guest star, a certain local metal singer who wisely desires to remain anonymous (hint: he's on one of Andee's recent tUMULt releases), who, as a favor for Steve, played the role of Hulk Hogan! ...I also think I heard Bob Dylan on here... So, if you think pro wrestling characters from the '80s are amusing and that the slang term 'hella' is funny and you like Frank Zappa, or if you are simply a connoisseur of the idiotically ridiculous, this is for you!! Don't say we didn't warn you. Basically, if you can stand to listen to the entire thing, you've got problems. (See www.harmful.org/stalinclaus for more information, including a helpful flowchart explaining the, uh, plot. Or so we're told, we were too scared to go there.)

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Series 7 is a recent art house hit about a game show where the goal is to kill the rest of the contestants. The ultimate reality show. If only Survivor was like that, I would have watched every week. The soundtrack (at least some of it), comes courtesy of everyone's favorite sexy-new-wave-indie-doom-rock band Girls Against Boys. Their first new music in a while.

Brand new Talvin Singh record. Follow up to 'OK' which everyone seemed to love. More of the same. Modern electronica laced with tablas and sitars giving it a very 'eastern chill out lounge' sound. Nice. Expensive import. No word on a domestic release yet.

Lenny Smith is a high school Latin teacher and head of the Smith family, whose 5 kids are otherwise known by their stage name Danielson Famile. Yep, the Danielson Famile's exuberant music was nurtured in the home. Can you imagine the hoedowns this family must've had at Christmastimes? The music on this record is a bit staid, but come on, he's a high school teacher. Get this only if

Brand new album from French hip hop superstar MC Solaar. Pretty good album, certainly the best since Prose Combat: heavy beats, nice production and even some decent scratching. To be sure, there are a few weak slow jams on the album, but somehow they don't

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Two excellent stoner rock groups go head to head on this split single: Mike Amott's much-loved Spiritual Beggars and newcomers Grand Magus.

Volume 7 in the Carnival Folklore Resurrection series, and all four of Aquarius' Sun City Girls heads give it the thumbs up. According to the liner notes the Sun City Girls originally made 50 cassettes of "Libyan Dream" and dropped them off in cassette

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Here's an old favorite title we thought we'd highlight 'cause we've never listed it before and just got it back in stock! Over the years the two Johns (Flansburgh and Linnell) from Brooklyn, NY have cranked out an impressive amount of musical fun and

Stoner rockin' heaviness from Down Under. Pretty great, especially on jammin' and getting jammier instrumental juggernauts like "Etherel Blue". Definitely in the upper echelon of the new wave of stoner rock (along with Ufomammut, Astrosoniq, and The Want) of

Hallelujah! US Maple return with "Acre Thrills". And such a wonderful return it is. Their last release "Talker" (produced by Michael Gira) was so sparse and subdued it was barely audible, but this one's turned up a few notches. Me, I love anticipating the

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Of the increasing volume of electronic music compilations that continue to flood the markets, the two "Bip Hop" compilations hold the unique distinction of being more than a document of who's hot and who's not in electronica. Instead of cramming 20 tracks into 72 minutes of space, "Bip Hop Generation 2" only features 6 artists -- Bernhard Fleischmann, Arovane, Warmdesk, Kohn, Wang Inc, Fleischmann, Pernice, and Warmdesk generate off-kilter techno similar to early Aphex Twin and Plaid, while Arovane continues down the Boards Of Canada path of moody melody. Wang Inc and Kohn offer a handful of wistful and melodic analogue sketches. Even for those of us who think there should be a moratorium on electronica compilations, this is worth checking out!

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This bargain sampler celebrates ten years and over 100 releases on Richard D. James' REPHLEX label. 16 tracks clocking in at 76 minutes by µ-Ziq, Cylob, DMX Crew, The Gentle People, Bochum Welt, Chaos A.D. (Squarepusher), Global Goon, D'arcangelo, The Railway River, Baby Ford (Remix by AFX), Vulva, Vibert Simmonds (yes, Luke Vibert), Bogdan Raczynski, Mike Dred with Peter Green,

Jeff wins the endurance award for listening to all three discs back to back. The second volume of this appropriately titled compilation of miminal electronic technicians. With tracks from Kid 606, Vladislav Delay, SND, Frank Brettschneider, Thomas Brinkmann, Swayzak, Kit Clayton, Pan Sonic, Matmos and many more.

Where were you from 1965 to 1973? Well, if you weren't born yet or for some reason were otherwise occupied, check out the hot sounds that were coming out of Philadelphia back then. This 17 track soul, funk and early disco compilation on the excellent Soul Jazz label (who also brought us the wonderful Studio One Rockers as well as the 100%, 200% and 300% Dynamite Jamaican

[ aquarius records new arrivals — issue 112 ]