CANCELLED: Instore tomorrow, 10/11, 5:30pm!

Update: CANCELLED! (the instore, not The Hemlock show). Sorry!

Old AQ faves The Renderers, from New Zealand!

And they'll be at The Hemlock later that night, too!

AQ 40th Birthday Show!! Oct. 25th!!

In case you didn't see our email about it...

Lordy, lordy, look who's 40! 



Us, that's who. 



That's right, aQuarius has been "getting the music to the people" since 1970 (hence our Age-of-Aquarius moniker). 



So 2010 marks our 40th anniversary. 



Wow. 



Of course, none of us here now have been at AQ quite that long. But still, it's a milestone worthy of note. And we're certainly proud of aQuarius' history as San Francisco's oldest surviving independent record store. aQuarius was SF's punk rock/new wave store back in the '70s (when we were located on Castro St.), and over the years we sure have seen lots of music trends/scenes/formats come and go. All along, doing our very best to bring you the best, music-wise. 



We said "surviving", and we won't kid you, as you can imagine, in the current economy, it's not always easy. But we'd sure like to be doing what we do for a long time yet to come. And thanks to all the folks like you reading this, hopefully we will! 



Everybody here feels like it's a special thing to be a part of aQuarius, a chance to be involved with the music we love, getting it to the people who will appreciate it. And we couldn't do it without you! In fact, there'd be no point. 



So, to celebrate 40 years of aQuarius, we're throwing ourselves a "surprise" birthday party. Real soon. And you're invited! 



It's in a little over two weeks, on Monday October 25th, doors at 7pm show starting at 8pm sharp, at the Cafe DuNord, 2170 Market Street

We've got six great bands lined up for the event (not necessarily in this order): 



THE MANTLES

power pop drone rockers, with records on Siltbreeze and Mexican Summer 


LUMERIANS 


psychedelic hypno dirge space rock, & maybe they'll do "Crazy Horses"! 


DZJENGHIS KHAN 


retro-proto-metal garage rock power trio a la Blue Cheer 


PIGS 


heavy, rifftastic punk-metal radness sorta like a scuzzier Melvins

DATE PALMS 


boy-girl dream-drone duo from Oakland with a fantastic debut lp just out on Root Strata 


PLUS a special, secret headliner!!! We can't tell you who they are just yet, but there's a pretty good chance you bought their new album from us... and their shows are usually at places a bit bigger than the DuNord... and they're on the poppier, sunshinier side of things... huge faves here. 



We'll have some birthday cake to share with folks who get to the show early enough (you'll want to anyway, with six bands it's gonna start on time, if not earlier!). Also we'll be doing a drawing for $40 aQuarius gift certificates at the start of the show as well. 


Admission is just $10, advance tickets will be available here at AQ and at the DuNord box office soon. 
We really hope to see you all there (and tell your friends!). Please come out, see some great music, support AQ, and make it a 40th to remember! 



We'll be posting/emailing you again with reminders and updates, it's really soon though so mark your calendars now. 


Thanks!!! 


(And yes, we know, it's been 2010 for a while now... but as you get older, you start forgetting things.) 


Perhacs & Phelps

Wow. We're all pretty excited about this. We're not that familiar with Jeff Phelps, but we dig Nite Jewel and The Samps... and boy do we love acid folk chanteuse Linda Perhacs (and her wonderful 1970 album "Parallelograms"), pretty incredible that this is gonna be her 2nd live performance ever... We may have some tickets to give away for the Perhacs show, we'll keep you posted...

Human Ear Presents: Linda Perhacs and Jeff Phelps @ San Francisco Art Institute

Human Ear presents two legendary artists,
October 2nd and October 9th, 2010
at San Francisco Art Institute

October 2nd: Jeff Phelps, Nite Jewel, The Samps
Starting with 1985's sought-after, self-recorded, "Magnetic Eyes" LP, Jeff Phelps has crafted 25 years of idiosyncratic, original soul. Phelps lovers Nite Jewel and The Samps open, then join in as part of Phelp's backing band.

October 9th: Linda Perhacs, Julia Holter, CLoudS
Her 1970 masterpiece "Parallelograms" has influenced a generation of alternative musicians. She now joins us in San Francisco to perform new material. Opening are Perhacs collaborator Julia Holter, and Human Ear SF's Jean Yaste and Jason Grier as CLoudS.

SFAI Lecture Hall • 800 Chestnut Street • San Francisco, CA 94133
ALL AGES • $17 • 7pm Sharp! (Doors at 6:30)
All tickets are will call and may be purchased at www.human-ear.org tickets

On Land, In Store!

Hopefully SF locals (and nearby folks, and travelers from far places) all already know about this year's edition of the Root Strata-curated On Land Festival, happening next week, Thursday through Sunday, September 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Performers include Oneohtrix Point Never, Barn Owl, Daniel Higgs, Xela, Pulse Emitter, Rene Hell, Bill Orcutt, The Alps, White Rainbow, Starving Weirdos, Grouper, Grasslung, Higuma, and many many more. We've got tickets for sale here at AQ.

And, we're also gonna be hosting a special On Land related instore that weekend!

featuring the new duo of
ILYAS AHMED + LIZ HARRIS (Grouper)

and
CHRISTINA CARTER (Charalambides)

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5th
2 o'clock pm
right here at AQ

One more!

Another show at the Great American Music Hall to which we have 2 pairs tickets to give away:

Johann Johannsson
opener TBC (soon!)

Friday, May 14
doors 8pm/show 9pm
tickets are $21 advance/door

email to store[at]aquariusrecords.org, subject JJ TIX

Tickets up for grabs

Heads up, we're giving away a pair of tix for each of these cool upcoming shows:

Fri. May 7 at GAMH: Red Sparowes / Fang Island / Oxbow (all acoustic) - $14 - Doors 8, Show 9

Wed. May 12 at GAMH: KALX Presents Fuck Buttons - $16 - Doors 8, Show 9

Tues. May 25 at GAMH: Spectrum featuring Sonic Boom of Spacemen 3 / Wooden Shjips - $17 adv/$20 door - Doors 7:30, Show 8

To win tickets, email store[at]aquariusrecords.org with the subject REDSPAROWES TIX, or FUCK BUTTONS TIX or SPECTRUM TIX, depending on which show you want to try to win tickets to. To enter for all three, send three separate emails with 3 separate subjects.... good luck!

Shoulda posted this on Easter

Check out the bunny ears. Actually you can't see much, but the music/noise sounds good! In two parts, YouTube footage of Shit & Shine performing in Oakland the other day, with Eugene Robinson from Oxbow on guest vocals, and our own Andee Connors as one of the drummers!!

And a cool show next week too

Wow, there's all kinds of cool shows happening this month. Next week, both Pentagram and Acid Mothers Temple, ferinstance (unfortunately, on the same night... different venues).

And this one, over in the East Bay, an AQ co-presentation...

CLUB SANDWICH & AQUARIUS RECORDS PRESENT

Burmese
Shit & Shine (UK, feat. Eugene Robinson of Oxbow)
Mokele Mbembe
Naupli

Tuesday, March 23rd @ 7:30pm, $7, all ages
21 Grand, 416 25th St, Oakland

METAL on the BUS, tonight!

Yes, another killer show on The Bus, and it'll probably be a nice night for it tonight! Three heavy bands we're big fans of here at aQ:

SERVILE SECT (AZ) / PRIZEHOG / PIGS
(maybe not necessarily in that order)

Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 8:00pm
15th and San Bruno (under the freeway)

Here are some notes on each band, drawn from our reviews:

SERVILE SECT
Bizarre, and hauntingly beautiful alien black metal. Not sure what else to call it, it's definitely black metal, but it's weirdly blissy and electronic sounding, more like Alcest or Amesoeurs than old school grimnity, but even then, it's still weirder, like it must have been played by robots or insects, or some massive black metal machine
assembled beneath the surface of some mysterious moon. You can almost picture some mechanical monstrosity, pieces of human flesh, various organs, somehow built into the machine's inner workings, everything grinding and sparking all in a Herculean effort to produce this glorious droning buzzing blackness. A cloud of black buzz that will eventually drift through space and time swallowing any planets in its path, and extinguishing all life it encounters.
The sound of Servile Sect is epic, and majestic, the guitars glistening sheets of sound, the surface of that sound peppered with bits of electronic shimmer, causing the long drawn out riffery to reflect and refract, tiny little sonic events occurring every second, the surface alive and constantly squirming and changing color, but viewed from afar, it's simply a blown out undulating buzz. Those guitars are digitized and processed, spread into thick smears of warm glowing whir, the riffs barely discernible beneath the constant roar of Servile Sect's sonic swirl.
The vocals add just more buzz to the mix, howling and wailing, but stretched into streaks of sonic violence, and drums, assuming there are any, are buried, festering beneath layer after layer of crushing guitar fuzz, emitting noxious rhythms that don't so much blast or pound as they do explode into tiny squalls of still more buzz.
Occasionally, the buzz abates, leaving the guitar to sway lazily, the notes ringing out, the guitars lurking in the distance, but it's never long before the lilting melody is engulfed by a colossal buzzing roar, and the band locks into another extended psychfuzzblackdrone.
Fans of the new wave of droned out dreamy metal, black and otherwise: Nadja, Angelic Process, Ameseours, Alcest, etc. will dig this, as will dronelords who like their drones heavy and loud and yeah, a bit metallic...

PRIZEHOG

Prizehog are a trio who specialize in slow building, brooding of slow motion heaviness. It's metallic, but not really metal, heavy and sludgey and dark, but with weird bits of epicness and majesty mixed in. There's definitely a Harvey Milk thing going on, and we'd be WAY surprised if fans of that band didn't dig these guys as well. Not so say they're aping HM, more like they're sort of orbiting the same sonic black hole.
Plus Prizehog have a lot more spaciness going on, lots of swirl and shimmer, long drawn out stretches of dark drift, rumbling low end and ominous dronescapes, often sprawling into moody abstract slowcore drifts, peppered with synths, skeletal rhythms and blooping bleeping effects, that slowcore sometimes sounding almost like a blackened doom metal, before returning to their glacial downtuned pound, impossibly slow crawls through near static metal riffage, and squalls of drum splatter, and a howled guttural voice that sounds like it's gargling glass and spitting blood, the whole band a lumbering beast, lurching from chord to chord, note to note, occasionally pausing to rest beneath the glimmering starlight, before rising again to continue on its path of utter destruction.
Heavy, fucked up, freaked out, distorted and brutal, space-y and sometimes sorta pretty, and these guys destroy live, prepare yourself to witness this filthy heaviness and sludgey crush in the flesh.

PIGS

A super heavy, fairly hairy power trio (boy drummer, girl bassist, bearded dude guitarist / sometime vocalist) who kick out the jams big time, sorta like a scrappier, scuzzier Melvins, in their earliest, fastest, punkiest incarnation. Like, with some more Motorhead mixed in. A speaker shredding blast (of distortion, among other things).
Sometimes slow and sludgy, equally often full of frenzied jamming, pure metal-punk underground awesome, with more than a few nods to classic rock catchiness. Pigs traffic in Black Sabbathy riffs, their songs furthermore having plenty of rollicking swing to 'em a la both Sabbath and Sleep. The guitarist constantly peels off tangly, widdly leads like they're coming back into style. All their jams rule, rife with sick-o smartassery, gnarly Ginnish licks and hoarse, strangled vox that could almost be an old Tad tune, wasted doom, even some Champsy chops, not to mention a wicked stoner sense of humor. Is it possible to imagine an unholy hybrid of, um, Electric Wizard, Breadwinner, and, er, Pissed Jeans?? Pigs might be it.

Andee just bought some new drumsticks, this is why

Sorta last minute to post this but if you're local and wondering what Noise Pop show to check out this weekend, you oughta go see Andee's old band P.E.E. doing the reunion thing for the second and they say last time - they played a party a few months ago on for bassist Tiber's 10th wedding anniversary, and after that show were somehow persuaded to headline a Noise Pop gig as well. Pretty exciting, actually, 'cause the other bands on the bill are all big AQ faves: True Widow, Ovens, and Grass Widow!

Here's the details:

Your last chance to see nineties grind poppers P.E.E., together again, albeit briefly, after 11+ years, whose music was once described as "all the bridges (not the choruses, not the verses, the BRIDGES) from all your favorite pop songs strung together into a seamless whole", playing all the old hits, as well as one or two new ones. And sharing the stage with some of the raddest bands around. Here are the details:

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27th, 8:00 pm
CAFE DU NORD

P.E.E.

with:

TRUE WIDOW, from Texas
OVENS, from right here in SF
and another widow, GRASS WIDOW, also from SF

Here's the lowdown on all three bands:

TRUE WIDOW

Not sure what it is exactly about True Widow, it could be that after hundreds of records of rumbling dronemusic and blasting grim buzz and hushed ambient shimmer, that a band that writes songs, incredibly catchy and melodic and heavy songs, is exactly what our ears craved. Not to take anything away from the band, even if we were immersed in straight up pop and heavy rock (which we sort of are also), True Widow would most definitely shine. This is the sort of music we rarely hear anymore. We originally expected this to be metal, maybe some sort of heavy post rock metal hybrid, and while it is heavy, it's way more indie rock, or maybe slowcore, more like some haunting mix of the two, the guitars are thick and distorted, but not metallic, and they drift into slow drifting creeps as easily as they do pounding majestic roars. Other reviewers have described True Widow as 'sonic noir' and 'stonegaze', both of which are fairly appropriate, it's definitely dark and moody, certainly shoegazey, and a little bit stonery, but it's really just some sort of perfect gloomy heavy postrock. We hear Codeine, Low, Seam, the vibe is laid back and disaffected, weary and washed out, but still somehow completely rocking.
Every one of their songs is practically perfect, and each one segues seamlessly into the next, you don't just remember the melody or the lyrics, but which songs comes next, and how long the pause between songs is, the sound just so hypnotic and mesmerizing, a sort of lyseric doom pop, a druggy post rock, but the thing is, none of that really explains how addictive TW's songs seem to be. Literally, from the moment we first heard their record, we have not been able to stop listening to it. We've found other reviewers elsewhere who had the same reaction. Which speaks to the power of the songs, so well crafted, brooding, yet incredibly catchy. Just check out "Aka", with its strange mesmerizing main riff, the mysterious pause, and then when the band kicks in, it give you chills, and it's 40 seconds into their debut record.
Another track, "Duelist", is one of the few that features vocals from bassist Nicole Estill, her warm purr draped over big drums and a simple minimal bass throb, before the band launches into a slow burning minor key lope, only to crank up that opening part, infusing it with just a bit more muscle, and peppering the proceedings with a cool woozy chorus. Then there's "Sunday Driver", a gorgeous hazy reverby almost ballad, skeletal guitars, the drums still solid and loud, the vocals laid back and drugged out, the main melody so catchy, and a chorus that kills. A new record on the horizon, which is pretty much the only thing that could get us to stop listening to their old one.

OVENS

Shredding hook jammed pop blasts, most less than a minute long, many of those 30 seconds and under, but each one packed with some of the catchiest most timeless sounding pop you've ever heard. Weezer meets the Beatles meets the Beach Boys meets old Bee Gees meets Guided By Voices meets the Fucking Champs, super rocking, punky here and there, metal once in a while, but always total pure pop genius, with lyrics about doing drugs, getting fired, falling down the stairs, getting hurt, how much they suck and how their songs all sound the same, doing more drugs, all delivered by a vocalist that sounds uncannily like the skinny John from They Might Be Giants! Acoustic guitars, wild shredding leads, buzzing distorted chug, warm wheezing keyboards, fluttery flutes, incredible harmonies, and HOOKS like you wouldn't believe. These guys accomplish more in 30 seconds than most pop bands can pull off over the course of a full album. And they accomplish more in these 44 songs than most bands manage in their whole careers.
Some of their songs are hushed and dreamy, others are pounding and super rocking, some soar majestically, others are wildly metallic freakouts, Iron Maiden-y guitar harmonies wrap around weird Melvins like falsetto vocals, summery folky strums drift over calliope like keyboards, crunchy guitars unfurl jangly jams, while the vocals drawl lazily over the top. So many different sounds and styles but all totally perfectly fused into the Ovens' weirdly perfect pop world. Live the band are as likely to kick out a cover of the Bee Gee's "Holiday" as they are some old Melvins jam. They manage to sound heavy and crunchy, but also delicate and folky, often those two sides colliding in a burst of total freaking mad genius popsmithery. If there was any justice in the world these guys would be HUGE. Every song of theirs is as good if not better than any Weezer song, and they pull it off in half the time. The lyrics are hilarious, deadpan, self deprecating, clever and snarky, the musicianship is totally stellar, especially the guitars, the arrangements are unique, sometimes super unexpected but somehow they never take way from the song or the hook, and every curveball they throw manages to sound more catchy than off kilter. We could gush and gush, and go on and on about how pop bands like this are such a rarity, but man, how these guys went so long without blowing up, still boggles the mind. So now's the time. These guys rule. They're loud and fun, and funny and catchy and heavy and super rocking, and these are some of the catchiest most kick ass songs you will ever hear. EVER!

GRASS WIDOW

Awesome Bay Area trio, who most definitely know how to whip up some seriously awesome art punk garage rock, very much in the tradition of bands like the Shop Assistants, Young Marble Giants, Vaselines, Kleenex, The Fall, as well as fitting really nicely alongside current comrades like Thee Oh Sees, Brilliant Colors, Vivian Girls, etc. There's such a sense of urgency and immediate energy that comes pouring out of their music as well as a timeless quality to their approach that will no doubt give their sound a lasting power. There is a haunting/beautiful quality to GW's vocal delivery as well which reminds us a bit of one of our favorite and most underrated bands from a decade ago, Quixotic. We're definitely gonna keep our eyes and ears glued to what these ladies do because every record so far has been amazing, and they definitely seem like they'll only keep getting better and better...

Bus show video

In case you missed the last-minute OLWDTW performance that took place on "The Bus" this past Wednesday, here's a film Andee (who got a new digital video cam for Christmas) made of some of it...

OUR LOVE WILL DESTROY THE WORLD playing TONIGHT in SF on THE BUS!!!!

We know it's short notice, but we figured we'd better post this for locals just in case.

Our good pal from New Zealand, Mr. Campbell Kneale, aka Our Love Will Destroy The World, formerly Birchville Cat Motel, and also known as Black Boned Angel (whew) is playing TONIGHT Wed. January 6th in San Francisco on THE BUS. 8pm. With some other bands, to be announced... or perhaps not announced, but there will be other bands.

The bus will be parked at 16th and San Bruno, under the freeway. You can't miss it.

Jozef Van Wissem instore!

Hey folks! Thanks for coming out to the Yo La Tengo instore last Sunday, it was kinda crazy but so much fun. The band were fantastic, and so very sweet. They told us they had a great time. If you missed it, sorry, we did have to turn a few folks away at the door 'cause it was packed, but our friend Brady filmed some of it, check it out here.

So, since that went so well, let's keep the instore ball rolling. We've got avant-lutist Jozef Van Wissem playing here on Wednesday, October 28th, at 5:30 pm!

Here's what we said about his last record, "A Priori":

We have become increasingly enamored with the recordings of Dutch renaissance and baroque lute player Jozef Van Wissem, whether it be through his solo output or through his many collaborations with guitarists Gary Lucas, Tetuzi Akiyama and most recently James Blackshaw (Brethren Of The Free Spirit). You wouldn't think that there would be such wide-ranging approaches to such an antique instrument, yet with each release, we're let into a new realm of sonic possibility. Sometimes it's classical deconstructions; using palindromes, mirroring, backwards compositions and cut-up techniques. Sometimes it's more Takoma-style fingerpicking and bottleneck playing. Or more avant, flinging sparse and reductive fragments of loosely connected tones into large voids of silence. Or augmented by subtle electronics and field recordings of airports and other public spaces. On his latest release A Priori, arguably his prettiest and most engaging to date, Van Wissem pushes forward the beauty of the melodic form but frames it in a stark restraint. Using a glacial pendulum-like progression and D minor tuning (the most melancholic of all tunings), Wissem establishes an up-down-up riff taking a pause between each turn before repeating, letting the tones ring out over the empty spaces. Occasionally he lets subtle nuances like an octave change or a bottleneck run appear, yet he takes great pains to avoid filling the space unnecessarily. With each song on A Priori, he explores this limitation to its outermost boundaries that connects each piece to the whole, forcing our headspace to slow down to this intensely meditative pace in order to experience its lovely tonal revelations. If Earth 2 was transcribed for renaissance lute, it might sound something like this. Liner notes by David Tibet of Current 93. Highly recommended!

Van Wissem is also playing some other shows in the Bay Area that week, here's the info on those:

Thursday 10/29 @ Amnesia Bar, SF w/ Mira Cook
Saturday 10/31 @ Totally Intense Fractal Mind Gaze Hut, Oakland w/ Jim Haynes and Gregg Kowalsky

We've always wanted to see Van Wissem so we're pretty excited! And it should be even more, um, intimate than the YLT instore...

UFOmammut in SF!

Our favorite uber-heavy, super-psychedelic Italian space doom band, UFOmammut, is going to be playing one of their only USA dates ever, real soon, in San Francisco! (Also one in LA, but we don't have the details on that... maybe it already happened?).

Varnish Gallery 77 Natoma St. @ 2nd St.
Saturday, October 24
UFOmammut with Acid King
doors at 7, show at 8:30 pm
tickets $12 advance / $15 at the door

for advance tickets, and more info, follow this link (you can buy the advance tickets online via paypal)

This live concert falls on day two of the 2-day DARK NOUVEAU poster art exhibit at Varnish from Oct. 23-24, a show that features work by MALLEUS, the psychedelic poster collective of which UFOmammut is the musical appendage, along with Alan Forbes, Dave Hunter, and Chuck Sperry & Ron Donovan of the Firehouse.

Frisco Freakout II

Hey remember the awesome time you had at the first Frisco Freakout last year? All the loud rad California psych bands, organic eats, and good vibes? Ah, it's like the sixties, if you can remember, you probably weren't even there. Anyway, this happenin' is happening again, real soon. And once again we're pleased to be a co-sponsor, along with Arthur Magazine and KUSF. Also once again the Frisco Freakout is a benefit for Creativity Explored, one of our favorite things in the Mission.

Here's some details about when/where/who/what:

The Second Annual Frisco Freakout Psychedelic Dance Party

Heavy Hills
Lumerians
Powell St. John and the Aliens
Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound
Liquorball with Steve MacKay
Wooden Shjips
Citay
3 Leafs
Magic Lantern
Sun Araw
Barn Owl

Thee Parkside, San Francisco, OCTOBER 10, 2009 2PM-2AM Doors 1:30
$15 ALL AGES!!! ALL DAY!!!

Mark your calendars! Don't miss it!

On Land Fest

We're pleased to be sponsors of the upcoming ON LAND FESTIVAL here in San Francisco, which is being curated by our industrious friends at the Root Strata label. Two days, three shows, a whole bunch of amazing bands, we're really looking forward to it! And not just those of us who are playing the festival, that'd be Jim, Scott (in The Alps) and Jon (in Barn Owl)...

Here's all the exciting details:

On Land
September 19th & 20th
San Francisco, CA
Curated by Root Strata
Sponsored by Aquarius Records
Hosted by The Swedish American Hall & Cafe DuNord
onlandfestival.com
Tickets available at cafedunord.com

LIMITED FESTIVAL PASSES available for $35! Available only by calling Cafe DuNord box office (mon-fri, 2pm-6pm: 415-861-5016) to purchase over the phone!!

Otherwise you also can purchase tickets to each show at the door, if it hasn't sold out. Or get 'em in advance, in person here at Aquarius - for those there's a dollar service charge in addition to the prices listed below...

Sunday, September 20th
The Swedish American Hall
$20
Grouper
Christina Carter
Ilyas Ahmed
Barn Owl
Sun Circle
Common Eider, King Eider
Brendan Murray

Saturday, September 19th
Cafe DuNord
$10
Tarentel
Keith Fullerton Whitman
The Alps
Ducktails
Pete Swanson
Joe Grimm
Operative (Scott Goodwin)

Saturday, September 19th
The Swedish American Hall
Early Show!
$10
Starving Weirdos
William Fowler Collins
Metal Rouge
Darwinsbitch
Jim Haynes
John Davis
Danny Paul Grody

And if you're in a metal mood tonite

At the Eagle Tavern (the BEST place in SF to see a rock show, we think!), tonight, July 9th:

Slough Feg
(recent AQ Record Of The Week honorees!)
Futur Skullz
(new thrash band of former Fucking Champs/Weakling/Makes Nice guitarist Josh Smith!)
Leather Feather
(great name... dunno anything else about 'em)

We don't have any tickets to give away, but if you're a metalhead, you won't be sorry paying to get in. It's probably not that expensive anyway.

Also, on Saturday

Another cool show this weekend! And aQuarius is "presenting" it!

At the Bottom Of The Hill (1233 17th Street), Saturday July 11th:

Oneida
Wooden Shjips (on at 10:30pm)
Jonas Reinhardt (on at 9:30pm)

10pm (doors 8:30)
$10 - advance and day of show

and we have 2 pairs of tickets to give away!
just email store@aquariusrecords.org with the subject ONEIDA TIX for a chance to win 'em.
include your full name (first and last), ok?

FYI, this is Oneida's "Rated O" record release party - one of the only US shows Oneida are performing surrounding the release of this triple album colossus. In fact - it's one of just 6!

For any LA followers of aQuarius happenings Oneida are also playing a matinee show at the Echo on Sunday July 12 with Clipd Beaks and Amps for Christ. Doors are at 2pm - sets at 3pm - Beaks, 4pm - Amps and 5pm - Oneida.

Some press:

"Oneida may well be evil geniuses in the midst of creating a classic, multi-album masterwork" - MOJO ****

"This is guaranteed to reduce your grey matter to a lumpy guacamole!" 9/10 - Montreal Mirror

"Another crowning achievement from a band who sees its ideas all the way through, no matter how wayward or ambitious they may be" - UNDER THE RADAR

"A testament to Oneida's inexhaustible creativity" - EYE WEEKLY

"This second installment in the Brooklynites’ Thank Your Parents trilogy is nothing short of a jaw-dropping, drool-inducing exercise in epic art rock insanity." - Exclaim

And we really like it too (just haven't written a review yet, you'll see it on next week's New Arrivals list).

Upset The Rhythm showcase in SF

Thought we should mention this:

UK label and show promoters Upset the Rhythm make their triumphant arrival in San Francisco, from where many of their flagship artists hail...

Upset the Rhythm and Club Sandwich present:

Foot Village
Lucky Dragons
Gowns
Death Sentence: PANDA!
KIT
T.I.T.S.
Former Ghosts
The Urxed (Rob Barber from High Places)

July 12th at The Lab
6pm
all ages
$8
http://clubsandwichbayarea.com
co-presented by KFJC 89.7 FM

Phoenix ticket refunds

This post is for folks who bought tickets to last Saturday's Spectrumfest that was supposed to feature a live performance from Phoenix... which didn't happen, bummer. We sold tickets, but we're not handling refunds, however, fyi here's the official fine print info regarding what do about it if you need a refund:

SPECTRUM FESTIVAL
REFUND/EXCHANGE INFORMATION

From all of us at Spectrum Festival: thank you for your patience and good humor as we dealt with the unexpected news of Phoenix’s day-of-show illness-induced cancellation on Saturday. We got the news with no time to find a replacement, or even to arrange a make-up date with the band. Furthermore, we knew that many of you were planning to attend the festival regardless of the fate of one of the many acts. In these tough circumstances, we elected to NOT cancel the event, and provide you with a great show anyway. Thanks to the many fine artists who performed on Saturday, this goal was achieved.

Many of you want to know what arrangements are being made regarding Phoenix’s cancellation, and any refund, or compensation instructions. Here are the facts:

The fact that Phoenix had cancelled was clearly posted at the entrance and representatives of the festival made sure to brief all entrants on the things which you are about to hear, but to be clear...

1: IF YOU DID NOT ENTER THE BUILDING: Your ticket will be refunded. You have 2 weeks to process your refund with your unused ticket(s).
• If you purchased through TICKETMASTER via the internet or phone : Contact Ticketmaster at 1‐800‐653‐8000

• If you purchased through a TICKETMASTER outlet please return to that outlet.
• If you purchased through The Warfield Box Office please return to The Warfield Box Office during the hours listed below.
• If you purchased in an authorized consignment location (ie Distractions, Aquarius or Skills): Refunds will be available at the Warfield Box Office DURING THE FOLLOWING HOURS:
Thursday July 2nd from 5PM – 9PM (During the Yes/ Asia Box Office times)
Sunday July 5th from 10AM – 4PM
Sunday, July 12th from 10AM-4PM
• Please do not go to Distractions, Aquarius or Skills as they are unequipped to deal with mass refunds.
• If you DID enter the building, you will not be eligible for a refund (see below).

2: IF YOU DID ENTER THE BUILDING: As we mentioned at doors, those of you who entered had their tickets scanned will not be available for refund but your good spirit and positivity will be rewarded. We are trying to arrange partial compensation at a future Phoenix performance. At present, the details are not settled (as several parties in far-flung countries need to agree). Please be patient as we work on how best to reward you for your loyalty and energy. In the meantime...
• Everyone: Please hold onto your ticket or stub, and don’t delete any confirmation email you may have received (print out for safe-keeping if necessary).
• Online buyers: Stay tuned for an email regarding more information as it becomes available. Make sure that Ticketmaster is not blocked by your junkmail screening.
• In-Store buyers: Please check the following websites for information www.goldenvoice.com, www.spectrumfestival.com, www.sunsetpromotions.net, www.blasthaus.com. You can also sign up for email updates at any of these sites to be sure to get an email as the information becomes available.