Category Archives: UPDATE

Aquarelle – ‘August Undone’ LP
From the very first seconds of “Within/Without,” listeners familiar with the output of Aquarelle, the nom-de-plume of Madison, WI-based sound artist Ryan Potts, will find themselves in territory that is at once familiar and new. This opening salvo explodes into being with the surging, analog fuzz blooms and preternatural sense of rhythm that endeared many to “Sung in Broken Symmetry,” his prior Students of Decay full-length as well as his sterling contribution to the split LP with Alex Cobb issued via Low Point. Nestled deep within these writhing guitar drones we hear plaintive piano notes being struck and layered sine waves, an early hint of the notable development of the Aquarelle sound that is put forward on “August Undone.” Potts’ compositions are strikingly rich in detail (indeed Ryan disclosed to me that a few of the mixes on this record made use of all 64 tracks on his DAW). However, these are compositions that never become muddy or unfocused, remaining instead truly effervescent, full of nuance and subtlety. “This Is No Monument” recalls the halcyon days of C/Psi/P-era Birchville Cat Motel, with a massive wall of guitar distortion and distant chimes slowly dissolving into cascading chords and radiant, microtonal drones. “Clockless Hours,” the stunning closer, features a welcome appearance by cellist Brandon Wiarda and brings the album to a lovely and apt dénouement. In the end, “August Undone” is a brave step forward by a musician who is never content to rest upon his laurels.

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Xiphiidae – ‘Pass Hidingly Seek’ and ‘Quaking Myth’ LP
Long-running solo project by Jeffry Astin. Label head honcho of everyone’s favorite underground cassette label Housecraft. His highly organic style, represented on over 40 releases, predominantly cassettes, defies all attempts at elementary categorisation, but indicates broad influences from modern and ethnic drone, tape music, musique concrète, kosmische and lo-fi, amongst others. Two selected recordings “Pass Hidingly Seek” (2009) and “Quaking Myth” (2010) finally get the proper issue on wax!

Tuluum Shimmering – ‘Ulau Tau/Spirit Of Sun’ LP
One of the most magical recordings you’ll hear this year is the first LP by Uk-based one-man trancedental-drone band Tuluum Shimmering. The sound of Tuluum Shimmering is like a sort of loop driven, timeless ethnic music without a region or a tradition. the recordings on the LP were made on a 4-track cassette recorder. On the A side there’s: homemade bamboo xylophone, homemade flute, acoustic guitar customised with buzz bridge, Roland digital piano, vietnamese gong, cymbal, rattle. On the B side: homemade tamboura, various flutes, Roland digital piano, hand drums, vocals, tibetan singing bowl, snake charmer, rattle, saxophone.

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Carolla Lovelace – ‘Vavoom’ C32 $6
Vavoom is the project’s first release, an album of fuzzy, anxious pop music. It was recorded in Charleston, SC between April 2013 and June 2013. The cassette comes with a digital download, a bonus print, and a tactile experience. Limited edition of 50 numbered tapes with holographic labels.

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NNA059: Nate Young – Regression – ‘Blinding Confusion’ LP
Over the past few years, iconic noise artist Nate Young has been carefully crafting his own signature solo sound, as evidenced through his progressive recordings and performances with American experimental music staples such as Wolf Eyes, Stare Case, Demons, and Moon Pool & Dead Band. After the completion of his recent Regression trilogy (part one being the self-titled disc on Ideal in 2009; 2011’s “Stay Asleep” LP on NNA as part two; and part three “Other Days” on Japanese label Rockatansky in 2012), Young begins a new chapter in his personal sound world, and it is perhaps his biggest leap forward musically thus far. Regression “Blinding Confusion” enters a new era, retaining the techniques and studies from his previous work and raising them to new levels. Intense compositional building and structure seep through each track, traversing new ground melodically while still upholding Nate’s patented over-bearing weight of dread and slow-burning darkness at all the right moments. Deep, percussive brutality and pulsing neurosis mesh with somber burial hymns, held together by Young’s technical prowess and mastery of his chosen gear. Each frequency is given it’s own unique role and characteristic voice, deeply chilled by the arid space of decay via tape manipulation/disintegration, howling its way through the grooves of the record like a cold wind of dead space that billows throughout, unrelenting. Atonal, morphing, and modulating bass lines pulse and plod their way through, like the unseen presence of the undead ascending a creaking stairway, leading upwards toward a nebulous void. This establishes a truly horrific atmosphere while honoring primitive technology, refined with a thick dose of originality. Self-recorded at Burning Log Studios and M.U.G. in Young’s native zone of Detroit, Michigan, combined with high definition mastering and cutting by Lupo at Calyx in Berlin, Germany, make “Blinding Confusion” the defining artifact by one of the United States’ most talented voices in noise and experimental music. Digital Download coupon included with purchase.

NNA060: Ryan Power – ‘Identity Picks’ LP
Over the last decade, Burlington, Vermont songwriter/producer Ryan Power has tirelessly embarked on the quest to write the definitive song-based music, full of accuracy, refinement, deliberation, and perfectly-placed shifting harmonic puzzles. Ryan’s latest “Identity Picks” for NNA Tapes is an eight track song cycle that dances through lush jazz pads, aquatic smooth jazz funk styles, and the sensitive side of progressive rock. These songs are long, shifting compositions, slowly unfolding and patiently circulating within a refreshing variety of stylistic modes. Throughout these colorful arrangements, Ryan creates a polyphonic choir with his own voice, adding symphonic embellishments to his calculated and catchy hooks. Ryan addresses contemporary issues in his subject matter, including the music industry, lust, self-evaluation, identity crisis, and the contemplation and acceptance of a world gone mad. Unlike the phobic, neurotic head spaces of 2012’s “I Don’t Want to Die”, “Identity Picks” is a life assessment, a meditation on putting yourself out there and the struggle to maintain integrity under scrutiny. The production is astonishingly hi-fi – recorded, engineered, mixed and performed entirely by Power himself, aside from the occasional guest appearance from members of his newly-formed live band. According to the artist, the songs on this album were written “to help give my life meaning” through the purity and timelessness of classic, addictive songwriting. In an era of technological A.D.D. and fleeting vogue, “Identity Picks” is a record to listen to over and over again, finding new meaning and appreciation with each revolution. Digital Download coupon included with purchase.

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New Jooklo Age – ‘August Two Thousand Ten’ C40
Extraterrestrial ululations by the Jooklo crew spat out from the depths of the vortex. Intense cosmic vibes that recall the atmospheric surreal zen psalms of Taj Mahal Travellers and take you down deep into the abysses of the mind. All covers are handpainted. Edition of 100 copies.

Harry Hoogstraten – ‘Battling Siki’ C60
A collection of live recordings from the late seventies up to the mid-eighties by the Dutch beat poet Harry Hoogstraten. About his performances Ted Berrigan wrote ‘His readings are sometimes almost chanting, sometimes in machine-gun bursts of lines out of which he would often break into a quiet and lyrical passage.’ Hoogstraten writes in Dutch, English, German, Italian etc: working with breath and sound being the most important which gives his poetry a musical quality. On these recordings his readings are accompanied by various musicians: Nico De Gruiter (electronics and synths), cello (Helen-Ann Ross), guitar (Rhid Marks) and rousing yelps (Suze Hahn). Also included is ‘Sora Mi Nanah’, which first appeared on Baobab issue #1. Harry Hoogstraten has been a key figure in the European underground poetry scene of the last few decades. He edited the literary magazines Mandala and Abracadabra, organised the One World Poetry festivals in Amsterdam and worked with Steve Lacy, James Koller and Franco Beltrametti. The readings on this tape are in Dutch and English. 100 copies.

Rotifer Puls s/t C60
Rotifer Puls is a project by krautrock veteran Lothar Stahl, who in the late seventies was part of the politico-prog-rock/proto-punk band Checkpoint Charlie and has been playing with Embryo for the last few decades. This tape collects several live recordings featuring various free spirited musicians opening the horizons from jazzrock over weird krautrock rhythms to psychedelic world music vibes. Edition of 70 copies.

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FH036 GIANT CLAW – ‘IMPOSSIBLE CHEW’ $6
RIYL: b-roll stinger music from the depths of heck, a video game induced panic attack. The sunrise dawns over an earlier Miami, black-purple turning to pink then to yellow-white as flamingos stretch and go about their morning, poking around the mangrove shoots and cattail stands. Girls in bikinis rollerblade around canals with pink Bollés & headphones the size of shooting cans strapped across their tightly permed dull, bronze skulls, never seeing the massive figure coming from the river bottom, cold & dirty with a perverse lust his only sustenance. One by one they fall under his command and turn north into the city to feast on the innocent…

FH037 LAZERCROTCH – ‘GEMINI AIR SYSTEMS’ $6
RIYL: dancing robot Prince clones, Flogsta Dancehall, chiptune sex tapes. Field Hymns’ first proper skweee release, Gemini Air Systems is a swanky sexpot in a velvet analog robe billowing funk like an angry love cyclone. Somewhere in the distance, in the swirling Upper Gamalongs, a return cry is heard, signaling the beginning of Round 2, a round not even close to the boss level. We cannot wait until the next installment of Lazercrotch vs. Field Hymns – what a sound that will be! Lazercrotch is also the owner of one of the America’s finest skweee labels Poisonous Gases.

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i’d m thfft able – ‘Her Blood/Blood Blood’ 2×3”CDr
Futuristic rapper/garbage enthusiast, “i’d m thfft able” joins the ORL roster with a double Cd-r live recording. For fans of Inuit music, vocal games, free improv & refurbished TLC, Beatles tunes! Edition of 100.

Ua Yenoh Cry Cry – ‘Space and Order’ C40
An electronic cerebral cassette tape from a hands on rookie! Abstract prayers through a 40 min grass roots aesthetic record from the best of Portland, Maine. Distortion creates harmony. Pro dubbed and shrink wrapped. Edition of 100.

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AXIS:SOVA – ‘Past The Edge b/w Grading on a Curve’ $6
Two-shot blast from this dazzling low-culture, high-impact unit from Chicago. Past the Edge smacks ya around with Martin Rev’s suicidal pulse and the type of twisted fretboard abuse that warrants enough respect to keep us from mocking Helios Creed’s cowboy hat to his face. Grading on a Curve is the soundtrack to an uninvited chemically-induced journey. A bad one. As seen on tour w/ Purling Hiss this spring.

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Dozens – ‘Born Waiting’ C25
Explorations by Frank Ouellette and Ryan Connolly… a lexicon of pure light and shape… maps of mental geography … portals into unseen spaces.. edition of 50. Pro-duplicated on high bias cobalt. Art by Ben.

Gjallarhornet – ‘Raven Memories’ C41
Collaborative tectonics by Thomas Gerendás (Skullorian Sound Sculptures) and Russ Alderson (Xanthocephalus)… columns of smoke rise from the fissured ground… desolate vistas obscured by sulfurous fumes. edition of 50. Pro-duplicated on high bias cobalt. Art by Rob.

The Ether Staircase – ‘Winning the Olympics’ C32
It has been four years. The ever evolving ether is an ever expanding nothing. Let the games begin… edition of 50. Home duplicated on ferrite. Art by Ben.

Invisible Path – ‘Cloud Variations’ C39
Michael Bailey’s latest transmission from the frontier… time arresting drone work steeped in the blue of distance. Edition of 50. Pro-duplicated on high bias cobalt. Art by Michael Bailey.

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CARLTON MELTON – ‘Four Eyes’ 12″ £14
Carlton Melton have been releasing some incredible improvised psychedelic jams over the last few years, released through their own Mid To Late label and the great UK label Agitated. So after hanging out with these guys at their show here and being absolutely blown away, we’re pleased to be releasing this prelude to their forthcoming new LP for Agitated later this year. This new four track 30+ minute 12″ EP is dripping with heavy riffs, thunderous drums, gurgling synth psychedelia, and mind altering bass. The Carlton Melton sound lies between drone and space rock entwined with loose jam band improvisation, and they blend it perfectly with a touch of baked stoner rock. The record features special guests Brian McDougall, and John McBain (founding member of the legendary Monster Magnet). McBain also mastered the audio. Limited to 600 copies pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl. 300 copies are on transparent blue vinyl and 300 copies are black. Transparent blue copies will be randomly distributed to shops. We have approximately 100 copies of the coloured vinyl available to pre-order.

HELLVETE – ‘Sint-Denijs’ LP £14
Brand new record from Glen Steenkiste, founding member of Silvester Anfang and their more recent incarnation Sylvester Anfang II. Currently Glen is also frequently collaborating with his fellow Anfang member, Ernesto Gonzalez (aka Bear Bones Lay Low) in their free-drone project Gonzalez & Steenkiste. But whilst being active in these projects he still finds time to craft his own music. “Sint-Denijs” is his second solo full length vinyl release following his “De Gek” lp for Kraak Records from 2010, and several great cassette and CDR releases for fantastic labels like Funeral Folk, Sloow Tapes, Audiobot and SicSic Tapes. Since his previous record on Kraak, Steenkiste has been getting more and more interested in sustained tones, foreign melodies and longer compositions. On this new record he draws influences from early Minimalism and old folk music and with the use of harmonium, bowed banjo, electric tampura and analog synth he creates probing intense sounds that try to undo notions of time and place. Steenkiste’s music is like taking an endless shower of sunbeams, warm, comforting and mind-altering. Music that makes time stand still and focuses on shifting details and textures, but massive in sound and presence. This record is pressed in an edition of 500 copies on 180 gram virgin vinyl including a digital download coupon. 200 copies are on ultra clear vinyl, 300 on black. Ultra clear copies will be randomly distributed to shops. We have approximately 100 copies of the coloured vinyl available to pre-order.

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