Bis Aufs Messer Weekly News 03 September 2023
Hi, welcome to another newsletter for September packed with lots of killer releases like the BLUEBOY - Singles 1991-1998 DLP, BLUE LAKE - Sun Arcs LP (!!!) & BLUE LAKE - Stikling LP, CATERINA BARBIERI - Myuthafoo LP, EIKO ISHIBASHI / JIM O'ROURKE – Lifetime of a Flower LP, FÉLICIA ATKINSON / RICHARD CHARTIER - Ni envers ni endroit que cette roche brûlante (Pour Georgia O’Keeffe) / Recurrence.Expansion LP, EXEK - The Map and the Territory LP (!!!), SATSUKI SHIBANO - Wave Notation 3: Erik Satie 1984 DLP, FÉLICIA ATKINSON / RICHARD CHARTIER on Portraits GRM, a ltd RAYMOND PETTIBONE, OLIVER AUGUST - TO DAY 7“, MATTHEW J. ROLIN - Passing LP, GUNN TRUSCINSKI NACE - Glass Band LP + 7“, GRIFT - Dolt Land LP, CHRIS ABRAHAMS & OREN AMBARCHI & ROBBIE AVENAIM - Placelessness LP, GRAILS - Anches En Maat DLP, POT VALIANT - Never Return DLP, ANTARCTICA - 81:03 DLP and more
Also restock of various OM records, PHARAO SANDERS - PHAROAH (DELUXE LTD EDITION) 2LP BOXSET, Oxbow & Peter Brötzmann – An Eternal Reminder Of Not Today / Live At Moers DLP, UNWOUND restocks, JULIUS EASTMAN - Stay On It LP and others.
We also down to the last JAZZ Sweaters and T-shirts. The Caps are gone again
And 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
mailorder@bisaufmesser.com
www.adagio830-records.bandcamp.com
7“
RAYMOND PETTIBONE, OLIVER AUGUST - TO DAY 7“ (squama - “Almost all the trains I do are steam engines from the 1900s.” Like the lyricism of surfing and the grace of baseball, the romance of trains is an integral part in Raymond Pettibon's imagination. TO-DAY is a wild roller coaster ride on the “A” Train with Pettibon’s favorite writers John Ruskin and Charles Manson. Pettibon at its best with terrific sound collage by Oliver Augst.) 16.00
LP
ANTARCTICA - 81:03 DLP (solid brass - White Vinyl. Originally released as a 2xCD in 1999 on File 13 Records, "81:03" is an expansive and textured example of electronic-infused shoegaze music. It is dark, contemplative, and somehow eerily uplifting; a soundtrack for those seeking out beauty in an increasingly troubled world.) 40.00
BELVER YIN - Para Mi Madre LP (efficient space - Spurred on by emergent footage of a recent live performance, Efficient Space delves deeper into the world of Spanish shoegaze outfit Bélver Yin, now solely helmed by founding member Pedro L. Orte-ga. An intimate collection of new recordings, Para Mi Madre is a parting gift to his mother, fulfilling a promise made in her final days. Bélver Yin’s story begins at the turn of the ‘90s, blooming from a fixation with British ethereal alt-pop (Cocteau Twins, The Chameleons, The Cure et al.). Utilising guitar, bass and drum machine rhythms to record the cathartic 1991 debut Luz Bel, their quintessentially Mediterranean angle on slow, reverb and echo-laden atmospherics found a home on fleeting label Noisex Music. Despite radio play and con-certs around Spain, lack of distribution led to the album being largely overlooked, until Efficient Space’s faithful reissue in 2020. With this newfound interest stoking Ortega’s fire, the wealth and strength of Para Mi Madre’s expres-sive impulses will woo fans and newcomers alike. Patiently moving from pastel hues, sepia-tones and balearic nostalgia, its crystallised instrumentals give a knowing nod to the wide-eyed possibilities of youthful summers as much as they do world-weary respite. Not wallowing in gloom, the deeply per-sonal and spirit-stirring memorandum documents Ortega coming to terms with the loss of his greatest champion.) 25.00
BLUEBOY - Singles 1991-1998 DLP (a colorful storm - 2LP Gatefold sleeve, Artwork Insert, Postcard. A Colourful Storm presents Blueboy’s singles collection and the band’s final retrospective release. Beautiful gatefold sleeve designed by Sarah Records’ own Matt Haynes with original artwork insert, postcard and liner notes by Paul Stewart. "One Sunday afternoon in 1990, I had a phone call from Keith saying that Sarah Records had received the demo cassette the two of us had recorded on a 4-track in a friend’s shed and were interested in putting out two of the songs as a single. They were Clearer and Alison. Delighted by this news, we booked some recording time with a studio we’d regularly used in our previous incarnation as Feverfew, the White House in Weston-super-Mare. This was the first time we’d ever played a note of music that was using someone else’s money, so the pressure was being felt. We recorded Clearer, Fearon and Chelsea Guitar, with Clearer becoming Sarah 55, the first of eight singles for the band across two labels. At that time, we were still toying with a name for ourselves and had settled with the Art Bunnies. While driving us back home from Weston, though, I declared that I really couldn’t see how people would take us seriously with a name like that. Disappointed, Keith (Girdler) then got out a piece of paper upon which he’d written several other contenders. These included Opal Trumpet, the Smiling Monarchs and (thankfully) Blueboy.“) 27.00
BLUE LAKE - Stikling LP (polychrome - This record began in summer 2020, when I was staying at Andersabo, Sweden, where I run an artists' residency. I had access to a nearby church, and would set drones going on the organ while playing clarinet and piano. I started working with the combination of these long, sustained tones, combined with acoustic instruments, where the sound's duration was only as long as a breath or the pluck of a string. A lot of the last Blue Lake LP was made using a series of zithers that I built myself. I have always been interested in layering sounds, and had in the past made music by recording several guitar parts and putting them together. The zithers allowed me to explore this kind of layered playing live, as both hands can be used simultaneously to create overlapping patterns. In the summer that I started recording Stikling, I built a much larger 48-string zither that expanded a lot of these possibilities and ended up featuring in a lot of the new music. Each piece on Stikling began with some kind of drone - an organ tone or a frozen note on the cello. A particular phrase on piano or a series of clarinet chords would start to determine a structure, and the music grew over time, with parts being added, taken away, re-written, re-recorded. The word “stikling” in Danish means a cutting taken from a plant that is then set in new soil. During the past two years, I’ve been working with gardening - planting, collecting seeds, and making cuttings. These processes often involve a mix of creation and destruction – growth goes hand in hand with removing old material and cutting things down. This kind of circularity fed into the music as it was being developed for the LP. After starting on the church organ in summer 2020, I finished by recording on the little pump organ at Andersabo in summer 2021. ) 27.00
BLUE LAKE - Sun Arcs LP (tonal union - Weaving between self-built zithers, drones, clarinets, slide guitars and drum machines, ‘Sun Arcs’ is a beautifully unique sound offering with inventive, free spirited and DIY sensibility. Blue Lake is the musical moniker of American born, Copenhagen based multidisciplinary artist and musician Jason Dungan, who signs to the Tonal Union imprint for the release of his new longform album ‘Sun Arcs’. It follows 2022’s release ‘Stikling’, earning a nomination for ‘Album of the Year’ at the Danish Music Awards plus warm praise from The Hum blog and musicians and DJs alike including Jack Rollo (Time is Away/NTS) and Carla dal Forno. A self taught player, Dungan began freely experimenting with self-built multi-string instruments, preferring to build his own hybrid 48-string zither and working in the realms of left-field ambient music, off kilter folk and improvised acoustic minimalism. Musically it portrays a form of double life led by an American-identifying person living in Scandinavia, and a new found presence in Denmark, seeking out underdeveloped marshlands and barren stretches of beach adrift from other rhythms and distractions. Highlighting their individual and potent importance Dungan concludes: “Both places feel like “me”, I think on some level the music is always some kind of self portrait.” ‘Sun Arcs’ depicts the intricate balance of nature’s cycles and the paths outlined by the seasons, from a winter dormancy to a warm sun drenched scene. The album scales new glorying heights and further defines Dungan’s musical narrative, inhabiting a unique space in left-field, improvised and experimental music, borning his most accomplished compositions to date. A singular and visionary expression, drawing on an array of instruments and sound worlds with a renewed sense of joy and discovery. The album's rich tapestry was mixed by Jeff Zeigler (Laraaji, Mary Lattimore, Kurt Vile / Steve Gunn) and mastered by Stephan Mathieu (Kali Malone, KMRU, Félicia Atkinson)) 28.00
CATERINA BARBIERI - Ecstatic Computation LP (re issue - light years - Three years after the original release date of Caterina Barbieri"s career defining album Ecstatic Computation, the Italian artist reissues the record on her newly found own label light-years. The reissue features a beautifully reworked version of the original cover art and a previously unreleased song on the CD. Caterina Barbieri is an Italian composer who explores themes related to machine intelligence and object oriented perception in sound through a focus on minimalism.) 28.00
CATERINA BARBIERI - Myuthafoo LP (light years - Caterina Barbieri is set to release the sister album of her 2019"s acclaimed "Ecstatic Computation". "Myuthafoo" will be out on June 2 on light-years, followed by the "Ecstatic Computation" reissue with an extra new track. "Myuthafoo" was written at the same time as "Ecstatic Computation", which Barbieri regards as a sister album. Both albums are based on creative sequencing processes that playfully unravel Barbieri"s deeprooted interest in time, space, memory and emotion.) 28.00
CHRIS ABRAHAMS & OREN AMBARCHI & ROBBIE AVENAIM - Placelessness LP (idiologipc organ - Following nearly 20 years of working together as a trio, and numerous cross-collaborations in different configuration between them, Ideologic Organ presents Placelessness, the debut full-length by Chris Abrahams, Oren Ambarchi, and Robbie Avenaim, comprising two long-form works at juncture of ambient music, minimalism, rigorous experimentalism and improvisation, and machine music. Having carved distinct pathways across a diverse number of musical idioms for decades, Chris Abrahams, Oren Ambarchi, and Robbie Avenaim are each, respectively, among the most noteworthy and groundbreaking figures to have emerged from Australia's thriving experimental music scene. Ambarchi and Avenaim first encountered Abrahams when seeing the Necks - the project that has served as the primary vehicle for his singular approach to the piano since its founding in 1987 - together during the late 1980s, not long after having met in Sydney's underground music community. The pair's collaborations date back more than 35 years, criss-crossing Ambarchi's pioneering solo and ensemble work for guitar and Avenaim's visionary efforts for SARPS (Semi Automated Robotic Percussion System), robotic and kinetic extensions to his drum kit. In 2004, fate brought the three together in a trio performance at the What Is Music? Festival, the annual touring showcase of experimental music founded and run by Ambarchi and Avenaim between 1994-2012.) 28.00
DAVID BLUE & THE AMERICAN PATROL - The Lost 1967 Elektra Recordings & More LP (malacca - These days, singer-songwriter and actor David Blue tends to be remembered only in relation to Bob Dylan. A member of the supporting cast in mid-60s Greenwich Village and The Rolling Thunder Revue. Yet to categorise Blue in this way is reductionist, and does him an injustice. He was something of an archetype of the 60s generation of Greenwich Village singer-songwriters. Yet, esteemed by his peers, he was overlooked. He released seven albums in a decade, and his acting career was shaping up when he died suddenly at the age of just 41. His passing was barely noted in the rock press, and in the subsequent years Blue was all but forgotten. Of late, though, that’s changed. His albums started to reappear on CD on small labels and, in 2020, both Rolling Stone and Mojo magazines published major reappraisals. Blue – at last – was getting the attention denied him in life. It wasn’t until 1965 that Blue, as Dave Cohen, released his first recordings – three songs on Elektra’s Singer Songwriter Project. All betrayed a debt to pre-electric Dylan. But then again, so did much else coming out of Greenwich Village at the time. Elektra contracted Blue to do his own album, and in 1966 David Blue was released – his first recording to appear under that name. Electric folk rock with a garage band attitude, somewhat in debt to Highway 61, it didn’t sell well. Shortly after the album’s release Blue formed and toured with The American Patrol, a four-piece rock band, recording an album for Elektra that was never released. Now, for the first time, Hanky Panky and Mapache release those historical abandoned American Patrol recordings, along with the three tracks included on Elektra’s 1965 LP Singer Songwriter Project, as David Blue And The American Patrol The Lost 1967 Elektra Recordings & More and David Blue, his self-titled 1966 debut album, on two exclusive vinyl editions limited to 500 copies) 32.00
DAVID BLUE - s/t LP (mapache - These days, singer-songwriter and actor David Blue tends to be remembered only in relation to Bob Dylan. A member of the supporting cast in mid-60s Greenwich Village and The Rolling Thunder Revue. Yet to categorise Blue in this way is reductionist, and does him an injustice. He was something of an archetype of the 60s generation of Greenwich Village singer-songwriters. Yet, esteemed by his peers, he was overlooked. He released seven albums in a decade, and his acting career was shaping up when he died suddenly at the age of just 41. His passing was barely noted in the rock press, and in the subsequent years Blue was all but forgotten. Of late, though, that’s changed. His albums started to reappear on CD on small labels and, in 2020, both Rolling Stone and Mojo magazines published major reappraisals. Blue – at last – was getting the attention denied him in life.It wasn’t until 1965 that Blue, as Dave Cohen, released his first recordings – three songs on Elektra’s Singer Songwriter Project. All betrayed a debt to pre-electric Dylan. But then again, so did much else coming out of Greenwich Village at the time. Elektra contracted Blue to do his own album, and in 1966 David Blue was released – his first recording to appear under that name. Electric folk rock with a garage band attitude, somewhat in debt to Highway 61, it didn’t sell well. Shortly after the album’s release Blue formed and toured with The American Patrol, a four-piece rock band, recording an album for Elektra that was never released. Now, for the first time, Hanky Panky and Mapache release those historical abandoned American Patrol recordings, along with the three tracks included on Elektra’s 1965 LP Singer Songwriter Project, as David Blue And The American Patrol The Lost 1967 Elektra Recordings & More and David Blue, his self-titled 1966 debut album, on two exclusive vinyl editions limited to 500 copies) 32.00
DRAB MAJESTY - An Object in Motion LP (dais - The latest EP from Drab Majesty marks the start of a stirring new chapter in the band's majestic legacy. Written during a 2021 retreat to the remote coastal Oregon town of Yachats, Deb Demure leaned into the neo- psychedelic resonance of a uniquely bowl - shaped 12 -string Ovation acoustic/electric guitar. After early morning hikes in the rain, Deb would record ambient guitar experiments the rest of the day, tapping into "flow states," letting the sound lead the way. These sessions were then refined or recreated, and later elevated further with key collaborations by Rachel Goswell (Slowdive), Justin Meldal Johnson (Beck, M83, Air), and Ben Greenberg (Uniform, Circular Ruin Studio). An Object In Motion is true to its title, capturing the chrysalis moment of an artist evolving, reborn and untet hered, silhouetted against an open horizon. "Cape Perpetua" kicks off the collection's divergent palette: sparkling acoustic fingerpicking refracted through delay, equal parts raga and reverie. ) 24.00
EIKO ISHIBASHI / JIM O'ROURKE – Lifetime of a Flower LP (week-end - For the exhibition »Flowers in 20th and 21st Century Art«, Eiko Ishibashi and Jim O‘Rourke had created the installation »Lifetime of a Flower« in which they set parameters but allowed the process itself to grow uncontrollably. Literally: in the garden of their Japanese house, they planted seeds and filmed the plant growing and thriving throughout the duration of the exhibition. Visitors were able to watch the stream in real time - and they heard a composition in which Ishibashi and O‘Rourke reflected the organic process in sound. The eponymous composition is now available on LP, is an enigmatic and sophisticated layering of sounds, melodies and rhythms, noises from everyday life, all of which are repositories of associations, memories and expectations.) 34.00
EXEK - The Map and the Territory LP (foreign - Australian sextet EXEK return with their sixth studio album, The Map and the Territory. Self-recorded throughout 2021 to 2022, frontman Albert Wolski describes it as ‘‘perhaps less ambitious than some previous EXEK releases. In a positive way, obviously’’. Comprising of eight tracks, there is a greater focus on song craftsmanship, where elongated jams play second fiddle to choruses and hooks. These new tracks will translate effectively into a live environment, and are destined to quickly become set favourites. And yes of course, the iconic EXEK album soundmarks remain ever present - dubbed out drums, guitar’s that sound like robot’s from Forbidden Planet, and deep synths that recall The Idiot. EXEK once again stay true to their trademark recording process - one of endless overdubs, allowing for maximal control whilst editing. Lots and lots of edits. Drummer Chris Stephenson would perform a collection of beats, that would then be sampled, and therefore plant the seed for ideas for songs. Seamstress Requires Regular Breaks might be the best example of this, where fluid jazz-funk drumrolls morph into a rigid post-punk march, and then back again, and then back again. But the funk doesn’t stop there. Welcome to my Alibi and Glow of Good Will pick up where 90’s hip-hop and R&B left off - smooth and sexy and a little bit dangerous. On the flip side of the dynamic spectrum, The Lifeboats and It’s Just a Flesh Wound, Darling sit facing towards the group’s more loud motorik arsenal. On EXEK’s latest offering, both the map and the territory are equally balanced. ) 27.00
FELBM - Cycli Infini LP (soundway - Dutch multi-instrumentalist Felbm returns with the conceptual album ‘cycli infini’ : a 38-minute composition of metamorphosing tape loops, musical patterns and instrumental sketches. Further exploring the concept is the vinyl release which features the track spread over both sides and cut to the end of each locked groove - creating an essentially never-ending piece that challenges the idea of the traditional listening process. The idea came to fruition by way of a lifelong interest and growing awareness of the cyclical nature of the world around him - be it through observing nature, or the mathematical and mind-bending works of Dutch artist MC Escher, or minimalist composers such as Erik Satie, Laraaji and Melaine Dalibert. “The openness of Laraaji’s and Satie’s music have also been an influence to create a certain softness and feeling of comfort, as I like this piece to be a place you want to revisit”, says Felbm, real name Eelco Topper. While Topper’s previous releases on Soundway Records comprised series of short, individual sketches, on cycli infini the tapestry is sewn seamlessly together using a step-like progression through the circle of fifths, which as the name suggests, brings the listener back to the musical key and soundscape at which they started. Should the full track be on repeat, it begins anew without being noticed. For Fans of: Laraaji, Basil Kirchin, Gaussian Curve, Young Marco, Greg Foat, Bibio, KPM library records) 26.00
FÉLICIA ATKINSON / RICHARD CHARTIER - Ni envers ni endroit que cette roche brûlante (Pour Georgia O’Keeffe) / Recurrence.Expansion LP (portraits RGM - Félicia Atkinson: »Ni envers ni endroit que cette roche brûlante (Pour Georgia O’Keeffe)« (2021) Félicia Atkinson’s Ni envers ni endroit que cette roche brûlante (Pour Georgia O’Keeffe) is approached as a meditation, not as meditative music, but as a reflection on the art of creation: how to inhabit one’s creation, how to convey it, domesticate it and live with it. Drawing inspiration from the artist Georgia O’ Keeffe, both in her work as a painter and in the houses in which she lived in New Mexico, and even in the landscapes that surround them, Félicia Atkinson has composed a piece that evokes and celebrates, in a poetic and holistic way, the mystery of art, the somnambulic oscillation that accompanies the act of creating. Blending fragmentary voices, islands of piano, electronic textures and patterns, and field recordings, Félicia Atkinson’s music is sincere and inspired, a meditation, then, but also a lesson we sometimes forget: being an artist is not an activity, even less a profession, it’s a singular way of approaching the world and, in so doing, densifying it. Richard Chartier: »Recurrence.Expansion« (2020) Richard Chartier’s music takes up residence at the frontiers of the audible, on the edge where sound diffracts into an inter-dimensionality where sounds, space, listening and silence recombine in an arborescence of becomings that present themselves to us and then disappear. The space-time in which Richard Chartier’s music unfolds is a stretched space-time, barely emerging in the world of sound. The delicacy, precision and accuracy of the composition Recurrence. Expansion lies precisely in this dialogue between a shape that is exposed and developed in an inspired and masterful way, and the sonic biotope in which this shape develops. It is from such an encounter that the singularity of Richard Chartier’s music emerges, music of attentive listening, but also sensitive, inhabited music, a music of discreet metamorphosis.) 22.00
FLORRY - The Holey Bible LP (dearest - "All wonders come with time. Cheese, for example, tastes pretty good cold, but when you let it warm for about 45 minutes, its transcendent.. Conjuring up stories about feeling anywhere from pretty good to amazing can take a really long time, way longer than the average dairy treasures. For Francie Medosch, leader of rag tag Philly outfit Florry, the 11 songs on their Dear Life Records debut “The Holey Bible” urgently radiate that warm melty feeling, a place of hard-won optimism, and pull no punches in laying out the patient road it sometimes takes to get there. Florry has been a long standing creative outlet in Medosch’s young life, tracing a windy path through myriad creative and personal transitions, not least of which was the pandemic shutdown. Early covid-era found Francie back at her childhood home in rural PA, with just her mom, dog, cats, time to re-approach music, and Bluto the pig. After years of personal growth, and fronting a post-punk band (among other projects) to explore paths away from the more melancholic early Florry songs, Medosch realized that if she was going to keep writing songs, they couldn’t preach anything other than hopeful abandon. For Medosch, there became no option in the face of despair except to meet it with bombastically positive force. The shift in satisfaction with her own work was earth-shaking.) 30.00
FÖLLAKZOID - V DLP (sacred bones - Clear Vinyl - Föllakzoid grows via depuration, aiming with each record to fill longer spaces of time with fewer and fewer elements. And like the best techno, kraut, and psychedelia have proven throughout time, sometimes the most minimal framework is the strongest container for transcendence. Which is what Föllakzoid have achieved with V , an immersive opus that takes the listener on seductive journey straight to the dance floor. The creative perspective of the band has always been about unlearning the narrative, musical and visual paradigms that shape physical and digital conceptions, in an effort to make a time-space metric structure that dissolves both the author and the narrative. As the creative project of queer and trans artist Domingæ, the band has had a unique experience navigating the psychedelic rock scene. Unlike past Föllakzoid records, that were done in single takes with the full band, their latest record V took a month to construct out of more than 70 separate stems. Guitars, bass, drums, synthesizers, and vocals, were all recorded in isolation and producer Atom TM , who was not present for recording, was then asked to re-organize the four sequences of stems without any length, structural restrictions or guidelines. The inherent possibilities were endless yet bound together by the inner logic of the game itself and by the spirits of the players. V is the exercise of telling an elaborate story about nothing, with the smallest number of words necessary. The story is one of the electricity and code which we inhabit - or which may inhabit us, and can be imagined through heart-pounding bass, skittering beats, head swirling melodies, and an ominous allure that feels at times like genuine hypnosis.) 35.00
FOREST - Forest DLP (BBE - Long lost and much sought after Private Press from Western Massachusetts band Forest. A distinctive Acid-Jazz / crossover AOR / Soul sound, think Mother Earth jamming with Tim Buckley. This re-issue comes with 6 previously unreleased tracks. Forest was a rarity at the time in a band that consisted of two drummers, Gary Stevens and Bob "Rox" Girouard . The band was a well seasoned touring band who shared the bill with the likes of The Fabulous Rhinestones, The James Montgomery Band, Zonkaraz to name a few. The album covered various styles from blues to acid-jazz with the aim of securing a major record deal. Many of Forest’s alumni have gone on to highly successful careers in music: Jim Kimball relocated to Nashville to work alongside Faith Hill and Reba McIntyre, Bill Holloman with Danny Gatton, The Gatlin Brothers, Nile Rodgers and Chic, The Fab Faux and Bruce Springsteen, and Wes Talbot founded a music production library called The FRESH Music Library.) 36.00
GUNN TRUSCINSKI NACE - Glass Band LP + 7“ (three lobed - We have here three musicians with such a rich shared history that they might as well share the same blood. Each an accomplished solo artist in their own right, there’s a vibrant track record of collaborative work as well, with others and among themselves. The Gunn-Truscinski Duo has been a formal going concern for nearly a decade and a half, producing a fabulous string of albums for this label. Truscinski and Nace, along with Jake Meginksy, make up xo4, a group dating back to the early days of this century. All three, with the addition of Kim Gordon, appeared on a record documenting their live scoring of Andy Warhol’s film "Kiss".And so on "Glass Band", the record at hand, they just fall in together. It’s a seamless grouping, so much so that, despite the distinct instrumentation, it’s somehow hard at times to tell who’s doing what. This is true all the way down to the LP sleeve, which features Nace’s artwork adorned with Gunn’s familiar handwriting. There is no leader, there are no accompanists; we encounter highly developed musical intellects melding in such a refined way as to dispose entirely with expectations in order to get right down to the crucial business of creation.) 34.00
GRAILS - Anches En Maat LP (temporary - Anches En Maat is the first new album from Grails in over a half-decade following the masterful Chalice Hymnal in 2017 and their first album recorded with all members in the studio together since Doomsdayer’s Holiday in 2008. With every Grails album released since Doomsdayer’s Holiday being a sprawling double-album endeavor, Anches En Maat was conceived as a return to the comparatively efficient single LP runtime. With that, Grails set out to craft the same sonically dense world that their longer albums showcased, while trading singular indulgences for live collaborative interplay. The core group of founding members Alex Hall and Emil Amos (Om, Holy Sons) joined Jesse Bates, Ilyas Ahmed, and AE Paterra (Zombi, Majeure) in Atlanta, GA to record Anches En Maat together a novel event for a band who had become so accustomed to recording separately and then labouring in post-production for months or even years on end. An improbable blend of melted 1980s softcore and daytime soap opera soundtracks, cosmic minimalism, aching Westerns, melancholy electronic pulses, and massive soul-disco strings, Anches En Maat is one of Grails’ most ambitious albums of their 20+ year career. Through continually refining and maturing their vision as a band, Grails have stumbled upon a reprogramming of their internal logic and come out the other side with a new defining statement.)
GRIFT - Dolt Land LP (nordvis - Grift’s fourth studio album, “Dolt land” (‘Hidden land’), is a profound exploration of humankind’s bond with nature. With folkloric sounds and heartfelt lyrics, the multidisciplinary Swedish music project takes listeners on a journey into the heart of the wild. “Dolt land” diverges from the more metal-oriented “Budet” (2020); instead, it continues the acoustic approach of the EPs “Vilsna andars boning” (2018) and “Vilsna andars utmark” (2022). Like the aforementioned two seven-inches, “Dolt land” pays homage to Kinnekulle - a mountain whose nature, legends, and traditions have served as Grift’s main source of inspiration since the project’s conception in 2011.) 32.00
HYDROPLANE - Hydroplane LP (efficient space - Hydroplane reinstate their formidable 1997 debut of sublime guitar atmospherics, fragile lyricism and droning incidentals with an overdue vinyl and digital reissue. An offshoot of the now-féted The Cat’s Miaow, the trio formed after drummer Cameron Smith decamped to London, charting new territory with tape loops, manipulated samples and a borrowed Jupiter 4 in the wake of Endtroducing. Adopting a handle that Dean Wareham once considered calling Luna, Hydroplane intended to only ever release Excerpts From Forthcoming LP, a single-sided 7” sonic collage, before imploding in mystery. Their label however insisted they deliver their taunted album. From the comfort of a Brunswick flat, they continued to record soaring melodies and restrained song structures to 4-track, sculpting dramatic Radiophonic Workshop cues weighted in reverb and near-perfect dream pop lead by Kerrie Bolton’s empyrean vocals. Bored of industry expectation and largely ignored by local audiences, the reluctant performers followed the way of The Cannanes and formed meaningful overseas alliances by mail and phone, securing releases on Michigan outpost Drive-In and Broadcast launching pad Wurlitzer Jukebox. Championed by John Peel with twenty spins on his converted Radio One slot and even polling in Festive Fifty of 1997, the humble three-piece still walked to their neighbourhood shops undetected. Previously only available as a US-issued CD, this reminiscent late-night suite establishes Hydroplane as an everlasting ember in Australia’s beloved indie nexus.) 25.00
HYDROPLANE - Selected Songs 1997-2003 DLP (world of echo - Selected Songs 1997-2003 compiles some of the finest moments in the recording history of Hydroplane, the Melbourne-based indie-pop three-piece that operated alongside The Cat’s Miaow through the second half of the nineties. It’s the third release in what feels, now, like a loosely planned series by World Of Echo, documenting the music made by this group of friends in Melbourne sharehouses (The Cat’s Miaow’s Songs ’94-’98, 2022), or in the case of The Shapiros (Gone By Fall, 2023), while traversing the International Pop Underground.) 35.00
INCREDIBLE BONGO BAND - Bongo Rock (50 Years Edition) LP (mr bongo - 2023 marks 50 years since the birth of hip hop, and 50 years since the release of this foundational album. The Incredible Bongo Band was formed by MGM A&R Michael Viner in 1972 to record the soundtrack to a now virtually anonymous B-Movie entitled 'The Thing with Two Heads'. "The IBB" transformed from a loose studio collective to an instrumental pop covers consortium, interpreting classics of the day in their inimitable percussive fashion. Viner recorded them at MGM studios during downtime, assembling line-ups from whichever musicians were available at the time, leading to a unique blend of multi-talented musicians that included Jim Gordon, King Errisson, Jerry Scheff, and Perry Botkin Jr. The full bands' line-up is shrouded in mystery, but their legacy is undeniable. They spawned cult-classic records that would become a goldmine for hip hop breaks and attain sampling immortality. 'Apache', which was made famous by the British band The Shadows, is legendary in the worlds of dance music and hip hop. It was a staple for DJs such as Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash as they invented their world-shaking take on the art of DJing at the Bronx block parties of the ‘70s. Continuously sampled, including by Nas, Beastie Boys, Moby, Mick Jagger, Kanye West, Sugarhill Gang, Jay-Z, Aphex Twin, DJ Shadow, Massive Attack, to name but a few…) 30.00
JEREMY CUNNINGHAM / DUSTIN LAURENZI / PAUL BRYAN - A Better Ghost LP (northern spy - Drummer Jeremy Cunningham and saxophonist Dustin Laurenzi have been near-inseparable collaborators for years, working in countless groups together across Chicago’s vibrant jazz community. Their new album A Better Ghost finds them in collaboration with Los Angeles-based bassist/producer Paul Bryan, and is the product of phone-recorded improvisations and experiments dating back to 2017. With Laurenzi creating sequences and samples on the OP-1 synthesizer while on the road with Bon Iver, and Cunningham developing drum parts and melodic fragments, the two began finding a distinct direction to take the work, sharpening and editing these snippets into cohesive compositions.) 32.00
JUHO TOIVONEN - Kasveille Ja Eläimille LP (futura resistenza - What is music about? It can be about anything, I guess, but that's not what we are talking about. That's not why we are here. What makes the difference is if music, any music, is worth it. Then it's something else. Like this piece, Juho's solo album. What I suggest as a simile to music on this vinyl, is the experience of sauna. Savusauna (smoke sauna) to be exact. The thing about savusauna is that because of the method of heating, the room gets really hot, and the smell of smoke is all over. Google it. But if you want to understand it, try it. When you enter the sauna, you need to surrender, in order to enjoy. A good savusauna is best when it is over 100 celsius. The heat is intense, but don't let yourself feel affronted. Feel embraced. The heat is your vessel. You are transported, just by sitting down. Breathe in, feel the steam, it becomes you, breathe out. This is the way to approach the music on this vinyl. Leave your opinions behind, like you do with your clothes in sauna. You will have them back later, don't worry. But while you listen, don't take anything with you, just focus: on sounds, on your body, on your mind. They will be the same thing for the time being. After being heated up, take your time to cool down. Dip in a lake, if you can. Feel the pulse in your body, like the rhythm of the music. Glance up, float silently. In due time, your body will calm down. By the time you are put to bed, the music will continue inside you. This is what music is about, when it is worth the while. Taneli Viitahuhta) 29.00
JULIUS EASTMAN - Stay On It LP (Week-End - back in stock - BACK IN PRINT It has power, is unpredictable, bringing together familiar things before disbanding them again. It reshuffles the deck: “Stay on It” by Julius Eastman (1940–1990). In 1973, avant-garde ensemble Creative Associates goes on a tour of Europe with Eastman’s brand new piece in their repertoire, and in short: “Stay on It” turns the coordinates of avant-garde music on its head. It is minimal, but unashamedly groovy; it is open to improvisation, grants performers all the freedom they could need, but it isn’t jazz and never slips into the non-committal. It is open to theatrical and performative elements, but also to the poetic and lyrical. It is strict and demands maximum concentration from its performers, but releases them into playfulness. Once the musicians have gotten used to the discipline, have adopted the groove that Eastman demands of them, a vast field of new connections opens up to them, leading to sublime sonic unions. “Players may choose to play and repeat the layered cells at their own discretion,” the playing directions for the piece read. And: “Each element (Theme, Cells) may be repeated ad lib. Cues to move to each next section may be visual, or a pre-determined musical cue.” It is clear that Eastman is writing for a collective of intelligent, cooperative, well-informed musicians. “Stay on It” is about respect, mutual support in seeking and finding, about an openness to the world, in which people strive for self-liberation and in which the boundaries between classical and pop music collapse, because they represent false hierarchies.) 32.00
KIRK DEGIORGIO - Modal Forces / Percussive Forces LP (BBE - Like a long-lost Holy Grail album from the mid-seventies, Kirk Degiorgio’s latest project explores both Modal Jazz and Seventies Jazz Fusion in the Library album format. Side One swings with a vengeance with its tight arrangements built around acoustic bass, electric piano and glorious analogue synth leads and side 2 takes us on a journey of funk fuelled, percussive workouts and heavy breaks. The contribution of renowned session drummer Chris Whitten adds to the authenticity of the album as does the use of vintage, analog synths. The Library album was predominant in TV and film studios in Italy and France with composers creating background, incidental and scene music for use in TV and movie production. In recreating the sound library format Kirk Degiorgio has revelled in both the creative freedom and the test of melodic capability that the short form of the Library album allows. As Kirk says, ‘the skill with this kind of composing is to be able to express your ideas and thoughts in a maximum of two minutes at a time.’ Kirk Degiorgio is a DJ, composer and music lover whose influences, from family and then going out to clubs from under-18 discos to attending the Belvedere Arms and ‘Shoom’ and working in Reckless Records, cover all genres of Black music. From Soul, Jazz-Funk, Funk and then House and Detroit Techno Kirk has a love and an appreciation for how all these sounds work together and evolve from each other.) 30.00
MATTHEW J. ROLIN - Passing LP (american dream - With a slew of full-length releases on some of the Western hemisphere’s sharpest labels for out, experimental or psychedelic music -- Astral Spirits, Feeding Tube, Worried Songs, Trouble in Mind -- Matthew J. Rolin has quietly established himself as one of America’s higher purveyors of guitar music. He’s often worked in collaboration with his wife, the librarian and hammer dulcimer player Jen Powers, with whom he curates music for the Astral Spirits imprint Astral Editions; recent years have brought forth collaborations between Rolin, Powers, and Cloud Nothings drummer Jayson Gerycz. Throughout, Rolin and Powers have toured up and down the country, supporting countless kindred artists touring through Ohio (Superwolves, Dummy, Itasca), where they live. His past albums often made space for an epic, sometimes stretching past the twenty-minute mark. (Take, for example, the longform journeys of 2020’s The Dreaming Bridge, which featured a duet between Rolin and fellow American Dreamer Patrick Shiroishi.) But Rolin conceived of Passing as a “straight-up solo endeavor: no guests, no ‘experimental sounds,’ and no frills.” Passing presents Rolin at his most refined. The audio is crisp, the compositions tight, the music unpretentious and moving.) 28.00
MIZMOR - Mishlei 3xLP (Gilad - The songs on this album may be familiar to you. The album compiles all Mizmor songs from 2013-2015. Between the S/T full length from 2012 and "Yodh" from 2016, a cluster of songs were released across EPs and splits that together make a unique full-length experience of their own. Consecutively, these are songs V-IX in the journey. Named after the second tape in the Mizmor box-set which also compiled the same five songs.) 55.00
MJ LENDERMAN - Ghost Of Your Guitar Solo LP (dearest - MJ Lenderman is the project of Asheville native, Jake Lenderman, guitarist in country/indie band Wednesday, who released ‘I Was Trying To Describe You To Someone’ to critical acclaim in early 2020 on Orindal Records. His label debut for Dear Life Records is ‘Ghost of Your Guitar Solo,’ a ten-song collection recorded and performed entirely by Lenderman. The record was written and recorded quickly, songs often being fully constructed and recorded within frenzied single day sessions. Songs were born out of freewheeling jam sessions with his roommates, with Lenderman often freestyling lyrics that would later become the foundations of the finished songs. Inspired by a writing exercise conceived by the late David Berman, Lenderman would write 20 disconnected lines a day, scrapping most of them but preserving a few to be used later. This process aided in what became an extremely prolific writing period for the artist this past spring. The record sounds like country music being played by a noisy punk band, unkempt and imperfect like the characters in his songs.) 32.00
PAN AMERICAN - In Daylight Dub LP (foam .- Our fourth release comes in the form of a collection of rich, pulsating ambient/dub techno from Pan•American - the solo project of post-rock trio Ladbradford's front man Mark Nel son. Drawn to the incredible depth and texture of these tracks, we hope to shine a light on Mark's more exploratory electronic work, reminiscent of Jan Jelenik, Fennesz and Vladis lav Delay. Through the Pan•American moniker, Mark has been able to embrace the possibilities of sampling and other musical technologies in order to exercise his interests in more remote genres like dub and techno. This collection comprises Mark's dreamiest, most sumptuous and blissed-out tracks taken from 3 obscure releases on labels traversing Zedelgem, Lon don and Portland - (K-RAA-K)³, Veritcal Form and BSI Records. Across these imprints, their output spans IDM, electronica, lo-fi, experimental dub and beyond and have been a music al home to the likes of Pub, Muslimguaze, and King Jammy and more. Mark's work sits at a confluence of these broad influences, shedding the sound of his post rock past for a more rhythmic, computer-based approach, which culminated in 2002's The River Made No Sound. As ever, the music is an emotional outpouring, progressing slowly through phases between stillness and movement, darkness and light.) 27.00
PARASITE JAZZ - Parasite Jazz LP (French non-jazz trio overflowed by Simple Music Experience’s funders Tamara Goukassova, Théo Delaunay & Alexandre Larcier, offering a 40mn of non-simple music madness, and navigating between a dozen of etiquettes from undecided space rock to motorik-infused-dub, medieval folk, cartoon trance; everything under the seal of psychedelia and half-improvisation. Built from drums, violin, springs, samples, reiterations, overdubs, trumpets, synths, distortions; and the appearances of L. Cedrón (Fiesta en el Vacío), L. Retraite (Ventre de Biche), K. Knapp (Deliluh), F. Mazzocchetti (Maoupa Mazzocchetti).) 27.00
PIOTR KUREK – Smartwoods LP (unsound - Piotr Kurek’s new album “Smartwoods” is a sprawling root system of tiny melodic phrases that loop and curl around subtly evolving instrumental thickets. The Warsaw-based producer and composer takes his cues from early music, baroque music and experimental jazz, entangling his influences with filigree traces of contemporary computer music and fueling it with sonic vapors from the near future. Made up of seven distinct segments, the album blurs its acoustic and electronic elements into an illusory hedge of abstract sound. Harp, saxophone, clarinet, double bass, voices and guitar twist into computerized processes and synthesizer chirps, creating an uncanny dreamworld where the real isn’t always what it seems. Each player is entwined with the other to create a living, breathing whole.) 30.00
PMXPER - Pmxper LP (smalltown super sound - Edition of 500 copies pmxper is a new collaboration between the artists Pavel Milyakov (aka Buttechno) and Perila. They will debut live at the influential Berlin Atonal festival in September. The music has elements of spoken word, electronics, guitars and drums, and has the same feel, flow and freedom as Young Marble Giants' classic album »Colossal Youth«. Recorded (mostly) remotely between 2020-2022, but mired in a mutual interiority, their sublimely smoky venture bridges strains of spoken word, strung-out country folk, jazz and etheric kosmische with a timeless control of mood and atmosphere that amounts to one of the finest episodes in either’s oeuvre. In a properly enchanted blurring of identity, they almost entirely dispense with digital tools in favour of more pastoral and timeless energies; guitar, sax, jazzy brush drums and a Rhythm Ace FR-3 drum machine, a sort of precursor to Roland’s simmering CR-78.) 29.00
POT VALIANT - Never Return DLP (numero - Loitering on the same Berkeley streets that birthed Green Day, Operation Ivy, and Crimpshrine, Pot Valiant (AKA Vagrants) developed their own style of Gilmangaze in the early-'90s. Compiled here are the band's Lookout and Sunny Sindicut 7"s, Transaudio LP, comp tracks, and three previously unissued songs. Remastered from the original tapes, this 2xLP package is housed in a tip-on gatefold sleeve and includes a 20 page booklet crammed with notes, flyers, and photos of this staple of outsider emo.) 33.00
SATSUKI SHIBANO - Wave Notation 3: Erik Satie 1984 DLP (wrwtfww - WRWTFWW Records is delighted to announce the first official worldwide reissue of Satsuki Shibano’s Wave Notation 3: Erik Satie 1984, the final album from the sound-defining Wave Notation environmental music series curated by Satoshi Ashikawa. Originally released in 1984 on the Sound Process label, Wave Notation 3 followed Ashikawa’s own Still Way (1982) and Hiroshi Yoshimura's Music For Nine Postcards (1982). The highly sought-after album, sourced from the original master tape, is available as a double LP (housed in a luxurious heavyweight sleeve) for the first time ever. Digipack CD and digital formats are also available. This exclusive reissue, including English and Japanese liner notes by the artist, was supervised by Japanese ambient legend Yoshio Ojima. Wave Notation 3 is a splendid tribute to seminal French composer and pianist Erik Satie, himself one of the main influences behind kankyo ongaku / environmental music (alongside Brian Eno, John Cage to name a few). The alphabetically-sequenced album features 26 pieces showcasing Shibano's unique piano interpretation of Satie’s works. The artist explains: « For this album, I sequenced the compositions in alphabetical order of each title, irrespective of the period of each composition or style. By doing this, I attempted to effectively create ‘Music as an environment’ and at the same time, allow the listener to genuinely experience Satie’s music. » Satsuko Shibano’s minimalistic approach to ambient classical is simply perfect and offers a beautiful and tranquil listening experience, furniture music with extra comfort and soothing simplicity, relaxing to the mind and to the soul. This Wave Notation deserves a spot among the pillars of Japanese environmental music, next to Midori Takada’s Through The Looking Glass, Hiroshi Yoshimura’s Green, and Satoshi Ashikawa’s Still Way.) 35.00
SHIHO YABUKI - The Body Is A Message Of The Universe LP (subliminal sound - The Body Is A Message Of The Universe features floating shimmering synthesizer textures. It’s unique and extra ordinarily serene with shifting tone colors and spatial textures bringing the listener to a special magic place. It’s as beautiful as it ‘s captivating. There’s also a haunting edge to parts of the album sounding like what could originally have influenced David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti when they composed the soundtrack to the original Twin Peaks series. “Creativity is the unfolding of the unknown realms within the self. Through our chosen ways of expression, each of us is daily creating a unique universe, a unique environment. The universe created by each and every being in endless repetition are messages of the universe. The breath of this music, expressed from my present environment, flowing through a myriad of places as environmental music is my expression of The Body Is A Message Of The Universe”. Part of the album also saw a limited US CD release in the late 1980s which is hard to come by today. Although Shiho Yabuki continued her career in Japan, both as a musician and magician and became a pioneer of healing music in Asia, for most western listeners it was like Shiho was one of those mysterious artists who puts out an album and then is never heard from again. This is unfortunate, and something Subliminal Sounds hope to rectify. This release also features a couple of special tracks originally composed and recorded by Shiho in the late 1980s for the Japanese Kanebo Beauty Research Laboratory.) 30.00
SLAPP HAPPY – Sort Of LP (week - end - In 1972, left-wing intellectual film critic Uwe Nettelbeck suggested to Anthony Moore that he might write some straight songs (relatively speaking), which in turn prompted Moore to invite his old schoolfriend Peter Blegvad over to Hamburg to form the band Slapp Happy. Dagmar Krause, a young singer from Hamburg and Moore‘s girlfriend, joined them both on their trip to Wümme to record what was to become this album, Sort of, using Faust as their rhythm section. In honour of this album ́s 50th anniversary the album will get a nicely remastered reissue with the newly founded Week–End Records –the fetsival‘s inhouse label who managed to get the band together for a final reunion shows in November of 2016 and Spring of 2017.) 30.00
SUZANNE LANGILLE / ANDREW BURNS / DAVID DANIELL/ LOREN CONNORS - Let the Darkness Fall LP (recital - Recital is pleased to publish the first vinyl edition of Let the Darkness Fall, a forgotten corner from the vast discography of Suzanne Langille & Loren Connors. Joined here by David Daniell and Andrew Burnes (of the Atlanta-based group San Agustin), Darkness was recorded in the summer of 1998 on a Tascam Porta-5 in Loren and Suzanne’s Brooklyn living room, and issued the following year as a limited CD by Secretly Canadian. The tender gloom of Let the Darkness Fall sounds like a broadcast of some private séance. The trio of guitarists here show a beautiful restraint, hovering just underneath vocalist Suzanne Langille’s ephemeral poetry. Once they hit RECORD, the sensitivity of the players melded this quartet into a sole-entity; finishing each other’s phrases in slow motion. Suzanne’s gentle voice glows through the wispy guitar shadows with a quiet determination. One could almost imagine her building a nest out of the guitar lines she’s gathered. This collection of musicians is a precursor to the band Haunted House, a wild sort of jam-band playing the blues without playing structure. Recital is proud to continue the series of Loren Connors-related editions, stretching from his art books Wildweeds & Night of Rain, to his masterpiece solo LPs Airs & Lullaby. And Recital is equally thrilled to highlight Suzanne Langille’s mystifying command of voice and word and the intricate guitar work of Andrew Burnes and David Daniell. Come revisit the mist that filled that living room 25 years ago.) 32.00
SYDNEY SPANN – Sending Up A Spiral Of LP (Recital - Edition of 200 copies, 180g vinyl, 16-page booklet - The first vinyl release from American artist Sydney Spann, Sending Up A Spiral Of well encapsulates Spann’s body of work thus far. On their music, which reacts to themes of family systems and care work, Sydney writes, “people who have done care work —nannies, sex workers, therapists, nurses— may possess their own musical knowledge, developed over time through particular modes of voicing practiced to achieve a desired outcome in their labor. Attending intimately to these ways of voicing and listening and bringing them into a sound practice could be a way to legitimize a less recognized kind of musical knowledge.” Sending Up A Spiral Of explores this unarticulated expression through sound and song. The titular piece traces Spann within some quixotic woodland, as if beginning inside of some urban fairy-story. Self-soothing singing quivers under dragging branches, peeling cement and other tactile grit. The work drops into a new proximity half-way through as electronic contours overtake the environment. Sine-tones smolder in a pulsating choreography, perhaps reminiscent of Richard Maxfield’s “Night Music” played at half-speed. The second section of the record depicts a series of five smaller portraits, expressed (or disguised) as lullabies. An oceanic humming permeates them. “Possession” and “Purposeful Evening” are the most song-like lullabies, with their verse-chorus repetition and melodic simplicity. Innocuous words “baby” and “honey” are encoded with deeper, often painful connotations. Sydney’s voice and vision for this album is ambitious, cloaked in the strains and contradictions of what love means in the nuclear family. A 16-page artist pamphlet of rubbings, photographs and sheet music accompanies the LP, along with a digital PDF of Spann’s thesis “Sending Up A Spiral Of: A Musical Epistemology Made Through Care Work.”) 34.00
TONY JAY - Perfect Worlds LP (slumberland - Recorded entirely in 2021, "Perfect Worlds," the newest album by San Francisco's mysterious lo-fi pop legend Tony Jay, delivers an intimate record of thirteen dreamy, assured arrangements. Fresh off the heels of "Hey There Flower," "Perfect Worlds" marks Tony Jay's first album with Slumberland Records and further cements Tony Jay's status as dejected crooner of the quotidian par excellence. Drawing inspiration from failed relationships, lack of sleep, a bicycle injury, and depression, Tony Jay pairs catchy melodies and hushed vocals with ethereal instrumental tracks. Headed by Michael Ramos, current member of Cindy, Flowertown, Al Harper, and Sad Eyed Beatniks, and former member of April Magazine (and many more), Tony Jay began recording in 2006 and added a live band in 2017. "Perfect Worlds," recorded in Ramos's bedroom and mastered by Mikey Young, features Kelsey Faber, Alexis Harper, and Cameron Baker, with guest vocals by Karina Gill (Cindy, Flowertown, Sad Eyed Beatniks).) 28.00
WALDGEFLÜSTER - Femundsmarka - Eine Reise in Drei Kapiteln DLP (nordvif - clear vinyl - Twelve years after its original release, Nordvis proudly presents this remastered version of Waldgeflüster’s “Femundsmarka – Eine Reise in drei Kapiteln”. The album chronicles a trek undertaken by the band’s mastermind, Winterherz, and his brother, P, through the Femundsmarka National Park in Norway. Building on a foundation of atmospheric black metal, Winterherz uses various samples of wilderness and sea to weave a sonic tapestry that blends seamlessly with meticulously crafted acoustic melodies. Instrumental interludes play a pivotal role, serving as introductions, transitions, and a grand finale – all enhancing the conceptual nature of the album. The vocal performances of both brothers intertwine harmoniously, complementing each other's strengths. Their diverse range, from powerful growls to ethereal chants, adds depth and intensity to the music, creating a captivating blend. ) 36.00
WILL & JAMES RAGAR - Will & James Ragar One ('We Are The Children Of The Sun Sirens) DLP (BBE - A wonderful album full of Balearic vibes, funky riffs and mellow moments, originally released in 1980. BBE Music are excited to announce this highly sought after album titled ‘Will & James Ragar One” which will be reissued on Vinyl and CD as well as across digital platforms. James and Will Ragar hail from Louisiana, where their early education into music began. At a young age they moved to New Orleans – where they heard live Jazz for the first time. This inspiration is demonstrated through their free approach to this album. Their natural evolution through the Louisiana club scene saw them develop and hone their talents of adding that southern swag to covers they did, almost making them their own. ‘Will and James Ragar One’ is a blend of acoustic and electric tones, carefully and cohesively put together by the brothers. ‘As the Day Grows Tired’ is the first song on the album and one of the first songs James wrote. The theme for ‘She’s Laughter’ is about returning home to someone you love and features a heavy guitar solo. ‘My Shining Sun’ has an unusual jazz form and is an ode to the joy of playing music. ‘Don’t Wish’ was inspired by a jazz chord progression that was a favourite, James played the solo on a pearwood soprano recorder. Gary Roberts played percussion on the session and also played the flute on ‘Just a Wanderer’.) 40.00
V/A - One Mile From Heaven DLP (mapache - We couldn't be happier to announce the first Mapache Records compilation after all these years. ONE MILE FROM HEAVEN is a dreamy travel through the 70's and beyond private singer songwriters scene. There have always been privately-pressed records. Such a "private" LP is an album that has been composed, performed, recorded and edited usually very-DIY style by the very artist or by an amateur label. A private press record is, above all, an act of the artistic urge. It's an act that takes place outiside of the industry out of need, out of a lack of knowledge, out of love, out of a drive, out of ambition... you can choose among the many reasons. Depending on their genre, origins, time, and above all, quality, some of these efforts have become valuable pieces for the music collector. Having been created behind the "canonical history of music" written by the industry, every now and then an archaeologist will bring to the surface an artifact they have found in some basement or flea market, or that was kept covered in dust in the shell of some old recording studio soon to be torn down. All these records have their own story, and some are still especially relevant, and others are but small footnotes in the encyclopedia of music that made their way into the margins of the mainstream world. These are the most limited of editions (and mostly locally made ones) of largely unsociable and mostly unobtainable records--and when found, they are often exorbitantly priced. Many of these marginalized and onscure artists have stayed alive only through the wonderful work of tireless song rescuers, music lovers, vocational archivists, collectors, and record labels with an idealistic drive. These romantics have been rescuing and indexing a form of music that very few have showed interest in until recent years. This record is a tribute to all of those who managed to make these songs not be lost to time. Above all, this release is a tribute to all those artists who recorded their songs on their own, mostly because they couldn't keep the music inside themselves.) 39.00
V/A - Swedish Meatballs - The Hard Rock Psych Underground 1971 - 1977 LP (subliminal - Way-out heavy psych mindblowers with blistering guitars and pounding drums! Sweden – heaven and hell. Subliminal Sounds open the portals to the long lost, ultra-rare, or previously unreleased, music and history of these loud and hairy underground hard rocking mind-bending champions. Possessed Viking teens going berserk and blasting loud and heavy sounds at youth halls making the stoner kids go meatball crazy. Mini skirt moose hunters. Mid-70s communal people parks hedonistic punch-drunk all-night benders. Local biker club bacchanalias. A chillum is lit, a beer can is popped open, and somebody flips out in a deep seance in the official stoner room next door while the pinball machine and pool table clinks and clonks. Chicken racing heavy metal greasers in their imported American muscle cars. Hard rock glam rockers accompanying XXX-live shows…and a previously unknown connection to all mighty Bathory goat. All in a day’s work for the Swedish Meatballs.) 35.00
V/A - Swedish Meatballs The Hard Rock Psych Underground 1970 - 1977 Vol. 2 LP (subliminal sound - Way-out heavy psych mindblowers with blistering guitars and pounding drums! Sweden – heaven and hell. Subliminal Sounds open the portals to the long lost, ultra-rare, or previously unreleased, music and history of these loud and hairy underground hard rocking mind-bending champions. And here's Volume 2 already going even deeper into the murky depths of the Swedish underground shining light in the deepest recesses of the Nordic caves. Hippies, stoners, teenage hoodlums or whatever they were called. Anarchists. Freaks United! Amazing musicians! Clandestine underground garage hard rock heavies’ recordings in the basement of an adult movies film studio. Chicks like wah-wah! Get on board! Possessed Viking teens going berserk and blasting loud and heavy sounds at youth halls making the stoner kids go meatball crazy. A chillum is lit, a beer can is popped open, and somebody flips out in a deep seance in the official stoner room next door while the pinball machine and pool table clinks and clonks.) 35.00
