Aquarius Records closed in 2016. This site is an archive — a place to rediscover their extraordinary music recommendations. Nothing here is for sale.
[ aquarius records new arrivals — issue 170 ]
Showing results 51 through 55 of 55.
WEENQuebec(Sanctuary)cd$ 17.98
Gene and Dean Ween are back, which is sure to be a cause for jubilation among many. However, we're not diehard Ween fans, and while there's titles in the Ween catalog we definitely enjoy, Quebec's not high up on that list. The best thing about it is the Motorhead pastiche that leads off the album. After that, they do what they do, but it's just not as funny as old Ween, although still quite as proficient musically. Total studio musician/songwriting hack chopsism. There's no easily-discerned theme, and we quickly lost interest after that Motorhead bit, as we said. *However*, had a hardcore Ween fan reviewed this for us, there's always the chance that they'd say we were missing something, so don't let us stop you from Ween-ing out with this one.
The follow-up to the smash AQ-hit The Lobster Boys -- dozens upon dozens of copies sold here, and counting, no petite potatoes considering that the disc only sold 500 in all of Europe! -- is in fact a follow-up in the best sense. When doesn't return to the dark soundtrack stuff a decade ago that made earlier When albums so beloved of the black metal community. No, When gives us what we want -- sunshiney sike-pop n' electronica incorporating international ethnic sounds into a heavenly yet weird pop concoction. Pretty much The Lobster Boys part II, but with lyrical concepts taken from The Arabian Nights! Those fables and proverbs are rendered with gentle, even gently twee, self-harmonized vocals with a British accented lilt. You'll hear the Beatles, XTC, and some Bowie too. Combine that vocal-pop capability with sampled, shambling Middle Eastern bazaar musicks, jangling exotica and electronics, and you've got When's winning formula on Pearl-Harvest. It's a bit like Tipsy on a magic carpet ride with Andy Partridge doing the vocals. There's some darker, cartoon-wacky surreality thrown in that echoes old, disturbing When stuff, but that's almost a warped Disney element that works in perfect contrast to the pop-perfection of most of the songs.
If you're not already one of the many AQ customers to have acquired a copy of The Lobster Boys (or Psychedelic Wunderbaum, or WriterCakeBox, or...) then you maybe unaware of the who and what of When. It's the project of Norwegian Lars Pederson, an eclectic eccentric musical mastermind if there ever was one. Here he sings and plays almost all the instruments -- keys, zither, flute, xylophone, programming, etc. -- with a little help from friends making guest appearances on accordion and guitar. We've liked all his stuff in the past, but this sampledelic pop niche he's been exploring recently is most impressive, and certainly the most sweetly satisfying.
X, RICHARDPresents His X-Factor Vol. 1(Astralwerks)cd$ 16.98
Astralwerks is betting a considerable amount of money that the 'bootleg' phenomenon that raged during the summer of 2002 hasn't completely died out, as they have obviously invested a considerable amount of money for Richard X to license all of the samples that land on his debut album "Richard X Presents His X-Factor Vol. 1." The bootleg or 'mash-up' aesthetic was a seemingly simple one, as an artist would take the a capella track of some overplayed pop song and layer it on top of the instrumental track of an equally overplayed pop song. Done well, it's a wonderfully subversive play between appropriated texts. Done badly, it's clumsy ironic drivel. Given the overwhelming number of those bootlegs that were dreadful, this is an artform which demands much more panache than your average artschool ironist can muster. Hiding behind this enigmatic moniker as well as the semi-legit project the Sugarbabes, Richard X proved he was the best of the bootleggers, with his deadly perfect mash-up of "Being Boiled" by Human League and "No Scrubs" by TLC which gave the appearance that absolutely nothing was done to either track in order for the two melodies to come together.
With the crackdown from the RIAA on those evil pirates who download illegal music from the net (insert sarcastic facial gesture and eyerolling here), there is absolutely no way Richard X could get away with the schtick that got him his credibility. As a result "Richard X Presents His X-Factor Vol. 1" is something of a compromise record; however, it is a deranged pop masterpiece that is simultaneously a piss-take, a send-up, and a perfect homage to terminal fashion victims, electroclash trainspotters, and ravenous consumers of the mainstream entertainment industry. The album opens with a reprise of the "Being Boiled" mash-up; however, this time Richard commissioned the R&B group Liberty X for a rendition of the Chaka Khan classic "Ain't Nobody," and highlights include a very clever version of Burt Bacharach's "Walk On By" with Flying Lizards' vocalist Deborah Evans-Strickland offering the same deadpan vocal delivery she gave to the Lizards' new wave classic cover of "Money." Some of the references are a bit more obscure, delving into diva house territory with a pretty straight remake of Thelma Houston's "You Used To Hold Me So Tight." The one major dud on the album is the cornball crap track from electroclash dork Tiga, who breathily recites 'you better let me love you' at best sounding like a overly cologned playboy with only one sleazy pick up line, at worst like a date rapist. Overlook this one track, and you'll find that Richard X has done very well with the limitations set before him. It's certainly not the free world you might think it is.
YOUNG MARBLE GIANTSColossal Youth(Les Disques du Crepuscule / PIAS America)cd$ 15.98
Young Marble Giants' true minimal masterpiece, Colossal Youth, receives yet another reissue. Whatta cause for celebration -- this is absolutely essential listening (and Cup and Windy don't use that word lightly, mind you)! This British trio's existence was ever so fleeting, and they only had one proper album, but what a leftfield classic it is. It sounds *totally unique*, like nothing before, and has made a huge impact in the many years since it was originally released in 1980. Seriously -- this is one of those classic albums that not only has influenced tons of musicians (Hole even covered "Credit in the Straight World", but don't hold that against YMG!) but is also great listening in and of itself. It ranks up there with, like, The Velvet's first record, Neu!, the Raincoats, Pere Ubu's Modern Dance, etc etc.
A very hushed, metronome-sounding drum machine ticks out the tireless beat of each song like a friendly clock, and its neutral tone is also reflected in Alison Statton's girlish, earnest, not always pitch-perfect vocals as well as in the muted string strum of Stuart Moxham's electric guitar. Spartan, angular strikes from the same guitar punctuate this steady atmosphere as a frail organ does its wheezing, bleeting melodic best and Philip Moxham's rubbery bass line hesitantly bends and bounds. Minimal and no-frills, yes, but somehow there's so much more going on, and so much more expressed than its quietness belies. The songs are tiny and simple and total perfection. Powerful and totally f**king timeless and yes, very highly recommended.
(We believe this just might be the fourth edition. In the past, each time it's been pressed the track listing has increased, but not so with this Play It Again Sam America pressing. The song count remains at twenty five. Might be that there simply aren't any more recordings left in the vault to plunder. Not that we're complaining, we just wish a label would once and for all release it and be able to keep it available forever and ever and ever! Hopefully PIAS America is that label. Heck, we're truly fortunate to have as much YMG music as we do!)
This fictional collective is in fact one Carter Thornton, a New York based composer / sound artist, and 'Floor Child' collects five years of his recordings and live performances, sewn together into one throbbing, creaking, tinkling droning whole, spread out over two discs, and featuring appearances by a couple of No Neck Blues Banders and a handful of NNCK-related folks. This is a massive, expansive free form soundscape hobbled together out of everything AND the kitchen sink, humming drones, keening feedback, spacy honking free jazz horns, distant clatter and hum, snippets of short wave radio and TV dialogue, an assortment of strings, strummed, plucked and bowed, far away drums, found sounds, birds and running water, jazzy clatter, bouncy rhythms, tinkling piano, groaning swells, shimmery melodies and all sorts of other sounds. A surprisingly smooth and dreamy listen considering the disparate sounds and sources. Nice. Released on NNCK's Sound@one label.
