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 51 through 90 of 90.
LOST GOATThe Dirty Ones(Tee Pee Records)cd$ 13.98
New one (getting better) from this popular San Francisco hard rock trio. Not 'stoner rock', not 'punk', not 'metal', not 'grunge'...not exactly. Loud guitars, tough girl vocals, lots of attitude and rock action. Members of Amber Asylum show up to add
LOVEDa Capo(Sundazed)lp$ 15.98
Love's second lp from 1967, originally issued by Elektra, now available again on 180 gram audiophile vinyl. Seven tracks, including the essential "Seven And Seven Is" as well as the sidelong epic, "Revelation".
LOVEForever Changes(Elektra)cd$ 16.98
This remastered deluxe edition of Love's 1967 masterpiece features seven bonus tracks! If you've never heard this classic record before then you must buy one now. Period. You will love it, promise. For those who're already fans of Love, know that the bonus tracks are a mixed bag. There are some wonderful outtakes and new songs, some versions of songs that are seemingly indistinguishable from the originals, and one hilarious track where Arthur Lee exhorts his bandmates to relax... and then says "Okay, Take 25"!
LOVEs/t(Warner Europe)cd$ 16.98
The classic 1966 debut from Arthur Lee and co. remastered in both stereo and mono! Includes their intense take on Bacharach / David's "My Little Red Book", the fast paced, fuzzed out cover of "Hey Joe" and the heart-wrenching tearjerker "Signed D.C.". As
MIRAHAdvisory Committee(K)cd$ 14.98
An ambitious sophomore album from Ms Mirah. Thirteen songs that expand on the recent "Cold Cold Water" ep and follow her impressive debut "You Think It's Like This But Really It's Like This". At times lonely and sorrowful, at others uplifting and
MIRAHCold Cold Water(K)cd$ 10.98
Mirah's contribution to K Records' long-running International Pop Underground Series is a glimpse at what would become a grand cowboy folk-inflected affair... her second full length just-released album "Advisory Committee". It contains twelve tracks in all, four of them actual songs including two versions of the album's lead-off track "Cold Cold Water", two other alternate versions of
MOULD, BOBModulate.(Red Ink)cd$ 16.98
An agonizing kick in the teeth to Husker Du fans everywhere. This is appalling. Pseudo-rave, cheezy, electronic dance music that perhaps only Stephin Merritt and his Future Bible Heroes can get away with... and we're not even goin' near those over-Cher-ified
MY BLOODY VALENTINEIsn't Anything(Sony / Creation)cd$ 14.98
As we recently listed My Bloody Valentine's hard to find collection "Ecstacy and Wine" as well as their masterpiece "Loveless," it's about time that we got "Isn't Anything" into the Aquarius Records archives. I seem to remember an odd anecdote about the recording process of this album, that it was recorded somewhere in the outskirts of their native Dublin near a sheep farm and the band ended up crashing at the studio throughout the entire recording session. Yet, their sleep patterns were constantly interrupted by the incessant bleating of those sheep, and the collective insomnia contributed to the lethargy and torpor found within "Isn't Anything." Of course, I've been unable to verify this story with anything factual, but this album sure does sound sleepy, mostly sliding towards the realm of deep slumber, but occasionally hopped-up on punchy sleep-deprived nerves. In the name of revisionist history, "Isn't Anything" stands as the transition album between the gilded jangle of "Ecstacy and Wine" and the radioluminescence of "Loveless." My Bloody Valentine had begun to bury much of their emulation of '60s psychedelic pop in Sonic Youth mack-truck riffage and intertwining guitar haze that upstages the Velvet Underground strum-as-drone. Tracks like "Feed Me With Your Kiss" and "Sueisfine" thickly blur the sad lullaby vocals from Kevin Shields and Bilinda Butcher through overblown bass distortion and strangely uptempo rhythms. Yet, My Bloody Valentine will instantly glide out of these into the shoegazing drone-pop of something like "Lose My Breath" with its tone bending extended chords and lack of pronounced rhythms. Only a couple of the songs on "Isn't Anything" are as memorable as those found on "Loveless," but there are plenty of swirling dreamy-pop songs that make this album a treat for shoegazing fans!
N.E.R.D.In Search of...(Virgin France)cd$ 10.98
Finally available domestically (at a cheap price, for now anyway), this record should be of interest even to the folks who bought the import version, cos N.E.R.D. re-recorded their debut with a live band instead of all samples and pro-tools. It's actually not
NURSE WITH WOUNDMan With The Woman Face(World Serpent)cd$ 17.98
Having retreated from London to an Irish farm many moons ago, Steve Stapleton has kept the personnel on his recent Nurse With Wound recordings down to just a few other people, with only David Tibet, Colin Potter, and Aranos appearing with any regularity.
OLD DIRTY BASTARDThe Trials And Tribulations Of Russell Jones(D3)cd$ 17.98
God, I love Ol' Dirty Bastard. Remember on that awards show, where he was so messed up he nearly walked into a fountain of flames? Or remember that other awards show where ODB ran on stage and started rambling incoherently about the Wu-Tang while some poor
OLDHAM, WILL / ERIK WESSELOForest Time(Artimo)10"$ 17.98
Limited as heck, this one-sided 10" with a brand new song from Will Oldham comes packaged with a rather lovely book-like selection of photographs from one Erik Wesselo. The photos are mostly soft-focus landscapes -- forest, sea cliffs, etc. Buy now or cry later, although at $17.98 for one song, this is for uber Oldham fans only.
OXBOWAn Evil Heat(Neurot)cd$ 15.98
This is REAL 'emo' rock, let me tell you. Not indie-pop emo but totally heavy, insane, noisy emotionally cathartic art rock mayhem. URB magazine says this is a 'must have', which is pretty bizarre because while WE think Oxbow rules, it's hard to imagine
PAPA MSongs of Mac Performed By Papa M(Western Vinyl)cd ep$ 8.98
Two new songs on this li'l single from Louisvillian Dave Pajo. It's called Songs of Mac, but who is Mac? It's totally not clear, although one of the songs is by a Mac Finley, about whom I find no info whatsoever, even on Google... Dave, clue us in already!
PATTERN, THEImmediately(Lookout)cd ep$ 7.98
Trashy retro-rock guitars back up former PeeChees vocalist and Lookout! Records' wheeler'n'dealer Chris Applegren's trademark bratty boy nasal howling. Live, they're a lively flailing rock'n'roll party, but on record they've yet to capture that energy.
PINE VALLEY COSMONAUTSThe Executioner's Last Songs Vol. 1(Bloodshot)cd$ 16.98
Following the rather unsettling "Anthology of American Literature" collaboration between the PVCs and Neal Pollack that we reviewed in the last AQ List, Jon Langford gets things back on track. On this new album, they - as described right on the cover -
POISON THE WELLTear From The Red(Trustkill )cd$ 14.98
Every once in a while, there's a record that is so good and makes me so happy, I find it virtually impossible to write a review of it. There's all this pressure to somehow convey in the space of a hundred or so words how goddamn good a record is. To convince YOU that this record will move you as much as it did me. So I hem and haw and write all my other reviews around it until I have no choice but to face my fear and go for it. So here it is. The new record by Florida's Poison The Well. Up until now, I've been a fan, and definitely enjoyed their records. But 'Tear From The Red' is such a colossal leap from their last record. Ostensibly a 'metalcore' record, it manages to encompass so much more: rock, emo, hardcore, death metal, even pop. The heavy parts, even when the vocals are howled, are somehow as catchy and heart wrenching as any Get Up Kids weeper, if not more so. And then when PtW -do- go for it, and break it down and get all mellow and sweet and emotional it's just devastating. And the playing on this record is so phenomenal. The riffs are so thick and huge they just smack you upside the head, but you just kind of bob along, oblivious, banging your head and spitting out teeth and letting this wave of furious emotion watch over you. The songs shift from crunching near-death metal, to wild free-metal, to stuttering stop-start rhythms, to spacy almost Voi Vod-ish melodies, and dreamy shoegazey bliss out parts. Halfway through the record they break out with just vocals and acoustic guitar, but the melody is so odd, and the voice is so impassioned and the chord progression is so unexpected that it ends up being just as intense as any of the heavy stuff, and not cheesy at all. And track three! What can I say? If you could wear out a track from playing a cd too much, I would definitely need a new one by now. Track three has the absolutely most punishing part of almost any song I have ever heard, where the kick drums, guitars, and bass all stutter then stop, over and over. Huge and unbelievably heavy. I was listening to it in my housemate's truck, and when that part came on I had to turn up the stereo so loud that I could SEE the beat making little waves in the rear view mirror. We have been getting a little worn out on this whole metalcore explosion, but Poison The Well have stepped up to the plate with not only one of the best metalcore records ever, not just one of the best emo records ever, but one of the best records I have heard in a long time. Period.
PRAMOwl Service(Domino)cd$ 6.98
This EP is comprised of a scant two tracks totalling eight minutes of music. No big surprises or stylistic departures here. As we've come to expect from Pram, drowsy female vocals murmur over angelic chiming melodies and slowly snaking subtly Middle Eastern-infused grooves.
RICKY RUDY / ASSASSINTo Make Money / Flosslike We Do(RMC)7"$ 2.98
Dancehall seven inches galore. This one agaian has the One Minute Man rhythm (Missy Elliott). B-side, though claiming to contain a "Remix" of the aforementioned rhythm, has a completely unrelated version.
SCREW, DJAll Work No Play Volume 2(Reliant Entertainment)cd$ 16.98
Man, I should have been a rapper. What other career allows you the freedom to release record after record, even after you're already dead!!! In much the same fashion as Tupac and Biggie, Screw's posthumous output will soon outnumber the records released
SEMPER, JONTYKenotaphion(Charrm)2cd$ 18.98
"Kenotaphion" is one of the most unusual collections of archival recordings to pass through the Aquarius doors, as British artist Jonty Semper has culled through the archives at BBC, British Movietone, and ITN Reuters for recordings of the 2 minutes of Semper was not content to simply collect the solemn silences bracketed by the chiming of Big Ben and the crack of the rifles, he interspersed them with snippets of narration uttered by the BBC commentators, often poetic, yet certainly sentimental thoughts spoken in the finest of Queen's English. Disc one features the oldest recordings (1929 - 1965) and ripples with tons of surface noise, yet as the microphone technology improved through the later recordings (1967 - 2000) the quiet din of London trying to be silent makes itself known. A strangely alluring record.
SINERGYSuicide By My Side(Nuclear Blast)cd$ 14.98
If you are a fan of widdly heavy metal guitar (aren't you? I am) then chances are you'll enjoy this, the third offering from Finland's Sinergy! Much of the widdly guitar comes courtesy Alexi 'Wildchild' Laiho, better known for his main band, the awesome
SMITH, PATTILand (1975-2002)(Arista)2cd$ 22.00
Fat double cd anthology of the work of former Blue Oyster Cult lyricist Patti Smith. A 'best of' her career of the past 27 years, digitally remastered and all that. Disc one's got the hits ("Gloria", "Rock N Roll Nigger", etc) and also a brand new cover
STEPHENS, RICHIE / FRISCO KIDCant Do Me That(RMC)7"$ 2.98
Still more Jamaican dance hall. The rhythm this time is "We Thuggin'" (Fat Joe). B-side has some completely unrelated version. Frisco Kid's "soulful" toasting is irritating at best. Ruins an otherwise kickass track.
STEREO TOTALWir Tanzen Im Viereck(Bungalow)12"$ 8.98
Five remixes of the instant classic that Stereo Total has been performing live for the past four or so years, only recorded recently for their latest long player, "Musique Automatique". Remixers include Candie Hank (aka Patric Catani of EC8OR, Audio Chocolate, Flex Busterman, et al), Felix Kubin, Christopher Just (producer of a handful of Chicks On Speed tracks), Bis and Brezel
SUN CITY GIRLS330,003 Crossdressers From Beyond The Rig Veda(Locust)3lp$ 25.00
Sun City Girls fans rejoice, the vinyl reissue of their epic crowning acheivement "300,003 Crossdressers..." is upon us. Originally released in 1996 on double cd only, "Crossdressers" almost certainly surpassed "Torch of the Mystics" as the Sun City
SUPER CATLong Longi La La(Wild Apache)7"$ 3.98
The dancehall 7"s keep on coming. Reggae mix, b/w hip hop mix.
SUPER CATSexxy Go Check It(Wild Apache)7"$ 3.98
More Jamican dancehall. Reggae mix, b/w hip hop mix. ----*
TOSCASuzuki In Dub(Studio K7)cd$ 17.98
Tosca is the solo electronic project of Richard Dorfmeister of Kruder & Dorfmeister who is joined not by Kruder, but Huber! Rupert Huber, that is. Of course, Peter Kruder has his own solo endeavors under the moniker Peace Orchestra. This is the dubbed out mix
TOTAL SHUTDOWNReflections(Thin The Herd)12"$ 11.98
Total Shutdown. If you live in San Francisco and you've been following the contemporary music scene with even a smattering of interest, you've no doubt encountered this post-emo / screamo hardcore 'art' rock noise band. And it seems that Total Shutdown has been amassing a sizeable audience of ardent followers. And while we weren't all that impressed in the beginning, they have But TS -are- one of the few local bands trying to kick up a shitstorm of some kind, and for that we salute them. You can't take it lightly since our once vibrant scene is slowly being whittled away to nothing (fewer bands that don't suck, fewer clubs period, jaded show go-ers, etc.) So keep your eye on these kids, 'cause one of these days everything's gonna hit at once, and maybe then we'll be singing their praises, but for now, recommended only for those with iron ear drums, bowels of steel and a not too discerning taste for skronk, chaos and noise.
TRISTEZAMixed Signals(Rocket Racer)2lp$ 17.98
San Diego's post-emo heartthrobs, posterboys of heartfelt, emotional atmospheric Windham Hill Records-esque post-rock get in bed with Windy & Carl, Fridge, Simon Raymonde (of the Cocteau Twins), Marumari, Randomnumber (ex-Hood), Scientific American, Styrofoam, Yellow6, Astorria, DJ Jims (of Tristeza), Lackluster, Diagram Of Suburban Chaos and Snodgrass. Beautifully packaged in
UNCLE TUPELO89/93: Anthology(Columbia)cd$ 16.98
So I'm going to try and not gush too much. I don't want to come across like a 13 year old girl reviewing the newest N-Sync record. But it's kind of hard to be objective when you're trying to turn people on to one of your all time favorite bands. And Uncle Their debut, 'No Depression' was a furious amalgam of punk rock and country, with guitars on 10, crashing drums and some totally intense songs (check out the sound clips for 'Whiskey Bottle' and 'Graveyard Shift' from that record). They managed to capture a midwestern working man's hopelessness so perfectly that the songs spoke to you even if you lived in the city and had never even seen a tractor. Their second record 'Still Feel Gone' continued along the same lines but with a little less aggression and a little more melody. Their third record marked a big shift in their sound and direction, when they enlisted Peter Buck of R.E.M. to help them record a record of traditionals (Coal Miners songs and the like) as well as some acoustic (traditional sounding) originals (check out the sound clip for 'Fatal Wound'). Their fourth and sadly last record 'Anodyne' is the record where everything fell into place. The music was pefect. So was the production, and they were finally selling lots of records. A lot of folks criticise 'Anodyne' for being too professional and too polished, but it seems to me, that's where they were headed all along. Top rate players, a gorgeously lush production and probably the best songs of their career helped push them even further into the public eye (check out the sound clip for 'Chickamauga'). But unfortunately for us, that was to be it. The two main songwriters (who by that point essentially wrote their own songs and brought them completed to the band) just needed to follow their own muses. So Jay Farrar went on to form Son Volt and now performs solo, and Jeff Tweedy went on to start Wilco, who are currently in major label hell with an finished record that the label stupidly deemed unreleasable. (The album in its entirety is available for download from Wilco's website, and reportedly over a hundred thousand people have downloaded it!) So while there -are- plans to eventually release their first three albums, those of you who have never heard Uncle Tupelo might want to pick this up, at least until the original albums are finally released. And those of you who, like me, are Uncle Tupelo obsessives, will find plenty of reasons to own this (two bonus tracks, a demo and a thouroughly Tupelo-ized version of the Stooges' 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' as well as loads of photos and liner notes). And anyone who is at all into "alt. country" and listens to the Palace Brothers, and Songs:Ohia and Red Red Meat and Califone really owes it to themselves to check out Uncle Tupelo. You won't be sorry. And if you decide to heed our advice and look for the full albums, Uncle Tupelo's last record, 'Anodyne' , their last and perhaps best, -is- still available and we can not recommend it highly enough.
V/ABlue Trail Of Sorrow: 16 Top Bluegrass Gems(Rounder)cd$ 16.98
Rounder Records does their part to continue milking the "O Brother" cash cow with 16 tracks from their back catalog. 16.98 for a label sampler? Can you say rip off? C'mon Rounder, if you want to get people's interest piqued on the bluegrass wares your label
V/ADisco Not Disco 2(Strut)cd$ 17.98
As you probably know, the first volume of Strut's Disco Not Disco compilation has been a big hit here at AQ, with customers and staff alike. Well, we're happy to report that volume 2 is also great. It's a look back at the early days of *underground* disco
V/AFrom Koenji To Eternity(Inoxia)cd$ 15.98
BORIS BORIS BORIS BORIS BORIS. Okay. Just wanted to get the attention of all you freaks who can't get enough of Japan's mighty Boris (and we know there's a lot of you, since we can't seem to keep any Boris in stock for more than two seconds!!) And since
V/AGlobal Turntables(Hip Hop Slam)cd$ 12.98
It's nice to see a compilation that pays tribute to and includes stuff from hip hop's past, as well as showcasing the vanguard of the future. The newest offering from HipHopSlam, the label run by local hiphop mainstay Billy Jam (he also did the Shiggerfragger
WEEDEATERSixteen Tons(Berserker)cd$ 14.98
Our friend Adam at Crucial Blast does it again (after his release of Finnish thrashers Katastrofialue from last week's list) with this new slab of blues-scum-metal from North Carolina's Weedeater. Featuring Dave from the mighty Buzzoven, Weedeater basically
WHITE, TONY JOEs/t(Sepia Tone)cd$ 13.98
This is a reissue of Tony White's second (or third?) solo album, and the one that is considered his best. A prolific songwriter (the stunning "Rainy Night in Georgia" as well as hits performed by everyone from Elvis to Etta James to Ray Charles), he's got
WINDSOR FOR THE DERBYEarnest Powers +(Emperor Jones)cd$ 14.98
"Earnest Powers +" is a collection of long out of print singles and unreleased tracks from this Texas / New York interstate ensemble who traffic in post-rock repetitiveness. Many of these tracks didn't stand the test of time all that well and pigeonhole
XIU XIUKnife Play(5rc)cd$ 14.98
This band is great! Bravo to Xiu Xiu for being original in an indie rock world where originality just doesn't seem very important anymore -- groups like Adult and the Faint are copying '80s electro, every other band has got a member who made a (boring) And then there's the local group Xiu Xiu who've put out a record on Kill Rock Stars' sister imprint 5RC. The two girls and two guys in Xiu Xiu are so familiar with indie rock's cliches that they anticipate them... and then mess with the formula, thereby coming up with a far artier and more interesting sound (kinda like how Bjork and Radiohead do). Example: the lead singer's voice is this super intense, desperate, achingly sad, warbly moan (a la The Cure / Talk Talk / Ultravox), and we're used to hearing that kind of voice accompanied with Brit-style synthpop stuff (i.e. "Melt With You"). Yet with Xiu Xiu the backup to that incredible voice is trumpets and saxophones and clattery percussion (bells, gongs, perhaps even pots 'n pans), with a solid yet obviously lo-fi Casio beat keeping time, and velvety basslines which are where the melody often resides. The band are also admirably unpredictable in leaving guitar pretty much in the background (if it's present at all) and instead letting this crazy synth action function *just like a guitar solo* -- distorted, climactic, wailing. So cool! Xiu Xiu is arty and chaotic, but with new wave '80s poppiness. This is a very weird record that is also accessible and really good.