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 135.
AELTERSVolu Beit(Tigerbeat6)3" cd$ 9.98
Solo effort from a member of the Dat Politics crew. Much like his contemporaries, Aelters kicks out infectious shards of high frequency agitglitchfunk. If you like Blechdom and Dat Politics, you probably already have this. If you don't, there's very little reason to be concerned. Addictions are ugly.
BEAT HAPPENINGCrashing Through(K)7cd$ 48.00
Kinda lost hope of ever seeing this special box set after the bazillionth time a new release date came and went. But holy hopscotch, here it is! "The final word on Beat Happening!" or so the sticker on the front proclaims. Was it really worth the wait? Well, for devoted fans of Calvin, Heather and Bret after all these years, who couldn't resist the appeal of a box set from their fearless K Punk faves all nicely compact and neatly designed? I'm sure that goes without saying, but for the rest, let's see... Music-wise, you get all five albums (heck, these should already be a part of any self-respecting Beat Happening fan's library!) all uniformly presented in digipaks: the primal beat and often atonal singing of the self-titled debut and Jamboree, the more sing-song pretty Black Candy and Dreamy and the final You Turn Me On (produced in part by former Young Marble Giant Stuart Moxham). As well, you're also treated to a disc titled "Music To Climb The Apple Tree By" packed full of all the non-album previously released bells and whistles (which once again I have to say, any true blue B.H. devotee should already own!), that means all of their 7"s, compilation tracks and the 12" EP they did with the Screaming Trees. Other stuff? An exclusive cd/cd-rom collecting together music from the B.H./Vaselines split cassette and assorted early videos (including ones for "Hot Chocolate Boy" and "Pine Box Derby" as well as live footage of "Black Candy" on Olympia tv, "Cake Walk" from the International Pop Underground Convention '91 and "Cry For A Shadow" at a record store in Memphis). And for your reading enjoyment, queen of the Olympia/K Punk scene Ms Lois Maffeo has assembled a concise 92-page book filled with B.H. archives, personal recollections, grainy photos, interviews, etc. So is this the final word from the beloved Oly trio who were an immeasurable inspiration to indie kids everywhere and a d.i.y. force to be reckoned with back in the day? Who truly knows for sure? But it is without question the most comprehensive and lovingly assembled Beat Happening retrospective you'll ever find... and yes, it was worth the wait!
BELPHEGORInfernal Live Orgasm(Napalm)cd$ 14.98
Live record from this Austrian black/death metal band. Featuring butchered babies and distorted Last Suppers on their album covers, Belphegor have been spitting out their brand of satanic black metal for three albums now, and this cd collects some of the best tracks from those records. Sharing some elements with the mighty Marduk and their countrymen Abigor, Belphegor are raw and blurry buzzsaw black metal, mostly lightspeed tempos with furious drumming and a wash of minor key anguish. Live, black metal seems to not hold up so well, but this recording is quite good, with just enough separation between the instruments to keep it from becoming a big distorted mess, and a brutal and intense performance to boot.
BIOSPHEREShenzhou(Touch)cd$ 14.98
Most of the sensorially depressed semantics of the Chill-Out subculture that arose out of the rave scene had the pretense of such cutesy catch phrases as "I Think Therefore I Ambient." Ugh. The majority of the music that was championed within that early '90s Ambient scene has failed to age with any dignity or grace, instead fading away as mindless New Age drivel. Biosphere - the Ambient project of Norwegian Geir Jensen - has always been the exception to that rule, by never allowing his music to comfortably fall into the regions of aural wallpaper. His first two albums "Microgravity" and "Patashnik" would probably transcend their status as minor classics in their thoughtful recomibinations of Techno propulsion and Ambient utopianism, if it weren't for the ill-advised (though fashionable at the time) use of extra-terrestrial imagery. At the height of the Ambient-Techno phenomenon in 1995 or so, Levi's licensed a Biosphere track off of "Patashnik" for a jeans commercial, which had the same steroid-injected effect on Biosphere's sales as those of Spiritualized, Trio, and Nick Drake with their Volkswagen. Wisely, Jensen took the money and ran from commercial success. He has since declared his permanent base of operations to be Tromso, Norway - located some 400 miles north of the Arctic Circle - and has signed to the exceptional Touch label. Both decisions have resulted in a profound maturation of the Biosphere sound far away from the puerile Chill Out agendas. "Shenzhou" is the third Biosphere record for Touch, and continues to describe aural environments that are at once decidedly Arctic, yet wholly inviting and warm. Jensen has drawn a very direct line on this album back to Impressionist composer Claude Debussy by basing this album on some very old vinyl recordings of various Debussy pieces. The surface noise crackle may parallel that of the recent Touch production from turntablist Philip Jeck, but "Shenzhou" doesn't extend the comparison beyond their similar source materials. This is distinctly a Biosphere album filled with synaesthetic driftings, subtle rhythmic pulsations, and hypnotic loopings, all culled from the muted instrumentation of those Debussy compositions. Biosphere has yet again succeeded in crafting an exceptionally poetic album that is as accessible as it is subtly expressive. Recommended.
BLACKALICIOUSBlazing Arrow(MCA / Quannum)cd$ 15.98
Blackalicious, the duo of producer / musicmaker Chief Xcel along with lyricist Gift of Gab, here release their highly anticipated major label debut (anyone know why they didn't stay with Quannum?). Uplifting, substantial hip hop that's made catchy by Chief Xcel's obvious talent with beatmaking, distortion, and melody. Half of the tracks, however, feature guest vocalists, players or producers who all have their own signature styles that're more established than Blackalicious' style -- drowning the personality of the duo before we've even got a chance to appreciate / learn it. Most of the album sounds catchy and charmingly unpretentious, the music never too easy or boring. (There are a couple of bad slow jams on the record with the requisite predictable diva vocalists, but they're easily programmed out if you're so inclined.) And the album *really* finds its legs in the latter half, with four or five consecutive tracks that just kick butt. With Gil Scott Heron, Cut Chemist, Zack de la Rocha, Saul Williams, Lyrics Born (of Latyrx), Rakaa and Babu (of Dilated Peoples), Jaguar Wright (vocalist last seen doing backup on Jay-Z Unplugged), Chali 2na of Jurassic5, Money Mark, Miho Hatori of Cibo Matto, and more.
BLECTUM, BLEVINTalon Slalom(Deluxe)cd$ 13.98
During the past six months or so, Blevin and Kevin Blectum have taken separate paths away from the fictional agendas of Blectum from Blechdom, which earned the pair an honorable mention at the 2001 Ars Electronica festival. While Blevin had previously released an album for Phthalo as D84, this is her first album as Blevin Blectum and is, not surprisingly, a very silly piece of DSP-filter-happy electronica. While both Blevin and Kevin have put aside the punch-drunk deranged mythologies of snauses and mad mallards of their solo albums, they have maintained Blechdom's post-ironic stance of building electronica out of purposefully ugly, arrhythmic, or just conventionally 'wrong' fragments of whimsical sound, in direct contrast to their impressive technical prowess over their gear. The first half of "Talon Slalom" is a discombobulated mix of garishly bubbly 8-bit sonic cavacades, insipid melodies, drooling information overload, and whimsically clumsy rhythms. Occasionally some seasick techno develops over the course of the first half of the album, with asynchronous samples splattered randomly across the rhythmic scaffold of a simple 4/4 beat. While the first half of the album seems maybe a little too silly, Blevin makes a conscientious effort to develop like-minded funhouse fragments into spiralling passages of surreal looped electro-waltzes. And the results are actually quite impressive. Fun and funny, but still complex and thoughtful and truly inspired. This latter half is certainly enough to balance out the opening follies of "Talon Slalom."
BRATMOBILEGirls Get Busy(Lookout!)cd$ 14.98
The first thing I noticed about this new Bratmobile album was the addition of keyboards to this punky trio's tried and true guitar, bass and drums lineup. This effectively changes their stripped down, riot grrrl sound quite a bit... for the better or for the worse? I've yet to decide. It sorta makes it all seem a bit more '60s garage girl band. But what I used to find so novel about them was their bare bones approach, which seems to have been lost here. It sounds like they are growing up before my very ears. About time! Even Allison's voice doesn't sound quite as shrill and annoying as it has in the past. Though she isn't doing anything new, she does sound a bit more composed, but unfortunately often that ends up translating as monotone and a little bit bored sounding. Good but not a particularly energized follow-up to 2000's "Ladies, Women and Girls", their feisty return to the punk rock scene.
BRIGHT EYESThere Is No Beginning to the Story(Saddle Creek)cd ep$ 8.98
Just under twenty minutes of new music from Omaha, Nebraska's favorite heavyhearted combo Bright Eyes! Don't mean to bum out any of their ultra-mope-core fans, but... Conor Oberst seems - dare we say it? - much more energetic and spirited than usual. Perhaps it was the feisty emo pop influence of his other group Desaparecidos that put the tiger in his tank? We're not sure, but one thing we don't have to worry about is that his songwriting hasn't suffered a bit in this subtle transformation. Raw emotion continues to flow from each of folkish numbers. These new songs just might appeal to fans of the lush, bittersweet pop of The Microphones or The Weakerthans. Features musical input from Simon Joyner, as well as a few of his Saddle Creek labelmates and Nebraska pals Todd and Clark Baechle (of The Faint) among others. Please note that the lead-off track will also be included on the forthcoming full length, but there's three others that won't so if you're a particularly impatient Bright Eyes fan, you won't wanna miss this.
CAESURAMore Specific, Less Pacific(54 40' or Fight!)cd$ 13.98
In spite of being a 'post-rock' band, this local trio actually knows how to rock. Both live and on this new cd, they're quite impressive, intense and precise...but also not super original. Everything they do sounds kinda like it could be something by Circus Lupus, Shellac, or every other post-rock band on the screamier side of things...maybe a little Bastro, a little Fugazi too. And perhaps the brief Latin hand percussion break halfway through the disc is their nod to Tortoise or Gastr del Sol? So, great if that's your scene and you're not really looking for something new (that is, you want more of what you like, rather than something else). Perhaps these guys should go into temporary retirement for twenty years, and then emerge right about when there's (likely to be) a retro-post-rock revival in 2022, they'd kick everyone's asses then. In the here-and-now, though, they're still really good.
CANCER CONSPIRACY, THEThe Audio Medium(Big Wheel Recreation)cd$ 14.98
Didn't care too much for CC's first record. A little too much jazzy-instrumental-Tortoisey-post-rock-wankery. But this new record is something else entirely. Well, not entirely. There are still elements of jazz and post rock, and it -is- instrumental, but it gets way more metal and prog and space-y and experimental. And the songwriting is so much more focused. Intense and emotional. Even the playing seems better. Cancer Conspiracy fall somewhere between Don Caballero, recent Cave In and maybe Pink Floyd, but with moments of blissed out space rock, crushing metal, noodly meandering post rock, gorgeous piano driven melodies, and some complex Voi Vod-ish parts. Really intense and really great. It's always exciting when a band takes a lifeless genre and completely turns it inside out and makes it their own. Fans of AQ fave Feuhler, Don Cab, Cave In may have found themselves a new favorite band!
CHERRY FIVEs/t(Cinevox)cd$ 16.98
Fans of Italian prog rockers Goblin, listen up. This is a reissue of their very first album, recorded in 1974 under their original name Cherry Five, before they started their career as horror movie soundtrack specialists (Profondo Rosso, Suspiria, Zombi, etc.). It's symphonic keyboard prog rock with English vocals, so you have to be into wanky prog rather than just soundtracks to like this. There's suggestions of their later horror-fixation, though, with some spooky interludes and morbid song titles like "Country Grave-Yard" and "The Swan Is A Murderer". The five lengthy song-suites on here go from fairly sweet and melodic to jagged and intense at the drop of hat. Very grandiose, and of course instrumentally kick-ass. A worthy addition to the Goblin cd canon.
CLOSER MUSIKAfter Love(Kompakt)cd$ 16.98
Debut long player from the Cologne duo of Matias Aguayo (formerly of Zimt, alongside glitter-tech-house rocker Michael Mayer) and Dirk Levers. Certainly one of the most pop oriented Kompakt outfits, Closer Musik synthesizes glamourous electro and erotic lyricism with that mesmerizing minimal thump of Cologne. Includes the killer singles "Closer Dancer" and "You Don't Know Me" plus the beautiful "Departures" that was featured way back on the Kompakt Total 3 compilation.
CLOUDDEADSound Of A Handshake(Mush)10"$ 8.98
Definitely my favorite cLOUDEAD recording yet. The latest installment of limited 10"s finds them stretching out, mellowing out and getting all stoned/psychedelic/dreamy. Dark and loping with simple hiccupping beats and sinister samples and a gauzy ambience over the whole thing. Super melodic and minor key with lots of scratchy surface noise, background incidental noise and all sorts of mumbling and muttering. Much more song-y than other cLOUDEAD records, sounding almost moody indie rock-ish with the lyrics practically sung instead of rapped. Perfect four in the morning chill out weirdness. So good.
COLTRANE, JOHNBallads(Impulse)2cd$ 23.00
Recorded in 1962, Ballads is one of John Coltrane's most lyrical, accessible, and downright "pretty" albums, sooooo much more than the 'dinner jazz' some people regard it as. This deluxe reissue sees a whole extra disc of previously unreleased material by the quartet (Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones), including 4 versions of "Greensleeves", seven versions of "It's Easy to Remember" and more.
COLTRANE, JOHNColtrane(Impulse)2cd$ 23.00
First Coltrane recording to solely feature the classic quartet of Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones. First disc is the album as released, and the second bonus disc contains four alternate takes of "Tunji", the previously-unreleased "Not Yet", and more.
CONCENTRICKLucid Dreaming(Emperor Jones)cd$ 14.98
For almost ten years Tim Green, while living in Olympia, moving to & setting up Louder Studios here in SF, and wielding the guitar in The (Fucking) Champs, has quietly been making solo experimental electronic music. The three Concentrick albums are the fruit of those efforts. On the guitar, piano, Wurlitzer organ, plus an endless array of vintage synths (Micromoog, mellotron, Poly 61) and other quaint machines, he's constructed a quiet electronica album that issues forth unhurriedly and softly. Like Krautrock pioneers Cluster and Harmonia, or early Brian Eno circa Discreet Music, the sonic elements are invitingly simple -- rounded notes are held for many slow seconds, one imperceptibly dissolving into the next. The music exudes a sense of sustained drama without piling on layers or percussion (except in a few cases), or messing with the purity of the sounds of the vintage electronics, the added cello and the flutes. Very peaceful and serene. Practically new age... in a good way.
COURSE OF ACTIONCarving Our Way By Tearing Our Faith(Goodlife)cd$ 13.98
Another blast of primo European metalcore from the label that brought us Avenged Sevenfold, Broken Promises, Poison The Well and a ton more. Huge, crushing riffs, Slayer via Fugazi, death metal filtered through a punk rock upbringing, squealing guitars, throbbing bass and howled and shrieked vocals. Super complex and uber aggressive, with bizarre post-rock, indie rock breakdowns, complete with motorik drumming, clean vocals, and loping guitar melodies. Really cool. Fans of the above should check this out.
CROOKED FINGERSReservoir Songs(Merge)cd ep$ 10.98
Another all covers collection! What's the deal? Following in the recent pattern of other great bands' lead singers doing questionable solo all-covers releases (Red House Painters' Mark Kozelek, American Music Club's Mark Eitzel, et al), Archers Of Loaf-man Eric Bachmann unfurls his 5-song EP of heavy duty bummed out renditions of tavern jukebox classics by Neil Diamond, Kris Kristofferson, Bruce Springsteen, and Queen/David Bowie. So, how does it sound? Oh my, surprise! He *still* sounds like a haggard, whiskey-soaked Neil Diamond (especially on Diamond's own "Solitary Man"), but now somewhat more weary and gritty with a bit of Tom Waits in him. And on "Under Pressure", strangely enough he sounds like Springsteen. Each song is certainly well-performed with some nice plucky banjo, lap steel, cello, and euphonium, but the actual song choices are a bit, ummm, shall we say... odd. We have to ask, why oh why would he feel compelled to do something that he's gotta know he is going to be ridiculed for?
CROWN, THECrowned In Terror(Metal Blade)cd$ 15.98
A fresh blast of NWOSDW (that would be New Wave Of Swedish Death Metal) froom the Crown. Furious old school thrash metal with ultra slick production, hooky melodies, majestic harmonies, furious drumming, shredding guitars, and some dangerously groovy breakdowns. The sound is very reminiscent of In Flames, Children Of Bodom and At The Gates, which makes sense since this is the first Crown record to feature new vocalist Tomas Lindberg who used to sing for At The Gates.
CSSOAre You Excrements?(Morbid)cd$ 14.98
This underground Japanese band surprised and delighted us with this crazy fuzzed-out stoner-rock meets grind metal release. Clotted Symmetric Sexual Organ (let's just call 'em CSSO) really kick 'em out, wallowing in total wahwah-happy heavy psych guitar overdrive. It's wild and distorted and super-energetic, a blend of '60s garage, '70s hard rock, and '90s noise-thrash. Forget Acid Mothers Temple, this is the real Japanese freak-beat! Indeed, CSSO could learn Kawabata Makoto a thing or two about over-the-top motorpsycho guitar. Imagine AMT or High Rise with a garagey Guitar Wolf edge, going nuts with that style of psychedelic freakout, then breaking into a speedy grind part with blast beats and cookie monster vocals! It's like a weird, wonderful mix of The Groundhogs and Napalm Death or something. When CSSO's stoner/grind rock attack isn't going full-tilt they throw in spacey sections of shoegazing drone tones, trippy electronics, and other cosmic krautrock inspired soundz -- sometimes sheer, blissful noise. Then it's back to the catchy rockin' stuff, like Hendrix gone grind. Like AMT or the Boredoms, they can be quite playful and confounding -- for instance, one song features what might be the world's longest fade-in, it's two minutes before you can really hear anything at all! Partially 'cause this was so unexpected (we thought they might be a good but generic grindcore band) but also because it's so great, this just totally blew us away. A new favorite in the long line of genre-bending, rule-defying bands from Japan (Boredoms, Melt Banana, Boris, et. al.), and thus highly recommended!
CUL DE SACImmortality Lessons(Strange Attractors Audio House)cd$ 13.98
Quite possibly as subdued and meandering as Cul de Sac can get! Their fifth album (actually recorded live for Brandeis University's WBRS radio in 1999) brings an even greater sense of space to their distinct blend of psych, folk, surf, and krautrock. We seem to recall them as being considerably more composed and dynamic, but "Immortality Lessons" just left me wondering "is this blissfully meditative or just plain boring?" Depends on your mood, of course... but even if we opt to consider it blissful, it's certainly not our all-time favorite Cul de Sac release. Try "I Don't Want To Go To Bed" (also live, but considerably more varied, being cobbled together from rehearsal tapes) or "China Gate" or their collaboration with John Fahey, "The Epiphany of Glenn Jones" if you haven't heard 'em before. However, fans may well want this, especially since in spite of being a live album, most of the songs on here have never before appeared on any other Cul de Sac album, including one written for but cut from that Fahey collab. So, worth it if you're 1) really into 'em and/or 2) in a mellow mood. I guess 'cause it's been years since their last album (1999's "Crashes To Light, Minutes To Its Fall"), maybe our expectations had built up too much -- but they do have two other new discs soon to be released (a brand new studio disc entitled "Death of the Sun" as well as the soundtrack to a film called "The Strangler's Wife") so perhaps they'll knock us out again with one of 'em. Also, look out for them on tour (where? we don't know, maybe it's an East Coast thing), apparently with guest vocalist Damo Suzuki of Can along for the ride!
DARKNESS REMAINSTo Touch The Depths of Sorrow(Tribunal)cd$ 14.98
This is a weird one. The record starts off with a melancholy, minor key piano intro but soon erupts into an atonal riff with some jazzy/spastic drumming beneath it. This eventually mutates into some sort-of-black-metal. You knew it was only a matter of time. Kids have been aping Slayer for years, but now it's black metal that has got the kids' attention. So here is some East coast hardcore kids playing black metal, but with all sorts of curious little details that make it distinctly -not- black metal. The spazzy overplaying drummer, who is heavy on the technique, but not so heavy on the, well the heavy. Also some fingerpicked melodies that sound almost radio ready, and some total shredding leads and harmony guitars ala Iron Maiden. Not to say this is bad 'cause it isn't. It's pretty fucking cool. They may have failed in trying to sound 'black metal', but in failing they ended up with something more original and definitely more interesting.
DEAD BEGINNERSSinners' Rebellion(Spikefarm)cd$ 14.98
Been trying to list this for a while but we were never able to get enough. This is easily one of my favorite metal records of the past couple of years. Sort of doom metal, sort of black metal, but completely epic and gorgeous and totally captivating. Not to mention heavy as fuck. Lots of keyboards under thick guitars playing huge minor key riffs while sorrowful melodies weave in and out. Mostly midtempo, but with the occasional burst of lightning speed, Finland's Dead Beginners craft timeless metal epics (with a definite medieval vibe), melancholy and sorrowful, dark and doomy. The sound reminds me of some strange mix of old Paradise Lost, Old Cathedral, Skepticism, Cradle Of Filth, Candlemass, and Burzum. Or something like that. Some of the best dark depressing doom / black-bleak metal. SO recommended.
DEADSYCommencement(DreamWorks)cd$ 10.98
I think this one is going to have to be filed under 'guilty pleasure'. And if you're like me, that file just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger. First off, there's a few things were going to have to try and overlook. First the atrocious cover painting. Just lame. Bad paint by numbers or something. Ok, two, Deadsy is fronted by Elijah Blue, who you may know as CHER'S SON. Eeeek. And of course there's the blatantly top 40 gothy-retro-electro rock sound that can't help but remind us of Marilyn Manson and Orgy. That said, this record is still a retro rocking good time. Huge thick slabs of synths and moogs, with soaring keyboard melodies and rumbling distorted synthbass, vocoders and overly dramatic vocals and some pretty wicked songs. Their cover of Rush's 'Tom Sawyer' is funny for a minute but their cover of Sebadoh's 'Brand New Love' (the best song Sebadoh ever wrote) is practically perfect. I so want it to be a huge MTV hit, for Deadsy yeah, but especially for Sebadoh! They also do a pretty cool Gary Numan cover. I imagine you'll probably be seeing these gothy glam retro electro-rockers all over MTV soon so now's your last chance to enjoy this guilty pleasure before it's a REALLY, REALLY GUILTY pleasure!
DEERHOOFC(Cool Beans)7"$ 3.98
Two tracks, "C" and "Surprise Symphony", from the beloved art damaged SF pop trio.
EETinyspot(Asian Man)cd ep$ 6.98
As frustrating as it can be, if you're gonna invite the main man from an indie fave band into your fold, you're gonna be saddled with the new title of "[fill in prominent member's name] of [fill in indie fave band name]'s new project" - no matter now much you've done prior to this. Such is the case with the bay area group known as ee. The fellow in question? Sooyoung Park of '90s college radio darlings Seam. Having made the move from Chicago to San Francisco, the fine songsmith sought out a new group to play with, and bingo! He met up with this already-happening group, and joined in on guitar and keyboards. The particular sticky issue is that he doesn't even appear on this just-released EP, but whenever I hear mention of them it's prefaced by "Seam's Sooyoung..."! You get the picture. Taken on its own merits, this follow-up to their '99 debut is a very mellow, dreamy pop affair with gentle boy vocals, a low-key post-rock rhythm section, and some swelling quiet/loud moments in which you can hear why the recent addition of Mr. Park makes perfect sense. Includes two live tracks and an outtake. If you like what you hear, word has it there's more coming soon.
EL-PFantastic Damage(DefJux)cd$ 15.98
What to say about this one? Heads have been waitng for the new El-P like is was the second coming. Or the first coming, which I suppose it technically is. You may know El-P from his stint fronting underground hip hop phenoms Company Flow, or for his Definitive Jux label that has been releasing wickedly damaged hip hop from Cannibal Ox, Aesop Rock, Mr. Lif, RJD2 and others. He also spent the last little while producing former Rage Against The Machine frontman Zack De La Rocha's solo record. So this here is El-P's first proper solo record and it's a doozy. Windy and Allan were both surprised (slash dismayed) to find out Mr. Def Jux was white [thanks to his appearance in this month's Wire, taking part (not so successfully we might add) in the Invisible Jukebox], but sonically it always seemed sort of obvious, this record, and his production in general has way more in common with Anticon, Them, and cLOUDEAD than Eric B and Rakim, EPMD, Public Enemy or whatever, and before that he (with Company Flow) sounded like nothing we had ever heard . El-P eschews traditional hip hop beats and comfortable funk for a patchwork of stumbling clutter, loping hiccupping beats, and a thick wash of soulful background vocals and buzzing guitars, murky turntable grit and primitive scratching. And over the whole thing is El-P's shouted, almost sung staccato flow, sounding not at all unlike 3rd Bass's MC Serch (NOT a dis, check out 3rd Bass's 'The Cactus Album'!) But the sound is (and has always been) El-P's bread and butter, and he doesn't disappoint, beat heavy soundscapes, cluttered and mayhemic, but in a good way, super dynamic, with big bursts of beat/guitar and big wide open spaces with mad flow skittering wildly through the wasteland. Fetaures the ususal suspects: Aesop Rock, Ill Bill (Non Phixion), Vast Aire (Cannibal Ox), Mr. Lif, Rob Sonic, Steven Segal (not that one) and more.
ELF POWERCreatures(SpinArt)cd$ 15.98
Elf Power have quitely dwelled under the shadow of Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, and Apples In Stereo of the Elephant 6 collective, consistently releasing some fantastic, if quirky indie jangle with lots of thoughtfully constructed lo-fi fuzz (a la Sparklehorse, Mercury Rev, Flaming Lips) running through lots of references to the Beatles and the Kinks. "Creatures" is the least adventurous and most accessible album for this Athens, Georgia outfit, pushing closer towards the bubblegum pop of the Apples and further away from their earlier Neutral Milk-ish ramshackle pop as on "Dream In Sound" and "Winter Is Coming."
FLOGGING MOLLYDrunken Lullabies(Side One Dummy)cd$ 14.98
For those of you who love the Pogues, and miss the Pogues and need more raucous drinking music for those wild nights out, salvation is at hand. Initially, the only reason we had any interest in this band was the fact that the vocalist fronted Fastway, one of Andee and Allan's favorite eighties metal bands and they have been playing the Warp tour for some strange reason. But damn if this band hasn't gotten really good at what they do. And what they do is ape the Pogues to a T. And as with a lot of things, you might think, bah...how unoriginal, but the bottom line is, this band sounds great. They just kind of sound like the Pogues. Rollicking and rocking big barroom fun with the occasional misty eyed ballad. So hoist your ales and jump in the pit.
FOJIMOTOJust Now Finding Out(Fojimoto)cd$ 9.98
What a pleasant surprise! The Bay Area's certainly rich in the pop department lately. Take for example the splendid new albums from Mr. John Vanderslice and this new group called Fojimoto. Their blend of country rock and sunny pop immediately brings to mind Uncle Tupelo, Weakerthans and even the Eagles. Indeed, there are some songs on Just Now Finding Out that are fantastic pure pop beauties. All jangling and jubilant, they're just slightly encumbered by the few slower numbers that aren't quite as engaging and break the firm hold of Fojimoto's infectious pop hooks which I quite fancy. Nice!
FULL SWINGEdits 5 (Kit Clayton / Akira Rabelais)(Orthlorng Musork)10"$ 5.98
The last entry from the brilliant series of 10"s by Full Swing (aka Stephan Mathieu) who presents drastic reconstructions of various artists. Previously Mathieu has transformed Monolake, Yo La Tengo, Laub, Antenne, Ekkehard Ehlers, Autopoesies, and Raumgestaltung Eins into dreamy digital fractalization, and the same goes for these remixes of Kit Clayton's atonal electronica single "Latke" and Akira Rabelais's digital reworking of Carte. This entire series stands as some of most exceptional work to come out of the microsound / digital glitch schools of electronica.
GET UP KIDS, THEOn A Wire(Vagrant)cd$ 14.98
The first thing you notice is that this record does -not- rock. Not at all. So already you're a little disappointed, because after all, the Get Up Kids did rock. The second thing you notice is how 'indie rock' this record sounds. And I mean like R.E.M-eighties-college-radio-indie-rock. And most of us kind of got tired of that sound years ago. Still with me? Good. 'Cause even after all that, this record manages to be really really good. But not at first. At first we were all sort of horrified. What happened. This is so...mellow. But the more I listen to it, the more I find these songs stuck in my head ALL the time. A whole different scenario than The Get Up Kids' last record, which was instantly catchy, so catchy in fact that we all played it incessantly until we were darn near sick of it. But this record didn't stick until listen #10 or #11. And by that time it was too late. This will definitely lose them some fans, I imagine. But maybe what we hear as 'indie rock' (the negative connotation) is just a band growing out of their underground rock ghetto. Or maybe they just suck now. But if you're like us and LOVED the last record, odds are you'll end up loving this one too.
GIRLS AGAINST BOYSYou Can't Fight What You Can't See(Jade Tree)cd$ 13.98
I'd really hoped that GVSB's return to the rock arena after such a long absence would kick some serious ass with their crunchy, sinewy guitars and trademark sultry rasp vocals. Instead, what we get is something that sounds sort of like lead vocalist Scott McCloud doin' his best Mark E. Smith impression. Weird! In the mid-'90s, they unleashed Venus Luxure No. 1 Baby and Cruise Yourself, their first two releases on Touch & Go. A pair of hot, angstful and sexy full lengths. Since then they've gone through their fair share of major label entanglements and a few less than stellar albums (on which they sounded like slick, hollow GVSB replicas), but now that they've found a new label home on Jade Tree, is this a fresh start? Not quite. Although this is definitely much better than their last effort Freak-o-nica, it still pales in comparison to the aforementioned albums.
GOLDEN HOTELThe Silver Wilderness(Golden Hotel)cd$ 11.98
It's always a little nerve wracking listening to a friend's record. Hoping that it's good so you don't have to hem and haw and eventually say something like "Wow...really interesting" or "Wow. Great guitar sound" or some other non-committal could-be-construed-as-saying-you-like-the-record sort of thing. So it's even more intense when it's someone's -first- record. But luckily, this time, there was no need to worry, 'cause this Golden Hotel record is a gorgeous, droney, space-y, drugged out psychedelic folk record. Golden Hotel is our customer Cayce (who has appeared in several of the AQ neighborhood films, he's the bearded fellow with the dog Cowboy) and his brother Sidney who is in AQ faves Torrez. And the Torrez connection definitely shows, with shimmery guitars and warm thick atmosphere, but the female vocals of Torrez are replaced with the brothers' rough but melodic warm warbly rasps and the sound is a little less lush and a bit more buzzing and immediate (plenty of instrument buzz, lip smacking, breathing). Warm swells of thick guitar wash over shimmering high end harmonics whirling quietly in the background as gently strummed acoustic guitar underpins delicate minor key melodies. Lots of stray sounds, varied instrumentation and production fuckery augment these ultimately simple folk songs, turning them into languid, stoned epics, with simple stumbling percussion, fuzzy far-away guitar, droning buzzing harmonies, pulsing underwater bass, and dreamy blissed out ambience. Definitely influenced by/reminiscent of Greg Weeks, Six Organs Of Admittance, Charalambides, Joshua, Songs:Ohia, Herman Dune, and other current practitioners of modern psych-folk. A great surprise and a fantastic record.
GOLIGHTLY, HOLLYPretty Good Love(Smartguy)7"$ 4.50
Beautiful songs from this sassy lady who spent four years as a member of the Billy Childish extended family, namely the Headcoatees. Released on local label Smartguy and the packaging is great. (The cover of the 7" has a stick figure girl jumping off a bridge and it's captioned "in private, and often in public, women are bad losers when rejected in love...") Instrumentation includes violin and banjo, which perfectly back her sexy, gritty vocals. Two really great songs that may or may not be new (I feel like I've heard different recordings of these before so if you have some Holly Golightly records be wary). I do believe however that they are new -recordings- of these songs. And if you don't already own any of her records this is a good, inexpensive place to start.
GOSSIP, THEArkansas Heat(Kill Rock Stars)cd ep$ 11.98
These blues rawkin' young'uns continue their spitball snarl'n'swagger with this new 6-song EP. They certainly kick some trashy garage rock butt with plenty of thumping drumbeats and low slung bass and guitar. Lots of punky fist-pumpin' fun with songs about taking back the revolution... even if lead vocalist Beth sounds a bit too much like Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney.
GRAVEDIGGAZNightmare In A-Minor(BMG)cd$ 15.98
This is the third record from these masters of 'horrorcore' recorded while Gravediggaz mainman Poetic was struggling with colon cancer. He died before they finished the record, but his partner Frukwan finished putting it together and finally we get to hear the results. The sound has changed a bit since their last record 'The Pick, The Sickle And The Shovel'. While it's still creepy and 'horrific', it sounds less manic and hysterical, more subtly sinister, and lyrically, Poetic started rhyming about being sick and his cancer, so the rhymes seem much more intense and personal. And no RZA this time, but their production hasn't suffered for it, lots of creepy scary loops, far away piano, ghostly female vocals, sick beats and amazing rhymes: Frukwan and Poetic had such amazing chemistry together. It's really sad to lose someone so talented and so young, but at least we're lucky to have one more record and one more chance to enjoy his amazing art.
GREENTHINKBlindfold(? (anticon?)cd$ 14.98
Anticon main men Dose One and Why? take some time out from their ridiculously prolific release schedule as well as a break from their tripped out psychedelic big beat hip hop, and with the help of a shitload of guests come up with a record full of short, sharp and super abstract hip-hop-ish soundscapes. Bizarre and tripped out and as fucked and out-there as you've come to expect from the Anticon collective. Maybe more so. Features Mr. Dibbs, Slug, Sole, Moodswing9 and about a million others.
GUENTNER, MARKUSRegensburg / Remix(Kompakt)12"$ 9.98
Four track ep by Markus Guentner, who brought us the lovely "In Moll" lp last year. Two tracks are remixes of the title track, by the dominating forces on the Cologne scene, Wolfgang Voigt and Michael Mayer.
HALOGuattari (From the West Flows Grey Ash and Pestilence)(Relapse)cd$ 14.98
Halo are easily one of the heaviest, creepiest, most intense bands we have heard in a long time. This Australian two piece (bass and drums, voice and electronics) spit out such a massive sound it's hard to get your head around. Lurching, pummelling, sludgy, slow-motion doom versus squealing, speaker shredding, super distorted power electronics. Think Godflesh and Neurosis and Earth and Whitehouse and Cop Shoot Cop, and Gore and Noisegate and the Melvins, with the treble turned to zero, the bass turned to ten, and about 1000 extra amps, turned on, buzzing and squealing and rumbling, as Halo channel all of this unbridled energy into huge molten riffs that stretch out into near ambient dirges. Static, hum and hiss swarm wildly in and out of the mix, and occasionally everything drops out until all that's left is blurry static ambience and stray rattles and rumbles, until the two-headed beast struggles free and lurches madly forward again. Fucking amazing.
HENRY, PIERREFragments Pour Artaud / Entite / Prisme(Philips)cd$ 21.00
Chapter 4.2 in the Philips reissue series of the musique concrete works of Pierre Henry features 3 pieces: "Fragments pour Artaud" (1970), "Entite" (1959), and "Prisme" (1973). "Fragments Pour Artaud" lives up to its name as an absurdist homage to Antonin Artaud, in jumpcutting through 13 interlocking segments of monotonous voices that have been manipulated into eeriely sputtering fluctuations of synthesized noise. Henry opens and closes this composition with the random plucks of an untuned steel-stringed instrument flapping against its soundboard. Quite obtuse, yet bombastically theatrical. "Entite" is a brief 6 minute piece for tape, with nonspecific grey sounds fluxing in and out of the audible range whilst generative metallic clatter and tape whirr pop throughout the stereo field. "Prisme" rounds out the collection as another investigation into the realm of possibilities for magnetic tape manipulation. These concrete sounds filtered through an arsenal of effects are quite typical for Henry and those at the INA-GRM institution, with the biggest difference being the advancement in technology and sound quality between 1959 and 1973. All liner notes are in French.
HENRY, PIERRELes Annees Cinquante(Philips)2cd$ 21.00
In the fourth chapter in the continued archival project for musique concrete composer Pierre Henry, Philips presents this collection of Henry's earliest material from the 1950s, which had been previously issued on the long out of print Mantra 3CD set. The compositions (number 4.3, if you must know) within this set include "Microphone bien tempÈre" (1950-1952), "Concerto des ambiguites" (1950), "Musique sans titre" (1950), "Bidule en mi" (1950). "Spirale" (1955), "Voile d'orphÈe" (1953), "Spatiodynamisme" (1954), "Aut-voltage" (1956), and "Coexistence" (1958). These pieces, which are all based upon magnetic tape playback, splicing, and speed manipulation with various filters, reflect Henry's early mastery over his material despite the lack of dynamics from his equipment (which generated very little pure bass reflex at all)... disembodied vocals, metallic cymbals with variable attack, sustained organ, spring reverb manipulation, and any other obtuse sound that resonates within the mid-range timbres. Liner notes are all in French.
HENRY, PIERREPierres Reflechies / La Noire A Soixante / Gymkhana(Philips)cd$ 21.00
In the reissue campaign from Philips of Pierre Henry's work, his compositions "Pierres Reflechies," "La Noire A Soixante," and "Gymkhana" constitute the volume 4.1. "Pierre Reflechies" (1982) is a good example of Pierre Henry's current aesthetic with a greater emphasis on the dialogue between orchestral instruments and electronic synthesis. Here, Henry composes the orchestral elements through serial repetition of blurted notes, then disfigures them through a number of filters which resemble contemporary DSP techniques. For this piece, Henry has translated the work of Proust into sound and dedicated it to the other Pierre of musique concrete (Pierre Schaeffer, that is). "La Noire A Soixante" jumps back to 1961 and to a minimal application of Henry's electro-acoustic pings and reverberations. "Gymkhana" (1970) appears to be a 'remix' of the aforementioned "La Noire A Soixante" with acoustic instrumentation (sustained oboes and pointillist flutes) laid over the backing tape.
HESS, FELIXAir Pressure Fluctuations(Stadt Galerie)cd$ 16.98
For those list subscribers who picked up Scharpling & Wurster's hilarious "Chain Fights, Beer Busts, and Service with a Grin" cd of WFMU talk radio pranks from a few lists back, the high point was definitely when the 'music snob' condescendingly announced to the host that he had been listening to nothing but Air Mixes - compositions so pure as to have done away with all extraneous elements, like instruments, music, and sound, leaving behind recordings of pure silence. Felix Hess's "Air Pressure Fluctuations" may seem like one of those obnoxious Air Mixes, but rest assured it isn't. Although the recordings do consist of nothing but air. Read on. For this document, Hess has recorded the fluctuations of air currents (which do generate sound, but in the inaudible infrasound end of the sonic spectrum) at 360 times the original speed, thus bringing these sounds up to audible levels. The gray wash of sound which comes from this process immediately sounds like a quiet spring rain, but Hess in his well written, but brief liner notes explains that these tiny sounds are the cumulative sound of a door being opened and closed throughout the day. A deep droning hum that occasionally comes to the ground is the amplification of standing waves from the distant Atlantic ocean, and the increased density of these sounds every 4 minutes is attributed to an urban population waking up and starting its day. Yup, this is an Air Mix, but it's a damn good one, if sadly a mere 20 minutes long.
HILL, LAURYNUnplugged(Columbia)2cd$ 19.98
If you wanna hear Ms Lauryn Hill's voice in all of its unadorned power and beauty, well you're in luck! Here's not just one, but two discs worth for you. Yup, sorta surprising that it took so long, but she's finally gone "Unplugged". However, unlike many others who've trod through this MTV presentation, she doesn't simply rehash her songs acoustically, but seizes the opportunity to reach out further with her thoughtful, impassioned and quite substantial between song banter (in the track listing, these are labeled as "interludes"). And the audience's response? Of course as you'd expect, super adoring and enthusiastic, absolutely hanging on her every word both sung and spoken.
HOLMES, DAVIDCome Get It I Got It(13 Amp)cd$ 17.98
Two things I could never quite get into: funk/soul compilations, and David Holmes. As far as the compilations, they always seemed either too familiar, or too "Whoo, let's dance and get funky". Ugh. Especially when there's so much seriously intense and dark funk and soul floating around. And as for Holmes, he always seemed on the right track, his 'film' music always just barely missed the mark, falling too much in the 'chill-out music for the Kruder and Dorfmeister set' when you could somehow tell he was capable of so much more. So imagine my surprise when one record proves me wrong on both counts. Holmes has picked out some ridiculously obscure soul gems, but more importantly, these tunes are amazing: dark and sultry and so catchy. Once in a while, he masterfully mixes beats and atmospheres into some of the soul jams turning them into modern, bumping, top-down, cruising classics. The interludes here are performed by Homes in his 'classic soul' guise as The Free Association. Occasionally these interludes kind of break the flow, with 'LSD' clips and stuttery samples and that sort of thing, but even more often, he manages to emulate the tunes found elsewhere, coming up with some dirty grimy neo-soul. Plus, this features what has to be the most amazing and intense flute tune ever, taking Roland Kirk's speaking/screaming/hyperventilating flute solos about as far out as you can. Been listening to this non stop!
HORDE CATALYTIQUE POUR LA FINGestation Sonore(Mellow)cd$ 15.98
Quiet/loud saxophone squealing and squawking, over a background ambience of ominous clatter and drone...piano, percussion, tape hiss... Free jazz fairy tale music from France circa 1971. It's very moody and dark, but then there will be eruptions of Warner Bros cartoon music, almost. You could imagine a cartoon mouse tip-toeing around to some of this. A very scared little mouse. This ultra-rare Futura LP now sees cd reissue via Italian label Mellow, and fans of skronky Euro-improv as well as the more cosmic psych soundscapes of, say, Taj Mahal Travellers, should investigate.
HORRORS, THEs/t(In The Red)cd$ 13.98
AQ pal and Pink of Pink and Brown Mr. John Dwyer recommended this lovely release to us. Word is, the guy who owns In The Red likes them so much that he not only put this cd out, but roadies for them as well. A raw and raunchy combo from Cedar Rapids, IA who formed three years ago at the tender age of 18. Their self proclaimed influences range from Leadbelly to Black Sabbath to Doo Rag to Dr. Dre to Pussy Galore to Prince. The sound isn't nearly so eclectic, but it is pretty great. Lo-fi, high energy, stripped down, haphazard, kick your dick in the dirt, punk rock garage kicks. Sadie says "Hell yeah!"
HOT ROD CIRCUITSorry About Tomorrow(Vagrant)cd$ 14.98
Hot Rod Circuit are the latest in Vagrant's assault on radio/MTV while simultaneously getting punk rockers to listen to music that belongs on TRL as much as Blink 182 or Christine Aguillera do. Ok, I know. That's kind of harsh. But I've long wondered, since the days of Sensefield (remember them?) how certain bands continued to appeal to punk rockers (Sensefield patch next to your Crass and Avail patches) while others were immediately labeled sellouts and banished to break up if they didn't make it big. I'm sure there's label, and location and history and scene politics and all that but it still baffles me. And it baffles me why anyone considers Vagrant a punk label (punk is an attitude, a lifestyle, not just the music, well for more on that see the amazing story on Vagrant in the new Punk Planet). So that brings us to Hot Rod Circuit, who are actually a pretty good pop band. They have all the requisite qualities of a great pop (not punk) band, great vocalist, big thick guitars, short sharp songs, they're all kinda cute, hot chick on the cover. But the songs just aren't there. Unlike the Anniversary or the Get Up Kids, HRC aren't yet great songwriters. But they do sound great, and they're great players, and there are some great moments on this record. So let's just wait and see what they come up with next. Could be great.
HWYL-NOFIOThe Singers And Harp Players Are Dumb(HWYL Records)cd$ 14.98
We heard about Hwyl-Nofio from AQ pal Kevin who does the amazing UK zine Salt (see elsewhere in this list) and finally managed to get our hands on a bunch. It's kind of a hard record to explain. But I've been listening to this almost every night when I go to bed, if that tells you anything. Dark and dreamy and cinematic. Somewhere between musique concrete, Stars Of The Lid, David Darling (solo cello) and drone ala Jonathan Coleclough, Troum or Mirror. Hwyl-Nofio is Steve Parry, and the records sound centers around his restrained, haunting piano, some times prepared, sometimes effected, but always simple and gorgeous. Dark slowly buliding somber bass swells cycle endlessly as melancholy piano hesitantly joins in. Warm washes of whispery rumble spread like thick rich fog, spilling from the speakers as distant high end notes twinkle and sparkle. Wheezing dissonance is laid beneath whirring church organs and keening guitars. Rumbling and bubbling low end floods your ears like molasses, while in the background, subtle clatter, plucked guitar and throbbing pulses. This has become my absolute favorite bliss out, late night, chill out record ever! So gorgeous and so good.