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POLK001

$12.00

The Double Loose Crochet CD
Consisting of guitar, drums and voice, this duo has been writing their music around exploring that idea, which means something a bit more substantial, once one thinks about it. Debut full-length. Serendipitous early-A.M. blues amblings abstracted and refracted through a prism of a sunrise's glorious illuminations. Ever wonder what Cat Power would sound like if she was a he and was backed by a more linear, friendlier Strom& Stress? We neither, because we have the double. Eight songs of painterly, colorful expressionism.

Click to hear - Revel
Click to hear - What Do I?

dilute The Gypsy Valentine Curve CD
Displaying the confidence to be both humble and unconventional, dilute have brought forth to this world a startling, arrhythmic, darn-near epic debut that strangely manages a calm fluidity, akin to laying face-down in ones own soup. Intricate, sprawling rock songs disfigured by jarring changes and bursts of tuneful noise but not so much that one will lose their way completely. A little danger is OK, now and then, yes?

Click to hear - Bea

dilute Grape Blueprints Pour Spinach Olive Grape CD
Look at the cover art. Now the album title. They're circular. Elliptical. And so, it woudl seem, is the music of dilute. However, much like the not-quite-closed circle that adorns the cover, the music is open-minded yet suggestive of an elliptical form. The songs' conclusions are mindful of where they began, even if the elongated song structures presented so wonderfully on this album wind and weave through both pastoral stretches and precipitous crags.
"Dilute's newest record, Grape Blueprints Pour Spinach Olive Grape, is a cache of lumpy guitar parts that light up like colorful polished stones. Their sound bubbles brightly, from spacious, improv-sounding drum parts, to intricate melodies that flower tightly into blasts of dissonance." - The Portland Mercury

Click to hear - People
Click to hear - Apple

31knots The Rehearsal Dinner EP
An eclectic CDEP of five songs that display 31knots' vision and ability to stretch things out without going astray, to write a seafaring epic without lapsing into predictability, and to straightahead churn a scorching, angsty rocker out of their beings. All this without the morass of trying to sound like five different bands on five different songs- that'd be twenty-five bands, if our math is correct; this is 31knots, from beginning to end.

Click to hear - Sorry You are Not a Winner
Click to hear - Corporal's Lament

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POLK007

$12.00

31knots A Word is Also a Picture of a Word EP
31knots' music moves with a nervous freneticism. Complex yet catchy drumming shifts nimbly amidst the jagged, anxious fretwork of guitar and bass, as each works in concert to propel the songs through various layers toward their proper conclusion. Unafraid to vary the pace or to take a listener down an untrodden path, 31knots are in complete control despite sounding as if they're on the verge. That comes from being such technically gifted musicians, we suppose.
This band's sound is in its time, but not necessarily of its time. Contemporary yet recalling the crisp and arid sound of '70s greats The Magic Band, This Heat and even Led Zeppelin, the band takes very progressive, inventive structures, applies modern guitar tonalities a la Polvo and Sonic Youth to sophisticated rhythms, tunefully sings rather existential lyrics, and, with a lot of sweat, passion, intensity and a little moolah to record, has proudly set forth A Word is Also a Picture of a Word, a full-length album bound to make many a discerning critic's Top Ten List for 2002.
"The film Buffalo 66 is the best thing that has ever happened to Yes. When a Saturday Night Special-packing Vincent Gallo struts into a shake joint to the blaring mid-section of "Heart of the Sunrise," Yes was really cool all of a sudden. Not that the prog-rockers deserved any previous vilification as bloated poly-note whores; much of early Yes is just as sonically bizarre as Beefheart, King Crimson, Can or any other "accepted" weirdos from the era. 31Knots know their Yes, and they know how to make Fugazi and Slint sound exactly like Yes. This is John Anderson fronting Modest Mouse, and it works so well that 31Knots will be the flagship band when the term "prog pop" enters our lexicon. Not to pull the teeth from the matter or anything; the angularity and punch won't disappoint the snobbiest of volume sponges. The album title's source is Don DeLillo's Libra, and the lyrics share a common literate sophistication with this tribute. Poignant, clever choruses pop up to sugarcoat the dexterous power-trio leanings. Math rock hasn't sounded this good in, well, ever." - Magnet

Click to hear - Buy High Sell Low
Click to hear - E for Alpha

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POLK008

$5.00

Caesura More Specific Less Pacific CD
This San Franciscan trio write unique, dense, scattershot rock that goes for the jugular, even when it lets you breathe. More Specific, Less Pacific finds Caesura seething through cutting, dissonant guitars, drummer Mike Shoun's taut, complex rhythms and Brad Purvis' angular basslines that contort and writhe beneath the chilling, lost wail of guitarist Evan Rehill. This is forty-five stunning minutes of smart, riveting stuff that will have folks lining up outside the club waiting to see Caesura bring it live.
"That Caesura record is a slice of brilliance." - Mike Cloward, Devil in the Woods.

Click to hear - Tunnel at the End of the Light
Click to hear - Surrounded by Telescopes

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POLK009

$12.00

Eyes of Autumn Hello CD
Folks shouldn't be this good this young. Stunning debut long-player from humble 17-20 year-old Seattle-area trio whose drummer is still in high school. Think Roadside Monument meets Death Cab fo rCutie meets Dilute, then forget what you thought; triangulation with only get you so far.
"It's a wonderful and relaxed album." - Emoisdead.com
"The big angle with Eyes of Autumn is that, not only are they blessed with instrumental virtuosity, but they're all like, eight years old. The trio creates a moody chasm of heartsick guitars and drums that pay homage to that Louisville style of guitar-nerdy, feelgood time changes, but also create emotional hooks that won't alienate the time-changily-challenged." - Julianne Shepherd, The Portland Mercury.

Click to hear - As a Child
Click to hear - (Distance + Time)

Dropsonic Belle CD
Classic rock for those who took the long way home to it. Guess it's cool now to like Zeppelin, the Stones, AC/DC and Sabbath in the indierock world, but this trio does so sans irony, eschewing retro-glam. Atlanta's Dropsonic has distilled the impurities from the bloated genre to craft a fiery follow-up to their amazing 2001 full-length, The Big Nothing (Moodswing Records). It's imperative at this point to mention it's not derivative, only inspired. And yes, it rocks.
"It’s hard to imagine a jazz-inflected post-rock record convincing me of much on the first listen, but Dropsonic’s distinctly rock and roll conglomeration of a twanged version of the vocal timbre of Thom Yorke, classic rock nostalgia creeping through roaring, angular riffs, and the ubiquitous Bonham stomp is custom fitted to convince you of far more than just its own merit." - Sebastian Stirling, from article in Copper Press March/April issue (CP10).

Click to hear - Stolen
Click to hear - Did You Notice

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POLK011

$12.00

Moreland Audio Turbogold CD
Twin guitar and drums cablings bound strudier than a suspension bridge, and more, um, suspenseful, too. Eight riveting instrumentals from ex-Purkinje Shift guitarists that come in many shades of pavement, several forms of perspiration, and the very best kind of cool.
"Instrumental rock band that avoids all of the instrumental rock band "no-nos" (too quiet, too spastic, etc.), by utilizing their advanced musicianship of drums, guitars and lap-steel to direct listeners toward them, not toward the bar. On level with The Fucking Champs, but not doing the metal thing." - Punk Planet

Click to hear - Fistolero

Abilene Two Guns, Twin Arrows CD
The album for which some critic's pined when reviewing Abilene's spacious debut. Abilene has upped the ante, and slowly, one-by-one, laid eight aces across the table, all the while maintaining a grim poker face. Bristling yet atmospheric processionals cresting atop deep grooves. Musical linage: June of '44, Hoover, Lustre King, Chisel.drill.hammer, and HiM.

Click to hear - Blanc Fixe
Click to hear - Phase Four

Sicbay Overreaction Time CD
Frenzied challenge-rock with melody from ex-Dazzling Killmen, Colossamite fellers. Beautifully mangled guitars and natural arrhythmia made fluid. Organ(UK): "Some of these feelings don't have handy words to describe them, only chords and sounds - it's why sane people get snared in spending their whole lives listening to sound, dragging amplifiers up and down freeways to play with the only two other people in the world who have that same sound in their heads. Somehow this stirs the guts deeper than it should... essential, essential release.

Click to hear - Herculaneum
Click to hear - Summersaults

This Bright Apocalypse Motion and Rest CD
To draw on comparisons for a moment, imagine Hero of a hundred Fights and Faraquet meet Kansas. Then commence with the shivering and the delight. Melodic arpeggios, twisted math, polyrhythmic drumming/percussion, stunning harmonies and dynamics from guys who can actually sing. We're talking rounds here, people. Four-part harmonies and colliding, twining, rising vocals. If there is such a thing as post-hardcore, TBA is the standard-bearer for the inteligent set. "It's hard to write about this band because one could seemingly go on forever about each and every unique aspect. -Adequacy.net

Click to hear - On Becoming

Ring, Cicada Good Morning, Mr. Good. CD
"Much of their obvious intelligence comes from the element of surprise - they don't just use it, they doominate the audience's expectations, forcing us to do their bidding. Impressive rhythms and strength to make HUM weep with jealousy, this is what post-rock is all about: Pushing the envelope for what post-actually means. They're so far beyond, they're pushing into frightening new territory. The world is coming to a blistering and satisfying end." -Lostatsea.net Recorded at Electrical Audio by Albini. Muscular, complex and anthemic rock music with strong vocals to boots. Heavy on the rock. Take it.

Click to hear - I Remember
Click to hear - Independence

Dropsonic The Big Nothing CD
Sprawling, massive epics delivered with bravado and chops aplenty, the way it should be done. Drums so huge, we're surprised they had room to fit the guitars. But they did. Loud ones, Angular riffs and rock anthems; strapping basslines and a touch of tenderness–to keep the bruises swelling. This is a reissue. This is new. This is Bonham thundering behind Yorke, Plant, Epley and Entwhistle. This is huge. This is why we do this.
"This band and album are way impressive. Lots of '70s style rock in the Led Zeppelin vein yet totally standing on their own with indie cred and a punk sensibility, making this one of the better albums I have heard this year." - Shredding Paper

Click to hear - Headless

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POLK018

$9.00

31knots It Was high Time to Escape CD
Yet another leap forward in the unabated evolution of Man. A bold statement, but we're serious. This album is that good. "...much of early-Yes is just as sonically bizarre as Beefheart, King Crimson, Can or any other :accepted" weirdos from the era. 31knots know their Yes, and they know how to make Fugazi and Slint sounds exactly like Yes. This is John Anderson fronting Modest Mouse, and it works so well that 31knots will be the flagship band when the term "prog pop" enters our lexicon." -Magnet
"This Portland, Oregon power trio redefines progressive math rock. The remarkable rhythm changes and wiry guitar lines are in place, but 31Knots adds a startling injection of quirky pop to its mix. But fear not, faithful rocker -- It Was High Time to Escape won't find its way to commercial radio anytime soon; it's still too complex for the lackadaisical music fan to enjoy. The prickly guitar lines and jerky changes still require your full attention, but clever lyrics and catchy melodies add incredible depth to Escape 's tunes, placing 31Knots well above their contemporaries in the quality stakes." - Splendidezine.com

Click to hear - Darling, I
Click to hear - No Sound

The Planet The Physical Angel CD
Dance punk prog for the injured and the infirm. Spastic and fractured one moment, machinistic and pummeling the next, the tightly-coiled, bipolar sounds of this Portland, Oregon trio recall Liquid Liquid, early-Talk Talk, This Heat, Brainiac and of their contemporaries, Ex Models and Dance Disaster Movement flank them in parallel worlds.
"New-wave art prog-punk might be the best way to describe this thing, as the album at times comes off sounding like some bizarre love child of Devo and Fugazi. But it is all thoroughly confusing, because the band refuses to be pigeonholed and refuses to sit still for one damn second, denying anyone a chance to try and digest what is being done here. One track is built around nothing but distorted vocals and some of the most wildly synthetic sounds you’ve ever heard, while the next is constructed of a spastic rhythm section rocking out as quickly and as heavily as it can while guitars squeal and incoherent voices wail away. And yet this album doesn’t strike you as the sort of quirky and ironic dance music that several more popular bands are churning out these days in an effort to be “hip” and “retro.” Instead, these guys seem to actually be doing what they want to do rather than what the trendy kids want to hear. It just so happens that what they want to do is really quite strange." - Delusions of Adequacy

Click to hear - Man Called Wife
Click to hear - Sidepipe

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POLK021

$12.00

Pseudosix Days of Delay CD
Weary and lost folksingers of the labor days of the Post-Modern Age. "As T.S. Eliot predicted, the world will probably end quietly, so it's possible the correlating insurrection will be quiet as well. You'll be reminded of this when you listen to the lyrics of The Pseudosix; they sing in soft vibratos and pleading warbles, but they're the warbles of the discontented, brewing with the fire of truth underneath their polite demeanor. ...this Portland (OR) trio plays subdued, rhythmic music that occasionally bursts open into raw, adamant guitar strumming and vehemently projected vocals." - The Portland Mercury. Sly harmonies, confident musicianship, and many subtle layers in this strikingly singular rustic Americana. RIYL: Songs:Ohia, Rex, Califone, My Morning Jacket

Click to hear - Bound to Unfold
Click to hear - Hazardous Movements

The Building Press Young Money CD
Fighting tactics of the Ancient Far East meet the challenge rock of the Pacific Northwest as The Building Press falter, stumble and strike with calculated (im)precision in their newfound, poetic and fantastical approach to songcraft. Slur, stagger, sting goes the drunken boxer that is Young Money, a volatile, primal record of songs broken and repaired and sometimes left to their tragic ends. RIYL: US Maple, 31knots, Storm & Stress, June of '44, Deerhoof, Natural Dreamers
"Nagging itches, deep bruises, a fibula-cracking cramp in your calf muscle that wakes you up screaming in the middle of the night: Such are the metaphors for the music of the Building Press. For the past few years, this Seattle-based outfit has put the "ow" in power trio, and its sophomore release, Young Money , offers no respite. The seven songs on the album might as well represent deadly sins, wonders of the world or the layers of skin you're going to lose listening to them; the opening cut alone ("It's Probably Just You") packs an entire record collection's worth of moods, textures and genres into its gangling, disjointed frame. Post-hardcore and free jazz figure prominently in the mix, as does a dose of math rock -- only contorted with a lopsided algebra that'll send your inner ear into a tailspin. Riding on top of the whole shambling contraption are the vocals of guitarist A.P. Schroder, whose gurgling-in-tongues voice sounds alternately sloshed and prophetic. If you can handle a walloping compound of Don Caballero and Laddio Bolocko punched up with some Led Zeppelin immensity, this is all you." - Westword (Denver Alt. Weekly)

Click to hear - Far Above the Trees
Click to hear - If You Think I Can't Get to You, You're Wrong

Valina Vagabond CD- Trost $12
Valina hails from Austria. They maintain friendships with US bands like Shellac and Sicbay, which should provide clues as to their sound, style and aesthetics. Steve Albini agreed to record Vagabond after Valina impressed him when they opened for Shellac in Munich. These songs are precise, cleverly-constructed and rich with twining guitar/bass melody and tight drumming. Fans of Faraquet, Dianogah and the aforementioned would be well-advised to buy this record and to see Valina when they tour the US this summer (including dates with Sicbay). This is handsome, understated yet inspiring math-pop. Freshly signed to 54º40' or Fight!, look for a new record from Valina in late-2005 or early-2006.

Click to hear - Dance Your Job
Click to hear - Far South and Your Breasts

SWITCHhITTER Fer-de-Lance CDEP - self-released $9
SWITCHhITTER’s pedigree stretches back to early ‘90s noise/math rock. David Uskovich’s first band, Distorted Pony, was the first non-Texas band to be signed to King Coffey’s (Butthole Surfers) Trance Syndicate label, located in Austin. Along with labelmates the Cherubs, Crust, Ed Hall, Johnboy, and the Pain Teens, Distorted Pony created a sound championed by Hammerhead, Tar, Slug, and the Unsane, to name just a few.
After the Pony’s demise in 1994, Uskovich switched to bass and formed Sweetpea, who also worked up an avalanche of dirgy fun on their Trance Syndicate release, Chicks Hate Wes. Members of Sweetpea parted ways in 1996, but two stayed on to form SWITCHhITTER with Uskovich, who decided he wanted to get away from the hyper-distorted, wall of sound and back to his musical roots—late ‘70s/early ‘ 80 post-punk—with the new band. SWITCHhITTER began exploring the territory first mapped out by the Birthday Party, Gang of Four, the Fall, This Heat, early Siouxsie and the Banshees, the first three Public Image Limited albums, DNA, Contortions, and the Minutemen.

Click to hear - Heavenly Exploding Cannons
Click to hear - The Story of Eurotrash

The Feud Language is Technology CD - Insidious Plot Audio $12
Language is Technology is the second album release by NYC’s The Feud. Their first, The Feud Versus Yr Universe, was released by the UK label The Rosewood Union. Renowned for its work with C-Clamp, Dianogah, 90 Day Men, American Heritage and others, The Rosewood Union came across The Feud's debut after Jeff Newman sold some copies of the LP version of it to the store where Duncan (Rosewood Union's owner, who since has dumped the label in favor of one focusing entirely on death metal) worked. He offered, and it was on. However, while it did well overseas, including receiving stellar reviews in publications like The Wire ("A blast of fresh air in an increasingly dull world of math-rockers" they wrote in-part), its exposure in the US suffered, just as many Euro bands with subpar US distribution do; unfortunately, The Feud was a US band.
Written collaboratively and seeded by improvisation, it’s natural for elements of different styles of music to become part of the mixture that creates The Feud's music. The Feud doesn’t try to jam square pegs into round holes like they did on their debut, which while successful was a strange amalgamation of splatter-prov, noise rock and electro-weirdness, but on Language is Technology, the influences aren’t obliterated, either. Instead these ideas and influences have become refined, making them easier to integrate into what has become a very unique sound. The elements are still audible- The Feud hasn’t sawed off nor sanded the edges completely nor has that been their goal- but the songs are slightly smoother, more subtle, the juxtaposition’s less obtrusive, melodies and themes more clear, and
ultimately, more rocking. The Feud has disbanded and reformed as Early Morning Band.

Click to hear - Cudins Haylyn
Click to hear - N'finite Rug

The DaoSon For s/t CD - Country Club $12
NYC-based The DaoSon For has a member of Creedle, the notorious carnival-jazz noise-avant-rock band that threatened San Diego in the mid-90s. Three of the four guys in the band hail originally from San Diego, actually. One plays in Big Numbers; three of the four are in Morricone Youth, and other past bands include Inch, aMiniature, The Rugburns, rust, Melomane, 33.3 and even Jewel. There’s a smidge of Creedle in the damaged genius of The DaoSon For, sure, but also a bit of film music, surf, fusion, prog, and most definitely, rock. Oh, and that sense of humor. But along with all of that, there are the serious chops and the actual real downswept, melancholy moments where the guitars sound spare and lonely and the keyboard does a strange, lonely dance. Best part of it all is how cohesive it all sounds. It works because The DaoSon For goes for it; they commit. That they do it with a smile ("Is that a smirk?") only further confounds the stuffy listener.

Click to hear - Co-Work Co.

Riddle of Steel Python CD - Ascetic $12
Passion, precision and power. Technical yet emotive, few bands can execute such raw feelings and exacting prowess into highly-refined music and still have it rock like the eleven songs on Python, Riddle of Steel’s debut full-length. While musical touchstones include early-Yes, King Crimson, 31knots, Shiner, Haymarket Riot, Quicksand, Fugazi (arty-side) and Sonic Youth (Sister-era noise breaks), Riddle of Steel is neither bound by nor in debt to these influences. Python excites; these intricate song structures and inventive melodies and rhythms stir the soul, leaving the listener both spent and inspired.

Click to hear - Saturn Eats His Children
Click to hear - Kissing in Secret

31knots Climax/Anti-Climax CD - Rangkhok $12
The CD that launched a tumultuous relationship. Come here where it all began - well almost (no one will release the band's earliest forays into rock music). This is where it all got good. "31 Knots, our boys with their heads in overdrive and the prettiest oscillating time signatures this side of Chicago, unleash Climax/Anti-Climax upon the world tonight, their first CD, and the beginning of a truly exciting time in Portland music history." - Julianne Shepherd, The Portland Mercury 6.29.00. Boy, she wasn't kiddin'.

Click to hear - Gavel of Hammers
Click to hear - Layman's Proxy

Sicbay The Firelit S'coughs CD -Obtuse Mule $12
Debut full-length from former members of Dazzling Killmen, Colossamite, and Iceburn members. Drummer still plays in Gorge Trio. Ferocious yet at times pop, like the Pixies in a barfight with an Am Rep band, with both using Polvo’s guitars to bash each other over the head. Some real tranquil moments exist, adding some sunlight to these dense, panicked, cavernous proceedings that will give listeners chills.

Click to hear - Listening to Sound
Click to hear - Sink the Town

Caesura Escape Equals Light CDEP - Birds Go South $9
" I don't know what to make of this. I mean, I really don't. Vocalist Evan Rehill spits out bizarre phrases overtop complex, tom-heavy drumming, and intricate guitar lines. What I don't know is, is this just an intense vocal delivery, a la Guy Picciotto, or strange vocals-as-instrument bizarre-core, like Pere Ubu's David Thomas or US Maple's Al Johnson? I'm more inclined to go with the former, on this one, because there are moments when Evan can be heard and understood and sounds like he's actually singing. So, a confused hooray for intensity.
While the delivery is a bit too emotive, I think the instrumentation on this album is top notch. Slinky bass and completely manic drums underpin some beautiful guitar work. This is never more realized than on "Burn the Negatives," which also features Mr. Rehill screaming like a banshee coming to kill you, with an axe, and dreadlocks... at least, that's the impression I got.
Another highlight is the rocking "Fevers Fixed." It basically follows the same pattern as this whole EP: superb drumming and steady bass with Evan freaking out on guitar and voice overtop, but it's great. In fact, I'd say that it's in your best interest to purchase this CD as soon as possible. The more I listen, the more I enjoy it."

Click to hear - Fevers Fixed

Traindodge The Truth 2CD - Ascetic $16
Traindodge’s roots lay in two forests. Once saplings spawn from the seed of Fugazi, Jawbox and Hoover, and nurtured in the arboretum of Shiner and Season to Risk – themselves descendents of the former, Traindodge was entangled in its origins. The was evident on On a Lake of Dead Trees, which despite betraying its influences, still left most reviewers stumped as to how to classify the band’s vaguely progressive rock. That’s what happens when a band blends the power of Shiner with the energy of Fugazi and the emotional quotient of early-Jawbox and pulls it off with such dexterity. The Truth is heavy. Traindodge has been lifting. The guitars have more muscle; their riffs, more weight and wallop. The record sounds huge. Yet they’ve watched their diet, for despite its loudness, its serious rocking, The Truth boasts the broadest palette of songs Traindodge has ever written. The ambience of this album, even in the crunching numbers, is huge. The Truth is huge. Over the course of 104 minutes, Traindodge empties everything in its arsenal – even a banjo!

Click to hear - The Taste of Broken Glass
Click to hear - Success Has 1000 Fathers

Tanooki Suit
R O U G H L I N E S CD -self-released $12
Want to know what's been alternately pissing off and stunning members of such bands as The Forms, Adam's Castle, The Desert Fathers, Lying in States, and Where the Moon Came From? Check this record for the answer. Formed when the band members were about twelve or thirteen, Tanooki Suit is now a veteran indie band of two releases - and they've yet to graduate from high school. "New Brain" - a track that appears on the CP20 Copper Press presents... compilation CD - is an atmospheric stunner that recalls the best work of another teenage band, Eyes of Autumn. While quite naturally still assimilating their influences (which range from the 54º40' or Fight! catalog to Q and Not U to Cursive to Tortoise and beyond), Tanooki Suit knows how to write a song not drowning in derivativeness; one, in fact, that will leave you perplexed as to why you wasted your teenage years while these cats were laying the foundation for world takeover.

Click to hear - New Brain

Mezzanine C-14 He Keeps Quiet and Sacrifices Himself CD - Breakeven $12
"...quite a searing collection of post-rock thrash. Aggressive and relentless, He Keeps Silent features ten relatively brief anthems (“Devious” is the longest track at 3:48) of inner city rebellion and post-apocalyptic desperation. Will Walker’s chainsaw guitar and angry distortion-laden vocals are clearly the center of attention in songs like “Start Fires,” “Night Crawler” and “Knife Wielder.” But the bass drive of Mark Cyst and the crash and burn drumming of Nick Mitchell are the fuel that drives this rocket from its metro mayhem to the borders of underground noise rock. The pace never slackens or lightens up as Mezzanine ~ C14 seems intent on crushing all opposition with its blitzkrieg wall of sound. Naturally, this is the band’s greatest virtue, yet at the same time its most pernicious vice. You can’t live in terminal overdrive forever, at least not without eventually going down in flames. There is, however, a subtle “artiness” to some of the pieces on He Keeps Silent, particularly the angular and jagged rhythms of “You Have the Freedom to Do as I Say,” an excellent pastiche of frenzied frustration and pure rock-n-roll anarchy worthy of Iggy and the Stooges at their most incendiary. The uncredited track that closes the album is pure guitar experimentalism, similar in texture and execution to Sonic Youth; its quiet barrage of amplified chiming dissonance could almost serve as a brief soundtrack for a snuff film. Disturbing stuff but worthwhile for those looking for a little angst and attitude with their rock-a-rolla." - Aural Innovations

Click to hear - Bound and Gagged

The Weigh Down Good People in the Making - self-released $12
"Chafing against the comforts of familiarity is what has been driving The Weigh Down of late. The band incorporates sophisticated, jazz-oriented structures and time signatures into the fabric of their songs, particularly where the rhythm section is concerned. Their songs unfold uniquely, equal-parts disjointed guitar acrobatics and grooving, tricky rhythms." - excerpted from Copper Press article.

Click to hear - Goodbye Panaphobia
Click to hear - Another Song About Running

Houston Head Like a Road Map CD - self-released $12
"If Houston's second full-length release, Head Like a Road Map, had another five tracks, that might be enough to satisfy the hunger that arises as the last song ends. The conceptually rich album is packed with intricate pieces that are fueled by intense drumming and chaotic structures. The feverish rock anthems and dreamy technical inventiveness on the various instrumentals make it an inspired effort from a band flaunting all the major-label success formulas." - Devil in the Woods.

Click to hear - I'm not Saying (I'm Just Saying)
Click to hear - Ugly Tree

Ed Kemper Trio How to Win a Sword Fight CD -Yawn Records $12
Direct and forceful, The Ed Kemper Trio write music that is brutal yet nimble, threatening and furious in its sonic quasi-psychosis. Johnson's vocals reside in the same atonal range as his scraping guitar, his shout-sing delivery emits real pathos as he chews and spits his venomous words like hot lead, leaving them to sizzle briefly on the microphone before dissipating behind his searing guitar work. Whether veering, charging or stomping militantly, the rhythm section of McLeod and Grant demonstrate both agility and muscle as they counterpunch Johnson's stabbing riffs or bolt ahead, leaving the guitarist writhing in his acidic spew. Since their debut, Ding Dong School, this has been the prime objective of The Ed Kemper Trio: Seek. Pummel. Flee. And be quick about it. Lethal, were it not for their brevity, these songs would have no conscience, no mercy upon the weak.

Click to hear - How to Escape Killer Bees
Click to hear - Killed For This

Ral Partha Vogelbacher Kite Vs. Obelisk CD - Megalon/Monotreme $12
On Kite Vs. Obelisk, RPV frontman Chadwick Bidwell casts his imaginative and musical nets wide, and drags in a heaving shoal of weird yet strangely endearing characters to populate a richly diverse musical landscape. There’s " Aral Sea Regulars," a tenderly mournful Will Oldham/Songs:Ohia-style ballad about terrified soldiers on an ancient battlefield awaiting their moment of glory; the Pavementesque slanted and enchanting "I’m a Jai Ali Kinda Guy"; " Night Stinger in the Night Shade" – a rocking tale of a taxman who sells his infant son to a dark wraith in exchange for a comfy life; the whimsically macabre "Take Me to Your Dacha," with it’s jingly upbeat tune and black humor worthy of Monty Python; the breezy and surreal "Kite Carry Obelisk Over Lake Victoria"; the gentle quirky humor of "Walking a Sickly Bobcat South of Your Cedar-Infested Estate"; and the dazzling pyrotechnics of "Red Hot Tugboat," plus a half-dozen other songs of equal splendor.
Ranging from stark acoustic to fuzzed out electric guitar and squalling feedback via waltz, frantic folk, syncopated rock and drunken drum machine, and containing lyrical references to the Stones, Palace, the Smiths and Pavement, Kite Vs. Obelisk almost defies classification.

Click to hear - Red Hot Tugboat
Click to hear - Kite Carry Obelisk Over Lake Victoria

Satanstompingcaterpillars
The Autumn Kaleidoscope Got Changed (Album Sing to Us.) CD
self-released $12
A spooky yet warm and engaging record of indie-folk. Tom Fec’s crackling, fatigued vocals take more of a presence than on previous albums, but they do not overshadow the gorgeous electric guitar melodies that wobble atop his stiff acoustic rhythmic guitar lines. Elements of electronics, used sparingly and mostly for percussive effect, do appear in places to add to the album’s eerily distant yet intimate vibe.

Click to hear - Oat
Click to hear - Appleworm

Satanstompingcaterpillars
The Most Wonderfulest Thing - self-released $12
The Most Wonderfulest Thing spins like warped vinyl, all warbled guitar, scratchy vocals and stretches of off-kilter drum grooves. It is the most cut-and-paste of the satanstompingcaterpillars oeuvre, however, it suffers nothing in the way of immediacy from at times incorporating this new approach to their songwriting.

Click to hear - Black Snow
Click to hear - Letter People Show

History at Our Disposal Novella CD - Pyramid Scheme $12
"The Pyramid Scheme is a web-based art collective based in Denton, Texas, to help promote the underground music and art scene. The label has released a few CD-R releases now and History at Our Disposal (HAOD) (has the honor of its first proper CD release). The main man of this project is Jason Reimer and it was all recorded at his home studio, The Sauna. The music is a mixture of noisy experimental indie pop songs but far too strange to be very mainstream. The first listens you wonder what these folks are into and what music influences them. "A Days Work, A Days Bread" is a very hypnotic track with cool phased out sounds and a great groove before slamming you in the face. Wow. This is in total contrast to the "Intermission" piece, which is two minutes of strange noises floating together and "St. Francis Thorn" is a mostly acoustic ballad, albeit an abnormal one, but emotional. Most of the rest of the numbers have slow starts but really build up, like "Oak." HOAD have put together a highly successful collection of tracks with a variety of styles and sonic sounds. Some of this is not that easy to describe but it is for sure underground music made with a lot of talent and imagination." - Auralinnovations.com

Click to hear - The Weight Increases
Click to hear - St. Frances' Thorn

Various Artists Mass Transit - Woodson Lateral $12
A solid collection of fifteen of our favorite bands from the Pacific Northwest. A ton of great tracks from a bunch of fine folks you'll be seeing more of in the future. From indie rock to abstract electronica, math rock to alt-country, drum'n'bass to pop. Bands include The Sweet (Dead) Science, Wimbledon, Mines, Hello From Waveland, The Building Press, Deception Pass (now Via), The Dutch Flat, Lamplighter and more.

Click to hear - Tightrope Walker(The Building Press)
Click to hear - Sex and the City (Mines)

Nigel s/t CD - Silver Girl $12
"This release from Nigel is a quiet record, but it's got some motion within. Melancholy, carefully crafted and peaceful, Nigel is not without its groove, as you can imagine thoughts flowing around you pensively. In the vein of Pinback and The Black Heart Procession but with male and female vocals, fans of slower, mellow indie rock with pianos will dig this." - Amp 'zine

Click to hear - (K)night

The Red Channels s/t CD - Silver Girl $12
"Elaina Azari lets you know who's in charge in her songs. As the voice of Portland's The Red Channels, she takes the innocent-yet-seductive girl next door act -- the same one that Britney and Christina have beaten to death - and turns it on its head. There is a sweetness in her voice, but her words are delivered with confidence and authority. There's no question who's in charge - she's Lolita, and you're Humbert Humbert... " While Azari's vocals are the album's centerpoint, the rest of the band plays a crucial role in setting the mood. The music behind her is not particularly original - you'll be able to predict most songs' twists and turns within a single verse - but it's executed with undeniable (and never showy) finesse." - excerpted from Splendidezine.com

Click to hear - Haven't

T*Shirt The Convincer CD - Silver Girl $12
"T*Shirt were a short-lived but acclaimed band from a town that isn't known for its music scene, but apparently has a respectable one. The Convincer combines four of the group's last recorded songs with some of their early material, much of it previously unreleased. Fans of what was called " alternative" back in the early nineties (excluding the whole grunge thing) will find lots to like here. The rhythms are driving yet delicately complex, the guitars can be soft and chiming or slice through the melody with tasteful feedback and abstract noise. The male/female singing is earnest and intense... T*Shirt were a deliberate band, crafting their music as well as occasionally rocking out. Unfortunately, whatever legacy they've left will probably be buried among the stories of more famous and prolific bands of the nineties, at least outside of Kansas. But The Convincer manages to keep alive some music that shouldn't fall beneath the radar just yet." - Splendidezine.com

Click to hear - Broke

AM Vibe s/t CD - Silvergirl $12
"This album radiates positive energy, and though it's a little too oppressively happy at times, the smiles are most often infectious. The template is basic and well-worn: two chords of slow, reverb-drenched chime give way to faster, reverb-drenched distortion, all the while hovering beneath Lisah's ethereal voice.
A.M. Vibe do it like they care. The catchy "DoYouEvenKnow?" rides a "Sweet Jane"-like chord progression through the dream-pop pearly gates. Lisah tempers "Everyone's Laughing"'s in-the-red effervescence with a welcome lyrical flipside: "everyone is crying", too. The plaintive "God Said No" smacks of The Sundays' best. On "Tantrum", the Vibe get uncharacteristically heavy." - Splendidezine.com For fans of Juliana Hatfield, Belly, Lush.

Click to hear - Do You Even Know

 

Called "the great hidden secret of American jazz" by critic Carl Baugher, New Jersey resident Steve Cohn has released records both independently on his White Cow imprint as well as on the famed UK label Leo Records. He's played and recorded both solo and with luminaries like Reggie Workman, William Parker, Jason Huang, Tom Varner, Fred Hopkins, and others. "...engaging and expansive sojourns into the outer regions of improvisation, alluring yet elusive..." - from article in Copper Press.

Amassed on this CDR are selections from his numerous recordings, both released and unreleased. Steve Cohn will be working closely with 43Rocket with regards to touring, workshops, and promotion.

" Mr Cohn is a determinedly non-repetitive pianist whose playing continually shifted speed, direction and texture, in phrases that rose and fell dramatically." - Jon Pareles, NY Times.

Click to hear - In the Well of Value
Click to hear - The Song and the Vacuum
Click to hear - Machine

Steve Lantner Trio Saying So CD -Riti Records $12
Joe Morris' debut on bass. Released on Morris' revived Riti imprint. "While it is decidedly more avant-garde than a straight-ahead jazz album, Lantner, Morris, and drummer Laurence Cook do swing convincingly together. On Lantner's previous two CD outings, where he employed a microtonal set-up and non-standard ensembles, the music appeared to be different from what is generally considered “jazz.” On Saying So, Lantner instead seeks to present his work so that it can be evaluated in that context. "I expect that my work on Saying So will be compared to other jazz piano players, both past and present, and at this time I embrace that challenge." Saying So does not, as yet, have a firm label commitment or release date, but negotiations are in the works." - excerpted from Copper Press.

Click to hear - Once Through

Lantner/Maneri duo Reaching CD - LeoLabs $12
One can certainly hear the influence of Schoenberg's music on microtonalist Steve Lantner's piano playing, with its clarity of texture and impeccable choice of harmonies and voicings. Whether he is playing microtones or 12-tone music, Lantner is always careful to avoid thickening the surface texture of his music with more notes than necessary. Despite frequently dissonant harmonies, Lantner's music never seems cluttered and as such, each harmony, dissonant or consonant, is given its own space in which to breathe and speak clearly.
Lantner's debut, Reaching (Leo Lab CD 062), is a duo recording with Mat Maneri. Their playing styles complement each other quite well: Lantner's percussive attacks and angular lines are answered by Maneri's alternation of long legato tones and incisive bowed interjections. The two seem to listen and react as only duet partners who have played together for years can. - from article by Christian Carey in Copper Press.

Click to hear - Inside

Lantner/Maneri/Morris Voices Lowered CD - Leo $12
Lantner appeared in a trio setting along with reed player Joe Maneri and guitarist Joe Morris. Instead of using an acoustic/digital piano combination on this recording, however, Lantner employs two acoustic pianos, tuned a quarter-tone apart. Thus, he is able to play 24 notes-per-octave: not quite the 72-note system, but still microtonal.

On Voices Lowered, Steven Lantner not only kept pace with “the two Joe's,” no mean task, but helped to bring out a different side to Maneri and Morris' interaction with each other than their two previous recorded outings, ECM's Three Men Walking and HatArt's Out Right Now.

Lantner's clarity of playing and impeccable harmonies on the record have caught the ears of critics, often for strikingly different reasons. I listened to Voices Lowered as part of a broader survey of Joe Maneri's recorded output, and as such honed in on the focus and intensity that Lantner's presence brought out in both Maneri's and Morris' playing in my review, whereas others were struck by how Voices Lowered brought to bear quiet dynamics, a “lowering of voices,” if you will. - from article by Christian Carey in Copper Press.

Click to hear - What Your'e Saying

Joe Morris Age of Everything CD - Riti $12
"Age of Everything, Morris' follow-up to Aum Fidelity's amazing Singularity, features him in a much different setting. Morris plays electric guitar this time, in a trio with bassist Timo Shanko and drummer Luther Gray, and the output this time is a streamlined platter of jazz that's straighter than what you'd expect to come out of Morris' guitar - though the man's fully able to do pretty much anything under the label of "jazz," and this album proves it. Age of Everything doesn't show us Morris flexing his muscles in quite the way that Singularity did. Instead, speed's the name of the game, here. Atop the standard rhythms laid down by the bass and drums, Morris hops through the repeated phrases of each selection before racing into some of the fastest, smoothest solos I've ever heard spill from a guitar." - Fake Jazz.

Click to hear - Age of Everything

Riddle of Steel Burn CDEP - Ascetic $9
Riddle of Steel bassist/vocalist Jimmy Vavak always seemed like the math-obsessed muscle behind his old band the Five Deadly Venoms, so when word got out that he was getting back into the rock business, smart money had his new combo being ridiculously complicated and heavy as fuck. Instead, Vavak, drummer Ken McCray and guitarist/vocalist Andrew Elstner play it relatively straight on their new self-released CD EP. "Relatively" is the key word, though: The six songs do manage to take some twisting detours now and then, and some do feature whiplash-inducing time changes. Fortunately, Riddle of Steel emphasizes songwriting over technical prowess, resulting in a set of songs that holds its own against anything else in the Midwest's emo/indie/rock/punk scene. Riddle of Steel's shout-along-in-harmony vocal style and bright guitars bring to mind the late Braid, although the heavier bottom end recalls the type of bands that the Amphetamine Reptile label was putting out a decade or so ago. - Matt Harnish, Riverfront Times.

Click to hear - The Turning Out

Asia Minor s/t CD - Anomer $12
"Melody is not really the point on this record, not to say the melodies or singing are bad, they just aren’t candy-sweet. The real focus is on rhythm and textures, and they do it well. The album starts off with “Sleepin’ vs. Drivin,’” which lulls you into a false sense of security with its laid back feel and gentle guitars, but it soon kicks up the tempo and volume, giving you more of an idea of what’s to come. “Hemodraulics” would be a favorite of mine, with the kick-ass drum beat in the beginning, and the false ending with a new tempo and key for thirty seconds, just to change tempo again- it somehow works, and it is very Mock Orange, which is good! The song ends with a scream, something rare on this album, increasing its power. A scream appears as well in “On the Way” - another great tune with the memorable line “ Sing me home, radio.” This one reminds me of The Honor System in it’s intensity as well as in the way the song morphs along the way - this band does not like to stick with one tempo in a song. This is a trait that makes this band good, however, it keeps ideas from being driven home. I had trouble remembering my favorite tracks after listening, but I remembered enjoying it all." Punknews.org

Click to hear - Big Bag of Knuckles

Step Softly, Ghost Ruined in Repetition CDEP - Anomer $9
"There’s something about Step Softly, Ghost that reminds me of the late-90s, discovering all these post-hardcore bands filled with almost amazingly talented musicians who never sounded like they were imitating anyone, who were just making music that was intense, impassioned, and powerful. The members of Step Softly, Ghost are extremely talented musicians, and their debut is an excellent album. It also hints that their full-length will be truly something to behold." - Delusions of Adequacy.

Click to hear - Dreams of No Shore

Waawe All Fabulous Things Turn Out to Happen CD - Free Dimension $12
European rock, outside of the UK at least, has developed differently from
North American rock. Perhaps it's the distance, but the further away from
the US and the UK, the more original European rock tends to get. Many times,
bands in Central Europe sound a dozen or so years behind what US/UK bands
are doing, but often that distance allows these bands to develop a unique
sound that can teach the more widely accessible bands a few things. Such is
the case with the Czech Republic's excellent Waawe.
While the band's last album, Timestorm Was the Signal , was a more prog-rock
affair, on All Fabulous Things Turn Out to Happen , the band uses more
studio effects to back up their guitar-driven post-hardcore sound. Less
hardcore than the album's predecessor, this release relies more heavily on
effect-laden guitars, stellar rhythm, and the vocals. Sung in English, the
singer's accent is still a bit daunting to a typical American's ears, but as
the album progresses his voice assimilates nicely, and the accent is barely
noticeable.
Shimmering keyboard background to the effect-laden guitar-driven "Background
Man," giving a kind of spacey yet still edgy feel. The sort of oddly tuned
guitars give a unique melodic touch on "Common Sharing," and the short
200-second instrumental "200 Seconds" demonstrates the band's
studio-friendly electronic abilities. It's those electronic elements that
nicely complement the band's guitar-driven sound. For example, the sampled
recording of "Oh God save his drowning spirit" forms the framework for the
ultra-slick "The Prayer," probably my favorite track here. The guitars on
" Program: Survive" are filled with a kind of edgy distortion, but the real
driving factor here is the stellar percussion, giving the song a Jawbox sort
of feel. By "Now the Time Has Come to Reset Your Machine," all of the band's
elements come together. A vibrant electronic element backs up a more urgent,
intense feel, and even the singer's voice helps add to the mood of the song.
Melodic at times and urgent at others, it brings to mind bands like Hurl or
Slint. - excerpted from review at www.adequacy.net

Click to hear - Program: Survive