Breakdancing Ronald Reagan – ‘Enabler (Long Live The Home)’ CDr
There are hundreds of videos of BRR (Johnny Cash) playing live on the internet but I promise you, even though he is SICK live, what you’ve heard and seen doesn’t come close to this. Not necessarily because I think it’s better. It’s just that, if he actually ever performed this live, anyone in attendance would likely collapse, and I like that idea. Limbs rotting, falling off like Barbara Maitlin’s jaw. Mad cow disease, even. My mind is just melting and melting with every spin. I could say even more but I want to surprise everyone who grips one. I’ve decided to issue a disclaimer, however. I’m not sure what it says because it’s written in gibberish. It’s on the insert, but it’s printed in invisible xerox ink. Literally invisible, though. A black light won’t help you decipher it. It will however accompany your listen nicely if you ever went through a slightly gothy, risk-taking parachute pants stage. This is true parachute pants experimental sound collage. But not without hints of BRR’s ~signature~ harshy harshness and spastic decision-making. Beware of the true opposite to spastic to shine a blinding light, though. There is much drone to be heard, here. And it is some pretty fucked up drone if I do say so myself. Black ink on neon yellow card stock, housed in XBox & Playstation cases w/ one-of-a-kind inserts carefully picked from some rich household’s recycling bin. Even the original inserts for the games have been left in the cases because why the fuck not, it’s BRR. Hand-stamped CDrs. Art by JML. Limited to 45.
Breakdancing Ronald Reagan + Pregnant Spore – ‘Are Rock-hard And Bodacious’ CDr
A long-anticipated 2-week in-person recording venture between Johnny Cash of Austin, TX and Justin Marc Lloyd of Chicago, IL resulted in this beast of much intermittence and contrast, while committing to a heavy-hitting approach from both parties. The contrast of each artists style and even preference in experimental music presented “problems” that simultaneously redeem themselves, or maybe repurpose themselves as something new, and even significant and even personal to the artists involved. Recorded on various devices, mixed and mastered by various of those involved. This 11-track collection of total improv is rough on the ears and stretchy on the brain. Clean, triple-signal chain looping of a shared electro-acoustics, processed individually. Feedback used as drone zones and mangled textures, sometimes at the same time. Digital synth flirtation, equal parts destructive and stupid. Way too much else going on to further reference. I mean, we had a whole 2 weeks and my employer barely scheduled me the entire duration. There are bouts of minimalism and restraint and yadda yadda, but it’s an all-around head-scratcher. Guest jammage by Nathan Hill! For fans of cutty-uppy kooky-kinky fuck-you vibes. Black ink on neon pink or light blue card stock, housed in XBox & Playstation cases w/ one-of-a-kind inserts carefully picked from some rich household’s recycling bin. Hand-stamped CDrs. Art by JML. Limited to 45.
Widow’s Bath – ‘And Their Children Shall Adhere To The Graves Of Those Slain’ C10
Remastered extractions from files recovered from a field recorder hidden in the corner of the performance room of the legendary DC-area noise-bunker Candle Haus. Justin Marc Lloyd & Matt Boettke occasionally team up and create a set that doesn’t really sound like either of them when they are on their own and at first. But as the tape evolves, as their performances usually do, the still and breathing drones from Matt Boettke and the tape abuse and electronic alterations of JML come right the heck out of the woodwork, all before 10 minutes clocks in and ends the tape. This is the last material Widow’s Bath had sitting around and unreleased, and it was even recorded several years ago. Until they record again…if they record again…muahahahaha *fade in the tape* Black ink printed on lime green/white zebra print card stock, hand-numbered. Hand-painted, A side-stamped paper labels on black foil tapes in hard plastic cases. Art by JML. Limited to 25.
FASX/Prgnnt Spr – ‘The Wizards Of Waverly Place Was My Father’ CS
Repurposed cassettes of various lengths, quality checked, featuring three opuses per artist equalling 22 minutes of blather per side. FASX is relatively new on my sonar. Probably because he’s 12 or 13 or something. In fact, Wade “FASX” Clanton of Colorado somewhere, has become a pretty damn good friend of mine. He runs Null Religion and releases mega nice tapes every once in a while. Wade’s side features a little tape collage and home-altered electronics, but totally blown to bits and smooshed up to your teeth. You can even feel the frequencies giving your choppers a little cleaning that you know you’re long overdue for. Consider this tape a post-card from your dentist. Prgnnt Spr injects some Xanax-electronics, a party of synthesized oscillating, and a family of tapes & records into the picture. A soundtrack for micro-organisms from Planet X to dance to. Crunchy. Black ink on baby-blue card stock, hand-numbered. Hand-painted, hand-stamped paper labels on various types of cassettes in hard plastic cases. Art by JML. Limited to 31.
Juice Machine/Path To Lobster Believers – ‘Weak Password’ C30
Stumbled upon some shiny new c30s that my friend sold me at a yard sale. Took all 18 of those babies and hit up Roger and Heather (again) for (another) split! I just love Juice Machine too much. Patient, screwy analog electronic dreams. Sometimes it’s liquid and sometimes you can chew it. From headaches to sleep, the machine never stops dispensing quality. Recorded in either the early 70s or perhaps the year 2733. Who can be sure. The Path’s piece is strictly micro-cassette collage and manipulation, mastered nicely. High fidelity shit-fi. Out of tune acoustic guitar meandering, improvisational vocal poetry, broken thrift store keyboards, taped recordings of taped recordings playing in the next room, found-object resonance and texture experimentation, all garbled nicely by dying batteries. Sounds drunk in a sewer. Each copy comes with a one-of-a-kind abstract collage/painted j-card and a printed insert with info. Solid black tapes with hand-painted paper labels on the front. Art by JML. Limited to 18.
Justin Marc Lloyd – ‘Core Dump Diaries Vol 1 & 2’ 2xC60
120 minutes of archived audio. A double whopper of junk drawers filled with rehearsals, experimentation, tests, room-ambient work-out music and a few feline disruptions. Recording methods from walkmans to cell phones to computers. Black ink printed on dark, pale red card stock, hand-numbered. Hand-painted, stickered cassettes. Soft poly cases. Both cassettes are joined by a spiffy stretchy band of some sort. Totally post-rubber band age. Art by JML. Limited to 12.
Collapsed Arc/Justin Marc Lloyd – ‘Time Pretzel Logic’ C90
If you know anything about David Russell’s work, you likely are familiar with his incessant addiction to/fascination with electro-acoustic short-loops. If you’ve seen him live, he’s probably exploded some baby powder in your eyes and afterwards given you a big, sweaty hug. I was pleasantly surprised when he seemed more than interested in doing a 45 minute piece, and does it deliver! Russell’s signature sound never gets old because he’s able to make the most fluid and flowing jammage out of seemless 2-ish second loops. A true ebb-and-flow-er! This A-side makes up for all the small editions of short releases of his I’ve missed out on. At the flip of the tape, and JML drags 3 contrasting 15-minute pieces into the picture, further exploring electronic feedback, home-made devices, tape collage+manipulation+loops, keyboards, and guitars. All three songs have titles and concepts referencing the Invisible Source Field. Or, to make things easier for you, perhaps refer to them as the belt-sander, the oxygen deprivation, and the time a crowded mystery-pocket of particles got married in a sinkhole. Black ink on lilac card stock, hand-numbered. Hand-painted, hand-stamped, hand-stickered retail tapes in hard plastic cases. Art by JML. Limited to 23.
Juice Machine/PCRV – ‘Ideas Of Permanence’ C32
As for the group that organized this very split, we have Juice Machine on side A keeping Eugene, Oregon excitably freaky. Roger Smith and Heather Chessman are an electronics improv duo and they like to jam on that dry analog sound so good. Minimalist humming and buzzy bees glide around between discordant arpeggiations and scrambled synthesis spasms. For a while they’ll sit almost completely still, letting that moaning womp just exist. And then, with haste, an inappropriately(/perfectly)-timed angular whine will drip out of box thingie with knobs on it, sci-non-fi style. It’s impossible to tell how intently they play, because there is this level of ideal awkwardness and freedom in their transitions. Or maybe they are just seasoned improvisers, listening to the voices in their heads that say “flip that toggle, but then turn that knob slowly and massage your mood.” PCRV is a master of his craft. He baked up 4 muffins of totally psychedelic and deranged and harshish hashish. Beautiful layering and perfect juxtaposition of textures. The combinations really are the highlight of these pieces. Matt Taggart of Billings, Montana (wait, Montana is real?) has come so far since he started bustin moves as Pop Culture Rape Victim aka PCRV in the early 2000’s. His sonic palette has widened significantly over the years as clearly heard on this release. He’s outstanding at abstracting his rooted musical intellect and these strange atmospheres prove it. My ears thank you. Black ink printed on super light blue card stock, hand-numbered. Chrome, prison shell tapes with a A-side stickers in hard plastic cases. Art by JML. Limited to 25.
Silver Moult/Sorcerer Torturer – ‘Fecalibrium/Grotesqueticles’ C32
Scott Kindberg, the sole soul behind the Midnight Sea/Petite Soles/4EYES labels, and one half of Ginger Cortes, performs about 16 minutes of aggressive grossness. Sounds like some mics, soaring feeeeedback, muscle spasms, some tapes, and the most blown out signal that could’ve been attained at the time. Minimalism in sharp, dirty and primitive presentation. Speaking of dirty, Sorcerer Torturer, the noisiest and shittiest noise-grind solo act still active is from the Dayton/Cinci area of Ohio. That place just cannot stop breeding quality. Justin Lakes, Matthew Reis, Luke & Nate Tandy, Dan Rizer, and way too many more to list! Stu, the Torturer himself, is one of them, but he’s the only one with a thick suburban Ohio accent, an embarrassing obsession with Canadian indie-pop, and a bag full of electronics that can survive being thrown from a car on the highway. It’s happened and it was my fault. It was almost as terrible and hilarious as Stu’s 16 minutes of blistering drum machine blasts, tinny distortion, indecipherable and puffed-up Spazz-esque vocals like his mouth is full of balls and feces. Rock n roll. Black ink printed on lime green card stock, hand-numbered. Hand-painted, hand-stamped, white tapes with paper labels in hard plastic cases. Art by Alyssa Herlocher & JML. Limited to 27.
Scant/Swallowing Bile – ‘Youth Fountain’ split C32
Scant is Matt Boettke of Richmond, VA. He is one of the most important people on the east coast. He co-owns a new show/art space in RVA called Auxilliary and he’s booked tons of shows for local and touring artists. He plays a major role in RVA Noise Fest, Cheap Fest and the legendary DC house venue, Candle Haus (RIP). His piece on this tape is just flooring. I know him to rehearse and record and erase over and over again, for literally months, to the point of me wanting to wring his neck. Very few could touch this, or get even close. Minimalism in it’s perfected stated. Matt is a patient and plan-oriented performer. He’s a nazi about texture and timing. This art is like… fine. So fine. Bonus: his contributed recording was 17 minutes long. Obviously the A-side on this tape is 16 minutes long. Matt agreed to let it go to the dubbers ‘as is,’ as the remaining material will later be available for listening when the tape is out of print and a download goes up. Bringing it gritty and unpretty, mister Ethan Ebeling, a wild and crazy kid from upstate, NY who has been making people in the “black t-shirt harsh noise scene” piss their god damn pants for only a short time now. I don’t know where he came from but he hasn’t been out of the womb as long as a lot of us and he’s got more control over his sound and performance than most of us had at this point in our own ventures. When it comes to “this kind of noise,” I get really picky and all that. But I know Ethan, and I’ve heard Ethan, and I didn’t have to hear this piece before I said “absolutely” to putting out a split with him and Boettke on it. Sure enough, his piece struck me like chewing tinfoil and being dragged under a 16 minute tidal wave full of huge boulders and broken glass. You might know Ethan to have a mic in his hand, but not this time. Swallowing Bile’s minimal, tumbling textures and spits of feedback, with piss as icing, is words enough! Black ink on pale light blue card stock, hand-numbered. Hand-stamped, hand-painted solid white tapes with paper labels in hard plastic cases. Art by JML. Limited to 37.
Crank Sturgeon/JML – ‘Input Reddy The Triple Sics’ C32
Broken and just beautiful, Crank. Electro-acoustics + feedbacky/jacked-up-input-jack electronicy surges and the flicking around of tapes and voices and maybe some pencil sharpeners or something? I don’t know. True life this is Crank Sturgeon perfection! Side B is the totally mysterious JML with only 3 releases out so far plus one small compilation appearance. Tape loops, actively ruining a turntable that didn’t belong, a little visit to a sketchy petting zoo behind a gift shop on the Upper Peninsula in Michigan, MI, etc. Within the last 7:30 minutes you might hear a demo/”B-side” to the Anxiety Flood Cont. sessions by Justin Marc Lloyd for some reason. I’d say this tape is hard to listen to. Not everything busted sounds pretty. Black ink on light pink or hot pink card stock, hand-numbered. Chrome, hand-stamped, prison shell tapes in hard plastic cases. Art by JML. Limited to 36.
Newton – ‘Rotting Rainbows b/w Goodbye Candle Haus’ C32
A bogglin tape-heavy + out of this world noisy collage from a hardcore vet of bizarrities you all know and love. Maybe you know him as half of FUN or his gorgeous label of mostly 1-2 minute tapes (but there are other gems of other lengths and formats in there too!) called BREATHMINT. He hides, a lot. In Philly somewhere most of the time. Crack open YouTube and search for him massaging a guitar with Rat Bastard at Cheap Fest IV in Richmond, VA! Anyway, Side A’s an assault of every god damn color in the spectrum. Sounds like total synth madness with a dizzying stereo image panning party. Side B is the legendary and much anticipated and super confusing collage masterpiece of a bunch of super drunk friends of mine totally trashing the basement of Candle Haus, complete with lots of glass, after their last show before they all broke up and ruined the noise scene in Fairfax, VA. Black ink on either light blue, yellow, pale dark red, neon orange, lime green/white zebra print, or dark violet card stock, hand-numbered. Limited to 34.
Justin Marc Lloyd/+Pregnant Spore – ‘Solar Activity & Civil Unrest’ 6″ lathe/CDr & Pregnant Lloyd – ‘The Conscious Super Being’ C16
Get a download of the CDr tracks for free with your pre-order by using BANDCAMP for this product as well as a link to download the rest of the tracks for free when it is officially released! Audio & Concept: Left-field, avant-garde electronics, electro-acoustics, tapes, voice and guitar. Smeared over a lathe in two direct statements, a CDr of self-solos and attempts at self+higher-self collaborations, and optionally, a 16-minute tape representing true actualization. A vessel for vibrations which all point to the same invisible Source Field/conscious matrix of reality, and the secret to life, love and existence. Limited to 30 copies. 14 lathe+CDr sets, 16 lathe+CDr+tape sets. When the first 16 orders with the tapes have been placed, the listing will be changed to reflect $17 without the tape included in the listing. However, it will still be available for download. The lathe & CDr will be in a thick plastic sleeve. The CDr itself will be in it’s own protective envelope inside the sleeve. Full color, digitally-made artwork on the lathes. Inserts: xeroxed collage/mixed media art on colored card-stock. Additional xerox prints and unique found pieces also included. The sound quality does not decrease on these lathes over time any more than a record will contrary to other lathes you may have. These are not flexi. In fact, they are pretty thick. These are super high-quality cuts and will play on any record player. They play in mono, but the pieces that were cut into the lathes were composed in mono, for mono. Production for this project is roughly 13 weeks. This is mainly due to the fact that the lathes that are cut in real-time with expensive vintage equipment that requires regular maintenance. It is a small DIY operation of the best quality. I’ve chosen my lathe provider carefully, and the wait times are as long as they are because a lot of other people have chosen just as carefully. I will keep in contact with you with updates so that you are not kept in the dark about your pre-order. Doing a pre-order is the only way funding is possible at this time. This listing is for the lathe+CDr set PLUS the the “Pregnant Lloyd – The Conscious Superbeing” c16 that comes with the first 14 copies of the lathe+CDr set. The tape includes two profound recordings from the same sessions. There are a few bonus tracks lingering around this release that will not ever be available for download, but will only appear on the physical releases.