Bis Aufs Messer Weeley news 04 / feb 2022
hi. Welcome to another newsletter for February. A bunch of stuff arrived like like four RAGANA LPs, the new GROUPER LP, SWEAT 7“ restock, AARON DILLOWAY & LUCRECIA DALT - Lucy & Aaron LP, ANNIE HART - Everything Pale Blue LP, BAD BRAINS - Quickness LP re issue, lots of Dischord restocks (colored Fugazi, Dag Nasty and Embrace Lps), CLAIRE CRONIN - Bloodless LP, WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM - Primordial Arcana LP restock on GOLD, MICROPHONES / MOUNT EERIE SHIRTS, LOW LIFE - From Squats To Lots: The Agony And XTC Of Low Life LP w/ FANZINE and LOW LIFE - Downer Edn LP restock, POWER SUPPLY - In the Time of the Sabre-toothed Tiger LP, MAGGOT BRAIN - Maggot Brain #6, BOLT THROWER - warmaster LP re issue, BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD - Ants From Up There DLP, JIM SAAH in my eyes BOOK restock, DON CHERRY - The Summer House Sessions LP, DON CHERRY'S NEW RESEARCHES FT. NANA VASCONCELOS - Organic Music Theatre Festival de Chateauvallon 1972 DLP, ELKHORN - The Black River LP, F.J. MCMAHON - Spirit Of The Golden Juice LP and much more
Til then thank you for all your orders & support.
Robert & Norman
mailorder@bisaufmesser.com
www.adagio830-records.bandcamp.com
7“
BOB DYLAN - Blind Willie McTell 7“ (third man - „A long-awaited release, this is the 7" version of the Bob Dylan classic 'Blind Willie McTell'. The 7" features two previously unreleased takes of the song, with the A-side being exclusive to this vinyl release. The B-side (take 5) will be included as part of Spring In New York: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 16 (1980-1985). The recordings on this single feature a formidable lineup of session musicians, including Mark Knopfler, Mick Taylor, Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare. 'Blind Willie McTell' was the first track seriously worked on at the Infidels sessions and the last attempted as recording concluded almost a month later. In the end, it did not make the Infidels album, but in 1991, the acoustic piano-guitar version that Bob Dylan and Mark Knopfler recorded the last day was released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3. The full band version from the first day of the sessions will now see the light of day as part of Springtime In New York: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 16 (1980-1985). Two previously unreleased takes of the Infidels outtake 'Blind Willie McTell'. The A-side (take 1) is not available elsewhere and is exclusive here.) 12.00
KATH BLOOM - Long Way To Go Home 7“ (C/site - Kath Bloom is a quietly legendary artist. From her early work with Loren Connors, to her appearance in Richard Linklater’s 1995 film Before Sunrise, to international tours, and accolades from some of music’s biggest names, Bloom has truly had a stellar career. Yet she somehow still alludes widespread notoriety, culling instead a cult following of dedicated fans. Bloom started releasing music in the late 70s through New Haven, CT based micro-label Daggett Records, and later St. Joan Records. While these records did not attract much attention in their day they are now hailed as forgotten masterpieces of fragile, introspective folk. Bloom would then take a long pause from performing or releasing music publicly, though she never stopped writing. In the late 90s Bloom reemerged with occasional releases and performances.) 12.00
SWEAT - s/t 7“ (vitriol - Sweat are the latest band from Graf Orlock/Ghostlimb/Dangers axe wielder Justin Smith, this time taking many cues from the school of riffing that is headed by John Reis, maintaining many of the hardcore and punk roots the members grew up with. The band is rounded out by Letlive and Dangers drummer Anthony, and vocal duties from Tuna, possibly best known for her work on the wrestling mat and TMZ. Limited edition of 497 copies.) 7.00
10“
AMANDA WHITING - Little Sunflower 10“ (jazzman - From Wales, the home of the harp, Amanda has taken her classical roots and forged them in the path of jazz harpist Dorothy Ashby. She has toured extensively with Matthew Halsall and the Gondwana Orchestra performing at Jazz festivals around the world. More recent collaborations have included recording with DJ Yoda and Chip Wickham and touring Wickham's latest album including upcoming appearances at Ronnie Scotts and Le Petit Halle, Paris.) 24.00
LP
AARON DILLOWAY & LUCRECIA DALT - Lucy & Aaron LP ("Lucy & Aaron is the debut collaboration LP from the duo of Lucrecia Dalt (RVNG Intl.) and Aaron Dilloway (Dais Records). Full length LP in full color cover with printed inner sleeve featuring art by artist Pieter Schoolwerth." "I met Aaron in Madeira around 10 years ago, and I was blown away by his set, when I was going to tour the US for the first time, Forest, my US my booking agent asked me if I wanted to tour with someone from his roster and I suggested Mr Dilloway, the first show we played together was in Toronto, he started with a very groovy loop, some kind of soul extract that felt just right. With that, he levelled the dynamics and the atmosphere of the room, moving back and forth from the stage to the audience to double check if everything was sounding right. I have never seen such an elegant, disturbing and powerful show at the same time, it was a wild combination. We played a couple more shows together and on my journey throughout the states I was never in a place where his name didn't pop up with a positive comment of admiration. We became extremely close and utopian. We started this record during a two week visit of mine in NYC, we crossed our signals, sometimes his affecting mine, or the other way around, we just wanted to make a fun, weird and inevitably emotive record that somehow captured so many things we love about music, to put oneself in character and go with the flow.") 28.00
ALAN SILVA AND HIS CELESTRIAL COMMUNICATION ORCHESTRA - luna surface LP (big - 12th volume in the BYG Actuel series; 180 gram vinyl. "Super-session recorded in Paris on August 17, 1969. Alan Silva collected here many of the top free jazz players of the time, an incredible 11-piece ensemble featuring, among others, Grachan Moncur III, Archie Shepp, Anthony Braxton, Dave Burrell, Leroy Jenkins, and Malachi Favors. As a result, this is a very free record and a historical document of Pan-African high art music. Two tracks.“) 20.00
ALAN VEGA - Invasion / Murder One LP (sacred bones -One of Alan Vega’s greatest talents was his ability to bring the past and the future together into a suspended place of timelessness. His groundbreaking duo Suicide was often seen as future primitivism and most of his musical output has exemplified this blending of the primordial human condition and visionary thinking. With Invasion b/w Murder One, the next release from the now infamous Vega Vault following 2021’s Mutator, we see this innate power in full effect. ) 18.00
ANGERED WRECKS - Bennies, Booze and R&R 1981 LP (feeding tube - Take the freaked-out, punked-up soul of The Stooges and MC5 mix that with '60s garage trash, blend in Sabbath, AC/DC and heavy rock n' roll and then hot wire that sound to a handful of freaks located in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Here it is that Angered Wreckswere located -- in an old Victorian style house in downtown Fredericton. It was here they set up a permanent rehearsal space on the main floor taking up the dining room and living room area with a full P.A. system and the long parties would begin as the Angered Wrecks cranked out an unholy primal serving of mind-numbing, eyeball-popping guttural pure rock and roll. Lucky for us, the Angered Wrecks had a primitive DIY recording set up as they recorded live off the floor with one cardioid mic taped to the ceiling to capture the entire room sound and straight into a cheap Alpine cassette deck. The results of these previously unheard recordings capture the essence of trashy rock n' roll at its finest, delivered with pure dereliction, and always a side of extra sleaze. Keeping warm in the winter at another old salt box style house they would later rehearse and play gigs in, a large circle was cut in the floor so that the rising heat from the pottery kiln downstairs would (along with the right mixture of beer and "Purple Jesus", weed and often speed and hot dogs) keep these boys fueled long enough in sub-zero temperatures to keep pumping out the rock n' roll savagery. The last show they played was in the fall of '81 at the Bug Shack after the household was served an eviction noticed with the house to be entirely demolished (just like Stooge Manor aka The Fun House). They got a gig together the weekend before demolition, packed the bottom floor and played a blazing set. At the very end, walls were kicked apart, old cans of paint strewn about, general wanton destruction to furniture, doors, windows etc. The bug shack had come to an end and shortly thereafter, the Angered Wrecks. That these tapes have survived to this day is all thanks to John Westhaver's archival hoarding (even though the loss of a 90-minute session of the Angered Wrecks still haunts John to this day). Includes full-size two-sided history insert and download code with five bonus tracks; edition of 400.) 27.00
ANNIE HART - Everything Pale Blue LP (Orindal - Everything Pale Blue is the first collection of ambient music by New York City-based composer and Au Revoir Simone keyboardist Annie Hart. Performed on analog synthesizers and processed through daisy chains of delay, reverb and loop effects, Everything Pale Blue’s warm, sonorous tones and trance-like, minimalist arrangements recall the work of pioneering electronic music composers Wendy Carlos, Éliane Radigue and Brian Eno, as well as German Kosmische Musik groups of the 70’s like Kraftwerk, Cluster and Tangerine Dream. Throughout Everything Pale Blue, Hart’s gentle arpeggios and playful melodic figures echo the harmonies and rhythms of our natural world, from the cycles of flora, fauna and weather patterns to the orbits of celestial bodies. Everything Pale Blue’s four gorgeously expansive instrumental tracks reward patient listeners seeking calm, melody and meditation.) 25.00
AYALEW MESFIN - Wegene LP (now again - Ayalew Mesfin stands aside the likes of Mulatu Astake, Mahmoud Ahmed, Hailu Mergia and Alemayehu Eshete as a legend of 1970s Ethiopia. Mesfin’s music is some of the funkiest to arise from this unconquerable East African nation. Mesfin’s recording career, captured in nearly two dozen 7” singles and numerous reel-to-reel tapes, shows the strata of the most fertile decade in Ethiopia’s 20th century recording industry, when records were pressed constantly by both independent upstarts and corporate behemoths, even if they were only distributed within the confines of this East African nation. ) 30.00
BAD BRAINS - Quickness LP (ORG - Quickness is the fourth full-length studio album by BAD BRAINS, originally released by Caroline Records in 1989. This reissue marks the fifth release in the remaster campaign, re-launching the Bad Brains Records label imprint. In coordination with the band, Org Music has overseen the restoration and remastering of the iconic BAD BRAINS' recordings. The audio was mastered by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Mastering and pressed at Furnace Record Pressing.) 25.00
BALIGH HAMDI - Instrumental Modal Pop of 1970's Egypt DLP (sublime - Sublime Frequencies finally unleashes it’s ESSENTIAL compilation from 1970’s Egypt. Modal instrumental tracks from Baligh Hamdi - one of the most important Arabic composers of the 20th Century (writing for legends Umm Kalthum, Abdel Halim Hafez, Sabah, Warda, and many others). Features his legendary group the “Diamond Orchestra” with Omar Khorshid on guitar, Magdi al-Husseini on organ, Samir Sourour on saxophone, and Faruq Salama on accordion. All of these musicians were discovered and recruited by Hamdi to interpret his vision of a modernized, hybrid Arabic music. Under Hamdi’s direction, this orchestra charted a new melodic direction and created a new musical language. This compilation is culled from a specific era of Hamdi’s long career, a decade where he fully realized an international music which incorporated beat driven Eastern tinged jazz, theremin draped orchestral noir, tracks that feature searing guitar solos from none other than Omar Khorshid, and a selection of buzzing, sitar driven, Indo-Arabic tracks establishing a meeting of mid-east and eastern psychedelic exotica, and a vision that created some of the hippest music coming out of the Middle East from the late 1960’s and throughout the 1970’s.) 35.00
BENITEZ & VALENCIA - Impossible Love Songs From Sixties Quito DLP (honest jones - Gonzalo Benitez and Luis Alberto Valencia were kingpins of the musica nacional movement in Ecuador. Check them out on the cover, on a rooftop in Quito’s Old Town, surveying their dominion. In 1970, when Valencia collapsed onstage during a performance of the yaravi Desesperacion — ‘My heart is already in ashes’ — and died four days later, aged 52, his coffin was carried through those city streets on the shoulders of his fans. They began singing as a duo in their mid-teens. During twenty-eight years together they recorded more than six hundred songs, for Discos Ecuador, Nacional, Granja, Ortiz, Rondador, Onix, Fuente, Real, Tropical, Fadisa, RCA Victor — and of course CAIFE.) 31.00
BOLT THROWER - warmaster LP (earache - Originally released in 1990, ‘Warmaster’ cemented Bolt Thrower’s reputation for delivering incredibly heavy war-obsessed Death Metal, propelling the band to the top of the genre alongside contemporaries such as Napalm Death, Morbid Angel and Entombed.) 25.00
BOSSE-DE-NAGE - Bosse-De-Nage DLP (felnser - "First time on vinyl! Over the last decade, SF Bay Area's Bosse-de-Nage has operated at the forefront of the postblack metal movement, and with albums like All Fours and Further Still, the band cemented their place as touchstones of the genre. Their self-titled debut -- an early foray in the blackgaze sound -- was recorded in 2007, but not officially released until 2010. The CD version of the album was one of The Flenser's first releases, and a vinyl edition has always been a critical omission in both the band's and the label's catalogs. Remastered and sounding better than ever.“) 32.00
C JOYNES - Poor Boy On The Wire LP (Over the last decade-and-a-half, C Joynes has ploughed a singular furrow through solo guitar, with a body of work incorporating English folk-tunes alongside North & West African music, and lifting proto-minimalist and improvised techniques from the European classical and avant-garde traditions. His new release, ‘Poor Boy On The Wire’, is his first full album dedicated wholly to the electric guitar. Through a typically wide-ranging set, Joynes exploits the instrument’s potential by placing intricate parlour music alongside overdriven garage blues throw-downs, wiry electric folk and the brittle ringing tones of free improvisation. However, these explorations of the tones and timbres of close-mic’d guitars and amplification retain an overall coherence and unity through the deliberate use of a limited palette of budget instruments and vintage equipment.) 25.00
CLAIRE CRONIN - Bloodless LP (orindal - Bloodless is the new album by Los Angeles-based musician and writer Claire Cronin. Expanding upon the supernatural and metaphysical themes of her critically acclaimed 2019 album Big Dread Moon and her 2020 “horror memoir” Blue Light of the Screen (published by Repeater Books), Bloodless is a powerful work of haunted Americana by one of contemporary indie music’s finest singer-songwriters. Like its musical predecessor, Big Dread Moon, the arrangements on Bloodless’s nine songs are stripped and sparse, Cronin’s steady electric guitar and spectral voice holding center as strings and synthesizers provide wisps of eerie atmosphere. The sound of Bloodless is both more visceral and more subliminal than Big Dread Moon, due in equal part to months of intensive home recording by Cronin and Ezra Buchla (Cronin’s husband and violist) and expert mixing by Deerhoof’s John Dieterich (who previously collaborated with Cronin on her 2016 album Came Down a Storm). ) 25.00
COME - Peel Sessions LP (fire - Peel Sessions is an essential nine-track set catching Boston’s mighty Come at the peak of their powers. The collection includes two sessions recorded for John Peel in both 1992 and 1993, plus a previously unreleased live track ‚Clockface) 27.00
DON CHERRY - The Summer House Sessions LP (blank forms - In 1968, Don Cherry had already established himself as one of the leading voices of the avant-garde. Having pioneered free jazz as a member of Ornette Coleman's classic quartet, and with a high profile collaboration with John Coltrane under his belt, the globetrotting jazz trumpeter settled in Sweden with his partner Moki and her daughter Neneh. There, he assembled a group of Swedish musicians and led a series of weekly workshops at the ABF, or Workers' Educational Association, from February to April of 1968, with lessons on extended forms of improvisation including breathing, drones, Turkish rhythms, overtones, silence, natural voices, and Indian scales. That summer, saxophonist and recording engineer Göran Freese-who later recorded Don's classic Organic Music Society and Eternal Now LPs-invited Don, members of his two working bands, and a Turkish drummer to his summer house in Kummelnäs, just outside of Stockholm, for a series of rehearsals and jam sessions that put the prior months' workshops into practice. Long relegated to the status of a mysterious footnote in Don's sessionography, tapes from this session, as well as one professionally mixed tape intended for release, were recently found in the vaults of the Swedish Jazz Archive, and the lost Summer House Sessions are finally available over fifty years after they were recorded.) 29.00
DON CHERRY'S NEW RESEARCHES FT. NANA VASCONCELOS - Organic Music Theatre Festival de Chateauvallon 1972 DLP (blank forms - In the late 1960s, the American trumpet player and free jazz pioneer Don Cherry (1936–1995) and the Swedish visual artist and designer Moki Cherry (1943–2009) began a collaboration that imagined an alternative space for creative music, most succinctly expressed in Moki’s aphorism “the stage is home and home is a stage.” By 1972, they had given name to a concept that united Don’s music, Moki’s art, and their family life in rural Tagårp, Sweden into one holistic entity: Organic Music Theatre. Captured here is the historic first Organic Music Theatre performance from the 1972 Festival de jazz de Chateauvallon in the South of France, mastered from tapes recorded during its original live broadcast on public TV. A life-affirming, multicultural patchwork of borrowed tunes suffused with the hallowed aura of Don’s extensive global travels, the performance documents the moment he publicly jettisoned his identity as a jazz musician, and represents the start of his communal “mystical” period, later crystallized in recordings such as Organic Music Society, Relativity Suite, Brown Rice, and the soundtrack for Alejandro Jodorowsky’s The Holy Mountain.) 36.00
ELKHORN - The Black River LP (Elkhorn are longtime friends Jesse Shepard (12 string acoustic guitar) and Drew Gardner (electric guitar). Fresh off their debut tape on Beyond Beyond is Beyond, this incredible duo fuses a rich vein of American primitive with psych, jazz, and improv. The result is a nearly perfect album that wildly bounds through the American story of guitar in the 20th century. It is a high wire act of the highest order. Album will come on heavyweight vinyl in a beautiful sleeve designed by Mikey Rioux with spot UV gloss embellishment.) 24.00
THE EXBATS - Now Where Were We LP (col. vinyl) (goner - Exbats return with an amazing new album rooted in 60s psychedelic pop, but updated with a very current NOW sound & attitude! Recorded by the desert genius Matt Rendon, this might be the best-sounding record of the year! Timeless coming-of-age / smartass stories from drummer / songwriter Inez and guitarist / dad Kenny! ) 25.00
F.J. MCMAHON - Spirit Of The Golden Juice LP (anthology - 2021 restock. "The world that inspired Spirit Of The Golden Juice nearly 50 years ago has moved on. F.J. McMahon moved on with it. Originally pressed in a small quantity and scattered along the California coastline in 1969, F.J. McMahon's first and only album, Spirit Of The Golden Juice, is a spell-binding blend of singer-songwriter emotion and spiraling guitar accompaniment with a raw, adventurous character all its own. Well-chronicled and loved since its rediscovery, Spirit Of The Golden Juice is an album concerned with memory and mystery and the preservation of the two. It's also about the weight of personal experience and how we tow it around with us. F.J.'s simple, personal approach to songwriting allows us the space to fill in our own colors and our own faces. Its themes are there in plain sight, but the questions it asks are sometimes left for us to answer for ourselves.“) 26.00
GLENN BRANCA - Symphony No. 1 (Tonal Plexus) DLP (roir - Recorded across two nights in 1981 at New York's legendary Performing Garage and originally released in 1983 on cassette, Symphony No. 1 has been remastered for vinyl and reissued for the first time as a heavyweight 180 gram 2LP set in a deluxe gatefold jacket. The limited edition pressing features additional liner notes written by Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth) alongside the original notes by Jon Pareles (The New York Times) and now includes photos by Paula Court (New York Noise). The ensemble of performers on this recording are: Glenn Branca, Craig Bromberg, Dave Buk, Ann DeMarinis, Barbara Ess, Robert Harrison, Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, David Rosenbloom, Richard Edson, Ned Sublette, Wharton Tiers, Gail Vachon, Fritz Van Orden, Stephen Wischerth and Margot Zvaleko) 32.00
GOOD LOOKING SUN - Fantasy Weekend LP (feel it - While a stunning debut - the introduction to Good Looking Son feels more like a timely reacquaintance with an old friend. "Fantasy Weekend" is the latest from Keith Harman, whose lead vocals and songwriting abilities have long anchored The Cowboys and their prolific run that spans more than 70 original songs over five albums and change. There's a certain familiar, but ever-so-finessed element to Harman's songwriting that really hits the bullseye across this six track EP. "Fantasy Weekend" gazes into the dark, heavily glazed garage-pop of the late 60's/early 70's as Keith's calm, cool cadence balances between baritone sentimentality and ghostly thrum. A release both far from predictable and electrifying as the tempo cranks up along quirky keyboard lines that segue into classic powerpop territory. ) 22.00
GROUPER - Shade LP (cranky - Liz Harris's 12th album is a heart-melting anthology of songs written over the last 15 years. A mixture of 'Dragging A Dead Deer...' emotional rawness and 'AIA' -style tape-dubbed sonic fog, it's a timely reminder of why she's one of the crucial underground voices of the era. When Harris's early Grouper material began to emerge thru the cracks in the wall of wyrd folk CDRs and hand-made cassette tapes, we could already sense it was something different. There was a bare quality to it that set it out of time: this was music that sounded as harmonious with Slowdive's melancholy shimmer as it did with the Olympia and Washington DIY set. 'Shade' is a career-spanning set that accurately charts her evolution thru the years, running a course that broaches ambient music, Laurel Canyon folk, grunge, dream pop, and everything in-between.) 26.00
HAMID EL SHAERI - The SLAM! Years (1983 - 1988) LP (habibi - If you were to ask us for a defining Habibi Funk track, there are a few that come to mind: from Fadoul’s “Sid Redad,“ Dalton’s “Soul Brother“ to Ahmed Malek’s “Omar Gatlato.“ However, none are as widely connected with us at this point as Hamid Al Shaeri’s “Ayonha.“ We heard the track for the first time when we were working on selecting tracks for your first compilation and we instantly loved it. We obviously had heard of Hamid El Shaeri’s music before, but only material from his Al Jeel phase when he was already the full-blown superstar he is now. Listening to his releases from the early 1980’s opened a whole new door for us. At the time, Hamid had just left Libya to pursue his career in Egypt via a detour in London, where he recorded his first album. ) 25.00
HARRY PARTCH - The World Of Harry Partch LP ("The World of Harry Partch collects three of his best short pieces. 'Daphne of the Dunes' (1967) is a side-long update of 'Windsong' written for dance. The melodic segments are given more emphasis than usual for a Partch piece, and harmonically this is one of his best with arpeggiated glides/cries of the Harmonic Canons evoking our sympathies. Meter changes almost measure by measure, with one section in 31/16 meter; another (polymetric) section consists of 4/4-7/4 over 4/8-7/8! Needless to say, while being very physical, Partch's music isn't something you can easily tap your foot to. What's most important is that it works. Partch was not one to introduce musical complexity merely for its own sake, another factor that separated him from his contemporaries. Not only are the rhythms complex, but they are performed at a frantic pace unequaled by any music I've hard (save perhaps the inhumanly fast player piano pieces of Conlon Nancarrow!). This is characteristic of most of Partch's works, though I think 'Daphne' is one of the most successful and exhilarating. 'Barstow -- Eight Hitchhiker Inscriptions from a Highway Railing at Barstow, California' was composed in 1941 as part of 'The Wayward.' It offers such statements as 'Go to 538 East Lemon Avenue for an easy handout' and 'Looking for millionaire wife...' This charismatic piece is successful due to the contrasting of Partch's intoning voice with others in the ensemble and to increased instrumental emphasis. Last is 'Castor and Pollux' in a more modern performance than From the Music of Harry Partch, with greater vigor and fidelity. The World of Harry Partch is an excellent introduction to his works that comes highly recommended." -- Surface Noise) 25.00
THE IDITAROD - The Ghost, the Elf, the Cat and the Angel LP (feeding tube - It is with great pleasure we announce the vinylization of the fourth (of five) albums released during their lifetime by this superb Providence-based acid-folk duo, who existed from 1996 to 2003. The Iditarod was primarily the vehicle for Carin Wagner and Jeffrey Alexander, who created a spare UK-damaged folk sound with intimate psychedelic touches and fully contemporary atmospherics, although they often had friends along for the ride. On this album (edited down from the original CD), guest musicians are Matt Everett (from Alec Redfearn's band, Eyesores), Jesse Poe (from Tanakh), and Margie Wienk (of Fern Knight and Eyesores). Together, they create a lovely haunted forest of sounds. Although the ensemble is small, certain passages (like the traditional 'Let No Man Steal Your Thyme') have a jazzy lilt that evokes Pentangle, despite the fact the arrangement is quite stark. Somehow they manage to capture the essence of a full band despite their actual size. On the opposite end of things is a track like 'Cycle Circle,' with backwards guitars, dolorous bells chiming in the distance, and a vocal from Carin that sounds like spirit projection. In between there are a host of excellent surprises. The album was recorded in Richmond, VA in 2001. It was originally issued on CD by the Bluesanct label, and came out a little bit before the whole New Weird America thing took off. This was back when there were a lot of people trying out different approaches to unlocking the secrets of the acid folk tradition, but before there was a name for what they were doing, or any kind of real scene to chronicle. In that sense, The Iditarod were a bit ahead of their time. But we won't hold that against them. I have lost track of what Carin is up to these days, but Jeffery has kept busy, with bands like Dire Wolves and solo projects like Meditations for Beowulf (FTR 470LP). It's very nice to revisit some of his back pages. The blend the Iditarod offers sounds as great as ever, and augurs a cool future that was just beginning. Tally ho!" --Byron Coley, 2021 Edition of 250.) 27.00
JEFF PHELPS - Magnetic Eyes LP (smog vinyl) (numero - A silken, minimalistic stream of electrified soul, Magnetic Eyes is Jeff Phelps’ peerless contribution to the tapestry of analog drum machine music that graffiti’d the mid-‘80s. Tracked in his Missouri City, Texas, bedroom studio in 1985, Phelps effortlessly steeps together the electro stylings of Afrika Bambaataa with the matured caress of Anita Baker’s soulful R&B. This 2021 edition presents fresh remasters of the album’s second mix, completed after discovering flaws in the initial 1985 pressing, all housed in replica tip-on jacket with artwork that remains just as evocative as the music it represents. Enjoy this technically perfect, artist-approved version of a visionary techno-adjacent masterwork.) 27.00
JOSEPHINE FOSTER - What Is It That Ever Was? LP (feeding tube -Vinylization of a tour CDR, Josephinerecorded at home around the time of A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (2006). Accompanying herself on guitar and piano, with some drum and vocal help from Brian Goodman, the album is a glorious once-lost-now-found piece of the fascinating musical puzzle that is the music of Josephine Foster. While Foster's music is clearly consonant with the current trends in avant-völk music (here, especially, on her wild readings from the Tibetan Book of Dzyan), another large portion of her muse seems rooted in the parlor music tradition that predates recorded sound. At times, when she is playing piano and singing, you can almost imagine she's channeling the spirit of a long-gone frontier maiden, belting out her soul's truths on an old upright piano in a dusty living room. It feels like an improvised soundtrack to Michael Lesy's Wisconsin Death Trip (1973). But the work presented on this album is neither static nor easily categorized. Josephine follows her muse wherever it goes, and (like her) it is peripatetic as all get-out. From free rock slugfests, to tunes that float with the easy clarity of hymns, What Is It That Ever Was? offers a peek into the private creative process of one of this generation's great original voices. Don't be shy." --Byron Coley, 2021) 27.00
JOSEPH ALLRED - Branches & Leaves LP (feeding tube - Don't hold me to it, but by my count this the sixth LP we have done with the splendid Brighton-based musician named Joseph Allred. Initially known as a master of stringed instruments, Joseph has continuously expanded his musical arsenal. When asked about basics regarding Branches & Leaves, he wrote, 'I played harmonium, piano, guitars, glockenspiel, banjo, tambourine, bass drum, and clarinet on this album and did all the vocals myself. I'm glad I got to collaborate with some friends and would like to have done so more, but the pandemic made that impossible. Recorded at the end of 2019 and in the first few months of 2020 in Overton County, Tennessee and Boston.' The ten songs on Branches & Leaves are originals, apart from two traditional tunes, 'When the World's on Fire,' and 'Can't Feel at Home,' which Allred first heard performed by the Carter Family. And while it if difficult to attach too specific a tag to this wonderfully varied LP, words like 'Southern,' 'gnostic,' 'rural' and 'haunted' keep floating into my head. Not always at the same time, but enough to think I might use them to point in the material's general direction. ) 27.00
LOW LIFE - From Squats To Lots: The Agony And XTC Of Low Life LP w/ FANZINE (GONER - THE BAND: Low Life are a rock band from Sydney, Australia. THE RECORD: Low Life’s 3rd LP is called From Squats to Lots: The Agony and the XTC of Low Life. ) 30.00
MAN EATERS - Twelve More Observations on Healthy Living LP (feel it - From the great city of Chicago, returning to the limelight after their widely acclaimed debut LP, are none other than the almighty MAN-EATERS. Twelve More Observations on Healthy Living kicks right back into the 70's-inspired hard rock and proto-punk/metal hooks delivered on their debut. Much like the great Annihilation Time, our friends in Man-Eaters have really come into their own on this second album - applying the energy and chops built up from their hardcore days in Cülo into a heavier, louder, and pummeling hard rock equivalent. This is one for the beer drinkers and hell raisers, for the punks and metalheads - a damn fine rock'n'roll album that's fast, loose, and ready to be cranked LOUD! ) 22.00
MEGAN SIEBE - Swaying Steady LP (grapefruit - "Megan Siebe is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and arranger from Omaha, Nebraska. She's cut her teeth as a member of bands such as Simon Joyner & the Ghosts, The David Nance Group, Cursive, Sean Pratt & the Sweats, The Jim Schroeder Sextet, and many others, touring nearly non-stop for the last decade. She's also written string arrangements for albums by Refrigerator, John Davis, the Renderers, Dennis Callaci, L. Eugene Methe, Justin Townes Earle, and Anna McClellan. But all the while she was writing her own intimate, finely-crafted songs in secret, only breaking them out around the occasional Nebraska campfire amongst friends. A break from touring in other bands these last fifteen months has allowed Siebe more time to focus on a powerful cycle of songs she's had brewing for some time. Grapefruit and Shrimper are proud to join forces to release Megan's humble yet astonishing debut. Swaying Steady is a gorgeous collection of literate and evocative singer-songwriter, country-tinged, melancholy pop songs about relationships in crisis, bad seeds, family, and emotional endurance. For fans of Lucinda Williams, Harry Nilsson, Elyse Weinberg, Nick Drake, and Sibylle Baier.“) 27.00
THE MALLORY-HALL BAND - Song Of Soweto LP (outer national - Outernational Sounds very proudly Presents The Mallory-Hall Band "Song of Soweto" & "The Last Special“. Limited, fully licensed digital and vinyl reissues of two crucial South African sessions led by Charles Mallory and Al Hall, Jnr., featuring Kirk Lightsey, Marshall Royal, Rudolph Johnson, Billy Brooks and more! Essential companion pieces to Kirk Lightsey’s legendary ‚Habiba’. Never released outside South Africa, and out of print since 1974, Outernational Sounds presents two long-lost Johannesburg sessions from the Mallory-Hall Band – an all-star review of West Coast jazz stars who toured apartheid South Africa in the mid-1970s.) 27.00
OLD MILLION EYE - The Incandescent Switch LP (feeding tube .- First LP, after several fine cassettes & CDRs, by this psych project helmed by Brian Lucas. Lucas is best known these days for his bass work with Dire Wolves Just Exactly Perfect Sisters Band, but he has a hand in many other California psych outfits. The Wolves have been quiet vis-a-vis new recordings lately, but Old Million Eye has been pretty busy. Often the OME moniker represents solo work, but this time Brian has recruited Dena Goldsmith-Stanley (3 Moons) and Steven R Smith (an old band mate from Mirza) to assist with his journey. And the results are beautiful. The most basic elements of The Incandescent Switch are swirls of kosmiche keyboard, with vocals buried in the clouds, melodic bass lines moving through like slow-motion lightning, and various instrumental events darting hither and yon. The overall feel is something like a collision between a mid '70s album on the German Sky label and a '68 Bay Area acid-flash sensibility. The one track featuring both Goldsmith-Stanley and Smith, 'I Labour Upwards into Futurity,' is especially neat. The dynamic shifts between the three players give it an organic, interactive breath-shape that really makes me want to see them work together in a live setting. But even when he's working alone, handling guitars, percussion and who knows what else, Lucas creates fully inhabited dreamscapes of sound. I, for one, cannot wait to trip while spinning The Incandescent Switch. It seems like a very winning combination." --Byron Coley, 2021) 27.00
PORTAL - Hagbulbia LP (profound lore - "Hagbulbia is the seventh Portal full-length album and serves as the paranormal companion piece to AVOW. Hagbulbia sees Portal at their most abnormal and spectral.“) 27.00
POWER SUPPLY - In the Time of the Sabre-toothed Tiger LP (goner - After the demise of the Ooga Boogas in the Before Time, the four band members went their very separate ways. Being in that band was such an intense high pressure experience, some chillax time was well-deserved. Stacky recorded under the name Leon, Per joined Voice Imitator, Mikey recorded with The Green Child and Rich played in Drug Sweat. All quite deserving projects, but it was Leon's solo outing that garnered the most interest from public and industry alike. The demand for live shows led Leon to recruit Per from Ooga Boogas and a guy named Brad into his touring lineup. The trio was red hot, but inevitably the venues they filled required a fuller sound so Leon recruited Mikey from Ooga Boogas on second guitar. The gruelling touring schedule became too much for family-man Brad, so Rich from Ooga Boogas jumped in to fill his size 11s and off they went for another lap of regional Victoria. Eventually the question presented itself to this freshly-minted foursome: should they continue as Leon's backing band or strike out anew with a fresh identity? The answer came in a moniker too electrifying to resist; a name as clever, enigmatic and indeed, as powerful as the band itself. Power Supply. ) 25.00
RAGANA - All's Lost LP (an out - Ragana is a unique Black Metal duo from Olympia, WA., USA. Formed in 2011. Released for Ragana’s 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY! Remastered and released on vinyl for the very first time. Recorded by Joey Seward at Punkall in 2012. Remixed by Joey Seward at Left Field Studios in 2022. Mastered by James Plotkin.) 25.00
RAGANA - You Take Nothing LP (an out - 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.) 23.00
RAGANA - Wash Away LP (Ragana is a unique Black Metal duo from Olympia, WA., USA. Formed in 2011.Wash Away is their second album from 2015.) 23.00
RAGANA - Unbecoming LP (AN OUT - Ragana is a unique Black Metal duo from Olympia, WA., USA. Formed in 2011. UNBECOMING released on vinyl for the first time for our 10 year anniversary. black vinyl with beautiful metallic foil stamped cover. Recorded by Joey Seward at Punkall in 2012. Remixed by Joey Seward at Left Field Studios in 2022. Mastered by James Plotkin.) 25.00
RUTH - Polaroïd/Roman/Photo LP (biorn bad - Originally released on Paris Records in 1985 Ruth’s LP sold just 50 copies and was relegated to obscurity until the track “Polaroïd/Roman/Photo” started appearing on bootlegs and compilations in the early 00’s, slowly becoming the cult synth pop classic it is nowadays. An original copy goes for upwards of £300 on ebay and Ruth are a shining light from an oft forgotten music scene that is becoming increasingly influential today.) 24.00
SOLOTHUS - Realm Of Ash And Blood LP (20 buck spin - ‘Realm Of Ash And Blood’, the third album from Finland’s Solothus, drops a dripping broadsword of Cimmerian carnage and staggering Death-soaked Doom delirium on the scorched landscape from which only mounds of skull dust and obsidian shards shall remain. Making its debut on 20 Buck Spin as a band ideally suited for the label, Solothus’ oppressively heavy mid-paced slaughter maintains a sense of unstoppable momentum even when slowing into the glacial. Yet the land of a thousand lakes has also infused Solothus with an ear for eerie melodic sorcery and tastefully ripping guitar solos to compliment the riff after riff of hammering granite. ) 26.00
V/A - A Heart In Splinters (More From The CAIFE Label, Quito, 1960-68) DLP (honest jones - This time around, the woman steal the show. Laura and Mercedes Suasti were child stars, with an exclusive Radio Quito contract. Unlike nearly all the men here, they lived long and prospered: Mercedes died last year, at the age of 93. Gladys Viera and Olga Gutierrez both came to Ecuador from Argentina. To start, Gladys plugged the scandalous new Monokini swimwear; Olga performed for visiting British royalty in 1962. Olga was glamorous but tough. She would make little of the amputation of one of her legs: ‘I don’t sing with my leg.’ She is accompanied on our opener by quintessentially reeling, sultry musica national: haunted-house organ, twinkling xylophone, Guillermo Rodriguez’ heart-plucking guitar-playing, and lilting, dance-to-keep-from-crying double-bass. ‘Sometimes I think that you will leave me with no memories,’ she sings, ‘that you hold only disappointments in store for me… In the future your love will search me out, full of regret. By then it will be too late, there will be no consolation, only disappointment awaiting you.’) 32.00
V/A - An eclectic selection from the Arab world, Part 2 DLP (habibi - This compilation of songs is not meant as a historic reflection of popular music of the “Arab world.” It is a very personal selection of songs we grew to like at Habibi Funk. It is music that historically never existed as a unified musical genre. We think it’s important to make this distinction and to have the listener understand that the majority of the music on this compilation does not come from the highly famous names of the musical spectrum of North Africa and the Middle East. Instead, the final body compiled for this record consists of some – at least for us – nichey pearls and often overlooked artists; resulting in a diverse range of styles from Egyptian organ funk, disco sounds from Morocco, an example of the lively reggae scene of Libya, political songs from Lebanon, soundtrack music from Alge- ria, a musical union between Kenya and Oman, and much more. ) 30.00
CD
DAPHNE ORAM - Oramics 2CD (Daphne Oram is best-known for the design of her Oramics system, and also for co-founding the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in 1957, but until the release of this material, the only easily-available piece of music by her on CD was the 8-minute long "Four Aspects." There was also a 7" EP from 1962 on HMV, released as part of the Listen, Move and Dance series that was specifically designed to help children dance. Although the short pieces on this record are very basic, it could be argued that this is the first-ever electronic dance record! This is a survey of nearly all the major pieces that she produced since her departure from the BBC in January 1959 until her final tape piece in 1977. During this time, she worked independently in her home studio, and thanks to a grant from the Gulbenkian Foundation in 1962, she was able to pursue her interests. In Britain there were no state-funded studios other than the Radiophonic Workshop, which mainly existed at the behest of the drama studio and was not generally seen as a place to develop personal artistic ideas. There were also no university studios at this time, so it was necessary for British electronic composers to be self-funded. Throughout this period, she devoted her attention to developing her Oramics "drawn sound" system, which consisted of a large machine that enabled drawn patterns to be converted into sound. This system was eventually fully realized in the late '60s and several pieces here incorporate its use. The two and-a-half hours of music on this 2CD set covers the whole range of Oram's post-BBC output. All of the music is electronic with some occasional use of real instruments, especially small percussion and piano frame. There is also some use of musique concrète techniques. The works fall roughly into the following categories: works for TV and cinema advertising, film soundtracks, music for theater productions, installations and exhibitions as well as concert pieces and several studio experiments. There are also a few short pieces that resulted from an experimental music course given by Oram at a high school in Yorkshire in 1967.) 24.00
PHUONG TAM - Magical Nights – Saigon Surf, Twist & Soul (1964-1966) CD (sublime - Sublime Frequencies is honored to present the first ever retrospective of Phương Tâm, the groundbreaking Saigon teenager who became one of the first singers to perform and record rock and roll in 1960s Vietnam. By chance in early 2020, Hannah Hà (USA) learned that her mother, Phương Tâm, had once been a famous young singer, performer and recording artist at the heart of Saigon’s music scene in the early 1960s. The family had heard some mention of their mom as a singer at the time, but the extent of her legacy and the many songs she had recorded came as a big surprise. Further investigations soon led Hannah to producer Mark Gergis, compiler of Saigon Rock and Soul (2010, Sublime Frequencies), enlisting him to join her on a journey of discovery and recovery. The result is this essential document of Phuong Tam’s brief but prolific career, and at the same time, reuniting the long-lost music with its singer.) 20.00
TAPES
COBRA MAN - Toxic Planet TAPE (goner - Released alongside the full length video from the Worble skate collective, TOXIC PLANET is Cobra Man’s follow up to their 2017 debut album “New Driveway Soundtrack” and is their second for Memphis, TN based Goner Records. The band initially formed to create music for a series of skate videos for Thrasher Magazine, which is how Goner founder Eric Friedl (The Oblivians) discovered the band. Cobra Man’s TOXIC PLANET is an album for a new way of life. The Los Angeles power disco duo blends the essence of classic disco funk, the raw power of warehouse punk, and the supernatural qualities of their favorite slasher films to create something unique. This record marks a step forward in production, arrangement and instrumentation from the more stripped down “New Driveway” -- making their sound more dynamic while still managing to retain the raw vitality of their debut. ) 15.00
MAGAZINES / BOOKS
MAGGOT BRAIN - Maggot Brain #6 (Sep/Oct/Nov 2021) MAGAZINE ("On The Cover: Amazing unseen image of Bikini Kill live at CBGB in 1990, by Mike Galinsky, with accompanying lengthy photo essay exploring indie-rock in the early 1990s, including behind-the-scenes, unpublished black-and-white film images of Sonic Youth, Unwound, Mary Timony, Sleepyhead, Half Japanese, and more. Columns: Luc Sante's ridiculously good 'Pinakothek' column where he goes off on one image; John Colpits AKA Kid Millions on Miles Cooper Seaton (RIP); The forgotten brilliance of bluesy hip-hop pioneers New Kingdom; New tape releases in the tape column; Susan Bernofsky on her Robert Walser bio; The Clean's singer and guitarist David Kilgour on the long-awaited Stephen reissue plus a lot more; the enduring goofy excellence of ELO's Out of the Blue; Legendary Japanese hardcore guitarist Zigyaku from Gudon talks with Takeshi from Boris for the 'One on One' column in celebration of the wide release of Boris's 2020 album NO.“) 15.00
Merchandise
THE MICROPHONES - Microphones in 2020 Notebook SHIRT (Pw Elverum - SMALL ONLY - In the spring of 2020 there is a new Microphones band shirt consisting of a notebook page of scrawled illegible ideas that a kid has drawn figures over the top of. It’s about layers of time and idea churning and returning forever. There’s no end. These are printed on 100% cotton Gildan 5000 shirts.) 25.00
THE MICROPHONES - Floating Head SHIRT (pw Elverum - This historical painting by the great Kyle Field has taken on great significance in our little household. Whatever his original intentions, or non-intentions, sitting there doodling ink at the kitchen table in 2001, he delivered the perspective-skewing eye contact of this floating head that has been with us for about 20 years now. It’s a signifier of wonder, not knowing, befuddlement, weird beauty, malice and rapture. It’s a symbol of whatever you want, but around here that’s what it’s for. I look at it and feel love. Maybe for you it could just be a shirt that says “I like the music that goes with this picture, wink wink fellow nerds.” These ones are on natural white. The face is getting closer. It looks like the shirt itself is the shape, the cloud-head. Confront the people in your life with the question: “what is looking at me and why?” The shirts are extravagant 100% heavy organic cotton, made in the USA. The brand is “Royal Apparel”. In S/M/L/XL) 30.00
