Bis Aufs Messer Weekly News 04 Feb 2025
Hi, welcome to another newsletter for February - a couple restocks arrived like the BOILERMAKER boxset on black and colored vinyl, also some MJ LENDERMAN s/t DLPs on DEAR LIFE records, some GODSPEED restocks, CINDY LEE - Diamond Jubilee 2xCD, CINDY LEE - What's Tonight To Eternity LP, FACS - Wish Defense LP restock and more
The PALATKA pre order albums should be also with us soon.
We also added (adding) a bunch more second hand LPs and 7“s and Tapes to our discogs
https://www.discogs.com/seller/XMESSERX
Thank you as usual
Til then thank you for all your orders & support.
Robert & Norman
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7“
BOTULISM - Microdosing The Torment 7“ (A new release Berlin's Grindcore hydra! 10 songs of repentless Deathgrind.) 9.00
LP
ACTRESS – Grey Interiors LP (small-town supersound - Edition of 500 copies, one-sided - An imperial phase Actress commits a lushly amorphous installation piece made for the Berliner Festspiele to vinyl, rendering a post-industrial symphony full of iridescent shifts in gyring, OOBE-like spatial coordinates landing somewhere between nutopian ambient, kankyō ongaku and sawn-off bass science. ‘Grey Interiors’ was made in collaboration with Actual Objects and is an absorbing animation and navigation of those post-human ideals that have prompted Darren J. Cunningham to his best work across the preceding two decades. In its hypnagogic symphony of the elements, he short-circuits distinctions of classical music’s metric freedoms and the hyperspatial sensuality of concrète/electro-acoustic and ambient musics with an artistic license that has come to distinguish his work in the contemporary field, and arguably identified him as this generation’s most vital electronic abstractionist. The first half of the album is bewitchingly airless, materialised in a twinkling vacuum. Naturalistic environmental recordings and a half-heard piano swirl around nauseous airlock whooshes and eerie bass drones. It's all pulverised to a powdery, shimmering residue; if Actress's music is defined by its character and texture - that sweet spot between the bedroom and the soundsystem - then this one advances the narrative without losing its backbone. And like a lot of his best work, it comes into its own on the back of zonked eyelids, conjuring a play of shifting geometric patterns within its imaginary physics and nuanced narration of ephemeral melodic phrasing and vaporous textures. At about the halfway point, that dissociated piano finds its groove, coalescing into a jerky drum machine rhythm popping like bubbles in the stifling atmosphere. We can draw some intersecting lines here thru electronic music lore - traces of vintage AE, Push Button Objects, UR - but Actress always leaves an indelible fingerprint on anything he touches. Even when he's rubbing against the gallery-industrial complex, he manages to fill a stagnant space with electricity and wit; look at the title itself: is it a reference to the "landscape beyond man" as the installation's press release might have us believe, or the institutions themselves?) 30.00
ARVE HENRIKSEN & ROBERT JÜRJENDAL – Haihara LP (small-town super sound .- Edition of 300 copies Prolific Norwegian trumpeter and ECM veteran Arve Henriksen returns with Estonian guitarist/composer Robert Jürjendal in tow, matching his idiosyncratic shakuhachi-style melodic condensations with Jürjendal's glassy electro-acoustic soundscapes and sonorous percussion. Henriksen releases a lot but is remarkably reliable; his playing is so versatile that hearing it dematerialise into different ensembles and individual methodologies is always a treat. Jürjendal is a veteran guitarist, but doesn't approach his instrument from a purely classical standpoint, taking a Fripp-inspired path towards texture, processing and looping his sounds until they're barely recognisable. The duo share a similar love for Hassell's Fourth World ambience, and here inject new life into that mood. Jürjendal's percussion is impressive: he offsets cascades of oddly-tuned electronics on 'Tuonela' with booming, ritualistic tom hits that punctuate Henriksen's melancholy phrases; and on the brilliant 'Ancient Bells', plays a set of gongs and gamelan-style instruments, creating swirling hammered tonal clusters that quiver beneath Henriksen's echoed-out, spirited improvisations. It's not always that corporeal, either; on 'A Remarkable Flow', he loops guitar phrases, creating gentle vibrations that rumble in the background while he mirrors Henriksen's pitchy zig-zags with high-pitched oscillator vamps. Even on the peaceable 'Miraculous Lake', discreet kalimba loops set a celestial tempo that anchors the duo's gaseous soundscapes. And although they veer towards end-credits loveliness on the Göttsching-influenced 'Reunion Hymn', it’s balanced by the album's darker passages, like 'Rebirth' and 'Another Me'. On the latter, Henriksen's trumpet is transformed into a voice-like warble, while Jürjendal replies with glacial E-bowed drones that resonate creepily alongside his lysergic FM pads.) 35.00
BELFI & REIDY – dessus oben alto up LP (marionette - Marionette presents 'dessus oben alto up', the first collaborative recording by Andrea Belfi and Jules Reidy. Hailing from different ends of the globe (Australia and Italy) but both longtime residents of Berlin, Reidy and Belfi’s approaches have much in common, bringing together compositional precision and electroacoustic rigour with improvisation freedom, the immediate gratifications of rhythmic pulse, and an overtly lyrical sensibility. Working together during a residency at the sound studio of Berlin’s Callie’s, an arts institution housed in a 19th century machine factory, the pair (with Marco Anulli manning the desk) have conjured up four expansive pieces where the beautifully recorded percussive clarity of Belfi’s drums threads through a sparkling haze of guitars and electronics.) 25.00
BOILERMAKER - Not Enough Time To Get Anything Halfway Done 4xLP BOXSET (numero - back in stock - From the frayed loop of San Diego's white belt `90s scene, Boilermaker provided a subtle counterpoint to the Gravity obsessed post-hardcore landscape. They called it Leucadia-core, a hybrid of major chord riffs, emotive yelps, angular bass chug, and pounding rhythms, building and releasing with the Swami tides. Not Enough Time To Get Anything Halfway Done compiles the trio of Terrin Durfey, Tim Semple, and Richard Sanderson complete discography_three albums, singles, and rarities_into a 41-song/ 4xLP box set, with annotation and illustration in the accompanying 24-page book. Surfs down. Hang zero.) 80.00
CINDY LEE - What's Tonight To Eternity LP (w25th - For Patrick Flegel, Cindy Lee is more than just a recording music project. It is the culmination of a lifelong exploration of art, the electric guitar, queer identity and gender expression. "Singers like Patsy Cline and The Supremes carried me through the hardest times of my life," explains Flegel, "and also provided the soundtrack to the best times.“ Following the dissolution of Canadian experimental indie band Women, Flegel would delve deeper into songwriting that bends further toward high atmospherics and bracing melodies – a unique space where splendor naturally collides with experimentation. Delivering moments of sheer beauty through somber reflections on longing and loneliness, Cindy Lee is something to hold onto in a world of disorder. What's Tonight To Eternity, Cindy Lee's fifth long-form offering, showcases the project's most entrancing strengths: ethereal snowdrift pop and sly nods toward classic girl-group motifs. Recorded at Flegel's Realistik Studios in Toronto and featuring younger brother Andrew Flegel on drums, the album travels hand in hand with a spectral guide. Flegel found inspiration for Cindy Lee in the form of Karen Carpenter, drawing on the singer / drummer's early recordings as well as her look and style. "I found a deep interest and comfort in Karen's story, which is a cautionary tale about the monstrosity of show business, stardom at a young age and being a misfit looking for connection. The darkness and victimizing tabloid sensationalism she suffered is easily tempered and overwhelmed by her earnest output, her artistry, her tireless work ethic. Something utterly unique and magical takes shape in the negative space, out of exclusion. What I relate to in her has to do with what is hidden, what is unknown.“ What's Tonight To Eternity remains a mix of pop culture indoctrination, pain and suffering, hopes and dreams, fierce confrontations and wide-open confessional blurs. Closing with the song "Heavy Metal" (dedicated to the memory of former Women bandmate Chris Reimer) and adorned by Andrea Lukic's Journal of Smack artwork, the album continues the bold and rewarding path on which Cindy Lee has embarked.) 28.00
FACS - Wish Defense LP (trouble in mind - The duality of “man” is a subject that has been explored in art for centuries, from writings of the Bible to Descartes, all the way up to filmmakers like Lynch, Cronenberg, & Carpenter. Who is your “true self” & what do they want? With their sixth studio album “Wish Defense” (again for longtime home Trouble In Mind Records), Chicago trio FACS take a good, long look in the mirror to face themselves. The return of original member Jonathan Van Herik - who stepped away from the group just before their debut album “Negative Houses” was released in 2018 - replacing longtime bassist Alianna Kalaba brings renewed vigor & a marked angularity from the band’s more recent output. The songs still hit hard, but the approach is sideways - the roles have changed since Van Herik’s original tenure & his previous time with Case & powerhouse drummer Noah Leger in Disappears; now on bass, Van Herik was originally the group’s guitar player and features on the debut, while current guitarist Brian Case played bass. This role reversal has helped the band’s dynamic, offering up a different musical perspective than before, now revisiting the trio’s long-going collaboration with some distance and time. ) 26.00
MARTINA BERTONI - Electroacoustic Works for Halldorophone DLP (karl - Edition of 300 copies, 45rpm, 180g vinyl For her new and most radical album »Electroacoustic Works for Halldorophone«, Martina Bertoni used the electronic instrument at EMS Stockholm to create four pieces that are massive in scale and incredibly intimate, sonically restrained and emotionally overwhelming—almost ambient and always demanding your full attention. Martina Bertoni returns to Karlrecords with »Electroacoustic Works for Halldorophone,« her most radical album yet. The foundation for the four electroacoustic pieces was laid during a residency at Stockholm’s legendary Elektronmusikstudion (EMS) that the Berlin-based cellist and composer used to explore the curious instrument, originally designed by Halldór Úlfarsson in 2008, as an algorithmic system in order to examine tunings and the mathematical relationships between Aiming to analyse and understand their interaction beyond the composer’s control, Bertoni sought to engage more deeply with the concepts of time, tuning, and, most importantly, control. Accordingly, her four »Electroacoustic Works for Halldorophone« seem both massive in scale and incredibly intimate, sonically restrained and emotionally overwhelming— almost ambient and always demanding your full attention.) 32.00
MJ LENDERMAN - MJ Lenderman DLP (dear life - Dear Life Records is proud to present the physical reissue of the self titled debut of MJ Lenderman. MJ Lenderman is a songwriter born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina. The anatomy of an MJ record might go something like this: warped pedal steels and skuzzed out guitar; a voice reminiscent of the high-lonesome warble of a choirboy; the keen observations and reflections of a front stoop philosopher. Songs snake their way from a lo-fi home recording to something glossier made with longtime friends at Asheville's Drop of Sun studios, but the recording setting doesn't seem to matter much - at its core, a Lenderman song rings true. "MJ Lenderman" was recorded, mixed and mastered for digital in 2019 by Colin Miller in Asheville NC, and was self-released online to quiet but firm acclaim. Now available as a Double LP and remastered for vinyl by Heather Jones, it offers a glimpse into the formative steps of a style; focused and precise, yet expansive and rough around the edges, that remains consistent across MJ's catalogue to date (see also 2021's `Ghost of Your Guitar Solo' (DLR 016) and 2022's `Boat Songs' (DLR 031)). Looking as firmly to the legacy of 90s slowcore as it does to the tenor of Magnolia Electric Co. and sound wall of Neil Young and Crazy Horse, these 9 songs clock in at just over an hour and offer warm, patient worlds of heavy color that blow by breezily. These are songs that wrap mysterious and urgent feeling in layers of patience and clarity that unfold anew with each timeless listen.) 32.00
NAHAWA DOUMBIA - La Grande Cantatrice Malienne Vol. 1 LP (Nahawa Doumbia is one of Mali's defining vocalists of the last four decades. Her work journeys through progressive stages of musical evolution and sonic vogues, making it hard to summarize or even comprehend. She's played a part in popular music since the late ‘70s, as her version of Wassoulou music developed from vocals-and-guitar duo into full-scale touring bands packing a bombastic, electrified punch. As Doumbia puts it, "My music has changed multiple times to this day…The more I progressed in my musical career, the more instruments I have had accompany my songs." La Grande Cantatrice Malienne Vol 1 looks back to the beginning of Doumbia’s long career, when her voice was remarkably strong yet still developing. This was before she added bass and percussion, and finally the electric guitar and synths for which she became known in recent years.) 25.00
NAHAWA DOUMBIA - La Grande Cantatrice Malienne Vol 3 LP (awesome tapes from - Na Hawa Doumbia's La Grande Cantatrice Malienne Vol 3 is the first release for Awesome Tapes From Africa, a blog and DJ project known worldwide for shedding light on obscure and wonderful musical treasures from the African continent. This early recording—made in Abidjan, Ivory Coast in 1982—captures the dualities inherent in Doumbia's music early on: from a stripped-down, raw backdrop arise warm sonics; expressions of feminism and social issues imparted through spare refrains. Doumbia's urgent, distinctive vocals and hypnotic didadi rhythm from her native Bougouni have made her a respected voice in Mali for more than three decades. Today she is best known for her contributions to Wassoulou music. The singer was raised by her grandmother—her mother died shortly after giving birth. But before passing away she predicted Doumbia would be a singer—something surprising, since she didn't come from the jeli (or griot) caste of hereditary singers. Her grandparents resorted to the magical powers of blacksmiths to fight it, but ultimately the prediction proved correct. Doumbia's music is more powerful than magic.) 24.00
NINA GARCIA - bye bye Bird LP (idiologic organ - After a decade of performing concerts under the Mariachi guise, Nina Garcia has finally unveiled her unique approach in Bye Bye Bird, her first album under her name. Bye Bye Bird is her second solo album, to be released by Ideologic Organ in February 2025. With no pretence or demonstration, the album is a captivating blend of chiaroscuro, melodies, and raw emotion. Nina Garcia's album takes on an almost documentary-like quality by adopting a simple approach to gesture and sound recording. It offers a candid portrayal of a moment, a lack, a state, and a breathtaking energy. With ostinato as her only credo, Nina Garcia's music is an experiment in freedom, where the peaks answer the abysses, and the power of movement and the emotion of sound serves as her compass. From very short (01:28) to never very long (07:34), the eight tracks that make up this set explore a moment, a space, a mechanism, an intention or a way of doing things. As a common feature of almost all these pieces (all but one, the last), Nina Garcia explores a new technique. She adds to her instrumentation, reduced to the essentials (a guitar, a pedal and an amp), an electromagnetic microphone which, when held in hand, makes it possible to listen in on the exact zones where the vibration of the string creates a sound amid vast spaces of silence. The guitar is unplugged, and the body/instrument relationship changes in dimension.) 29.00
SEPULCHRAL CURSE - Crimson Moon Evocations LP (dark descent - Sepulchral Curses’ third full-length Crimson Moon Evocations paints a vivid portrait of a band at their creative and productive peak. On their Dark Descent Records debut, the Turku quintet demonstrate unmatched ferocity and craftmanship, cementing their place at the very zenith of the global blackened death metal scene. As with many Finnish death metal pioneers, the band incorporates a distinctive sense of weirdness, blending diverse influences in crafting a sound that’s unmistakably their own. “The backbone is death metal,” states vocalist Kari Kankaanpää, “but we’ve never shied away from exploring new inspirations and influences, which shape the unique edge synonymous with Sepulchral Curse. Music needs to be dark, heavy and furious!”) 33.00
STEREOLAB - Dots And Loops DLP (warp - Dots and Loops was Stereolab’s fifth studio album and the first to completely ditch the motorik drone that had been a trademark since their inception; predominated by lush lounge and jazz textures, it showcases the band’s most complex set of rhythms yet and was produced by Mouse on Mars. "The album was recorded in Chicago and Düsseldorf and bridges a unique electronic influence and a new rhythmic approach that separates Dots and Loops from most of the band’s previous output. Bossa Nova and ’60s Euro pop are still major touchstones and give the album a deceptively light vibe; however, further listens reveal an elaborate work, with almost every track featuring odd time-signatures and more complicated and layered arrangements. “Parsec” is space-rock meets drum and bass; “Brakhage” marries a minor key bass line to clinking vibes and a shuffling beat; the segmented, 20-minute “Refractions in the Plastic Pulse” is sunny and appealing, yet intricately constructed. The dividing line between the band’s first phase and what would be its more experimental latter period, Dots and Loops is the type of album that reveals its charms over many listens and is the one Stereolab aficionados point to as the band’s best work.") 38.00
STEREOLAB - Cobra And Phases Group Play Voltage In The Milky Night DLP (warp - Stereolab’s classic 6th studio album is back in circulation, still brimming with their most charming, jazzy bossa nova and gallic avant-lounge-pop charms and featuring vital input from Jim O’Rourke. "This 1999 long-player from Stereolab divides opinion among critics and fans. If memory serves correctly, the NME awarded Cobra And Phases Group Play Voltage In The Milky Night a fairly scandalous 0 out of 10 back in the day, though the band's followers are far more likely to declare it as one of Stereolab's standout records. For instance, Deerhunter's Bradford Cox has cited it as one of his favourite albums of all time. Featuring a cast of thousands (or thereabouts), you'll notice Jim O'Rourke, The High Llamas' Sean O'Hagan, Tortoise drummer/producer John McEntire and Rob Mazurek of Chicago Underground fame.) 38.00
STEREOLAB - Transient Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements DLP (warp - Stereolab’s retro-pop and indie-rock classic ‘Transient Random Noise-Bursts with Announcements’ is back in circulation, remastered from original tapes. "Transient Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements is Stereolab’s breakthrough album, their major label debut, and one of the most innovative releases of the 1990s, a musical decade signified by breaking down artistic barriers. Originally released in August 1993, Transient Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements builds on the promise of the band’s early releases Switched On and Peng! by expanding the scope of their highly distinctive mix of one-chord Krautrock grooves, distorted vintage keyboard noise and Euro-pop. Adding touches of ’50s and ’60s easy listening, exotica and space-age sounds as well as samba and French pop, Stereolab did more than any group in the modern rock era to expand the language of art music by incorporating styles left for dead by the serious rock community.) 38.00
ULLA & ULTRAFOG - It Means A Lot LP (momen t- On »It Means A Lot«, Ulla & Ultrafog weave acoustic instrumentations – mainly guitars – and subtle fragments of dream pop and into their ambient vocabulary. A record full of sketches, held together by subtle beats, or rather a careful tapping, and voice fragments from a fog that is no longer ›ultra‹, but in the being of clarification. Two individuals from faraway journeyed the world together, and were given many tiny gifts from the surroundings. Then the music came out as a matter of course, as if a thing was being put in its right place) 30.00
ULLA STRAUS - Big Room LP (Vinyl edition of Ulla's legendary tape for NYC's Quiet Time. Ulla’s productions reveal a discerning process of stripping tracks to their essence, letting space, silence, simplicity and repetition be her guide. They lend a magic touch to a difficult and minimal style of music, creating an album that is comforting and tranquil, yet hypnotizing and transportive.) 28.00
V/A - Singapore Nuggets The Ladies Vol 2 LP (Second installment of this wonderful compilation of gems from the 60s and 70s Singapore music scene, focused on the amazing ladies that helped make it so vibrant. 14 gems of female fronted Pop Yeh Yeh, another eye-opening collection of amazing Singapore treasures. A new collection of female fronted Singapore recordings from the 60s and 70s, documenting one of the most vibrant music scenes during those incredible years. Be it as solo singers, backed by other bands or as band leaders, women had a huge presence on the Singapore music scene, and here's another 14 tracks to celebrate their legacy. All under the idiosyncratic Pop Yeh Yeh umbrella and each with her strong personality and musical tendencies, the music contained in this beautiful record is an absolute trip for anyone interested in 60s and early 70s music.) 27.00
CD
ALESSANDRO CORTINI - Forse 4xCD (important - Digipaks inside heavy duty tip-on style outer box Alessandro Cortini's acclaimed 'Forse' series is available for the first time on CD including an exclusive disc of 'Forse' performed live. Packaged in matte coated digipacks housed in a heavy duty tip-on style outer box. 2021 digital master by Stephan Mathieu. Composed using only an original Buchla Music Easel, an incredibly rare electronic music instrument designed by Don Buchla, the Forse series features long, romantic compositions full of voluminous, bombastic tones and dripping with thick timbre) 47.00
CINDY LEE - Diamond Jubilee 2xCD (Superior Viaduct/W.25TH continue to be the home for Cindy Lee with the physical release of the celebrated album Diamond Jubilee. Universally praised, shortlisted for the 2024 Polaris Music Prize, and already hailed by Pitchfork as the 3rd best album of the 2020s, anticipation and conversation around the record has been high. Cindy Lee is the performance and songwriting vehicle of Patrick Flegel (who previously fronted influential indie group Women). Over several albums, Flegel has combined delicate melodies and sheer beauty with moments of experimentation. With Diamond Jubilee, Flegel's undeniable songcraft comes to the foreground, embracing a more instant connection and accessibility. Timeless tales of love and longing, surrounded by sticky hooks, take the listener on an unforgettable journey.) 25.00
