Ministry of Noise

Shows i've seen and ticket stubs!

2008-03-02T14:44:00.000-08:00

??
Carcass
Pitch Sifter
Tranquil Passing
Club Babyhead Providence

??
Shonen Knife
The Dentists
Club Babyhead Providence

29-Apr-94
The Charlatans
Queen Sarah Saturday
Axis Boston

??
Primus
Melvins
Orpehum Boston

11-Nov-93
Björk
Ultramarine
Avalon Boston

10-Feb-94
James
Avalon Boston

8-May-94
James
Tribe (last show)
The Indians
Orpheum Boston

??
Tree
Blank
Toetag
A.M.N.
South Plymouth High School Plymouth

??
Smashing Pumpkins
Red Red Meat
Wallace Civic Center Fitchburg

12-May-94
Rollins Band
Therapy?
Avalon Boston

17-Jun-94
Lush
Mistle Thrush
Local 186 Allston

16-Aug-94
Lush
Weezer
Thornberry
Avalon Boston

17-Aug-94
Lush
Weezer
Live
Rocky Point Warwick

12-Aug-94
Luna
Small Factory
Blueshift Signal
Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel Providence

17-Jul-93
Rage Against the Machine
Arrested Development
Tool
Dinosaur Jr
Alice in Chains
Front 242
Fishbone
Primus
Quonset Airport N. Kingstown

3-Aug-94
A Tribe Called Quest
The Breeders
George Clinton and the
P-Funk All-Stars
Beastie Boys
Smashing Pumpkins
Boredoms
The Flaming Lips
Quonset Airport N. Kingstown

??
Disgorge
The Approach Cape Cod

9-Sep-94
Dinosaur Jr
Chavez
One Ton Shotgun
Combustible Edison
Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel Providence

22-Sep-95
Hole
MC 900 Foot Jesus
Consolidated
Stabbing Westward
Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel Providence

26-Oct-94
Blueshift Signal
Blair's Carriage
Club Babyhead Providence

16-Nov-94
Velocity Girl
Walt Mink
Club Babyhead Providence

4-Dec-94
Hole
Helium
Milk Money
Orpheum Boston

??
Blueshift Signal
Cedarchest
Wedgehead
Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel Providence

10-Feb-95
They Might Be Giants
Chris Stamely
Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel Providence

7-Feb-95
Cranes
Idaho
Met Café Providence

11-Feb-95
J Mascis
Zeke Fidler
Chick (from Scarce)
Met Café Providence

??
Janet LaValley
Bill Keough Experience
Blueshift Signal
Club Babyhead Providence

??
Small Factory
Blair's Carriage
The Mitchells
Hock
Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel Providence

??
Alley Sway
T Minus 0
Club Babyhead Providence

10-Mar-95
Oasis
Velvet Crush
Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel Providence

??
Veruca Salt
Hazel
Squash Blossom
Avalon Boston

??
Blueshift Signal
The Means
Dante's Grin
Met Café Providence

??
Blueshift Signal
Curtain Society
The Means
The Rock Newport

4-Apr-95
Letters to Cleo
Catherine
The Curtain Society
Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel Providence

??
Forbidden
Anal Cunt
Club Babyhead Providence

??
Janet LaValley
Blair's Carriage
Met Café Providence

??
Blueshift Signal
For Squirrels
Curtain Society
Mistle Thrush
Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel Providence

27-Apr-95
Siouxsie and the Banshees
Spiritualized
Orpheum Boston

29-Apr-95
Mike Watt
(w/Eddie Vedder, Pat Smear
and David Grohl)
Foo Fighters (1st tour)
Hovercraft
Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel Providence

??
Velocity Girl
Tuscadero
Zumpano
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

??
Pyrexia
Scattered Remnants
Facial Defecation
Exhumed
Perpetual Doom
The Rock Newport

5-Nov-94
The Cranberries
Grant Lee Buffalo
The Strand Providence

22-May-95
Purple Ivy Shadows
Flora Street
Radio to Saturn
Met Café Providence

23-May-95
The Wolfgang Press
Suddenly, Tammy!
Paradise Boston

24-May-95
The Muffs
Alley Sway
Met Café Providence

26-May-95
Throwing Muses
Joey Sweeney
The Bill Keough Experience
Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel Providence

31-May-95
Blueshift Signal
Where I Wake Warm
TT the Bear's Cambridge

4-Jun-95
These Animal Men
Delta Clutch
Met Café Providence

6-Jun-95
Ivy
Melissa Ferrick
Stellar Pop Combo
Club Babyhead Providence

20-Jun-95
Guided by Voices
Mary Lou Lord
Paradise Boston

30-Jun-95
Small Factory
Versus
The Non-Paraelians
Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel Providence

8-Jul-95
Opium Den
World Seed
Siddal
Incus
TT the Bear's Cambridge

1-Aug-95
Morbid Angel
Grip, Inc.
Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel Providence

3-Aug-95
Peter Murphy
Jewel
Avalon Boston

4-Aug-95
Drugstore
Club Babyhead Providence

4-Aug-95
God Lives Underwater (Sextacy Ball)
The Strand Providence

12-Aug-95
Björk
The Aphex Twin
Avalon Boston

18-Aug-95
Blueshift Signal
Alley Sway
Rocky Point Warwick

31-Aug-95
Siddal
Zutrau
TT the Bear's Cambridge

9-Sep-95
Supergrass
Quivver
Paradise Boston

14-Sep-95
Tricky
Laika
Paradise Boston

22-Sep-95
Supergrass
Shudder To Think
Eve's Plumb
Smoking Popes
Paradise Boston

27-Sep-95
Blueshift Signal
The Means
Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel Providence

28-Sep-95
Blur
Whale
Axis Boston

8-Oct-95
Grief
Infestation
Nightstick
Abstract Psychology
Middle East Upstairs Cambridge

13-Oct-95
Oasis
Tuxedo Junction Danbury, CT

14-Oct-95
Oasis
Acetone
Orpheum Boston

19-Oct-95
Difference Engine
Dirt Merchants
Flora Street
Met Café Providence

16-Nov-95
Björk
Goldie
The Strand Providence

17-Nov-95
Combustible Edison
Met Café Providence

24-Nov-95
Electrafixion
Echobelly
Dandy Warhols
Club Babyhead Providence

25-Nov-95
Electrafixion
Echobelly
Dandy Warhols
Axis Boston

1-Dec-95
Siddal
An April March
Middle East Upstairs Cambridge

8-Dec-95
The Godrays
Edsel
Difference Engine
Met Café Providence

19-Jan-96
Helium
Railroad Jerk
Arab on Radar
Met Café Providence

20-Jan-96
Helium
Railroad Jerk
Guv'ner
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

3-Feb-96
Mistle Thrush
Mile Wide
Paradise Boston

11-Feb-96
Blur
The Elevator Drops
Avalon Boston

3-Mar-96
Mistle Thrush
Siddal
Underflowers
Met Café Providence

10-Mar-96
Oasis
Agona Hardison
The Strand Providence

17-Mar-96
The Wedding Present
Butterglory
Alley Sway
Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel Providence

11-Apr-96
Echobelly
Superdrag
Met Café Providence

13-Apr-96
Mistle Thrush
Big Monster Fish Hook
Fidel
Club Babyhead Providence

27-Apr-96
Cibo Mato
Skeleton Key
Met Café Providence

29-Apr-96
Lush
Mojave 3
Scheer
Paradise Boston

30-Apr-96
Lush
Mojave 3
Scheer
Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel Providence

12-May-96
Mistle Thrush
Big Monster Fish Hook
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

17-May-96
Stereolab
King Kong
Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel Providence

6-Jun-96
Lush
Johnny Bravo
Waterplace Park Providence

7-Jun-96
Pulp
Jonathan Fire Eater
Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel Providence

10-Jun-96
Cocteau Twins
Spain
Avalon Boston

28-Jun-96
His Name Is Alive
AMP
Hope and Anchor Islington, London

2-Jul-96
The Cure
Centrum Worcester

17-Jul-96
Imperial Drag
Super-Deluxe
Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel Providence

19-Jul-96
Dean Can Dance
Harborlights Boston

10-Aug-96
Throwing Muses
Delta Clutch
Met Café Providence

23-Aug-96
Spiritualized
Axis Boston

25-Aug-96
Blueshift Signal
Mold
Met Café Providence

29-Aug-96
Lush
Eels
Muzzle
Toad's Place New Haven

8-Sep-96
Smashing Pumpkins
Providence Civic Center Providence

21-Sep-96
Helium
Syrup USA
Invisible Cowboys
Met Café Providence

2-Nov-96
Siddal
An April March
Viola Peacock
Middle East Upstairs Cambridge

15-Nov-96
The Ocean Blue
Paradise Boston

16-Feb-97
Throwing Muses
Joyce Raskin
Alley Sway
Met Café Providence

7-Mar-97
Blur
Papas Fritas
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

15-Mar-97
Cranes
Rasputina
Axis Boston

10-May-97
Polara
Blueshift Signal
Spindleshanks
Met Café Providence

29-May-97
Echo and the Bunnymen
Longpigs
Waterplace Park Providence

7-Jun-97
Primus
Blur
Echo and the Bunnymen
Matthew Sweet
Morphine
Folk Implosion
Great Woods Mansfield

17-Jun-97
Real World Boston Cast Wrap Party:
Unilever (w/Neil - London)
Midnight Voices (w/ Mohammed - SF)
Gigolo Aunts
Amazing Royal Crowns
Avalon Boston

15-Jul-97
Swervedriver
Cherry 2000
TT the Bear's Cambridge

24-Jul-97
Gus Gus
Lamb
Axis Boston

28-Jul-97
Orb
Avalon Boston

9-Aug-97
Kristin Hersh
Honeybunch
The Call Providence

22-Aug-97
Spiritualized
Axis Boston

23-Aug-97
Radiohead
Teenage Fanclub
Dandy Warhols
Harborlights Boston

29-Aug-97
Dandy Warhols
Polara
TT the Bear's Cambridge

13-Sep-97
Blur
Dandy Warhols
Orpheum Boston

26-Sep-97
Helium
David Kilgour
Bright
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

29-Sep-97
Charlatans
Dandy Warhols
Paradise Boston

25-Oct-97
Chumbawamba
Hooverphonic
Avalon Boston

18-Nov-97
Gus Gus
Cornershop
Seely
Paradise Boston

29-Nov-97
The Sundays
Garrison Starr
Avalon Boston

1-Dec-97
Spiritualized
Acetone
Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel Providence

6-Dec-97
Helium
Blonde Redhead
Bermuda
Century Lounge Providence

??
Mistle Thrush
John St. Porch Band
Another Girl
Century Lounge Providence

14-Mar-98
Portishead
EM Loews Palladium Worcester

30-Mar-98
Curve
Freaky Chakra
Axis Boston

15-Apr-98
Radiohead
Spiritualized
Centrum Worcester

5-May-98
Kristen Hersh
Brattle Theater Cambridge

16-May-98
Björk
U-Ziq
EM Loews Palladium Worcester

9-Jun-98
Pulp
Ghost of Tony Gold
Paradise Boston

17-Jun-98
Curve
Dandy Warhols
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

20-Jun-98
B-52's
The Pretenders
Great Woods Mansfield

8-Jul-98
Spice Girls
Great Woods Mansfield

17-Jul-98
Tricky
Roxy Boston

2-Aug-98
Verve
Harborlights Boston

15-Aug-98
Overflower
Battery Park
AS220 Providence

5-Sep-98
Bauhaus
Harborlights Boston

7-Sep-98
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Come
Roxy Boston

14-Sep-98
Mark Kozelek
Weeping in Fits and Stars
Middle East Upstairs Cambridge

2-Nov-98
Lisa Germano
(opening for Eels)
Bill's Bar Boston

7-Nov-98
His Name Is Alive
Godzuki
Middle East Upstairs Cambridge

7-Nov-98
Swervedriver
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

8-Nov-98
Swervedriver
Medicine Ball
Speaker Bite Me (from Denmark)
Met Café Providence

17-Nov-98
Tricky
(w/ Whale - whom I didn’t see)
Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel Providence

?-Mar-99
The Make-Up
Question Mark And the Mysterians
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

1-Apr-99
Residents
Copley Theater Boston

3-Apr-99
Residents
Copley Theater Boston

13-Apr-99
Mojave 3
(opening for Gomez)
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

16-Apr-99
Lisa Germano
(opening for Latin Playboys)
Paradise Boston

1-May-99
Gus Gus
Paradise Boston

3-May-99
Gus Gus
Esthero
DJ J Smooth
Irving Plaza New York City

14-Jul-99
Thievery Corporation
DJ Alan Strack
Landsdowne St Playhouse Boston

25-Aug-99
Kristin Hersh
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

13-Oct-99
Art of Noise
Paradise Boston

14-Oct-99
Tricky
Stroke
Avalon Boston

5-Nov-99
Brendan Perry
Kristin Hersh
Paradise Boston

8-Jan-00
Wharton Tiers Ensemble
Monotract
Knitting Factory New York City

6-May-00
Throwing Muses
Bob Mould
Lakuna
Kristin Hersh
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

12-May-00
Wire
Roxy Boston

15-Jun-00
Sonic Youth
Stereolab
Avalon Boston

26-Feb-01
Doves
The Strokes
Paradise Boston

18-Jun-01
Red House Painters
Drew O'Dogherty
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

28-Jun-01
Doves
The Webb Brothers
Axis Boston

21-Sep-01
Sigur Ros
Berklee Performance Center Boston

5-Oct-01
Björk
Matmos
Radio City Music Hall New York City

12-Oct-01
Björk
Matmos
Wang Center Boston

26-Oct-01
Spiritualized
Axis Boston

25-Apr-02
Cranes
Mistle Thrush
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

17-Jun-02
Doves
Elbow
Axis Boston

19-Sep-02
Doves
Avalon Boston

29-Sep-02
Gus Gus
Ballogomingo
Axis Boston

16-Mar-03
Royksopp
Paradise Boston

24-Apr-03
Throwing Muses (w/Tanya Donelly)
The Fly Seville
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

25-Apr-03
Throwing Muses (w/Tanya Donelly)
Audio Learning Center
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge

26-Apr-03
Throwing Muses (w/Tanya Donelly)
Audio Learning Center
(didn’t see this time)
Irving Plaza New York City

22-Aug-03
Björk
Keyspan Park NYC (Brooklyn)

23-Aug-03
Björk
Sigur Ros
Keyspan Park NYC (Brooklyn)

31-aug-03
Björk
Yeah Yeah Yeah's
FleetBoston Pavilion Boston

17-Oct-03
Spiritualized
Secret Machines
Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel Providence

12-Mar-04
Trans Am
302 Acid
The Black Cat Washington, DC

3-Apr-04
Squarepusher
Cassetteboy
Paradise Boston

??
Broker/Dealer (DJ set)
KeepSmarty
Phoenix Landing Cambridge

7-Oct-04
The Killers
Ambulance LTD
The Roxy Boston

12-Oct-04
TV on the Radio
Beep Beep
(opening for The Faint whom didn’t
watch)
The Roxy Boston

10-Nov-04
Battles
Middle East Upstairs Cambridge

8-Dec-04
Pixies
TV on the Radio
The Bennies
D.A.R. Constitution Hall Washington, DC

9-Dec-04
Pixies
David Lovering (magic act)
Avalon Ballroom Boston

18-Dec-04
Pixies
Mike Watt
(early show 530 doors)
Hammerstein Ballroom New York City

18-Dec-04
Pixies
50 Foot Wave
(late show 1030 doors)
Hammerstein Ballroom New York City

20-May-05
Doves
Mercury Rev (missed them unfortunately)
Avalon Ballroom Boston

24-Jun-05
Oasis
Jet
Tweeter Center Mansfield MA

15-Jul-05
Dinosaur Jr.
Magik Markers
Feathers
Avalon Ballroom Boston

18-Aug-05
Spoon
Longwave
Hatch Shell Boston

12-Sep-05
Doves
Longwave
Avalon Ballroom Boston

16-Sep-05
The Dandy Warhols
As Fast As
Red Hook Brewery Tent Portsmouth NH

05-Oct-05
Dead Can Dance
Orpheum Theater Boston MA

27-Nov-05
The Dandy Warhols
The Out Crowd
9:30 Club Washington DC

29-Nov-05
The Dandy Warhols
The Out Crowd
Webster Hall Manhattan NYC

30-Nov-05
The Dandy Warhols
The Out Crowd
Paradise Boston

10-Aug-06
TV on the Radio
(opening for Yeah Yeah Yeahs, whom i did not stay for)
City Hall Plaza - Boston

11-Aug-06
Throwing Muses
Bullseye!
50FOOTWAVE
Middle East Downstairs - Cambridge

01-Oct-06
Massive Attack
DJ Tim Collins
Orpheum Theater - Boston

14-Oct-06
TV on the Radio
Grizzly Bear
Paradise Rock Club - Boston

17-Nov-06
The Sugarcubes
múm
Raas
Laugardalshöll - Reykjavik, Iceland

21-Apr-07
Kristin Hersh
Delorean
Regent Theater - Arlington, MA

26-Apr-07
Coachella Music Festival
Björk
Interpol
Jarvis Cocker
The Jesus & Mary Chain (w/ Scarlett Johansson)
Arctic Monkeys
Empire Polo Field - Indio, CA

05-May-07
Björk
Konono N°1
United Palace Theater - New York City, NY

08-May-07
Björk
Spank Rock
Apollo Theater - New York City, NY

24-Sep-07
Björk
Klaxons
Santogold
Madison Square Garden - New York City, NY

06-Oct-07
Kristin Hersh & Tanya Donelly
Tanya Donelly
Kristin Hersh
Brattle Theater - Cambridge, MA

15-Dec-07
Björk
Ratatat
Pearl Concert Theatre @ Palms Resort & Casino - Las Vegas, NV

18-Jan-08
Big Day Out Festival
Björk
Shihad
Arcade Fire
UNKLE
Billy Bragg
Grinspoon
Mt Smart Stadium - Auckland, New Zealand

19-Sep-08
Sigur Ros
Harborlights Bank of American Pavilion - Boston, MA

22-Sep-08
My Bloody Valentine
Roseland Ballroom - New York City, NY

01-Jun-09
Santigold
Amanda Blank
Trouble Andrew
House of Blues - Boston MA

07-Jun-09
Doves
(Wild Light)
House of Blues - Boston MA

Albums to Kill for from 2005

2005-12-04T11:11:00.000-08:00

Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
(Wichita)

One listen to this album and you understand why it just makes no sense whatsoever to compare The Strokes or Franz Ferdinand or any of that pop rubbish to this group. Incredible energy, an under-bearing political message, and sounds and a tightness to their songs you cant figure out how they got so good. A truly incredible album with not one single bad track, with enormous range.

“they have a sense of adventure, romance, belief and intelligence, of art, a desire to explode preconceptions and exceed expectations that marks them out way above and beyond any of their perceived peers. Silent Alarm is a debut about desperation, about being desperately angry at injustice, about being desperately confused with the world, about being desperately in love. It sets its aim high from the off, drums deliberately mixed too loud in opener “Like Eating Glass” in order to make you fully aware that something important and intense is about to happen. Is happening. “Price of Gas” is an oppressive military stomp possibly about the Kyoto Agreement and impending ecological collapse, a maelstrom of sharp guitars, cacophonous percussion and abstracted, luminescent electronic swoops that would probably terrify the type of band obsessed with recording on ancient equipment in order to capture some indistinct and ideologically suspect notion of “soul.” Soul isn’t something you find in a mixing desk—it bursts outwards from your chest and guts.” – Stylus Magazine

........

Boards of Canada – The Campfire Headphase
(Warp Records)

If the slow buildup to ‘Satellite Anthem Icarus’ doesn’t give you goose bumps and bring tears to your eyes because the sounds are so beautiful, you’re not human. Every note feels like the joy of opening an old photo album. And all this with a good subtle beat to keep your head nodding oh so slowly.

“…the duo remain extremely adept at creating lacunae at the heart of their music, spaces into which you can project your own feelings and memories. As you do so, you'll slip into a gentle whirlpool of slowly emerging sonic details. The effect is seductive and remarkably subtle. A perfect accompaniment to summer evenings as dusk falls, The Campfire Headphase provides a key to the lost art of daydreaming.” – BBC.co.uk

........

Bohren & der Club of Gore – Black Earth
(Ipecac Recordings)

The band calls their music ‘horror jazz’, and that describes it perfectly, and would fit right into pretty much any film by David Lynch. Creepy = beautiful.

“Creeping, plodding, yet gorgeously, sleepily melodic. Each note played on the piano, each hit of the snare, carries great weight, and beauty. Their music falls like thick drops of liquid into a still, dark, black pool, rippling the surface with unknown echoes. Foreboding, and entrancing. The sultry, smoky saxophone … only adds to the noir-ish vibe, great for wandering the rainy streets of night-time San Francisco with this playing in your Walkman, let me tell you.” – Aquarius Records review

........

Celebration – Celebration
(4AD)

Its funny cause I wasn’t able to find really any good reviews for this album, other than on the 4AD messageboard! But I have this one below where they are criticizing basically, although I think it all sounds like a compliment. Celebration have made a very tight, very sexy (yes, sexy), very energetic record that sounds like a ride through a haunted ride at a carnival, with a dash of Siouxsie & the Banshees and some fanastic bass lines thrown in. Could be my favorite album of the year just for its sheer uniqueness.

“(Celebration) sounds something like 4AD's entire catalogue being chopped up and fed through a meat-grinder, those glistening synths and ethereal harmonies and lilting whale songs agonizingly mashed into an ugly, Frankensteinian chamber-jazz. Nearly every track begins with a deceptively calm and fluid keyboard melody before slowly piling on more and more elements, becoming denser and more chaotic while Ford gets further and further from anything resembling pop music. It's a neat trick, one that stays interesting over the course of the album, but don't expect it to keep you warm at night.” – PitchforkMedia.com

........

Cocteau Twins – Lullabies to Violaine
(4AD)

How many times have I been asked ‘Who sings the vocals on that Massive Attack song ‘Teardrop’?’. URGH!! Its Liz Frasier, and ill be damned if that Massive Attack album wasn’t heavily influenced by Ms Frasier’s band Cocteau Twins which had released an album and EP pretty much every year for 17 years before that Massive Attack album came out. This is a 4CD collection of all their EP’s, of which the songs were never repeated on any album! Pick this up and rejoice in its umcomparable beauty.

“At the center were Liz Frasier's multitracked, quasi-operatic vocals, sugar-hiccupping their way through the reverb-drenched mix, with Robin Guthrie's proto-shoegazing guitars…tangling underneath. Melodies were soaring, arrangements so gauzy they left a residue and tempos uniformly sluggish - only periodically would a piano or keyboard slip into the mix, and even when they did you barely noticed. In any other group, the brutal, relentlessly-pounding drum machine would grind it all to an anvil-dropping halt - here, it merely adds a touch of levity to the proceedings. For the Cocteau Twins, that was template: soaring vocals, cascading guitars, pounding drum machine, buckets of reverb. Trends be damned, there would be no hip hop experiments, no dancefloor moves and zero concessions to the marketplace. It was as if no one else existed.” – Stylus Magazine

........

Coldplay – X & Y
(Capitol)

This was strangely the hardest album to pick the perfect song to represent the greatness of this album. Why? Cause every track is just beyond beautiful. I fell in love with the first album (after being a skeptic cause of ‘Yellow’) while on a trip to Australia with my best mate Maria. Then album two was a stinker sans one or two tracks. Then this came out and I couldn’t believe they could top their original album, but they pretty much did it. Every track is so inspiring in some weird way. And if one more person calls them ‘the new U2’ im gonna pull a Hitler. They don’t sound like U2 or have any quality that sinks to the level of that Mr Goodbody suit wearing moron Bono and the rest of those jerks.

“These aren’t songs so much as the aural equivalent of suspension bridges, at once massive and graceful—constructions perfectly suited to Martin and Buckland’s metaphysical ponderings about the unanswerable questions of existence. At this point it’s apparent what’s in store, and we wait for the next moment of grandeur to arrive—anticipation of the Big Moment is a key ingredient of the dynamic—as Coldplay proceeds to fashion one monument after another.” – Paste Magazine

........

The Dandy Warhols – Odditorum of Warlords of Mars
(Capitol)

Probably the funnest band to listen to or see live, and basically some very underappreciated songwriting. If the Velvet Underground were a bit poppier and didnt take themselves so seriously, youd have the Dandy Warhols. Each album pretty much continues on their path of very very catchy pop rock songs and spacey hook and bass driven 'sonic cathedrals'. Each album bounced back and forth between putting you in a trance and then snapping you out of it the next song and repeating the process for an album worth of material. A great great album by a fantstic band.

“Neo-psychedelia is still the Dandies’ bread and butter, and on the swirling, dreamy “Down Like Disco,” they retrofit the Jefferson Airplane with shoegazer atmospherics. With its languid vocals and trippy, melting walls of organ, “Holding Me Up” is an after-hours party in a scary carnival funhouse and “Did You Make A Song With Otis” is a warped version of The Lemonheads, as played by clowns on acid.” – LostAtSea.net

........

Daniel Agust – Swallowed A Star
(One Little Indian)

I never really liked male voices at all until I heard Mr Agust, one of the 3 singers from Icelandic art-troupe GusGus, and this album seems to have been written to showcase just that. A collection of classical music esque pop songs with one heck of a voice. Smooooooooooooth ........

“Electronic hisses, fizzes, squelching bass and Eleanor Rigby-esque strings announce the arrival of …Daníel Ágúst – former lead singer of Icelandic trip hop outfit GusGus with five gold records and an Icelandic number 1 to his name – along with Bix – remixer to Madonna, Sigur Ros and Beck – have created a rich tapestry of orchestration, eerie bleeps and rousing soulful vocals. A blissful mini sympathy with an infectious pop edge.” – One Little Indian

........

Doves – Some Cities
(Heavenly/Capitol)

“(Doves) sound – pounding backbeats swathed in glittering, soulful melodies that swelled and crested like the black waves off Gibraltar – was unique in a way others were not (hello, Elbow). Some Cities builds on the band's propensity for melodic grandeur and achieves pure sonic bliss in the bargain. …The urban stomp of breakneck single "Black and White Town," the greatest hit Phil Spector never produced. "Snowden"s gossamer vocals and glistening guitar crescendos reach for the clouds, adrift in the sort of aural ecstasy fans of Britrock have been pining for since the heyday of Johnny Marr and you-know-who. And then there's the haunted, piano-based "Shadows of Salford," a hushed, elegiac phantom of a song birthed to be heard best, one suspects, emanating from an aging, pre-Blitz Victrola.” – Austin Chronicle

........

Engineers – Engineers
(Echo)

“It seems almost criminal to be listening to a record as summery as ‘Engineers’ on a day when the snow is building upon the windowsill outside. Everything abou t the album evokes dreamy days, lying in tall grass and looking up at blue, cloudless skies. Songs build with layer upon layer of gorgeous textures like a sweet but never sickly knickerbocker glory of aural bliss. An incredibly warm and organic sounding debut, the songs all belie the band name of Engineers, who, thankfully, never feel manufactured or contrived.” – Drowned In Sound.com

“Engineers don’t shift the paradigm in any radical new directions; they simply enliven it by paying it no attention and taking their own route through the oceans and smoke of sound. Engineers exists in a confused, semi-industrial wasteland where mist merges with smoke from factory stacks, where blackened buildings are bordered by canals, where empty warehouses stand close by like the disorienting walls of a charcoal maze. Which is to say that you could get lost there, but you probably wouldn’t mind.” – Stylus Magazine

........

50 Foot Wave – Golden Ocean
(4AD/Throwing Music)

Art rock doesn’t get much heavier than this, and anger never sounded more clean and sunnier. Kristen Hersh’s new musical venture shows what a little class can do to music so dirty. When she whispers ‘You know what? You know that? You know what?, and then thunders into your head ‘SHUT THE FUCK UP’, you can’t help but get chills. Best lyric ever as well ‘Im gonna wash that man right out of my hair, and soap him into my eyes, and soap him into my eyes, and soap him into my eyes, and soap him into my eyes.’

“It’s a perfect mess. It’s artwork made of garbage, where each soiled and pungent piece is laid with great precision to create something great, then lit on fire for dramatic effect. Each step is planned to look drunk and uncoordinated, each breakdown, dropout and rebel yell is right on target. They make visceral trash rock look easy, and what’s more, they make it stick to your fingers, clothes and subconscious. “Golden Ocean” is a bounding, surreal piece, putting the rest of the disc in a mystical perspective. As it suggests, it moves and rolls like the tides, and as Dali would paint a shining seascape, brimming with irony, so has Hersh created her very own Persistence of Memory.” – LostAtSea.net

........

M83 – Before the Dawn Heals Us
(Gooom)

It's amazing how futuristic and groundbreaking this music sounds, and really isnt, as it sounds pretty much what a new My Bloody Valentine album would sound like if it ever happened, this being 14 years later.

“M83 layer(s) electro-acoustic sci-fi backdrops atop often-campy dialogue, and then buoying it all with by a massive noir choir. From the buzzing nighttime Blade Runner skyline of the cover art to lyrics investigating car wrecks and dislodged brains, this is a mammoth collusion of synth gasps and distorted swirls, darker and more urban than its meadow-bound predecessor. (M83) weaves a rock backbone into their tangerine-dream landscape with steady doses of highly effective live drums, gigantic post-My Bloody Valentine guitar, and sharper, more defined songwriting that helps to beef up the diaphanous symphony, and creating a massive, teeming, gaudy edifice that at its best dazzles like its own misty solar system. And even when it implodes, the unintentional fireworks of its collapse create compelling, stunning patterns that leak like colored ink through the nocturnal cloud cover.” – Pitchfork Media

........

Minotaur Shock – Maritime
(4AD)

“Maritime, is a joyous, positively sun drenched blend of organic instruments and electronic twiddlings. Indeed, as the name suggests, the album feels as if it were crafted in a cabin overlooking a beach in the midst of a northeastern Canadian spring. These aren't just some glitched out beats slapped onto a piano loop; instead they're beautifully composed pieces that thoughtfully blend both worlds together. Clarinets, flute, strings, drums and guitars are all featured throughout the album, standing proudly alongside some nicely tweaked beats. But what ultimately makes the disc enjoyable is Edwards' balance of skill and accessibility. He is a very talented programmer, but it never comes at the expense at inviting the listener into its bright, Technicolor world that is worth every minute exploring.” – Popmatters.com

........

Oasis – Don’t Believe the Truth
(Big Brother)

“Don't Believe the Truth is a real shock. It's confident, muscular, uncluttered, tight, and tuneful in a way Oasis haven't been since Morning Glory. It doesn't feel labored nor does it sound as if they're deliberately trying to recreate past glories. Instead, it sounds like they've remembered what they love about rock & roll and why they make music. The consistent songwriting to the loose, comfortable arrangements and the return of their trademark bravado makes Don't Believe the Truth the closest Oasis has been to great since the summer of Britpop, when they were the biggest and best band in the world.” – Allmusic.com

........

Sigur Ros – Takk …
(Geffen)

“(Sigur Ros) still sound hauntingly beautiful. The eleven songs on Takk..., a few of which are transitional pieces, each develop concurrent melody, dynamism, and swelling atmosphere to ravishing effect. In fact, one of the difficult things about assessing Sigur Rós … is finding a suitable explanation of precisely why their music is so peculiarly emotive. The best that I can do, insofar as cathecting emotional power-points is possible, is point out how lead singer Jónsi's celestial vocals, both in their timbre and their avoidance of conventional lyrics, create a primal, non-linguistic impression. By avoiding words, he centers attention on the actual sound of his voice, and thus reaches more directly to a listener's emotional consciousness. That chanting voice, combined with the fury of the group's percussion, their shoe-gaze tendency for explorative guitar-textures, and smart cultivation of space, creates an ideal sonic landscape for emotional identification. One doesn't have to read into it too far to understand that these elements create, conceptually, a sense of evanescence, a sense of the uncertain and consequently precarious beauty of sound.” – CokeMachineGlow.com

........

Sing Sing – Sing Sing and I
(Aerial)

“It's a record, that, for its occasionally trip-hop leanings, is really about the songs, rather than about sound textures and breathy singers. Together with their many collaborators, O'Neill and Anderson, by sheer force of personality, have outstripped their musical pasts -- the former chiefly working as vocalist on others' electronic-based projects, and the latter in all-about-the-ethereal Lush -- and created a glamorous, evocative sound with a solid pop base, rather than mood pieces with pop trappings. It ends up being even moodier for all the genuine heart and wit behind it. Now there's style for you!” - Splendid

........

Thievery Corporation – The Cosmic Game (ESL Music)

“Though Thievery Corporation's trademark confluence of chilled trip-hop, time-stretched dub, and casual musical globetrotting initially appears as tranquil as ever, beneath this false serenity churns an undercurrent of political anger, disillusionment and alienation that helps charge the album with enhanced fervor and vitality. The Cosmic Game is a veritable tour-de-force of trance-inducing fusionist bliss, carrying the listener from Jamaica to Rio to India with magic carpet ease before the quiet, hookah-puffing "A Gentle Dissolve" ends the game with a sigh rather than a scream.” – Pitchfork Media

........

Ulrich Schnauss – Far Away Trains Passing By (reissue)
(Domino Recordings)

I cant say enough about this musician. This album came out about 3-4 years ago but was just reissued, and with a bonus disc of songs released on other compilations. His music is probably the most exciting Ive heard in years. Beautiful beautiful electronic music that doesnt sound one bit electronic, and sounds more organic than anything in Whole Foods. HA! Very blissful sounds with gentle beats and melodies that seem to pull at some sort of heartstrings, I guess you could say. What can I say, intensely gentle and beautiful stuff

“Infusing the emotional intensity of classical compositions from J.S. Bach or Ludwig Van Beethoven with the electronic warmth of Richard James (Aphex Twin) or Global Communication's more ambient work, Ulrich Schnauss has created a bit of a minor masterpiece with this six track album of unprecedented beauty. Simply put: Far Away Trains Passing By is elegant, simple and beautifully refined ambient techno. These melodies aim straight for the heart and capture it, embracing you in a dance of pure bliss that will have you spinning around the room like a whirling dervish. Quite frankly, this is one of the most stunningly beautiful releases of the year.” - BBC

.......

Honorable Mention :

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Howl (Echo)
Cass McCombs – PREfection (4AD)
Foo Fighters – In Your Honor (RCA)
Interpol – Antics (Matador)
The Juan Maclean – Less Than Human (DFA/Astralwerks)
Lil Kim – The Naked Truth (Atlantic)
Madonna – Confessions on a Dancefloor (Warner Bros.)
Serena Maneesh – Serena Maneesh (Honeymilk)
She Wants Revenge – Out of Control EP / These Things EP (Geffen)
Sleater Kinney – The Woods (Sub Pop)

4AD

2005-11-20T11:21:00.000-08:00

50 Foot Wave - Bug EP* - D
50 Foot Wave - Golden Ocean* - D
Air Miami - Fuck You, Tiger EP - D
Air Miami - Me, Me, Me - 1
The Amps - Pacer - 1
Bauhaus - In the Flat Field - 1
Belly - Slow Dust EP - D
Belly - Star* - 1
Belly - Gepetto EP Remix Disc 2 - D
Belly - Feed the Tree EP (US) - D
Belly - King* - 1
Belly - Seal My Fate (US Radio Mix) EP - D
Belly - Now They'll Sleep EP* - D
Belly - Baby Silvertooth - 1
Belly - Sweet Ride : The Best of Belly* - 1
Heidi Berry - Love - 1
Heidi Berry - Miracle - 1
Heidi Berry - Pomegranate : An Anthology - 1
The Birthday Party - Hee Haw - 1
The Birthday Party - Junkyard - 1
The Birthday Party - Prayers on Fire - 1
The Birthday Party - Hits - 1
The Birthday Party - Live 81-82 - 1
Frank Black - Frank Black - 1
Blonde Redhead - Misery Is A Butterfly - D
The Breeders - Pod - 1
The Breeders - Safari EP - D
The Breeders - Last Splash - 1
The Breeders - Title TK - 1
Michael Brook - Cobalt Blue - 1
Michael Brook - Cobalt Blue/Live at the Aquarium - 1
Michael Brook - Albino Alligator - 1
Celebration - Celebration - D
Clan of Xymox - Clan of Xymox - 1
Clan of Xymox - Medusa - 1
Clan of Xymox - Medusa (reissue) - 1
Cocteau Twins - Garlands - 1
Cocteau Twins - Garlands (reissue) - 1
Cocteau Twins - Head over Heels - 1
Cocteau Twins - Head over Heels (reissue) - 1
Cocteau Twins - Treasure - 1
Cocteau Twins - Treasure (reissue) - 1
Cocteau Twins - Victorialand - 1
Cocteau Twins - Victorialand (reissue) - 1
Cocteau Twins - Blue Bell Knoll - 1
Cocteau Twins - Blue Bell Knoll (reiusse) - 1
Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas - 1
Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas (reissue) - 1
Cocteau Twins - Stars and Topsoil : A collection (1982-1990) - 1
Cocteau Twins - Lullabies to Violaine (4CD EP Collection) - D
Cocteau Twins and Harold Budd - The Moon and the Melodies - 1
Colourbox - Colourbox - 1
Cuba - Leap of Faith - 1
Cuba - Cross the Line EP - D
Cuba - Havana EP - D
Cuba - Black Island EP - D
Cuba - Starshine EP - D
Dead Can Dance - Dead Can Dance - 1
Dead Can Dance - Spleen and Ideal - 1
Dead Can Dance - Within the Realm of a Dying Sun - 1
Dead Can Dance - Aion - 1
Dead Can Dance - A Passage in Time - 1
Dead Can Dance - Into the Labyrinth - 1
Dead Can Dance - Toward the Within - 1
Dead Can Dance - Spiritchaser - 1
Dif Juz - Extractions - 1
Dif Juz - Soundpool - 1
Tanya Donelly - Sliding and Diving EP - D
Tanya Donelly - Lovesongs for Underdogs* - 1
Tanya Donelly - Pretty Deep (Disc 1) - D
Tanya Donelly - Pretty Deep (Disc 2) - D
Tanya Donelly - The Bright Light (Disc 1) - D
Tanya Donelly - The Bright Light (Disc 2) - D
Tanya Donelly - Sleepwalk EP - D
Tanya Donelly - Beautysleep - 1
Tanya Donelly - Whiskey Tango Ghosts (autographed) - D
Lisa Germano - Inconsiderate Bitch EP - D
Lisa Germano - Happiness - 1
Lisa Germano - Geek the Girl - 1
Lisa Germano - Excerpts from a Love Circus - 1
Lisa Germano - Small Heads EP - D
Lisa Germano - Slide - 1
Lisa Gerrard - The Mirror Pool - 1
Lisa Gerrard & Pieter Bourke - Duality - 1
Lisa Gerrard - Whale Rider - D
Lisa Gerrard & Patrick Cassidy - Immortal Memory - 1
Gilbert and Lewis - 8 Time - 1
The Glee Club - Mine - 1
Rachel Goswell - The Sleep Shelter EP - D
Rachel Goswell - Waves Are Universal - 1
GusGus - Polyesterday EP - D
GusGus - Polydistortion (2CD-US) - 1
GusGus - Polydistortion (UK-Ltd.) - D
GusGus - Believe (Disc 1) EP - D
GusGus - Believe (Disc 2) EP - D
GusGus - Polyesterday REISSUE (Disc 1) EP - D
GusGus - Polyesterday REISSUE (Disc 2) EP - D
GusGus - Standard Stuff for Drama EP (US) - D
GusGus - This is Normal - 1
GusGus - Ladyshave EP (US) - D
GusGus - Ladyshave (Disc 1) EP - D
GusGus - Ladyshave (Disc 2) EP - D
GusGus - Starlovers (Disc 1) EP - D
GusGus - Starlovers (Disc 1) EP - D
GusGus - V.I.P. (Disc 1) EP - D
GusGus - V.I.P. (Disc 2) EP - D
GusGus - V.I.P. EP (US) - D
GusGus - vs. T-World - 1
Neil Halstead - Two Stones in My Pocket EP - D
Neil Halstead - Sleeping on Roads - 1
The Happy Family - The Man on Your Street - 1
Kristin Hersh - Hips and Makers* - 1
Kristin Hersh - Your Ghost EP - D
Kristin Hersh - Strings EP* - 1
Kristin Hersh - The Holy Single* EP - D
Kristin Hersh - Like You EP - D
Kristin Hersh - Strange Angels* (autographed) - 1
Kristin Hersh - Murder, Misery and then Goodnight - D
Kristin Hersh - Sky Motel - 1
Kristin Hersh - Echo EP - D
Kristin Hersh - A Cleaner Light EP - D
Kristin Hersh - Sunny Border Blue - 1
Kristin Hersh - The Grotto - D
His Name is Alive - Livonia - 1
His Name is Alive - Home Is In Your Head (US) - 1
His Name is Alive - Home Is In Your Head (UK) - 1
His Name is Alive - Mouth by Mouth - 1
His Name is Alive - Stars on ESP - 1
His Name is Alive - Universal Frequencies EP - D
His Name is Alive - Nice Day EP - D
His Name is Alive - Ft. Lake - 1
His Name is Alive - Cant Always Be Loved EP - D
His Name is Alive - Always Stay Sweet - 1
His Name is Alive - Someday (My Blues Will Cover the Earth) - 1
His Name is Alive - Last Night - 1
The Hope Blister - ...Smile's OK - 1
The Hope Blister - Underarms - D
In Camera - 13 (Lucky for Some) - 1
Insides - Euphoria (4AD for US) - 1
Lakuna - Castle of Crime - 1
Les Mystere des Voix Bulgares - Volume 1 - 1
Les Mystere des Voix Bulgares - Volume 2 - 1
Liquorice - Listening Cap - 1
Lush - Scar - 1
Lush - Mad Love - 1
Lush - Gala - 1
Lush - Spooky - 1
Lush - Nothing Natural EP (US) - D
Lush - For Love - 1
Lush - Black Spring - 1
Lush - Split - 1
Lush - Desire Lines EP - D
Lush - Hypocrite EP - D
Lush - Lovelife - 1
Lush - Topolino - 1
Lush - Single Girl (Disc 1) - D
Lush - Single Girl (Disc 2) - D
Lush - Ladykillers (Disc 1) - D
Lush - Ladykillers (Disc 2) - D
Lush - 500 (Disc 1) - D
Lush - 500 (Disc 2) - D
Lush - Ciao : Best of Lush - 1
Magnetophone - Come on the Phone EP - 1
Magnetophone - I Guess Sometimes I Need to be Reminded of How Much You Love Me - 1
Magnetophone - The Man who Ate the Man - D
M.A.R.R.S. - Pump up the Volume (reiussue) -1
Mass - Labour of Love
Cass McCombs - A - 1
Cass McCombs - PREfection*
Vinny Miller - Breaking Out of Your Arms EP - D
Vinny Miller - On the Block - 1
Minotaur Shock - Maritime - D
Modern English - Mesh and Lace
Modern English - After the Snow - 1
Modern English - Ricochet Days - 1
Modern English - Life in the Gladhouse : 1980-1984 - 1
Mojave 3 - Ask Me Tomorrow - 1
Mojave 3 - Out of Tune - 1
Mojave 3 - Who Do You Love EP - D
Mojave 3 - Some Kinda Angel EP - D
Mojave 3 - Excuses for Travellers - 1
Mojave 3 - Any Day Will Be Fine EP - D
Mojave 3 - Return to Sender EP - D
Mojave 3 - Spoon and Rafter - D
The Mountain Goats - See America Right EP - D
The Mountain Goats - Tallahassee - D
Colin Newman - Provisionally Entitled The Singing Fish/Not To - 1
Pieter Nooten and Michael Brook - Sleeps with the Fishes - 1
The Paladins - Million Mile Club - 1
Pale Saints - Barging into the Presence of God EP - 1
Pale Saints - The Comforts of Madness - 1
Pale Saints - In Ribbons - 1
Pale Saints - Throwing Back the Apple EP - D
Pale Saints - Flesh Balloon EP - 1
Pale Saints - Half-Life EP - 1
Pale Saints - Fine Friend EP - 1
Pale Saints - Slow Buildings - 1
Pale Saints - Mrs. Dolphin - 1
Brendan Perry - Eye of the Hunter - 1
Piano Magic - Son de Mar - 1
Piano Magic - Writers Without Homes - D
Pixies - Come on Pilgrim - 1
Pixies - Surfer Rosa - 1
Pixies - Doolittle - 1
Pixies - Bossanova - 1
Pixies - Trompe Le Monde - 1
Pixies - Alec Eiffel EP (US) - D
Pixies - Death to the Pixies 1987-1991 - D
Pixies - Debaser (Disc 2) - D
Pixies - Complete 'B' Sides - 1
Pixies - At the BBC - 1
Red House Painters - Down Colorful Hill - 1
Red House Painters - Red House Painters - 1
Red House Painters - Red House Painters II - 1
Red House Painters - Shock Me EP - D
Red House Painters - Ocean Beach - 1
Red House Painters - Retrospective - 1
Rema-Rema - Wheel in the Roses EP - D
Scheer - Schism EP - D
Scheer - Infliction - 1
Scheer - Shea EP - D
Scheer - Wish You Were Dead EP - D
Scheer - Demon EP - D
Scheer - First Contact EP - D
Scheer - ... and Finally (Schism, license to 4AD) - 1
Kendra Smith - Five Ways of Disappearing - 1
Spirea X - Fireblade Skies - 1
Swallow - Blow - 1
Sybarite - Nonument - D
Tarnation - Gentle Creatures - 1
Tarnation - Gentle Creatures (reissue) - 1
Tarnation - Mirador (UK) - 1
Tarnation - Your Thoughts and Mine EP - D
The The - Burning Blue Soul - 1
Thievery Corporation - Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi - 1
Thievery Corporation - Lebanese Blonde EP - D
Thievery Corporation - .38.45 (a Thievery Number) EP - D
Thievery Corporation - The Mirror Conspiracy* - 1
This Moral Coil - It'll End in Tears - 1
This Mortal Coil - Filigree & Shadow - 1
This Mortal Coil - Blood - 1
Throwing Muses - untitled (1987) - 1
Throwing Muses - House Tornado / The Fat Skier EP - 1
Throwing Muses - Hunkpapa - 1
Throwing Muses - The Real Ramona* - 1
Throwing Muses - Counting Backwards EP* - D
Throwing Muses - Not Too Soon EP - 1
Throwing Muses - Red Heaven* - 1
Throwing Muses - Firepile EP (Disc 1) - D
Throwing Muses - Firepile EP (Disc 2) - D
Throwing Muses - The Curse - D
Throwing Muses - University* - 1
Throwing Muses - Bright Yellow Gun EP - D
Throwing Muses - University (UK - Ltd. Red Box) - D
Throwing Muses - Shark EP - D
Throwing Muses - Limbo* - 1
Throwing Muses - In A Doghouse* - 1
Throwing Muses - Throwing Muses - D
TV on the Radio - Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes (UK) - 1
TV on the Radio - Staring at the Sun - 1
TV on the Radio - New Health Rock* - 1
Ultra Vivid Scene - Ultra Vivid Scene - 2
Ultra Vivid Scene - Rev - 2
Unrest - Unrest - 2
The Wolfgang Press - The Burden of Mules - 2
The Wolfgang Press - The Legendary Wolfgang Press and other Tall Stories - 2
The Wolfgang Press - Standing Up Straight - 2
The Wolfgang Press - Birdwood Cage - 2
The Wolfgang Press - Mama Told Me Not to Come - 2
The Wolfgang Press - Queer (US version) - 2
The Wolfgang Press - Funky Little Demons (2CD- UK) - 2
The Wolfgang Press - Going South EP (US) - D
The Wolfgang Press - Everything is Beautiful (a retrospective 1983-1995) - 2
Xmal Deutschland - Fetisch - 2
Xma1 Deutschland - Tocsin - 2

VARIOUS ARTISTS :

4AD Uncut - Promo Compilation for Uncut Magazine (UK) -2
All Virgos Are Mad - comilation complimenting string of LA shows 1994 - D
Anakin - 1998 : A Preview - D
Doctor Tiger's Deathless Promise - promotional 4AD compilation - D
Facing the Wrong Way - 1994 Current and 1995 Upcoming Compilation - D
Joyride - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (US) - 2
Lonely Is An Eyesore - 2
Natures Mortes - Still Lives - 2
Shoe Pie - A Compilation for Dr. Maartens Airwear - 2

ARTIST RELEASES BEFORE JOINING or AFTER LEAVING, or simply not on 4AD:

Heidi Berry - Below the Waves - 1
Cocteau Twins - Four Calendar Cafe - 1
Cocteau Twins - Otherness EP - D
Cocteau Twins - Twinlights EP - D
Cocteau Twins - Milk & Kisses - 1
Cocteau Twins - Violaine (Disc 1) EP - D
Cocteau Twins - Violaine (Disc 2) EP - D
Cocteau Twins - Tishbite (Disc 1) EP - D
Cocteau Twins - Tishbite (Disc 2) EP - D
Cocteau Twins - Bluebeard (EP) - 1
Cocteau Twins - BBC Sessions - D
Warn Defever - I Want You to Live 100 Years - 1 (His Name Is Alive)
Lisa Germano - On the Way Down from the Moon Palace - 1
Lisa Germano and OP8 - Slush - 1
Lisa Germano - Lullaby for Liquid Pig - D
GusGus - Attention - 1
GusGus - David EP - 1
GusGus - Mixed Live - 1
Kristin Hersh - Live at Noe Valley Ministry - 1
His Name Is Alive - King of Sweet - 1
His Name Is Alive - ESP Summer - 1
His Name Is Alive - Radio LP - 1
Mark Kozelek - Rock N Roll Singer - 1
Mark Kozelek - What's Next to the Moon - D (Red House Painters) - D
Minotaur Shock - Chiff-Chaffs and Willow Warblers - 2
Simon Raymonde - In My Place - 1 (Cocteau Twins) - D
Simon Raymonde - Blame Someone Else EP - 1 (Cocteau Twins) - D
Red House Painters - Songs for a Blue Guitar - 1
Red House Painters - Old Ramon - 1
Spoonfed Hybrid - Hibernation Shock - 1 (Pale Saints)
Sybarite - Placement Issues - 1
Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts of the Great Highway - D (Red House Painters)
Tarnation - Mirador (US/Warner) - 1
Thievery Corporation - The Richest Man in Babylon - D
Thievery Corporation - The Cosmic Game - D
Thievery Corporation - DJ Kicks - 1
Thievery Corporation - Abductions and Reconstructions - 1
Throwing Muses - Live in Providence - D
Throwing Muses - Freeloader EP (US) - D
TV on the Radio - Young Liars EP - 1
TV on the Radio - Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes (US) - 1

PROMOS:
Heidi Berry - Miracle album sampler (US) -D
Celebration - New Skin/War VIDEO (US promo) - D
Lisa Germano - I Love A Snot (US promo) - D
Lisa Gerrard - The Mirror Pool (UK promo) - D
GusGus - Polyesterday (GUS 2) - D
GusGus - Selections from the debut album Polydistortion (GUS 5) - D
GusGus - This Is Normal (US promo) - D
His Name Is Alive - Stars on ESP album sampler (incl. interview w/Warn) (US) - D
His Name Is Alive - Ft Lake album sampler (HNIA 3) - D
The Hope Blister - ... smiles OK album sampler (UK) - D
The Hope Blister - ... smiles OK album sampler (US) - D
Lush - Lovelife (US promo) - D
Lush - 500 (US promo) - 1
Lush - Last Night (US promo) - 1
Kendra Smith - Valley of the Morning Sun (US promo) - 1

GUERNICA (4AD offshoot label):
Insides - Clearskin - 1
Spoonfed Hybrid - Spoonfed Hybrid - 1
Underground Lovers - Leaves Me Blind - 2

BOOTLEGS:
Cocteau Twins - Dials - 1
Cocteau Twins - Live in London - 1
GusGus - (Mix @ Respect - DJ Mix from France This Is Normal tour - D

*own the US version, identical to 4AD, but no 4AD logo

Albums to Kill for from 2004

2005-03-11T16:37:00.000-08:00

50 FOOT WAVE : 50 Foot Wave (Throwing Music USA/4AD Worldwide)
"Listening to the first blistering 50 Foot Wave songs, it's clear:
this is still war, but now she's winning. The music created by 50
Foot Wave is propelled by the racecar engine of Kristin's guitar and
her explosive, feral vocals. Bernard's bass, as always, is a muscle,
undulating through Kristin's wall of sound. Ahlers drumming is
ferocious and unbridled, at once supporting and keeping pace with
Kristin's driving and relentless sound. The trio are tight and
powerful, creating music that is precise, emotional and seemingly on
the edge of control." - Concertedefforts.com

RACHEL GOSWELL : Waves are Universal (4AD)
"a lush string arrangement, backed with crickets and a summery nature
soundscape, swells in and leads ... to its untimely exit." -
Prefixmag.com

"A folky haze envelops this collection as it reveals its unwinding
pleasures over repeated listenings, worming its way into your
consciousness with the beauty and seemingly effortless structure of
melody and musical embellishments." - musicomh.com

ULRICH SCHNAUSS : A Strangely Isolated Place (Domino)
"the instrumental ambience, textures, rhythmic interplay, minimal
drones, and soaring melodies pack enough sound into Isolated that each
moment is bursting with life and vivacity. Furthermore, the album
never looses touch with humanity, as the wall of sound that Schnauss
employs is always so warm and lush that you become enveloped in the
sonic atmosphere and find yourself getting lost in Isolated's
breathtaking layers of sound...Blissful and celebratory, Ulrich
Schnauss has crafted a nearly flawless album that rests as the
soundtrack to the perfect summer." - popmatters.com

"The beats are precise and the aural layers are as heavy as you'll
find anywhere. As wonderful as his last album was, A Strangely
Isolated Place is a lot more focused and headstrong in its delivery.
This is daydream music at its finest." - tinymixtapes.com

THE KILLERS : Hot Fuss (Island)
"The album is dark, like a film noir, with tales of nocturnal dancing
and midnight shows sung atop lashings of black echoey synths and
shadowy guitar fuzz." - musicomh.com

"A religious affection for Oasis and the by-gone era of 80's
synth-rock combined with an unparalled ear for infectious melodies saw
this Las Vegas quartet stand head and shoulders above any other band
who released an album in the last 12 months." - earmedicine.com

TV ON THE RADIO : Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes (Touch and Go
USA/4AD worldwide)
"TV On The Radio makes music that's rhythmic but not really danceable,
and harmonic without being hooky. The group plays haunted on "Dreams,"
tribal on "King Eternal," and like some kind of skeletal barbershop
quartet on "Ambulance"; by placing those three songs in consecutive
order, it maps out a whole environment of primal community music
updated for the age of the terror alert." - theonionavclub.com

"Parping sax, dense, bludgeoning industrial bass throbs, and a cracked
sleazy nursery gospel are just the first noises that hit your ears on
the opening seconds of TV On The Radio's shimmering debut. With the
frisson of technicolour genre clashes, they concoct a tense, dramatic,
soulful post-rock, as Barbershop meets pseudo doo-wop harmonies on the
spiralling spooky-acapella of 'Ambulance', 'Poppy' sounds like a
bastard cross between Peter Gabriel's Biko and The The's Giant, as it
breaks down thrillingly from strident stomp of tribal march to
spiritual vocal and back up again - stronger, stranger and more
soulful than either of the reference points." - musicomh.com

DYKEHOUSE : Midrange (Ghostly International)
"Mike Dykehouse's long-awaited Midrange crosses the anthemic guitar
roar of classic shoegazing with New Wave electronic pop and does so,
remarkably, using only an iMac, a Fender guitar, and a cheap
microphone. Midrange steams along on a crest of wailing guitars,
thunderous drums, and breath-laden vocals, and in inimitable Ramones
style, fits fourteen songs into a perfect running time of forty
minutes. And why "Chain Smoking" isn't atop every radio playlist in
the universe is simply baffling, as its four minutes of pop heaven put
to shame anything else heard in these parts in ages." - junkmedia.org

MATTHEW DEAR : Leave Luck to Heaven (Spectral/Ghostly International)
"The clicky beats, funky hooks, bass stabs and spooky atmospherics
have been used before, but never with a classy pop sensibility
bringing it all together, and never with his sleazy vocals. This is
the dark glamour queen to Electroclash's cheap whore. Prepare to be
seduced." - BBC.co.uk
"'leave luck…' is an artist album in every sense. With sleek minimal
techno lines, a pop sensibility and an ambient soul, it glides
effortlessly from start to finish, with enough charisma to open the
most closed "don't like techno" minds." - boomkat.com

LUSINE : Serial Hodgepodge (Ghostly International)
"(Serial Hodgepodge is) rife with kicking beats set against lush
melodies and deep grooves. The album's more complex elements will
satisfy a lot of the nerds out there, but most tracks are permeated by
a definite edge, a funky dirty warehouse vibe that kicks you in the
face, softly. Throughout, Lusine can get pretty heavy and
in-your-face with the beats, but he keeps it balanced with deep
atmospherics and delicate instrumentation. It's nice to hear
something refreshing from the world of IDM madness where it can
sometimes get mundane and overly complex. I would expect nothing less
from Ghostly International." - welovemusique.com

DAVID CROSS : It's Not Funny (Sup Pop)
"No one deserving is spared by David Cross's stand-up comedy
flame-thrower in It's Not Funny; he's the enemy of hypocrisy and a
voice for all who lament the absence of truth in the world. The
co-star of HBO's 'Mr. Show' and Fox's 'Arrested Development',
left-wing hero Cross casts a sweeping net over the course of the 70+
minute set, recorded live in Washington, D.C. earlier this year. He
has an endless amount of ire for Republicans ("they've got some
awesome racists"), and left-wing conspiracy theorists ("it's called
coincidence, you hippy freak"). The thorniest of barbs are reserved
for the Bush administration and their spreading of perpetual fear in
post-9/11 America. On the war on terrorism: "If the terrorists hated
freedom, then the Netherlands would be fuckin' dust." On Bush's
proposal to put a man on the moon: "Let's put a man in an apartment,
how about that?". And America's favorite, 'The Simple Life"? "I saw
the ad for electric scissors during an episode of The Simple Life,
which is a show that glorifies these two rich, giggling cunts who have
no respect for anybody -- just vile people, awful human beings who get
away with everything because they're rich...and then the blonde one'll
blow you, apparently. But here's the thing: I saw that ad for electric
scissors during one of the highest-rated shows in America, about these
two rich fuckin' mean pieces of shit, and I vowed that I'm gonna
retain that image every time I hear President Bush say 'The terrorists
hate our freedom.' You know what? I hate our freedom. Me. Little old
me, I'm an American (and) I fuckin' hate it. We are assholes, man."

BJORK : Medulla (Elektra)
"Where 2001's Vespertine was erotic, Medulla is reflexive and
awestruck. A mingling of postpartum jealousy and joy. The
child-welcoming "Who Is It" nods to "world music" warmth with its
throat-sung yelps and Rhythm of the Saints bounce just before the cool
"Submarine," penned with Robert Wyatt, retreats into chants that sound
like the Beach Boys caught in the magnetic field of Solaris. The
sensual ghost of Vespertine slides through an open window in the
beautiful "Desired Constellation," which finds Björk pondering cosmic
justice over electro-cricket static. "Stars," she croons ruefully, "I
throw them like dice." - villagevoice.com

"In the realm of pop music (which Björk still creates within even if
her brand of it seems outlandishly left-field) we are often left arms
crossed, waiting for the chorus to come and impress us enough to tap a
foot, or wiggle a hip. In that capacity it is often easy to forget
that the role of the artist is to, at best, push us crashing into
realms we'd overlooked or never imagined, and to offer us a glimpse
into an imagination that we, as unique individuals, would fail to
possess ourselves. In this respect, Björk has achieved this feat
brilliantly. Sometimes it's an uneasy trip and one that might not be
undertaken again in the not so distant future. But the important thing
is the journey itself, allowing one to step inside something entirely
foreign, believing even for an instant in another's completely native
actuality. You may not want to stay there long, but you'll find
yourself experiencing things differently for ever after. It is,
without a doubt, Björk at her most adventurous, an achievement of no
small order (simply getting it released at all on a major label is
astounding), and one that will frustrate as many fans as it enchants."
- popmatters.com

!!! : Louden Up Now (Touch and Go USA/Warp Records UK)
"its ten tracks are filled with fervor, hooks, passion, and power. And
unlike many of their peers, !!! have politics. Angry, righteous
politics. Antiwar, anti-Giuliani, anti-Bush and Blair, and proud of
it. It is like a blast of fresh retro air to have a band not just
updating the sound but carrying over similar ideals as well. That
being said, this is still a dance album. All the grooves are designed
to get you moving; the funky basslines, stuttering drums, flashing
percussion, and chattering guitars combine to be solid indie
dancefloor material. The vocals don't get in the way of the groove;
even at their spikiest, they are built into the overall sound.
Louden Up Now is a modern-day agit-pop indie dance-rock classic. If
that is too narrow a slot to jam it into, then call it a modern-day
indie rock classic. Or just a classic." - allmusic.com

THE POLYPHONIC SPREE : Together We're Heavy (Hollywood Records)
"If you like your rock rough and ready or moody and introspective, the
'Spree aren't going to be your cup of tea. But if you're looking for
something refreshingly new and different, willing to throw your
troubles away for a few minutes and embrace a bunch of happy Americans
in robes, then your musical road to Damascus may start right here." -
musicomh.com

"Ask a preschooler to draw a picture of a nice day and what would you
get? Likely a vibrant, Crayola-adorned image with flawless green
grass, powder-blue sky, cotton-white clouds and an unnaturally yellow
sun. The sophomore record by The Polyphonic Spree is a lot like that:
innocent, colourful and perfect happiness unashamedly strummed, picked
and thumped by some two-dozen or so robe-clad players who try to
recapture the great days of their youth by consuming lots of
sugar-coated cereal. Together We're Heavy, is filled with un-ironic
rays of prog-orch-pop sunshine. But like the perma-smiles of
Pleasantville or the barren utopia of the Teletubbies, the picture
perfect world of the Spree seems a bit deluded and a bit creepy, a
feeling that's compounded by their cult-like expression of collective
joy." - soulshine.ca

HOPE OF THE STATES : The Lost Riots (Sony)
"It's a glorious, swirling state of the union address told with soul
and fierce intent. When the instrumental coda kicks in on 'Black
Dollar Bills', you realise you're listening to this generation's 'I Am
The Resurrection'. Expansive, cinematic and full of majesty, it's
breathtaking." - NME.com

36 CRAZYFISTS : A Snow-Capped Romance (Roadrunner)
"Rather than differ tremendously from the style this Anchorage, Alaska
four-piece brought to surface on their debut album (2001's 'Bitterness
The Star'), 'A Snow Capped Romance' trades evolution for musical
refinement. When the guitars come in they kick strong; when the
melodies hit, they soar and swoop as if aided by a sense of dynamic
not yet felt by the band. The songs matter more than anything as far
as 36 Crazyfists is concerned, and that's why they've cut an album
with a sense of individuality, aggressive beauty, and pure dynamics.
There are little bits and bobs here musically; from EMO to metal,
catching a sniff of hardcore on the way. It's an intriguing and
satisfying amalgamation of modern styles, and the record's gutsy mix
takes full advantage of the energy and vibrancy spawned from all the
songs." - metaluk.com

COURTNEY LOVE : America's Sweetheart (Virgin Records)
"Although you could never call Courtney Love's atonal rasp beautiful,
it's never less than compelling. Songs which are like sandpaper on the
ears first time round reveal a certain scary beauty, while the
blowsier side of Courtney's repertoire becomes more convincing.
Compared to her soft rock icon, Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac,
Courtney hollers like a workman, but there's something heroic about
her inevitably doomed attempts to emulate her. This being Courtney,
there's also an emotional rawness to 'America's Sweetheart' which
you'll either love or be repelled by. Though the production covers
everything in a superficial gloss, when Courtney sings about how she's
got pills for every eventuality, or that "all the drugs in the world"
won't shut her up, you know she's singing from bitter experience." -
NME.com

SQUAREPUSHER : Ultravisitor (Warp Records)
" Tom Jenkinson, a.k.a. Squarepusher, is a musical genius. He can
play the bass like no other, has a mastery of the drums, and has a
grasp on computer sequencing that few possess. His skills and
knowledge are so intense that he approaches madness. Many tracks
combine heavy drum 'n' bass or jungle breaks with Jenkinson's frantic
live bass, which draws heavily on his jazz background and fuses
together pre-programmed electronica and free-flowing live jazz. On
most tracks, the drum brakes and jazzy bass lines get layered between
computer-sequenced loops and samples and even crowd noises, producing
an intense catharsis and a schizophrenic feel. On Ultravisitor,
Squarepusher has used his musical genius and madman mind state to
create a record that is utterly intense, terrifying and beautiful." -
prefixmag.com

Albums to Kill for from 2003

2005-03-11T16:35:00.000-08:00

spiritualized - amazing grace
still at their best when crooning the drugged-out, heart-rending torch
songs, this is one of his most concise albums ever, and yet another
quality release from a prolific artist. - almostcool.org

martina topley-bird - quixotic (former singer for tricky on
maxinquaye, pre-millenium tension and angels with dirty faces)
It's a phenomenally sensual album, full of the thick atmospheres,
moody swaggers and dark undercurrents that she and Tricky were once
synonymous with, but here they're married to equally mesmerising
songs. Hence "Lullaby" and "Days of a Gun" are as memorable for their
beautiful melodies as they are for their respective backing tracks of
drowsy porch light blues and caressing synths. - amazon UK

laika - lost in space vol 1 (1993-2002)
Laika skipped through the UK charts during the '90s on a fertile
mixture of post-New Order synth heaviness, lush ambient harmonies and
dastardly complex jazz rhythms, creating many memorable singles and
three top-notch albums. The selections on Lost In Space, however,
illustrate exactly why the group glanced off the American pop bubble:
They're too clever. - URB magazine

mojave 3 - spoon and rafter
The group's heavy atmospherics--echoed guitar tones, distant keyboard
lines--create epic grandeur througout. "Battle Of Broken Hearts" is a
six-minute-plus orchestral tug of war that resolves into the
relatively direct piano balad "Hard To Miss You." "Writing To St.
Peter" recalls a lonely Western vibe via satellite transmission
(Arizona to London, perhaps), with Halstead's remorseful voice
sounding distracted, like someone whispering deep secrets to the
insecurity of a cellphone, proving that no matter the technology, the
emotions are still the same. - CMJ new music monthly

outkast - the love below
(from 2 disc album 'speakerboxxx/the love below')
The record contains charged electro-funk, sex romps a la mid-'80s
Prince, breezy acoustic ballads, haunted-house themes and cabaret
experiments. Lyrically, the whole album is predictably love-themed,
but the precocious Andre 3000 stretches within his boundaries, from
the explicitly erotic "Spread" to the sentimental "Take Off Your Cool"
(with Norah Jones) to the biting send-off "Roses." He also gets
cartoonish on the electro-vamp "Dracula's Wedding" and the funked-up
"Happy Valentine's Day," on which he plays the part of a modern-day
gangsta Cupid, aiming his pink gun to blast playas off the street and
onto the altar. - nudeasthenews.com

m83 - dead cities red seas and lost ghosts
For fifty-seven glorious minutes, an impossibly intricate tapestry of
buzzing techno synthesizers, distorted electric guitars, cheesy drum
machines, and subdued vocals generate a sense of bodily movement
through a landscape of beauty, disappointment, glory, and decrepitude.
Dead Cities is an album that not only envelops you, but affords you
room to explore its vast expanses of beautifully constructed
sound.-pitchforkmedia.com

broker/dealer - initial public offering
It's not surprising the Germans are saying jawohl to Broker/Dealer's
mildly euphoric productions: Its beautifully simple melodies and
aquatic, dubby atmospheres push pleasant buttons to those who've
grooved and chilled to the aforementioned Kompakt and the seminal
Chain Reaction's releases. Combining elegantly frothy textures with
deep, lubricious bass lines and irrepressible 4/4 tech-house rhythms,
Broker/Dealer makes tracks that are as inviting as beanbag chairs,
but, paradoxically, inspire dancing, too. - east bay express/oakland

massive attack - 100th window
it's dark, broody, intense and, at times, quite uncomfortable, with
the odd shimmering ray of light allowed to peep through Del Naja's
murky nocturnal soundscapes. -amazon UK

placebo - sleeping with ghosts
The new disc continues to alternate frenzied guitar charges with
spacey ballads and danceable pop, all derived from the angst and
adventurousness of The Smashing Pumpkins, Rush, and David Bowie -
theonionavclub.com

throwing muses - throwing muses (2003)
Not quite grainy like most neo-garage acts, the songs here seem dirty
and dense in a way that harkens back to Throwing Muses' punk
inception. The tracks are meaty and gristly, rumbling in the low buzz
of distortion that has always been the Muses' home, but with minimal
high and ethereal effects sometimes found on their previous studio
releases. Essentially, it sounds like a slightly-too-perfect live
recording. - popmatters.com