Category Archives: UPDATE

NO BALLS – ‘MORE IS MORE’ LP
It’s a rare feeling when music can give you the sensation like a bullet through the head, and you call it a pleasure. No Balls ‘More is More’ gives a new meaning to what we used to call ‘heavy shit’, filling the missing spot between rock and harsh noise. Anders Bryngelsson (Brainbombs, Orchestra of Constant Distress), Kjetil Brandsdal (Noxagt, Ultralyd), David Gurrik (Anal Babes, Astroburger), Jan Christian Lauritzen (Noxagt) blessed our ears with a masterpiece of brutal honesty and perverted beauty. Essential.

ORCHESTRA OF CONSTANT DISTRESS – ‘OOCD’ LP
Orchestra of Constant Distress is the new Swedish supergroup featuring Joachim Nordwall (Skull Defekts, Alvars Orkester), Anders ‘Drajan’ Bryngelsson (Brainbombs, No Balls), Henrik Rylander and Henrik Andersson. Their self-titled debut Lp on 8mm is a nice slab of Hard Rock from the year 3000. 5 tracks of pure mechanical alienation, built upon very minimal guitar/drums patterns and waves of harsh electronics, sounding pretty much like anything else in the actual noise rock scenario. Limited edition of 200 copies

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G & Doro – ‘If I See You EP’ C22 $5
G & Doro are the duo of Montreal’s Graeme Stewart and Toronto’s Dorothea Paas. Stewart’s extraordinary production work and Paas’s ethereal vocal stirrings characterize this debut. The elegant bouquet of new jack swing, deep house and 90s breakbeat bounce is intoxicating perfume. You can feel the city steam rise from the street. With repeated listens, unique fineness, and the melodicism of Paas’s layered singing, is fully revealed. Silent Shout remarks the EP is “a sleek mysterious electro-R&B treasure,” calling opening track, “I Need It,” “a delicious groove that’s so deep it’s suboceanic.” Title track, “If I See You,” comes next led by a lick recalling Robin S’s “Show Me Love” amidst Paas’s sultry, centered, verses and silky chants. Bird chirps and waterfalls open the third cut, “No Looking Back.” It’s like flying over the canopy – mystic flora unknown below. For the chorus, Stewart drops a synth that squiggles like a stoned grin enveloping Paas. Later, she sings, “No looking back on this / no thinking about tomorrow,” as the track’s carefree euphoria washes over. For the closer, “Something Real (Uncanny Mix),” the duo is back to Larry Heard’s type of smoky, purple, nighttime. Addicting rhythms end as they began. It’s a masterpiece debut of talent and vision. (Graeme Stewart’s music is also featured on Palm Tapes under the moniker, “Burn Cycle,” on the comp: Northern Palms Volume One (see PT – 011)).

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STRATA16 Former Selves – ‘The Heart Wants’ CS $7
The Heart Wants is a deep meditation on change – what happens when life turns a corner. Two stunning sidelong ambient drone pieces to help transmit you from the grip of Winter into a new Spring. Entanglement & rupture. These are the sounds of impact. Edition of 100 pro dubbed on chrome, imprinted clear cassettes. Two sided, j-cards and a slipcover. 

STRATA17 Greenhouse – ‘Lapse’ CS $7
Lapse was created using only an acoustic guitar and a minimal gear setup. Combining unprocessed room mics and the acoustic’s pick-up, Greenhouse strips the instrument down to its essential tonal quality while pushing far away from easily identifiable guitar sounds. Edition of 75 pro dubbed on chrome, imprinted white cassettes. Two sided extra panel j-cards. 

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JD Emmanuel – ‘Rain Forest Music’ LP
1981 debut album by new age pioneer JD Emmanuel. Texan musician JD Emmanuel’s career story is, in a way, a story about how the passion of fans can make a difference; about a gifted musician whose music may have been lost to the ages had it not been for the efforts of a new generation of vintage electronic and new age music enthusiasts and collectors. The tale begins in 2005 when young music journalist, collector and record label owner Douglas Mcgowan stumbled on several dusty boxes of two JD Emmanuel vinyl albums – several hundred of them, all still sealed – at a discount book and record store in North Dallas, Texas. (The composer explains: “When we moved back to Houston in 1988, I left several cartons of them in my attic because I could not even give them away. The new house owner apparently found them and sold them to the bookstore.”) The vintage of both albums – early 1980’s – immediately caught Mcgowan’s attention, as he was a big fan of early private issue new age music. He purchased 50 copies and took them back to the West Coast where they found eager buyers via a local collector’s email newsletter. This discovery set in motion a chain of events that led to a series of critically acclaimed album re-issues and, in 2010, J D Emmanuel’s return to recording and performing again. The majority of JD Emmanuel’s studio recordings date from the 1980’s, when new age music in America was still an indie scene and corporate interests were yet to hijack the genre. Whether you call his albums new age or not, the meditative vibe, spiritual underpinnings and self-releasing are all hallmarks of the genre in its original form. Yet his cyclic, organ-based music is so very different from most of his contemporaries of that era. Back in 1970 he was was deeply impressed by his first taste of classical minimalism when he heard American minimalist composers Terry Riley and Steve Reich. As he recently told e-zine Ricochet: “Terry Riley’s ‘A Rainbow in Curved Air’ and Steve Reich’s ‘Violin Phase’ totally defined where I wanted to go in music. But it took me another ten years to discover how to develop my own style.” Prior to creating his own work, he was also immersed in modern jazz and long-form rock jams, attracted to their improvisational basis and ability to lull the listener into deeper states of consciousness. Minimalism and improvisation, then, became the foundations of his art, and the evocation of trance-like states his goal. In 1980, with his newly acquired Crumar Traveler-1 organ, analog synths, guitar and various effects, he began building a body of warm, melodic, usually stripped-back ambient trance with a certain mystical vibe that’s difficult to put into words. On Rain Forest Music he builds gentle, short cycles of notes into floating clouds of sound, mostly improvising around single chords. The “minimalism” in his music lies not in repetitive patterns that barely change – the extreme end of classical minimalism – but more in the spare arrangements. There’s also an open, loving optimism to the melodies that has obvious appeal to new age listeners. Originally designed to enhance relaxation and meditation, as a background for massage or for counseling to help a person relax and open up faster. The original publishing of the LP in 1981 was through the generous support of Bob and Frances Pennington. Album cover is from an original water color created especially for the LP in 1981 by a local, Houston artist, Molly Khan. The sunrise photo was taken one morning in Virginia Beach, VA, during the 70s. Imagine being on a cliff overlooking the ocean. It is early morning. As the sun breaks the water you begin moving to the rhythm of the music and ocean. 180gr. vinyl. Printed innersleeve. Edition of 1000 copies. Lacquer cut by Rashad Becker. Remastered by Rashad Becker. Cover re-construction by Jeroen Wille.

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Doggerella Decided Upon – ‘Soggy Samsonite’ C61
We are excited to present this archival retrospective collection of warped works from the long running solo project of Andy Neubauer. He’s been in more underground freaker groups over the years than one could easily list, including Impractical Cockpit, Flak Mask, Harry From Hawaii, Cruelty, Prey Ocupado, c/o Noah Cannon, Frozen Head, Group B, Mojo Bammer, Taboo, Baath Salts, Ancestral Diet, Flo-Bee Au Naturale, Weeping Windows, Twin Whips, Salt Spray, Dirty Charlie +++, but his solo sound work has always specifically resonated as a profound experiment of deep sonics and fiercely bent approach. Distinct mold-sound techniques in weaponized fidelity, over an hour of tape mulch / saturation sonics through keenly blown ear. Doggerella Decided Upon was an active project from around 1999-2006 with a confounding series of micro-run cassettes, ultimately available to only the luckiest few. “Soggy Samsonite” collects works from all seven of the private run releases spanning the project’s career, a bewildering catalog of bizarre process-based methodology and mystifying turbid brilliance. The selections were curated and carefully re-mastered by Matthew Himes with a concerted effort to retain the scraped raw vibe and flow of the original tapes, but offering the listener a slightly clearer view into these dampest of corners. Further audio refinement by Jefferson Zurna, finally an official excavation of the spore soaked suitcase. The sounds within offer a range of outré approaches from grimy keyboard lurch, electronic growl and backwards tape wonk, to murk-town bass slog, stark piano serenades and uncomfortable cello torture. An important historical document of true mildew sound.

Рабор – ‘Голоса…’ C42
New second edition repress of this powerful analog document from Slavic electronic-folk warrior Рабор / Rabor. The album “Голоса… (translated as “Voices Of…”) collects a series of ambient works from the years 2014-2016, following the themes of Nature & ancient folklore. The album offers two long form works of melodic and cold atmospherics (“Осень-Река / Fall River” & “Вековой Ледник / Secular Glacier” respectively), enhanced here with a fresh sonic mastering, PLUS an as of yet unheard track entitled “Изумрудные-Слёзы / Emerald Tears” which is entirely exclusive to this release. Nature ambient & frozen dungeon synth with strong folk elements, a noble showcase of the artists command of composition and dynamic movement. Professionally duplicated & imprinted blue foil cassette comes presented in 5×7″ vinyl clamshell album featuring original full color photography by Dan Huseby. Includes double sided 4×6″ photo card with blue/white info insert and a bonus full color 1″ logo pin-back badge. Limited edition of 50 hand-numbered copies. Pristine visions of fog filtered light, a meditative score for moments of peace before battle.

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LW100 SEKTION B – ‘When Democracy Is No Longer Enough’ CD 12€
In 2001 SEKTION B released their first full-length \”Power Is Nothing Without Control\” on the then newly founded label L.White Records as a limited CDr. Now, 16 years later, SEKTION B\’s 2nd full-length finally sees the light of day, marking L.White Records 100th release. On the album \”When democracy is no longer enough\” SEKTION B present 10 new, powerful tracks. At first uncertain ambient, then continuously increasing the power-electronic sounds typical for SEKTION B; mixed with a good portion of Industrial and Noise. The theme this time is about democracy, in all it\’s merits, oppertunities and perversions! Primarily in Germany and Europe, but also around the world.

LW V06 SEKTION B – ‘Refugees Welcome’ 3” DVDr 8€
According to our German leader and her heroic continuation of the \”New Year\’s Resolution 2015/2016\” on December 31, 2015, we from SEKTION B welcome all refugees from all over the world in own way. We chisel the almost biblical words \”Wir schaffen das!\” of the greatest, best, most beautiful, clever female leader of all Germans to this day in sound and image.

LW102 MACRONYMPHA – ‘Fetischismus’ 11€
Macronympha provides new material for fanatic\’s listening purposes. Leo of Armenia and Joe Roemer recently teamed up to create the new version of Macro together, and is more focused on an ambiance-vision with ominous tensions. Despite that, it still has most of the blistering and damaging trademark sounds that have influenced noise in general. Henry Mallard \’the Duck\’ 77 minutes finest harshnoise from America!

LW105 GOD PUSSY – ‘Ato Criminal, Ascensão ao Terrorismo’ 11€
\”Na margem total da miséria e fim da democracia, estamos entregues a total decadência e caos humano. Em pleno século XXI estamos vivenciando uma nova ditadura e táticas de guerras sem registro em cartório, o sistema de tortura está reinando a todo vapor contra os povos pobres e a todo tipo de vidas desfavorecidas… Persistimos caminhando e se arrastando na busca de sobrevivência entre perigo das ruas, violência dos bairros, risco de morte e tudo o que for parte de nossas vidas no cotidiano, qualquer descuido pagaremos pelo preço do fracasso, continuaremos na luta e guerreando para não cair em luto… \” Instead of typical Musica Popular Brasleira, GOD PUSSY has create a wonderful feijoada of political extremes and harshnoise on the eyes and ears.

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DK067 Expose Your Eyes – ‘Disintegration’ C30 €5
Expose Your Eyes is the main project of Paul Harrison from West Yorkshire. Since ‘ 90 he explored all the manifestation of noise with many solo releases and collaboration releases (with k2, Government Alpha, Small & Quim, to name a few ). Expose Your Eyes new effort is an intriguing and compelling combination of pulsations (created with lo-fi percussions, reiterative loops and sonic explosions) that are plugged into a sound environment made by electrostatic drones and unspeakable background noises. Artwork photo provided by Candi Nook that with Paul handled until 2003 the Fiend Recordings label.

DK066 Venta Protesix & Dj Kimchi – ‘LOL (Lovely Online Losers)’ C30 €5
Composed entirely out of samples from a 2001 Korean language course CD, “Lovely Online Losers” is the groundbreaking encounter between the world’s most uncompromising and obsessive laptop-noise Venta Protesix and Asia’s lushiest italogrime producer DJ Kimchi, here splicing each other tracks and remixes inspired by Malaysian livestreaming idols, North Korean chemical weapons and mispelled AV titles.

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FILTRO – ‘Riflesso’ C30 5€
born in 2016 from the meeting of Angelo Bignamini and Luca De Biasi. already busy in the italian. psychedelic and noise rock scene. (The Great Sanuites, Satantango, etc). in the grammatic of Riflesso. magnetic tapes articulate. with modular synthesizers. and improvisation. that the duo manipulates till they. get a canvas of twines and multicolour stitches. curves and corners. sound scraps. calibrated and polished. get born again and find new context in the shape of patterns. repeated sequences. partly repeated. un-repeated. the sound is fluid. fragments come in, move, disappear. opening new spaces to the perception.

NASTRO – ‘gASTRO’ C30 5€
from an idea by Manuel Cascone and Francesco Petricca. a travel through the human body into the mysteries of the digestive system. Everyday inside our organism the food is subject to a very long travel, arduous, a chain of transformations which provides us with nutrition and in many cases we get benefits from. The thirthy minutes of “gASTRO” are the input for an estrangement effect into the surreal journey of the food from the moment we ingest it until its last passage. The adventures of the chewing, the immersion into the acids of the stomach. Not just a recording of those internal landscapes, but the auditory transposition conceived by two visionary minds and fantasies able to transport on the “canvas” (in our case an audio support) theyr “feeling” with rare and absolute expressive freshness.

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Drunk Elk – ‘Drunk Elk’
In 2007, the Australian trio Drunk Elk recorded a singular self-titled cassette for Sean Bailey’s Inverted Crux label. Despite limited release, the album circulated through the freakier channels of the international underground via bootlegs, private downloads, and whispered praise. While Drunk Elk has since spawned a string of equally powerful releases, this first album remains exceptional. It is a snapshot of the band in embryo, exuding the kind of vulnerability only achieved when nobody else is listening. Drunk Elk was recorded in Battery Point, a coastal suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, where deep harbors and heavy skies set the appropriate backdrop for the band’s moody, romantic repetition. With keyboard, bass, and singer Dave Elk’s devotional verse as the only instrumentation, the songs are by nature skeletal, but they somehow ooze a luminous melancholy. Sam Acres wrings delicate melodies from the cheapest keyboard presets. Simon Kraus’s bass lilts in and out of time with a blunt, buzzing tone. Dave Elk’s sings with an exalted pathos. Drunk Elk is elegant even in their clumsiness. They hit all the wrong notes at the right moments. Homespun shambles are rendered with strange finesse and a dark, poetic extravagance. When Dave sings Play that strange tune again / That off-key melody, I believe he is singing as his listener—confounded by the music’s strangeness, but captivated by its curious charms.

Russian Tsarlag – ‘Gel Stations Past’
Gel Stations Past brings together tracks from three shadowy self-released cassettes by Russian Tsarlag: Decrepit Gas Station, Living in the Past, and Dipped in Gel. Dubbed in minimal quantities and cloistered for private worship, much of Russian Tsarlag’s recent output remains hard to find. Each of these albums dispersed instantly among friends and fanatics and receded into legend. This record consolidates the great pieces of crooner dejection that typify Tsarlag’s recent music. These are his saddest and slowest-burning songs, drawn in dour guitar, sweeping keyboard, and sedated vocals that teeter well below mid-tempo. Many share a somber two-chord schema that slips in perfect doses of dissonance and distortion. The results are at once refined and totally ragged, seductive, woozy, and smeared in Tsarlag’s shapely four-track atmospherics.

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FH068 Paco Sala – ‘The Silent Seaso’ C41
“The Silent Season is the net result of a full tibiofemoral dislocation, a lot of surgery, a lot of really heavy drugs, a seemingly open-ended period of housebound isolation & a subsequent hazy regression to roots and influences. The Silent Season is a fever-dream, embodying the period of physical stasis & marking a shift from the outsider pop structures of previous releases. Here instead the duo employ delirious, morphing synth structures intertwined with semi-lucid samples and haunting vocals. All tracks were recorded in improvised sessions over the course of January 2016, before being shared for finishing touches in Berlin. Tracks are presented inclusive of the players’ errors, recording mistakes & creative decisions made without reference to consequence.”

FH069 Curved Light – ‘Vast and Infinite’ C31
Expansive, psychedelic, fourth world: these all describe the particular creative resonance that is Curved Light. Vast and Infinite is culled from four years of thinking about (and creating the sonic landscape around) such principles, resulting in the stellar sequence of compositions within. These modular synth and guitar creations, un-tethered to any sort of beat save their internal gravity and structure, showcase the degree to which exceptional sound design can become just as expressive, moving, and symphonic as terrestrial composition. Curved Light is the solo project of Peter Tran: with a record also dropping soon on Austin’s Holodeck Records, he’s sure to blow up fast.

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