This 1975 follow-up to their internationally successful Autobahn LP pays tribute to the mechanical catalyst that helped create that success, the radio and the power of broadcast communications. While more obtuse and less successful than its predecessor, the songs on Radio-Activity utilize more concrete forms than ever before with sounds of static, Geiger counters, oscillators and Cage-ian moments of silence to recreate the sense of radio transmission. This also marks the first time Kraftwerk recorded vocals in English and made use of robotic voices that would come to the forefront in subsequent releases.
It's about time. Dusseldorf's most famous export, the Godfathers of electronic pop music, Kraftwerk, finally see their classic albums remastered and reissued for the 21st century (although, unfortunately, not yet their EARLIEST classics, the ones with the traffic cone covers). Given the group's notoriety for demanding nothing but absolute perfection, you can safely bet that these sound AMAZING after years of tireless mixing and mastering in Kling-Klang studios. That's probably the main selling point here, as Kraftwerk was never really a "bonus material" kind of band, and there is none of that here; if it was released, it pretty much meant it was labored upon until being deemed suitable for public exposure. These reissues have also got some pretty fancy expanded artwork, with simple but bold slip covers housing the actual cds. Of course, if you don't already have these albums in some form or another, you should probably do yourself a favor and purchase every single one of them immediately.
The Man-Machine was originally released in 1978, a year after the artistic and commercial triumph of Trans-Europe Express. Obviously there was a lot to live up to following TEE, and Kraftwerk had little difficulty doing so. The Man Machine is likewise a genre-defining masterpiece, containing at least two of their most well known songs with "The Robots" and "The Model". It also features one of their strangely overlooked songs, the too-awesome-for-words "Spacelab". The cold, mechanical approach Kraftwerk had been striving for is perfected on this record, also expertly conveyed from a visual standpoint on the cover, where the group appears all angular and unsmiling in their matching red shirt/black tie getup. It's pretty crazy to imagine the reaction this must have received right in the middle of the punk explosion. As the rest of the world reveled in sloppy, wide-eyed rock n' roll, Kraftwerk became more precise and jettisoned the most recognizable traces of human emotion usually reserved for the pop market. Still, though the most noteworthy traits here bring to mind a glum, dystopian future, like on the title track and the ominous "Metropolis", there is also a good deal of humor and an implied human warmth, as Kraftwerk themselves, more than anything, take the role of detached observers in a world that defines itself more and more through technological progress. Sound familiar?
Oh, and a note to vinyl obsessives, these reissues will be coming out in that format next month, we're told!
It's a little frustrating to be so far removed from the epicenter of a music we're fairly obsessed with. Very little dubstep and grime makes it across the Atlantic, and much of the stuff that does is the cheesier more commercial stuff, the harder underground ultra dark stuff, seems to be harder to track down. But every once in a while, one of those dark sinister discs makes it over here, and it's all we can do to resist listening to nothing else. But we don't actually resist all that much, so this debut full length from Kryptic Minds, the first release on Loefah's Swamp 81 label, has been pretty much on constant rotation, especially in the car, cuz with a record like this, even the crappiest stereo sounds like a boomin' system.
This is our favorite kind of dubstep, super dubbed out and skeletal, no extraneous synth swooshes, or soulful female vox, just beats, and bass, and the bass is fuzzy and blown out, shifting from deep pulse to warbly buzz, the drums, skittery and spaced out, almost like a jungle record played at 16 rpm. And what little musical accompaniment there is, besides the bass, is all low end and rumble, haunting and ominous, the melodies kept to a minimum, just rhythm and sound, and it sounds so so awesome, low slung, deeeep and groovy. Another killer dubstep fix, definitely enough to satisfy our jones, at least for now...
This brand new 7" from Swedish depressive black metaller Kyla sounds exactly how you might expect, considering the man behind Kyla is also responsible for the equally black and depressive Hypothermia, as well as counting himself a member of damaged black metal pop weirdos Lifelover.
Kyla traffic in a sound we love, a woozy, super distorted, melancholic, minor key buzz, which begins all warbly and minimal before giving way to a mesmerizing trancelike not-quite-blast. The vocals are howled and anguished and echo drenched and nearly hysterical sounding at points, but they surface only here and there, leaving most of the record to pound out a hypnotic blackened dirge. The guitars are downtuned and almost sludgey sounding in tone, the drums muffled enough to blend in with the blurred guitars and rumbling low end, the B-side has a weird pop vibe running through it, and a killer main melody, reminding us big time of Lifelover, but the vocals are even more unhinged, exploding in squalls of terrifying shriek.
Pressed on ultra thick vinyl, housed in super striking black and white sleeves, and of course VERY LIMITED!
Skweee! We've explained skweee before, you know it's an infectious and sometimes silly electronic music subgenre, an 8-bit obsessed video gamey sort of instrumental hiphop/electro music, coming from Scandinavian places like Sweden, Finland, and... Portland Oregon??
Sure, why not! The, um, interestingly-named Lazercrotch hails from Portland, and his debut 7" is the first American skweee release we've ever encountered. And it most definitely IS skweee, and the truly skweee agree, Lazercrotch is gettin' props from the likes of Mrs. Qeada and Randy Barracuda.
"Nugut!" is a low-slung, loose-limbed groove, with the crunching bass blurp and whooshing synths we like... likewise the flipside is totally skweeed up too. Cool. It's a 45, which means you can play it on 33 if you like, for extra slowed down, drugged out, fucked up effect.
We look forward to hearing more from Lazercrotch, and Poisonous Gases, the label he's formed to promote skweee in this country.
These mysterious funk nomads are back for round two of collaborations, after last years superb Clutch Of The Tiger. Multi-instrumentalists Shawn Lee (who has lately taken to being photographed wearing a tiger mask) and possibly imaginary character, Clutchy Hopkins, expand on the organic desert funk they are known for, but add a whole lot more to their sonic arsenal, including orchestral elements, strings, Mellotron, vibes, sitars and gongs, sounding often like a thrilling lost seventies soundtrack. Definitely a chill vibe if somewhat darker than their usually sunny jams. The track "Root Trees", features an appearance by UK soul group the Superimposers. If the schtick of their mysterious identities has long worn off, the quality of the music they make is still pretty solid!
It's hard to believe it's been almost 4 years since the last Lightning Bolt record. It does seem like they've been touring pretty much nonstop for the last decade, and nothing compares to seeing these guys live, set up on the floor, right in the middle of the pit, the volume deafening, the energy contagious, the playing frantic and furious, these guys are pretty untouchable live, and the way they make such a din with just bass and drums, makes all other rhythm section duos sound sad in comparison. And while records rarely capture the intensity of live performances, LB records have been pretty consistently kick ass, heavy and complex, a bit murky and lo-fi. but if you've ever seen the band, their equipment looks like they built it from scraps, so one might imagine the recordings would be similarly haphazard.
Earthly Delights picks up pretty much right where Hypermagic Mountain left off. The bass buzzes and sings, somehow filling up the low end, while spitting out squiggly melodies, the drums galloping wildly, explosive fills, jumbled math melting rhythms, the vocals super distorted yelps, the songs weirdly catchy, or if not specifically catchy in the traditional sense, the repeated riffs and motifs get lodged in your head, and you pretty much want them to go on forever, and they sort of do. And the thing is, not a whole lot has changed in the ensuing years since the last record, but why should anything have changed? You don't fix what ain't broke, and anyway, NO ONE sounds like Lightning Bolt, and they were already insanely tight, so not sure things could get any tighter, if anything, it's just another batch of bad ass LB jams, which is more then enough. Of course there's the very metal 12 minute closing track, that will have you wondering how the fuck any one can play like that non stop for 12 whole minutes, which will then lead you to wonder how they play like that for a WHOLE SET. Better not to wonder, just let them do their superhuman noise rock thing, you just sit back and enjoy it, or better yet jump around like crazy and try to keep up.
Once again, the big, hairy, doll making, lovestruck punk rock behemoth better known as Wuvable Oaf returns! We've been champions of Luce's crazy creation since the moment we first laid eyes on Oaf and his equally hirsute cadre of pals and lovers and hangers on. Not to mention the kitties!
For those new to the Oaf, in a city, suspiciously like San Francisco, lives the Wuvable Oaf, who spends his days making cool little stuffed dollies, filling them with his shaved body hair, living in a house full of kitties, and pining after Eiffel, the diminutive lead singer of the band Ejaculoid, who are constantly battling their arch rival band, Spincterine, and that's just scratching the surface. There's lots of unrequited love, nightmarish dream monsters, wild punk rock gigs, nightmare dates, aggro-massage, jilted evil ex-boyfriend chefs, blind dates, bands with names like Muff ' N' Top Grrrlz and Wasp Women, a broKENCYDE shirt pops up during a show, so do the bad guys from Superman 2, as does our very own Andee!
It's definitely a wild ride, the art is amazing, super detailed, over the top, there's so much hair everywhere, on the big beefy dudes, on the kitties, it's no wonder why it takes Luce ages to finish each issue, but it's well worth the wait, funny, and fun, and sexy and silly, now we're dying for issue 3, especially after the back page teaser, a big hairy, horned, devil tailed man-beast with the legend "Who is Gote Blud?". Well?? WHO IS IT??????????????
Rev it up! The Maserati boys are back with another compact disc installment of their instrumental, exceedingly rhythmic post rock, and unlike some bands who have run afoul of corporate intellectual property lawyers (Pansonic, Kleenex, Bipolaroid, etc.), they still haven't been sued by the manufacturers of the Italian sports car from whom they borrow their name (though perhaps it's also an obscure Ted Nugent lyrical reference? let's hope not). Probably the suits at the automaker Maserati's headquarters realize that this band's music is free, excellent advertising for their product!
This is definitely -driving- music, sometime a pleasant Sunday drive, sometimes a white knuckle ride over the speed limit, always propulsive, hypnotically repetitive, but dynamic as well. "Join Us, Mystic Sister" is a brief, ecstatic intro, that shines forth and then segues smoothly into "No More Sages", with its vaguely metallic, chucka-chucka guitars, motorik beats, and washes of shoegazery distortion. Other cuts venture further into purely kosmische, krautrock inspired territory, like the minimalist all-synth pulsations of "Thieves".
There's 8 tracks on this 40 minute disc, three of them remixes. However, all but two of the tracks previously appeared on limited edition, now out of print vinyl releases. The first four cuts are from Maserati's side of their 12" split with Zombi that we were never able to get enough of to list. And two of the remixes, by DFA's Tim Goldsworthy and !!!'s Justin Van Der Volgen, are from the Inventions Remixes 12". Both really dance it up, accentuating the cosmic disco vibe that Maserati already possess. The other remix, of a spacier take of this disc's "Monoliths", was done by Zombi's Steve Moore, and is exclusive to this release, as is album closer "Do You Hear The Nightbirds Calling You?". And if all that wasn't enough, this cd is further enhanced by the presence of two pretty cool Quicktime video clips. One's live, the other a cute, partly animated music video demonstrating Maserati's potential as workout music.
As always, VERY recommended for fans of Zombi, Trans Am, Circle, Salvatore, Tussle, Nisennenmondai, SF's own Jonas Reinhardt, and other likeminded coked up post rockers.
There are those who might have doubts about an ACOUSTIC guitar record from cosmic zoner Mark McGuire, who has been honing his Achim Reichel / Gunter Schickert guitar arpeggiations in the soon to be legendary trio Emeralds. You might say to yourself, when has Emeralds ever used an acoustic guitar? Can he really play without tons of tripped out effects? Is he good enough without a battery of synths supporting him? Any and all doubts should be dispelled in listening to this record. Yeah, this is really pretty special. McGuire offers five lengthy pieces of psychedelic folk via an acoustic guitar, probably buttressed by a loop station on a few passages during these pieces. The brightly rendered guitar chiming from McGuire's acoustic guitar noticeably detours from the rounded tonal arcs of Emeralds psych-drone workouts; but the rhythmic locomotive aspects from some of the later Emeralds recordings are prominent throughout this album. The nearly sidelong "Burning Leaves" centers upon a rich and warmly clad elliptical strum that spins in a duet around some lovely melodic notes dotting about. As hypnotic as the piece is, it's also downright playful. Other tracks like "At First Sight" and especially "Second Thoughts" have much more of a downer, maudlin vibe that spills through the almost raga hypnosis of McGuire's fingerpicking. Great stuff that would certainly appeal to fans of James Blackshaw, Six Organs, and maybe even Vini Riley. Dare it be said, but had this been released sometime in 1970, this would probably have landed on Takoma!
If you were going to create a comic book that would appeal equally to fans of Harvey Pekar (American Splendor) and punk metallers the Melvins, Brian Walsby's Manchild would be it. It IS it. Autobiographical, confessional comix about his life, love, and music. Lots and lots of music. Much of this is devoted to stuff about indie/punk/HC/metal, back in the day... Especially for anyone of a certain age, with nostalgia for the '80s and '90s underground rock scene, this is a must! Walsby is a good artist, and writer, and in fact almost each and every panel found on these many, many pages (this is thick!) is packed with text you'll need to squint a bit to read, but it's worth it.
We haven't read the whole thing yet, but we can tell you that in this issue, there's a bunch of stories about bands he's been in (ferinstance Walsby played drums for Snake Nation, with CoC's Woody Weatherman and Mike Dean, and he was also in Shiny Beast, wow, we had no idea) and stuff about his life now, like how he met his current girlfriend, who has a toddler, what what that's been like.... He illustrates some other folks' tales about quitting their jobs, there's a two-page piece about Jason Newsted, all sorts of random, cool shit, usually pretty funny or weird or interesting, sometimes really something to think about.
In addition to the longer stories, there's plenty of one-page and half-page bits, good laughs like the one about reformed '80s hardcore bands, renamed: 700 Seconds, Middle Aged Threat, Adult Brigade, Youth Of Yesterday, Post-Adolescents, Semi-Negative Approach... Or the one about Jimi Hendrix in Heaven, getting pissed that he's required to "jam" with every other rockstar who dies and goes there after him (he's like, "I finally get Janis and Jerry off of my back... and then I have to play with this...'Dimebag Darrell'?").
The comic book would be worth it by itself, but sweetening the deal, this is shrinkwrapped with a LIVE MELVINS CD! Entitled Pick Your Battles, it's about 50 minutes long, presenting 15 tracks taken from two shows, Berkeley back in 1989 and Boston 2008. True Melvins fans want this, even if they don't like comic books, but why wouldn't you like comic books, especially this one?
Purple vinyl all gone... but we still do have black vinyl of this!
Sometimes it really is strange to contrast the Mountain Goats of today with the Mountain Goats of old. It's not really that strange for bands to develop and grow, to explore and expand their sonic palette, but for YEARS, the Mountain Goats WAS John Darnielle, a super aggressively strummed acoustic guitar, and his nasally whine, belted out at full volume, but it wasn't that simple, the songs, as bare bones as they may have appeared on the surface, were incredible, catchy and deep, melodic and super rocking (for an acoustic guitars), and the lyrics, by turns clever and bitter and funny and literate, all still totally punk rock, recorded on boomboxes, released on lo-fi mainstay Shrimper. Never in a million years would we have expected Darnielle and his Mountain Goats to end up on 4AD, nor would we have imagined the sound of the Mountain Goats could change so dramatically. But it did, and we've made our peace with it, those lo-fi days are long gone, which in some ways, makes us a little sad, but we would never have glimpsed this other side of Darnielle, which would have been a damn shame, as he's proven himself to be quite a songwriter and arranger, the NEW Mountain Goats, a whole new proposition, still with brief glimpses of the MG's of old, but for the most part, a proper band, sometimes rocking, other times brooding, always a little dark, the lyrics still awesome, so much so you sometimes wonder how Darnielle became a musician and not a writer, but the combination of super literate lyrics and more traditional rock arrangements still hits the spot.
Life Of The World To Come is a dark record, even by MG's standards, every track named for a verse of the Bible, although the lyrical content is not explicitly connected to said verses, at least not on the surface. The sound is lovely, lush and moody and dark and a bit mournful, the opening track is hushed and intimate, Darnielle's vocals restrained, the guitars muted, muffled percussion, everything murky and mysterious. The second track is much more 'rocking', with Darnielle slipping into his old vocal style, which is a good match for the chugging riffs, and pounding drums.
The record explores lots of stylistic territory, but the finest moments (much of the record in fact) find Darnielle abandoning the guitar for piano, the dark chords ominous and lush, backed by strings sometimes, getting a little chamber, which sounds fantastic, it's deeply moving, haunting and emotional. A couple of the more rocking numbers are a bit lite, and sound a tad mainstream, but invariably, they lead right back to something much darker, and ominously lovely.
Available both on cd and super deluxe double black vinyl. There were some purple copies, but those colored vinyl versions are long gone... plus black vinyl does sound better anyway!
Earlier this year, Mountains released Choral, an album that is for sure to be on many of our yearend favorite lists. It found the duo truly coming into their own to create a multilayered shoegaze tinged dreamdrift masterpiece. This new lp finds the group in its best long form state of mind with one epic sprawl of daydream bliss-out spread across both sides of this 12". While Mountains have always had their head in the clouds, Etching finds them floating even further out, conjuring up a gorgeous hazy drift of shimmering and crystallized sounds that makes us want to float heavenward right beside them. While we were really impressed with Mountains' ability to craft 'proper' songs on Choral, it's also nice to see them let one of their songs, blossom and expand and unfurl into a long droning and atmospheric bed of sound, that finds them exploring the same sort of territory as folks like William Basinski and Philip Jeck. The mixture of field recordings and their own music is so seamless, creating a soundscape that seems lost in a faded memory. So lovely.
The record comes with a digital download as well in case you don't want to have to get up and flip sides, perhaps interrupting the perfect soundtrack to a late afternoon daydream.
So here's another psychedelic offering of mountain time, roots raga for the true trippers. Only this time the duo have turned their amps up to 11 and leave the acoustic guitars in the closet. Some of you might even be pleased to know J. Mascis holds down the heavy driving rhythm section on drums!! The east coastin' folksters don't veer too far from their past few Ecstatic Peace records, although Barn Nova does seem louder, bigger and more on the electrified country tip. Perhaps with the addition of Mr. Mascis the duo have crafted a more driving and more post-rock sound. "Wandering Nomad" is a perfect example of this more driving, pastoral hugeness, giant chords rip through the country air, vocal harmonies peer through the enveloping reverb, wailing guitar solos beam overhead. We can even catch some glimpses of some dissonant, Sonic Youth type jam outs, wailing feedback and chaos blistering into the red, so unlike anything else we've heard from these cats. So if you're even wondering whether buying another MV and EE album is a good idea, take our word for it and just do it for the Mascis.
Been wanting to list this reissue for a while, finally got enough of a handful in stock to do so. If you're into doom metal at all, real old school doom metal, then you're familiar with Swedish legends Candlemass. The premier epic doom band of the '80s, responsible for classic albums like Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, Nightfall, and Ancient Dreams, who are still at it today, most recently bringing the hammer down with Death Magic Doom reviewed here a few months ago.
Well, way way back in their misty past there lurks Nemesis. This is where Candlemass's career of doom began. Featuring future Candlemass bassist/bandleader Leif Edling, and axewielder Christian Weberyd, Nemesis recorded a 12" ep in 1984 entitled The Day Of Retribution. Here it is reissued, complete with original PINK cover art (yay! we love anything, especially anything metal, with a pink cover!). The five songs of the ep, some of them later reused in Candlemass compositions, are examples of raw, wrenching doom dirge at its most basic best. Like Black Sabbath from beyond the grave, gone even more gothic and grim. Maybe I'm just a Candlemass fanboy, but this stuff still gives me the chills. Part of Nemesis' charm belongs to the unpolished vocals, from Leif Edling himself. He's not a soaring, operatic vocalist like Candlemass's best known singer Messiah Marcolin, not at all, but he sounds like he means it, wailing like a damned soul, in a lower register. The chugging riffs and Leif's anguished vox convey a lot of emotive power, enhanced too by the rough production, making the perfect mystic music for blasphemous rites and psychological breakdowns, conjuring Satanic black shapes within one's mind...
This new reissue, with liner notes from Leif, is filled out with six bonus tracks. A prior reissue had paired the Nemesis ep with early Candlemass demos, but this includes even earlier, more cult Nemesis demos instead! Tinny and distorted, but definitely of historical, doomological interest, after you've enjoyed the main course.
There's a lot of '80s inspired indie pop coming out these days, and sometimes it's really run of the mill pop, doused in distortion and lo-fi weirdness simply to sound like the other hip-at-the-moment popsmiths (Ariel Pink, Ty Segall, Kurt Vile, etc.). And that can be ok. But, when a new band's delivery sounds natural and not so contrived, when the music is rife with subtle unique elements, creating a sound that is not easily removable from the song, then we are ALL ears.
Such is the case with Neon Indian, who have a sonic vibe similar to current blog phenomenon and Mexican Summer buzz maker Washed Out, among others, with their ability to take the colorful and catchy side of '80s electro-tinged pop and bring in a slightly warped yet totally contagious and psychedelic sound palette that taps into a parallel universe where Ariel Pink stole Daft Punk beats and stripped them down a bit to make the kind of swirling effortless sounding pop that's just pretty damn impossible to resist. The lush, skillful production gives these songs such a nice timeless feel, while it definitely is a record that speaks to this moment in time in its reflection and reassembling of pop's past, their sample of Todd Rudgren's "Izzat Love" in one of their songs is proof that Neon Indian mastermind Alan Palamo has a good understanding of the kind of pop production that pulls from varied sources to create such a satisfying, and unique sound. This one is proving to be one of our favorite fall jams of '09! Lots of other folks favorite too, and with good reason!
Sometimes the timing of certain 'lost classic' reissues is too perfect, giving us a glimpse of the seeds of sounds to come, a prequel to certain musical trends that are gaining so much momentum in the here and now. Such is the case with this great, lost, lonesome psych classic from the Pacific Northwest, which was originally released in 1970. We're not sure if he's heard it or not, as this has been a really tough one to track down until recently, but man do we hear plenty of Kurt Vile in these old recording! With a fuzzy and faded vibe, The New Dawn crafted breezy yet dirgy pop songs that sound like some awesome combination of Lee Hazlewood, The Sonics, Roy Orbison, George Brigman, The Byrds, and the Velvet Underground. We can't get enough of the warm organ, haunting vocals, hypnotic percussion, just all the right sonic elements that really do evoke some desolate street at night, wet from a recent downpour and the flickering reflection of the moon on the shimmery black of the slick asphalt. So mesmerizing and intoxicating, we're beyond stoked this album is getting its beyond deserved moment!
Besides the obvious influence on Kurt Vile we could see so many other current AQ favorites being super into these sounds...Beach House, Silver Pines, Broadcast, Thee Oh Sees (circa Sucks Blood), The Beets, The Soundcarriers, Gary War, Sic Alps, as well as folks from the '80s and '90s that we love like Rain Parade, The Telescopes, Beachwood Sparks, Dream Syndicate, etc. Forty years after it was originally released There's A New Dawn is still completely captivating!
A highly obscure Afro-beat document from the seventies, this is a little heard recording by Fela Kuti sideman, Nicholas Addo Nettey. Recorded in Lagos at the same Ginger Baker-run studio that Kuti cut many of his famous albums, this feels like a rawer more stripped down Fela Kuti album just without Fela Kuti, with more chicken scratch organ than funk horns. Four songs, 2 long-form politically charged call and response hypnotic jams with 2 shorter soul grooving instrumentals. Daptone does quite a service uncovering this beast! No Afro-beat collection should be without it!
The second Grond begins, it all becomes clear: this is EXACTLY what you want to be listening to! Nihill follows a similar path to progressive black metal heavies such as Deathspell, Blut Aus Nord, and S.V.E.S.T., meaning this is modern black metal done the right way, but they also inject a significant amount of dooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom into the mix, ala SUNNO))) and Bunkur. So, uh, do we really need to say it? We're giving this one our seal of approval like you wouldn't believe.
Grond is part II of a trilogy (check out our review for the recent reissue of part I, Krach, from a few lists back), and it kicks off in grand fashion with "Aard," a blitzkrieg of pummeling blast beats, seasick guitar riffs, and forceful growling vocals. The song is a bit like wandering in a psychedelic dream state through a blackened, frozen wilderness, and it doesn't let up one bit for the duration of its 11 furious minutes, at least not until its feedback drenched conclusion, which segues into the next song, "Antimoon", a plodding doomscape pierced with discordant, siren like guitar notes and shrouded in infinite layers of fuzz and murk for the first 8 of its 17 minutes, after which the song spirals into an abyssic crevasse of windy, electronic ambience. "Vacuum" is a brutal and relentless lesson in Satanic riffage that works its way into the depths of your mind with its constant repetition and the singer's harsh, demonic croaks. The song is unrestrained and beyond the control of anything but the band themselves. The final selection here, "Pulsus", is another lesson in abject, doomed out black metal, a glacial, slow moving vortex ready to pull you deep into the misery. As the minutes progress, the song stops and starts like an animal gasping to crawl out of a blizzard, only to repeat its into eternity, or at least until an ever growing fuzz takes over everything in its path.
So yeah, this one pretty much fulfills the requirements for a metal record around this neck of the woods - equal parts speed and barely mobile dooooooooooooooom, all mixed into a hateful brew of metallic fury. We can only wonder where things will go with part III.
Do John Dwyer and his Oh Sees comrades ever sleep??!! In the last year it seems like they are either playing a show in town, on tour (by the way they are sooooo on fire live right now!) or putting out records. But hey we ain't complaining cause the less they sleep the more rad music we get. This new split with Paul Cary (we don't know much about him), finds Oh Sees (what happened to the THEE?) sounding more slowed down and slightly stoned, which is a side of the band we do really dig, but don't get to hear that often.
Paul Cary reminds us a bit of The Entrance Band all stripped down and playing on someone's front porch, sort of a rustic bluesy lo-fi folk. But like us you are probably here for (Thee) Oh Sees side of this split which finds them doing two covers, "Hey Buddy" by Iran and "Coma" by Trio. Both tracks were included on the now out of print cd that came with the Zork's Tape Bruise LP release a few months back. And we're stoked that more people will finally get a chance to here these covers as they were two of our favorite tracks from that collection. No matter what incarnation or direction (Thee) Oh Sees take they seem to be able to do no wrong as of late, and we have to say we feel pretty lucky to get to see them play as much as we do!
We were all kinda wondering what would happen with Pelican's first record for Southern Lord, after leaving Hydra Head. Would it be more metal? More black metal? More evil? Would it be more ANYTHING? Well, the answer is yeah, it is -more- a lot of things, but weirdly enough, at least to these ears, Pelican moved in the opposite direction, more melodic, more catchy, more hooky, LESS metal, and the weird thing is, in some ways it makes the music much more lyrical, which helps when you're an instrumental band, but still, here and there it does just the opposite, the sounds seemingly screaming for vocals, thankfully, those moments are few and far between, which leaves another bad ass chunk of heavy instrumental post rock. And few do it as well as Pelican. One thing we noticed this time around is a lot more grunge, some of the riffs, the changes, sound like they could have been lifted right off some classic Sub Pop 7", and Lord knows there ain't nothing wrong with that. Makes it sound heavier too. The guitars sound amazing, thick and crunchy, the melodies pretty catchy, some subtle Sabbath-isms here and there, some serious grooves (in a cool, heavy, UNgroovy way), and the drumming sounds better than ever, solid, tight, with just the right amount of swing, and there seems to be a lot more pretty parts, more space, letting the songs breathe, and sprawl, and open up, which in turn of course makes the heavier parts sound that much heavier. The band tackled an Earth cover on the Ephemeral 12", and it sounded great, so it makes sense that we're hearing some of that same epic sweeping twang, albeit more subtly on some of the songs here.
The cool thing about Pelican these days, is that they just sound like Pelican. Sure they inhabit a scene where there's plenty of sonic overlap, but these guys are just so good, and they've really turned into ace songwriters, which is critical when you're writing all instrumentals.
So yeah, if you already dig these guys, or love heavy rock, or metallic post rock or any of that sort of stuff, odds are this will totally hit the spot, and we were gonna say that if you didn't like Pelican already, then this probably wouldn't change your mind, but the more we listen to it, the more we're beginning to think it just might!
Death metal weirdos Portal return with another blast of incomprehensible sonic destruction, an avant garde, sepia tinged nightmare that perfectly indicates how appropriate a name like "Portal" is for a group like this. It's like stepping into another world - in this case, Australia, home to all kinds of unprecedented and bizarre metal groups like dISEMBOWELMENT, Halo, and Nekrasov. Simply put, Portal are fucking weird. Not only that, they are intense, and while no one will mistake this for anything other than scary as hell metal, the insane song structures and bizarre instrumentation - harsh and totally unique riffing, cyclonic drumming, and super guttural death growls (the only sort of "normal" thing about the group, but in this context they still sound pretty much unlike anything else) - are something different altogether. It's like whoever is playing guitar decided, after completely mastering his craft, to throw out all knowledge of standard guitar chords and build the band's sound off of hithero unknown chords that are sour, sludgey, and just completely fucking out there. One wonders just how the hell the band remembers where they are going, but somehow they get there like only they can. The overall sound on Swarth, and pretty much all of Portal's releases, is like a buzzing insect caught in a torrential downpour on the moon, or in some parallel dimension... or something. If you haven't figured it out yet, it's pretty hard to pin this stuff down, which is certainly a quality we appreciate in a genre plagued with formulaic ripoffs. So take comfort in the fact that there is hardly anything you could have ever anticipated in a metal group and go from there. It might just change the way you look at things - ESPECIALLY death metal!
That's right. Another killer collection of sci-fi space drone synth bliss from big time aQ fave Pulse Emitter. And yeah, this one is again, crazy limited. Only 100 copies made, we got the very last 20. Which means once these are gone, we will NOT be able to get more. And since we're fairly sure there are more than 20 people out there in aQ land who wand, nay NEED, all things Pulse Emitter, we'll keep this brief.
Grass, while not as 'oppressive' as the recent Oppressive Nature release on Digitalis, and not as meditative as the three part Meditative Music series, manages to fall somewhere in between, probably a little closer to the meditative side of things, we'd say. Slow burning dreamdrones drifting through space would sum it up in a sentence, but why leave it at that. The sound on Grass is epic and expansive and space-y, definitely a Pulse Emitter disc that would hit the spot for all you Expo 70 obsessives, the same sort of space kraut vibe. Loooooong tones undulate and shift, melodies surface and dissipate, laced with some strange Morricone like faux flute melodies. The foundation is a dense throbbing low end, layered and gorgeously textured, shifting overtones and barely restrained feedback, but above and all around that main drone, various layers and melodic fragments drift and shimmer and float weightless as if in orbit around a brilliant black star. So gorgeous.
Definitely recommended, as is grabbing one of these quick before they disappear. Already out of print, these are again, the LAST 20 copies. Packaged in super nice full color sleeves.
Yes! Pylon's second and last record (with the original line-up) from 1983 has finally got the same expanded and remastered reissue treatment that their first record received from the hip folks at DFA. It's been a bittersweet couple of years for Pylon, emerging from years of relative obscurity, reuniting for a tour and seeing their records released once again to a legion of new fans, but sad because guitarist and founding member, Randall Bewley passed away suddenly this year. While never as popular as their Athens, GA contemporaries, R.E.M, and the B-52's, Pylon's post-punk influence has remained sturdy and can be heard in many bands from the Riot Grrl era to the Yeah Yeah Yeah's. Pylon's distinct guitar angularity, propulsive dance rhythms and lead singer, Vanessa Hay's seductive growl whipped audiences into a frenzy in the late seventies and early eighties and finally the original version of "Crazy" can be heard for the amazing spitfire track it is. R.E.M.'s more famous cover version just doesn't compete. Way Recommended!
Sometimes we joke that a review really could be one line and describe the music perfectly and succinctly. If we were to try that with the latest from The Raveonettes it would read: If you like great pop you will love this record! But of course, where's the fun in that?? We've definitely never been accused for being at a loss for words when it comes to records we love, so here comes some total gushing!
Last year The Raveonettes revealed a much more raw and fuzzy side to their sound making one of the best Jesus & Mary Chain influenced records in a sea of falling-way-short wannabes. Under all of the fuzz and distortion, it was still clear that The Raveonettes are first and foremost great songwriters who know how to create the kind of hooks and melodies that stay stuck in your head for ages. With In And Out Of Control, the fuzz and feedback have been dialed back, but those golden pop chops are flexed with even greater potency as they take their love of girl groups, and that true knack for conjuring timeless cool pop, creating their own special sound, with such ease and confidence, a sizzling sultry shimmery pop that we can't get enough of. It's kind of puzzling to us why this band hasn't gotten even more popular, cuz in our book The Raveonettes have definitely reached a total apex in creating some of the best modern pop we've heard in ages!
Another sprawling drone space psychedelic doom bliss workout from these Southern California sonic explorers. Whereas past records were seriously dense and grim and droney, Raiders finds the band blossoming into some seriously lysergic space doom drift, vocals soaring through fields of reverb, the guitars thick slabs of burnished buzz, the drums skeletal, the whole vibe druggy and dreamy, and way more ethereal.
The band do get heavier, hauling out the fuzz bass, and letting the drums get all tribal, but even then the thick clouds of rumbling blur, are laced with spidery tendrils of glistening high end melodies, and a soft hazy gauze of smeared vocals and layered effects, trippy and buzzy, drifting into Loop / Spacemen 3 territory, albeit a bit more ferocious and feral. Throughout though, the band seem to keep the ambience anchored to songs, or at least almost-songs, everything melodic, subtly or otherwise, sometimes pretty and haunting, other times chaotic and crushing, and again at other times hushed and minimal.
Still plenty doomy and droney, but probably Robedoor's prettiest and songiest slab of sound to date.
Ah, Miasmah! After the likes of Elegi, Jacazek, and Kreng, we're pretty much automatically interested in any new release on Norway's Miasmah label. Like this one. Add in some bits of trivia, like that Scott was once the drummer for shoegazers Slowdive, and that this disc features a guest cameo from another Miasmah artist we love, Jasper TX, and we're already pretty intrigued. We also weren't at all surprised, but certainly pleased, by the gentle swells of ambient sonics that seep sleepily from the speakers when one hits play. The first two tracks, "Introduction Of Cambridge" and "Under Crumbling Skies", are blissfully replete with quiet hum and shimmering textures, forming into and out of drifting diaphanous melodies, blurry and melancholic. Some sparse, slowed down drum skitter adds a touch of Bohren to the proceedings in the first track, while the second employs a glorious chorus of angelic drones, that graces one's ears again and again throughout the disc.
Then, suddenly upping the volume, the third track "Flood Inn" seemingly enters into a subterranean realm full of soft fuzzy distortion. Quasi-industrially rhythmic, with a distant tolling bell heard amidst the crackle, this is ambience of the heavier (but not harsh) variety, almost like something from a Nadja or Jesu album.
Having given warning of a more sinister side, the disc continues on, with seven tracks more, being a beautiful blend of dreaminess, drone and distortion. There are almost pop songs hidden here, with buried rhythms and barely-there vocals (in one instance contributed by 12K's Sanae Yamasaki, aka Moskitoo), electronic treatments rendering the sound sources (guitar, sitar, violin, cello, flute, field recordings, voice, ???) all one lush, hushed, beautifully bleary, gorgeous warm bath of song-like drone...
It's a moodier, shoegazier take on Pop Ambient perhaps, certainly something that fans of Tim Hecker, Fennesz, Final, Jasper TX, and of course those other Miasmah wonders should check out!
Most people cringe upon hearing the word "supergroup," and not without good reason: most supergroups fucking suck. Shrinebuilder, however, is a rare beast, an exception to the general rule, and it almost seems offensive to call them a supergroup. BUT... that's sort of what they are. Consisting of Scott Kelly (Neurosis), Al Cisneros (Om, Sleep), Dale Crover (the Melvins), and Wino (you should know him by now, but let's mention The Obsessed, Spirit Caravan and Saint Vitus!!), Shrinebuilder raised some pretty high hopes, and it seemed impossible that these four living legends would let us down. Thankfully, they haven't. In fact, Shrinebuilder's debut has far exceeded any expectations we had for a project which was pretty much destined to kick our asses in all kinds of different directions. You can detect each musician's individual style, sure, but more than anything, Shrinebuilder seems to follow a decidedly old school approach to heaviness - think Sabbath, Buffalo, that kind of thing - delivering five lengthy songs of groove laden metal heavy on the riffs (no surprise there), doomy bass, awesome to the point drumming, and plenty of spacey FX. There are moments where you have to remind yourself that you aren't listening to Sleep, especially when Al lays on the wah wah pedal, and parts of this album fulfill the fantasies of those who sometimes wish Om had a guitar player. Scott Kelly and Wino are one hell of a guitar team, and there are some amazing moments of fuzzy, sustained harmonies and plenty of chugging overdriven riffage. Crover's drumming is particularly impressive here, not that anyone needs to remind you that the guy slays. His playing here is less busy than it tends to be with the Melvins, and his steady pound suits these songs perfectly. The unmistakable vocal stylings of Wino, Scott, and Al all show up, but one of the band's greatest strengths is the fact that this sounds like the work not of some half assed side project, but of an actual band. So yeah, don't let the whole "supergroup" tag throw you off, as this is a potent brew of fully realized HEAVIOSITY.
By the way, this is on special sale here ($2 off the regular $14.98 it would be) for the next two weeks only. Not that we can imagine anyone who'd be into this not picking it up right away anyway!
Bay area black metal masters Von were responsible for two of the most important USBM documents ever, the Satanic Blood and Blood Angel demos, considered by many to be the first US black metal record(s), and to this day, those records continue to inspire a legion of musical hordes, who strive to emulate that furious idiosyncratic raw that few can reproduce. What few people know, is that right after the release of those demos, the members of Von shifted their focus to another project, with a way different sound and vibe, called Sixx, which was anything but black metal, instead a dark, creepy, brooding, gothic deathrock, think Bauhaus, Christian Death, Specimen, all minor key spidery guitars, swirling dark ambience, pounding new wave drums, and of course, super dramatic crooned vocals.
It seems almost prescient, considering that this sound is enjoying a pretty serious resurgence these days: past Record Of The Weekers Soror Dolorosa, Hateful Abandon, Factums, Dial M For Murder, Cold Cave, Crystal Stilts, etc. But this demo, recorded in 1991, was as mentioned above, recorded hot on the heels of two of the most grim and raw, blasting black metal records ever! And while it may not directly inform the actual sound, it does speak to what a strange and special record the Sixx demo was and is. Chiming guitars and krauty rhythms, lots of reverb and delay, a dark brooding ambience, we hear lots of classic goth and darkwave and new wave, Kommunity FK, Human Drama, Tones On Tail, and the more we listen to it, the more the link between Sixx and Von crystallizes, both bands trafficked in simple stripped down songs, most with only one or two parts, vocals repetitive and mantric, in fact, in some ways, Sixx almost sounds like Von with all the distortion removed, right down to those classic Von goaty grunts. That said, just 'cause you like Von, doesn't necessarily mean you'll like Sixx, but if you dig that sound, and any of the above mentioned bands, then Sixx's Sister Devil might just be your lost reissue / rediscovered gem of the year.
Better start doing some special stretches to limber up that neck. Your neck's gotta be in shape 'cause the headbanging is about to commence, and it'll be fierce. Skeletonwitch is back, Breathing The Fire. The vocalist sure sounds like he's been doing just that, with his commanding raspy shrieks and guttural growls, in a hybrid black metal/death metal style. Meanwhile the band's music, as always, veers from those extremes (reminding of Dissection) to their old school '80s thrash and speed metal inspirations (there's definitely some Megadeth going on here). If you know Skeletonwitch (and it seems like most AQ metal customers do, and dig 'em big time just like us), you know what to expect: a whirlwind barrage of riffs, solos, battery. Twin guitars sending swarms of notes speeding on demon winds, that sort of thing. All in the service of Satan or whatever unholy horned beastie you prefer (like the fella on the cover, Skeletonwitch's own Eddie or Vic Rattlehead style mascot, who is called, uh, we don't know, Mr. Skeletonwitch? Skeletonwitchdude?). Though you might not understand what the singer is "singing" without reference to the lyric sheet, the song titles give a good idea: "Submit To The Suffering", "Released From The Catacombs", "Crushed Beyond Dust", "Blinding Black Rage", "Strangled By Unseen Hands"... not happy stuff. Yet any metalhead worth his denim will be grinning as this spins, quaffing a few cans of beer in celebration. While this disc hits the ground running for sure, we'd say it gets better as it goes, and boy does it go, each track blazing by a 2-3 minute conflagration of sheer metal madness.
It seems like such a perfect match up, such a great idea, it's a wonder it didn't happen sooner. The gauzy murky dream folk of Sparklehorse, and the fuzzy pixelated hazescapes of Christian Fennesz, just imagine how great they would sound together, and you'd be right. Sparklehorse records already sound like they were produced by Fennesz, so if anything, this collaboration just pushes the sound even further. Apparently it was Fennesz' idea to get together with Mark Linkous aka Sparklehorse for an In The Fishtank session, a long running series that pairs likeminded musicians, gives them two days in a studio together and releases the result. And we have to say, as much as we love many of the Fishtank releases, this one might just be our favorite yet. And how could it not be, the whole session is a series of washed out melodies and barely there song fragments, of hushed dream pop, and spaced out chamber ambience, of drifting dronescapes and haunting cinematic shimmer.
Because the two conjure up such similar sonics, it's hard really to pick out who's doing what here, but that's not the point, the two meld into one, creating a gorgeous organic whole, softened notes, distant melodies, lush layered mysteries, guitars unwind lazily, Linkous' vocals are plaintive and keening, always on the verge of cracking, made even more poignant as they are suspended in clouds of minor key blur, and squalls of softly pixelated sound. Throw some headphones on, and suddenly it's like looking at this fuzzy ambient pop through a microscope, the vocals are looped and chopped and layered and turned inside out, not audible on the stereo, but up close, a kaleidoscope of colors and textures.
All of those bands who try to do that 'regular old pop made special by adding a little electronic glitch' need to bow down before these masters. Two days together and they're able to create something magical, that yes is a blend of folk and rock and electronics, but it's so much more, every facet is linked to every other, all of the elements are inexorably linked, seeping into the sounds around them, bleeding into each other, it's not just a pop song dipped in some computery glitch, the glitch here and the digital element is subtle and lush and as organic as any of the guitars or voices.
A few of the tracks get noisy and thick and corrosive and almost explosive here and there, but even then, that crunch and buzz is underpinned by swirling melodies, and lush hushed drones.
Such a beautiful beautiful record, hard to believe it was conjured up in only a matter of days. It makes us almost wish these two keep making music together, imagine what they could come up with given a week? A month? A year? Here's hoping...
Another awesome Mississippi Records reissue, this one from Bahaman guitarist Joseph Spence, who has one of the most unique guitar and vocal styles EVER. This came out originally on Arhoolie way back when, but this vinyl reissue is super swank, one of those old school paste on type jackets, with the textured faux leather sleeve, with the artwork affixed over the top.
But none of that would matter if the music wasn't amazing, and it IS. Spence's guitar playing is playful and lyrical, tangled and lush, melodies unfurled in little flurries, a weird and wonderful combination of strumming and picking and slapping and scraping and plucking, so so strange, but so magical, and when combined with his vocals... WOW. We're not sure he's even singing actual words. It's all mumbled and growly and grunted and howled and mush mouthed, every now and again, an actual word or two will pop up, but besides that, it's more like scatting, and he has a cool deep growl that sounds quite a bit like Captain Beefheart or a pirate, or some weird mix of the two. Such a fun and fantastic record. Way recommended.
It's always an exciting day at aQ when a new Italians Do It Better 12" comes in as that label is really at top of its game, releasing some of the best and most suave sounding dance jams over the last few years (Glass Candy, Chromatics, Nite Jewel, Desire, Twisted Wires, etc.).
While most of the stuff they've put out has a very Moroder-esque disco vibe, it's awesome to hear something on a different side of the dance equation this time out. T & K is the collaboration between DJ Kaos and Tiago, who mine gold from the heyday of the Chicago house scene and prove that it wasn't just the early days of disco that had the ingredients for melty and sexy dancefloor grooves. The sounds of classic house from America make its way into the ears (and sound) of these two European producers who hail from Germany and Portugal, and who for sure add a nice touch of their own, that totally silky and seductive side of Euro dance music that really makes this an Italians Do It Better release, retaining the label's high standards of sexy soundmaking, yet offering a much needed different taking off point for reaching that state of smoke filled dance floor bliss. So good!
Finally. Finally. FINALLY! If ever there was a more anticipated (around here at least) or a more criminally overdue reissue, it's this one right here. A mind blowing three-fer from should-have-been-massive blissed out fractured psych pop masters Teenage Filmstars, fronted by the inimitable Ed Ball, whom as we mentioned in our review of Star, TF's genius debut, was once described by My Bloody Valentine mainman Kevin Shields as "A sensitive soul from another planet. A modernist musical alchemist". Shield also had this to say about Ball: "Where other people struggle, Ed Ball plays what we're thinking." Which coming from the man behind My Bloody Valentine means a lot. Especially when considering Teenage Filmstars, who employ a sonic palette not all that far removed from MBV's. BUT, and a very big but at that, minus the explosive bursts of caustic noise, MBV hewed more to a traditional pop sensibility than Teenage Filmstars. Where as Loveless, even for all its amazing wall of guitar heaviness, and effects drenched dreaminess, was still anchored to a verse chorus verse framework, with Teenage Filmstars, those conventions are tossed aside, or at the very least, flipped over, doused in effects, chopped up and played backwards. Which is why once again, we must proclaim, that in the landscape of (not so) popular music, TEENAGE FILMSTARS ARE BETTER THAN MY BLOODY VALENTINE. And don't get us wrong, we LOVE LOVE LOVE My Bloody Valentine, but imagine an alternate universe MBV, where for some reason, Shields' guitars played backwards, effects boxes grew sentient and demanded as much space as the instruments and voices, imagine viewing all of those sounds, already twisted and skewed, through a fractured funhouse mirror, and then, if you can, imagine some musical wizard, who is able to reign in all of those sounds, and somehow shape them into some of the most perfect UNpop you've ever heard.
Which brings us to Rocket Charms, record number two from Teenage Filmstars, which finds all the sounds on Star, pushed even farther out, the backwards sounds are more backwards (and there are more of them), the guitars are crunchier and more crumbly, the melodies are more catchy, the murk and shimmer are both murkier and shimmerier, and the production, is even more hazy and spaced out and lysergic and psychedelic and fucking head spinning. And yet somehow, Rocket Charms is a pop record, hooky and catchy, lilting and melodic. Opener "Pressure" is an immediate 'hit' if there ever was one, processed falsetto vox over swooping backwards rhythms and washed out guitar haze, a sort of druggy backwards Beach Boys pop ambience. And it just goes on from there, every song, a gorgeous slab of outsider twisted pop, on the surface a whirling sonic dervish, but within drift all manner of classic pop tropes, in the able hands of Ed Ball, subverted and turned inside out, wreathed in hiss and sparkle, and rendered, well, Teenage.
But then amidst all this deconstructed shoegazey noise pop (or pop noise), comes the track "Alone", quite possible our favorite jam on Rocket Charms, a slow brooding dirge, all skittery Stone Roses-y drums, thick distorted bass, disembodied voices, swirling ominous dark ambience, and a main melody that just might be the catchiest bit on the record, sounding like a slowed down twisted take on the Cure's "Close To You", but via Pop Will Eat Itself or some other warped UK grebo combo.
The crazy thing is, Rocket Charms for being as fantastic and over the top and incredible, isn't even our favorite Teenage Filmstars record. That honor belongs to the awesomely titled Buy Our Record Support Our Sickness, which takes all of the songs and sounds from Rocket Charms and Star, and makes them WAY HEAVIER, WAY MORE FUCKED UP, the processed guitars and backwards guitars and vocals have gone haywire, the songs are less songs here and more fucked up fragmented pop experiments, but again, Ball has such a deft hand that he manages to take all these totally freaked out elements, and gets them to work, and sound like pop songs, albeit, totally dizzying and abstract, psychedelic and almost metallic at times. The record's defining moment is the opener "Physical Graffiti", not a Zeppelin cover, but hell, it sounds like it could be some sort of insane My Bloody Valentine / Led Zeppelin mash up maybe, but one that had been totally tweaked, chopped and screwed, then sped up and flipped reverse again, listening to it, it's hard to imagine how anyone could envision music like this, let alone actually make it. The guitars swoop all over the stereo field, stuttering, blurring into huge backwards swells, the drums are chaotic, the vocals sound backwards too, but not overtly, the melodies so memorable and catchy, at one point the whole track begins to stutter, almost as if your cd player is skipping, but it soon swoops back into the dreamlike psychedelic swirl.
Not all of Support Our Sickness is as heavy and crunchy, many of the tracks begin as classic sixties sounding pop, but as they progress, the effects seem to slowly take over, often one or more of the instruments flipping backwards and erupting into a squall of psychedelic freakout, but just as often, sprawling into a woozy almost balladic bit of slithery backwards slowcore. But even at its prettiest, the sounds are slightly tweaked, the vibe is subtly menacing, laced with bits of sunshiney jangle for sure, but this is some seriously drugged out dream pop damage, and remains to this day, one of the most amazing, and unlikely genius pop records EVER.
The first disc features 5 bonus tracks, two from the Support Our Sickness sessions, as well as three other unreleased jams, none quite as twisted, but still awesome, and in fact, they almost sound like they were rough drafts, just waiting to get the Ed Ball mad scientist backwards fucked up FX makeover. So that's it, BUY IT, you won't be sorry, this is easily some of the most forward thinking pop music ever, heavy and psychedelic, druggy and delirious, catchy and crazy and bafflingly brilliant.
But wait, what's this, a THIRD record? Teenage Filmstars final missive, and a pretty bizarre sonic sea change, in fact, it sounds like a totally different band. To be honest, we're not into it at all, Bring Back The Cartel found the band doing some sort of skittery smooth jazz electronic mood music, it makes very little sense that this one would get tacked on with the other two, when we first ordered this we actually thought it WAS just those other two, but maybe some folks will dig Bring Back The Cartel, there are some moments, here and there, but it doesn't at all approach the sheer brilliance of Rocket Charms or Buy Our Record Support Our Sickness, so our advice would be probably to just give it a spin, and if you dig it, cool, if not, just ignore it, pretend it's not there, and immerse yourself in those first two, let the sounds twist you inside out and carry you off, play it over and over and over and over, forever and ever and ever and ever. Totally fucking incredible, and not just worthy of Record Of The Week honors, definitely something more, like how about Record of FOREVER!?!?
While the origins and history of this Tuareg nomadic group are so interesting and epic, these days what truly stands out is the amazing records they make. Their last outing Aman Iman, was a bigtime AQ favorite and this follow up does not disappoint.
On each release, Tinariwen tend to ease into their sound with more flow and a tranquil intensity that's very hard to achieve, yet it comes to them so naturally. Their guitars, vocals, hand claps, and percussion all come together to create such a hypnotizing intensely moving musical experience. For sure following blueprints laid down by the late great Ali Farka Toure but truly finding their own voice and signature sound that rings with so much soul and such undeniable authenticity. Tinariwen are one of the few African bands who have managed to slightly cross over into a larger following without losing one ounce of their integrity or musical vision. They truly have crafted a sound that's instantaneously recognizable as their own and it's so awesome that we've begun to hear their influence on lots of American indie bands like Brightblack Morning Light, The Drift, OM, and Wooden Shjips. The album closes with "Desert Wind" which really captures the desolate feeling of sand blowing across the desert sky, a track that most drone acts would kill to call their own. Once again Tinariwen has made a record that we're sure will stand the test of time. Oh, and this also comes with a rad documentary film about the group on an all regions dvd.
Yes, we can dig it! Soul Jazz hits the jackpot once again with this completely amazing collection of songs from Blaxploitation films during the golden era of 1968-1975. There are a million reasons why this collection is so fucking great. But one critical way, in which this comp has become a defining collection of the sound and culture, is that most collections of Blaxploitation music up to this point only really focused on the camp and kitsch aspects of the movement, when really it was about so much more: true independence, total empowerment, bold political statements, reclamation of culture, off the hook fashion, and music with such real and deep soul, which provided the perfect soundtrack to these revolutionary films.
Can You Dig It? does a great job of mixing many amazing ultra obscure tracks some more well known jams, balancing the joy of discovery with the stone cold fact that no matter how many times you hear something from Curtis Mayfield's Superfly it always sounds so damn good. But of course this being Soul Jazz, they dig WAAAAAAY deeper, giving us truly stunning and burning tracks from the likes of Willie Hutch, Martha Reeves, Dennis Coffey, Solomon Burke & Gene Page, Don Julian, Johnny Pate, as well as tracks that somehow slipped under the radar from bigger name folks like James Brown, Marvin Gaye and Isaac Hayes.
The sequencing and variety and richness in sound is so compelling and wonderfully varied. So often when this is playing for a while in the store people will ask "Is this still that comp?" and when we say yes they shake their heads in astonishment and usually have to get one right away. In fact right after the amazing Yo La Tengo instore performance last weekend, we put this on and all three members of the band at different times came up to us needing to know what it was and of course they bought one right away. Finally someone has done justice to the music of this movement and era, and our ears are in total heaven!
The double-cd version comes with an out-of-control informative and visually pleasing 100 page book as well as awesome postcards and stickers. The vinyl versions are split into two volumes and while it's awesome to have these songs on vinyl, the bummer is that the vinyl format doesn't come with the amazing 100 page booklet...
Yes, we can dig it! Soul Jazz hits the jackpot once again with this completely amazing collection of songs from Blaxploitation films during the golden era of 1968-1975. There are a million reasons why this collection is so fucking great. But one critical way, in which this comp has become a defining collection of the sound and culture, is that most collections of Blaxploitation music up to this point only really focused on the camp and kitsch aspects of the movement, when really it was about so much more: true independence, total empowerment, bold political statements, reclamation of culture, off the hook fashion, and music with such real and deep soul, which provided the perfect soundtrack to these revolutionary films.
Can You Dig It? does a great job of mixing many amazing ultra obscure tracks some more well known jams, balancing the joy of discovery with the stone cold fact that no matter how many times you hear something from Curtis Mayfield's Superfly it always sounds so damn good. But of course this being Soul Jazz, they dig WAAAAAAY deeper, giving us truly stunning and burning tracks from the likes of Willie Hutch, Martha Reeves, Dennis Coffey, Solomon Burke & Gene Page, Don Julian, Johnny Pate, as well as tracks that somehow slipped under the radar from bigger name folks like James Brown, Marvin Gaye and Isaac Hayes.
The sequencing and variety and richness in sound is so compelling and wonderfully varied. So often when this is playing for a while in the store people will ask "Is this still that comp?" and when we say yes they shake their heads in astonishment and usually have to get one right away. In fact right after the amazing Yo La Tengo instore performance last weekend, we put this on and all three members of the band at different times came up to us needing to know what it was and of course they bought one right away. Finally someone has done justice to the music of this movement and era, and our ears are in total heaven!
The double-cd version comes with an out-of-control informative and visually pleasing 100 page book as well as awesome postcards and stickers. The vinyl versions are split into two volumes and while it's awesome to have these songs on vinyl, the bummer is that the vinyl format doesn't come with the amazing 100 page booklet...
Yes, we can dig it! Soul Jazz hits the jackpot once again with this completely amazing collection of songs from Blaxploitation films during the golden era of 1968-1975. There are a million reasons why this collection is so fucking great. But one critical way, in which this comp has become a defining collection of the sound and culture, is that most collections of Blaxploitation music up to this point only really focused on the camp and kitsch aspects of the movement, when really it was about so much more: true independence, total empowerment, bold political statements, reclamation of culture, off the hook fashion, and music with such real and deep soul, which provided the perfect soundtrack to these revolutionary films.
Can You Dig It? does a great job of mixing many amazing ultra obscure tracks some more well known jams, balancing the joy of discovery with the stone cold fact that no matter how many times you hear something from Curtis Mayfield's Superfly it always sounds so damn good. But of course this being Soul Jazz, they dig WAAAAAAY deeper, giving us truly stunning and burning tracks from the likes of Willie Hutch, Martha Reeves, Dennis Coffey, Solomon Burke & Gene Page, Don Julian, Johnny Pate, as well as tracks that somehow slipped under the radar from bigger name folks like James Brown, Marvin Gaye and Isaac Hayes.
The sequencing and variety and richness in sound is so compelling and wonderfully varied. So often when this is playing for a while in the store people will ask "Is this still that comp?" and when we say yes they shake their heads in astonishment and usually have to get one right away. In fact right after the amazing Yo La Tengo instore performance last weekend, we put this on and all three members of the band at different times came up to us needing to know what it was and of course they bought one right away. Finally someone has done justice to the music of this movement and era, and our ears are in total heaven!
The double-cd version comes with an out-of-control informative and visually pleasing 100 page book as well as awesome postcards and stickers. The vinyl versions are split into two volumes and while it's awesome to have these songs on vinyl, the bummer is that the vinyl format doesn't come with the amazing 100 page booklet...
From the same great tastemakers who put together the Dirty Space Disco collection that has become an all-time AQ favorite, comes this collection of sultry and sensual French psychedelia. These are the sounds and artists that have influenced folks like Sebastian Tellier, Air, Islaja, Blonde Redhead, Bjork, Broadcast, Komeda, etc.
And while we of course love the peppy sounds of classic French ye-ye pop, it's the more seductive, warped and tripped out sounds from France in the '70s that really gets us going! When we realized that one of our favorite songs of all time, "Il Pleut" by Brigitte Fontaine (complete with arrangements by Jean-Claude Vannier!) was included, we knew there was some mighty fine curatorial work going on here.
But it's not just that one track, not even close, this comp has turned us on to amazing sounds from new-to-us folks like Christophe, Nino Ferrer, Jeanne Marie Sens as well as long beloved AQ faves like Dashiell Hedayat, Ilous & Decuyper, and Francois de Roubaix. While many of their US and UK counterparts were injecting large amounts of blues and hard rock into their psychedelia, the French kept it sensual, steamy and tripped out, realizing an alternate yet completely enticing musical universe. Full on sexy psychedelic seduction! Weirdness too, like the awesome track whose grooves are backed with the sounds of revving race cars.
The annual all-day Frisco Freakout psychedelic festival has happened on two occasions so far, most recently earlier this month and also back in October of '08. Perhaps you were there! You shoulda been, it was a great show, both years. Co-sponsored by KUSF radio, Arthur Magazine, and yours truly Aquarius Records, and organized in part by Ripley from Wooden Shjips, the Frisco Freakout benefits Creativity Explored, a worthy cause right here in the Mission, where developmentally challenged adults get to express themselves artistically (and make amazing art they do!).
This year at the festival, there was a limited edition compilation cassette for sale featuring a selection of live performances recorded at the first Freakout. We scored a few copies - and are selling 'em for what we paid for 'em, $5 each, all of which goes to Creativity Explored. They only made 100 tapes and we of course just have a handful, when they're gone they're gone, so first come first served, and sorry if you don't get one.
There's songs here from Crystal Antlers, Art Lessing, Wooden Shjips, Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound, Ascended Master, The Bad Trips, Greg Ashley, Sequin Trails, and Earthless (who's track is an excerpt 'cause of course an entire Earthless jam would have probably filled a whole side of this tape!).
NOW ON VINYL! Another killer collection of Kompakt techno, and while we may tend to lean toward the Pop Ambient side of the Kompakt roster, no label has done more to wear down our resistance to techno than the mighty Kompakt, so much so, that we now find ourselves looking forward to these Total comps nearly as much as the Pop Ambient comps.
And once again, Kompakt comes through with, a killer collection of artists, and tracks, expertly sequenced into over two hours of minimal techno bliss.
Just have a look at the names and you'll know what you're in for: Dj Koze, Justus Kohncke, Gui Boratto, Matias Aguayo, The Field, Burger/Voigt, Reinhard Voigt, Jurgen Paape and loads more, and along with the usal tight clipped, late night dancefloor grooves there are plenty of surprises. How about DJ Koze's "40 Love", with a rhythm track built around the sounds of a tennis match, including the crowds disappointed "Awwwww"s when someone misses a shot, birds chirping, squeaking shoes, grunts, all woven into a woozy bit of warm throb and skitter. Then there's Coma's awesomely murky midnight pusle and shimmer, and Jonas Bering's super fuzzed out synth jam that definitely reminds us of Justice or Daft Punk, and Matias Aguayo's sunshiney techno pop jam, that almost sounds like Phoenix or something, the warped and tweaked tropical wooziness of the Pachanga Boys and the circusy soundtrack weirdness of Jurgen Paape's oompah jam "Ofterschwang", and in between, plenty of that classic Kompakt sound that we can never seem to get enough of.
If you've got 1-9, you obviously need 10, and if you've yet to dip your toes into the Kompakt pool, this is as good a place to start as any...
Just when you think Mississippi Records releases can't get any cooler, along comes this deluxe 2lp boxset of Greek underground folk music, often referred to as Rembetika. What's Rembetika you may ask? Well, here's our description from a long out of print Rembetika cd collection:
Rembetika music developed early in the 20th century amongst the poor habitants of Greece. Much like the American blues, these marginalized members of Greek society wrote songs about pain, death, prison (many of the rembetika musicians of this time were jailed merely for playing their music), drugs (the word "rembetika" is derived from "tekes", meaning hash den), sorrow, etc. Comparisons have even been drawn to Harlem of the same period. The music is centered around the bouzouki, a home grown lute invented by rembetika musicians, but can include baglama (a smaller bouzouki), santouri (dulcimer), lyra (or violin), guitar, oud, clarinet and vocals of course. One of the things that made their music so rich was the absorption of musical influences from around the Mediterranean. Two tragic events, both in 1922, helped add to this melange: a fire that consumed the city of Smyrna on the coast of Asia Minor forced the Greek inhabitants back to mainland Greece and the Greco-Turkish war, which caused massive shifting of populations. Both events saw a new influx of poor immigrants who added their distinctive styles and melodies to the form. By 1937 the Greek government, viewing the anti-authoritarian and Arab influenced sounds as a cultural and political threat, banned the music from being played on the radio, favoring instead the more mainstream Piraeus style of rembetika.
These two lps contain an incredible selection of sounds from this important movement in Greek folk music, some of the songs are intricate and dramatic, others simple and stripped down, others festive and jubilant, the sound is a twangy gypsy folk, lilting and haunting and lyrical, the vocals are deep and crooned typically, but can slip into something much more keening, or even operatic, the music too is quite varied, often skeletal and spare, but can get quite intense and complex, but always melodic and quite beautiful and emotional.
The two lps come housed in a printed box, and includes a bit booklet filled with photos, lyrics, as well as a history of the music and the musicians. So cool!!
Back in print, both volumes of classic outsider music weirdness as compiled by WFMU's Irwin Chusid, now together in one package as a double cd!
It could be the product of a genetic disaster, alien abduction, drug excess, the lack of proper medication, or nothing easily quantifiable. Regardless of the cause, outsider art is dominated by a artistic compulsion / obsession so strong as to defy any lack of training or ability or good sense. Irwin Chusid's compilation Songs In The Key Of Z (Vol. 1) is a absurdist journey into the obtuse songwriting from The Shaggs, Daniel Johnston, Wesley Willis, Joe Meek (whose legendary tone-deafness couldn't be more self-evident as on the demo to "Telstar"), Captain Beefheart, Shooby Taylor, The Legendary Stardust Cowboy, Tiny Tim, Luie Luie, Congress-Woman Malinda Jackson, the ever lovable Jandek, and many more. Funny how so many of those names seem so well-known now!
Digging further into the vaults of what he aptly describes as "ear-tingling outrephonics", Chusid also managed a second volume in the Key Of Z. Vibrant, electrifying, and yes often bizarre feats of sonic tunesmanship are contained within each of Volume 2's seventeen tracks. You probably have some idea of what to expect with this second compilation, but what's impossible to anticipate is the diversity of this unheard, absolutely earnest and untethered music. An acquired taste? Yes... many actually, but very rewardingly so. Andee took a particular liking to Bingo Gazingo & My Robot Friend's "You're Out Of The Computer", while all of our ears were left a-tingling by the sounds of Shooby Taylor and The Space Lady. Who else will you hear? Former SF local Thoth, Congress-Woman Malinda Jackson Parker, Dick Kent, B.J. Snowden, Luie Luie, and many more. Please consider yourself forewarned: some may make you giggle, some may make you uncomfortable, some may make you cringe. Others may be uplifting, inspiring or disturbing. Some may as Alvin Dahn's song simply states "drive [you] mad". While it can certainly be said that Volume One was a hard act to follow, Chusid unearthed and assembled an exceptional selection of perhaps even more obscure oddities on Volume Two, and they're both quite recommended, together on this handy reissue.
This all-time AQ favorite is finally available on vinyl!
From the label that brought us Dungen, Parson Sound and Abner Jay comes a crazy collection of Thai Go-Go. We're still reeling from the double whammy of the two volume Cambodian Rocks releases and the excellent Cambodian Cassette Archives and now this. Though to be fair to the latter, this release might not necessarily cater to all the same fans. The music here is more likely to appeal to fans of obscure 60's pop and garage than say, fans of off kilter pop influenced Thai music. In fact, much of what's on this disc would be difficult to place within any particular country, let alone region of the world through listening alone. Apparently the musicians here were first and foremost concerned with reproducing an accurate replica (there are many overt copies included here) of popular American music of the day. This was, after all, during the Vietnam war and plenty of American servicemen were stationed in Thailand and American music was being broadcast far and wide for their benefit. That said, there are still plenty of great rocking vocal and instrumental tracks here and a few nutty renditions of classics. Of note is The Son Of P.M.'s version of the "James Bond Theme", which gets a little spicing up with Thai drums and The Cat's "Meow" or Louise Kennedy's "Poo Yai Lee", either of which would have been an excellent addition to the Ultra Chicks compilations. There's also a version of Hank Williams' "Kaw Liga" with augmented Native American drumming and a super upbeat bridge, and Johnny Guitar's "Klongyao", probably the best representation of Thai-Western pop hybrid on the collection. Definitely stick this one out to the end when you pick it up though, as it seems heavily weighted with the best tracks in the second half.
Last year we freaked out about an awesome reissue of Chicha jams by the legendary Peruvian group Juaneco Y Su Combo. So we were beyond thrilled to discover this collection featuring the best of the sounds of Chicha that came bursting out of Peru from the late '60s to the late '70s. Juaneco Y Su Combo are featured here of course, with a few tracks from that disc we love, but what's amazing is that lots of the other groups are just as good, if not even better, and that's saying a whole lot!
It's such an irresistible sound, infused with elements of Andean melodies, Cuban gujiras and plenty of surfy and psychedelic rock tinges. The songs here are filled with so much mood and spirit and will definitely appeal to such a wide range of music lovers, from those who dig weird and wonderful world music a la Sublime Frequencies, to those who dig the more classic psych pop sounds of the Nuggets compilations. These are songs that sizzle and crackle with so much flavor. We could also see rare groove folks getting super excited about some of these sounds and we wouldn't be surprised if samples of them made their way onto some Madlib record in the future.
This actually came out -before- that great Juaneco Su Combo disc so if you loved that one, you gotta make sure to grab this one too, so you can get turned on to other Chicha greats like Los Mirlos, Las Hijos Del Sol, and Los Destellos (who do a Beethoven track in amazing chicha fashion!).
It's always so awesome to blast this in the store, everyone starts tapping their feet and all frowns turn upside down as it's pretty near impossible to be dour or stoic while these songs are playing, and radiating so much colorful fun. So damn good!
The seminal New York label at the forefront of the collision between disco and punk turns 30 this year, and the Strut label has compiled a great compilation to celebrate. Strut has already dipped into the vast Ze records catalog for their Disco Not Disco series of compilations and with the Ze reissues of the Mutant Disco and N.Y. No Wave comps, Strut can be forgiven for not making a "Best of" collection. Instead Strut focusses on some of the labels not so well known gems. Tracks by label underdogs Michael Dracula, Casino Music, Garcons and Sympho State are mixed with obscurities by label mainstays, Christina, Lizzie Mercier Descloux, Kid Creole, Suicide, and James Chance and The Contortions (not doing "Contort Yourself" for a change!) among others. A fine compilation for freaky left-field disco connoisseurs! Happy Birthday Ze!!!
Maybe best known for counting actress Shannon Sossamon as a member, Warpaint managed to downplay any sort of celebrity hype and create a brooding doomic chunk of gloomy murky indie rock loveliness. Equal parts shimmery shoegaze, mumbly slowcore, and soft focus noiserock, the band slip easily from hushed whispery jangle to full on psychedelic freakout to classic fuzzy sixties pop. These six songs are super varied, but do manage to sound perfect together. "Stars" is all Mazzy Star meets Blonde Redhead, glimmering, moody and minor key, the vocal harmonies so lush and angelic, the music perfectly warm and lugubrious. "Elephants" features weirdly processed vocals, over heavy drumming, chiming guitars, lots of reverb and delay, and gets all Sonic Youthy part way through.
"Billie Holiday" might be the best track on the record, so warm and druggy and dreamy, with sixties girl group vox, muted guitars, droning synth/strings, and a killer main hook. Although "Krimson" might be a contender too, with it's looped sounding main melody, throbbing bass, and super emotive vocals, the sound is very early nineties indie rock, but manages to sound all modern at the same time, and so so good. A super fantastic ep for sure. Surprised Warpaint aren't way more popular than they are. Could be because this was originally self released in a super limited run, and is only now getting reissued, so odds are, a record this cool won't stay a secret for long....
Imaad Wasif, formerly of lowercase, the Folk Implosion, Alaska! and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, struck gold with his last record Strange Hexes, a gorgeous record of moody, melancholy, emotional post rock, verging on classic rock, with a little twang, a little of that Woven Hand / 16 Horsepower sort of apocalyptic folk, all woven into perfect songs, some rocking, some drifty and balladic, his voice powerful yet delicate, the arrangements simple and elegant, the songs so so catchy.
This is the second 'solo' record from Wasif, and features a whole bunch of killer guests, Bobb Bruno (Polar Goldie Cats, Goliath Bird Eater), who played on the first record, Dale Crover from the Melvins, and a bunch of other folks. If anything, Voidist is more polished and less rocking than Strange Hexes, some might call it mature, but it just seems like an amazing rock record. The production is lush, the songs are dark, but emotional and still catchy, and the sound is not super underground at all, this is the sort of record we would expect to hear all over the radio, there's a little Muse-like Bombast, some dramatic crooning a la Rufus Wainwright, some Death Cab like pop jangle, a bit of twang, seems like folks into Bright Eyes and that sort of dark emotional indie pop stuff would go nuts for this. But stick around, Voidist has a surprise up its sleeve. Hang out for the last song, a serious rocker that sounds like later era Cave In with super distorted heavy riffing, big drums and soaring dramatic vocals. In fact quite a bit of this record sounds like Cave In circa their Raidohead phase, which is not a bad thing AT ALL. That last track is the only really truly heavy track on the disc, but it serves as a good balance for the rest of the record's warm washed out drift and twang flecked post rock. And like the last one, we find ourselves liking this more and more with every listen.
Whoo hoo! Kranky cranks out another colorful psychedelic dose of nu new age dream-hop from Portland's Adam Forkner, aka White Rainbow.� Considering Mr. Forkner has been at the forefront of the pysch-pop new agey dream drone thing for awhile now, its no wonder he's perfected his trance dance, acid bathed tribal ambient shtick into a polished slab of catchy tunes, that fit somewhere between Cluster, Cocteau Twins and the golden gate park drum circle. Wavering angelic vocals soar across space and time, trails of colors fall to the ground as sprawling nebulous rhythms come in one ear and out the other. Definitely one of those records where listening on headphones uncovers all kinds of details and special secrets. Dreamy, fuzzed-out rainbow riffs gazing over pitter-patter percussion and waves of ambient wash, the doors of infinity are open, are your chakras aligned??
Where past White Rainbow releases might have been more guitar and vocal driven, New Clouds seems to offer much more awesome synthesizer wizardry, which we dig. But compared to Prism of Eternal Now, it seems New Clouds offers less variation and is more one dimensional, maintaining a steady sonic thickness that may be very satisfying to some, but a bit monotonous for others. Any way you look at it, New Clouds is a fantastic edition to the Kranky catalogue and a perfect soundtrack for your next out of body experience!
Black Sheep's main druid dude, Julian Cope, is cooler than thou in shades and black leather vest on the front cover. Also this ish, good readin' as well about the likes of Peter Walker, OOIOO, Cornelius Cardew, Bernie Krause, Mordant Music, and plenty more, including a scene report from Java, and an "Invisible Jukebox" session with director Jim Jarmusch. Plus all the usual columns and charts and reviews and stuff, of course. Need we say it? If you read our list/website, you should also be reading The Wire. ----* ----* Compilations : ----*
