A fantastic compilation of amazing French cosmic prog-tronic jams that is blowing our minds! An incredible survey of experimentation and rhythm that shows us that while the French may not have invented prog or disco, they certainly had the most fun taking those genres to their outer limits in exciting combination. Practically everyone is represented, including cinematic gems by Jean-Michel Jarre, Alain Goraguer (La Planet Sauvage composer!), Patrick Juvet and Serge Gainsbourg; Moog workouts by Jean-Jaques Perrey, Quartz and Pierre Bachelet; and cosmic disco reveries by Bernard Fevre, Space, Droids, Space Art and Cerrone. But there are also plenty of rarities from groups we know less about: Atomic Crocus, Rene Roussel, and Universal Energy amongst many others. Dig the Mobius-style cover art too. So Killer!
The idea behind this series through Tranquility Tapes is simple enough: present collaborative works from the far reaches of the cassette underworld of synthwranglers. For the most part, the resulting sounds are grimy, crystal-powered oceanic washes of deep listening synth churnings cast through the necessary filter of stoned tape hiss, slumped meanderings, and low-wattage recording techniques; and for the most part, all of these projects seem wholly obscure. There's no information other than a name like Cream Juice, Dozens, or Roped Off to go on; and cursory searches don't provide any clues whatsoever, although many of the projects have some affiliation in some way shape or form with the cassette imprint Orange Milk, which as of the posting of this review is as enigmatic as most everything on this tape. The one thing we do know about is Coyote Image Revisited, which is the collaboration of Rachel and Grant Evans of Hooker Vision fame and their numerous solo projects (Rachel's Motion Sickness Of Time Travel being the most well known), and who deliver a piano and tape fragment collage akin to any number of William Basinski's loop mantras. Other highlights include the tape-loop hypnosis of gong vibrations and Zoviet-France like tricks from Perspectives, the wheezing minimalism of Urkas and the weirdo radiophonic blorping from Cream Juice. Pro-duplicated edition of 150 copies on a 60 minute tape.
As the distinct sounds of flutes, harps, bells, gongs, pianos and of course synthesizers fill the air, we realize it wasn't that long ago that we had to defend our love for early new age music as a kind of guilty pleasure. Basking in the soft-focus vibrational glow of long form minimal composition, packaged in naive hippie-ish spiritual conceits bordering on and often overstepping into cheesiness, it was hard to consider it a distinct D.I.Y. practice. In hindsight, new age music can be seen as an early form of the slow food movement or folk art. It was music meant for slowing down time, taking stock and increasing awareness, and we have since come to view it more influentially in terms of its antecedents in ambient and drone music. Yet, over the years new age music has made quite a revival inspiring a new generation of long-form music practitioners and spiritual outliers. Nothing proves that more than this incredible compilation of private press new age music from Light In The Attic that features some old faves and new discoveries across a 40 year span. We have written plenty on influential figures like Iasos, J.D. Emmanuel, Gurdjieff and Laraaji (all featured here), but there are many, especially women like Judith Tripp, Nesta Karin Crain, Constance Demby, Alice Damon and Joanna Brouk who are equally blowing our minds. Often pulled from rare cassettes and hard to find records, this is an incredible survey and the perfect primer for the uninitiated. Fantastic tripped out and dreamy stuff!!
Yet another incredible comp from the fine folks at Dust-To-Digital, after two recent aQ faves, the Luk Thung collection of obscure Thai 78's, and the Kassidat compilation of rare, raw 45's from Morocco. Well if you dug those, you're gonna want this one too, another collection of rare 45's, this time from Yemen, a handful of singles released in the sixties and seventies, documenting a sound and music that has historically remained immune from Western influence, and thus offers a true glimpse into the lives of the Yemeni people, and gives Westerners perhaps one of their first glimpses of Yemeni music. And as you might imagine, it's pretty magical, lots of oud, a buzzing guitar like instrument, that's rich and resonant, accompanied by fantastically expressive and emotional vocals, laid back and weary on some tracks, effusive and wild on others, some call and response, accompanied occasionally by simple percussion, handclaps, one track forsakes the oud completely and instead lays down an amazing percussive backdrop, all clattery and clangy and metallic, a shimmery pulsing field of hypnotic metal, over which some of the most beautiful vocals soar and swirl. The whole collection is stunning, by turns mysterious, intimate, playful, passionate and completely mesmerizing.
As always, the packaging is top notch, tons of photos, and extensive liner notes, on the region, the history, the songs and the musicians.
Seems like stoner rockers still lament the passing of the late great Kyuss. And who can blame them, for all the kick ass stoner rock that surfaced in their wake, few could touch Kyuss, the blown out, distortion saturated guitar of Josh Homme, the wild wailing vocals of John Garcia, hell the whole band were practically perfect, and those records still sound as good as they ever did.
And while Homme went on to massive worldwide popularity with the much more mainstream Queens Of The Stone Age, the other ex-members of Kyuss did their own things in the underground, until finally, reconvening, sans Homme, as Kyuss Lives. A bold ballsy name choice for sure, but a single listen was all it took to convince us that, yeah, Kyuss DOES live. Homme however wasn't pleased, and sued the rest of his old band, resulting in a name change, to Vista Chino, but thankfully, the sound hasn't changed at all, and Kyuss DOES STILL LIVE, in the form of Vista Chino, and while Homme's guitar sound and playing was super distinctive, and a huge part of Kyuss' sound, VC manage to make it work with a similarly sun baked, blown out fuzz drenched sound that sound perfect with Garcia's kick ass vox, all wound up in some totally ruling songs that do remind us of classic Kyuss, which is absolutely not at all a bad thing. While every song here is a stoner rock gem, stick around for the second half of the record, which for some reason, seems jam packed with some of the best songs, especially "Barcelonian", with a killer, super hooky main guitar melody, a slinky groove, and a tripped out psychedelic chorus, or the drum heavy, crumblingly distorted "Dark And Lovely", which really is, heavy and hypnotic, spaced out, with some of the most gloriously blown out guitar on the record. We could go on, but needless to say, way recommended for Kyuss nerds and stoner rockers, but all the folks out there into heavy space-y psychedelia (Heads, White Hills, Carlton Melton, all the Cardinal Fuzz bands, etc.) who maybe missed out on this stuff, might really dig it, cuz really, it doesn't get much better than this!
Country music is all about drinking. Even songs about heartbreak or cheating spouses or the one that got away, somehow end up in a bar, or an alley or the bottom of a bottle. And no one did drinking songs better than Porter Wagoner. We've raved about this country legend on past lists, besides being an incredible musician with a clutch of amazing songs, he was also a total nut, who whipped up some of the weirdest country songs ever. He's the man responsible for "the Rubber Room" after all, a little ditty about mental illness, and as we mentioned in other reviews, almost every record, no matter how seemingly mainstream, always featured a track or two with seriously unseemly subject matter, murder, revenge, arson, suicide, prison and of course DRINKING.
So here we have two more classic PW albums, reissued by the fine folks at Omni, the first of which is an ode to country music's favorite past time, getting drunk, and of course, searching desperately for that next drink. Just a quick look through the song titles says it all: "Wino", "Daddy And The Wine", "The Bottom Of The Bottle", "In The Shadows Of The Wine", "The Bottle Let Me Down", "One Dime For Wine", "Bottle, Bottle", you get the idea, drinking, drinking and more drinking. Oh and a jaunty little ditty about a spurned woman who burns down her lover's favorite roadside tavern, which is also sort of about drinking...
But the sound is of course fantastic, lots of amazing guitar playing, wild slippery slide guitar, Wagoner's distinctive voice, the songs crazy catchy, and pretty dang weird in places. "Wino" begins with the sound of footsteps, then trash cans being dug through, the yowl of an alley cat, before unfurling as a Ken Nordine style bit of beatnik jazziness, which is soon augmented by some moody piano and swirly slide guitar. That's the weirdest track, but there are moments throughout, and of course, even when the music sounds like classic country, Wagoner will deliver some insane lyrics like it weren't nothing.
The second record here, Confessions Of A Broken Man, of course features some drinking songs, but for the most part focuses on the dark side of life, somber songs about folks down on their luck, the misunderstood, the forgotten, the dying and despondent, and the broken hearted. Gorgeous stuff, and a good companion to the more over the top drinking record that precedes it. As always, totally fantastic. And like every Omni release, gorgeously packaged, with tons of rare photos, and extensive liner notes in a big booklet.
This issue of Wax Poetics celebrates the 40th anniversary of the birth of Hip Hop! On the cover(s) (yes there's several, front and back in two versions) are Madlib, Kool Herc, Little Dragon, and Hiatus Kaiyote. Also in this 96 page, vibrantly colorful issue: Tackhead, Mac Miller, Average White Band, Shinaro Sakamoto, John Morales, Bruce Lee (yep), and recent AQ fave Rodion G.A.!
On their second Holy Mountain release, the heavy stoner psych rockers from up in Arcata, California leave their sunless world of redwood forests and venture into the blinding light and open climes of Dune Worship. With its slow grinding rhythms and spiraling washes of feedback, this album is a more hypnotic and meditative shamanistic exploration. These guys go so deep into visionary states, they even have a song called "Illusion Of Illusion," which begins with a low hum and builds into a ten-minute freakout, to crack open your slumbering third eye into a rude awakening with the pounding onslaught of "Ascension" that follows. For White Manna are no gentle psychedelicists, they always carry with them the swagger of the Stooges - even an unabashed wink at Jim Morrison can be heard in the vox throughout. For a more "modern" comparison, we'd recommend 'em to fans of Wooden Shjips and Psychic Ills both.
Another month, another issue of this new music must-read for those who want to be in the know. Cover placement goes to Laurel Halo. Inside, also: David Dunn, Sam Shalabi, Archie Shepp, Jar Moff, Magik Markers, and plenty more, including the usual tons o' reviews. Plus, another free cd sampler stuck to the cover. ----* ----* In Stock, Not Yet Reviewed : ----* If you want to order one of these, just search for the item, then click on the buy button and it will be added to your cart! ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE & SPACE PARANOID "Black Magic Satori" (Safety Meeting) lp 16.98 ALTO! "s/t" (Raheem) lp 14.98 ARTEMIEV, EDUARD "Solaris" (Superior Viaduct) lp 23.00 BEGGARS "s/t" (Lotus House) 2cd 13.98 BEST COAST "Fade Away" (Jewel City) cd/lp 7.98/13.98 BIKOFF, DON "Celestial Explosion" (Tompkins Square) lp 17.98 BIRDS YOU ONCE KNEW / A SUDDEN RIPENING "split" (Turmeric Magnitudes) cassette 4.98 BIRTH CONTROL "Hoodoo Man" (Repertoire) cd 14.98 BIZARRE UPROAR "Rape Africa" (Freak Animal / Filth & Violence) cd 12.98 BLANK FIGHT, THE "House Band Feud" (Silver Sprocket Bicycle Club) lp 11.98 BLANK TAPES, THE "Vacation" (Antenna Farm) cd/lp 11.98/14.98 BOOJI "Reserved" (Modern Sky) cd 12.98 BOTTOMLESS PIT "Shade Perennial" (Comedy Minus One) lp 15.98 BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS, THE / TEENAGE MONSTER (WALTER GREENE) "OST" (Monstrous Movie Music) cd 27.00 BRAN (...) POS "Den Of Ordure And Iridescence" (Resipiscent) lp 15.98 BRODERICK, PETER "Float 2013" (Erased Tapes) cd 16.98 BUCKNER, RICHARD "Surrounded" (Merge) cd 14.98 BUDD, HAROLD "Perhaps" (Root Strata) cd 16.98 BURNING STARR (JACK STARR'S) "No Turning Back!" (Skol) cd 15.98 BURNING TREE "Lammergyer" (Utech) lp 19.98 BUTTHOLE SURFERS "Hairway To Steven" (Latino Bugger Veil) lp 15.98 BUTTHOLE SURFERS "Locust Abortion Technician" (Latino Bugger Veil) lp 15.98 BUTTHOLE SURFERS "Psychic... Powerless... Another Man's Sac" (Latino Bugger Veil) lp 15.98 BUTTHOLE SURFERS "Rembrandt Pussyhorse" (Latino Bugger Veil) lp 15.98 CALLAHAN, BILL "Dream River" (Drag City) cd/lp 14.98/17.98 CARCASS "Surgical Steel" (Nuclear Blast) cd 16.98 CHAO, MANU "Clandestino" 2lp+cd 29.00 CHROME HOOF "Chrome Black Gold" (Cuneiform) cd 16.98 CHUI WAN "White Night" (Maybe Mars) cd 12.98 COLLEGE "Secret Diary" (Invada) lp 35.00 COSMIC PSYCHOS "Down On The Farm" (Aarght / Goner) lp 14.98 COSMIC PSYCHOS "Go The Hack" (Aarght / Goner) lp 15.98 DAMNATIONS HAMMER "Disciples Of The Hex" (I Hate Records) cd 16.98 DANTESCO "We Don't Fear Your God" (Inframundo) cd 13.98 DIESEL DUDES "Born Brute" (Goth Horse) cassette 5.98 DIREEN, BILL & THE HAT "The Flavour Of The Meat" (Grapefruit) lp 23.00 DODOS "Carrier" (Polyvinyl) lp 16.98 DONATO, DOZZY "Plays Bee Mask" (Spectrum Spools) cd/2lp 16.98/30.00 DOT WIGGIN BAND "Ready! Get! Go!" (Alternative Tentacles) lp 14.98 DULLAAR, FRANK "Trans Harmonic Dream" (Sanity Muffin) cassette 5.98 DYNE, THE "Swim. Fly Roots" (Genjing) 7" 9.98 ENDING PEOPLE "Fill Your Lungs" (Cash Cow Production) lp 14.98 ERICKSON, ROKY "Don't Slander Me" (Light In The Attic) cd/2lp 16.98/28.00 ERICKSON, ROKY "Gremlins Have Pictures" (Light In The Attic) cd/lp + 7" 16.98/26.00 EXTINCTION DE LOS INSECTOS "Untitled" (Lupus / Chingaste La Confianza) lp 19.98 FALCON (EX-CIRCLE) "Beer & Ribs b/w Sunset Street" (Full Contact) 7" 8.98 FRESH & ONLYS, THE "Soothsayer" (Mexican Summer) lp 16.98 GANGLOFF, MIKE "Poplar Hollow" (Blackest Rainbow) lp 26.00 GAR "s/t" (Maybe Mars / Tenzenmen) cd 12.98 GAR "The City Of Burning Identities" (Maybe Mars) cd 12.98 GEARS "Jaguar Intentions" (Sanity Muffin) cassette 5.98 GELDINGS "Leopard's Milk" (Sanity Muffin) cassette 5.98 GOBLIN "The Awakening" (Cherry Red) 6cd box 68.00 GORGUTS "Colored Sands" (Season Of Mist) cd 14.98 GRAILS "Black Tar Prophecies Vol 4, 5, & 6" (Temporary Residence) 2lp 31.00 GREENSPON, KEVIN / FORMER SELVES "Betrayed By The Angels / Apropos Of Golden Dreams" (Bridgetown) lp 11.98 HEAVENLY BEAT "Prominence" (Captured Tracks) lp 21.00 HEDERSLEBEN "1: Upgoer" (Unternarz) cd/lp 9.98/19.98 HEDGEHOG "Blue Day Dreaming" (Modern Sky) cd 12.98 HEDGEHOG "Honeyed And Killed" (Modern Sky) cd 12.98 HEDGEHOG "Noise Hit World" (Modern Sky) cd 12.98 ITO, AKIRA "Japanesque" (Bamboo) cd/lp 17.98/24.00 J. TEAL BAND "Cooks" (Vintage / Rockadrome) cd 13.98 JASMINE REEF "Wet" (self-released) magazine 9.98 JULIE RUIN, THE "Run Fast" (Dischord) cd 13.98 JULIUS SMACK "Feels So Right" (self-released) cd ep 6.98 K11 "Another Temple To The Great Beast 666" (Utech) cd 14.98 L/A/Z/Y "Obsession" (Moniker) lp 15.98 LANEGAN, MARK "Imitations" (Vagrant / Flooded Soil Recordings) cd 16.98 LAST DAYS OF HUMANITY "The Sound Of Rancid Juices Sloshing Around Your Coffin" (Fat Ass) lp 16.98 LAVA OX SEA "Next Episode Lord Smart vs Dr.Jin" (Modern Sky) cd 12.98 LORD NASTY "Phuck Em And Forget Em" (self-released) cd-r 11.98 LOW WORMWOOD "Lanzhou Lanzhou" (Maybe Mars) cd 12.98 MAZZY STAR "Seasons Of Your Day" (Rhymes Of An Hour / Fontana) cd/lp 15.98/30.00 MCDOWELL, MISSISSIPPI FRED "I Do Not Play Rock 'N' Roll" (4 Men With Beards) lp 16.98 MELCHIOR, DAN "K-85" (Homeless) lp 14.98 MILES, WYMOND "Passion Plays b/w Batwing" (Sacred Bones) 7" 5.98 MINOT "An Era Of Institutional Failure" (self-released) cd-r 11.98 MOIRA SCAR "Scarred For Life" (Resipiscent) lp 15.98 MOORE, ANGELO "Sacrifice" (self-released) cd 8.98 MUNDO ANIMAL / DARK SPRING / BLACK THREAD "split" (Turmeric Magnitudes) cassette 4.98 NATURAL SNOW BUILDINGS "Daughter Of Darkness" (Ba Da Bing!) 6cd 34.00 NEW VADERS "Dynamic Traxx Vol. I" (Limb Soup) cassette 5.98 NIGHT TERRORS, THE "Back To Zero" (Homeless) 2lp 27.00 NO AGE "An Object" (Sub Pop) cd/lp 13.98/15.98 NO NECK BLUES BAND "Gitanjali" (Ri Be Xibalba) 10" 19.98 NOACK, EDDIE "Psycho b/w Dolores" (Bear Family) 7" 14.98 NOSTALGIST "Monochromantic" (Nostalgium Directive) 7" 8.98 NOTHING "The Grey Subaudible" (Nostalgium Directive) cassette 8.98 ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER "R Plus Seven" (Warp) 2lp 30.00 ORCUTT, BILL "A History Of Every One" (Editions Mego) cd 16.98 OSCAR YOUNG BAND, THE "Damp Circuits" (Sham Palace) 7" 9.98 OURSELF BESIDE ME "s/t" (Maybe Mars) 12.98 P.K.14 "White Paper" (Modern Sky) cd 12.98 P.K.14 "Whoever, Whoever & Whoever" (Modern Sky) cd 12.98 P.K.14, THE "City Weather Sailing" (Maybe Mars / Tenzenmen) cd 12.98 PURLING HISS "Paisley Montage" (Richie) lp 14.98 PUTNAM, CURLEY "World Of Country Music / Lonesome Country" (The Omni Recording Corporation) cd 17.98 RAJATTTAJAT "Awopbopaloopop Alopbam Raja" (Ektro) cd 14.98 RE-TROS "Cut Off!" (Modern Sky) cd 12.98 REBUILDING THE RIGHTS OF STATUES "Watch Out! Climate Has Changed, Fat Mum Rises..." (Modern Sky) cd 12.98 RED FANG "Whales And Leeches" (Relapse) cd/lp /19.98 RENDERIZORS "Vivid Cloud / Lucky Din" (Grapefruit) lp 23.00 RENE HELL "Vanilla Call Option" (Pan) lp 28.00 REYKJAVICTIM "Xiao Di Fang" (Metal Postcard) cd 14.98 ROLLIN HUNT "The Phoney" (Moniker) lp 16.98 SAI, YOSHIKO "Mikko" (Bamboo) cd 17.98 SALEM'S LAW "Tale Of Goblins' Breed" (Skol) cd 15.98 SATAN PANONSKI "Hard Blood Shock" (S-s) lp 15.98 SCREAMING SAVIOR "Infinity" (Metal Hell) cd 14.98 SKORNIK, GUY "Pour Pauwels" (Lion) cd 14.98 SLASHER FILM FESTIVAL STRATEGY, THE "An Introduction To Mayhem" (Children Of The Night) 7" 5.50 SOULEYMAN, OMAR "Wenu Wenu" (Ribbon Music) cd 14.98 SPACE "Magic Fly" (Repertoire) cd 13.98 STARSKATE "Goodnight Nobody" (Goth Horse) lp 11.98 STEEL POLE BATH TUB "Tulip" (Boner) cassette 8.98 STOLTZ, KELLY "Double Exposure" (Third Man) lp 21.00 STRANGER, THE (LEYLAND KIRBY) "Watching Dead Empires in Decay" (Modern Love) cd 19.98 STREETS KILL STRANGE ANIMALS "Plan B: Back To The Analog Time" (Modern Sky) cd 12.98 SURPLUS 1980 "Arterial Ends Here" (Delphine Knormal Musik) 10" + cd 10.98 SWEATSHIRT, EARL "Doris" (Columbia) cd 14.98 T2 "1971-72" (Acme) cd 14.98 TAIST OF IRON "Resurrection" (Skol) 2cd 16.98 TEETH OF THE SEA "Master" (Rocket) cd/lp 19.98/27.00 THE NON TRAVELLIN' BAND "Never Prayed Once" (Moon Glyph) cassette 4.98 TINKER, BENJAMIN ETHAN "Transcriptions Of Tributaries" (Khalija) cassette 6.98 TRAVELERS "Travelers" (Maybe Mars) cd 12.98 V/A "Air Texture Volume 3" (Air Texture) 2cd 21.00 V/A "Bridge Into The New Age" (Ace) cd 15.98 V/A "Copendium: A Sonic Companion To Julian Cope's Expedition Into The Rock 'N' Roll Underwerld" 3cd 52.00 V/A "Dead Good: Eternal Classics From The Grim Reaper's Jukebox" cd 10.98 V/A "Hassaniya Music From The Western Sahara And Mauritania" (Sublime Frequencies) lp 25.00 V/A "Mutazione: Italian Electronic & New Wave Underground 1980-1988" (Strut) 2cd 16.98 V/A "Paink: French Punk Anthems 1977-1982" (Born Bad Records) lp 21.00 V/A "The Best Of Halloween: 50 Halloween Favorites" (One Day) 2cd 9.98 V/A "The Get Down Boogie Sound" (Ace) cd 15.98 VATICAN SHADOW "Remember Your Black Day" (Hospital) cd/lp 16.98/ VELA EYES "The Pleasure Sunrise" (self-released) 10" 9.98 WHITE FENCE "Live In San Francisco" (Castle Face) cd/lp 13.98/14.98 WILDHONEY "Like Me" (Nostalgium Directive) 7" 5.50 WINO & CONNY OCHS "Heavy Kingdom" (Exile On Mainstream) cd 16.98 WONG, DUSTIN "Mediation Of Ecstatic Energy" (Thrill Jockey) lp + 7" 22.00 XIAO HE "Silly's Ballad" (Modern Sky) Artbook / MP3 player 75.00 XIAO HE "The Bird..." (Modern Sky) cd 12.98 XIAO HE "The Performance of Identity" (Maybe Mars) 2cd 14.98 YOUNGS, RICHARD "Calmont Breakdown" (Fourth Dimension) cd 17.98 YUCK "Glow & Behold" (Fat Possum) lp 14.98 ZAG MEN, THE "Crime Spree" (Vetoxa) lp 19.98
