German Army – ‘Yanomami’ CS
Since first establishing its elusive roots in some undetermined location in 2011, German Army has led a darkly addicting, fascinatingly consistent run of surreal dirges on some of the most revered outsider imprints in the game, including Night People, A Giant Fern, Monofonus, Skrot Up, Burka For Everybody, and Yerevan Tapes. Peter Kris, the project’s “known” bandleader, brandishes a flurry of post-industrial vignettes, tinged with dubby effects, atonal clatter, and shimmering, uncanny beauty. On ‘Yanomami,’ German Army tightens its approach to hypnotic, vaguely plunderphonic approach to its signature rhythmic sound collages. Tracks like “Serve in Aramaic,” “Tomochic Rebellion,” and “Advanced Prophecy” speak to scenes both doomed and hopeful, churning through bleak beats and flanked by distorted odds and ends. “Blue Gold Show” and “Copyist” channel some spiritual cousin to Cabaret Voltaire, Ministry, Seefeel, careening in a metallic drift of mechanical movements and blissful melodies. ‘Yanomami’ is the latest chapter in German Army’s sublimely sardonic campaign. Limited edition of 100, imprinted cassette, fold-out j-card and insert with download code.
Andreas Brandal – ‘The Thursday Curses’ CS
Andreas Brandal is a Norway sound designer with more than two decades of texture exploration to his name. Having already issued a number of cassettes, CD-rs and vinyl on celebrated outsider imprints (including but certainly not limited to Smalltown Supersound, Field Hymns, Kendra Steiner Editions, 905 Tapes, and No Kings), Brandal now joins the Sacred Phrases family with ‘The Thursday Curses,’ a five-song suite that underlines the producer’s tonal sleight of hand. Opener “From the Bed To the Fire” dives headfirst into an undulating aural murk that ebbs and flows in waves of digital decay and sweeping beauty. “A Moment Passed And All Was Changed” plays like an avalanche of sustained blips and serrated snow, simultaneously collapsing and building up speed and mass along the way. “A Murmured Name” and “The Thursday Curses” are distant, alluring sheets of warm desolation, culling an air of mystique and a distant presence. Closer “No Symbols Where None Intended” wraps up the tape with calm resolution, providing a fitting space for meditation on preceding emotional arc of ‘The Thursday Curses.’ Limited edition of 100, labeled cassette, fold-out j-card and insert with download code.