Bis Aufs Messer Weekly News 04 March 2023
Hi, welcome to another newsletter for March. A couple cool records arrived like restock of the ANNELIES MONSERÉ - Mare LP & Luster LP, CASSIE KINOSHI'S SEED - GRATITUDE LP, ELLEN FULLMAN - Music For The Man Who Grew Common In Wisdom LP, LIMPE FUCHS - Pianoon LP, MARIA RITA - Brasileira LP re issue, Spectral Voice Restock, Worm restock and 20 buck spin restocks, the new STATIQBLOOM - Kain (Printed Sleeve) LP, two fantastic new Valentina Magaletti LPs, WERNER DURAND WITH AMELIA CUNI AND VICTOR MEERTENS - Processions DLP, a couple Superior Viaduct Restocks, KOU - KOU LP restock, Jeff Parker restocks, some HABIBI Funk restocks, KOUROSH YAGHMAEI - BACK FROM THE BRINK 3XLP restock (!!), some PELAGIC restocks, TEAM DRESCH restocks, SUSS restocks, JULIA HOLTER - Something in the Room She Moves DLP, XIU XIU - La Forêt LP re issue, MJ LENDERMAN - Boat Songs LP restock, EARLY DAY MINERS - Outside Lies Magic LP, FORNDOM - Dauðra Dura LP, FRIEDER BUTZMANN - juHrop - Szenen und Arien aus einer Oper in klingonischer Sprache 2xLP BOXSET, some DUSTER and KARATE restocks, ISIS restocks, FEARING - Destroyer LP, Wolves in The Throne Room restocks, ASTRID SONNE - Outside Of Your Lifetime LP and and more
Also a great Read - FANNY CHIARELLO - Basta Now: Women, Trans & Non-binary in Experimental Music BOOK, some GLEN E FRIEDMAN Books are also back in stock
Also the SWEAT EU tour starts this week aka Thursday at Tommy Haus with ROPE.
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
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7“
CODEINE / BEDHEAD - Atmosphere / Disorder 7“ (numero - Twin readings from Joy Division's post-punk gospels, on 7" for the first time. Codeine's 1994 take on "Atmosphere" were the New York slowcore band's final recorded moments, a glum, if not melodic, take on the Salford quartet's requiem to solitude. On the flip, Dallas' Bedhead tackle the opener for Unknown Pleasures, reimagining "Disorder" as jangly indie rock. Housed in an elegant black and silver sleeve, with embossed braille lettering for the visually impaired.) 13.00
LP
THE AMERICAN ANALOG SET - New Drifters 5xLP BOXSET (numero - Lo-fi, low budget, and low key, The American Analog Set’s suite of hypnotic, neo-psychedelic, Texas sloth-kraut LPs appeared briefly on Austin’s Emperor Jones label and slunk quietly into the sprawling indie underground as the old millennium crested. Gathered here are The Fun Of Watching Fireworks, From Our Living Room To Yours, and The Golden Band albums, garnished with period b-sides, outtakes, and demos. Remastered from the original analog tapes, this early-career spanning 5xLP box includes lyrics, photos, and ephemera from the before times.) 95.00
ANDY AQUARIUS - Golla Gorroppu LP (Hush Hush is honored to welcome back Berlin-based harper, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist Andy Aquarius to the label to help present 'Golla Gorroppu,' his second album of hypnotic primordial music that explores the mystical fringes of ambient, folk, and classical music. A follow-up to his acclaimed 2021 debut album ‚Chapel,' 'Golla Gorroppu' leans into the emotional natural sentiments of European Romanticism and American Transcendentalism and reveals itself as an animist take on an internal expedition of a mythological mountain range. The album’s title, 'Golla Gorroppu,' is a phrase coined by Andy that stems from his meditations on the Sardinian Gorropu mountain range, a territory he explored in between the autumn of 2020 and spring of 2021. His personal translation of the title is "The Throat of the Mountain.” ) 23.00
ANIMA MUSICA & R. CARLOS NAKAI - ATLANTIC CROSSING LP (back in stock - The strange thing about the music of Anima is that it’s often considered as strange, while it’s actually very natural. It has a free spirit, analog to nature. For this release the natural spirit is strengthened by the participation of indigenous American flute player and composer R. Carlos Nakai who did a series of concerts in the US and Europe with Paul and Limpe Fuchs in the 1980’s. As with almost all Anima work, the natural feel manifests itself not only by the musical approach and sounds generated by metal, wood, stone and air, but also by the absence of electronic devices. This LP is a reissue of a rare privately released cassette from 1988 and was recorded by the Bayerischer Rundfunk. May this slice of timeless free spirit be a trigger to more awareness concerning our decaying freedom.) 25.00
ANNELIES MONSERÉ - Mare LP (Horn of Plenty casts its gaze into the thriving contemporary Belgian underground with Annelies Monseré’s Mares, a remarkable body of experimental compositions that taps the deep well of raw, emotive expression rumbling below numerous traditions of European folk music. As a member of Ghent’s experimental music scene, over the past two decades Annelies Monseré has slowly refined a singular approach to musicality, moving from the sparse, instrumental piano works from that defined her early career, toward increasingly complex arrangements of instrumentation that offer a central place to her own voice, issued by noteworthy imprints such as Morc Tapes, Stroom, and three:four. Like her work within the widely celebrated ensemble, Luster, as well as Distels, her duo with Steve Marreyt, Monseré’s solo efforts establish a strikingly beautiful and remarkably unique territory that elegantly balances between rigorous experimentalism, minimalism, drone, and folk.) 28.00
ASTRID SONNE - Outside Of Your Lifetime LP (escho - Second full-length release from the Danish composer Astrid Sonne."Astrid Sonne grew up on the island of Bornholm, out in the middle of the Baltic Sea. Her connection to the outside world is tangible and textured, informing her experiential electronic designs, the latest of which achieves an apex synergy of sublime synthetic humanism: outside of your lifetime. Comprised of 10 concise tracks, the album moves with a precision elegance that belies its improvisational origins. Keys and strings, software and hardware, drones and choral harmonies are deployed with fluency and mystery, both hinting at and hiding elusive narratives within their waveforms. For "outside of your lifetime", Sonne brings in even more acoustic instruments, providing space for electric guitar (played by ML Buch), organ (featuring Minais B) and vocals (Sonne, Buch and Tobias Kropp) to naturally breathe in unison with the refined electronic sculptures and with Sonne own instrument: the viola. The pieces variously evoke sequencers tethered to esoteric algorithms, fugues in flux, veiled devotionals, and fiercely propulsive free jazz. Whether this record is about the natural world or human relationships, the lessons are similar: experience accumulates, both as memories and ghosts in the machine. There is no forecasting the future; technology will not bring us closer to tomorrow. Feel something real, make something new, then send it on its way: “To have and not to hold.") 28.00
ASTRID SONNE - Great Doubt LP (escho - ORANGE VINYL. - Danish composer Astrid Sonne opens up her heart on 'Great Doubt', singing candidly for the first time over powdery beats and jerky instrumentation (assisted by none other than Slauson Malone, Ben Vince, Levitation Orchestra's Emma Barnaby and Alvilda Reiter Jakobsen), and even referencing Mariah Carey. It's a revelation - and funny in places too - properly in line with Tirzah, ML Buch and HTRK. We almost didn't recognize Sonne when we first spun 'Great Doubt'. Her voice - not her viola or rack of synths - takes the spotlight on 'Do you wanna', murmuring gently over brittle, tightly reverberating drums that Sonne plays herself. It's a far cry from the pitchy, jazz-inflected psychedelia of 2021's 'outside of your lifetime' or its vaporous predecessor 'Human Lines'. "Do you wanna have a baby?" she asks ruefully, leaving the question unanswered at first, room for strings, piano and subtle synths to reply. She strips herself naked, wondering what it might mean to bring a child into the world; it scrapes against Tirzah's 'Colourgrade' not just sonically but thematically. On that album, Tirzah contemplated motherhood and family - here, Sonne weighs up her choices, using the track's emptiness to suggest emotional malnutrition. "I don't know," she finally relents. 'Give my all' follows with boxy, disney strings and orchestral phrases that bring an uncanny drama to Sonne's blunt words. She sounds confident and forthright as she paraphrases Maria Carey: "I'd give my all to have / just one more night with you." The plasticity of the backdrop only makes the words resonate further, and it's this push and pull between artificiality and raw sensitivity that makes 'Great Doubt' so captivating. There's an unmistakable trip-hop impetus to 'Boost', that features Sonne on drums again, playing slowly alongside sampled woodwinds and fictile synths. There are no vocals on this one, so the instrumentation stands in, winding in and out of tune to poke out towards the boundaries. It's at this moment when Sonne sounds closest to her sometime collaborator ML Buch, bridging the gap between traditional songwriting and a simulated new age. But Sonne doesn't sound as if she's trying to approximate pop, just bare her soul more frankly.) 28.00
BABY IN VAIN - Afterlife LP (escho - Afterlife” is the third full-length LP by Baby in Vain. Emotional alternative rock music, instinctive, internal and contained, soft and grand, close voices, guitar-driven cloudy anthems) 28.00
CASSIE KINOSHI'S SEED - GRATITUDE LP (international anthem. In March of 2023 Mercury Prize nominated composer & alto saxophonist Cassie Kinoshi premiered a commissioned suite of music in front of a sold out crowd at London's Southbank Centre. She wrote the piece - gratitude - for her flagship large ensemble seed., in a special augmented formation that also featured turntablist NikNak and the London Contemporary Orchestra) 28.00
COIL - Moon's Milk (In Four Phases) 3xLP BOXSET (First compiled as a double CD in 2002, 'Moon’s Milk (In Four Phases)' is a suite of four EPs that Coil released seasonally via their in-house Eskaton imprint across 1998. The line-up for these sessions were John Balance, Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson, Drew McDowall, and William Breeze. Recorded primarily at their home studio in Chiswick, London on the eve of a permanent relocation to the small seaside town of Weston-Super- Mare, the collection has long loomed as a pivotal and pinnacle work in the group's discography, but has never been officially reissued, or repressed on vinyl. Time has only ripened its tapestry of regal strangeness. Arranged sequentially in tribute to the equinoxes and solstices, 'Moon's Milk' captures Coil at a revelatory crossroads, leaning deeper into improvisation, spontaneity, and sound design. "Moon's Milk or Under an Unquiet Skull" initiates the proceedings on 'Spring Equinox', a two-part netherworld organ séance woven from vocal drones, cathedral keys, seasick strings, and opiated undertow. From there, 'Summer Solstice' skews lighter but no less incantational, with Balance embracing his voice- as-instrument across lucid dream torch songs ("Bee Stings"), purgatorial spoken word("Glowworms/Waveforms"), sultry chamber pieces ("Summer Substructures"), and falsetto ravings ("A Warning From The Sun (For Fritz)“).) 70.00
ELLEN FULLMAN - Music For The Man Who Grew Common In Wisdom LP (Known prominently for her sculptural Long String Instrument (LSI), these musique concrete pieces showcase an underrecognized side of Fullman’s sound investigations. In two expansive works, Fullman voyages through the comic, the menacing and the blissful all while evoking the unique kinetic and timbral aesthetic for which she is widely praised. Composed between 1987-1989, while living in Austin, Texas, the music originally served as accompaniment to choreographer Deborah Hay's dance piece of the same name. The besom presse release presents the last two movements of the full composition. ) 26.00
EARLY DAY MINERS - Outside Lies Magic LP (solid brass - After 7 studio albums with both Secretly Canadian and Western Vinyl, Early Day Miners have returned with their latest offering, and their first with Solid Brass Records, titled "Outside Lies Magic".Led by Daniel Burton—founding member and engineer of albums by Songs: Ohia, Papa M, Okkervil River, and Windsor For The Derby—the band has enlisted various friends to round out their studio and live performances since their formation in Bloomington, IN over 20 years ago. "Outside Lies Magic" offers an audible lightness. Most notably Burton’s voice, once hushed and at times hesitant, is now full-bodied and sure; his heart, once tenuously carried on his sleeve, is now firmly in his throat. And though this might be the leanest the lineup has been, they are focused and warm, exuding the maximalism of their new home with nuance and a laissez-faire approach. Early Day Miners sound as unhurried as ever, but never aimless; Early Day Miners have finally arrived.) 35.00
ETHNIC HERITAGE ENSEMBLE - Open Me, A Higher Consciousness Of Sound And Spirit DLP (Celebrating 50 Years of The Ethnic Heritage Ensemble’s Legacy and Unwavering Contribution to Great Black Music This is the new offering from Kahil El’Zabar and his Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, in conjunction with the legendary group’s 50th anniversary, Open Me, A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit. Open Me is a joyous honoring of portent new directions of the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble; it’s a visionary journey into deep roots and future routes, channeling traditions old and new. It mixes El’Zabar’s original compositions with timeless classics by Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, and Eugene McDaniels. Thus, the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble continues affirming their indelible, half-century presence within the continuum of Great Black Music. ) 49.00
EYES OF THE AMARYLLIS - Perceptible to Everyone LP (horn of plenty - As the mist clears from their Sift LP Eyes of the Amaryllis return to Horn of Plenty with the equally enigmatic Perceptible to Everyone. Recorded in various remote locations around the northeast of the US over a few warm months in 2022, Perceptible to Everyone maps the band's poetry in nebulous song forms that dance on their constant fission between pastoral and ghostly inner galaxies. Its eight tracks utilize a wide range of instruments and techniques to span an alien, ritualistic territory where melodies and rhythms appear from meandering passages of sound and ramshackle sci-fi settings. The culmination leaves Perceptible to Everyone gesturing as if it were an alluring otherworldly ethnographic document. EotA’s non-idiomatic methods make comparisons difficult but traces of Smegma, early D.D.A.A, Garbage and the Flowers, The Tower Recordings, and Flaming Tunes will get you some of the way there. The rest is uncharted.) 28.00
FEARING - Destroyer LP (profound lore - “Destroyer” sees FEARING fostering their sound by continuing to migrate towards the sonic realms that capture the fine equilibrium allying the somber, austere, the vigorous, and vibrant. A striking singular vision of abyssal maritime desolation, “Destroyer” showcases a more energetic side of the band with a stripped down three-piece lineup and an over more minimal sound. The album pushes and pulls the boundaries between dark and pop music with a much more urgent feel than their previous releases. As songs like 'I Was So Alive' race through dynamics and melodies in a way that feels snappy in contrast to the groups more familiar shoegaze-esque repetition, there are other tracks like, 'Destroyer', that reignites the subtle darkwave influence found in some of their earlier work. FEARING is a dark post-punk band based in the American state of California. The group was created by James Rogers and Brian Vega, two producers who came to be friends years before while going to hardcore shows in Reno, Nevada. After spending the next decade touring in various bands, the two reconnected while living in Oakland, California over their shared interest in darkwave and electronic music. Having started FEARING as a 4 piece guitar band with full acoustic drums, to now touring and recording as a 3 electronic hybrid, the group has showcased a potential to grow and change in a way that keeps their fan's interested, and their live performances unique.) 33.00
FIRE! - Testament LP (Fire! have always been about finding the essence by getting to the core of the music. Their 8th album sees the trio - for the first time on record - stripped down to the bare-bones essentials; with no flutes, no electronics, no guests and no extras, recorded live in the studio to analogue tape - the Steve Albini way - with the master himself at the controls in Electrical Audio in Chicago. Thus, this album stands as a true testament to the group´s expressive power and glowing intimacy.) 32.00
FOOTBALLHEAD - Overthinking Everything LP (tiny engines. -Lim. Clear Purple Vinyl. Footballhead is a Chicago-based alternative rock band headed by singer/songwriter Ryan Nolen. At its heart, the band is a vessel to toil forward through internal and external insecurity. It also serves the unrelenting spirit of new-millennium Midwestern youth, with MTV and skatepark dreams in the core of their memories. By blending pop structures with alt and emo sounds, Footballhead channels the frantic, dramatic, and anthemic to map the pressure points of existence. It’s outcast music, revitalized in search of a modern, blissful awakening. Nolen was a skate kid from the western Chicago suburbs; the one who only kicked it with older neighborhood kids. The punkish attitude of late-90s and early-aughts alt-rock galvanized Nolen, from the infectiously fun music down to the fashion. A teenage relocation to Palm Springs, CA coincided with Nolen inundating himself with all the music he could: Warped Tour, 411 videos, Limewire, and the like. The Footballhead ethos comes from this comfort zone of pop impulses and raucous energy, carried by a DIY spirit that grants Nolen the autonomy to facilitate honesty and reflection. Joined by Adam Siska, snow ellet, Liam Burns, and Robbie Kuntz, Footballhead crafts supercharged rock songs like brief, open secrets. However weathered one is from their struggles and mistakes, this music offers unbridled fun as a reprieve, and salves for the shaken. These are your old friends inviting you in to commiserate, elevate, and believe. ) 30.00
FORNDOM - Dauðra Dura LP (nordvis - Reissue of Forndom's timeless masterpiece of atmospheric Nordic folk. Embark on a journey to realms untold with Forndom and the musical mastery of Ludvig Swärd. Presenting “Dauðra Dura”, a mesmerising debut album following the dreamlike echoes of the 2015 EP “Flykt”. At the heart of “Dauðra Dura” lies a profound musical portrayal of Death, as seen through the eyes of the old north. Listen closely, for the distant drums beckon you to explore the mystic “Dauðra Dura” – the very gates of bereavement. Delve into Forndom’s universe, where melodies breathe life into ancient Scandinavian traditions and beliefs. Since this album was released in 2016, it has amassed nearly a combined 40 million Spotify plays. Meanwhile, Ludvig has carved out a name for himself across multiple music scenes with celebrated tours and appearances at prestigious festivals.) 31.00
FRIEDER BUTZMANN - juHrop - Szenen und Arien aus einer Oper in klingonischer Sprache 2xLP BOXSET ( Limited and numbered edition of 250 copies. Die-cut box, 5 inlays and extensive booklet (Libretto). The opera "juHrop" was recorded with great effort at the Studio für Komische Musik Berlin and at the studio of Diamanda Galas in New York from 1996 to 2001. It is orchestral music produced with electronic devices and voices of Chinese singer Wu Jiang, David Moss, Diamanda Galas, Udo Scheuerpflug, Margarete Huber and the Moabiter Motettenchor. It was broadcasted in full length on "Deutschlandradio Kultur" in 2009. "The Klingons are martial bullheads. They are known as the warlike people from the planet Thlingan from the TV series Star Trek. But the Klingons also love music and poetry. Their greatest poet was Shakespeare from Earth, who was supposedly one of their own. The Klingon opera "juHrop" (pronounced tschuch-rop, meaning homesickness) plays unrestrainedly with timpani and trumpets on a heroic monumental orchestra, enriched by synthetic Gregorian chants and electronic hi- and lofi effects. The story is as bloodthirsty and heartbreaking as its setting. The vocals are Klingon and Chinese." (Frieder Butzmann) Frieder Butzmann was a member of various bands (including Nachdenkliche Wehrpflichtige together with Diedrich Diederichsen and FM Einheit of Einstürzende Neubauten), co-founded Burkhardt Seiler's record label Zensor and was involved in the restoration and acoustic documentation of analogue synthesizers and effect devices at the Studio for Electro-Instrumental Music (STEIM), Amsterdam. Since 1979 he has worked as a freelance composer, radio play author, actor, artist, lecture traveller and crachmacheur. Butzmann began experimenting with music at the end of the 1960s. In the late 1970s, Butzmann was one of the pioneers of German industrial music. He was closely associated with bands such as Throbbing Gristle, with whose founding member Genesis P-Orridge he also collaborated on the LP Vertrauensmann des Volkes (1981). Butzmann belonged to the loose group of self-proclaimed Geniale Dilettanten. He performed at the 1981 Genialer Dilletanten festival in Berlin's Tempodrom and is also represented in the manifesto published by Wolfgang Müller (Die Tödliche Doris) at Merve Verlag. In the first half of the 1980s, he performed internationally together with Alexander Hacke (alias Alexander von Borsig). From the mid-1980s until the 2000s, he often formed a duo with the author and artist Thomas Kapielski. A duo that was occasionally expanded into a trio by the musician and visual artist Sven-Åke Johansson or the artist and instrument inventor Nils Krüger.) 75.00
ITERUM NATA - FROM THE INFINITE LIGHT LP (nordvis - Drawing from a wellspring of sinister musings and an incessant drive for musical experimentation, Iterum Nata presents “From the Infinite Light”. In the wake of his critically acclaimed 2023 album, “Trench of Loneliness”, Jesse Heikkinen (The Abbey, Henget, ex-Hexvessel) embarks on a bold foray across the boundaries between folk music, black and doom metal, neo-folk, and progressive rock, orchestrating a symphony where every note is a harbinger of both darkness and light. As twelve-string and six-string acoustic guitars weave a cloak of folky serenity, tremolo-picked electric guitars inject black metal mysticism, forging a sound that's as distinctive as it is immersive. Fusing the brooding narratives of Nick Cave, the avant-garde creativity of Dødheimsgard, and the spectral chants of Dead Can Dance, “From the Infinite Light” is a beckoning path into a world where the melancholy of introspection meets the rage of existence. “From the Infinite Light” was produced, recorded, and mixed by Jesse Heikkinen at Studio Beyond North Star. Cover art by Kjetil Karlsen. The album features guest appearances by Matron Thorn (Ævangelist, Benighted in Sodom), Rob Coffinshaker (The Coffinshakers), as well as renowned author and occultist Richard Kaczynski.) 31.00
IMAGINATION - I'm Always Right - The WDR Tapes 1977 LP ( "I'm Always Right“ by Imagination is an unreleased jazz rock LP recorded in 1977, 3 years before their sought after “Shake It” debut from 1980. Comprised of five tracks with a playtime of roughly 30 minutes, you will hear one of the finest German late-70s rock-tinged electric jazz albums of the era. The recording is a delightful stand-out with unique compositions, aspiring solo work, and a soulful spirit throughout. Additionally, the album veritably glows with exceptional sound quality, as it has been remastered from original tapes that were cut more than four decades ago at the WDR Funkhaus, Cologne.) 23.00
JAMMIN' SAM MILLER - Super Metroid (OST Recreated) DLP (wrwtfww - Limited Edition with exclusive artwork by Pierre Thyss and OBI strip - WRWTFWW Records is happy to announce the first-ever physical release of Louisiana-based composer and producer Jammin’ Sam Miller’s full HD re-creation/restoration of the beloved Super Metroid video game soundtrack. The limited biovinyl double LP is packed with 27 tracks and features an exclusive artwork by French illustrator Pierre Thyss, as well as an obi strip. Composed by Kenji Yamamoto and Minako Hamano, the soundtrack for 1994 SNES exploration / action-adventure / sci-fi / alien video game Super Metroid has always been a fan-favorite. A true masterclass in music storytelling, it beautifully evokes the epic and eerie adventure of the game’s protagonist Samus Aran with superb use of atmospheric sounds, space-operatic arrangements, rumbling bass, oppressive techno-futurist moods, tribal drums, and airy synth themes, admirably balancing the ominous feel of a dark menace and contemplative, even soothing, ambient soundscapes. Jammin' Sam Miller assiduously recreated the soundtrack note by note, by finding the original equipment used to create it, translating the MIDI into a modern studio context, adding in keyboard samples, and re-mixing and re-mastering the whole score. He explains: "This was made possible by locating the original instrument samples from workstation keyboards and drum machines before they were put into the game and rebuilding the soundtrack from the ground up, applying some modern mixing techniques along the way to lift the veil of 16bit compression and create an updated listening experience.“ Super Metroid is pressed on biovinyl, a sustainable alternative to traditional vinyl. Biovinyl replaces petroleum in S-PVC by recycling used cooking oil or industrial waste gases, resulting in 100% CO2 savings in bio-based S-PVC production. Furthermore, it is 100% recyclable and reusable, embracing the circular economy ideology.) 35.00
JULIA HOLTER - Something in the Room She Moves DLP (domino - “My heart is loud,” Julia Holter sings on her sixth album Something in the Room She Moves, following an inner pulse. The Los Angeles songwriter’s past work has often explored memory and dreamlike future, but her latest album resides more in presence: “There’s a corporeal focus, inspired by the complexity and transformability of our bodies,” Holter says. Her production choices and arrangements form a continuum of fretless electric bass pitches in counterpoint with gliding vocal melodies, while glissing Yamaha CS-60 lines entwine warm winds and reeds. “I was trying to create a world that’s fluid-sounding, waterlike, evoking the body’s internal sound world,” Holter says of her flowing harmonic universe. ) 30.00
LIMPE FUCHS - Pianoon LP (future resitenza - Renowned for her percussion genius, Limpe Fuchs surprises with a rare venture into her classical roots - the piano. Despite her extensive musical career, documented piano performances have been scarce until now. In this album she transcends time and expectation, diving into the instrument's essence. Her rhythmic finesse as a percussionist leaves an indelible mark on each keystroke. Join Fuchs on this intriguing late venture into the world of piano and savour every note on this unique and raw artistic encounter.) 28.00
LUSTER - Luster LP (morc - LP comes with screenrprinted and letter pressed sleeves. Ten years in the making, finally the debut album of this belgian sextet with members of Mote, Joe Speedboat and Annelies Monseré arrives. Cello, flute, harmonium and violin blend in with the traditional guitar-bass-drums trio – making them land on a unique spot at the crossroad where ancestral doom folk, heady dronerock and spacious pop seamlessly meet. Often repetive, always mesmerizing and evocative. Kind of the missing link between Mazzy Star, Pentangle, Broadcast and Enhet for Fri Musik.) 26.00
MACHI OUL BIG BAND - Quetzalcoatl LP (souffle - Before coming to Europe, in 1970, pianist Manuel Villarroel was a vet in his native Chilli. A few years later, as leader of the Machi Oul Big Band, he returned to the animal kingdom. A very specific kind of animal, for sure, the Quetzalcoatl, also known as the Feathered Serpent. What is behind this title (also the name of one of the three original compositions on this album released on the Palm label in 1976), is first and foremost a sort of homecoming… After discovering the jazz of Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis and John Coltrane, Villarroel was taken by the free jazz which was all the rage at the time in America and Europe, and this would inspire the first version of his Machi-Oul, project. This was a septet, with which the pianist would record, in 1971, the tremendous Terremoto (re-released by Souffle Continu FFL085). After this masterstroke Villarroel was invited to record with Perception (Perception & Friends) and with Baikida Carroll (Orange Fish Tears). While these were notable contributions, Villarroel was already looking into other combinations.) 30.00
MARIA RITA - Brasileira LP (mr bongo - An original copy of the Brasileira LP by Brazilian singer Maria Rita Stumpf has been on top of collectors' and music lovers' wishlist for the past couple of years, since "Cântico Brasileiro No 3 (Kamaiurá)" broke out and cast a spell worldwide – from Japan to Brazil, from Norway to South Africa, everybody was flabbergasted after they first heard the song, and each and every time they heard it again. For the lucky ones that could listen to her whole album – and get to know other gems such as "Lamento Africano/Rictus" and "A Cidade"– it is clear that it is an ouvre that more people should have access to, not only an elite of listeners and connaisseurs.The good news are that the LP will be available again in its entirety in a new, glossy, loud and clear pressing released through Selva Discos, a new label run by Augusto Olivani and Millos Kaiser (the DJ/production duo known as Selvagem) in partnership with JD Twitch's Optimo Music.) 30.00
MARTYRDÖD - Hexhammaren LP (The band’s crushing seventh album, as with prior MARTYRDÖD works, was recorded by Fredrik Nordström at Studio Fredman (Wolfbrigade, At The Gates, Agrimonia) in Gothenburg, Sweden. MARTYRDÖD states of Hexhammaren, "The album came out really strong. We tried to just let loose and not get distracted with details. The recording was straight up raw and sincere with fast takes and improvised solos.” Martyrdöd manage to remain heavily unique in their filth-ridden approach. While undeniably influenced by acts like Anticimex, Bathory, and Totalitär, the band intertwines their crust roots with sinister, haunting soundscapes and unique blackened riff attacks.) 32.00
MIIJA MILOVIC - Still Life LP (escho - Textures and sounds spanning from the virtues of 90’s grunge/alt-rock to renaissance-like melodies bound together with the opposite pop-music structures sliced with contemporary collage techniques. A sentence almost as strange as the music, yet ever so familiar, like a band dreaming of each other. On Mija Milovic’ second solo album “Still Life”, there is easily no conform to the constraints of simple boxes, instead, it focuses on emoting with intonation, stress, rhythm and pace. It's about tender and aggressive transformations. Figuring out who you are and how to be in the world. Locating magic in the mundane, being swept away by the energy of fellow humans. Holding space for each other in a community. Feeling estranged in the urban landscape. Learning to let go. and more. Mija Milovic is a Danish/Montenegrin musician, composer and producer based in Copenhagen. She has a background in theatre, performance, alternative notation and improvisational music creation. With several releases under her own name, she is also a member of the rock band SLIM0.) 27.00
NICOLE LACHARTRE - Mundus 3xLP (Megaphone - First ever release of French composer, musicologist and writer Nicole Lachartre (1934-1991). This 3LP set comprises most of her electronic music and musique concrète compositions recorded in the 60’s and 70’s, all previously unreleased. Lachartre had a classical formation, studied with a.o. Darius Milhaud, Iannis Xenakis and Michel Philippot. Her broad formation and interest as well as her profound commitment and singular vision created a solitary voice even within the field of electronic music and musique concrète, strangely enough unheard till this day. Her first tape composition from 1968 was recorded in Pierre Henry’s Apsome studio and most of her other electronic and electro-acoustic compositions included in this box set were recorded at the IPEM in Ghent.) 59.00
PUYAIN SANATI - Nafas Morte LP (escho - Debut album inspired by nature, sounds of bending frequencies, and metaphysical structures. Five compositions for voice, santour, and electronics. About: Puyain Sanati is a Danish-Iranian, Copenhagen-based composer and sound artist. Coming from a background in more dance-oriented club music he now also works within the field of improvisation, electroacoustic and abstract music. Influenced by improvisation and ritual music, he has been delving into his artistic research on the subject of ‘ancient traditions with today’s electronic possibilities’, utilising hypnotic rhythms and soundscapes to map out some kind of bigger universal language. Heavy clear vinyl. Pantone color cover. Limited to 150 copies) 26.00
RUTH GOLLER -SKYLLUMNIA LP (international anthem - SKYLLUMINA represents a new evolution of London-based, Italian-born composer, bassist, and vocalist Ruth Goller. Goller is known for her bass and vocal work with Alabaster DePlume, whose music she elevates in live contexts with her genre-less improvisational intuition, and an incredibly diverse résumé that includes performance and recording with Bex Burch’s Vula Viel, Shabaka Hutchings, Rokia Traore, Melt Yourself Down, Sam Amidon, and even a very brief moment with Paul McCartney. For SKYLLUMINA, her International Anthem debut, Goller expands upon the concept of her first solo album Skylla – de-tuned bass harmonics with layered voices – this time collaborating with a different drummer on each track. “As a bass-player, I love playing with drummers and I decided to focus on my close connection to that instrument and to the amazing people I met in my life who play it,” says Goller. “There were some who played tuned percussion as well, so it would give me another element to explore.” Her accompanists on the album include The Smile's Tom Skinner, go-to London drummer Seb Rochford, Berlin-based International Anthem labelmate Bex Burch, and ex-pat Chicago legend Frank Rosaly. But more importantly, the music is an immersive hyperfocus for Goller and her patently distinct, singular compositional vision.) 28.00
SEPTET MATCHI-OUL - Terremoto LP (souffle - To abandon animals for music – and avant-garde jazz at that –, could seeming shocking to some people. However, it is exactly what Manuel Villarroel did, as he was a vet for three years before leaving his native Chili for Europe and a career in music. And though the animals may have suffered, the world of music can be grateful. Born in 1944, Manuel Villarroel lent an ear to the best pianists from North America: Oscar Peterson and Erroll Garner then Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner and Cecil Taylor. Manuel left Santiago in September 1970 to participate in the Contemporary Music Workshop in Berlin. To pursue his musical career, he rapidly decided to remain in Europe. The following year in Paris, Manuel began a quartet with saxophonist Jef Sicard (who would also play with his brother Patricio, in the Dharma Quintet). But the group would rapidly expand: Villarroel and Sicard added Gérard Coppéré (saxophone), William Treve (trombone), François Méchali (bass) and Jean-Louis Méchali (drums). And with the arrival of Sonny Grey, a Jamaican trumpeter heard ten years earlier with Daniel Humair, the Matchi-Oul Septet was complete.) 28.00
STATIQBLOOM - Kain (Printed Sleeve) LP (Statiqbloom's new album "Kain" is embodying the true essence of industrial music, going beyond just a particular sound and encapsulating an outlook on the world. The fusion of forward-thinking, dystopian sounds, pulsating basslines, and mid-tempo rhythmic beats, all of which contribute to a masterfully crafted industrial techno experience.) 30.00
SUSS - Promise LP (northern spy - EXCLUSIVE CIRRUS SKY VINYL. While their first two albums, Ghost Box and High Line, explored panoramas that evoked the American West as well as the cosmic beyond, Promise--the third and latest album by SUSS on Northern Spy Records--takes a more personal journey that maps out the rocky terrain of the American dream. Writing, recording, and mixing during the pandemic quarantine, the members of SUSS used their music to come to grips with concepts such as “promise” and “hope” and what they could still mean in this day and age. On Promise, the NYC quartet creates sonic landscapes using pedal steel, baritone guitar, ebow, harmonium, synths, loops and other Americana instrumentation. Drawing on influences from their younger years, SUSS has created music that evokes early psychedelic Pink Floyd, Kraftwerk and the seminal soundtrack work of John Barry. The result, which they call “pastoral psychedelicism,” is a music that is beautiful, haunting and challenging.) 32.00
VALENTINA MAGALETTI - A Queer Anthology of Drums LP (Limited to 600 copies on black vinyl with three sleeve colour variants: 300 x red, 200 x green and 100 x blue. A Queer Anthology of Drums - "a percussive collage of low-fi frequencies documenting a journey that never took place" (Takuroku), a home recording capturing Valentina's ritualistic free-improv essence, is now being presented to audiences across the world by bié Records, via both streaming services and vinyl for the first time. *A Queer Anthology of Drums was originally released on Cafe Oto's label “Takuroku” with 8 tracks solely in MP3 format. The new version is specifically remastered for vinyl format and expanded to 9 tracks with the previously unreleased “She/Her/Gone”.) 30.00
VALENTINA MAGALETTI - Lucha Libra LP (*200 copies limited edition* Valentina Magaletti flies solo again with 4 impeccable post-punk / dub / wave infused workouts. The lo-fi and forlorn And There Is Us opens the set with awkward drum machine, twinkly piano notes, and analogue synth tones sitting under echoing voices which carry across to Noiaz with its rolling, drill-like drum patterns. Lotta on the B side gets busier with guitar, field recordings and a laid-back groove before the pace picks up for the closing track Drum Jump where a range of percussion and fx are propelled by an incessant groove that could have beamed-in from Danceteria circa '82. Killer! ) 26.00
V/A - Eccentric Soul: The Saadia Label LP (numero - After the fall of the Deep City label, Rocketeers bandleader Frank Williams set up shop under the name of his twin daughters Saadia and Giwada and got to work reinventing the Miami Sound. Tracked between 1968-1970, this LP gathers 15 of Saadia's funkiest and deeply soulful moments, featuring Pearl Dowell, Joey Gilmore, Little Beaver, Frank Williams' Rocketeers, Robert Moore, Brother Williams, and Sam Baker. Your next sample, first dance, workout jam or closing credits is buried in here somewhere.) 30.00
VOLE - Slibuji za všechny LP (day after - 2024 album from Czech hardcore punk band Vole. Vinyl out on Day After Records) 25.00
WERNER DURAND / AMELIA CUNI / ULI HOHMANN - Clearing LP (Aguirre - In addition to the unique musical proposals and the large body of work that they have developed separately, Amelia Cuni and Werner Durand have been performing together as a duo as well as in collaborations (Tonaliens, Born of Six) for more than 20 years. Fusing her Indian Raga singing in the Dhrupad style with his minimalist and experimental approach, they have expanded the reach of their soundworlds as well as proposed new paths for contemporary music. In this occasion, Uli Hohmann joins them in a range of hand drums from the Middle East and North Africa, plus a dulcimer-sounding hammered guitar. Durand's various self-made wind instruments, soprano sax, and blown kalimba shine along with Cuni's astounding vocals, which are sometimes sung through a mirliton (a medieval type of kazoo). Clearing is the trio's first published recording. ) 27.00
WERNER DURAND WITH AMELIA CUNI AND VICTOR MEERTENS - Processions DLP (Besom - "Processions" is a double lp by composer, performer, and instrument-maker werner durand, with amelia cuni and victor meertens. recorded and mixed in his home studio in berlin from 2012-16, durand offers four just-intoned drone works distilling global influence into compositions of singular beauty. the pieces presented here are rooted in durand’s past work with meertens (an australian visual artist), a partnership that dates back to the early 90’s. performed on an unlikely array of instruments including various self-made wind and reed instruments, sarod, mirliton, bi (a vietnamese free reed instrument), trumpet, and hammered electric guitar, the result is narcotic. each piece is a rich tapestry woven by timbral combinations that cut clearly defined swaths of the spectral field, yet cradle each other with mandala-like elegance. processions opens with meertens’ hammered guitar percolating within the glacial flow of durand’s omnipresent hum—like an embryonic dreyblatt excitation set adrift in the bardo of lamonte young’s eternal music. dhrupad singer amelia cuni’s voice enters, beckoning like an oneiric shepherd. as the record proceeds, durand doubles down on his elemental sound—before long the listener, without realizing it, sits straddling a borderline in a hypnagogic state of fleeting consciousness.) 32.00
XIU XIU - La Forêt LP (2024 reissue on sunset swirl vinyl, limited to 1,000. Includes lyric sheet, poster, and download card with Drunk Commentary. La Forêt's sound has been described as more subtle and less pop-sounding than Xiu Xiu's previous album Fabulous Muscles. The album was seen as a return to the band's earlier sound. The instrumentation includes clarinet, string arrangements, and vibraphone. Stewart said the tone of the album reflected his personal life where he began to internalize the difficult events that occurred around when Fabulous Muscles was recorded. He described the album as "about reflection and resignation and coming to a sort of resolution“.) 32.00
V/A - Pure Wicked Tune: Rare Groove Blues Dances & House Parties, 1985-1992 LP (Pure Wicked Tune is a mixtape-style collection of extracts & cut-ups, taken from DIY cassette recordings featuring rare groove and "soul blues" soundsystems playing at early morning house parties and blues dances - mostly in South & East London - between the mid 1980s & early 90s. Sounds like Funkadelic, Touch of Class, Latest Edition, JB Crew, Manhattan, 5th Avenue (and the many more featured on this tape) originally began to form in the mid-1980s. With lovers rock dwindling, and the reggae scene becoming dominated by harder digital-style dancehall, these sounds provided a tight but loyal crowd with a potent alternative - playing a mixture of killer rare soul, funk and boogie records in an inimitably reggae soundsystem style, complete with toasting, sirens and effects aplenty.) 30.00
BOOKS
FANNY CHIARELLO - Basta Now: Women, Trans & Non-binary in Experimental Music BOOK (392 pp! Basta Now: Women, Trans & Non-binary in Experimental Music is a non-academic essay by French poet, novelist and music enthusiast Fanny Chiarello. It’s also the first book to be published by Permanent Draft, an all-female record label and micro-press founded by musician Valentina Magaletti and writer Fanny Chiarello, dedicated to promoting contemporary female, non-binary and transgender artists. Basta Now is essentially a huge (yet admittedly not definitive) overview of 2,371 womxn in the global experimental sound & music scene. It's been written in playful and compelling prose and stylishly presented with photos, illustrations, and discographies. “This book has nothing against men, it’s just not about them.” - Fanny Chiarello ) 28.00
