Bis Aufs Messer Weekly news 02 Nov 2024
Hi, welcome to another newsletter with a bunch of great new releases like the BERNARD PARMEGIANI & FRANCOIS BAYLE - Divine Comedie 4xLP, THE BODY - The Crying Out of Things LP, BOB WALKER - Dirt Bike Vacation LP, CORECASS - Tar LP, FLORA YIN WONG / SEBASTIEN ROUX - Trigram For Earth / 50 Frequency And Amplitude Modulated Sine Waves Describing A Landscape LP, OLD SAW - Dissection Maps LP restock, SONGS: OHIA - Protection Spells LP, TOMAGA - Sleepy Jazz For Tired Cats LP, TOMAGA - Futura Grotesk LP, JOHNNY COLEY - Mister Sweet Whisper LP, PIERRE HENRY - Labyrinthe ! DLP, YOSHIKO SAI - Mangekyou LP and more …
We also have a new instore on Nov 28th with Jonathan Bockelmann playing Sakamoto - a record release party for the upcoming album on SQUAMA records
We also added (adding) a few more second hand LPs and 7“s to our discogs
https://www.discogs.com/seller/XMESSERX
Thank you as usual
Til then thank you for all your orders & support.
Robert & Norman
________
LP
BERNARD PARMEGIANI & FRANCOIS BAYLE - Divine Comedie 4xLP (First complete edition in deluxe edition: 4xLPs in an embossed gatefold cover designed by Stephen O'Malley, with a 30 x 90 cm poster. "Divine Comedie" is a magnum opus created by two of the leading composers of their time, with a musical ambition that rivals Dante's poem and its visual interpretation by Sandro Botticelli or Gustave Doré. For a long time, this triptych was presented as a two-sided work in which Bernard Parmegiani's Hell and François Bayle's Purgatory reacted and expanded on each other. Michel Hermon's voice guides through the listener's imagination. For the first time, "Paradise", a mixed piece composed together and performed live, is released on record. Indeed, "Paradise" is unveiled to our ears fifty years after its premiere, enhancing the first complete edition of "Divine Comedie". - François J. Bonnet, Paris, 2023) 52.00
THE BODY - The Crying Out of Things LP (thrill jockey - The Body have been a leading force of innovation in heavy music for over two decades. The prolific duo of guitarist/vocalist Chip King and Lee Buford (on percussion/electronics) have consistently expanded the scope of what heavy music can be. The Body has produced a wealth of groundbreaking collaborations and benchmark albums that over the past 2 decades have changed the perceptions and directions of heavy music. Known for the monolithic force of their music, and their inventive production techniques, their albums are benchmarks in the expansion and evolution of heavy music. Tightly packed with deceptively nuanced arrangements, exhilarating and challenging distortion, their albums are possessed of an unmistakably singular sound. The Crying Out of Things is no exception, a culmination of all that The Body have done before, highlighting their mastery of dynamic, monumental music that pushes toward the unmistakable sound of oblivion. ) 33.00
BOB WALKER - Dirt Bike Vacation LP (worried songs - “Friends, they are my ticket out of this place I am in… feels like nothing more than a dirt bike vacation stop between Phoenix and San Diego.” Dirt Bike Vacation—for Worried Songs Records—explores the sonic world of the late amateur guitar player, Charles ‘Poppy Bob’ Walker, through a captivating set of instrumental songs made in the mid-1980s. Recorded on a single-track, Marantz field recorder, the project is a transportive document of Walker’s days spent as a meatpacking employee in Yuma, Arizona and the dailiness of that existence: driving to work, sitting in his backyard, walking around drunkenly, unwinding on the couch with a friend. These sketches, showing an experimental tendency, are surprisingly ahead of their time; some exhibit ad hoc tape delay (“Granite Bluffs,” “Goodbye YMCA”), while others make use of primitive overdubbing (“Continuation to Moon Doctor”). Not dissimilar to works such as Bruce Langhorne’s The Hired Hand soundtrack, Walker’s guitar playing is melodic, texturally rich and beautifully sober. ) 28.00
BRENDAN EDER ENSEMBLE - Therapy LP (worried songs - Following 2021’s Cape Cod Cottage — Eder’s concept album under the guise of Edward Blankman, a retired dentist who wrote elegant jazz in the1970s — on Therapy, Eder drops the alter ego and the drumset (almost entirely) and explores more reverberant sounds with his ensemble of woodwinds. The result is a distinctive take on new-age ambient music subtly interwoven with Eder’s affinity for 20th century classical and jazz. The quest for Therapy came during a period of deep spiritual curiosity. Eder was avidly watching testimonies of near death experience survivors (NDEs), pouring over books of Theosophical artwork and philosophy, and processing experiences of grief, uncertainty and spirituality. Eder wanted to explore the threshold between the spiritual and physical dimensions, and create music that could evoke its shape and texture — a theme further illustrated in the original album artwork and single covers by Adam Rabinowitz. Eder felt he must be on to something when, on a whim, he looked up the tempo of a piece he was calling “137 Riddle.” Turned out to be “the most important number in the world” in theoretical physics, as well as a provocative number in Jewish mysticism.) 28.00
THE CHEFS - Records & Tea - The Best Of The Chefs and Lost Second Album DLP (damaged goods - THE CHEFS first appeared on the Brighton 'Vaultage 79' compilation. Between 1980 and 1981 they released three singles: two on the legendary Brighton label Attrix, one on Graduate Records. John Peel and other radio DJs played their songs to death, which eventually led to BBC radio sessions. After THE CHEFS became SKAT, the band broke up. Helen McCookerybook would go on to have success as HELEN AND THE HORNS and is still active solo today. This 26-track double LP by THE CHEFS contains all of their Attrix and Graduate Records recordings, as well as previously unreleased songs from the lost debut album, and songs from the radio sessions for John Peel and Richard Skinner. These are the roots of C-86, indie pop and much more. Records&Tea is also a really good album.) 30.00
CORECASS - Void LP (With V O I D CORECASS released her most personal and advanced record so far. It mirrors the deep confrontations of a long working process accompanied by an intense period of self-reflection. The challenge of recording a church organ meant a life's dream coming true and very much shaped the whole sound of the record. Trying new paths comes to a head in V O I D.) 23.00
CORECASS - Tar LP (moment of collapse - Comprising eight ardent tracks, this album seamlessly blends dark-ambient, post-rock, neo-classical, and electronica genres. Notable guest appearances by Colin H. van Eeckhout (Amenra, CHVE), Ercüment Kasalar (MOOR), and Barbara Lüdde add a distinctive touch, enhancing the album's unique and evocative sound.Thematically, TAR draws upon imagery of the natural world as a fitting metaphor to demonstrate the narrative of dissolution and renewal. This is reflected in the cover design by Fabian Bremer and perfectly captured in Jenny Bewer's photography, producing a marvelously realised vision. At times the instrumentation is minimalist in approach, choosing to focus on a melancholic piano melody and haunting vocals with a considered restraint for full emotive effectiveness, such as in the song Sørunej. At other times, sounds are bursting forth with an urgency that showcases the contrasting capabilities and compositional maturity present in the artful songwriting. Disrupt and the title track Tar are two key songs in which we are given an insight into the darkest parts of the soul, both lyrically and sonically.) 24.00
FLORA YIN WONG / SEBASTIEN ROUX - Trigram For Earth / 50 Frequency And Amplitude Modulated Sine Waves Describing A Landscape LP (portraits arm - 50 frequency and amplitude modulated sine waves describing a landscape / Trigram for Earth. Trigram for Earth, by Flora Yin Wong, is inspired by traditional eight-sided Pakua mirrors and the trigrams inscribed on each of their edges. The function of the mirrors is to show the nature of reality as being composed of mutually opposing forces and modulate them. Here, energies seem to be manipulated to guide and direct our listening, lost in a maze of sound, diffracted to the point of merging with the artist's own listening, through her memories, her obsessions, the fragments she carries within her. Flora Yin Wong invites us to embark on a multi-faceted investigation of sound, a journey through the meanders of liberated sonic forces, an auscultation of her own listening and a portal, at last, ajar to a fragmented and forever mysterious inner world.In his work '50 frequency and amplitude modulated sine waves describing a landscape,' Sébastien Roux applies his approach to algorithmic composition to the observation of the natural world, bringing the sound of the sea and the song of birds into the electronic domain, transmuting them into each other through a slow process of gradual modulation. Exploring the abstract space of pure sounds between two naturalistic tableaux, Sébastien Roux offers us a fascinating meditation on the world of synthesis, revealing, with an economy of means and great formal elegance, the magic of sonic simulacrum (deepl propose simulacra, mais là je suis pas assez calé_) and the strange beauty of the artificial, in a gesture that is ultimately as poetic as it is musical.) 26.00
GIORGOS KATSAROS - s/t LP (mississippi - ~~~From Mississippi and Olvido Records~~~~~~ Steel-string guitar and vocals by the great Giorgos Katsaros, a mythic figure of Greek rembetiko. Our obsession with underground Greek music continues with 10 ultra-rare recordings of heartbreak and vice from rembetiko legend Giorgos Katsaros. Katsaros, who by some accounts lived to be over 100 years old, carried the old songs of Greece to the Diaspora in the United States, bridging centuries of music in one storied lifetime. Born in 1901 on the Greek island of Amorgos, Katsaros' was enchanted with the songs he picked up as a kid in the streets of Piraeus and Athens. Encouraged by his grandfather, an amateur singer, Katsaros developed a style that mirrored his upbringing - centuries-old Asia Minor songs, island rhythms of his homeland, well-known Athenian songs of the time, and anonymous `rebetiko' songs. Katsaros' songbook was vast, but he was most drawn to the street life and music of the manges of early 20th-century Greece: outcasts who dealt with the indignities of an unstable economy and an inauspicious future with the old standbys: wine, hash, and dancing. These ten tracks are remastered from Katsaros's 64 surviving early recordings, many rarely heard since their original release. Hypnotic melodies plucked over repeating thumbed basslines back his deep, mournful voice. Katsaros brought this nostalgic late-night music to smoke-filled rooms of Greek exiles in Chicago, Philly, and New York, where he emigrated in 1917. He continued to travel the country and play until his music was supplanted by more modern styles in the 1950s. He retired to the town of Tarpon Springs, FL, famous for its Greek sponge fishers, til a late-in-life revival brought him back to Greece for a few massive concerts and national accolades in the 1990s. Like many great artists, Katsaros carefully curated his own mythic backstory over the decades. He sometimes claimed he was born in 1888, making him 109 on his passing, and conflicting accounts of his birth and travels circulate to this day. Greek researchers Stavros Kourousis and Konstantinos Kopanitsanos, who also compiled these tracks, contribute groundbreaking new historical research on Katsaros' life. Lyrics, poetically translated by Tony Klein, further fill in the picture. Clean and rare 78s were remastered by Stereophonic. Katsaros has never sounded better than on this LP, pressed on heavy black vinyl, with extensive notes and lyrics.) 27.00
GÜNTER SCHICKERT - Samtvogel LP (bureau B - It is now common knowledge that there was a lot of movement and new developments in German pop music in the late 60s and early 70s of the last century. Countless books have already been published on the subject of 'Krautrock', and many LPs from the period in question have been re-released. Günter Schickert only released two LPs in the 70s: "Überfällig" (Sky Records, 1979 / Bureau B, 2012) and "Samtvogel" (Brain, 1976). Exactly 50 years after the LP was released, "Samtvogel" is now flying back. Günter Schickert used only guitars, echo devices and modest recording equipment for "Samtvogel". The album is a genuine DIY production - radical in every respect and not at all beholden to the spirit of the times. It was perhaps this radicalness that made it difficult to interest a suitable record label in releasing it. In any case, Schickert initially released "Samtvogel" himself in 1974 in an edition of 500 copies. It was not until two years later that the album was released in a much larger edition on Brain. "Samtvogel" is a particularly important Album because it shows what was possible musically in the 70s. There is no doubt about it: The album is extreme, although it is of high quality musically and technically. But it does not correspond to any of the krauty trends of the time; and that is probably the reason why it was never successful in a commercial sense. Günter Schickert was a remarkable exception in the overall concert of experimental German pop music of the 70s with his two albums "Samtvogel" and "Überfällig", which were wrongly underrated at the time. "Samtvogel" was a risk that was successful, but can perhaps only be truly appreciated today, 50 years after its first release. Asmus Tietchens, 2024) 28.00
JOHNNY COLEY - Mister Sweet Whisper LP (mississippi - Transcendental poetry meets Southern Nightmare Jazz on the third album by Alabama-based artist Johnny Coley Mister Sweet Whisper is the meeting of poet & artist Johnny Coley and the band Worst Spills, led by guitarist & arranger Joel Nelson. (Imagine "King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown," but more like "William Burroughs Meets Lounge Lizards in Ghost Swamp"). Joined by vibraphone player and recordist of the group, Jasper Lee, Mister Sweet Whisper centers Coley as a gifted writer and unique elder voice, supported by an eclectic cast of friends & collaborators. Tapping into French surrealism and transgressive American poets such as John Ashbery, the songs in Mister Sweet Whisper evolve, cinema-like, with Coley as an uninhibited, almost mystical, narrator. Textural, jazz-like playing complements Coley's decadent landscapes, which glide by like cigarette-inspired invocations. Echoing, and at times, dissonant notes of saxophone, crystalline tones of vibraphone, and jagged guitar arrangements punctuate Coley's dreamlike visions, populated by ballet dancers, haunting nightclubs, and ghostly car drivers. Wistful and expansive, the songs in Mister Sweet Whisper speak of Coley's talent and natural ability to channel his poetic world into songs. A remarkable follow-up to Coley's first two albums_Antique Sadness, from 2021, and Landscape Man, from 2022_which were praised as "exquisitely haunting, sublime, hilarious" and falling "somewhere between Robert Ashley, David Wojnarowicz, and Intersystems," Mister Sweet Whisper arrives in full form: unpredictable and brilliant. LP comes with a 4-page booklet featuring artwork and writing by Johnny. Pressed in black vinyl.) 28.00
OLD SAW - Dissection Maps LP (worried songs - Old Saw, the enigmatic New England collective led by Henry Birdsey (Tongue Depressor), return with their third long-playing record, Dissection Maps. “The band captures the American stretch, the spaces in-between and the hollowness that haunts us along those routes…fades the radio to static to let the nothingness linger among the soul.” (Raven Sings the Blues) “…evokes an ambience of prayer-like solemnity that celebrates something decidedly terrestrial, what the label describesas “a rusted and granular shadow world where the dive bar meets the divine.” It recalls one of those junkyard shrines built by some sincere eccentric, improbably wonderful forms of weathered stone and scrap metal standing like totems to an unrecognised religion rooted in the earth around us.” (Various Small Flames) ) 28.00
PIERRE HENRY - Labyrinthe ! DLP (recollection GRM _ An expedition in sound in 10 sequences: Enfoncement [Deep Sink], Gouffre circulaire [Circular Abyss], Noyau secret [Secret Core], Apesanteur [Weightlessness], Entrailles [Entrails], Four solaire [Solar Furnace], Fissures [Cracks], Mer intérieure [Inner Sea], Éruption [Eruption], Remontée [Ascension]. "Labyrinthe !" is not only a very unique piece in Pierre Henry's masterful repertoire, but also a remarkable demonstration of his compositional skills and musical singularity. Indeed, for this piece, Pierre Henry was deprived of his own, otherwise essential, sonic material. Here, the sounds, provided by GRM collaborators at the time, carry their own distinct stories, sensitivities and qualities. Yet, despite this discrepancy, Pierre Henry's voice, the breath and dynamics of his own music, quickly appear. Through this sonic maze, a music arises, utterly focused on sounds, their development and their use, which Pierre Henry applies with extraordinary clarity and determination.) 35.00
PRAIRIEWOLF - Deep Time LP (worried songs - Prairiewolf make easy listening music for an age of fracture. They almost do it in spite of themselves. No one can seriously question the head music bona fides of the members of this Colorado-based trio. Guitarist Stefan Beck has already assembled a formidable discography of jewel-toned guitar zone-outs under his Golden Brown moniker. And keyboardist and guitarist Jeremy Erwin and bassist Tyler Wilcox have both made their reputations as chroniclers of the vast world of out music. Erwin helms the indispensable Heat Warps blog, a performance-by-performance archive of Miles Davis’s labyrinthine electric period. And Wilcox has been covering the ragged edges of psychedelia and experimental rock at Aquarium Drunkard and other publications, not to mention his own virtual basement for heads, the great bootleg blog Doom and Gloom from the Tomb. These guys come by it honestly. And yet, given their backgrounds, Prairiewolf’s self-titled debut last spring was remarkably free of face-melters, brown acid blowouts, and ascendant spiritual jazz odysseys. Instead, they dropped a record of beautiful, elegant, low-key cosmic groovers that sounded like the piped-in background music to a resort hotel on Jupiter. It was an unlikely psychedelia, brocaded with mid-twentieth century sonic threading from the hi-fi era: vintage synthesizers, smears of spaghetti western, luxe tropical details, the faint schmaltz of space age pop. Imagine something like a Harmonia residency in the airport lounge. And yet somehow it all worked brilliantly. Prairiewolfbecame last summer’s cool-down standard.) 28.00
SONGS: OHIA - Protection Spells LP (secretly Canadian - Secretly Canadian is proud to reissue a limited run of Songs: Ohia's Protection Spells, a collection of some of the most precious time capsules in the greater Molina Vaults. Protection Spells has a spotty release history, with long periods out of print and limited formats. It returns to print now for the first time in over a decade (possibly two) and for the first time on vinyl. Of Protection Spells, Molina had this to say: "The Protection Spells is a collection of songs recorded over a period of several Songs: Ohia tours. Presented here are nine entirely improvised pieces. The approach to these songs involved no rehearsals, no second takes, no additions and no going back. What you have here are songs that just happened in real time. The many musicians on these recordings were friends, bandmates, and, at times, total strangers. I have long hoped to offer the listener a chance to have some of these great accidents on record. It is a direct look at my songwriting process, only a little more risky, and nobody has any idea what direction we are going until we all start working on it together. I think that the years of improvised music I played in the past helped to strengthen the risk-taking with these songs. Here the goal was to still have basic songs without falling into long freak-out noise experiments, saving that kind of exploration for live settings. You will notice the appearances and disappearances of ideas that could never be recreated, not that they are all brilliant, but they are certainly not forced. The seemingly arbitrary moments of strange repetition the lyrics, the clear lack of a preconceived system of established song parts, all are the marks of improvised songwriting. Since even the singing had no idea what the floorplan of the song was to be, there were some unanticipated troubles and some shy steps taken, but I have preserved these mappings of the dangerous musical byroads that Songs: Ohia has always depended on. I hope you enjoy this." _ Jason Molina, July 10, 2000) 32.00
STARAN WAKE - s/t LP (hands in the dark - Staran Wake is a collaborative project by Andrew Bunsell and Tom Relleen (Tomaga). After several years creating music in various groups together, followed by countless hazy late night recording sessions at each other’s studios and crisper afternoons producing the results, the British duo’s musical vision materialised with this self-titled instrumental album, taking nearly 4 years to complete. This collection of pieces is composed with a wide range of instruments and combines multiple dark, experimental genres to form a rather lavish and unique proposition. It is imprinted with intense turgid textures, interweaving the hyper-tactile characteristics of analogue sound with field recording elements and sound effects.) 26.00
SUSSAN DEYHIM & RICHARD HOROWITZ - The Invisible Road: Original Recordings, 1985–1990 LP (rvng - The Invisible Road: Original Recordings, 1985–1990 compiles an unheard, previously unreleased body of recordings by Sussan Deyhim and Richard Horowitz, dissidents from diametric backgrounds who met during the heady days of Downtown New York in the 1980s. This collection reveals the creative and life partners’ radical shared vision of avant-garde pop in all of its boundary pushing freedom, combining Deyhim’s singular approach to vocalization, Horowitz’s invention of new musical languages, and touchstones of traditional music from around the world, creating a new music that ultimately retains a voice entirely its own.) 29.00
TOMAGA - Futura Grotesk LP (hands in the dark - In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Tomaga's debut album, 'Futura Grotesk', Hands in the Dark are re-releasing the long sold out record in a limited edition of 500 copies. The reissue will be accompanied by the first-ever vinyl pressing of the band's inaugural EP, 'Sleepy Jazz for Tired Cats', featuring new artwork and 300 units available. Both records have been remastered by Marta Salogni for the occasion. Established in 2013 by Valentina Magaletti and Tom Relleen, the duo operated until 2020 as a creative laboratory for the London-based musicians to explore beyond their traditional musical endeavours. They sought to deconstruct their usual sonic frameworks, venturing into a novel and unfamiliar auditory landscape. Their work seamlessly integrated various forms of multi-instrumentalism, traversing the realms of industrial, jazz, psychedelia and minimalism. The band's self-released cassette debut, 'Sleepy Jazz for Tired Cats' presents an unconstrained, complex and abstract introduction to their distinctive and darkly thought-provoking sound. In contrast, Tomaga’s seminal album, 'Futura Grotesk', further elevates their sonic explorations, leading to compositions that are more elusive and profoundly evocative, resembling the surreal and unsettling language of dreams and other subconscious wanderings transposed into a unique musical expression.) 25.00
TOMAGA - Sleepy Jazz For Tired Cats LP (hands in the dark - In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Tomaga's debut album, 'Futura Grotesk', Hands in the Dark are re-releasing the long sold out record in a limited edition of 500 copies. The reissue will be accompanied by the first-ever vinyl pressing of the band's inaugural EP, 'Sleepy Jazz for Tired Cats', featuring new artwork and 300 units available. Both records have been remastered by Marta Salogni for the occasion. Established in 2013 by Valentina Magaletti and Tom Relleen, the duo operated until 2020 as a creative laboratory for the London-based musicians to explore beyond their traditional musical endeavours. They sought to deconstruct their usual sonic frameworks, venturing into a novel and unfamiliar auditory landscape. Their work seamlessly integrated various forms of multi-instrumentalism, traversing the realms of industrial, jazz, psychedelia and minimalism. ) 25.00
THE WORKHOUSE - Cloudy With Sunny Spells LP (Oscarson - he Workhouse were formed in an East Oxford bedroom in 1993. We played our first gig in a small town outside Oxford called Witney in 1995. It took 6 years to release our debut single and 10 years to release our debut album. We were not in a rush but it was a relatively soon until we released of our second album in 2006. During this period we were regularly played on the radio, recorded radio sessions and supported some great bands. The best tracks on the first two albums make up this vinyl release and capture a period of excitement and delight at what we had created. Sometimes Dreams come true. Mark B. Swansea, Wales, November 2023.)
YOSHIKO SAI - Mangekyou LP (Japan's most coveted albums of the 70s, "Mangekyou" by singer-songwriter Yoshiko Sai. Produced in 1975 by Master musician Yuji Ohno, the album features Yoshiko Sai's superbly crafted songs and crystal clear voice over Ohno's lush, funky sound and breezy arrangements. A strong buzz has been growing around the album over the years and original copies now change hands for large sums of money. This is the first time "Mangekyou" is available outside of Japan, featuring remastered audio, original artwork and a 4 page insert including new liner notes by Paul Bowler.) 35.00
TAPE
LONE MESA - Dirt Park TAPE (worried songs - Home recordings, with ambient folk / american primitive influences. FFO: Jon Collin, Mick Turner,...) 15.00
POST SPRING - What For You Scream TAPE (worried songs - Catchy 90ies influence Indie Rock - What For You Scream was recorded by two friends on separate continents. Singing from Liverpool, UK and music from Cleveland, OH.) 15.00
