Bis Aufs Messer weekly News May 01 2021
hi. Welcome to another newsletter - as usual a bunch of killer releases arrived like FUTURISK - Recordings 1980-1982 3x7" + Flexi BOXSET, JOZEF VAN WISSEM / SQÜRL - only lovers left alive DLP, SCREAMERS – Screamers Demo Hollywood 1977 LP, RATA NEGRA - Una Vida Vulgar LP, DOLLY MIXTURE - Demonstration Tapes DLP (expecting more copies), RUDIMENTARY PENI - Great War LP, ANGEL OLSEN - Song of the Lark and Other Far Memories 4LP BOX, SUFJAN STEVENS - America 12“ — along with a couple restocks as well.
We also have the SHIFTERS - open vault DLP at the pressing plant and the we will started pre orders for the upcoming PIGEON LP pretty soon. (release date will be June 11th). Almost half of the red ones are already gone.
Thank you for your support in those difficult times
Norman & Robert
www.adagio830-records.bandcamp.com
7“
FUTURISK - Recordings 1980-1982 3x7" + Flexi BOXSET (minmal wave - Minimal Wave is proud to present ‘Recordings 1980-1982’ (MW077), a triple 7” box set by pioneering south Florida synth-punk band Futurisk, in honor of their 40th anniversary. Founded by Jeremy Kolosine in 1978, Futurisk recorded many songs and performed live throughout the early 1980s. Though they had released two 7”s that sold out, had a legendary live show, and even some videos, by 1984 Futurisk was history. Eventually, the main core of Futurisk would be the Jeremy Kolosine, Richard Hess, and Jack Howard line-up though much happened leading up to this point. In 1979, the teenage Jeremy Kolosine won studio time and money in a competition with his drum-machine-triggered guitar-synth act called ‘Clark Humphrey & Futurisk’. He decided to form a band around the name to record a more punk release titled The Sound of Futurism 1980 / Army Now. It was an ambivalent anti-war anthem with Jack Howard on drums, Frank Lardino on synth, and Kolosine on vocals and guitar synth. Many live shows ensued with the line-up which included Jeff Marcus on bass and Vinnie Scrimenti on drums but in 1981 a rift between the band caused them to part ways. They continued for a bit as ‘Radio Berlin’ (no relation to the Vancouver act) and Kolosine, who had gotten absorbed in a new analog synthesizer with sequencer continued as Futurisk. He recruited synthesist and recording engineer Richard Hess who had a myriad collection of Moogs, Oberhieims, and CATs. Jack Howard returned on drums and syn-drums and the lineup for the Player Piano EP was cast. The EP, like the live show, was a strange blend of punk, minimalist, and disco-influenced electro-pop, with drum machine triggered synths and often frantic real drums all led by Kolosine’s schizophrenic Bowie / Ferry / Foxx adulations. It was recorded by Richard Hess and the band in the rooms of a friend’s house. The drum sound, recorded in a bathroom, rocks, even today. Reportedly, Futurisk may have been the first synth-punk band in the American South, and their 1981 track ‘Push Me Pull You (Pt. 2)’ was an early pre- ‘Rockit’ excursion into electro-funk. The ‘Recordings 1980-1982’ box set includes three 7”s, an Army Now (1982) 7” Flexi, and a 16-page full-color booklet featuring unpublished photographs of the band, the history of the band, and an interview with founder Jeremy Kolosine. The three 7”s are The Sound of Futurism 1980 / Army Now which includes an unreleased track from the same session, the Player Piano five-song 7” EP from 1982, and the Ocean Sound 7”, which has not been released in this format until now. All three 7”s are remastered, pressed on heavyweight 70-gram vinyl, and housed in heavy color printed matte sleeves featuring the band’s original artwork. The box is case wrapped and depicts an early illustration of the band printed in black on white with a spot gloss. Limited edition of 600 copies.) 55.00
LP
ALEXANDER ROBOTNICK – Ce N'est Q'un Début LP (spittle - This Mini-LP was originally released on Materiali Sonori in 1984 in Italy and is long out of print. Alexander Robotnick (aka Maurizio Dami) is an Italian electronic musician. He made his debut on the Italian music scene as the founding member of Avida, a dance-cabaret band featuring Daniele Trambusti and Stefano Fuoch. in 1983 he attained international popularity with his track “Problèmes d’amour”, published first by the Italian label Materiali Sonori and then by Sire-Wea. “Problèmes d’amour” went on to become a “cult track” of the disco scene. After 40 years Spittle Records in joint venture with Materiali Sonori re-issues the mini album and the 12” with its original artwork."Once I was in Chicago, it was around 2010, I was just finishing my set and went outside the club to light a cigarette. Suddenly a police car stops nearby. I thought the policeman was here to fine me (I was more than 20 meters outside the venue), but he just lifted a poster of mine and asked to sign it. Then I realized that "Problèmes d’Amour" has been for a longtime the opening theme for a popular radio broadcast well-known between the black community (hence the policeman was black)”. - Maurizio Dami) 18.00
ANGEL OLSEN - Song of the Lark and Other Far Memories 4LP BOX (jajjaguwar - 4xLP deluxe box set including Angel Olsen's latest two albums, All Mirrors and Whole New Mess, as well as an LP of bonus audio. Also includes 40 page book including photo shoot outtakes, pictures from the recording of these albums, handwritten lyrics, and items of meaning to Angel. Originally conceived as a double album, All Mirrors and Whole New Mess were distinct parts of a larger whole, twin stars that each expressed something bigger and bolder than Angel Olsen had ever made. Released in 2019, All Mirrors is massive in scope and sound, tracing Olsen's ascent into the unknown, to a place of true selfacceptance, no matter how dark, or difficult, or seemingly lonely. All Mirrors is colossal, moving, dramatic in an Old Hollywood manner. Recorded before All Mirrors but released after, Whole New Mess is the bones and beginnings of the songs that would rewrite Olsen's story. This is Angel Olsen in her classic style: stark solo performances, echoes and open spaces, her voice both whispered and enormous. All Mirrors and Whole New Mess presented the two glorious extremes of an artist who, in these songs, became new by embracing herself entirely. Now, with Songs of the Lark_ And Other Far Memories, these twin stars become a constellation with the full extent of the songs' iterations: all the alternate takes, b-sides, remixes and reimaginings are here, together. Alongside, a 40-page book collection tells a similar story, not just through outtakes and unseen photos but through the smaller, evocative details: handwritten lyrics, a favorite necklace, a beaded chandelier. As if it could be more plainly stated (there's nothing more), Angel adds one cover here: a loving, assertive rendition of Roxy Music's "More Than This." It is a definitive collection, not just of these songs but of their revelations and their writer, from their simplest origins to their mightiest realizations.) 65.00
ANTON BRUHIN - Speech Poems / Fruity Music LP (black truffle - Black Truffle is delighted to offer up a rare serving of unheard works by legendary Swiss artist Anton Bruhin. Active as a visual artist, poet, and musician since the 1960s, Bruhin has created important work in forms as varied as concrete poetry and landscape painting, imbuing everything he does with wit, humility, and absurdist humour. A recognised master of the jew’s harp (or Trümpi, as this ancient folk instrument is known in Swiss German), Bruhin’s sound work also encompasses tape collage, sound poetry, and manipulated bird song. On Speech Poems/Fruity Music we are treated to 26 short pieces made between 2006 and 2008 using the audio software Fruity Loops. These pieces carry on Bruhin’s long-running project of exploring the creative use and misuse of cheap, accessible technologies. In many of his analogue works, Bruhin explored the possibilities of simple cassette equipment. He invented DIY approaches to layering sounds by using multiple tape machines, experimented with distortion and tape speed, or, in his classic Inout (1981) created a maniacally single-minded audio monument to the pause button. Like the computer pixel drawings the artist produced around the same time as these recordings, Speech Poems/Fruity Music extends this approach to consumer software, presenting two parallel sequences of works that make use of Fruity Loops’ inbuilt synthetic instruments and its speech synthesis function. The instrumental works play like a twisted take on the aesthetics of 1980s video game soundtracks, using synthetic accordion and harpsichord sounds to realise jaunty little ditties that exploit their machine-realisation by making use of improbable pitch-bends and humanly impossible tempos and articulations. ) 25.00
ASMUS TIETCHENS & MIKI YUI - Neues Boot LP (TAL - TAL presents the first musical collaboration between Hamburg based Asmus Tietchens and Japanese artist Miki Yui, operating out of Düsseldorf for almost 20 years now. Highly respected and hugely influential artist Asmus Tietchens first made his mark on the electronic music scene in the late 1970s, whereas Miki Yui debuted her sonic settings in 1999. Their first joint album Neues Boot envelops the listener with a poetic sound sensibility and a conceptual clarity which was processed and passed back and forth between their individual studios in Hamburg and Düsseldorf. Asmus Tietchens: After Stefan Schneider suggested to release a Yui-Tietchens album on his TAL imprint Miki and I quickly developed some ideas towards our eventual collaboration. We agreed upon an ongoing mutual exchange of material. We have both been very familiar with each other's music for a long time and we found our individual approach towards sound design to be uniquely compatible. We do not use our electronic tools in order to merely achieve the maximum of technical possibilities, but to illustrate aesthetic necessities. This entails a deliberate reduction and refined perception of the sonic characteristics of the material. Only this approach enabled us to fully realise the complete spectrum of the sounds and noises we were working with in order to construct this New Boat. Each and everyone of my treatments is exclusively based on a track supplied by Miki. I added no new sound sources. Naturally the spatial and temporal dimensions of the source material were thus altered. These transformations are exactly what makes our collaboration special and unique. Very early on we had agreed on New Boat as a working title and a guiding light . Of course in the beginning we had no idea where this New Boat might take us. Now we do know. After several months of ship-building the boat has now set sails for new sonic horizons. Ahoi!) 23.00
DAVID GRANSTRÖM - Empty Room LP (white vinyl) (Hollow Ground - On »Empty Room,« David Granström works with slow transformations, cyclical and isometric patterns as well as just intonation as a way to create harmonic stability, allowing his long-form pieces to develop their own unique temporal and spatial qualities. A prolific figure in Stockholm’s experimental drone scene and a collaborator of Hallow Ground label mates Maria W Horn and Mats Erlandsson, the Swedish composer navigates through moments of quietude and crushing volume on these five tracks. Sonically and atmospherically, the pieces on »Empty Room« simultaneously call to mind Fennesz’s most meditative work or the physical experience of seeing Sunn O))) live, blending guitar recordings and synthesised sounds with forceful effects similar to those of Mario Díaz de Leon’s Oneirogen project while still being as moving and delicate as Alessandro Cortini’s solo work. The album is marked by melodies and harmonies that are the product of a peculiar working process that turned the composer into an intent listener collaborating with, rather than simply using technology. ) 26.00
DOLLY MIXTURE - Demonstration Tapes DLP (spa - Top five record of all time. If you don't fall in love with 'Will He Kiss Me Tonight', you probably don't like music. "The return of the classic Demonstration Tapes double LP on vinyl from the one and only Dolly Mixture. Originally self released in 1984 – this 27 track set collects the band’s demos from 1979 to 1983 of perfectly executed pop, indie pop and ’60s girl group gems. The sound is raw but the charm and pure-pop songcraft manages to shine through. Dolly Mixture should have been massive – so just sit back and enjoy these charming songs that have aged like a fine wine. Original copies sell for silly money and even the Germs of Youth reissue sells for over £100. This reissue comes with a brand new sleeve design.“) 32.00
EMBRYO - Opal LP (Italian Press) (A new reissue of Embryo's Opal, originally released in 1970. Miles was right, Embryo was more than a unique experience. While talking with Charlie Mariano (the saxophone player was one of the most impressive collaborator of the German band) one day he stated: "Embryo -- they are these crazy creative musicians playing really weird stuff." When you get the blessing from the prince of darkness itself, nothing can go wrong, so here's the story. Opal was the beginning of all things to come, the record was released in 1970 and licensed by pioneering early Berlin rock/jazz/experimental music label Ohr. It was quite a shock! Forget about your kosmische debris and sought-after kraut rock genetics, this was pure and mind bending (heavy) psychedelia, the kind Mr. Julian Cope would have killed for. The long stretching "People From Out The Space" -- seven minutes plus of outstanding jam -- was sitting at the end of the album, right after a series of heavy hitting jazz rock numbers. This was the foundation of a whole myth. A cornerstone in European experimental and popular modern composition.) 27.00
FAYE WEBSTER - s/t LP (Secretly - First Time Ever On Vinyl! On Beautiful White Vinyl With A Dark Blue Splatter - „Webster Explores Themes Of Different Relationships Through Her broody Tunes, Tackling The Notion Of Writing Only Sad Songs By Writing Her "Saddest Song" Yet. In A Way, The Record Feels Like A Coming of-Age For The Singer-Songwriter Into Her Own Perfectly Curated Moment, Which Surely Will Lead To Bigger And Better Things." - Nylon
"Faye Webster Is Filled With Lush Bluegrass Sounds, Featuring Plenty Of Slide Guitar And The Occasional Trill Of A Fiddle, Which Webster's Fragile Voice Flits Through Like That Of A Younger Natalie Prass." - W Magazine "_a Soulful Offering Heavily Inspired By The Country And Western Music She Grew Up Listening To." - Pitchfork) 24.00
HARD SKIN - Same Meat Different Gravy LP (JT classics - The second album from sarf London's finest Oi! band ever Hard Skin. 13 hard hitting anthems about drinking, birds, the pigs, food and havin a laugh. This is only the second album in 10 years because it's quality that matters not quantity. It's the width that matters - not the length.) 17.00
HARD SKIN - South East Enders LP (JT classics - Hard Skin are like the milkmen. They always deliver. Here's another six song brickwall Oi! classic for all the skinheads who have had no chance to polish their doc martens and hit the streets. It's business as always - hooks galore, razor sharp sounds and lyrics that say everything and nothing at the same time. Among the six songs are four fresh slabs of meaty Oi! and two cockney knees up moments with covers of The Lambeth Walk and Millwall FC's theme tune Let 'Em Come. Hard Skin once again prove they are the best band in the land.) 17.00
JOAO DONATO / ADRIAN YOUNGE / ALI SHAHEED MUHAMMAD - JAZZ IS DEAD 007 LP (Indie Exclusive, Green Vinyl - Where’s Joao Donato? It's a frequently asked question, referring simultaneously to the physical location and the musical moment he inhabits. A sampling of some of his more descriptive song titles suggests Donato's comfort with musical hybrids: "Bluchanga," "Sambolero," and "Sambongo," to name just a few. Lacking a formal genre for his style of music, Donato's is a distinct sound, immediately recognizable from the first few bars of any of his compositions. He was funky back when "funk" was a bad word (listen to either of his 1960s Brazilian LPs, Sambou, Sambou and The New Sound if Brasil, for proof). His compositions are deceptively simple, while his arrangements are harmonically complex, revealing their intricate details upon repeat listening. Today, Donato brings this flavor, now near synonymous with his name, to a new album in the Jazz Is Dead series with Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad: Joao Donato JID007. "Donato is one of the greatest Brazilian composers from that golden era. His signature style, simple melodies combined with colorful chordal progressions, establishes a new lane for Jazz Is Dead," explains Younge. "Joao is one of the most innovative Brazilian jazz composers of the last century. Creating with and learning from this maestro was one of the greatest experiences of my career.“) 29.00
JOZEF VAN WISSEM / SQÜRL - only lovers left alive DLP (sacred bones - Soundtrack for the critically acclaimed Jim Jarmusch film Only Lovers Left Alive, starring Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton. The score for Only Lovers Left Alive - a collaboration between SQÜRL (Jim Jarmusch, Carter Logan and Shane Stoneback) and Dutch lutenist Jozef Van Wissem - serves as a reflection of the distinct textures of Detroit and Tangier, bridging ancient and modern sounds, entangled and timeless. Avant-Baroque lute weaves through twenty-first century guitar grit, heavy back beats, Moroccan percussion, synth bass, field recordings, and numerous sonic effects to create a cinematic tapestry. Guest vocalist Madeline Follin (Cults) appears on SQÜRL's syrup soaked re-interpretation of the Wanda Jackson hit "Funnel of Love". Zola Jesus' commanding vocal soars through Van Wissem's "In Templum Dei". And Yasmine Hamdan's intimate and evocative "Hal", recorded on the set of the film and mixed by SQÜRL. The film and soundtrack album were released worldwide in 2014, and quickly earned the group the Cannes Soundtrack Award from a consortium of film and music critics. In the years that have followed it has remained a favorite of critics and fans alike, who have continued to hunt down the limited vinyl copies in existence.) 33.00
NERVOUS SS / RAT CAGE - Skopje Vs Sheffield LP (la vida - It’s a stark and baron land out there right now. What we all need is some fucking loud, fast, uncompromising raw punk to drown out the constant bullshit being broadcasted as 2021 develops. Both following up storming debut LP’s with five new tracks plus a local cover each, Nervous SS and Rat Cage clash head to head on this 12 song barrage of hell for leather punk rock. The Nervous SS side (Skopje) undoubtedly wears a Totalitär influence on its sleeve, but combine that sweet sound with a complete powerhouse vocal bombardment that sets Nervous SS a cut above the rest. Flip to the Rat Cage side (Sheffield) for a rapid attack of Scandi riffs with the relentless urgency we’ve grown to know and love from the band. The side ends with a U.K. Subs cover, clearly displaying Rat Cage’s classic British Punk influence. With Master dials set firmly to ‘destroy mode’, this record will be your saviour in these dark times. Crank it.) 20.00
RATA NEGRA - Una Vida Vulgar LP (la vida es un mus - Rata Negra return with "Una Vida Vulgar" their third and best album. A truly pop infused punk record with an incredible production. The album harks back to their previous work in Juanita Y Los Feos but with more pop elements and a bigger and better production. Each of the ten tracks are so good, that they could be released as a single.The Rhythm Section is locked in and the guitars buzz but it’s the vocals that take this to pop heaven. The first side of the album starts with Venid A Ver and doesn’t let up until the Phil Spector esque Cuando Me Muera. Flip over and it’s straight back to the upbeat gems, which just keep coming until the final track Romance De Lobos which ends the album in a more reflective album. Una Vida Vulgar is pure perfection and for fans of X, Blondie and Rik Agnew. (Sean Forbes)) 20.00
RUDIMENTARY PENI - Great War LP (la vida - Recorded several years ago before Rudimentary Peni engaged in another mysterious hiatus, Great War has finally emerged to kiss the gas-tinged light of a mustered morn. Expanding on the skeletal sounds and subject of 2009's “Wilfred Owen” single the band has seen fit to concentrate on a more mechanized approach doing away with even more of the humanizing aspects in their music this time delivering ten painful familiar shards fraught with brittle anxiety and anguished simplicity. Great War cements new phase in the ever-crawling metamorphic madness that is Rudimentary Peni. The record comes with brand new Nick Blinko Artwork on the sleeve and Inner Sleeve. (Jensen Ward) 20.00
SCREAMERS – Screamers Demo Hollywood 1977 LP (superior - Formed in 1977 by Tomata du Plenty (vocals), Tommy Gear (synthesizers, vocals), David Brown (electric piano) and KK Barrett (drums), the Screamers were deeply linked to Los Angeles' first wave punk scene, yet their music and high-energy performances stood apart – defying classification and evoking intense audience reactions. "These songs were recorded a few months after the Los Angeles punk scene began. These five statements of intent transcend Punk and project forward into the future: to the analog synth wave of the late '70s and beyond, to the present day, four decades later, when they finally receive an official release. Sourced from the original reel-to-reels, they are a revelation compared to the countless copies that have been circulating by multiple generations of tape-traders. Here, for the first time, is the Screamers' initial and legendary manifesto. The Screamers concept was simple, yet audacious: take the spirit and the look of Punk – the pseudo-psychotic aggression, the spiky hair, vacant stares and barely concealed sadomasochism – and match it to a different configuration than the typical '60s rock template. As launched, the Screamers featured two keyboard players (Tommy Gear and David Brown), a drummer (KK Barrett) and an intensely charismatic singer (Tomata du Plenty). The idea was to be confrontational – to evoke (as Tomata described in an early interview) a state of anxiety. Forty years later, this release builds on the groundswell of interest in the Screamers that has been occurring in the early 21st century. There are web sites with detailed histories of the group and several bootlegs of demos and live material from 1977-79. The video of '122 Hours of Fear' – perhaps their peak moment, recorded at Target Video in August 1978 – has now passed over 650,000 views online. This is the Screamers' time, and the time is now.“ – Jon Savage (excerpt from the liner notes)) 20.00
SUFJAN STEVENS - America 12“ (Extremely Limited Edition 12" EP featuring Sujan Stevens' lead single "America" from the the album The Ascension.) 18.00
