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 108.
20 MINUTE LOOPDecline of Day(Fortune Records)cd$ 11.98
The second release from this San Francisco pop group unveils a looser, much more confident presence with an added dash of pop bombast. Brings to mind a hybrid of REM and - as with their previous release - the Throwing Muses with its well-executed, slightly twisted melodies, slinky guitars, and varied tempos... not to mention the very Stipe-esque male and Hersh-ish female vocals.
ADULT.Hand To Phone(Clone)12"$ 9.98
Four versions of fab Detroit electro duo Adult.'s track "Hand To Phone". They are: the original as heard on their awesome album 'Resuscitation', an instrumental mix by the group themselves (which in my opinion falls a bit short without Nicola's unflinchingly icy vocals), plus two remixes by Carl Craig and Mat 101. Come over!
AGA, ALEMUEthiopiques 11: The Harp of King David(Buda Musique)cd$ 15.98
We were pretty surprised to see an eleventh volume in the Ethiopiques series here, since we were all under the impression that the collection was slated to end at volume ten. Well, turns out we were wrong and we are happy to be wrong because 11 is an excellent As stated earlier, you won't find much similarity in the music here to the rest of the series. Consisting solely of Alemu's soft voice accompanied by the beguena songs have a mesmerising quality. The beguena's strings buzz and rattle as Alemu Aga sings both religious and secular songs in a low, smoky voice. If you skip through the tracks on the disc you might be fooled into thinking you're hearing the same track over and over again. Yet although the instrument's melodies are seemingly repetitive -- given its limited range and single tuning -- they form an interesting counterpoint to Aga's vocal lines.
AGGROVATORS, THEDubbing It Studio 1 Style(Jamaican)cd$ 16.98
It's now getting to the point where, not only can I pick out a new disc from the Jamaican Recordings label from 15 feet by their distinctive layouts, but I almost have a Pavlovian response when I see a new one. Because Jamaican recordings continues to prove
ALOGDuck-Rabbit(Rune Grammofon)cd$ 16.98
Record number two from the acclaimed Norwegian duo. Alog's Eide and Haugan discreetly tiptoe their way through a plethora of styles, as on their debut "Red Shift Swing". "Duck-Rabbit", however, was mostly inspired by ideas and themes created through
ANDY, HORACERoots and Classics(Recall)2cd$ 16.98
Low priced double disc anthology of vocalist Horace Andy, apparently a part of a series of anthologies of Jamaican artists being released by Recall. Each collection comes with a fair amount of biographical notes on the artist and generally make good starting
ANTENNA FARM / MAINAF_M (split cd)(Staalplaat)cd$ 15.98
About 10 years ago, Robert Hampson dissolved his incendiary psych-rock outfit Loop, and ever since has been gradually shedding the layers of his once volatile sound. Recorded under the moniker Main, the first experiments in Hampson's dismantling process Hampson's collaboration with Antenna Farm (the duo of Alastair Leslie and David Howell, recently responsible for a very good album on Phthalo) marks the first release on Staalplaat's Brombrom series of collaborative works. "AF_M" originates from recordings of VLF crackle, shortwave modulations, and various domestic events, yet the three slowly pixillate these sounds into spiralling collages of smoldering electronics and muddled glitches. Quite nice.
ARFORD, SCOTT / RANDY H.Y. YAUEdit For Unconsciousness(Ground Fault)cd$ 9.98
In response to the incendiary buzzes and periodic electrified gasps of sharp noise emanating from the stereo at the front of the store, Andee had to wonder if Aquarius had unbeknownst to him started offering free tattoos with every purchase. Unfortunately, Yau opens the procedings with a muscular application of the Carsten Nicolai / Mika Vainio glitch, as jagged static cracklings collapse into low end rumblings and nervous electrical tones. Arford's follow-up incorporates similarly tense cracklings, but releases them into expansive swells of grey noise. Gradually the record's tension disperses and the lines between whose sound is whose dissolve, as the electrical hissing previously mentioned as replicating the rapid machinations from a tattoo gun slowly take over, softening further into hypnotic vibrations. Very impressive.
AUTECHREChiastic Slide(Warp)cd$ 14.98
This isn't even remotely new, but it does happen to be perhaps the best Autechre record to date. And as it is only now being released domestically and at a decent price (it was $20 until now) we figured it was time to give this record its due. Besides
BARBIERI QUARTET, GATOIn Search Of The Mystery(ESP / Aretina)cd$ 14.98
A new wave of ESP reissues has finally arrived bringing a handful of obscure gems back into print. This disc is the Gato Barbieri from the old days, 1967 to be exact, before he had softened up and mellowed out and was still a major player in the jazz avant garde. Dark and rumbling jazzscapes of bowed cello and skittering, slithering percussion and haunting reverbed pianos underscore wickedly inspired solos from session leader Barbieri. Unlikely melodies and furious harmolodic runs are peppered with intense screeching and soulful wailing. Truly inspired and still amazing even after almost 35 years!
BASTARD NOISEDescent To Mimas(Ground Fault)cd$ 9.98
Take an hour-long sci-fi noise journey with John Wiese's and Eric Wood's latest Ground Fault release. These ex-Man Is The Bastard noiseniks provide all the squelching rumbling grinding hissing droning distorted sounds you love, but structure it like program music -- unlike the often monolithic sonic assaults of Japanese competition (Incapacitants, Hijokaidan, and Merzbow for instance),
BELLE & SEBASTIANI'm Waking Up To Us(Matador)cd$ 6.98
A li'l cd ep for all you Belle & Sebastian fans out there. Three songs in all. As you'll be happy and not at all surprised to discover, their folksy, honeyed, bittersweet romance brand of Scottish pop is in full bloom. With a puppy dog record sleeve to
BLUE SANDLEWOOD SOAPLoring Park Love Ins(Dionysus/Bacchus Archives)cd$ 11.98
Blue Sandlewood Soap was unique in 1967/1968 around Minneapolis / St. Paul in that they had no lead guitarist and their use of crazy tempos and strange time signatures rendered their songs completely undanceable. They were also the first band in their scene
BUSTA RHYMESGenesis(Flipmode)cd$ 16.98
Busta Rhymes has always been a sort of guilty pleasure...well, not really a guilty pleasure, since I've never really felt at all guilty for digging this stuff, but more like a pleasure that's tough to explain. People have a hard time believing (and rightfully
CALE, JOHNDream Interpretation: Inside The Dream Syndicate Volume II(Table Of The Elements)cd$ 15.98
Second in a three-disc series of recordings culled from John Cale's personal archive of material from the late '60s. Upon listening to these visceral documents, one realizes that Cale, a founding member of the Velvet Underground, was more likely than If you're a fan of the noise-loving modern heirs to the Cale droneologist throne, bands such as Skullflower, Pelt, and Sunroof!, you've got to hear this. Recommended.
CALE, JOHNStainless Gamelan: Inside The Dream Syndicate Volume III(Table Of The Elements)cd$ 15.98
Third in a three-disc series of recordings culled from John Cale's personal archive of material from the late '60s. Upon listening to these visceral documents, one realizes that Cale, a founding member of the Velvet Underground, was more likely than not the one As with volume II of this series, there are a few great tracks here that make the price of ths disc worth it, and some throwaways that're of limited interest. The 10-minute "Stainless Steel Gamelan" track is the highlight here, and it's excellent even thought it has nothing to do with gamelan per se. It features the Velvet's Sterling Morrison and Cale both "playing" the same guitar at the same time, an experiment which resulted in shimmering atmospherics and metallic percussive pulses, sounds that're as usefully evocative for today's DJ Shadow or the Aphex Twin as they are here, maybe 30 years earlier. Also included on this disc is a funny hoedown of a piece wherein Cale plays with tape delay, Angus Maclise pounds various hand drums, and Terry Jennings -- a free saxophonist and crony of Lamonte Young -- sings on soprano sax. There's also a tremendous piece with Tony Conrad on a Vox reverb unit and Cale on electric piano -- it sounds like the soundtrack to a nightmare that won't end. If you're a fan of the noise-loving modern heirs to the Cale droneologist throne, bands such as Skullflower, Pelt, and Sunroof!, you've got to hear this. Recommended.
CALIBAN VS. HEAVEN SHALL BURNThe Split Program(Lifeforce)cd$ 12.98
German metalcore showdown! Two of the best metalcore bands around (both German, and both so metal it's sort of selling them short to not just call them metal) face off on this split cd. Caliban spit out Slayer style west coast death metal complete with
CAMPBELL, NEIL / RICHARD YOUNGSHow The Garden Is(Harpenden)lp$ 12.98
Flutes. For Andee that seems to be all that really matters for a record to be incredible. But for the rest of us who need a little more than flutes to convince of a piece of music's merits, we're quite pleased that Neil Campbell and Richard Youngs seemed to
CANTELOUPE, PROFESSOR / DON BOLLESThe Plasmodian World of Canteloupe & Bolles()12"$ 6.98
If you're familiar with the radio show Glossolalia on KXLU in LA then you just might have heard some of the sound snippets that've found their home on this chunk of vinyl. A mad scientist's experiment gone a wee bit awry? This sonic collage was created by the
CAPTAIN BEEFHEARTGrow Fins Vol. III: Grow Fins(Xeric / Table Of The Elements)2lp$ 19.98
Gee willickers! It's been what? TWO years since the second Grow Fins box set was released. We were pretty much convinced that Table of the Elements had given up on ever completing their promise to finish releasing this collection on vinyl. But hey, here we
CHADBOURNE, EUGENEAyler Undead(Grob)cd$ 16.98
Eugene Chadbourne (you know him, you love him?) teams up with two Berlin-based free jazzers for this tribute to the late great saxophonist Albert Ayler on the always interesting Grob label. Joe Williamson (Kletka Red) plays double bass, Uli Jennessen is on
CHESSIEOvernight(Plug Research)cd$ 16.98
Beautifully hypnotic, guitar-driven electronica from the Virginian duo of Stephen Gardner and Ben Bailes. Their third full length and first for Los Angeles-based Plug Research, "Overnight" is quite a departure from Chessie's underachieving,
CIRCUS DEVILSRingworm Interiors(Fading Captain)cd$ 15.98
New project from Robert Pollard of Guided By Voices... and it's great, probably the best thing he's done in years. Thank goodness! We were afraid he'd lost it, y'know. The guy is so prolific that it's hard to keep up the enthusiasm when the quality of his (We also have the LP for 14.98, although this is probably limited.)
COMETS ON FIREs/t(self released)lp$ 11.98
Psychedelic speed garage punk from Santa Cruz! Comets On Fire fuse the amphetamine energy of High Rise with hyper-distorted vocals and electronic tweakery. The SF/Bay Area has been sprouting lots of intense garage-punk acts lately, most of which (try to) rehash the sound of the MC5 and cop the style of the Stooges (it's hard not to), but what really sets these boys ahead of all the others
COPPER PRESSissue #8()magazine$ 4.00
AQ faves Mates of State and how in love they are, The Shins, Hey Mercedes, Victory at Sea, Doug Martsch of Built to Spill, the American Analog Set, a Burton snowboard roundtable, SF's own Jim Yoshii Pile-Up, artist Jason Krause, Jimmy Eat World, lots of photos and snowboarding info.
COUP, THEParty Music(75 Ark)cd$ 15.98
My favorite hip hop record of the year, along with Cannibal Ox's Cold Vein, is The Coup's Party Music. A lot of you heard *about* it before it ever got released, due to the cover art which depicted The Coup's Boots and Pam the Funkstress blowing up the World
CUBBY CREATURESWho Remembers Kathy Barra?(Cubby Control)10"$ 7.98
At the end of this much-too-short EP from SF's clever, quirky popsters The Cubby Creatures, you can't help but wanna hit 'play' one more time. Five playful and pretty tunes that sound as if each of the six Cubby folk had a gleeful time performing them and
DEATH LINEOST(Spinney)cd$ 13.98
You know how a lot of soundtrack recordings are padded out with multiple versions of the same theme, reprised or otherwise repeated, when there's really only about 20 minutes of music written for the film? Well they didn't do that with this soundtrack Death Line was a British horror flick from 1972, about monsters in the London Underground or something, and the soundtrack by Will Malone is apparently a bit of a collectors' item. The main theme is more funky than it is creepy (with some great '70s bassy synth sounds), and I can totally imagine DJs salivating over the rare vinyl version. The rest of the disc is certainly eerier stuff, taking your typical horror movie soundtrack motifs (slowly bowed strings, violin stabs, spooky choral vocals) and combining 'em with some more fat, droney synth electronics. Quirkily atmospheric, likely worth the 14 bucks to soundtrack freaks.
DISK ORCHESTRA[k](Rather Interesting)cd$ 16.98
Not an actual orchestra, but yet another creative persona for Mr. Uwe Schmidt (aka Atom Heart, Atom�, Senor Coconut, et al.). Plunderphonics are alive and kicking shins as Disk Orchestra takes absolutely anything in its path and renders them completely
ELECTRIC BIRDSStrata Frames(U Cover)cd$ 13.98
Third record from Mike Martinez and his Electric Birds. The earthy, organic textures formerly prominent on past EB releases collide with a newfound love of dub and the cold microhouse rhythms of Berlin. Not too distant from the arctic dub stylings of
ENTOMBEDMorning Star(Threeman)cd$ 16.98
Like last year's comeback album "Uprising", the new disc from these Swedes hits hard. Death n' roll, baby. Their death metal roots (these guys were the most brutal deathsters back in the day, on albums like "Left Hand Path") combined with their most rockin' of
FORBIDDEN PLANETs/t(self-released)cd-r$ 14.98
Bay Area improv dude and Rastascan label owner Gino Robair (drums, "materials") teams up with AQ-fave Bjoern Eichstaedt (keys, voice) and fellow Germans Pit Schmidt (sax, tapes) and Thomas Maos (guitar, "mts modulation" whatever that is) for this live
FRIESEN, ERICFriesen Hell(Courtesy Productions)cd-r$ 11.98
Eric Friesen is one of those guys who takes the "classical music was the heavy metal of the 1700s" idea seriously. He's best known (to a small cult following) as one of the two guitarists in the underground black metal band Windham Hell, who hail from the
FRIESEN, ERICFriesenberg Concertos(Courtesy Productions)cd-r$ 11.98
Eric Friesen is one of those guys who takes the "classical music was the heavy metal of the 1700s" idea seriously. He's best known (to a small cult following) as one of the two guitarists in the underground black metal band Windham Hell, who hail from the
FRIZZELL, DWIGHTBullfrog Devildog President(Sparkling Beatnik)cd$ 14.98
Every town -- no matter how great or small -- has that infamous artist / musician / creator who to some is a Harry Smith-like shaman making the most amazing outsider art, but to rest he is just the village idiot. I would imagine that AQ-regular John Dwyer
GET UP KIDS, THEEudora(Vagrant)cd$ 14.98
The current darlings of emo pop/punk scene have released this collection of odds 'n' out-of-print ends for anyone who hasn't been collecting since day one. Those of us addicted to melodic pop with punk energy and lots of sentimental boy feelings (just imagine
GHOSTFACE KILLAHBulletproof Wallets(Epic)cd$ 16.98
There's definitely a division in the clan, Wu-Tang that is. There's the upper tier, Method Man, Old Dirty Bastard, RZA, GZA, the ones whose solo records are as good, if not better than the proper Wu-Tang records, the ones who are too busy producing, filming
GREEN PAJAMAS, THEThe Carolers' Song(Hidden Agenda)cd$ 11.98
Seattle's Green Pajamas are still making their flawless blend of pretty, '60s-influenced psych-pop after 17 years and eight albums. Despite the past few years' popular resurgence of sweet pop stylings, the Green Pajamas are still sadly underappreciated, which is a pity cos they're *so good*! Imagine the Pretty Things mixed with the Kinks and the Olivia Tremor Control. This time
GUENTNER, MARKUSIn Moll(Kompakt)cd$ 16.98
Squelches and whirrs nestle in rolling hills of fuzzy dreamy drones as clicks and pops struggle for air beneath a downy blanket of suffocatingly gorgeous billowy clouds of synth wash. Sound good? It does. It's German electronica artist Markus Guentner's debut cd for the Kompakt label. For those of you who don't know, the Kompakt label has developed an almost timeless aesthetic, not unlike the 'heroin house' sound of Chain Reaction. The Kompakt sound is an application of the often invoked but rarely successful working model of 'ambient techno'. A good example of this sort of thing that AQ-customers probably know about ('cause we sell so many of 'em) is the Wolfgang Voigt project Gas. His minimalist techno releases (in particular the Gas album "Konigsforst") are some of the few electronica albums that all Aquarians can agree on and strongly endorse. In creating "In Moll," Markus Guentner has done more than his part to fill the void created by Voigt's unusual absence, with a disc that captures much of the feel we liked so much about the Gas records, a sort of dreamy melancholy that manages to be both wistful and hopeful, lonely and warm. Jeff thinks it has a real "change of seasons" vibe, that harkens, again, to Gas. And while the Gas comparison is surely accurate (if you haven't caught our drift already, let's state: fans of Gas should pick this up without a second thought!), Guenter does add his own flair to Voigt's signature sound though, creating a more varied and more dynamic soundscape than Voigt's pastoral hum and thump.
ILLUMINATICDEP1(Planet Sounds)cd$ 5.98
More fringe electronica from the UK. Seems to be quite a healthy electronic music scene over there. How come we only hear from Scanner and Spooky and Pita and Fennesz ad infinitum when there's so much more to draw from? Guess these guys (like AQ faves
INNOCENCE MISSIONSmall Planes: Lost And Found Songs 1996-2001(What Are Records?)cd$ 16.98
The Innocence Mission have been around the block a few times - since 1982 actually in some shape or form. Problem is, so much time passes between each of their releases that their fans have often been left fretting that the band is no more. This collection
JIMMY CAKE, THEBrains(Pilatus)cd$ 11.98
Aaaah, thought you'd heard all the post rock you could possibly need? Hold yer horses, 'cause up pops The Jimmy Cake with an albumful of very pleasingly pretty, and most importantly, original post-rock. This sizeable Scottish ensemble spill lush washes of
JUAN DE LA CRUZShake Your Brains(Crystal Emporium)cd$ 17.98
Juan De La Cruz (a band, not a man, so it's filed under "J") was a hard-rock powerhouse powertrio from the Phillippines who flourished in the nineteen seventies. If you're hip to other obscurites from the era, imagine a cross between Buffalo and Los Dug We'll soon have another Juan de la Cruz reissue, a 1970 recording called "Up In Arms" that Shadoks is putting out real soon. Apparently it's got a ton of unreleased live stuff on it, can't wait!
JUDAS PRIESTHell Bent For Leather(Columbia / Legacy)cd$ 12.98
More Priest remastered reissues! Their new album, "Demolition" turned out to be a big piece of crap but that makes these old reissues even more necessary, as a reminder of their former glories in the days of Halford, particularily in the '70s. 1978's
JUDAS PRIESTSin After Sin(Columbia / Legacy)cd$ 12.98
The one with their Joan Baez cover, "Diamonds And Rust". Plus the song Slayer later covered, "Dissident Aggressor". And "Sinner" and "Last Rose of Summer" and more. Early Priest rules, and this was their first album for Columbia, from '77 (and thus the
JUDAS PRIESTStained Class(Columbia / Legacy)cd$ 12.98
Another Priest classic! If you're any sort of metalhead, you'll have this 1978 album in your collection. "Exciter", "Invader", "Beyond The Realms of Death", "Saints In Hell"...so many great songs. This disc is of course remastered and includes two bonus
JUDAS PRIESTUnleashed In The East(Columbia / Legacy)cd$ 12.98
Known to fans as "Unleashed In The Studio", this is their 'live' album recorded in 1979 in Japan. Overdubbed or not, it's another essential metal artifact from the band that pioneered on-stage motorcycle riding. For once, the bonus tracks on this remaster make
KAITOEverlasting(Kompakt)12"$ 9.98
Certainly much more dancefloor friendly than the recent output from Kompakt, Kaito's "Everlasting" features a laid back shuffling tech-house groove flushed out by low slung basslines and constantly syncopating Carl Craig like synth pads.
KHANATEs/t(Southern Lord)cd$ 14.98
Khanate = slow, plodding, dark, distortion-filled, droney, dissonant DOOM, in the (sliced and bleeding) vein of Esoteric, Burning Witch, Corrupted, Earth, Boris, Eyehategod...5 looong tracks (56+ minutes total). And if you haven't heard, this new doom-metal
KID 606 & ELECTRIC COMPANY / KEVIN BLECHDOM$, Vol. 6(Tigerbeat6)7"$ 6.98
Volume six in the notorious Tigerbeat singles series, Kid 606 teams up with Electric Company as Kevin Blechdom does "Long Thong Silver", a ridiculous cover of Sisqo's "Thong Song" that's just wrong-wr-wrong-wrong-wrong. I guess it was funny the first time,