Friday, July 2, 2010

Dollar bin score

Was just looking through the $1 used cd boxes here at AQ, and as usual there were a few surprises (surprised that we put these discs in the dollar bin, surprised that they're still there). This time we found not one but TWO copies of what was once, years and years ago, an Aquarius Record Of The Week, the sole album by German instrumental post rockers Fuehler. It's a brilliant album, beloved by all long-time AQ staffers, and way, way, way out of print. Here's what we said about it ten years ago, the last time we were able to get copies of it in:
Hey! Achtung! This lil' item was, along with the first Death Cab For Cutie, "Album of the Month" back in August '99 (list #78) and we've been out of it almost ever since, due to major import distribution snafus. So if you missed it then, hurry up and get it now (we got a bunch but some are spoken for already). Instrumental 'post-rock' from Germany that, in a word, rules. Here is what we said about it last summer, using Don Caballero perhaps unfairly as a comparison:
The relative ease with which this German band outshines the post-rock-fanboy holy-grail trio Don Caballero (keeping in mind that we really like Don Cab), makes one wish that the general indie rock audience at large was harder to please. Then perhaps more bands would try to expand on the Don Cab sound instead of incessantly aping it, and more records would sound as jaw droppingly brilliant as this one. In place of Damon Che's non stop avalanche of 'Moby Dick'isms and DonCab's metal-in-post-rock's-clothing is a complex sonic tapestry of hypnotic drones and cyclical riffs. Fuehler take the droning single note repetition of Tony Conrad, the scraping stones of Loren Chasse, the heavy prog of Voivod, the dynamics of Slint, and the slowly evolving Reich-ish rock of Circle, and fashion a music at once emotive and heavy, intellectual and kick ass.
So, yeah, a GREAT album, an old fave. And we have two one dollar copies of it, somehow (guess people don't know who they are, nowadays). And they're both in pretty good shape, even. So... email the store (mailorder [at] aquariusrecords.org) if you want a copy. If you're local, we'll set one aside for you, and you can come on by and pick it up. If you're a mailorder customer, well, it'd be cool if you also ordered something else too, to make it a little more worthwhile for us to box and ship the $1 Fuehler...

First come, first served!