Aquarius Records closed in 2016. This site is an archive — a place to rediscover their extraordinary music recommendations. Nothing here is for sale.
Showing results 1 through 50 of 89.
A GUY CALLED GERALDBlueprint(Blueprint)2cd$ 18.98
A straight mixed CD of '70s funk classics from the techno-boffin turned drum 'n' bass innovator A Guy Called Gerald, featuring Funkadelic, Marvin Gaye, James Brown, Bootsy's Rubber Band, Cymande, Slave, War, Phoebe Snow, Barry White, Mtume, Kool & The Gang, and many more. One of the discs is Gerald's mix, the other is an un-mixed selection of some of Gerald's favorite tracks.
AALIYAHs/t(Blackground)cd$ 17.98
Where is the "hit" on this record? It seems to be all filler, despite Timbaland's production work on several tracks and also one written by Misy Elliot. Just really generic slow jams laced with Aaliyah's pretty voice (multitracked and tweaked within an inch of its life.) Hm.
ALLEN, REDFolkways Years 1964-1983(Smithsonian-Folkways)cd$ 15.98
As usual, Smithsonian-Folkways has gone all out and put together a handsome reissue. Though singer / guitarist Red Allen has remained a little known figure outside of bluegrass circles, his importance within the genre is much underscored in this
ALMAIs It Me?(Blackbean & Placenta)cd$ 8.98
The Blackbean & Placenta label are certainly not pinning themselves down genre-wise what with artists like Reynols, Orange Cake Mix and this pretty Swedish combo Alma holding court. Gentle, folky female vocals bringing to mind a Cowboy Junkies-like flourish into three part harmonies. They're joined by subdued banjo, lap steel and flute. A very nice end-of-summer record.
APPLES IN STEREOLet's Go!(Spin Art)cd ep$ 7.98
Always the ones to offer up an ep of odds and ends to tide their fans over 'til the next full length appears, the perky Elephant 6ers Apples In Stereo have collected together a live track, an acoustic studio outtake (of a song that appears on Discovery Of A World Inside The Moon), a Powerpuff girls tribute, a demo of the same song, and one other track. As bouncy and jubilant as we've
ASSAULT, DJJefferson Ave.(Intuit-Solar)cd$ 16.98
The king of Detroit ghetto-tech returns with seventeen new tracks of accelerated funk. Much to our disappointment, the spastic intensity which made 'Belle Isle Tech' and 'Off the Chain for the Y2K' so exciting is lost to expanded track lengths, mild and tired rhythms, and boring reiterations of old material ("Ass-N-Titties 2001?" anyone?). However, "Nipples-N-Clits" (a play on the
BETA BANDHot Shots II(Astralwerks)cd$ 16.98
The Beta Band are still really skilled at mixing together a total hodgepodge of sounds, from ethnic drumming to tinkling piano, dub, weird atmospherics, space age melodica, and shuffling breakbeat percussion. The Pink-Floyd-style hushed unison vocals have
BOBBYTEENSYoung & Dumb(Just Add Water)cd$ 13.98
The third full-length from perpetual highschoolers the Bobbyteens. Another trashy rawk party with major emphasis on fun, (minor on proficiency and production). A word of historical note, if you liked the Mummies, the Phantom Surfers and the Count Backwards, you no doubt already know that Bobbyteen Russell Quan beat the tubs for those three extremely lo-fi garage outfits. Plus his BT
BRINKMANN, THOMAS46 Valentino EP(max.E.8)12"$ 9.98
Thomas Brinkmann offers more of a schizophonic single with his "46 Valentino" ep. The A side favors his more club friendly techno sounds with a twin tone-arm reconstruction of Richie Hawtin (I'm guessing it's the old "Train Trac" single by F.U.S.E.) and with some Depeche Mode references as well. The flipside features more of an much more adventurous track in "Monomexico" with a Steve
BROWN, JAMESLive at the Apollo Volume II (Deluxe Edition)(Universal)2cd$ 28.00
Ok, we didn't make this record of the week or anything, but it would be hard to argue that this package doesn't contain two of the best musically-impregnated plastic and aluminum discs reviewed in this week's list! Heck, the 19 minutes of "It's A Man's Man's
BUCKLEY, JEFFLive At l'Olympia(Columbia France)cd$ 21.00
In July 1995, one year after the release of his debut full length album Grace, Jeff Buckley, whose popularity was small but growing in the United States, played two concerts at Paris' famed Olympia, on a stage that had held James Brown and the Velvet
CARNIVAL IN COALFear Not(Season Of Mist)cd$ 14.98
If you always buy the weirdest, most fucked stuff that we recommend on our lists, then doubtless you already have Carnival In Coal's previous disc in your collection, the absurd/astounding "French Cancan". That's the mostly-all-covers disc on which this
COELACANTHThe Chronograph(Partition)cd$ 14.98
Once known simply as "the rust record", this is the debut recorded collaboration between AQ-fave sound artist Loren Chasse (id battery, Thuja, himself, etc.) and AQ-fave staffer Jim Haynes! Jim, known for his decay-oriented visual art, provided the
COLEMAN, JAMESZuihitsu(Sedimental)cd$ 14.98
Boston thereminist James Coleman comes from the very spartan school of improvisational "new music" alongside John Wall, Phil Durrant, and the Durian label. Coleman's spartan wisps of tones from the theremin (that early electronic instrument played without touching it, rather by manipulating the electrical waves emitting from it) accompany a number of guest musicians including Greg
COMPUTER COUGARRough Notes On High Stress(Gern Blandsten)cd$ 12.98
Following his time in Rorschach and prior to forming (the sadly now defunct) Beautiful Skin, Nick Forte made feisty music in a band known as Computer Cougar. This album fills in the mysterious gap between the two groups, illustrating how Nick got from point
COPPER PRESS#6()magazine$ 4.00
Nicely designed magazine with full folor cover and a full on love for music and snowboarding. Death Cab for Cutie, Analogue II, avant violinist Mat Maneri, Juno, girl snowboarder Line Oestvold, Swell, Brian McMahan of The For Carnation, Dismemberment Plan, Kind of Like Spitting, drummers Hamid Drake and Michael Zerang.
CRADLE OF FILTHBitter Suites To Succubi(AbraCadaver)cd$ 16.98
The UK's notorious black metal superstars take their Gothic metal fantasies to the major label level with this new release, a quickie album preceding their debut disc for new label Sony! While not as fully-realized as their last full-length (the
CURRENT 93 / NURSE WITH WOUNDBright Yellow Moon(Durtro / United Dairies)cd$ 17.98
Both Steven Stapleton and David Tibet have been working on each others albums almost since the inceptions of both Nurse With Wound and Current 93, and the two of them have collaborated as equals on a few Stapleton / Tibet albums. But both Tibet and Stapleton Somehow this collaboration has reawakened the nightmare culture which both ensembles propagated during the beginnings of Current 93 and Nurse With Wound, so you'll find less of the anally retentive folk stylings which have populated Current 93 and less of the smug weird-for-the-sake-of-being-weirdness from the last couple of Nurse With Wound albums. Michael Cashmore -- Tibet's favorite guitarist to play on the Current 93 albums -- does make a few appearances, offering more of a high-lonesome sound of big single plucked strings than his normal 12-string affair. Behind these solitary notes, Stapleton gradually builds a sublime collage of slashing noises, mechanical vocal loops, and generalized ominous atmospheres which is very reminiscent of his work on C93's "Dogs Blood Rising" and NWW's "Homotopy For Marie." Tibet, of course, offers an bleak recitation of one of his prophetic revelations. As in C93's previous "The Great And The Small," Tibet's inspiration comes from the near-death experience he encountered after his appendix burst and went gangrenous. However, unlike "The Great And The Small," "Bright Yellow Moon" comes much closer to explaining Tibet's horrors.
DE FACTOMegaton Shotblast(GSL)lp$ 12.98
Edgy, experimental dub directions from At The Drive-In's Omar and Cedric. I saw them perform early in January in L.A., and really dug them, but it didn't really prepare me for this their first album. Whereas that performance was much more straight-up old dub sounds, Megaton Shotblast -- which was recorded in March -- is something quite different and more expansive. Sinewy dub bass, '70s
ELECTRIC COMPANY62-56(Tigerbeat6)cd$ 11.98
Electric Company is one Brad Laner, whom you may recognize as he is formerly of L.A. dreampopsters Medicine. Riding on the coattails of his acclaimed 'Slow Food' lp on Mike Paradinas' Planet µ label as well as last year's wonderful 'Exitos' cd on
ELLIOTT, DEANZounds! What Sounds!(Basta)cd$ 17.98
After many years of being one of the holy grails of much sought after LPs in the "incredibly strange" variety, Dean Elliott's legendary Zounds! What Sounds is now finally available (legitimately) on cd as part of Basta's aptly titled "essential" series of
FELDMAN, MORTONPiano And String Quartet(Hat Hut)cd$ 16.98
As far as I know this is the only the second time this piece by Feldman has been recorded -- the first by the Kronos Quartet with Aki Takahashi on Elektra -- but I could be wrong. Composed in 1985, Piano & String Quartet comes late in Feldman's career. Like other pieces of this period, this piece is quite lengthy, clocking in at over 70 minutes (the good people at Hat Hut have even put
FERRARI, LUCPresque Rien(INA/GRM)cd$ 16.98
Smugly qualified by Ferrari as a "poor man's concrete music," "Presque Rien" is a brilliant piece of musique concrete that reflects the turbulent psychological landscape of Paris in the late '60s and early '70s. While the liner notes make no reference to participation in or sympathy with the Parisian rebellion of May 1968, Ferrari's "Music Promenade" (which opens the "Presque
FOXY BROWNBroken Silence(Def Jam)cd$ 17.98
Yeah, Foxy Brown's a tough Brooklyn rapper, she makes sure we realize that. Unfortunately her new album is tedious and uninteresting with hardly any uplifting beauty to redeem it, except perhaps for a couple numbers where she finally sounds like she's having fun, especially the weirdly bouncy, weirdly great song "730."
FRITH, FREDClearing(Tzadik)cd$ 16.98
Member of such classic "experimental" outfits as Henry Cow, Art Bears and Massacre, and frequent downtown (Zorn, Laswell) collaborator, Frith has enjoyed increasingly iconic status for the last quarter century (novices, check out 1980's Gravity). Clearing is the avant guitar-hero's first solo guitar record since 1974's seminal Guitar Solos. Very pretty, evocative (and
FROST, EDITHWonder Wonder(Drag City)cd$ 14.98
On this her third full length, Edith Frost's wonderful songwriting is in full bloom. Lush instrumentation provides the back drop to her sleepily melancholic melodies. Soft shades of country. Strangely her vocals edge a bit towards those of Liz Phair, but that
FUGUFugu 1(For Us)lp$ 13.98
Decent indie pop with a Beach Boys meets Stereolab vibe to it. You may recognize Fugu's name from the ultra collectible split 7" they did with Stereolab some time back. Also, S'lab's Laetitia appears on one track.
GOEMDisco(Fourth Dimension)cd$ 15.98
Goem is the exceedingly reductive post-techno ensemble comprised of Peter Duimelinks, Roel Meelkop, and Frans De Waard. Drawing from both the gentle modulations of Terry Riley's minimalism and the stripped down techno rhythms of Jeff Mills, early Pan Sonic,
HAINES, DEmo(Sigma)cd$ 14.98
It's hard to not simply fall back upon the immediate observation that D. Haines' Emo album is the fictional remix that Wolfgang Voigt (aka Gas) should do for drone label Troum. With the Gas records (especially Konigsforst) and the Troum / Maeror Tri records
HIGH RISEPsychobomb(Modern Music)cd$ 21.00
Live document of Tokyo's psychedelic speed freaks' 2000 tour of the US, specifically from their Seattle and NYC shows. Features tracks from the more recent Disallow and Desperado lps as well as their standards, "Popsicle" and "Psychedelic Speed Freaks". Hardcore fans will want this for sure, however, the recording quality doesn't quite do them justice as much as the in-the-red,
HIRAXBlasted In Bangkok(Deep Six Records)cd ep$ 8.98
Here's an archival ep from Eighties SoCal thrash titans Hirax, featuring their three song demo from '87 and one bonus track ("Bombs of Death") from '84.
HIRAXEl Diablo Negro(Deep Six Records)cd ep$ 5.98
Hirax is back! At least, with these three songs, recorded in 2000 by a line up featuring the original vocalist, bassist and drummer (dunno about the guitarist). They don't sound much different than they did back in the '80s, it's SoCal thrash with Katon W. DePena's trademark high-pitched vox. Supposedly there's a full-on full-length on the way from these reunited metal
HOLLENTHONWith Vilest of Worms to Dwell(Napalm )cd$ 14.98
Here it is! The metal record of the week (the Necrophagist isn't really new, y'know), the second album from Austria's Hollenthon. Fucking incredible pan-cultural symphonic heavy metal genius. Even more epic and impressive than their debut, which we raved about
JIGMASTASInfectious(Landspeed)cd$ 16.98
DJ Spinna and MC Kriminul are together the duo Jigmastas, and they make a straight up deeply heavy style of hip hop with guests such as Sadat X from Brand Nubian and even Vernon Reid (Living Color) on guitar. This isn't strictly a super underground release since Spinna has worked with the likes of De La Soul and Mary J Blige, but nonetheless blink and you might miss this. Comes with a
JOY DIVISIONLes Bains Douches(Get Back)2lp$ 19.98
Legit live recordings from the vaults of Factory Records. Disc one is comprised of one night at Les Baines Douches in Paris, 1979. Intended for radio broadcast, this quality recording does well to capture the raw, vibrant energy of Joy Division at the peak of their powers. Disc two combines live tracks recorded the following year in Amsterdam and Eindoven. Packaged in a sturdy gatefold
K.New Problems(Tiger Style)cd$ 14.98
The first solo album from Karla Schickele of Ida is a lovely, gentle affair. Full of hushed, intimate acoustic recordings embellished with a delicate, almost imperceptible, misty texture. Soft, spartan string and piano instrumentation allow her voice and words to shine through. Very much in the same vein as Low (with whom she recently shared a split cd), or Elliott Smith. Fans
KID 606 / TIMEBLIND$ vol. 3(Tigerbeat6)7"$ 7.98
Third in the $ series of split 7"s on Tigerbeat6. One track each by Oakland's Kid 606 and Brooklyn's Timeblind. Limited to 750 copies, so act fast!
KNIT SEPARATES / ORANGE CAKE MIXGhost Of A Ghost / Zenith Power Shell(3 Acre Floor)lp$ 8.98
A split LP between San Francisco's Knit Separates and Orange Cake Mix, both of whom exemplify the art of holing up in a bedroom and quickly banging out evocative, yet quirky 4-track psychedelic folk. The Knit Separates -- comprised of Jason Honea, Glenn
KUTI AND THE AFRICA '70 WITH GINGER BAKER, FELALive!(MCA / Universal)cd$ 17.98
Oh my god! We're overwhelmed with this sudden spasm of Fela Kuti reissue activity -- a dozen cds (many of them containing two LPs worth of music) in the last couple weeks alone, with more on the way! Needless to say, we're not YET able to offer reviews of each
KUTI, FELAArmy Arrangement(MCA / Universal)cd$ 17.98
KUTI, FELA Everything Scatter / Noise For Vendor Mouth (MCA / Universal) cd 17.98 KUTI, FELA Ikoy Blindness / Kalakuta Show (MCA / Universal) cd 17.98 KUTI, FELA J.J.D. / Unnecessary Begging (MCA / Universal) cd 17.98 KUTI, FELA Live In Amsterdam (MCA / Universal) cd 17.98 KUTI, FELA Monkey Banana / Excuse O (MCA / Universal) cd 17.98 KUTI, FELA Open & Close / Afrodesiac (MCA / Universal) cd 17.98 KUTI, FELA Roforofo Fight (MCA / Universal) cd 17.98 KUTI, FELA The '69 Los Angeles Sessions (MCA / Universal) cd 17.98 KUTI, FELA Upside Down / Music of Many Colours (MCA / Universal) cd 17.98 KUTI, FELA Zombie (MCA / Universal) cd 17.98
KYBURZ, HANSPETERMalstrom / The Voynich Cipher Manuscript / Parts(Kairos)cd$ 16.98
Another great document of 20th century (verging on 21st in this case) classical music, on the always-pretty-amazing German label Kairos. This disc features three pieces from the 1990s by Kyburz, a Lagos-born, German-educated Swiss composer who currently
LESSERMensa Dance Squad(Tigerbeat6)cd$ 11.98
Not as willfully cacophonic as the "Gearhound" album for Matador, "Mensa Dance Squad" finds Jay Lesser making an overachieving concept record which rails against the pretenses of IDM (aka 'intelligent' dance music) and all of its self-congratulatory
LOWParis '99: Anthony, Are You Around?(P-Vine)cd$ 22.00
An album that remains one of my favorite recordings in the face of advancing technology and fancy pants studio wizardry is the Cowboy Junkies' first album "The Trinity Sessions." Recorded in an empty church directly into a stereo pair of microphones and onto tape, it's a testament to the possibilities of "live" recordings. I'd always thought that a band that deserved to be treated
MACEDA, JOSEGongs and Bamboos(Tzadik)cd$ 16.98
When Tzadik says something like "one of the most original and underappreciated composers in contemporary music" it should be taken with more than one grain of salt, yet the presentation of Philipino composer Jose Maceda certainly holds up to such critical praise. Well versed in both the temple musics of Southeast Asia and the conceptually minded compositions of Varese and Xenakis,
MAN OR ASTROMAN?Beyond The Black Hole(Estrus)cd$ 14.98
One of the hardest working, most prolific bands from the last ten years have yet another album for the eager ears of space cadets everywhere. Their last bunch of records have ventured away from their decidedly kitsch'n'garage early sounds, but this album revisits those olden days. Actually now that they've settled snugly in their deluxe space-age studios that they constructed
MANILLA ROADOpen The Gates(Dragonheart)cd$ 16.98
Another long-awaited reissue, adding another piece to the puzzle that is the legacy of obscure '80s metal legends Manilla Road. Since the late '70s, these guys have hammered out umpteen elpees of fantastic and fantastical heavy metal, treading a progressive,
MARKANTInfam(Markant)cd$ 16.98
After a seemingly endless barrage of vinyl only releases, Carsten Endrass (aka Markant) has finally produced his first CD -- a format much better suited to his extended passages of melancholic, IDM-based electronica. It's not entirely clear if these tracks had come from the last couple of Markant singles, but we have encountered rumours that "Infam" may in fact be a compendium of his
MIAMI INTERNAL AFFAIRSDeclassified(Beta Bodega)7"$ 5.98
Pay no attention to the Beta Bodega agenda of "covert intelligence operations," as this little 7" of electro-revivalism doesn't fall far from the Adult. sound. Possibly a collaboration between Le Syndicat Electronique, Patcha Kutek, and V8 -- but who can tell from Beta Bodega.
MOSCONI, DAVIDELa Musica dell'anno Zero(Alga Marghen)lp$ 28.00
Unfortunately, we're unable to offer much information about Davide Mosconi, other than his affiliation with various Fluxus artists and that "La Musica dell'anno Zero" was constructed entirely from fog horns recorded off the Scottish coasts. This album appears
MUSIC EMPORIUMs/t(Sundazed)cd$ 12.98
When the first line of lyrics you hear on a record are something about "velveteen clouds" you know you're listening to something psychedelic -- in this case, a reissue of the rare 1969 album by LA psych-popsters the Music Emporium. Swirling organ, fuzz