Category Archives: UPDATE

Youth Championships – ‘Organic Architecture’ C43
Youth Championships, based in Prague, delivers two expansive sound constructions guided by the theme of “a clean, livable future that is now only a part of our creative imagination”. Recorded live, the long-form takes consist of analogue synthesizers played through a feedback network of manipulated delays and reverbs. The pieces unfold from basic motifs which are repeated throughout the compositions, preserving their unified geometry, as some iterations reach a dizzying Reich-like phase effect, while others murmur below a biomorphic miasma of rich harmonics later to emerge pulsing in stark, concrete definition. Side A, “Organic Architecture”, sees Youth Championships exercising an intensely focused refinement, economically eking a megastructure out of one monophonic synth. The B Side, “Blossoming Columns”, expands the concept to multiple voices with sublime results.

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CLR10 Delicate Features – ‘More Than Roses’ C37
Off the heels of their release with Not Not Fun, we’re happy to present the latest offering from St Petersburg’s Delicate Features. Slippery pads and a steady rhythmic undercurrent meet somewhere between a dream and an underwater observatory. Edition of 20.

CLR09 Youth Championships – ‘A Long Day of Exorcism’ C28
Analogue excursion across 30 minutes of locked-in sequence research, peaking with a long section of thick, washed out noise. A harsh and rewarding sonic narrative. Recorded in Prague, November 2016. Edition of 10 each with unique, double sided artwork.

CLR08 Straytone – ‘Disorientation’ C39
Tokyo-dwelling modular artist brings auto-generated melodies that weave and evolve – each new line effacing the last as it moves onwards with graceful speed. Complimented by a cooler, cinematic drone that makes this a dynamic yet complete debut release. Available in edition of 20 handmade cassettes – Each edition has unique artwork, no cassette the same.

CLR07 AxJxB – ‘Relics of YX’ C38
Multicoloured modular groans, rising like a beast from beneath the city, scattering harmonies across beds of grumbling noise. Harshness never prevails, but the tonal flourishes disturb as much as they embrace you. This album was recorded across a 3 month journey in different locations in Japan. Available in edition of 20 handmade cassettes. Each artwork unique, no edition the same.

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OTA012 Miguel Pacheco Gomes – ‘é este o sítio?’ C40
Back and forth is the way things go and getting to know it all takes time. Walking makes your back pain a little worse, but you still do it. Loose hands and clenched teeth. You’re used to it already. You’ve been here before.

OTA013 Areia – ‘Areia’ C56
No milk, no King, no nothing. Orderly as cattle they march. A pilgrimage of good men, if they’re men at all, takes route through the canyon that will one day carve an island of this land. Flow river flow that you may conjure sea. Watching, the sage wait for a feast. These are the eyes of the people that at once see. The traits are treacherous in their perfect femininity, and they hunt below… by the sea shore where bodies come a floating, ready salted for steaming. It is here that they go for long walks squeaking their toes during the low tide.

OTA014 Chase – ‘Anxious’ C36
There was this time after school that came at the end of the day. A bit like an institutional sunset, it was a fleeting possibility to wander the corridors and spaces for just the right amount of time between the last teachers leaving, and the janitor noticing you there or closing the gate. No biggie, it’s not like you couldn’t jump the fence, but during that time, you could occupy the space left by all the other students. Imagine them in ideal insobriety of senses. Upon leaving you could carry your thoughts to the city’s outskirts, in the knowledge that your parents were probably wondering where you were, while you lay down your private and absolute decantation of eternity from clouds, weeds and earth dust.

OTA015 Konakon – ‘Ousia’ C33
Metastatic encroaching on reality is wrongly attributed to a desire to break, destruct and kill. And yet there is enough complexity in all forms of life as well as all forms of death. One may be surprised to note that barring infestation by insects, wood is eternal, even after its death. If I make my home out of wood and it survives forever, then there is a soul in there somewhere.

Ota 016 Lace Bows – ‘earth tunnels’ C31
Your old italian saint is voting for a fixed maximum salary of two hundred needed moneys, including existing and oversleeping in between, during weekends or other fixed days or portion of days. All in a balance, and yet who’s not coughing now? The heads drop eye for an eye into the ground, rushing into the dewdrums.

OTA017 Patrick R. Pärk – ‘Library Sounds’ C57
Art Work: Fernando Brito. Once the knowledge subsides, the posthumous understanding of the mind will return to affections of space and species. Of these ruins of processed imagery only the mutative unplugged cyborgs will be able to remember. its wise to befriend a fox or two, for the leg walkers are returning…

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Falgar – ‘En La Vanguardia’ C46
Falgar is the solo project of Etienne Tel’uial hailing from Puerto Rico, currently based in Vermont. “En La Vanguardia” is the tenth release from the long running project, beginning in 2007 and releasing a string of desolate mid-paced Black Metal until eventually shifting to the radiant neo-folk project it is today. Influenced by dusty “Western” & Indo-European essence, the work captures a sense of warm romanticism through the incorporation of sparse percussion, contemplative drone and liquid guitar passages in combination with transportive vocals and atmospheric synthesis, a manifestation of complex ambience and deeply immersive environments formed from relatively simplistic means. Light shines brightly, bringing vision to shadowed corners. Released digitally in 2016, this work finally receives an official physical release, now graced with an additional ambient work, “Tu Oscuridad”, as of yet unheard. Professionally duplicated / imprinted smoke shell cassette comes packaged with full color double sided J-card featuring artwork by Anders Zorn. Type II chrome, limited edition of 70 copies.

Wapentake – ‘Murmurations’ C26
“Murmurations” is the newest offering of captivating folk instrumentals from solo project of Hreodbeorht, previously known from blackened thrash unit CULTFINDER. Incorporating influences from Black Metal along with a blend of pastoral neo-folk and melodic ambient sensibilities, the project creates a range of evocative atmospheres while retaining a clearly rough hewn edge, an offering of stark realism and unprocessed minimalism well suited for self-imposed seclusion tactics or solitary nature rite. Electric & acoustic guitars blend triumphantly with sparse pounding percussion, synthetic tone and textural field recordings to create this raw masterpiece of modern bardship, well keeping within traditional spheres but ever edging towards the darkest shadows of our bleak modern age. Professionally duplicated matte black shell cassette with silver imprint comes packaged with double sided “dusk” art paper J-card in clear / black Norelco case. Type II chrome, limited edition of 100 copies.

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– ‘Mango Lane’ C27 $5
When the sun sets and the skate sess winds down, Jack Engwall and Austin Carpenter hit the studio. There, the Detroit duo (who are backed by a full band live) record their inspired magic. On this self-titled album, the good vibes and pop feels never wane. Every track succeeds with warm Juno-106, sexy syncopated bass, vocal hooks and beach-kissed guitar. Audiofemme writes, “If Detroit had palm trees and if palm trees had a theme song we would have to assume that Mango Lane’s chilled out, shimmering L.A. afternoon make-out session “Sex” would be most fitting.” Engwall delivers the tracks opening lyrics: “It’s okay to speak your mind / It’s okay to be honest” with warmth, but trippy detachment. In “City” the lyrics are almost hippyish, but beautiful in their simplicity and perfectly fitting. The song evokes fields of carefree sunflowers, or maybe a hot mirage. “Elaborate” melds Mango Lane’s main motifs of funk guitar, bouncing bass and poppy vocals together. Mango Lane have great songs, and this is the perfect summer album.

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traven. – ‘ЯTLLCTЯNCS’ CDr £4
TRAVEN’s sound would easily accompany a Nigel Kneale vision of the near future, which is appropriate since that’s clearly where he is from. The sound on this short strange album, recently released on the very discriminate Aetheric Records, is enthrallingly obscure, SLOW motion, slightly frightening. Yet ЯTLLCTЯNCS (ritual electronics) equally evokes an intimate expressionism – faded, water-warped loops and piano-haunted fragments are revealed amid the amp-blown claustrophobia and bad-dream-stuck-on-repeat ambience. The ensuing damp and dread sets the tone for a noir-filtered excursion into body horror, occult architecture and fragmented identity. Put on your mask please, and join the company. Comes with folded paper inlay and pin badge.

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Aqua Dentata – ‘One Day, You Will Be a Painter’
‘One Day, You Will Be a Painter’ is a selection of four pieces recorded between 2013-2014 . Comprising of tactile synthesiser drones and manipulated acoustic sources, each piece moves these components into tense, brittle narratives, whilst expanding the subtle, mesmeric soundworld towards more precise, minimal territories. Cassette only, edition of 52, mastered by Phil Julian, Parisian wine disaster sleeve. Should a horizon ease a shorthand life?

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Synthetic Love Dream – ‘The Royal Scotsman’ CS/CD
“The Royal Scotsman” imagines Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard during his seafaring days, drinking rum & cokes and smoking cigarettes on the forward deck of his ship, the Apollo (originally HMS Royal Scotsman), feverishly writing decrees and memos and throwing devout followers overboard to “purify” them. The piece includes a field recording of ocean surf taken at Belleair Beach, FL, the very same waters that the enterprising crew would have traversed in search of a new home after a decade out at sea. “On This Day” features legendary soul and r&b singer Billy G Robinson (BT Express, Apollo Theater), Genevieve Kammel-Morris (Lauds) on viola, and Mike Advenski on percussion. The B- section transitions into an extended song form with Billy G. taking the lead. These performances were recorded by Adrian Knight in December 2014 at his then residence on Lefferts Ave. in Brooklyn. Making use of the big, open living room and Steinway L baby grand, both compositions were multitracked live with minimal editing and only a few carefully planned overdubs.

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Good Dude Lojack – ‘Voyage’ CS
A world traveler departing out of Pittsburgh, PA, Good Dude Lojack synthesizes a year of DJ gigs, live performances, radio shows, and touring with La Squadra & MISC Records family into 10 tracks of thoughtful, modular electronic music with roots in House, Broken Beat, and modern R&B. Propelled by a variety of deep percussion, and bending bass grooves, Good Dude Lojack’s melodies float with warmth and exuberance; a dancing spirit mapping perfectly onto the public/private spaces of modern life. Features a collaboration with Nice Rec (East Liberty Quarters, Pittsburgh Tracks, Wiz Khalifa). Released on graphically-enhanced cassette.

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FH072 Lips and Ribs – ‘Males in Harmony’
RIYL: midi prog, whipping dildos, cream-based marching orders. Fifteen virgins with soft, vacuum cleaner-like appendages wave through the bars of your cage, celebrating and venerating your vitality while wishing you continued stamina. Match time is close and the acrid, burned notes of scorched gladiators waft over the pen the master keeps you in pre-trial. Ever since the Dav5 match, your left upper skeletal tendril has been a little slow but all things considered, as long as you can keep a direct strike from your upper carapace, you’ll win today and yet another empty shell will be tossed on the smoking battery and wire pile of your vanquished foes. Fighting the Maasbots is fighting for survival in just another way – what else could you have done? Blo-bits accounting? Off-world sevs and gevs? Never. This is pure life at its finest – ugly, bloody, and immediate. The bell squawks, the door rattles up, and the crowd roars with hunger. Fuck yeah.

FH070-071 Sciencevision/Slim Fortune split CS
Slim Fortune, RIYL: Nick Cave in a a Las Vegas dive bar, high on salt peanuts and rotting suede – and frisky. Slim Fortune is a peyote milkshake poured from the waxy remnants of a soft-with-heat Lee Hazlewood LP all over your goddamn $1000 leopard print custom van interior. I told them so many times, not in the goddamn van but they are just animals, amiright? The best thing to do is let them be (hopefully be still) and suffer the consequences later. You can’t take these people anywhere: remember that strip club in LV? Fucking carnage, there went the advance in one night. Like a breaker, you just let it ride and pay off the staff when they sleep. You get the couple hours alone you deserve and the day starts again. Maybe this day you’ll finally make it out of town. Maybe. Fucking animals. They’ll be the death of you. Sciencevision – Colorshifter, RIYL: lo-fi explorations of the inchoate void behind one’s eyeballs, imagined and real. Yeah, I am talking to YOU. The pizza joint is hot this July night: if you listen closely you can hear the sound of sweat escaping from the arcade machines. Every glistening quarter is slick with the summer DNA of idle and bored humans, too weary of the day to do anything but escape into free air conditioning, their collective scheckels slowly escaping from rapidly emptying pockets into perpetually famished guts of arcane 8-bit beasts scattered around this place like upright visiting caskets, blinking, hissing, barking in their strange mating language, every single one searching for the right color, texture, and timbre of seduction in order to liberate the very last quarter of their prey into waiting, vertical maws. These machines now have emergent dreams – 40 years of salty genes have corroded everything. This is not a good thing. Too many memories in this place. This, however, is their soundtrack.

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