At last, reissued -- as a 'real' cd (not a cd-r) and cheaper too! This debut DJ/Rupture mix disc was a big hit here at Aquarius (and elsewhere too, apparently). We'd been getting the cd-r version on /Rupture's own Soot label direct from the man himself, but those are no longer available. Kid606 stepped in and signed DJ /Rupture to his Tigerbeat6 label, with a new /Rupture set called "Minesweeper Suite" due for release on August 27th. But, in advance of that, the Kid's other label, Violent Turd, has made the "Gold Teeth Thief" set available once again. Packaged in one of those plastic clamshell cases, with nought but a sticker for artwork, this remains a budget release, but a welcome one. It's also apparently a limited edition reissue, so if you missed it before, don't sleep on it now!! Here's our original glowing review, backed up by being named one of the top 50 best albums of the year by The Wire:
This is one of the best mix cds we've ever heard. And it's not about insane turntable skills, or about that 'isn't-it-weird-and-crazy-how-I've-juxtaposed-hip-hop-and-classic-rock' gimmicky stuff or about how famous or cool the DJ is (in fact, I bet you've never even heard of DJ /Rupture, an American living in Spain). It's about his choice of songs, and how smoothly and creatively they're mixed (live on 3 turntables). This cd is just an amazing and deft mix of dance hall (traditional -and- HARD ala DJ Scud etc.), hip hop, dub and electronica. Nothing fancy just 70 minutes and 43 tracks of some of our favorite shit: Missy Elliott, Nas, DJ Scud, Barrington Levy (a different track than his contribution to the amazing 400% Dynamite compilation, but you'll recognise his oh-so-familiar 'Woah Wooah.'), Nettle, Dead Prez, Bounty Killer, Kid 606, Venetian Snares, Luciano Berio, Shabba Ranks, Non Phixion, Wu-Tang Clan, Cannibal Ox, Djivan Gasparyan, Sub Dub, John Wall, Oval, Project Pat, Muslimgauze and even Paul Simon/Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Miriam Makeba (ending all smooth and pretty with no beats at all). Wow.
Featuring songs by Creation, Unit 4+3, The Who, Cat Stevens, Yves Montand, John Lennon, The Faces, The Kinks, and Chad and Jeremy. Plus incidental soundtrack music by Mark Mothersbaugh. The whole soundtrack is so well done that you don't even have to have seen this film in order to love the music contained here. And for what it's worth, Andee and Allan loved this movie but Windy and Matt-from-CoolBeans!, who thought it was good, also felt it was fatally flawed (weak character writing) and cannot recommend it, although the music ALMOST saves it.
Another excellent reissue of the work of French experimental / pop musician Thierry Müller (who we know from the reissues of his pre-Ruth albums under the Ilitch moniker, one of which we recently reviewed). Fast becoming a unanimous staff favorite, Ruth's
Remastered with three lengthy bonus cuts from 1982 and 1984 that teeter on more experimental ground, like Müller's celebrated work as Ilitch, which was more of a dark, droney, experimental prog guitar / synth project.
Believe it or not, one of our fave albums and all-time best sellers, Josh "DJ Shadow" Davis' seminal Endtroducing debut, currently only has a one-word review on our website. Certainly it deserves more than that. Although, at least the word we chose is "amazing". The album's original release on MoWax in 1996 (almost ten years ago!!) more or less predated our obsessive reviewing schedule, so like quite a few other classics it never got its multi-paragraph due on our new arrivals list. And chances are, we figured that listing it our our site with the simple "amazing" recommendation was enough, 'cause it's hard to imagine that everyone hadn't heard of/heard/bought a copy by now. But since, after all, we still sell it steadily, clearly there must be those as yet to discover it. Now, with the release of a double disc digipack "deluxe" edition in a plastic slipcase (a treatment afforded by the same label to the likes of John Coltrane's A Love Supreme, by the way, making this something of an honor for DJ Shadow!), we have the perfect excuse to basically take a few hundred words to say "amazing" again! Shadow's masterpiece (disc one, "The Album") is a brillant example of hip hop DJ-as-composer, sample-based songwriting, a mostly instrumental suite of songs built entirely from sounds, hooks and grooves sourced from the depths of Shadow's extensive record collection. He didn't invent the idea, of course, but he did do it better than almost anyone before (or after!) him, garnering for himself worldwide fame and heaps of deserved critical praise.
And even if you scratch (heh) your head when we talk about turntablists and sampling, rest assured that, process aside, this is a great album that transcends genre tags and easy categorization. It's dark, dramatic, bright, hip-hop, soul, and jazz. It is very accessible. Shadow picked cool samples (like the Pugh Rogefeldt bit that helped us sell a ton of reissued cds by that particular Swedish '60s psych-folkster so recently) AND also turned these samples utterly into his own, new music. Music that's groovy and moody and challenging, never all that easy to figure out, and not at all about turntablist hi-jinx or trickery, just about careful listening and the love of all kinds of old LPs!! Cut Chemist, in the liner notes, is quoted as calling DJ Shadow "The King Of Digging" and vinyl collecting/crate digging for sure is celebrated by Endtroducing, from the famous cover shot of the racks in the vast Sacramento shop simply called Records to the grooves reborn within. As Shadow himself put it: "this album reflects a lifetime of vinyl culture". He never topped it (opinions here were mixed about his many-years-later follow-up The Private Press in 2002) and probably never will. Not that anyone else has either! So if you don't have it already, what the heck are you waiting for? And to further underscore the point that this a great and important album, we're told that there's a book in the 33 1/3 Series coming out about it soon too!
Then there's disc two, what (aside from the packaging, which includes a booket of photos, essays, and track notes from Shadow himself) makes this a "deluxe" reissue. Disc two, entitled "Excessive Ephemera", features a slew of Endtroducing-era cuts -- alternate takes, demos, remixes, and a live radio performance. In addition to a few tracks that made it out on now-out-of-print MoWax singles, a bunch of these are unheard-before, work-in-progress versions of tracks from the album, so as bonus material this is more about providing insight into the creation of Endtroducing and less about any long-lost tracks that shoulda been on the album. It is kind of a way to listen to Endtroducing again with new ears. And it's nice to have the "extended overhaul" of the all-too-brief album track "Organ Donor", a mix that Shadow created expressly for James Lavelle's DJ use. So, a lot of added value for all Shadow fans who want to pick this up again and re-enter the world of Entroducing.
Amazing.
DJ Shadow's second full length is finally here, and I do believe I (Windy) am the only AQ-er who likes it. Well, Jim thinks it's ok, but the general consensus 'twixt my colleagues is that the rest of the field has caught up to him, and he hasn't hitched up his britches to keep ahead of the herd. Hmm. I disagree. Certainly The Private Press is no Endtroducing (his acclaimed debut full length), but neither should it be. It's a lot more accessible and crowdpleasing than the debut, the layers aren't as impenetrably mysterious, and yeah, it requires less work to like it (i.e. not as challenging). But there's nuthin' wrong with that. He's keeping it interesting for himself. The Private Press is a likable, listenable (might we even say, at times lighthearted?) trip. It's got everything from the moody arpeggiated piano lines that're DJ Shadow's signature, soul divas, sad minor key laments, funny Cut Chemist / Kid Koala-style spoken bits, super epic percussive climaxes, and an all over hip hop flavor. And the heartbreakingly sincere audio letters that bracket the album are incredibly well chosen, framing the songs as an emotional musical narrative. *Very* well done.
And now for my co-workers to have their say:
We have to wonder, though, why he used that old "pure energy" sample. Why don't ya just throw in "I got the power!" too? Not to mention the overused tired, sad android voice (y'know just like the one Radiohead used).
Cup sez: We had a DJ Shadow 12" here a little while ago, and I thought one of its tracks sounded as if he'd just plugged in his Playstation 2 system and recorded the sounds of someone playing the game REZ. If you're at all familiar with the game you'll undoubtedly find the Shadow track ringing familiar too. REZ is basically a shooter game, but with an astounding combination of rave-ready sounds and gorgeously trippy visuals - both of which are manipulated by your performance. Oh yeah, and the level bosses are pretty spectacular. Stunningly beautiful and deluxe fun! Really, you could just project the game action on a wall, pump the sounds through a bad-ass sound system, and *POOF!* instant party. Anyways, that track is included here too. And it sticks out like a sore thumb which makes the REZ theory all the more plausible!
'60s instrumental rock sensations. If you like the echoey guitar sound of Joe Meek (esp. as heard on "I Hear a New World") then you'll cream all over this record. Includes the "Thunderbirds Theme."
Paradise was released in 1975, well after Sharrocks' first two, more experimental solo album excursions showcasing his avant jazz guitar, and it was the last record to be heard from him before his Laswell-nursed resurrection in the late '80s (Last Exit etc). Sharrock and wife Linda (yes, that's her lookin' beauteous on the cover) wanted this album to sound very R&B / funk, and thus it's a lot more accessible than Black Woman and Monkey Pockie Boo. There are these breathtakingly lovely pastoral passages where Linda vocalizes like an angel -- rarely pronouncing words, just *emitting* -- as Sharrock lays down a lush field to sink into as he gently plies pretty phrases from his guitar in the background. These parts are my favorite, and there's a good deal of it here. Other instrumental workouts feature Sharrock's trademark delightfully pling plong, bouncy, thrown-around guitar sounds, and then sometimes he tames it all down into honest to gosh R&B licks, with the rest of the band right there gettin' down boogie woogie with 'im. The combination is a little headscratchy at first but ultimately you may, as I did, fall in love with it. Well written liner notes by Byron Coley. Windy gives this the thumbs up.
When we were roommates a few years ago, Virgil used to come home dead tired from carpentering and construction all the whole day. There'd be paint on his jeans and crumbs of chalky sheetrock in his hair. He'd pop a beer, sit in our kitchen lit by only a bare bulb, and he'd play guitar, yowling in his crackly heart-tugging voice. Most of the time he was working out new Dieselhed songs -- he's an integral member of the San Francisco-via-Eureka band, who you should all know by now are one of my favorite bands in the world and it's simply criminal that they haven't been able to quit their day jobs yet cos they RULE. Anyway, I would never say it to his face but I think Virgil's pretty grade-A brilliant, and have always loved the rickety, stark 'kitchen versions' of Virgil's songs, and I hoped he'd record them. Wishes do come true. So lovely! Some of Virgil's lyrics: He had a big mouth of crooked teeth Like china leaning by the sink So clean they were almost blue So blue they were almost see through. She has a jacket she hangs outside Smoke sticks to the fake hide So fake you can almost see through So see through you wouldn't know what to do.
Finally back in stock. One of the best soundtracks to one of the greatest movies EVER!! Really. The last time we listed this was almost 5 years ago and we just now managed to get another batch in. Here's what we had to say about this amazing disc:
This is simply one of the greatest films ever made. You can call AQ and argue with us if you disagree. This film is so personal and intense. So completely thrilling and perfect. And it features what has to be Gene Hackman's best performance ever (except maybe for The French Connection). Also features Harrison Ford and Cindy Williams in one of the best scenes of all time (the scene in the park, filmed in San Francisco's Union Square). And the soundtrack is equally impressive. David Shire, who also did the score for the oh so amazing Taking Of Pelham 123, was presented with a new challenge in the scoring of the Conversation. First, Coppola insisted that the score be simple and stripped down, unlike the bombastic full orchestras Shire was so adept with. Second, the score was composed before the film was finished (like Morricone with Leone), which allowed the score to guide the filming and really help focus the performances. So the score ended up being mostly just solo piano (with Shire believing the whole time that they would orchestrate it later). Dark and minor key. Simple, but so goddamn creepy. It's absolutely chilling and almost too perfectly captures the paranoid unhappiness of Hackman's Harry Caul. It's way scarier and dismal sounding than anything more modern doomsters like Piano Magic or Tindersticks have been trying to pull off. Another interesting aspect of the score is the 'jazz records' that Hackman's character plays sax along to in the film. Those 'records' were actually composed by Shire specifically for the film and Hackman actually played the sax. He had never touched a saxophone before, so on the set he had someone teaching him to play, and he would spend his time practicing scales instead of going over his lines. Those tracks are on this disc, complete with Hackman's sax accompaniment. Another bonus on the disc is a full band version of the Theme From the Conversation, where Shire finally gets to flex his arranging muscles. This soundtrack has never been released in any form, so it's pretty exciting that the folks at Intrada managed to pull it all together and get this out (they actually had to do quite a bit of legwork, remixing, re-EQing, and re-editing to put this all together!). Not really available at stores, we're managed to get a few copies 'cause we're such slobbering The Conversation fans.
And for those of you who haven't seen The Conversation...WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? WALK AWAY FROM YOUR COMPUTER RIGHT NOW. WALK TO YOUR NEAREST VIDEO STORE. RENT THE VIDEO. UNPLUG THE PHONE. AND WATCH. YOU WILL NOT BE SORRY. An absolutely beautiful film with some of the best performances, directing, and music you will ever see or hear.
The nice guys over at (Film Score Monthly [http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/]), a glossy magazine devoted to soundtracks, have issued this never-before-available soundtrack to fantastic 1974 suspense film featuring Walter Matthau as salty New York Transit Authority cop. The 12-tone jazz/funk masterpiece of a score was composed by David Shire, who is responsible for the all-piano score to The Conversation, among many others. So now Windy doesn't have to start a label to reissue this soundtrack, but maybe she will anyway -- Barbarella and Yojimbo still beckon...
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Excellent! SO GOOD it's hard to believe this happened in one 70-minute live set. Cut Chemist's crowd-pleasing dancefloor-aware set is perfectly complemented by judicious scratching courtesy The Invisible Skratch Picklz' Short Kut. That's right, they got 5 turntables spinning at once and it WORKS. It takes them about 15 minutes to find their stride but then it's all uphill; the crowd loved it so much you can hear them too (the needles picked up the roar!) Currently the best record of this rapidly-expanding genre. Locally grown.
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In the burgeoning new field (heh, not really) of hip-hop-destroys-rock-music mixes, as typified by DJs Z-Trip and Jester, local DJ Ted Shred breaks out with a totally weird and hilarious cd. He'll throw on P. Diddy next to Night Ranger, Biggie Smalls vs. Peter Gabriel, UTFO vs Paul Simon. Yes, this disc is as gimmicky as Jester and Z-Trip, but it is also kickass and ballsy. Ted Shred's own twist on the formula is that he is constantly shifting the speed of the records. Whether he's a really bad beatmatcher trying lamely to sync up his mixes, or if he's a brilliant prankster who loves changing speeds, melodies, and pitches to surreal effect, we're not sure (imagine something like DJ Z-Trip meets DJ Screw). But hey, his phone number is on the disc, so you can ask him yourself... or get him to spin at your next party. Love it!
Oh, and Allan wants you to know: the track "Van Halen vs. Van Halen" illustrates the obvious similarities between deft turntable scratching and fleet-fingered guitar wanking, as well as demonstrating the superiority of the latter. Volume two coming soon! Highly recommended!
Hello! A three-song import single from the side project group of famous Scottish postrockers Aidan Moffat (Arab Strap) and Stuart Braithwaite (Mogwai). It's really nice, albeit a bit of a novelty as all three songs are covers. There's a gorgeous downer version of #1 hit "Whole Again" by girl group Atomic Kitten, a version of The Fall's "Bill is Dead" that's tighter and better than the original, and a short but sinister rendition of the Mills Bros' "You Always Hurt the One You Love". There's incandescent guitar dripping with emotion, Moffat's whisper-growl of a voice, and a lovely sheen of depression throughout. Well done.
Is Sick Anchors slang for anything?
Japan's best black metal band (along with Sabbat) are back with their first US domestic release, having just been signed by big metal label Century Media. We've always been fans of their fucked-up genre-mangling horror movie soundtrack metal, and this might
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Here are 4 Silkworm songs performed live & acoustic on the radio and it is simply gorgeous, for fans of American Music Club's Mark Eitzel especially, reminds me of Everclear. The recording is crisp and light, which balances sad lyrics perfectly. Would that I had seen Silkworm when Joel Phelps was still playing with them. Here's what Mark Van De Walle (Artforum, May 1996) has to say about him:
"Back in the days when everyone believed Bruce Lee was the baddest guy walking the planet, they used to tell this story about how he could reach right into your chest and take your heart out so fast he could show it to you, still beating, before you died. Probably Bruce never did that, but Joel R. Phelps sure does: one minute you're pushing the buttons on your stereo, everything more or less fine, depending. Then Warm Springs Night starts up, and midway through you're staring at your heart, pumping away in time, going beat, beat beat...."
Three members of Godspeed You Black Emperor sounding much like you'd think they would: delicate, dark instrumentals awash with mournful violin, epic drumming, radio broadcasts and lilting guitar. Though not every track is always as fully layered as Godspeed, A Silver Mt. Zion is EQUALLY beautiful albeit simpler. The fifth of the eight tracks, "13 Angels Standing Guard 'Round the Side of Your Bed," in particular features a weeping guitar effect that is so lovely it's itself worth the price of the record. The gorgeous packaging also deserves a mention: bright red foilstamping on matte brown cardstock. So nice!
Fine new double disc collection, 40 tracks worth, from "the high priestess of soul" - wonderful.
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Five track ep that features the best (and only good?) track from the Mo'Wax Headz 2-B collection, 1998's crash. Mr. Skull is one of the great overlooked producers of downtempo hiphop/breakbeat excursions. Dark and murky stuff a la DJ Shadow, Spectre & DJ Vadim. The first track is almost a 'post-rock' instrumental, although we hate the term... "Snapz" is supremely listenable & enjoyable. Don't miss it.
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Man oh man this is one of my favorite albums of all time! Acnalbasac Noom. Produced by powerhouse krautrock / Faust producer Uwe Nettelbeck in 1973, this is actually a rerecorded version of an earlier Slapp Happy album Casablanca Moon. And it's better. Dagmar Krause's singular birdlike voice (which you will either love or hate) cavorts above the clang-a-clang metallic strum of Peter Blegvad's guitar. Give it a listen, their style is completely unique.
First time on cd for this Slapp Happy album, recorded in 1972 by Uwe Nettelbeck (Faust producer), and featuring the talents of Peter Blegvad and Anthony Moore on jangly, chiming artrock guitar, and Dagmar Krause's warbly birdlike vocals. What a voice. While "Sort Of" is not as consistent as their "Acnalbasac Noom" album (which is where you should start first if you've never heard Slapp Happy), it's got some certifiably perfect gems, including the original and far superior version of "Blue Flower," which Mazzy Star later rudely covered without giving credit, worth the price of the disc alone.
Windy's new favorite record. After a slew of singles and remixes for a variety of respected labels including Cheap and Mego, the Swedish duo Sluta Leta release their American debut on Miami's trustworthy Chocolate Industries label. Man, there's only four songs on this EP but they're SO GOOD it makes me wanna get everything Sluta Leta has released. Their sound has been described as Throbbing Gristle meets Cibo Matto. I don't really hear the Cibo Matto part of it except in Sluta Leta's irreverent inclusion of sounds suggesting such disparate influences as noir gangster thrillers to entire-car-throbbing heaving bass and lounge music. In fact, it's in the way that Sluta Leta fucks with genres that makes the music sound so good. Abstract low end rumbles. Weird horns and sleazy ice queen vocals. Shuffling staticky digital breaks make for a lot of on-the-beat stops and starts, done so seamlessly and rhythmically that you find yourself unconsciously moving to beats that *aren't there*, that they've dropped out of the mix. Yeah, it's that good.
Jay Farrar was always my favorite part of Uncle Tupelo. That voice. So this is his new band. He brought back Uncle Tupelo's old drummer, and the resulting album is quiet and lovely, not filled with, as one Aquarius customer put it, the 'Nashville hotshots' Wilco features.
A lovely cd single from the Baltimore-based post rock quartet Sonna. Two songs (one of which, "Kept Luminescence", is one of my fave songs of theirs) that were previously released in limited vinyl 7" format on the UK Static Caravan label. Think double interweaving guitars, as delicate and precise and emotional as Felt (remember them? what a great band), with really smart, delicate drumming and just enough bass to anchor the sound and prevent it from getting wispy. Funny, I never noticed the Felt sound similarity before, but it's a good comparison. Nice!
This rare EP from the Baltimore-based quartet Sonna is a gem, and we're pleased to be the only store to carry it. The disc was originally issued as part of the subscription-only Travels in Constants series of EPs from bands such as Low, Mogwai, Bonny Billy,
Sonna are a Baltimore-based quartet of four of the cutest boys you ever did see. What, you need to know more than that? Okay, they play a charming instrumental postrock blend of emotive bass, masterful drumming, and entrancingly pretty interweaving dual lead guitars. Beautifully meandering post-rock from this Baltimore ensemble who weaves a delicate sound of languid Pajo-esque guitar plucks, almost jazzy basslines, and lovely atmospheres. Drummer Jim Redd used to be in metalcore band Coalesce but Sonna sounds NOTHING like that. Recommended! (And not just because they're so darling.)
It's hard to believe this is real. In fact, it took a lot to convince Andee, who was sure this was some Gregg Turkington prank.
But the thing that really puts CUT on the map for us is their way of conducting their religious services, and the fact that someone managed to tape it. The tapes of this service have been floating around for years already. Those of you familiar with Negativland's 1989 album "Escape From Noise" will already be familiar with an excerpt of one of the tracks on this album, as they used it for the track "Michael Jackson", and Steve Fisk has been using these tapes for years as well. This record features live recordings of Clare Prophet 'speaking' out against the evils of rock music. She sounds perfectly normal as she introduces her 'psalms' or 'songs' or 'speeches' or whatever they are. But when she gets going, it's amazing. And so goddamn funny. Her rapid fire high pitched testifying sounds a bit like an insane mix of an auctioneer, a yodeller, the guy who sings the directions at a square dance, Neil Hamburger huffing helium, variations of baseball's 'hey batter batter' chant only faster. It's like that sound you make when you sort of hum/breathe out and move your finger up and down between your lips making a sort of 'bebubebubebubebubebubebubebubebu' sound. It's one of the most amazing things we've ever heard! A must for all cult fanatics, new age withdrawal victims, seekers of the truly strange, and fans of extended vocal techniques. Ever so highly recommended!
A head-on collision between the ancient roar of trumpet and drums, and the spaceage buzz of electrified sound. One of the AQ-staff's favorite bands. You will be amazed when you hear the intensity, fullness, and melodicism of looped, sampled (live!) trumpet mixed with motorik, krautrockish drumming. Spaceheads will grace the Bay Area again with live shows in June.
Spectrum always makes me realize that if music stopped being made today, we would never fail to keep on finding gems and hidden treasures from the past. There's just so much gorgeous music that has already been made that you could only listen to stuff from the past and still always be listening to greatness. I mean, that's what I'm feeling -- my top ten list from last year has four records in it made in '74 or earlier, and this Spectrum record is from 1971. (This band is also not related to the Sonic Boom / Spacemen 3 project of the same name just so you know.)
Second of all I have to say that for the entirety of 2003 so far I (Windy) have listened to this record more than any other. It rewards repeated listening. Next I have to say that this Spectrum album comes the closest, yes, even among Gal Costa, Caetano Velosos, Gilbert Gil, to conjuring up the sweet 'n gutsy psychedelic pop that Os Mutantes did so well. Yes, the soundtrack to Geracao Bendita is that good. Spectrum's got melodies as bittersweet, compulsively hummable and pure 'n simple as the Beatles (whose catalog the boys in Spectrum reputedly could replicate perfectly), jangly 12-string as flowery and metallic as the Byrds, singing dressed with long drawn out vowels and harmonies worthy of the Mamas and the Papas, acid guitar riffing strongly reminiscent of their faves Steppenwolf. The stellar arrangements just take it over the top, just like with Os Mutantes, where the emphasis is less on verse chorus verse and more on sections. You never know where it's going but with the first notes of the record, which sound so good, you just sorta trust 'em. All this from a band whose average age was 21, from the city of Nova Friburgo in the state of Rio, Brazil. A band who never performed this soundtrack live even! The film, a celebration of peace & love taking place in a hippie wonderland was banned upon its release in 1970 and the soundtrack died a similar death.
MPEG Download: "Concerto do Pantano" [/audio/spectrumconcerto.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Concerto do Pantano" [/audio/spectrumconcerto.m3u]
MPEG Download: "Mother Nature" [/audio/spectrummothernature.mp3]
Okay, you're all probably just as anxious about this release as we are here. And you're probably wondering, as we were here, "just how the fuck are they going to top Girls Can Tell?"It's a tough thing for any band to take that next step after releasing a -- dare I fucking say -- perfect record. It's twice as hard since everyone is expecting to be blown away from the first beat. So is it as good as the last? Hmmm... Well, it didn't punch anyone's lights out on the first, or second, beats. But after listening through a couple times, 4 out of 6 lovers of the last album feel that this album kicks ass. And while it doesn't have as much immediate impact, or as many sure-fire "hits" on it, that doesn't seem as important. It feels like they're trying something new and completely different. Well, as different as they can be while still retaining their Spoon-isms. A customer new to Spoon described this as the record that Elton John would've made if he had the White Stripes and the Strokes as his backup band. Which is to say it's got a lot of swagger and incandescent hooks, but it's not trendy or prefab in any way -- more like Squeeze with their sparkling, precise, stripped down pop songs. Fucking fantastic. Kill The Moonlight seems like a much more introspective record than Girls Can Tell, rife with a greater amount of studio experimentation and instrumentation. Daniels and crew tinker around with piano, mellotron, *human beat box*, and a great multitude of effects. Which isn't to say that this is an "experimental" record at all. Nor is it all unstructured "jams". No, it's a lean machine with nary an ounce of fat on its almost brief 38 minute run time.
High recommendations for this British record which seemingly came out of nowhere to reach our pop-lovin' ears. Equal parts perfect psych pop something like the first time I heard Olivia Tremor Control and XTC side project the Dukes of the Stratosphear, coupled with a Sea-and-Cake-ish serene cool and a cocktail lounge melancholy, the Squire's first full length is a real pleasure. And you know how much AQ likes discovering bands who might otherwise go without deserved attention. There's tessellated, shimmering trebly guitar, indomitably upbeat harpsichord, "ba da ba, BA DA BA"-style happy vocals... plus at times a warm rolling bass -- the sort of rare grooves sound that DJ Shadow searches 7" bins for -- that mixes with the pop astonishingly well. Give this a try for sure.
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This is a great record from a band recently profiled in the last issue of Bananafish magazine (and they cover "Dear Prudence" on the accompanying cd, remember?). For those who didn't happen to read that, the Starfuckers are an Italian group who combine krautrock, Stooges and experimental new music influence into a radical new aesthetic. As AQ-mascot John Whitson succinctly dubs them: "Funhausen."
Epic double cd masterpiece from Austin, Texas' kings of the lullaby drone. Stars of the Lid's sound, while similar to past efforts, has undergone some pretty dramatic changes. Their multi-layered 4-tracked guitars are still present in all their serene
It's a crying shame that these recordings were made in 1996 and never saw release until 2002, but what are you gonna do when you've signed to a major label, only to have the idiot higher ups pronounce your demos "unlistenable"? (Hence the name of this record, heh.) Then again, considering how fresh and good and utterly *now* this album sounds, it really shows how much ahead of their time SF's late great Steelpole Bathtub was. Hard to believe that it was made mostly in Mike Morasky's living room when you hear the thick gooey distorted guitar flangeing in and out, the effected, growling vocals, the squealing guitar solos, the trashcan percussion, the macabre surf-y tone alternating with Melvins-y sludge. There're even two ferocious Cars covers and one hidden track. If you have never heard Steelpole before, this is a great place to start -- in fact, bandmember Darren Mor-X claims these are Steelpole's best recordings. Also, if you've never heard Steelpole but are in love with their side project and major AQ-alltime fave Milk Cult, then get this record now! There's not the sampling and electronics found on the Milk Cult record, but the incredibly well done pacing and tone and weirdly accessible heaviness is all there. Recommended.
So lovely! This is a reissue of a '60s Indonesian guitar pop record that Warren Defever of His Name is Alive stumbled upon at the Salvation Army. Attempts to locate the members of The Steps proved unsuccessful, so he reissued it himself on the Time Stereo label (for folks who care, it�s a cd-r). Pastoral instrumentals with a classic, rounded 60s guitar tone. Everytime we play this in the store, someone buys it! -- Yes, it�s that pretty and that unusual. Highly recommended!
This is easily the best pop record we've heard in a while. Super commercial and catchy, but still crunchy and a little punk rock. When I was in Europe a few months ago, I kept hearing this band over and over again played randomly in punk rock mixtapes and over club P.A.s and couldn't for the life of me understand why all these punk rockers were digging this ultra commercial pop. Maybe it's because they're on the punk rock label Feuled By Ramen? Not that I'm complaining, it just seems a bit strange. Allan and Jeff both think it sounds like Journey, but they both listen to it incessantly. I think it sounds like Y&T, but that probably doesn't mean much to anyone but me. Imagine super glossy production (courtesy of Jawbox's J. Robbins) and unbearably catchy songs. The slow(ish) ones sound like Weezer or Sloan. The fast ones sound like pop punk, but without most of the punk. The new record No Traffic is a lot more glossy and FM radio, VERY Weezer, but I think the one right before it, Three Hundred is better, a little more raw and really rocking. Just buy them both.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
What a pleasant surprise! This self-produced-and-released massive hip hop statement from SoCal female MC T-Love features full-on kick ass rapping over a shuffling acid-jazz beatbox backdrop. Kool Keith of Dr. Octagon guests on one track ("Your whole family is wack!"), the Freestyle Fellowship are sampled, and beats and scratching by T-Love's musical collaborator This Kid Named Miles are scattered throughout. Local DJ Anna came in and bought 9 copies of this from us, yes it is that good. If you're tired of commercial testosterone-laden hip hop and its attendant sex and money preoccupations, this record will delight you, we promise. Everytime we play this record, two or three people come up and say "Wow who is this?!"
Japanese electronicist who was responsible for one of the best tracks on the recent Steve Reich Remixed album. Making the most of very simple sounds (synth, static, skipping cds), Takemura constructs surprisingly melodic and appealing pieces. Oval fans will LOVE this...
This cd issue of The Sign 12" from last year might as well be considered a new album from Powerbook maestro Nobukazu Takemura, cos it's over an hour long. The title track is bubbly electronica / pop with attention to texture -- very reminiscent of Moebius' and
There's a second disc with a great animated video of "The Sign" by Japanese artist Moshino, who also did the cover to this record.
CD finally back in stock! The debut album from San Francisco's Tarentel is a majestic affair as multiple guitars churn through slow epic songs that build slow yet catchy melodies out of a deep space sonic miasma. Follow this with super-nova explosions of radioluminescent guitar / bass / drum crash that does very well to replicate the q...u...i...e...t L!!!O!!!U!!!D!!! dynamism of the likes of Mogwai via Morricone, or Godspeed You Black Emperor without the warm strings. Sure, Tarentel may in fact be wearing their influences proudly on their sleeves. But, unlike so many 'post-rock' bands who think you have to badly rip-off Tortoise to be artful, Tarentel's admission of their their influences is anything but detrimental. A solid, quite excellent album.
Excellent album! Tarwater come out of a very fertile German electronica meets rock scene, one which has also sprouted To Rococo Rot and Kreidler, both big AQ faves. You want details? OK -- Tarwater is the duo of Ronald Lippok and Bernd Jestram. Ronald and brother Robert are in To Rococo Rot along with Stefan Schneider who is in Kreidler and who also lends his keyboard sound to Tarwater on a track here. Jestram has engineered a couple of To Rococo Rot's recordings.
This close proximity has resulted in a some amazingly beautiful records from all three of these groups, and as a whole they just keep bettering themselves for our delight. Dwellers On The Threshold is one of the very best of the bunch. Just gorgeous! About half instrumental, the album's vocal tracks feature Lippok's vocals which are a morose sort of talk / sing murmur that reminds me of Tindersticks. Several of the tracks feature bittersweet strings and the exact same lush plucked harp-sounding thing that made the last Kreidler record Eve Future so stunning. There's lots and lots of serenely picked guitar amongst the programmed beats that don't call too much attention to themselves; rather it's the melody and songwriting that stand out. And the whole thing runs on a consistently stately pace. Really well done. Highly recommended, especially if you're a fan of the Notwist, Fridge, Tindersticks, To Rococo Rot, Kreidler, etc. A big fave of Windy and Allan.
Like their awesome "Dead Man's Curse" cd single I raved about a coupla months ago, this newest full length from Techno Animal is dark, dark screwed-up mutant hip hop with an unavoidably ferocious driving breakbeat on the bottom end. *Totally* heavy and
About half the tracks are instrumentals and they stand on their own quite well -- interesting, dynamic, not repetitive -- but even their excellence pales in comparison to the tracks that have various hip hop MCs adding to the mix, cos those are REALLY good. With Dalek, members of Anti Pop Consortium, Rubberroom, El P from Company Flow, and last but not least Toastie Taylor toasting deliriously on "Piranha". I like this record more every time I listen to it. Highly recommended.
Fucking totally heavy and intense 3-song single from the English duo Techno Animal (Kevin Martin and Justin Broadrick who've worked variously in such outfits as Godflesh, Sidewinder, Ice, God, etc). This is dark, dark screwed-up mutant hip hop an unavoidably ferocious driving breakbeat on the bottom end that will appeal to fans of the Wordsound label (Sensational, Spectre,
Whether you're young or old, into rock or not, male or female, you gotta hear Marquee Moon. If you already know it, then you can skip down to the description of the bonus tracks below, but if you haven't heard it before, then know that Marquee Moon is simply perfection from beginning to end, and is here reissued with 5 bonus tracks. Television's masterpiece came out in 1977 and is inarguably one of the best albums to come out of the New York punk scene (which also included the Ramones, Patti Smith, Blondie, Heartbreakers, etc). Tom Verlaine's sinewy vocals are half-sung, half-spit out over his and Richard Lloyd's interweaving guitars, the solid bass of Fred Smith, and equally solid drumming of Billy Ficca. Richard Hell (later of the Heartbreakers and Voivoids) was also a founding member of the band who stuck around long enough to record their demo but got kicked out before the album, although his influence is definitely heard.
There's so much on this album to love: there's the rollicking guitar party of "See No Evil", the tender piano and epic melodic guitar solo in "Guiding Light", the stark, stunningly lovely twin guitar interplay of the album's 10 minute selftitled centerpiece, etc etc... dammit, this album is BRILLIANT and PERFECT.
As for the bonus tracks, there's the out-there "Little Johnny Jewel" from the band's debut selfreleased 7", alternate versions of "See No Evil" (amazing! -- Richard Lloyd playing quite different stuff from what ended up on the released take), "Friction", and "Marquee Moon" (again, fascinatingly different guitar solos -- and not terrible, thank goodness), and a sprightly, fun instrumental. If you already own this album and love it, I'd advise you to check out the alternate tracks -- they actually are worthy of trading in yer old copy (at least I, Windy, am going to!)
For those you who have somehow managed to not become completely obsessed with the 'D', let us bring you up to speed. A few years back there was an amazing sketch comedy show on HBO called Mr. Show. Completely hilarious and more importantly, unfettered by the
So a few things have changed. Most noticeably, the D are no longer an acoustic duo. They are a full on rock band, with drums (courtesy of Dave Grohl of course) electric guitars and even strings! On first listen, it was kind of a bummer, since part of what made it so funny was that these two dorky fat guys were playing classic rock/metal on two acoustic guitars. But the flipside is that the D's unabashed love of seventies cheese metal and FM rock can be fully realised and becomes even more of a brilliant parody. Allan keeps telling us that if we lived in the dorms, we would hate this record. Probably true. It's stupid and silly and the songs are all about fucking and smoking and swearing. But we don't live in the dorms and hopefully we can appreciate this on a different level. Lots of the songs from the series are redone and revamped, and there's a handful of new songs as well as a lot of arguing and discussions about stuff like cock pushups. And the songs sound great. Super rocking, big riffs, stupidly catchy hooks, really heavy, great production, and the vocal harmonies are still intact and still perfect.
So of course you should buy the record, but if you get hooked, you can find the tapes of the HBO series on EBAY and definitely go check out their video for 'Fuck Her Gently'. It's offensive enough to guarantee you won't be seeing it on MTV anytime soon. It's by John K. (of Ren and Stimpy infamy) and it's pretty amazing. You can watch it at http://www.spumco.com.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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Once in a blue moon an absolutely perfect single drops from heaven onto us mere mortals. It's almost unheard of that this phenomenon would be realized by the same band twice. Yet Matt Elliot, Mr. Third Eye Foundation first gave us the brilliant "Semtex" single... and now "Fear Of A Wack Planet".
Majestic choral voices delicately float as haunting historical texts to a Baroque past with elegantly simple breakbeats forming the basic structure. Yes, this is the same alchemic formula that Enigma has been boring the world with for some time now, yet Third Eye Foundation's ability to manifest the sublime provides that elusive transcendental quality that makes this one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard.
It's tough to review the records of This Heat separately, knowing that there is a box set, a box set most of us had been waiting for for years! Like imagine if you heard about Christmas, and spent the next decade waking up and rushing out to the living room only to find nothing there. That's what it was like waiting for the long rumored This Heat box. It seems almost self evident that it is honestly one of the few box sets, that is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL. But okay, $100 might be a bit much to drop on a band you're not all the familiar with. And probably some folks already have some of these discs, as they were briefly available in the nineties. But let's be upfront and warn you straight up, we know very few people, who on hearing any music from This Heat, even a single song, weren't immediately compelled to get their hands on every single bit of recorded material they could find. The music of This Heat is most definitely that powerful, that intense, having informed almost all of the music we've loved since. And sounding as fresh and forward thinking today as it did when it was first recorded.
Before we get to reviewing Made Available, a posthumous release of This Heat's Peel Sessions, let's give you some background on (and no small amount of gushing over) one of our all time favorite bands.
Trying to explain why this band is so good is sort of like trying to explain why ice cream is so delicious. Or why Bush is such a terrible president.
Or maybe it's kind of like writing an introduction for the new Pynchon novel. Or telling a few jokes before Richard Pryor comes on stage. Or throwing a couple quick passes before Joe Montana comes on the field. It's that daunting, that overwhelming, that impossible.
The trio of Charles Hayward, Charles Bullen and Gareth Williams known collectively as This Heat were one of the few bands that literally changed people's lives. Changed the way folks thought about music. I (Andee) couldn't believe music like this actually existed. It was everything I wanted to listen to before I knew that THIS was exactly what I wanted to listen to. Hit It Or Quit It publisher / rock critic / indie scenestress Jessica Hopper once wrote that she literally pee'd her pants the first time she heard This Heat. And it's not hard to see why. Without This Heat, modern, alternative, avant-garde music as we know it would be a whole different beast. Post-rock, math-rock, avant rock are hugely indebted to the genre shattering experimentalism of This Heat. Tortoise, You Fantastic, Yona Kit, Brise Glace, Psychic Paramount, Laddio Bollocko, Radian, Village Of Savoonga, Larsen, Starfuckers, Circle, Salvatore, I Am Spoonbender -- none of those bands would even exist if it weren't for This Heat, or if they still did you can bet they would sound a whole lot different. And that's just off the top of our heads, AND that's -just- bands whose sound directly reflects the influence of This Heat. Imagine how many performers and artists were influenced by This Heat but who let that influence manifest itself in not so obvious ways.
We once described This Heat as "Krautrock-ish hyper rhythmic tape-looped prog." Which comes close to succinctly describing the magical musical alchemy of This Heat, but still only scratches the surface. The sound of This Heat is rhythm and texture and dynamics. The recording studio as instrument. Every sound and every song is based on rhythm and texture. There are hooks, and melodies, but they exist to serve the rhythm and are often born from the deft manipulation of sound and tempo. Even the most static and repetitive parts manage to sound -musical-. There are vocals, but they are minimal and otherworldly, weary and sing songy and completely mesmerizing. A droning musical accompaniment to the haunting whirs and clanging percussion in the background.
Their entire catalog has gone in and out of print over the years, mostly out, with all of their records pretty much completely unavailable for the last 7 or 8 years. Rumors of a complete box set and reissue campaign began to circulate a few years back and it has finally happened and it's everything we could have hoped for and more. Every single release, remastered and repackaged in swank digipaks. We're almost jealous of folks who have never even heard This Heat. The thought of entering into this music completely blind, is almost frightening, as the world of This Heat is so singular, so powerful, it will be difficult to ever listen to music the same way again. Trust us.
In 1996, This Heat's 1977 Peel Sessions were finally released and demonstrated once again that This Heat were untouchable, effortlessly unfurling a sound equal parts avant pop, krautrock, progrock, musique concrete and a handful of parts that defied easy classification. Every track here a jaw dropping, mind blowing performance. Especially the new version of "Horizontal Hold", one of This Heat's finest moments already, played here with much more verve and vigor and with a sound quality so much clearer, a recording so incredibly hot, that the song is reborn and completely confounds and amazes. The whole session is rhythmically dense, rife with bastardized pop, incredibly complex arrangements all rendered again in such a way that they are emotional and moving, instead of just intellectual musical exercises. And the sound is so crystal clear, that you can hear a band at the top of their game, taking over the BBC studio and using it like they would a second guitar or another drummer. The Peel Sessions also include a handful of songs that never made it onto records proper. All as good as anything on their official releases.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
A long awaited reissue of two out of print releases from This Heat. "Health & Efficiency" was a 12" of classic This Heat angular art rock with odd time changes, discordant organ drones, and belligerent guitars. "Repeat" is an album long droney collage of all of the tape loops This Heat used during live performances. It never ceases to amaze how fresh This Heat's experiments with rock sound after over twenty years! As with all This Heat albums, this is essential!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Record of the week second runner up! Extremely appealing, subtle, layered drones beautifully held together with "bleeps and clicks." Lovely, hard-to-describe full-length cd expounding the talent of Mr. Thomas who was featured on the last Lo recordings compilation (so you know it must be good). Unanimous store favorite. Sounds just so "right" -- kind of like the first time you heard Oval or Flying Saucer Attack. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
In the world of quietly melodic experimental electronica, I seem to be the designated AQ reviewer / expert, and that's fine, because I like this world, which is peopled by such relatively popular acts as Boards of Canada, Mouse on Mars, To Rococo Rot,
Lovely, unassuming, appealing electronica along the lines of a quieter Mouse On Mars. Fans of Tortoise, Fridge, and Boards of Canada will like it too. You may recall that Schneider TM of To Rococo Rot was responsible for one of the prettiest, most artistically successful remixes on the recent High Llamas remix album.
