Tirath Singh Nirmala is the man once known with modest notoriety as John Clyde-Evans. Upon returning from a seven year journey on the path of Sikhism, he released a number of painfully limited CDrs in a variety of diverse collaborations. ‘Bluster, Cragg, & Awe’ is a mashup of the best moments from those releases, and for this reason, plays as the disjointed yet brilliant pinnacle of the man’s oeuvre. The voices and instruments on this album are hard to characterize for their variety, and it is doubtful they represent a single tradition; they evoke rites from many disparate locations – the coasts of Ireland, North Africa, middle Asia, and America’s central plains. Highlights include: “nagg clef seatpoint”, a symphony of incantations afloat clouds of wind-fed bells; “the burning moon”, a clattering festival of light percussion and wind instruments flitting upward like sparks off a fire; “sehaj”, an electronic workout not unlike the organ loops of Riley’s ‘A Rainbow in Curved Air’; and possibly the most moving piece, “faleaflowstreem”, which weaves electronic chords and humming loops into a solid river of fresh tones. These six- and seven-minute pieces are relieved by longer drone passages of substantial grace, giving the album a regular pattern if not a cohesive theme. “RYTSN 7.14” concludes the disc, punctuating bamboo flute and wooded strings with powerful entries of silence. The album’s seven tracks could easily be a meditation on the man’s seven years, changing stages and states.

Despite the common forest imagery of Nirmala’s album and Seht’s, 'The Green Morning' exists in a very different place, sonically and thematically. Turning the New Zealander’s newest CD over, the photo of the dry-red Mars landscape refigures the sunrise of the Earthy cover not as the only other body, but one of many seeing us through the trees. Where Nirmala finds introspection in this world, Seht shows us a bigger picture. Each track on the disc focuses on a single repeating theme, with subtle variations throughout the cycles. Built upon huge, cresting drones, the tracks play out abstract patterns of simultaneously soothing yet menacing shape; like a Buddha machine built of a wind-tunnel, the sound fills the room and churns the air from the speakers. After thirty minutes, three tracks of this tension – “Valles Marineris”, “Olympus Mons”, and “Way in the Middle of the Air” - relax into the unexpectedly playful “Cydonia” – only to swell again in the immense “Chryse Planitia” for the final twenty. This is science fiction music of Clarke and Sagan vision; eclipsing Earth and a little scary for it. (Digitalis CDs, $12 ppd (World) HERE)

Spacelessjam has some heavy shit for you:

GX Jupitter-Larsen & IDX1274 - 'Sandpaper And Vinyl' 3" CDr $4
"Woah. This tiny CDr is packed to max. A collaboration between two noise behemoths. Not really much to say, it is far from description. Recorded live at the 2nd Annual Eugene Noise Fest in Eugene, Oregon. Limited #'d edition of 75, packed in sandpaper and vinyl and comes with a special sugary treat."

Torturing Nurse & Radiocore Blowjob - 'Killing Me Softly With Your Love Song' 3" CDr $4
"Another fine, fine collaboration 3". This time the offering are of that of two Chinese harsh noise maniacs. Radiocore Blowjob is another name for who you may already know as Ronez, and Torturing Nurse... well who doesn't know Torturing Nurse. I've been told this CDr is mastered real loud, not that I noticed but "even with the volume all the way down, its still up"."

*See it for yourself

House of Alchemy is a new CDr label from upstate New York. Two salvos thusfar, and a number of doozies coming soon.

Antique Brothers – ‘Bears in the Woods vol. 1’ CDr
What a package! The paper gatefold has pictures attached with those little corner dealies, oil-paper fold out inside the cover, hand-stamped disc and hand-numbered cover, plastic sleeve, and - get this – vellum catalog inserts! Man! Inside, the music is packed loosely in thick summer air. The Brothers thank Death Chants in their notes, which is a nice reference to their sound - lightweight and a little dusty. Despite the ursological titles (“Grizzlies at Dawn”, “Kodiak Habitat”), I don’t hear the damp, dark environment which suggests ‘Bears in the Woods’; centered around western acoustic-guitar meanderings inspired by Fahey, Chesny, Grubbs, and Carter, the pieces play like a guitar-slinger wandering an open desert of scuttling sounds; tambourine, tape loops; a flute here, an organ there. Voice is used in a single chant (“Opium Dreams (Hibernating)”) and to mimic animal voice, and then as sparsely placed as the countless other embellishments that appear along the xeriscape. Second only to the guitars, drums roll through like thunder, breaking into the occasional tantrum which drowns out everything, showering sheets of metal. Recorded with no overdubs, the improvised songs are both organic and nicely-executed. The songs stick to the theme and cohere without repetition. The insert says this is volume one in a series of five. They must have a lot of material. Here’s to hoping it keeps pushing along. Limited to 123 copies.

(VxPxC) – ‘Drapery Dept.’ CDr
Packaging! This one comes in a hand-sewn, stamped burlap sleeve, stamped CDr, and a handsome full color insert (plus the vellum!). (VxPxC) has been around the block, this last year releasing one million releases on two million labels - yet embarrassingly enough (I haven’t hear any of them). From what I’ve read, they are a collective of somewhere between three and six members, which may explain their prolificacy, and certainly explains the expansive and variegated compositions they present on this disc. “Wailing Drones” is actually far more than that, with a variety of voices conversing with a treasure chest of instruments - stringed and otherwise - over gentle crests of live drones. Xylophone stars in the gorgeous “Ballad of the Empty Rooms”, resonating next to where a child tap-dances as her family plays woodwinds in the adjoining room. “Hole Removal Plans” shimmers like a Labradford song in less of a hurry (if you can imagine), until “No Bop Bop Bop” breaks in with the exotic discord of Eastern strings, groans and tones in unrest, and under the conduction of a mischievous child. “In the Walls Tonight”, perhaps the best track on the album, features a simple theme played out through a thick organ tune, accompanied by a weary voice and spacey guitar. Synthesizing the album, this track conjures a swaying, lofty reverie over the rich textures of activity in the acoustic space, again reminiscent Labradford or a less danceable Polmo Polpo. Almost all the tracks meld together nicely, as when “Caged Echoing Footfalls” rises up, adding booming percussion and a near beat to the ethereal spirit carried on from the last. “Phantom Dressing Room” is a dark relapse into the creepy imagery of horror movie tones and swampy moans, leading into the final emergence of the “band” behind it all; “Slow Breath for a New Morning” sees primary elements (piano, guitar, xylophone) coalesce into a focused waltz which dances from the room. Recorded in an old, empty movie lot office, this album has absorbed years of echoes captured in the worn wooden floors and plastered brick. ‘Drapery Dept.’ is an impressive accomplishment for such an active band, and an early victory for the young label. Limited to 123 copies.

Each album is $9ppd (US and Canada)/$14ppd (World), and available from House of Alchemy.

Arbor's been busy!

Arbor SALE:
"I am working on a few vinyl projects for late '06 early '07, so i am going to have a sale to clear out some inventory. the sale will go until november 14th. here's how the sale works:
-order 1 item get 1$ off
-order 2 items get 2$ off
-order 3 items get 3$ off
-order 4 items get 5$ off
-order 5 items get 7$ off
-order more then that EMAIL me for a super discount and presents."

NEW:
Sleeping Babies - 'Beneath The Blood Moon' C20 $5ppd (US)
"What is love? Love is… making eerie jams with your honey. This recently relocated BF/GF duo drop their first release on arbor. Creepy organ drones and hypo-hypnotic percussion carry your ears. Howls of a wolf in heat to the blood moon. Ritual dreams realized through vocal drones. Totally organic. Featuring members of Quilts. Limited to 50 numbered copies with art by the band and tapes salvaged from the swamp; stamped with a blood moon."

Quilts - 'Light Horn' C22 $5ppd (US)
"Shimmer shining strips of sound float through the sky. The light horn is calling. Organ sprawls covered in pit-er-pat percussion. This is the kind of music that you create in your head when you are sitting on the park bench and rearranging the memories of the sounds going around you. Except it is better and it is recorded. Earth drones make dreamy lullabies. These dudes have releases coming out all over the place including a split tape with Quintana Roo on Dnt, as well as a recent release on a new incarnation of imvated, cauliflower dreams. Limited to 50 numbered copies with orient smoke dream art on jadetapes."

Get busy and buy at Arbor.

Another winner from 777 was 666, this release actually predates the recent and fabulous Hip Hop Shop Sweepers Vol. 1 CDr comp, as well as the equally impressive Patchouli and Echoes double CDr which I have yet to get my ears on. Unlike the others, this compilation spans four decades of unpopular music, resulting in an alchemy far weirder than the sum of its many weird parts. Nearly covering the entire lifespan of psychedelic/out music, this disc stacks a variety of unreleased tracks from like-minded explorers without succumbing to a single zeitgeist; liner notes are sparse, and a lot of unknown/unreal names show up to thoroughly befuddle every listener.

‘God Came Between Us’ features contributions by: Tiny Tim, Gregg Turkington, Glen Meadmore, The 3 Nieces (Eugene Chadbourne, Don Bolles & Joseph Hammer), Silver Apples vs Tom Smith, Dave-iD Busaras (ex Virgin Prunes), William S. Burroughs, Surfers of Romantica, Destroy All Monsters, Culturcide, Raymond Scott, Anal Magic and Rev. Dwight Frizzell featuring Black Crack and The Sole Survivors, Totem Pole of Losers, The Dead C, Decaer Pinga, The Three Doctors, Christine 23 ONNA, Evil Moisture, Beyond Joy & Evil and T.Mikawa (from Incapacitants). Culled from disparate sources - studio, bedroom, various live venues - with clean-up and mastering done by Gravelvoice’s/Sun City Girls expert Scott Colburn, this CD pops as much as each roughshod track will allow.

After an awkward and ineffectual spoken introduction by Gregg Turkington - deliberate, and funny when you find that Gregg is really Neil Hamburger who is really not funny at all - Meadmore plays something forfeited by The Kingston Trio’s songbook, “Where is My Boy Tonight?”, a suspiciously innocuous melody of dandy choir and piano. Keep an eye on the thick-tongued acappella of Dave-iD Busaras, an uncomfortably sincere song called “Sunday Blues” which may take a few listens to absorb, and maybe a hundred to understand. The CD really picks up on track six, when Silver Apples play “Danny Taylor”, a swirling-jam standard over which one Tom Smith purrs and croons, riffing his words and taking to task the shrieking organ, guitars, and rampaging drums in competition for the front seat of yr ear. Culturcide contributes a sophisticated studio (late 80s?) version of the punky “A Day at My Job,” reminding me of what, The Mekons during the same period? In contrast to this straight rocker, Raymond Scott’s 1969 performance of “String Piece” is fantastical and fancy, incorporating either strings run through a modulator, or else an entirely electronic panel of early-analog fuzzy carburetion. Tiny Tim (!) sits up in his grave for 70 seconds to perform the self-explanatory “Santa Claus has got AIDS”, segueing into “If you were a bird, your future would not be inevitable”, a 7 minute, 24 years in-the-making clatter-jam by Anal Magic with Rev. Dwight Frizzell and company. Christine 23 ONNA presents “Ho”, a stunning collage somehow originally by Ya Ho Wha 13, which incorporates a spectrum of sounds from gamelan percussion to shimmering high-tonal sheets over a Durutti-like guitar entry.

Soon enough, old Billy Burroughs shows up for a brief interlude excerpted from a colloquium in the 1990s; addressing his creative process, he sounds twice his age and surprisingly arrogant, like Charlton Heston when frothing about how rad guns are. Regardless, Burroughs is(was) always a ‘blast’ and on this CD we get a double dose of his jism (*re-watched Naked Lunch last night and I still stand by Cronenberg’s interpretation of Burroughs, if not the muted vision of his process.) Evil Moisture’s cutup of Burroughs in conversation is a noble effort, applying the man’s textual theory via an “Automated Cutup Device Compaction”; unfortunately, the degraded quality of the recording undermines a methodology which requires exceptional clarity for best results. Like a wave of damp (gothic) air in the night, The Three Doctors waft in with “We DReam Ourselves Into Being”; a spooky guitar and organ fade-out, with a waning dracula on the mic and a lady chorus. Beyond Joy & Evil create a very nice piece of subtle torment with plundered audio over sweeping strings and unstructured piano in “What is Good?”; Totem Pole of Losers resurrect the gramophone to play “Look What You’ve done”, a pleasantly crooned pop tune with a great guitar solo from the forgotten forties, and the final reminder that this comp obeys no laws of logic. The Dead C takes us “Outside”, mixing concrète sound and narrative by some perky lass into a live (outside!) performance of classic NZ feedback menace. Finally, T Mikawa quite literally offers his scrambled “Closing Remarks”; a diminishing loop of “closing remarks”, “ahhhh check the box”, “we’re all chicken pox”, “RAHHA CHIKE WAH”, “WAAHHR”, and on.

In a world of crazy fucking compilations, this one really stands out; with cool pseudo-primitive art by Ian Piper on fancy stock, and limited to 500 doses. (777 was 666 CD, $18/15€/¥2200, worldwide air-fare included. WRITE for availability and ordering details, or check out Fusetron in the USA.)

Cheeky. From Not Not Fun:

Pocahaunted - 'Moccasinging' cassette $5
"Not Not Fun's newest ancestral spirit team is Pocahaunted, and this sunset-kissed C38 is their first foray outside the inner psychic teepee/sanctum of private dreamsong. So dance round the fire, the war for the plains is ON (yr tape deck). A spectral feather headdress of bone cloud chanting, turquoise noise, ocarina whispers, and trail-of-tears tom-tom tribalism, Moccasinging weaves together a ragged patchwork equal parts mother/earth lamentation, battle prayer, and primitive creation myth. Four tomahawk hymns of buffalo skull sisterhood. Hand-painted tapes in tie-dyed canvas pouches adorned with golden beads and eagle feathers, plus an insert. Limited to 100. Member of Quintana Roo."

get it on the PRESENTS page.

'Immortal Attitudes' is the work of the young Italian Valerio Cosi. An accomplished saxophonist, Cosi alone plays and records a variety of instruments on these multi-part tracks. This is no small feat: his work is free, jazzy, and free-jazzy; characteristics difficult to embrace as a trio, let alone a single man. Each track on the album progressively lengthens, moving from brief bop miniatures into spaced-out jams with expansively revamped instrumentation. Move beyond the entirely misleading cover art (did they never sell Cleopatra records in Italy?), and you will discover a variety of jazzy/psychedelic tunes at various states of orbit.

"Interstellar Trane" opens the album; as sleighbells ring and glitchy tones fall like snowflakes, a saxophone plays a holiday jazz theme as another blows out a throbbing power-grid; the music coasting over an urban center, as chilled city-dwellers fill the streets for the holiday season. Cosi is a dandy drummer as well, and in “Black Kind of Freedom” he duels himself, briefly, with spastic sax fluttering over the punch of percussion. “I Walk Alone” fills out the trilogy of jazz entries, with a somber tune swelling into an out-pouring of brassy emotion. // “Making Love in Lhasa” is a wholly other beast, fitted with rattles of wood and copper by fire-light, and made to dance to hand-percussion and a charmer’s saxophone; a man’s voice echoes out into the arena, introducing a bout of sitar drones. Layers upon layers, the music becomes frenzied and bursts. “Forces of the Air” is entirely electronic wave-manipulation, sand-blasting drones and tones across the sky. “(Memories of) An Ancient Day” sounds like something off of Jim O'Rourke's 'Bad Timing' or an instrumental Pajo track, deconstructed into a light raga. Vocal drones build atop each other with fluttering sax and ornamental clatter, fading into lost galactic transmissions in the closer “Astral Shipwreck”.

‘Immortal Attitudes’ is simultaneously free-flowing and highly accessible, with a nice mingling of traditional and experimental jazz sounds, layered upon psychedelic flourishes and pure atmosphere. Cosi is a restless lad, and will be unleashing a career's worth of music in the coming year; if this album is any indicator, it will be huge. You may want to prepare yourself. Limited to 100 copies. (Foxglove CDr, $7ppd (World) HERE)

New high-falutin shit from Erstwhile:

Ami Yoshida/Christof Kurzmann - 'a s o' CD
"Ami Yoshida and Christof Kurzmann are both well-respected artists within the international community, each performing in a wide range of contexts from abstract to pure pop. Both are best known for their long-running duos, Yoshida for Cosmos (with Sachiko M) and Kurzmann for schnee (with Burkhard Stangl). This project finds them in far less comfortable territory, and a s o is the outcome of two years of hard work.// Ami Yoshida strives to create a pure sound, abstracting her voice until it becomes almost completely unrecognizable. She created her unique style with no conventional training, initially inspired by Meredith Monk. Cosmos and Astro Twin (with Utah Kawasaki) are her two longest-running projects, and their split release won the 2003 Ars Electronica award. She has also recorded as a solo artist, most notably Tiger Thrush (IMJ), a kaleidoscopic catalog of 99 fragments. Her small catalog almost exclusively finds her working with other Tokyo-based musicians; a s o is one of her first releases to break that formula.// Kurzmann has been a prominent part of both the Vienna and (more recently) the Berlin scenes over the past decade. As an organizer, he cofounded the phonoTAKTIK festival, helped begin the prominent Rhiz club in Vienna, and runs the prestigious Charhizma label. Since moving to Berlin in 2001, he has organized countless shows, including the Berlin half of AMPLIFY 2004: addition. Kurzmann has been an essential part of many Erstwhile-related live events, in Tokyo, Berlin and the just concluded ErstQuake 3 in NYC, and was the first to work at Amann Studios for an Erstwhile release, beginning a crucial relationship for the label.// a s o contains recordings from the first meeting of Yoshida and Kurzmann in March 2004. The collaboration was a difficult one, partly because of their wildly different backgrounds and partly because of the communication issues due to their language differences. Four translators helped the project along over the course of the two years it took to make this record (Taku Unami, Toshimaru Nakamura, Yuko Zama and Kae Uchihashi). Although it was a long and complicated journey, the end result is very organic and accomplished. a s o contains an extremely broad range of abstract approaches from both artists, resulting in a wildly different soundworld from any of their previous recordings, and has been beautifully captured as always by recording engineer Christoph Amann. The impeccably minimal yet lush CD design is by Hirozumi Takeda, utilizing images provided by asuna."

AVVA (Toshimaru Nakamura/Billy Roisz) - 'gdansk queen' DVD
"AVVA is the duo of Toshimaru Nakamura and Billy Roisz, based in Tokyo and Vienna respectively. AVVA stands for “Audio Video/Video Audio”, referring to the working method of the duo. Nakamura produces the music using the internal feedback from his no-input mixing board, Roisz uses that as the basis for her optical moving patterns, and Nakamura has a TV monitor showing Roisz' output, so the whole process is circular and created in real time.// Since 1998, Nakamura has been exploring the possibilities of his no-input mixing board in contexts ranging from solo to collaborations with Keith Rowe, Günter Müller, Sachiko M, Andrea Neumann, John Butcher and Sean Meehan. Nakamura was a prominent presence throughout the AMPLIFY 2002 box set, appearing on five of the seven CDs, and an integral part of the Good Morning Good Night, ErstLive 005 and 4g releases. He has released two superb duo projects in 2006, aluk (w/ Klaus Filip) and the stunning double CD between (w/Rowe).// Roisz has been manipulating live video in various combinations since 2000, with such musicians as Dieb13, Christof Kurzmann, and Efzeg. She specializes in feedback video and video/sound interaction, exploring the links and gaps between seeing and hearing, images and sounds. Roisz has released around fifteen individual music videos, including one on the Sonic Fiction compilation on Index and on the Efzeg CD Boogie (Grob). gdansk queen is her first full-length DVD.// Nakamura and Roisz first worked together as part of the Feedback: Order From Noise tour in the UK in the summer of 2004. They felt such an affinity for each other's working methods that they formed the AVVA duo, and have toured in both Europe and Japan. gdansk queen consists mostly of edited live recordings, as well as two pieces which were mail collaborations (the audio done by Nakamura in Tokyo, with the video later composed in real time by Roisz in Vienna). Nakamura and Roisz are ideal partners, their audio and video feedback combining to become far more than the sum of their parts, resulting in a mind-melting experience in which boundaries are constantly created and then destroyed. The design combines a cover photo from Dieter Kovacic with stills from the DVD in an elegant oversized jewel box."

Ordering details HERE.

Got this in the mail today, hot off the presses. This volatile little C20 is a live recording from what was surely a sweltering show last July. Each band takes a side. / Lambsbread plays a wall of insanity, plastering the room shut: bass wobble builds up and topples; invisible drums pound out a foundation; and every possible chord gets wrecked, slashed, and just fucking wrecked by a small army of electric guitars. // Quintana Roo retaliates with a slow-burner of lurching death: sputtering drums beat out a wide, muddy path with guitar wails floating along side like demons; bass groans are threaded with electronic winds; the whole band sounding like a vehicle of rotten wood and black soil, creeping through a storm at twilight.

Green tapes splattered gold, with a beautiful print on thick cardstock inserts, hand-numbered to 50 copies. (Buried Valley C20, $6 ppd US/$8 ppd World HERE!)

This is ridiculous. From Musicyourmindwillloveyou, all post-paid worldwide:

mymwly0051 (VXPXC) - 'Devoid of Karma' CDr $10
"Deep space cosmic whisperings, prog spirals and sonic exorcisms minced into a dense narcotic fog of melodic guitars, bowed strings, keyboard mutilations and spectral murmurs, slowly creepy from the speakers to flood the room with trance vibrations, occasionally lifting itself up into clatterings of drum and bone, or prayer like voicings. there is a visual quality to this music, a narrative flow, like bearing witness to strange events, creepy and portentous."

mymwly0052 The North Sea - 'Baby Blue Bones' CDr $10
"Brad rose's body of work is steadily growing to epic proportions, his collaborations span the globe.. but it is in his solo work, and in his work with his wife, eden, that his true talent shines. here is a perfect example of that. meditative and gently psychedelic folk wanderings, deeply personal yet immersive and warm."

mymwly0053 Ajilvsga - 'The Harvest' CDr $10
"Opening with a bowed prayer to some long dead demon deity, and moving deeper into ritualistic fervor, all smoke and glinting sunlight fleckery, a temple of musical ritual and worship. manipulated strings, tribal percussion, faux sacred undertones of our collective tribal ancestry. The duo of brad rose and nathan young is here joined by eden hemming rose and michael donnelly. recorded live (mostly)."

mymwly0054 Charles Curse - 'Rain in Skull' CDr $10
"New adventures in no-noise and acid fuck. Aural dopamine, as well as headache replication. A head/heart struggle, with visions of color and psyche exploration, cd skipping, random sonic stabs, ambient washes of sound and rebirth through a process of neo-surrealist deconstruction. Enjoy the ride. Features a number of collaborations with charles curse's three year old son. May contain traces of folk. Use only as misdirected."

mymwly0055 Robert Horton/Michael Shannon - 'Broken Mask' CDr $10
"The wildly prolific mr horton is joined here by multi instrumentalist, michael shannon. the result is a journey into a sonic world both beautiful and dark. dronescapes and formless clouds of enveloping sound, time altering and sacred, drift apart to reveal a minute world of incremental sonic gestures, distant krautrock echoes, and broken landscape crackle, falling away again to lay bare an ocean of seamless, organic shimmer."

mymwly0056 Valerio Cosi/Wilson Lee - 'Cold Solemn Rites in the Sun' CDr $10
"Dense tonal excursions of gitar and sax.washes of sweet deep sound, bent abruptly into shape by bursts of jazzish percussion.moving things into higher mind states until the crisp language of the sax touches open the pineal windows and all gorgeous color bleeds through.fuck yeah.high is god."

mymwly0057 Brothers of the Occult Sisterhood - 'Statues from Space' CDr $10
"The end of the second phase, note the clever slate. stumbling dreamscapes, ornamental glimmers and free folck fuckery."

mymwly0058 Bunnybrains - 'Live at RPI' CDr $10
"The mighty bunnybrains perform insane live ritual. lurching punk opera to hardcore symphonic absurdism. assembled from fractured guitar lines amidst propulsive blowouts, abrupt schisms and retro replicas.. mind in spine flowing the line."

mymwly0060 Keijo and the Free Players - 'Endless Clouds' CDr $10
"On this outing the freeplayers move with gentle grace through realms of hazy free flowing rock and psyche spiked jammage. deeply meditative, cyclical and dreamy, perfect for the human nomind."

mymwly0061 G.M.C. - 'Detallederepentepaz(odelmar)' 3" CDr $10
"From argentina, member of vluba, gmc embarks upon a lush exploration in structural sound built from synth waves, pulsed tones, loops and spiraling melodies. Gentle graduations in depth and position generate a strong sense of space, until the listener is cast weightless. deep space or deep water. The final moments bring a glimpse of the source, the source being the whole."

mymwly0065 Muura - 'Sun Dreamer: Moon Shaker' CDr $10
"One gorgeous, lo fi journey into super minimal space rock. snatches of almost song and memory lapsed time displacement, circular thoughts made round and shiny, blanketed by warm tape hiss. played out by ghosts, barely there. a music devoid of structure, yet immense in its allness until there is nothing but the air."

GO HERE!

New from Arbor:
Arbor10 Cole Milner - 'No Strangers' CDr $5ppd (US)
"A slight detour from the recent noisy releases on arbor brings us to Cole Milner's newest pop gem. Cole Milner a man of many names such as Cole Miller, Cole Miller Island, Sneakypines, I Love You, and many other names following the "C.M. (insert place here)" formula. Cole writes pop songs in Menlo Park, CA similar to those of the Pacific Northwest dudes. He's toured with everybody from Seattle and Portland and is a really cool guy, and also totally nice. Sometimes he has a moustache. Sometimes he uses a drum machine. This album features some instrumental help from the brother, but other then that it's all Cole. Campfire songs, bossanova songs, and dance songs. All about love and fear and stuff like that. Packaged in a paper bag with paste on and an insert by Cole. In a numbered edition of 100."

Arbor18 Gang Wizard - 'For The Man Trapped Inside A Man' 3" CDr $5ppd (US)
"Summer is over dude. Bummer. Lots of left over Popsicle sticks and melted jams and memories of the pool are what remain. I guess that you can still have all that shit in Sun Valley, CA, but not in the Midwest. It's getting cold now, but that's beside the point. Gang Wizard gets together all the time and records the hardcore hang out sessions. Every time they are done we are left with a sweet document like this one. Totally rad dudes, in totally rad moods, creating totally rad tunes. Disjointed guitar jingles and all over the place drumming create a cacophony of positivity. Total Happiness from members of Foot Village, Rose For Bohdan, and a bunch more. Released for their fall 2006 NW tour in a numbered edition of 75 neon drenched popsicle-sticked canvases."

Mp3 and Order HERE! EMAIL for orders outside the US.

This arrived much sooner than expected, so here’s the good news, much sooner than expected:

First, no thumbnail can do justice to the gorgeous print on this CDr. It's like a tissue-paper collage or something. The insert is pro as well, printed on thick, glossy paper. High class! And the contents? Here’s your play-by-play:

Witcyst, posing as Cheal Sep, introduces this behemoth with the miniature "L'avis des Specialistes Roll" - a sliding, chiming, babbling piece of contact concrète which exposes very few of the surprises to come. Like - BLAM! Sic Alps play ultra-fuzz garage jam “Latin”. It's got snappy vocals, harmonies, huge bass solo, and an all too brief exit. This is awesome! It’s definitely time to track down more by this crew... [wandering away] ...and I’m back: Animal Disguise has a cassette EP available and will be releasing an LP by the end of the month. There you go. Next, Id M Theft Able offers a frenetic paste-up of slurping, puffing, howling, fucking. It's jarring. Smegma’s is a surprisingly sedate interlude from the back of the UFO where Alvarius B opens the peaceful “Dukun Burial Song”: a plucked piece of eastern fable accompanied by overlapping drones, oms, and Sir Richard’s low-pacific twang. Top form. Blood Stereo’s “Talons of Tar” is a stroll across the shop floor, over the hum of progress, where mechanical stomps press widgets from the soundtrack; perforations through which groans of ennui emerge to clash with the whistling of estranged labor. Nautical Almanac’s “Live!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” track follows with skonky blasts and cartoon bursts battling thick feedback bolts and electric guitar; the recording is top notch, with nice separation despite such dynamic fluctuation. Sick Llama comes through with the stomach numbing flutters of “Dark Vision”, and Glamorous Pat (who gets the nod for the album's tremendous artwork) offers a fantastic, way-loopy piece of No dance (as in drama, not your mama); with cloppy-clashy percussion, magic flutes, and something like a jaw harp. Very nice! Another brief piece of psychotic collage follows from Charles Balls & Crank Sturgeon which seems to lead back to that waiting room in the spacecraft where Kawasome Yoshihiro has arrived for deep exfoliation and aural detox in "Yaya & Recipe of Milk + Hot Milk". Portland Bike Ensemble shares the same sentiments with an untitled piece of rude, creeky door-knobbery, after which Robedoor holds a humming séance for scary shit - evoking guerrilla radio, bombed-out opera houses, and oceans of angry waves with "Holy Mob". The atmosphere thickens as Porest lingers late-night outside the walled bazaar where crickets and turmoil stir the air into a horn of high-budget horror: "Halfway to Palestein". The menace darts close, so we flee beyond the sentry and enter the candle-lit burlesque. Still out there, The Punks offer the second “live” event of the night, a ten-minute bonfire of marching beats and jug-band bass, keyboard jewelry and yelps by the pack – a rousing affair! Maths Balance Volumes’ “Shootin’ Shaman Ridge” is another skronky brass freak-out, augmented by bowed shrieks, jack-hammer on low, and spooky pulsations. At a lower register, Sounds of North American Adult Bookstores play “Piasa Dolore Spreca”, an exotic string piece ornamented by wood chimes and clicks, apparently performed and recorded underwater. A little “ding” leads into the coda, Tsupoonu’s hyper-active opus “Dr & G & Bicycle”. Played at triple speed, the effect is “1,000 arcades in 180 seconds”. Game Over.

‘Hip Hop Shop Sweepers Vol.01’ offers an impressive range of styles and compositions from all over the place. It flows well, though I can’t say the album is exceptionally cohesive or coherent - of course this doesn’t matter when it is a compilation of so many fantastic tracks. Seriously, there is no dead space here. Outstanding contributions by Porest, Sic Alps, Robedoor, and Glamorous Pat. Limited to 100 copies - PANIC! (777 was 666 CDr, $10/8€/¥1200, worldwide air-fare included. WRITE for availability and ordering details, or check out Fusetron in the USA.)

New releases by Ruralfaune:

(rur009) CORSICAN PAINTBRUSH - 'D i a m o n d s' CDr $9 ppd/7€ ppd
"Corsican Paintbrush was officially formed in the late spring of 2004. This project consists of Brad Rose (The North Sea, The Golden Oaks, Ajilvsga; Alligator Crystal Moth...) and Eden Hemming Rose (Wax Ghost, The Cone Bearers, Akhet...). After releases on foxglove, Musicyourmindwillloveyou and a split with My Cat is an Alien, welcomed this new album from the digitalis headquarters. Clattering folk melodies, hesitant voices , take a deep breath to feel the mint smell... Wrapped in a virgin white tapisserie baroque and closed with a stick. Limited to 85 copies."

(rur010) SEHT - 'Guyrz nz you are thus alienated' CDr $9 ppd/7€ ppd
"The New-zealander master of minimalism music is coming back with a new piece of drone music. Some Repetitive sound treatments and an analogue synth approach for a journey through your mind. Again and again, a profound reflexion into unexplored territories and where the time is lost between past and future... Limited to 86 copies... Wholesales and trades welcomed as usual."

Check out the website and Email for more information and to order.

Unread is sensitive to the wants of vinyl. As a permeable format, vinyl absorbs the spirit of the sound it captures, allowing even the most casual recording a distinguished persona. The label also recognizes the fluidity and archival potential of compact formats, offering an impressive array of dirt-cheap releases on cassette and CDr. Here are Unread’s newest releases:

Chaucet – ‘Memory Debt on My Deathbed’ CDr
Compiled from recordings circa 2000, the influences on this album seem fitting to a micro-era passed. Sounding like self-conscious Euro-rock in the vein of Gene or Kent or old Pernice Brothers demos where they let the drummer sing, these songs are straightforward and sappy, yet credible in their rawness. This rawness is largely an effect of low-fi production - in irony the reason these songs failed to see a sooner release. “She laughs as his kingdom burns” is a much sharper song than the title lets on, rubbing acoustic guitar into a lather around one bleak, sing-song lamentation. “Japanese Death Song” also belies its title; there are no flutes or abrasives, just some nice, twangy guitar and a mellow beat. The 8 minute-long “New Boss” is perhaps the most dramatic moment on the album, with pensive guitar building into a full-band crescendo. And though “An Obnoxious Howl” shows the band can do loud, “Be Silent and Drink Your Wine” highlights the band’s strongest point: modest vocals delivering subtle-yet-catchy melodies over strummed guitar. In hand-made, hand-stamped inserts and limited to 100 copies. $6ppd (US)

Charlie McAlister - ‘Creosote’ one-sided LP
17 songs of the man’s rough and tumble ramble, mixed with greasy skits and assorted garble. Non sequitur, lo-fi pop songs banged out with surprising care. McAlister’s verse recalls the Dead Milkman, though red/reb like Jon Wayne, and less joke-y than either. The one-sidedness of the LP is a nice touch, giving us just one side of a clearly fucked-up story. In hand-screened paper sleeves and limited to 300 copies. $10ppd (US)

Kyle Jacobson – ‘I Can Make New Friends with You’ LP
According to the label, this album is the distillation of over 100 songs into just 20; the effect is an erratic mix of four-tracked pop songs glued together at all angles, playing like the scrapbook of someone who really enjoyed high school. The somewhat ambiguous title suggests an attempt to win you over, or win you back. Give it a shot and see if it does. In thick, screened jackets and limited to 500 copies. $10ppd (US)

Ed Gray - ‘Fresh Coat of Paint on the Powder Keg’ 7”
Seven songs in seven inches, this music is much more sincere by comparison to Gray’s vinylmates above. Reminiscent of the guy who sings for The Dears, Gray’s voice often appears unrefined and strained, which is not entirely a good thing, though it does lend his songs a degree of desperation, which is not entirely a bad thing. Violin is thrown into the mix alongside acoustic guitar, drums and organ, creating a nice, western-folksy sound through a variety of moods. The record comes in neat, off-set screened covers, limited to 300 copies. $3ppd (US)

Press HERE to see the whole catalog and to order.

The cover of Flying Canyon’s self-titled debut, at first glance, suggests the title “California doom folk” to which they attach their music: cumulonimbus stretch beyond the frame below, exposing the deep blue of sky above and beyond with just a hint of sunlight spread too thin through the ozone, upon which the brooding image of a bearded Norseman is superimposed. From this introduction, one would expect a far-darker sound than the high-altitude that this album reaches. In fact, the imagery takes on entirely converse meaning as Flying Canyon rarely dip below the stratosphere, instead coasting above and between the clouds, be they thick or thin.

The phantom in the photo is Cayce Lindner, who guides by voice, picks and strums - and who in turn is supported by Shayde Sartin and Glenn Donaldson (both of The Skygreen Leopards) who buzz and pound, respectively. Like a clear day atop a mountain, the music is warming from an angle, yet chilling in the movement of thin air. Inhaling some vintage California, the boys do well to recall their influences without recalling a note: an early dedication to their forefathers (CSN&Y, Eagles above; spookier types below), “In the Reflection” opens the album with booming percussion ushering-in a warm, fuzzy bass line and humble acoustic strumming. Lindner’s voice is alternately bold and reluctant, breaking from the sing-along verses to the wounded chorus. Despite the regular back-up from Donaldson, Lindner’s voice is alone through all his songs, distanced from the spacious bass and beat, and even a little estranged from his own ambling guitar. Slight instrumental adjustments from song to song refresh the album with each track, with highlights plenty. “Down the Summer” exchanges percussion for the subtlety of flute, wafting the gentle tune higher and higher with each note. “Relover” features the creep of a nicely veiled, bubbly organ over dueling acoustic guitars and cloudbursts of bass and drums. Even at its biggest, the band maintains sparseness and melancholy. Though the last track “At Night When the World Goes Quiet” is a nice send-off of day-dreamy slide-guitar ushered off with a brief piece of poetry, unlisted track (“hidden” – really?) “Black April” is the more emotive song, though not necessarily a logical conclusion, ending the album back in the midst of the darkest clouds with no upward orientation. For this retraction, the (fantastic) track plays like a cover (is it?), misplaced at the end of the flight.

Indeed, Flying Canyon are sharpest when at their most melancholy, gloomiest - alright, doomiest – but I refuse doom folk as a label too narrow to capture the spirit of atmosphere that the band conjures through this album. Whatever, this is a great daytime CD - the kind you play right when you wake up, and again in the early afternoon when you’ve done little but drift in between. Very nice. (Soft Abuse CD, $10ppd (US)/$13ppd (World) RIGHT HERE)

If Foxglove were a butt, it would be a butt that won't quit! Get a load of this:

(foxglove135) Fabio Orsi - 'South of Me' 3" CDr $5ppd (world)
"From the rugged coast of naples, italy emerges one of the brightest stars in the italian underground. fabio orsi, who is also a recent collaborator with his italian brethren, my cat is an alien, offers up a masterful journey of complex, organic drones and salutations to the sun. emotive guitar glances shoot off into the breeze like ancient magic being rekindled at birth. solemn organ tones search out the lost souls of yesteryear, all the while orsi is contemplating his next move toward the heavens. this music is so rich, so descriptive and full of emotion that its all-too-easy to get lost in its massive seas. 100 copies."

(foxglove136) Rory Storm - 'ZstarshipZ' CDr $7ppd (world)
"Rory storm makes his stateside debut with an album full of charred drones and moon songs of highest order. "ZstarshipZ" looks on from its celestial perch like a wise wizard, enchanting the world below with the blink of an eye. solar broadcasts that emerge from the earth's core, whirl around in all their electric-field glory before crashing to the ground like a comet-fueled rocket. this is dense like a black hole, but burns as bright as a supernova. rory storm conjures up music that is painfully beautiful. it doesn't get much better than this. 100 copies."

(foxglove137) Campos Verdes - 'Leaving All These Things Behind' 3" CDr $5ppd (world)
"Deep within the trenches of new york lies the world of campos verdes. ben deitz (who also records and performs as math head) shows a magnificent ability to blend many worlds and modes into something singularly his own. with scores of acoustic guitars, voice samples, and synthesizers, sometimes whirring away on their own and other times sailing on a bed of drum loops, campos verdes is an exquisite triumph. it's filled with vivid memories of running across green pastures in the rain and recollections of lost loves adrift at sea. "leaving all these things behind" is steeped in elegance and beauty. 100 copies."

(foxglove138) Pink Luminous Invocation - 's/t' CDr $7ppd (world)
"Pink Luminous Invocation is a new quartet hailing from the nordic confines of denmark. this, their debut release, sees two guys and and one girl battling it out in a thicket of organic drones and ethereal harmonies. with hints of the irish deserted village collected, pink luminous invocation's sound is shrouded in mist. using everything from bells and toy keyboards to clarinets and zurnas, it floats around the edges of the forests, unsure of whether or not its safe to enter the magick wood. it is improvisation on a massive scale. while bowed strings lift their arms skyward, the woodwinds flicker underneath a blanket of stars, and we all listen to these three voices sing us toward the dawn. 100 copies."

(foxglove139) Saiko - 'Sketches of Several Southwestern Felons on the Eve of Their Just Demise' CDr $7ppd (world)
"Saiko is one of multiple monikers used by berlin-by-way-of-texas resident jeff gburek. as a friend and collaborator of such luminaries as tetuzi akiyama and charalambides' tom carter, gburek extends his guitar into a world of otherness. mixing in elements of obscured and manipulated vocals and minimal synthesizers, saiko is an cosmos-bound vessel appropriating the sea. this is the blues cut-up, pieced back together, and then drowned in the bathtub before ascending to the heavens. 100 copies."

(foxglove140) Anthony Guerra & Matthew Nidek - 'White Eagle' CDr $7ppd (world)
"Anthony Guerra and Matthew Nidek have released a string of impressive albums already on labels like pseudoarcana and black petal. their duo recordings are monolithic. like scattered buckshot, they race in all directions as fast they can. "white eagle" is another bombardment of intense, melodic jazz-infused improvisations for guitar and drums. nidek's skill behind the skins is immediately obvious, while guerra etches out personal diamonds with his guitar playing that, at times, is reminiscent of loren connors. this is emotional music soaring underneath the nebulae of history. guerra and nidek are the seeds that grow strong after the rain has washed everything else away. 100 copies."

Available individually HERE, or get the whole lot for $32! EMAIL to say you want them all.

If you go to shows where everyone lies down and the band is one word, this is what you want this week. If the name BONUS evokes a specific sound in your head, pat yourself on the back because you are correct. This is the enlightened, fuzzy, pulsing, glowing heart of the world. Growing knows it; so does BONUS. This is tectonic movement, timber-line adjustment, glacial expansion. Recorded in the fourth dimension, ‘On Earth’ is a three track survey of the planet, B.C. – Before Christians, Capitalism, Conquest and Compact discs. We’ve fucked up 98% of the earth, but we can take this anywhere. These are the psalms which follow natural holocaust, circa now. Swells of drone rise up like hot weather, swirling with dust and moisture; figures form and shift in the mix. The winds die and the hum of silence is headier than the storm. The elements settle into strata of sound and a new earth is born. This is sound therapy: a trilogy of subtle movements with vibrations that crumble your brain into your body and your soul into the soil.

Produced with Pete De Yellow Swanson, the recording is blessed with the same rich, full quality you know the man’s band to make good on. Hot on the heels of the top-notch Zelienople LP, Root Strata has released BONUS’ strobe on a dangerously black CD with fun folding-paper sleeves painted all sexy in an edition of 500. Get this and regenerate! (Root Strata CD, $12ppd (US)/$14ppd (World) HERE)

To our Europals, a festival for all tastes:

"We can now announce the latest incorporations to the Tanned Tin 2006 programme. We have just confirmed Okkervil River, M. Ward, David Thomas Broughton, Matt Elliott, The Magik Markers, The One Ensemble of Daniel Padden and Radio Dept. As for native combos, there are Litius and El Hijo (ex –MIGALA) + Grupo Salvaje who will not only play their own material but also will also present Johnny Cash´s autobiography “Man in Black” recently published by our sister company Acuarela Libros, with a series of cover songs originally performed by the man in black.

"These artists will join Portastatic, Dakota Suite, The Montgolfier Brothers, Annelies Monseré, Manyfingers, Psychic Ills, Lisa Germano, I love you but I’ve chosen darkness, Mouthus, Darren Hayman & Band, Apse, David Grubbs, Spires that in the Sunset Rise, Nick Castro, Six Organs of Admittance, The Secret Society, His Name is Alive and two noteworthy bands from the label Constellation: Carla Bozulich and Hrsta.

"The eighth edition of the Tanned Tin will take place in the Teatre Principal in Castellón on 9th, 10th and 11th November (with extra activities on 8th and 12th). Last year, the festival was held in the Auditori i Palau de Congresos of the same city, however this year we have chosen a more central and cosy venue, near the hotels, restaurants and other services.

"The main objective of the Tanned Tin is to provide a small appetizer of what we consider to be the most interesting things happening in the independent, international music scene. This intimate festival is a wholehearted venture to bring innovative and exciting proposals to Spain or simply the most stunning and sincere projects that pop, rock, folk, electronic and its most unlikely combinations have to offer.

"The programme has been put together once again with the relatively unpragmatic, idealist spirit of the most incurable music addicts. Apart from its unique criteria when choosing the artists, an unmistakable distinguishing characteristic of the Tanned Tin is that it offers its fans the possibilty to enjoy the best live music in surroundings similar to your own living room, allowing you to concentrate and watch without any annoyances or interferences.

"The Tanned Tin has always taken place in an auditorium with excellent accoustics, with all theatre luxuries and with the public comfortbly seated watching the shows in an almost religious silence which is only interrupted by jubilant cries similar to those incited by Herman Düne´s and Animal Collective´s excellent concerts in 2005, Coco Rosie´s and The New Year´s shows in 2004 or Julie Doiron´s performance which dazzled us in 2003. We believe that in the 2006´s edition, we are offering the best possible line up and that there are definitely many groups worth checking out, enjoying and supporting.

"Tickets will be available from October 4th and can be purchased through Servientrada from Bancaja and in El Corte Inglés, either by telephone or through their respective web pages (www.bancaja.es and www.elcorteingles.es) and also in the Teatre Principal in Castellón. Tickets cost 14 Euros (Thursday), 20 Euros (Friday) and 20 Euros (Saturday) plus distribution charges. You will find instructions about HOW TO BUY THE TICKETS EVEN IF I DON’T SPEAK ANY SPANISH soon at www.tannedtin.com and www.acuareladiscos.com - BUT BE PATIENT!

"The final line-up will be made public within the next few days. As a sneak preview, we can tell you that there will be concerts during the day (we like to call them “matinees”) completely free of charge in the Casino Antiguo on 10th, 11th and 12th November and an inauguration party on Wednesday 8th."

James has opened shop in Portland (where else?) under the banner Below PDX. Releases one and two are already way gone, so you best get your ass in gear for the newest. From the label:

Mattress - 'Eldorado' CDr $7ppd (US)
"Mattress may bring images of discarded furniture, caked and reeking of dead skin and matted clumps of hair. From the lip-chapping desert air, a deep bold voice collides against ancient rock walls, stabbing icicles in the rubbery flesh of cacti while oozing sinister intentions across lizard flesh. Mattress is what Suicide's first album would have sounded as a blues band: confrontational, sinister and somehow still dancy. Like more recent era Nick Cave low dark vocals meets old era Smog, pop with a lonely bedroom recorded desperation. Rex Marshall is a one-man rhythm ace of prison water torture repetitive beats and slippery casio keyboard progressions. 6 Songs, 21 Minutes - 1st pressing of 100"

Get it HERE, listen to an Mp3, and have a look around Below PDX.

777 was 666 is a Japanese label with crazy releases at reasonable prices from bands that destroy. The newest release is a monster:

(777-013) v/a - 'Hip Hop Shop Sweepers Vol. 01' CDr
Featuring: Blood Stereo, Alvarius B, Smegma, Sick Llama, Sic Alps, Robedoor, Portland Bike Ensemble, Kawasome Yoshihiro, Witcyst, The Punks, Nautical Almanac, Charles Balls & Crank Sturgeon, Id M Theft Able, Porest, Sounds of North American Adult Bookstores, Glamorous Pat, Maths Balance Volumes and Tsupoornu.

Limited edition of 100 with full color sleeves and cover artwork by Glamorous Pat. $10/8€/¥1200; price includes postage worldwide (air). No PayPal, No Check - Postal money order & cash only. WRITE for availability and ordering details. Go HERE for more information and buttons to push. *In the US, the label has distro through Fusetron.

and coming soon:
(HATE-001) v/a - 'Hate Songs' cassette
with: Blood Ov Thee Christ, Club Moral, Liver Mortis, D.C.A. (Le Syndicat & N.B.N.), Door, D.D. Dobson, plus more... Cover art by Nick Bougas.

The Watery Graves of Portland is/was Curtis Knapp on piano, Davis Lee Hooker on upright bass, and Adrian Orange (aka Thanksgiving) percussing and recording. As the name suggests, they are from Portland, the land of the thirty-hour day where no one pays rent and one can subsist on damp air alone. 'Caracas' is their only LP. I’ve seen this filed under “jazz”. I suppose I see why someone would feel inclined to do that, but make no mistake: this is to jazz what Do Make Say Think is jazz - there are a few parallels to be drawn but it’s really in no one’s interest to do so. Still, it’s would be difficult to describe this record without a number of jazz references. The band’s sound is dominated by Knapp’s piano, and is therefore mostly Satie for his casual, strolling style and light composition. Bass and brushed drums travel well, minding themselves and rarely stepping out of turn (except in order to be kick ass - that happens a bit). All eleven tracks are tastefully brief, hovering between two and three minutes, yet melded together by interludes and ambient ruckus. Following the grand introduction of “The News”, “Dead Body in the River” is a terse little story told by piano to rhythm section - at times reminiscent of Brubeck’s plodding “Take Five”, but a tad more atmospheric, as if from Rachel’s ‘Handwriting’. Maybe I’m given to suggestion, but the general feel of this record could well be described as “watery”; wet and cold, in the same way old Blue-Note records feel overcast and dank. “Three White Men Rowing” and “Caracas” are two particularly rousing tunes with skittley drums, bulging bass, and sassy piano. Patches of exotic percussion are found throughout the record, and special guest Adam Forkner (White Rainbow, etc.) stops by to add some serious trumpetry to the final tracks, completing the quartet ever-so temporarily. The loose pacing of each song gives the album a distinct liveliness as tempos speed and slow, often several times in one track. It’s almost like they won’t (can’t?) keep time. That LIVE sound is all over this, adding a rough, intimate feel that nicely compliments the melancholy of these songs. This is embarrassingly listenable in ways which would make a self-conscious youngster destroy things in compensation. That’s okay; it’s your journey. The LP comes in beautiful hand-screened jackets, with a CDr version of the album and two posters, plus a hand-sewn booklet of letters/fan art. Dear everyone: this crew is showing you up! (Marriage Records LP, $15 HERE… Yeah it’s a year old - big F!) Very recommended.

Bangor Records is a new little label out of Montreal. They've had two releases so far, one of which is all gone. The first release is still available, and it is RAD. Animal Psi recommended for fans of any artist mentioned below. The label's all like:

Mile End Ladies String Auxiliary - 'From cells of roughest air' CD/10"
"Coming from backgrounds in rock and punk, The Mile End Ladies String Auxiliary (MELSA) takes the conventionnal string trio format and twist it so it integrates the angst and energy crucial to these genres. The ladies began working together as a module of large scale experimental improv band Set Fire to Flames and decided to carry the experiment on their own. The MELSA blends elements of punk, folk and minimalist composition, with an ear for the music of avant-garde legends like Arnold Dreyblatt, Iva Bittova and Steve Reich. They are Becky Foon (A Silver Mount Zion, Esmerine) on cello, Genevieve Heistek (Sackville, Hanged Up) on viola and Sophie Trudeau (Godspeed You Black Emperor, ASMZ) on violin... 'From cells of roughest air' is the Mile End Ladies String Auxiliary’s first record and a first also for the Bangor label. It features a vibrant main composition by the whole group and three solo pieces where each individuality can fully express itself. The main piece was recorded by Howard Bilerman at Montreal’s Hotel 2 Tango and the album mastered by Harris Newman at Grey Market Mastering. Available in hand-packaged CD and 10” vinyl formats with beautiful silkscreened cover."

The 10" is $15/15€ post-paid and the CD (barf!) is $10/10€ post-paid... TOTALLY GET THIS! The Bangor website gots Mp3s, ordering information, and more HERE. Enjoy!

Hototogisu - 'Chimärendämmerung' CD $14ppd (US) (De Stijl 062)
PayPal to DeStijl<at>Mindspring<dot>com, or EMAIL for more data.
The duo's newest full-length is out now. Animal Psi review HERE. De label says:

"Hototogisu are Marcia Bassett and Matthew Bower, and they dwell upon two continents (Marcia in brooklyn NY and matthew in leeds UK). Both share rich discographical heritage. Marcia has recorded with numerous labels (siltbreeze, time-lag, eclipse, troubleman unlimited, etc.) with UN, GHQ and the Double Leopards, and Matthew with Total, Skullflower, Sunroof!, Vibracathedral Orchestra and more. Chimarendammerung is the 3rd Hototogisu release on Destijl and the 5 untitled walls of vertical viola drone / overtone, lapped by shifting electronic waves of feedback, blackened guitars, rhinegold cast deep into dying rivers, an instrumental cycle of conflict, of the birth of a supreme aristocratic beauty into a fallen world, and its inevitable conflagration, then a glimmer of hope of escape from the cycle, in tune w/ the breath of the cosmos, like a glacial reimagining of van der graafs 'a plague of lighthouse keepers', and it represents a current plateau for the duo."

Melted Mailbox is ending its short subscription life, but there's still hope: All 7 LPs are available as a box set, and orders are still open! From the Melted Mailbox site:

"MELTED MAILBOX is a collection of music that arrives in bi-monthly installments. The first series will consist of seven one-sided 12” records. The music-less side will be etched. Each record will be bright & thick. The series is limited to 700 copies & all tracks are previously unreleased!! Limited Edition CDR’s with come with the first 300 subscriptions! Limited Edition Paintings & Prints!"

The records:
*Sunroof! - 'Goldfoxradianthowl' [17:24]
*Dino Felipe - 'Lucky Chairs EP' [17:58]
*Keith Fullerton Whitman - 'biprosia (parts 1 & 2)' [14:58]
*Arrington de Dionyso - 'The True Folk Sounds of Arrington de Dionyso' [17:07]
*Ariel Pink - 'Witchhunt Suite for World War Three (parts 1 & 2)' [17:06]
*Carlos Giffoni [16:46]
*000 - 'Railroad' [14:30]

Plus:
* Melted Mailbox Stickers
* Hand made box & packaging
* Postcards by photographer Tim Guillen [miami, fl]
* Limited edition CDR's (from unannounced contributors)
* Pins & buttons/various surprises

The entire set is $70ppd (US), $125ppd (World) [do the math - it's a steal!] The set ships Novemeber 5th (following the last installments), and the series will not be available in stores. Contact melted@meltedmailbox.com to order and check out more HERE. Keep your ears crooked for series two...


Artists! Submit art NOW to Melted Mailbox!

Melted Mailbox wants to provide an audience to artists of all styles & backgrounds. Anything that you send, in any quantity will be put into a mailing. There are 700 total subscriptions – any contribution (be it one copy or 700 copies) will go into a mailing. We will post your name on the Melted Mailbox site with a link to your site or contact info.

If you have the desire to contribute 1 to 1000 (whatever & however much you want) of ANY physical format ANYTHING THAT YOU CONSIDER ART we will too.

Examples: cloth / paper / cardboard / wood / napkin / loose-leaf / dvd / cdr / cassette / vhs / stickers / patches / pins / scribbles / doodles / paintings.

ART SPECIFICATIONS
-no more than 12" x 12" x 1"
-must fit inside box without damaging vinyl
-no urine, sperm, feces or blood

If recieved August 21st - October 20th art will go into mailing three.

Send to:
MELTED MAILBOX c/o Matt
455A Myrtle Ave
Brooklyn, New York 11205

Sounds just like Shalabi Effect. Where’s my check?






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When I was a kid I was reading a copy of Ben Is Dead when I came across a review of the first Three Mile Pilot LP. The entire review (keep in mind, this was 1993) said, quote

Sounds just like The Replacements. Where’s my check?

I read this over and over. I was totally into 3MP (see?), yet at the same time strangely attracted to the arrogance of this “review”. I thought, “one day, I’ll be a dick too.” // Now I’m inadvertantly asshole enough in real-life (57% according to one online – and therefore bulletproof – quiz), so I chose to pay homage without transgression. I’ve taken liberties with the reference, and indeed the newest release by To Live and Shave in L.A. actually does sound a whole lot like Shalabi Effect at their most experimental and the closely related work of Et Sans (see: musique concrète, sound verité, extreme cut-and-paste). Compiled of recordings from the last four years, the concept of ‘Horóscopo: Sanatorio de Molière’ is characteristically high (from the Blossoming Noise website): “Horóscopo, Vatican temporal assassin, is ordered to fall 300 years through time to prevent Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (Molière) from writing the scabrous Tartuffe. A portal divides, doors fly open... Horóscopo’s eyes roll back into his head, and an empty scabbard clatters across marble. "Taisez-vous, et songez aux choses que vous dites." The Nightgaunts descend...” - Got it! This incarnation of TLaSiLA features: Tom Smith, Rat Bastard, Ben Wolcott, Don Fleming, Mark Morgan, Andrew (WK) Wilkes-Krier, Chris Grier, and special guest Thurston Moore. The music is such an authorless tangle, it’s impossible to parse who contributed what; I can only say that if any of those names pique your interest, you will not be disappointed.

The cover art of the digipak is particularly eye-catching, and I spent a good five minutes staring at it before I realized I had yet to hit play. Track One opens on a collage of death rays, cut-up conversation/crooning, and a little late-night piano melody, all woven through an increasingly pervasive tone-riff. The frequency is always in flux, as this fucked-up radio won’t stay tuned, dialing-in nearby planets and cable satellites. Two intros on a verse and a swarm of digital gnats, the radios continue to shifts, and a glimmering beat actually develops among the alien pulses and bleeps. Streams of liquid spurt through the soundscape and this is all very surrealist. Armies of sound continue to enter at random through track Three, now as a brassy overture bleeds into a traditional minimalism akin to Terry Riley’s live recordings (‘Olson III’ comes to mind in particular). Nothing lasts long on this album, and soon a whole new barrage of transmissions blast through, laced with static and cosmic timbres. Four opens and closes with an exceptionally stimulating series of vocal samples, book-ending a mudslide of thick, greasy rudeness. Either the album becomes more consistent by track Five, or I have just grown accustom to the patterns of randomness, but a theme apparently emerges for each track from this point on; a theme that is introduced early, then slides underneath each successive layer, always audible but more so when new layers are thin or gapped. Seven plays somber like an early requiem, and Eight takes us outside (who knew we were In?) to the sounds of earth-nature, interrupted by what appears to be a five second sample of the history of rock-n-roll, collapsing into a hot, dense little dot.

There are many ways to approach this album, both as a casual listen or a text to decipher; there is certainly too much going on to put into words. This is an exceptionally cerebral album and surprisingly user-friendly, asking no prerequisite from the listener. This is a mature experimental treat for gourmand and novice alike. Where’s my check? (Blossoming Noise CD, $13 HERE)