Grouper instore coming up!

As if Wavves and Dan Higgs and Bill Nace weren't enough, we're got another instore coming up before the end of the month! Liz Harris aka Grouper is going to pay us a visit, she'll be performing here at AQ on Tuesday, April 28th at 6pm. That's next week, so mark your calendars.

Here's our review of the most recent Grouper album, Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill, released on the Type label:

Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill opens with an entirely characteristic yet coy swell of effected elemental smear, crumbling delicately yet forcefully, until giving way to what is, to date, and here is the coy part, Liz Harris' most songwriterly and structured album. As opposed to the rich swaths of drone that up until now defined her sound, Harris has shifted from the abstract towards a more distinct and figurative sound. True to the title, the record unfolds like a sort of mysterious and morbid fairytale, innocent in its clear and elegant melodies, yet creepy and highly abstract in its more droney and sublime interludes. For the most part, her guitar playing is laid bare, removed from the dense fog of effects that typically occlude them. And what we discover is actually a pretty strummy record, with plenty of clean guitar articulation though certainly the aroma of her previous tech heavy approach remains in what is relatively speaking still pretty effected. At times she even reverts back to the gorgeous icey crunchy string attack of some previous efforts. With so much space liberated in the absence of drones, we also get to hear her stunning voice. Furthermore, the occasional audible lyric creeps to the surface, one standout fragment being "Love Is Enormous," a somewhat shockingly affirmative sentiment from an otherwise darkly mysterious and abstract persona. From start to finish Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill lulls you into its graceful murmurings and hypnotic thrumming. An exquisite addition to an already compelling discography. Recommended.

Looking forward to next year

We'd like to thank everybody who came out on Saturday and made Record Store Day such a blast here at Aquarius (and everywhere else that participated, apparently)! It was a ton of fun, super busy, cool to hang out with peeps who made a special trip to visit, and all that. For those who didn't make it down, well you missed a whole lot of donut holes and beers and soda and chips and freebies of course all the special limited edition Record Store Day releases - although there's a few we specifically ordered up on and still have enough of to list on our list this Friday, you'll see...

We'd also like to thank the folks who thought up the whole Record Store Day thing and made it happen, last year we were a bit out of the loop on it, and even this year were wondering just what it would be like, and let's just say we're believers. Even though as far as we're concerned, every day is Record Store Day, Saturday was special.

Oh, and of course the Higgs/Nace instore on Friday was cool too, what nice fellas!

We're number 7!

According to Spin magazine (online), in their list of America's top 15 best indie record stores, just posted here! Thanks, Spin!

Aquarius regulars will note something funny about the accompanying photo of our storefront, though (at least, until Spin fixes it)... they used a picture of the fake-Aquarius-on-Castro that was mocked up for the movie Milk! Whoops. A Google image search must have led them astray. We emailed some pictures of the real AQ to Spin so they can correct that, no big deal anyway, actually kind of funny.

But that reminds us, if anyone does have photos of the actual AQ location(s) on Castro back in the day, let us know.

And we should remind YOU that tomorrow, Saturday April 18th is RECORD STORE DAY. Hence the timeliness of Spin's feature.

Since we're having an instore tonight (Friday) with Dan Higgs and Bill Nace, and also already had one on monday with Wavves, we didn't plan any special instore event for Saturday. Other than plenty of SHOPPING! And hanging out. The Barsuk label sent some root beers and we'll get some more snacks and beverages too, plus Andee will be here if anyone wants to challenge him at Joust, Ghosts n' Goblins or Tron. And of course you've probably already heard about how there's all these special Record Store Day releases, like Sonic Youth 7"s from Matador and a live Iron & Wine album from Sub Pop and a rad Thrill Jockey comp lp, that we'll have a goodly selection of for sale tomorrow - while they last! So c'mon down Saturday and help us celebrate Record Store Day!

Higgs & Nace instore Friday!!

Our Wavves instore yesterday turned out so great. The band played a special "quiet" set (those who were here can believe that, or not, 'cause it was still pretty loud) and made do with our cleverly MacGyvered mic stand, which survived the duo's 20 minute distorto-pop onslaught.

So, we've already got another upcoming instore planned, and soon. It'll be a bit quieter, though. The day before Record Store Day, Friday April 17th, that's this Friday, at 6pm, we're super pleased to have Lungfish's DANIEL HIGGS playing solo.


He's on tour with drone improv dude Bill Nace, of Ceylon Mange and Vampire Belt. He'll also be playing a short solo set. Both should be cool, not sure who'll play first, so don't be late.

Although we're quite curious to hear Nace, it's Higgs that we're already enormous fans of, and it's really an honor to have him here. Can't wait!!

Here's our review of Daniel Higgs's last full-length, Metempsychotic Memories:

We'd be happy if Daniel Higgs would put out a new album every month. Every week, even. His songs can be long (up to 14 minutes on this disc's "Love Abides") but eventually they do end and we always want more more more. Because they are totally entrancing, his raw "Appalachian raga" folk picking style wending and winding while he chants his mystic lyrics repetitively, warbling with the outsider intensity of a Charles Manson... a dramatic delivery that eccentrically enhances the weird wisdom of his words, worth absorbing for their imagery even when their import is not immediately understandable. Well though he's not THAT prolific we're happy to have this new disc on Holy Mountain already, following Atomic Yggdrasil Tarot on Thrill Jockey earlier this year.
Metempsychotic Melodies (whatever that means, it seems like a good title for this!!) starts off with a stark and skillful instrumental, "Universal Salutation", which we're told was "recorded aboard the Starship Weep-For-Lucifer". Again, we believe it, that somehow makes sense. That leads into the aforementioned "Love Abides", an extended mantra for voice and banjo (in fact, banjo is the main instrument throughout), wherein Higgs sings lines like "Love is the secret seam between waking and dream / love is a breath that bears a boundless scream" and offers up further thoughts from his personal gnosis of love, notions guaranteed to never be repeated in any other "love song" ever!! Such as: "Love, like a basilisk hatched in the nest of a dove / love's got a bible it hides in the folds of a cloud" and "Love is your name when your name has fallen away / love tends the last dawning of the last day"...
As if allowing an interlude to let all that sink in, the third track "Leontocephaline Rhapsody" is a loping, psychedelic instrumental, a gentle jam densely droning and alive with electricity. Then comes the fourth and final song, "All Cherished Things", another display of Higgs' druggy, fascinating poetry. "There's a pearl in your head / the head between your double-head / it's flashing blue and red - hear it sing". He goes on to touch upon some favored themes, Christ, Krishna, coitus, his own dead body, love... Lyrics like "The skull at the foot of the cross is my own" could be creepy, or pretentious, as could be Higgs' unique vocal stylings, but no, not as far as we're concerned. Ok, maybe it is a bit creepy. He's on a wavelength that works (for him - maybe no one else could pull this off). If Higgs had a cult, we'd seriously consider joining it...truly a treasure of the US indie rock scene, and one of the realest deals in the "acid folk" underground. We'll be spinning this highly recommended album with ceremonial regularity as it takes its honored place in our collection of his music, and of course our anticipation of his next set of shamanic sermons remains high.

Lee Perry doc, free tix!

We're curious to see this, a Lee Perry documentary playing the weekend after next at the Yerba Buena Center For The Arts down at 3rd and Mission:

THE UPSETTER: THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF LEE SCRATCH PERRY
by Ethan Higbee & Adam Bhala Lough
Fri, Apr 24 & Sat, Apr 25, 7:30 pm

Agitator. Innovator. Genius. Bear witness to the legend that is Lee “Scratch” Perry. From his early days as a mentor to the young Bob Marley, to his peak music making period of the mid to late 70s, known as the Black Ark Studio years (the studio he built out of a shack, and subsequently burned down during a drug-fuelled frenzy), this film is an intoxicating interview, reggae and dub filled extravaganza, venerating the life and times of a man once called “the Salvador Dali of reggae.” (2008, 90 min, digital video)

Here's the trailer, looks cool:



The nice folks at YBCA have asked us to give away 2 free pairs of tickets, one for each night. So, if you're interested in a chance to win 'em, please send email to store@aquariusrecords.org by Tuesday, April 21st, with either "upsetter tix friday" or "upsetter tix saturday" in the subject line. Be sure to include your full name so that if we randomly select you to win tickets, we'll be able to tell the YBCA who to put on the list! Good luck.

New Arrivals #316

Another fortnight, another New Arrivals list... here.

Records Of The Week x 4!!!
Amesoeurs "s/t" (Profound Lore) cd $14.98
The long awaited first full length from French black metal-ish shoegazers Amesoeurs.
Harvestman "In A Dark Tongue" (Neurot) cd $14.98
Outstanding 2nd album this band, aka Steve Von Till of Neurosis, who heads off into space with this one.
Red Red Meat "Bunny Gets Paid (Deluxe)" (Sub Pop) 2cd $14.98
Welcome reissue of a '90s Sub Pop fave, alt country for fans of Calexico and Souled American.
v/a "1970's Algerian Proto-Rai Underground" (Sublime Frequencies) cd $16.98
Now finally on compact disc, this previously vinyl-only (and out of print in that format) North African stunner.

and...
Amocoma "Go To Hell" (tUMULt) cd $13.98
Reissue of an out of print cd-r, now on cd with bonus tracks, the most incredibly lo-fi stumbling mesmeric fucked up damaged pop flecked blackness to hail from San Francisco EVER we think. Mantric, trancelike, FX drenched DIY "black metal".

Wavves instore

This just confirmed - we'll be hosting San Diego's Wavves for an instore performance here at Aquarius on Monday, April 13th, at 5 o'clock in the afternoon!

Here's our write-up of the most recent Wavves record:

In the few months since we first gushed about our new found obsession, a weird little buzzy noise pop band called Wavves, it seems like a ton of other folks have been feeling the same way about the urgent, catchy, blown out and energetic sounds this young lad from San Diego has been whipping up. Already following up the great Woodsist debut is a new record on the bigger Fat Possum label, but not to worry the sound is still way blown out and in the red, and the songs still make you wanna sweat and jump and play with your friends in the burning sun. What makes Wavves so great is that they really are drawing from such classic sources yet infusing new life and energy into those sounds. Imagine the best parts of the Beach Boys, the Ramones and the Misfits, all channeled into some buzzy lo-fi shredder and you begin to understand the world Wavves calls home. Since we still have the debut on heavy rotation it caught us a bit off guard to find a brand new full length already, and another self titled one, but we get the feeling that Nate Williams (just 22 years old) is at one of those special creative peaks where songs are just bursting forth with no end in sight. And heck, we're not complaining, not one bit, cause when the songs are this damaged and catchy and kick ass, he can keep cranking them out FOREVER. Here's to a THIRD self titled record, BRING IT ON!!

Can't wait!