Bis Aufs Messer Weekly News 04 December 2022
Hi. Welcome to the last newsletter for this year. First of all thanks to everyone for their support and making this difficult year a better one. It means a lot to us that you support a small shop like hours, try to explore new music with us and stay curious. We also made a little end of the year list. Enjoy
We also will be closed from Dec 24th until Dec 28th and be back open on Dec 29th and Dec 30th … and then back to normal on Jan 2nd 2023
And to celebrate a little bit GHOST BAG will be play some Christmas Carols tmrw in the shop at 16°° and sets the mood for some final Christmas Shopping :)
Til then thank you for all your orders & support.
Robert & Norman
mailorder@bisaufmesser.com
www.adagio830-records.bandcamp.com
Norman:
New:
Blood Incantation - Timewave Zero (Century Media)
Luster - Luster (Morc)
Amateur Hour - Krökta Tankar Och Brända Vanor (Appetite)
Maya Shenfeld - In Free Fall (Thrill Jockey)
Various - Ghost Riders (Efficient Space)
Fuchs - Fuchs (Alien Transistor)
Anadol - Felicita (Pingipung)
Brannten Schnüre - Das Glück Vermeiden (Quirlschlängle)
Chronophage - Chronophage (bruit direct disques)
Hammered Hulls - Careening (Dischord)
Reissues:
New Life Trio - Visions Of The Third Eye (Early Future Records
Nocturnal Emissions - In Dub (Holuzam)
Khan Jamal's Creative Arts Ensemble - Drum Dance To The Motherland (Aguirre Records)
Krishna Das - Door Of Faith (End Hits)
Cerberus Shoal - Cerberus Shoal (Temporary Residence)
Robbie Basho - Bouquet - Song Offerings From Robbie Basho (Lost Lagoon Records)
Ulla Straus - Big Room (Quiet Time Tapes)
Various – First Six Dischord Records (Dischord Records)
Julius Eastman – Stay On It (Week-End Records)
Incapacitants – As Loud As Possible (Total Black)
Robert
New:
NEIN RODERE - Catch Up With What Party LP
ANADOL - Felicita LP
CLAIRE ROUSAY - Everything Perfect Is Already Here LP
WORM - Bluenothing LP
MYRIAM GENDRON – Ma Délire DLP
ASTRID ØSTER MORTENSEN - Skærsgårdslyd LP
ROXANE METAYER / PEFKIN - split LP
DES EDENS - la non-pareille LP
JJULIUS - Vol. 2 LP
THE PLASTIK BEATNIKS - All Those Streets I Must Find Cities For LP
Re Issues
THE HATED - Best Piece Of Shit Vol. 4 DLP
AMATEUR HOUR - s/t LP
THE CAT'S MIAOW - Songs '94-'98 LP
MOVIETONE - Peel Sessions LP + CD
KARATE - Time Expired 5xLP BOXSET
ALVA NOTO & RYUICHI SAKAMOTO - Vrioon DLP
HAROLD BUDD – The Pavilion Of Dreams LP
DON CHERRY - Brown Rice LP
JULIUS EASTMAN - Two Extended Pieces For Four Pianos DLP
PAULINE OLIVEROS - The Wanderer LP
And here are some new arrivals for this week
LP
CAMPINGSEX - 1914 LP (restock - If there ever was such a thing as true German No Wave, then Camping Sex were probably the only band to make it. Being kind of a legendary underground outfit, this band basically only really existed for this one album right here, made up of Lesley Campbell, Matz Müller and Max Müller/Florian Koerner von Gustorf who would go on to form Mutter later on. This album, described by Thurston Moore as "ultra-experimental trash that was super influential on Sonic Youth", is probably one of the most nihilistic projects to come out of the 80s German underground. Endless walls of noisy, clipping guitars, playing the same riff as consistently as a steamroller, dissonant basslines and thundering drums, this album just sounds ugly from front to back. Sure, the harmonic progressions are rather conventional, but the more and more the persistence of ugly sounds comes through, the more you question your own sanity. Max Müller is on top of all of this nonsense, squelching out some incredibly mean-spirited and antagonistic lyrics about split Germany, the meaninglessness of love, feeling like nothing and saying no to life in general. He not only just pukes out these lyrics, he puts in these absolute nonsense-vocalisations that spit on any sense of accessibility. It's the full brunt of mid-80s Berlin paranoia, fueled by garbage recording equipment and hatred, filtered through an four-piece band. It's ugly, it's loud, it's angry, it has its fury in the right place. A perfect album to lament how garbage the 80s in Germany were to, Camping Sex put out the nastiest and ugliest thing to come out of Germany in that decade. Truly a trailblazing album not just here, but also for a couple of American bands as well. Just, pure spite, nihilism and hatred, it's fun! No, actually! For real! Trust me! Sophia Schöneseiffen (Hurricanslash auf RYM), 2022 ) 26.00
CERBERUS SHOAL - Cerberus Shoal (Anniversary Edition) LP (col. vinyl) (temporary - The long out-of-print, eponymous debut album by the prescient, genre-scrambling collective, Cerberus Shoal, showcases their humble beginnings as a progressive punk band with extraordinary promise. Recorded in 1994 and originally released the following year, Cerberus Shoal distilled the band’s earliest collective influences – the rhythmic post-hardcore of Dischord Records; the disarming histrionics of Ebullition and Gravity Records; and the ominous, patient dynamics of Slint – into a concise six-song document that is as much a snapshot of an era as a blueprint for much that followed. Beautifully remastered and finally made available digitally for the first time ever, this expanded deluxe edition includes a massive 30-minute instrumental bonus track not available on the original LP.) 30.00
CERBERUS SHOAL - ...And Farewell To Hightide (Deluxe Expanded Edition) DLP (temporary residence - The long out-of-print sophomore album by the pioneering, creatively restless troupe, Cerberus Shoal, highlights the earliest phase of their transition from experimental hardcore band to transcendent exploratory collective. Originally released in 1996, ...And Farewell To Hightide combined the group’s unique command of patient anticipation with a significantly expanded musical palette and a refined musicianship. Shedding virtually all obvious references to the frenetic post-hardcore of their eponymous debut album, Hightide saw Cerberus Shoal incorporating elements of Talk Talk, Tortoise, and the early Windham Hill catalog into a sound that was incomparable at the time. Now, more than 20 years later, it’s proven astonishingly prescient and truly timeless. Beautifully remastered and finally made available digitally for the first time ever, this expanded deluxe edition includes the Lighthouse In Athens EP recorded during the same era as ...And Farewell To Hightide.) 33.00
CURRENT - Yesterday's Tomorrow Is Not Today 3xLP BOXSET (numero - Screaming suburban blues straight from the pages of HeartattaCk magazine, Current exploded out of the early-'90s Midwestern emo scene in a fit of D.C. hardcore-inspired rage. Spread across three LPs, Yesterday's Tomorrow Is Not Today compiles the quartet's lone album, two EPs, split 7"s with Indian Summer and Chino Horde, miscellaneous compilation debris, and nine previously unissued alternates, including the infamous KLXU radio show. Remixed and mastered from the original tapes, Current's complete discography is annotated in Leor Galil's exhaustive survey, illustrated with period photos, flyers, and cut-n-paste sleeve art across 24 pages. "Your parents would like this." - Tim Yohannan, Maximumrocknroll -) 70.00
EMBALM - Prelude to Obscurity LP (20 buck spin - An underground brutal death metal demo grail finally unearthed after 25 years rotting, we present ‘Prelude To Obscurity’! Hailing from Wisconsin in the shadow of the Milwaukee Metal Fest, Embalm formed in 1995 while in high school in the era of Ablated Records, Frozen Dawn CD compilations and IllNoiz Death Fest to name a few. Embalm created truly memorable grooves of mid-paced, catchy, and brutal as hell Midwest Death Metal, also including the customary influence of Swedish Death Metal and even touches of Dissection style harmony, setting this demo apart from any forced retro nostalgia. ) 28.00
INFANT SANCHOS – Schäume LP (contraszt. Neukölln 2022. Der Rauch brennender Oszillatoren steigt über den Dächern auf. Es stampft, schreit; in der Ferne nölt ein Saxophon durch die Straßenschluchten. Was die Welt jetzt braucht, ist eine weitere Langspielplatte von Infant Sanchos, diesen sympathischen Abstiegsfiguren ohne Festanstellung. Look no further, ihr erniedrigten, verächtlichen, geknechteten und verlassenen Wesen: Belastende Musik ist wieder tanzbar.”) 16.00
KEKHT ARÄKH - Pale Swordsman LP (sacred bones - Këkht Aräkh is the Ukrainian project founded in 2018 by Dmitry Marchenko. Originally released on the Finnish label Livor Mortis in 2021, Pale Swordsman goes to even greater extents in building a bold and atmospheric sonic palette, and it's now seeing a worldwide reissue via Brooklyn label Sacred Bones. For the sound design of the album, Dmitry was inspired by The Stooges' Raw Power to deliver a more soft sounding album, decisively less "metal". Traditional black metal song structures still persist in songs like "Night Descends" and "In The Garden". However, their rawness and fast tempos is quickly cut through by dark ambient passages in "Amor" and "Intro" and softly played desolate ballads like "Nocturne" and "Lily". The crown jewel is the album closer "Swordsman", a track that displays a superb gothic sensibility, a poem recited over a deeply melancholic piano melody. "The Christian concept of a person ridding themselves of evil to find inner peace or to be able to leave this world safely has become the core inspiration for the song." Dmitry explains "However, this is not the only reading possible. I purposely avoid specifics in my lyrics so that the listener can always give the song their own meaning." The inspiration for the concept of the album also came from David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. "I really enjoy it when an album tells a story about some character so I came up with one." says Dmitry when explaining the origin of the Pale Swordsman. The character is portrayed on the striking album cover art - a figure sitting aloof with a sword and a rose in each hand - and clearly symbolises the romantic juxtaposition of belligerence and fragile beauty that permeates the album's sound and atmosphere. Pale Swordsman delivers a foreboding yet bittersweet melancholy through poetic lyrics, soft interludes, raw and distorted guitars, eerie drums and harsh vocals - a fragile yet potent mix that successfully amplifies the ambience.) 25.00
KEKHT ARÄKH - Night & Love LP (sacred bones - Këkht Aräkh is the Ukrainian project founded in 2018 by Dmitry Marchenko. The debut album Night & Love was initially released on the Finnish label Livor Mortis in 2019 and it's now seeing a worldwide reissue via Brooklyn label Sacred Bones. Dmitry's intent to experiment with standard black metal canons previously seen at play in Through the Branches to Eternity EP (2018) solidify further on Night & Love, he mentions "back then I had an idea of combining Darkthrone's Transilvanian Hunger type of black metal with early Internazionale or Croatian Amor vibe." Described as ambient or atmospheric black metal, this debut presents Këkht Aräkh's signature dichotomy of harsh traditional early Norwegian black metal and the more ethereal and delicate melodies. On the other hand the lyrics are romantic and melancholic, clearly influenced by a stark Gothic imagery, and serve as an extra layer of mystery to the already suggestive body of work. The album beings with a soft acoustic intro in "As the Night Falls_" before descending into the raw and raucous "Elegy for the Memory of Me" and "Den Venstre Hånd På Den Hoyre", both songs that are drenched in the more traditional black metal style of raspy, high-pitched vocals, dense, tremolo- picked riffs and fast paced drums. It is however songs like "Night" and "Love" that really set this album apart. "Night" is a softly spoken word ambient track that with a beautiful piano synth work that permeates throughout it aids in the romantic delivery and conjuring of imagery of the night. "Love" is a spellbinding and melancholic song, equal in its romanticism but one that displays a deeper sorrow and tenderness supported by calming field recordings of trickling water. The intertwining of black metal, dark folk and ambient repeats itself, culminating in a quietly hummed outro "...And Never Ends (Eternal Love)" that alludes to and completes the album's first track.) 25.00
MORGANA – Contemporaneità LP (contraszt - Morgana is a four piece post punk/cold wave band born prior to the pandemic. Originating from the vibrant DIY counter culture that is the city of Firenze, Italy Morgana’s vocals are in both French and Italian- punctuating the melodic guitars with articulated, thought provoking lyrics which encapsulate the post punk spirit; alongside a healthy distaste for the world as it stands. The “Contemporaneità” album is a mix of re-recorded demo tracks, two singles and a brand new track “Arianne”) 17.00
RAGANA - You Take Nothing Lp (Contrast - Here’s the fourth full-length by the unique, female black metal duo from Oakland, CA. 'You Take Nothing' is heavy, dark, beautiful and punishing like hell.) 20.00
RAGANA - Wash Away LP (contrast - Ragana is a unique Black Metal duo from Olympia, WA., USA. Formed in 2011. Wash Away is their second album from 2015.) 20.00
ROBIN CAROLAN & SEBASTIAN GAINSBOROUGH - The Northman DLP (red vinyl) (sacred bones - The evocative early Nordic folk inspired original score by Robin Carolan and Sebastian Gainsborough for the new Robert Eggers (The Lighthouse, The VVitch) movie starring Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy and Björk.) 35.00
S.E. ROGIE - Further Sounds Of S.E. Rogie LP (mississippi - 10 brilliant tracks from 1960’s Sierra Leone by the wildly popular S.E. Rogie! S.E. Rogie went from running a tailor shop in Sierra Leone to being one of West Africa's most popular artists. He toured around the country, singing his palm wine music in multiple local languages, created his own record label, and was known as the most handsome man in Sierra Leone. He formed the highlife band The Morningstars in 1965. In 1973, he came to the Bay Area to live and expand his base, performing everywhere from local high schools and convalescent homes to festivals and large stages. In his later life he hit the road again and toured the world, eventually passing away while on stage in Russia in 1994. He shared the following songwriting wisdom with his son, Rogee Rogers: “When you write a song, you can be complicated if you want, but your chorus should be that anybody can sing it.” These tracks were originally released on his own Rogie label in the 1960s and include solo, ensemble, and Morningstars songs, most of which have never been reissued until now. A co-release with the mighty Domino Sound label.) 25.00
SWANS - Public Castration Is A Good Idea DLP (mute - Swans decant their classic live testament on its first vinyl reissue since 1986 >> RIYL Earth, Moin, Mars, Gnod, Godflesh, Nirvana. After an incendiary, gutturally punishing run of albums starting with ‘Filth’ (1983) and thru 1986’s unholy triad of sides, Swans documented the slow, crushing might of their early style in these live recordings made at I.C.A. and U.L.U., London, and The Garage in Nottingham. Since mounted in rock’s annals as one of the strongest live albums of the era, the set hinges around glacially pummelling percussion, monolithic riffs and harrowed vocals, holding up Micheal Gira, Jarboe, Norm Westberg, Ronaldo Gonzalez and Ted Parsons at their fearsomely poised and possessed best at an early crest of their powers. Whilst they have since swarmed into multiple directions, there’s frankly fuck all quite like the formative power of early Swans to ignite the senses and bring out the absolute grouch in ya, so consider thee warned if this is a first encounter.) 34.00
TRISTON PALMA - Joker Smoker LP (Greensleeves - A reissue of Triston Palma's Joker Smoker, originally released in 1981. Angus Taylor of the BBC on Joker Smoker in 2008: "Triston Palma's (or Palmer as he was also known) Joker Smoker was notable not just for his praise of herb smoking (nothing new in reggae) but for its sardonic appraisal of the moochers and chancers that those who live such a lifestyle are fated to encounter. Its continuing resonance was proven in 2006 when the Italian singjay and producer, Alborosie, released his own anthem, 'Herbalist', on the 'Joker Smoker' rhythm. . . . Joker Smoker was released in 1981, when reggae had become fascinated with its own fundamentals: sparse reworkings of familiar rhythms, with pounding kick drums, simple plodding basslines, and effects laden, highly evocative guitar and keyboard lines. These tended to be played by the Roots Radics band who created all the backings for this disc, produced by the deejay Jah Thomas at the famous Channel One Studio. The received mainstream critical wisdom on this era is that it was a musical blind alley that necessitated the iconoclasm of hard dancehall later in the decade. But the captivating ambience and musical intricacies of a record like Joker Smoker show this up for the reductive nonsense that it is. Bingy Bunny's chopping rhythm guitar work, Sowell Bailey and Dwight Pinckney's plaintive, chorus laden, lead guitar phrasing, and the primordial, relentless drum and bass foundations laid down by Errol Holt and Style Scott are typical of a time when modern production techniques, live instrumentation, dancehall rhythms and rootical lyrics came together as one. But it is the small touches that really impress. These include Dean Fraser, Nambo Robinson and Deadly Headley Bennett's mocking horns (parodying Palma's dried honey vocals) on the title track, Gladstone Anderson's precisely considered, minimal piano, and percussionist Sky Juice's use of a cuica friction drum on 'Give Me Give Me Your Love'. 'Joker Smoker' may be the album's centre, but every one's a winner here. A perfect example of what was, in reality, a high point in reggae's golden age.“) 25.00
WALTER WEGMÜLLER - Tarot DLP (The original analog master tapes were transferred with higher resolution and remastered with great care. Remastered by Dieter Dierks and Dennis Flüchter. Walter Wegmüller (1937-2020) was a Swiss-Jenish artist who grew up in difficult circumstances in Bern. After training in Basel, Bern, Paris, and London, he began his artistic career. In addition to painting and sculptural works, Walter Wegmüller occupied himself with the entire spectrum of art. He gained widespread international attention, especially from 1974 onwards, with the publication of his Zigeuner Tarot. He was successful at countless exhibitions in Europe and overseas and was repeatedly awarded prizes and distinctions. However, he never forgot his origins as a Verding child and "Rome child from the Kalderasch tribe." In 1973, he released the album Tarot with an all-star band. Successful musicians such as Klaus Schulze, Manuel Göttsching, Harald Grosskopf, Dieter Dierks, Hartmut Enke, Jürgen Dollase, and Walter Westrupp played in the band. It remained Walter Wegmüller's only foray into the world of music. The album was last released on vinyl in 1976, the CD in 2000. This version here is the first remaster ever.) 40.00
V/A - Folding Cassettes Greatest Hits LP (Drag City - Farewell to the last golden era in the long century of SF revolutionary underground! These moments plucked from the sawdust-stewn floor (when nobody was looking) saw cassette-only release way back in the mid-aughts. INSANE flow on this LP comp: OUT musiks from a motley parade of ol-school ingenuicists, many of whose names we still say today.) 28.00
CD
WALTER WEGMÜLLER - Tarot 2xCD (The original analog master tapes were transferred with higher resolution and remastered with great care. Remastered by Dieter Dierks and Dennis Flüchter. Walter Wegmüller (1937-2020) was a Swiss-Jenish artist who grew up in difficult circumstances in Bern. After training in Basel, Bern, Paris, and London, he began his artistic career. In addition to painting and sculptural works, Walter Wegmüller occupied himself with the entire spectrum of art. He gained widespread international attention, especially from 1974 onwards, with the publication of his Zigeuner Tarot. He was successful at countless exhibitions in Europe and overseas and was repeatedly awarded prizes and distinctions. However, he never forgot his origins as a Verding child and "Rome child from the Kalderasch tribe." In 1973, he released the album Tarot with an all-star band. Successful musicians such as Klaus Schulze, Manuel Göttsching, Harald Grosskopf, Dieter Dierks, Hartmut Enke, Jürgen Dollase, and Walter Westrupp played in the band. It remained Walter Wegmüller's only foray into the world of music. The album was last released on vinyl in 1976, the CD in 2000. This version here is the first remaster ever.) 23.00
WALTER WEGMÜLLER - Tarot 4xCD (Four CD version. Includes two remastered versions, each on two CDs. Four-CD version includes two remastered versions, each on two CDs; first remaster by Dierks/Flüchter and then a completely different mastering by Dieter Wegner, who has already remastered many albums of the krautrock catalog, including the albums of the Cosmic Jokers. Walter Wegmüller (1937-2020) was a Swiss-Jenish artist who grew up in difficult circumstances in Bern. After training in Basel, Bern, Paris, and London, he began his artistic career. In addition to painting and sculptural works, Walter Wegmüller occupied himself with the entire spectrum of art. He gained widespread international attention, especially from 1974 onwards, with the publication of his Zigeuner Tarot. He was successful at countless exhibitions in Europe and overseas and was repeatedly awarded prizes and distinctions. However, he never forgot his origins as a Verding child and "Rome child from the Kalderasch tribe." In 1973, he released the album Tarot with an all-star band. Successful musicians such as Klaus Schulze, Manuel Göttsching, Harald Grosskopf, Dieter Dierks, Hartmut Enke, Jürgen Dollase, and Walter Westrupp played in the band. It remained Walter Wegmüller's only foray into the world of music. The album was last released on vinyl in 1976, the CD in 2000. This version here is the first remaster ever.) 30.00
MAGAZINES
WIRE - #467 | January 2023 MAG (Inside this issue: - 2022 Rewind: the year in underground music Releases Of The Year: We asked our contributors to nominate their top ten records, CDs, downloads and streams of the year, then we added up the votes Critics’ Reflections: Wire writers discuss their cultural highs and lows for 2022 The New Vaudeville: Funny games. By Stewart Smith Turntablists: Spin cycles. By Rob Turner Columnists’ Charts: Our specialist critics excavate all crevices of the culture for this year’s most exciting music, from hiphop to modern composition Books, Films & Events: Emily Bick surveys the year in print, cinema, audiovisual arts and live performance Climate: Burning issues. By Phil England Healing Sounds: Good vibrations. By Emily Pothast Archive Releases Of The Year: Our contributors voted for their top ten archival records, CDs, downloads and streams, and we counted them all up Invisible Jukebox: Kali Malone: Our mystery record selection pulls out all the stops for the composer and organist. Tested by Derek Walmsley Unlimited Editions: REC-on Unofficial Channels: Xenwiki Heith: The Milanese producer looks to magickal traditions. By Miloš Hroch
Venus Ex Machina: Cybernetics meet mythology for the researcher and composer. By Meg Woof Kraus: New Zealand psych wizard goes for a float. By Kiran Dass Daniel Bachman: The American Primitive guitarist chronicles climate crisis. By Louis Pattison Global Ear: Kadıköy: The Istanbul neighbourhood is the home for metal and underground music. By Robert Rigney The Inner Sleeve: Gaye Su Akyol on Morphine’s Good Epiphanies: Meg Baird on Sheila Kay Adams and John Cohen …) 8.00
