Aquarius Records is the coolest record store I’ve ever been to. I have a feeling it’ll remain that way, too. It’s small and homey: the floors are worn and uneven, and the sun seems to always be trickling in the single room of the mom ‘n’ pop store in a way that makes it all the more comfortable. Take a Hippie atmosphere and subtract the stinky smarminess and you’re starting to get the picture. Whenever I leave, I always feel I know something more about music than when I came in.

Aquarius is such a nice place to shop for records that even the smell of rotten Kentucky Fried Chicken from across the street has become pleasantly associated with the whole experience. And that’s saying a lot.

AQ, as it is often known, frequently puts on free shows of some of their favorite artists. This particular time featured an acoustic set by Maelstrom favorite Oxbow. No doubt the set left the audience spellbound, but at the same time the experience was almost a waste for anyone seeing this four piece for the first time.

Oxbow, in its usual live setting, is a feral, visceral, nearly interactive experience. The band builds up a fearsome tide that you can feel will swell to engulfing proportions even as the first notes are played. But not on this day at Aquarius Records. No, Oxbow were charming and calm and soothing... and just as effective.

The drums were stripped down to a two piece, and Greg Davis played them in creative ways that the absence of the distorted noise from his band mates allowed. Davis shook his hi hat stand with his hand, played the bass drum with a stick, and tried really hard to play a seemingly random beat on a small gong. Another delicious percussive moment came when a long, necklace-like string of bells was produced to a delightfully warm, organic effect.

For a moment, front man Eugene Robinson looked even more naked without a mic in his hand than he ever does with his clothes off on stage. But Robinson found his place and delivered a performance appropriate to his bandmates’.

It was an invaluable experience for all in attendance to be able to hear this underappreciated group show off talents not normally on display - and all this without having to use earplugs, either.

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