Category Archives: UPDATE

Boris Hegenbart and 19 Artists – ‘Instrumentarium’ 2LP
Eight years ago, Boris Hegenbart began turning his interests in Dub principles into reality and during this period of time, he made his collaborations with (or if you want, he made commissions for) monumental artists, such as Fred Frith (Henry Cow, Art Bears, Skeleton Crew, Naked City, Material, Massacre), David Grubbs (Gastr del Sol, Codeine ), Oren Ambarchi (Burial Chamber Trio, Sunn O)))), Martin Brandlmayr (Radian, Polwechsel), Felix Kubin, Ulrich Krieger (Metal Machine Trio), etc…  The principle was simple: artists did overdub recordings with Hegenbart’s material, which would be later transformed, using studio as an instrument, as a typical work process that features 99% history of dub sound. But in this case, dub is only a statement or concept, which means, there are no typical dub trademarks and tools (delay, reverb). This leads to only one result: if dub is deconstruction of music, then those pieces are deconstruction of dub!  This double vinyl master piece, is nothing more then a perfect homogenous collection of so many different personalities at the same place/record. The hardest and the greatest achievement, is to connect all of them into one musical milestone, something that Boris Hegenbart succeeded without highfaluting.

WEBSITE

Liquid Mary – ‘Matteus’ 3”CDr
Matteus creates on a basis of dérive. Travelling through a number of destinations, he documents a series of images, experiences and people. In liquid Mary, the context of his work is icy, almost haunted, with song writing being at the epicenter. Hand crafted 3D decoupage cards in envelopes. White Cd-r. Edition of 60 distinct items.

‘Children’s Improvised Music Workshop‘ 3”CDr
A team of children’s creative abilities enthusiasts collaborate with young musicians, providing all necessary amenities and freedom for them to interact with each other as members of a free improvised band. This edition is based on recordings from a series of workshops that took place in 2009 at Kinky Kong, Athens. 200 gms coloured paper. White Cd-r. Artwork design by Tasos Stamou. 100 copies.

WEBSITE

The Lay Llamas – ‘The Lay Llamas’ C30 6€(EU)/7€(World)
A trip, or rather an adventure of sounds, from the beats of the jungle to the drones of outer space. Soft poly cases with artwork designed by Nicola Giunta. Limited to 50 copies.

Olli Aarni – ‘Pohjoisen kesä’ C30 6€(EU)/7€(World)
So distant, yet so close and warm. Relaxing sounds of radio frequencies. Ambient music for nights and days, mornings and evenings. Soft poly cases with hand-stamped inserts. Limited to 50 copies.

Kikiilimikilii – ‘Watch Out for Witches and Stuff’ C20 6€(EU)/7€(World)
Synthetic beauty, where the buzzing drones and clear drops of sound are falling together into a puzzle. Soft poly cases with hand-stamped inserts. Limited to 40 copies.

Ypotryll – ‘Yellow Smoke’ C40 6€(EU)/7€(World)
Meditative drones looping their way into your sub-conscious mind. Soft poly cases with hand-stamped inserts. Limited to 50 copies.

Micromelancolie – ‘Gravity Boat’ C50 6€(EU)/7€(World)
Realizing that everything around you is music could be a side-effect for listening to this tape. Soft poly cases with hand-stamped inserts. Limited to 50 copies.

WEBSITE

VATICAN SHADOW – ‘It stands to conceal’ 3xLP
It stands to conceal contains the most recent vatican shadow cassettes on vinyl. this set includes: jordanian descent, ghosts of chechnya, and atta’s apartment slated for demolition. total pressing of 911 copies with gatefold sleeve. the first 119 copies on red, white, and blue vinyl.

WEBSITE

LA VAMPIRES with MARIA MINERVA – ‘THE INTEGRATION’ LP
many-years-in-the-finishing, this collab is as weird, woolly, and
warped as you’d hope a mind-meshing of these 2 outsider divas would be. a million moods and modes are tried on, modeled, messed with, and tossed aside. playful and possessed in equal measure. CD version available next week!

GOLDEN DONNA s/t LP
Debut full-length by this Madisonian innerspace skysailor. focused
yet airy synthesizer freefalls through syrup atmospheres. so
excellent.

SIR STEPHEN – ‘HOUSE OF REGALIA’ LP
New orleans club king time-travels through decades of hedonistic hot zones for a hypercolor immersion in wild-style dance utopias. in insane new waver jackets designed by Spencer Longo.

JMII – ‘NUEVA YORK’ 12″
Spacious, jazzy acid and freeform psychedelic club cruisers by this Barcelona mastermind. sounds epic at any speed.

WEBSITE

SMEGMA – ‘Ever And Anon’ LP
The mythical LAFMS collective Smegma really needs to introduction, where would we all be without them? How many bands were so ahead of their time (1973!), and have been for so long, like Smegma have? Well, here they are with a brand new LP of their famous mix of free jazz, industrial noise, improvisation, straight-up weird music so typical of these masters / US freaks. On the opening track, they are riding on the amazing drums of historical member Dennis Duck (of Dream Syndicate) and Oblivia’s trademark vinyl samples to pay homage to their beloved Link Wray with some devilish surf music! Then get ready for some crazy reeds, Aylerian invocations, electro-acoustic meditations, (shrink) chamber music and moments of pure avantgarde, juxtapositions that only they can get away with: a riot in a farm, strange strings riding the waves, Ju Suk’s guitar riffs and slides with the seagulls, a bat party in a cave, a hot bath of analog synth bubbles… but simply put, Smegma sounds like nobody else! Cover artwork collage by Ace Farren Ford. Also comes with an insert. Edition of 300 copies.
    
GATE – ‘Damned Revolutions’ LP
Dead C guitarist Michael Morley is finally back with a new Gate LP, after two years, and what a comeback! “Damned Revolutions” has all the traits of Gate’s classic LPs like “Guitar” and “The Monolake”: it starts with dark and fuzzy guitar drones, that build up to create a dense wall of distorted resonance, at times accompanied by sparse electronics and sustained by spectral beats and bass pulses. When vocals break in, it’s magical and poetic, his moaning reminiscent of pre-war blues chants. Side B is a wonderful suite of free rock improvisation, wild noise, echoed vocals, a thick guitar fog, haunting nocturnal blues, cymbal crashes… a mood perfectly depicted on the cover photos, lonely, grey, apparently still, sunless port city landscape. Edition of 300 copies.
    
BeNe GeSSeRiT – ‘Still Insane After All These Years’ LP
Eleven new & previously unreleased songs from BeNe GeSSeRiT, the cult Belgian minimal synth duo of Alain Neffe (various instruments including synth, beats, loops, strings…) and Nadine Bal (vocals). Alain started his Insane Music imprint back in 1981, he is a key figure of the European cassette culture and has been making some of the most creative and cross-boundary music since the early 80’s, also with other numerous projects like Pseudo Code, Human Flesh and more recently, his and Nadine’s duo with singer Anna Homler, The Chopstick Sisters. The duo’s debut LP in 1985 “A High, Happy, Perverse And Cynical Cry of Joy” was a real gem and on this new album, they go back to their roots but take advantage of newer technologies and sonic textures – every song has a life of its own. Alain’s arrangements are impeccable and unpredictable, a mad variety of instruments and moods, punchy beats, hypnotic strings, groovy organ, crazy sax lines and an inventive use of sound shaping… at some point you’ll be in the middle of… a choir of frogs??! Nadine, on the other hand, is a muse of this and the OTHER world, she manages to sound like an angel, a child, a siren and an alien, often all in the same track. Our prescription is: listen to this LP over and over for best results, you will discover and feel something new at every listen. BeNe GeSSeRiT make truly charming and personal music that’s hard to pin down: too weird to be classified as pop, but not so much to be just avantgarde, surreal & emotional, sharing the aesthetic choices of Anne Clark, Roberto Cacciapaglia, Laurie Anderson, Kraftwerk, Die Form… Glossy full color covers with insane artwork by Alain Neffe. Edition of only 300 copies, of which 50 are colored vinyl (25 orange / 25 pink).

WEBSITE

HR141 Soft Serve – ‘Nonday Diary’ C20
In the wild. It’s true, we didn’t know what we were getting into. Somehow the lights are on and we got a couple strips to plug some gadgets onto. Thus, Soft Serve occurs. Introducing Nevada City’s very own frozen cold stew: Jeffry Astin (Xiphiidae, Digital Natives, etc.), Kaisha King (G Sweems), Justin Kryzanauskas (Gerda Taro) — time slows by, one way or another. We make dew. edition of 50. type II BASF cass.

HR140 Digital Natives – ‘Parted By The Say’ 3xC62
Heres it is. The first of several 3-cassette box volumes, housed in fancy clear hard plastic norelco-book-style cases. What can be said? 66 tracks. Over three hours. Nearly endless chopped and scuffed narrative oracle churning through this, that, and everything. Dig in, dig deep. A wellspring for the top shelf. See the moon. edition of 50. type II BASF cass.

WEBSITE

FH029 Bastian Void – ‘Fluorescent Bells’ C47 $6
RIYL: cosmic surf, old BBC documentaries, heavy synth. You know that feeling when you snap back to awareness and wonder where the last 47 minutes of your life has gone? Let us introduce our instrument of that erasure: Fluorescent Bells. Born during a year punctuated with frequent hospital visits, Bastion Void mined what glimmer of hope there was for the keys to coping. Within his sterile environment, overwhelmed with the sense of uncertainty inherent in long term suffering, this work managed to assuage that crippling miasma with wonder, reverence, and a little bit of guile. Fluorescent Bells is the sound of coming to grips with mortality and beating Death back behind the curtain, if only for a little while.

FH028 Jonathan James Carr – ‘Well Tempered Ignorance’ C44 $6
RIYL: Tonto’s Expanding Head Band, auditory backpacking. Well Tempered Ignorance is the debut solo work from Jonathan James Carr, member of Seattle’s Brain Fruit. This recording finds the classically trained pianist marrying free-jazz inspired synthesizer arrangements with musique concrète elements recorded abroad in India and Berlin. These two 20+ minute pieces that make up Well Tempered Ignorance run the gamut from elastic modular psychedelia to calm, transparent symmetry that create in its entirety an amalgam of top-tier drone and exultant audio sculpture. Featuring Kaori Suzuki of Magic Echo Music on an early production model of one of her hand-built synthesizers.

WEBSITE

GR240: Orphanage Rats – ‘Nerve Agent’ C30
New mutations of the usual sax-guitar-gutter tape setup supported by pulsating, slow rhythms. Slow and toxic sounds by Lidless Eye and Tarpit recorded in the MUG concrete bunker. Xerox art, edition of 20 copies.

GR241: Mind War – ‘There Is A War Inside Of Everyone’ CDr
Reissue of the second tape from this trio, originally on Hermitage Tapes. Two scummy basement composition recorded May 2011 to 4 track by AC, and an equally scum-laden new track recorded March 2012 at MUG. Mind War is Sam Hooker, Andrew Coltrane, and Knox Mitchell. Xerox art, edition of 20 copies.

GR242: Kommissar Hjuler/Cold Turkey split C90
Insane split by insane people. Germany’s Kommissar Hjuler gives two pieces of the pure dadaist nonsense he is best known for, and Michigan’s Cold Turkey delivers his signature one man caveman jazz assault, recorded with saxophone, piano, and a hammer. Two efforts not to be missed. Xerox art, edition of 25 copies with insert.

GR243: Lidless Eye – ‘Circular File’ C32
Circuit bent-based tape collecting material destroyed between January-May 2012. Keyboards gutted to the absolute core and made to play non-melodies and trash beats, and a few tracks utilizing electronics controlled by a space heater. RIP all of the instruments that made this mess. Xerox art, edition of 20 copies.

GR244: Woven Qualm – ‘From The Grey Havens’ C60
Late night field recordings from the deep woods and creeks of the grey havens. Swarms of bugs conjured from the thick grey waters by flute, and sent back into their world at dawn. Xerox art, edition of 20 copies.

GR245: Void Transport C32
Steve Ladensack (Styrofoamswamp) and Knox Mitchell (Lidless Eye) duo in the finest form. Box fan negative void meets squirming electronics and organics to conjure terrible dreams of being hacked by a helicopter. Two attempts at moving the void. Xerox art, edition of 20 copies.

GR246: 1%er – ‘Satan’s 1%ers’ C90
Longest tape yet – one side of rehearsals and live opening for Nautical Almanac, and the other a reissue of the rarely-heard second tape “Astral Glide” on Hermitage. Engine noise and nasty electronics. Xerox art, edition of 20 copies.

GR247: The Tenses/Kommissar Hjuler Und Frau split C60
Split tape between two of the best female/male duos making strange sounds – The Tenses side is a live set that blurs the line between ’40s radio sound collage and bluesy guitar riffage, complimented by electronic ramblings. The KHJ Und Frau side is an unexpected vocal reading piece, interrupted frequently by ear-ruining electronics bursts. Xerox art, edition of 25 copies with insert.

GR248: Witches Of Malibu C46
First tape from this new industrial noise unit. Hypnotic beats and suggestions accompanied by shrill tones, low end scum, and other odd electronic warbles. 6 songs. Xerox art, edition of 30 copies with insert.

GR249: Black Lace Drag – ‘The Second Slaughter’ 2xC32 boxset
Two C32s by the Redrot / Lidless Eye duo. Released for the Flint Noise Fest in an edition of 12 copies. The recordings are rehearsals and other jams in preparation for that event. Packaged in a painted box with insert. Very few left.

WEBSITE

DDP 1971.026  Blunderspublik – ‘Barren Immensity’ C40
Ed. of 75. Winnipeg’s master of all things glictchy, dreamy and poppy returns with a collection of tunes ideal for winter hibernation. Barren Immensity marks a bit of shift from Blunderspublik’s previous microchip-snuggler You Are The Best Ever, dialing down the multiple layers, ear-turning beats and melodicsm for something decidedly more minimal. Sun-dappled guitars, bleary-eyed early morning melodies and dense analog synths are given room to unroll their knitted blankets and build a fort in your living room. Simple, but a simply beautiful recording that slowly unveils it’s secrets with repeated listens.

DDP 1971.027 Aura Level Fountain – ‘Tulan Tulan Axcanpa’ C60
Ed. of 100. At once fragile, monolithic and meditative, this collaboration between Mpala Garoo and Clathus yields one of our heaviest releases to date. Three long tracks of murky, deep-sea drones and fungal drift. Melodies soaked in reverb, delay and flanger become smeared into a dreamlike haze, slowly floating through the near-dark depths of some distant sea. Yet through the gloom come traces of light from the surface, shimmering to the depths, offering glimpses of the strange coral cathedrals, long-sunken mountain ranges and bewildering creatures that dwell in this abyssopelagic zone.The instruments at work here are not important — in fact, it’s almost impossible to discern exactly what they are. What matters is where this tape takes you. Aura Level Fountain do not merely create gorgeous tones, they create an entire aural soundscape and leave you there to feel your way around.
 
DDP 1971.029  3 Leafs – ‘Technical Death Metal Parking Lot’ C60 Ed. of 100. Death metal it ain’t, but you still won’t know what hit you after spinning this. 3 Leafs jam more sounds, textures, influences and genres into this tape than all the music on your hard drive, only they do it seamlessly. Running the gamut from white-hot This Heat-esque Krautrock, spaced-out dub, drone and psych to bizarre micro-tonal melodies and tropical flourishes, this album travels some serious distance. Genrehopping isn’t even relevant here — maybe genre isn’t either. 3 Leafs are on their own deserted tropical island hurtling through the cosmos, receiving jettisoned radio transmissions from Earth and firing them right back at us. A true collision of sonic worlds. Highly recommended listening for our 21st century attention-deficient listening habits

DDP 1971.030  James McKeown – ‘English Dream’ C40
Ed. of 100.

WEBSITE