Category Archives: UPDATE

Michael Barthel – ‘KAUM’ CDr
Michael Barthel has been active in the wide field of experimental music, sound art & concrete poetry for nearly two decades and has produced more than 50 – most often strictly limited – releases ever since. KAUM is Barthel’s latest recording, focussing solely on his voice to create an opus of 26 short, frenetic and relentless poems and sound poetry pieces, which mark his most personal release to date. Housed in a protective folder, including three A5 sized, double-sided lyric cards. Edition of 80 numbered copies.

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Mr. Mom + Chris Daily – ‘Three Seasonal Songs’
Time AGAIN for the only tradition T.Beast has ever adhered to…the HOLIDAY MUSIC RELEASE! Mr. Mom and Chris Daily recently collaborated on three new tracks for YER yuletide egg nog binge. An absorbing blend of well-crafted keyboards, beats, stringed-thingys, and vocals, this trio of tunes is sure to be a fine addition to any holiday party mix! “Winterplace” is an electronic, bouncy hymn and one of the most “modern” sounding cuts the duo have produced in some time. The following two songs stay closer to holiday pop tradition yet have plenty of subtle nuance and texture to sound as if they could only have been created by Daily & MM. Enjoy!

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THLMS08: SMEGMA – ‘YA GOTTA GET REALLY CRAZY’
Part of the underground collective Los Angeles Free Music Society (LAFMS), the American iconic weirdos SMEGMA were formed in Pasadena, California in 1973 to reinvent improvisation with a DIY etchic, against the boring, conventional commercial-rock of the time. This release gives the holder the opportunity to capture the development of their own “primitive suburban folk” approach and traditions of their existence. First side of this tape is featuring drunken chaos at a Party, then an inner mind Shamanistic free jazz jam recorded 1973+1975 in Pasadena. The other side, features an edit of a “live” performance on an outside stage at The Box, in downtown Los Angeles 2013 (part of a multi day L.A.F.M.S. festival ). 44 years later, Smegma are still thundering commercial music’s ground !

THLMS09: MATTHEW P. HOPKINS – ‘CALLS’
After his remarkable “Blue Lit-Half Breath” (Penultimate Press,2016) the Melbourne based artist returns with “CALLS”, his new & first solo work for THALAMOS. 11 imaginary calls / 11 imaginary worlds… Would you take this call? We couldn’t present this work better than using the artist’s quote on his release. “CALLS presents 11 improvised pieces recorded on a reel-to-reel machine throughout 2015 and 2016. Employing a mixed bag of source material and a half drafted vocal approach, these 11 tracks explore the notion of ‘contact calls’, which are irregular, non-specific sounds many social animals make to maintain contact within a group. The group in this instance includes more than just other members; an expanded cast of objects, figures, nature, and works of art act as the recipients of these calls. There is some sort of dialogue between myself as the caller, and this conglomerate of recipients, but it is not normal talking. I’m not asking questions, responding to requests, or reacting through sound in any way – just simply keeping in contact”.

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XDCVR – ‘Negativity Scene’ CS
Producer Xavier McDaniel (Yuko x Chino, Sascrotch) brings us an awe-inspiring mixture of heavy noise and minimal techno on “Negativity Scene.” Perception altering loops build and rotate around thick and over driven low-end. As strange and experimental as it is dark, cool, and driving. Full-color cover. Hand-numbered /30.

MOON HONEY/BODY MORPH – ‘Construct of Glucose and Human Remains’ split CS
Jess and I have proudly materialized this strange and beautiful split solo cassette for your consumption. MOON HONEY’s side contains a spectral vocal/acoustic guitar demo, as well as a nice splash of her warped clanging electric soundscape torrent. BODY MORPH’s side spews GUNK and electrified alto pulses that erode into dust. Full-color cover. Hand-numbered /20.

MOLD OMEN – ‘Cosmonaut in a Foxhole’ CS
MOLD OMEN (Baltimore) are known for their singular and strange style and this cassette is no exception. A collection of varied head-scratchers that will challenge your perception of what a song is. The duo elegantly delivers, using vague nebular stardust noise, thoughtfully plucked strings and probably a bunch of random objects from the recycling center. Full-color covers. Hand-numbered /30.

DUPLO CHAT CS
Moon Myst is extremely proud to bring you another magnetic mess from Robert Ridley-Shackleton AKA The Cardboard King AKA El Rey de Cartón. Far-out and bizarre static and “natural” noise that is impossible to source. The Cardboard Kingdom is an astonishing and abnormal place. Like a walk through the cardboard shire during a pinball rainstorm. Full-color cover. Hand-numbered /30.

BODY MORPH – ‘Necrojazz’ CDr
Body Morph’s debut full-length album, NECROJAZZ, sees a slight departure from the project’s haunted tapeloop and screeching electronic trainwreck roots. The focus is entirely on gunk-via-horn playing, with viscous lines overlapping to slowly overwhelm and suffocate the living. The four pieces contained here lurch uncontrollably from shambling and broken to violent and desperate. Dan Dlugosielski: Alto Sax and Processing. Limited edition home-made cdr release housed in heavy-duty poly jewel case with 8-page full-color art book “Raw Plant Life”. Hand-numbered /25.

JESSIE AND THE EELS – ‘Blinking Eyeball’ CS
The sounds of an eyeball, drifting slowly from its socket. “Blinking Eyeball” is the JEELS first sax-less cassette, instead relying heavily on all types of warped metal strings. A sharp and caustic environment, sopping with static and grue. Full-color cover. Hand-numbered /20.

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Anne-F Jacques & Takuji Naka – ‘Fuyu’ £4(World)
Anne-F Jacques is a sound artist (Canadienne), Takuji Naka is from Japan Island. Fuyu is a 28 minute study into the quiet clockwork of repetition, distance & solitude. Grandad fixing the Dyson then jammin’ cross-wise on the reel-to-reel – grand pere est fixe l’hoover. You’d normally expect this classy affair to appear on the Hideous Replica label, but not in this case. Fuyu is a rare & beautiful thing indeed & one for meditative afternoons or late night lullabillicus. Limited to 58 copies with minimalist on-tape printing & recycled paper insert + non-recycled main insert.

Posset – ‘Cooperation Makes Us Wise…’ £4(World)
A new alignment from the mighty Posset of the North East. Dictaphone scrambling on the furthest dune & a softer, more thoughtful Posset is spotted here. Rustling, re-tuning & muttering his way through a wind-swept landscape under a scarred sonic sky. A huge, cyclopean sound collage with great shifting blocks of vibration – listen loud to unleash the hidden proto-lithic resonance capabilities (LRC). Dirt-grey tapes & ‘halftone carnival’ on-tape stickers. Limited to around 45 copies.

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ICR26: Culver & Fells – ‘Culver / Fells’ C40 £4
The third instalment of this fine Gateshead pairing. After previous outings on Matching Head, the project comes to Invisible City Records. Expect dark, northern drones, haunting notes and delicate meandering. Black C40 cassette. No digital release available. Limited to 50 copies.

ICR25: Fells – ‘Waking’ C120 £4
New Fells after 5 years off. Minimal, subdued ambience. A meditative, hour long side full of subtle nuances and loops. Black C120 cassette. Limited to 50 copies.

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NYZ – ‘DRNH’ C90 £7
Launching Gamma Mine’s explorations into electronic systems music is “DRNH”, a new release from award winning artist Dave Burraston. “DRNH” continues 2016’s releases from the ever-prolific artist, who has released works on labels including .MEDS, Feral Tapes, Computer Club and ALKU, this year alone. Under his NYZ alias, Burraston studies modulation-based synthesis techniques from his Noyzelab studio, NSW, Australia. As an extension to the activities captured on “DRN4” (.MEDS, 2016), the systems utilised on “DRNH” have been broadened to include additive synthesis, ring modulation and non-linear waveshaping alongside Burraston’s staple frequency modulation synthesis techniques. The following is a declassified listing of equipment used in this research: Hinton Instruments Music Lab modular prototype, Yamaha SY99 & TG77 with cellular automata generated microtunings, MANIAC/Ulamizer-II cellular automata sequencing, Tiptop Z-DSP & Numberz with custom programs. The result is a collection of recordings which take the listener from sci-fi atmospheres (“NYZ-1_HI-SIN”) to whirring electronics (“NYZ_Z-DSP+NUMBERZ-DRN1”), playful FM studies (“FM80Pcellular”, “FM60Pcellular”) to meditative drones (“CSN2-excerpt1-mono”, “DRNH”).

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DK063 Videobasic – ‘Frakibacter’ C30 5€
Videobasic is the new project by Michele Mazzani – Dona Ferentes, Gelba, Lonktaar, Cavelonte Editions – this time accompanied by Gabriele Gotini, with whom he’s already collaborating as C-Luet, a silkscreening art project. Their fourth cassette release “Frakibacter” is a succession of unstable and cacophonous sound dreams made by incursions of lo-fi field recordings , tape and monophonic oscillators’ glissandos and ambushes of hum SID 6581 … all of this generates into the listener, who lets himself soak into a deep listening, an altered mental state, constantly hovering between perception and omen.

DK062 AMK – ‘How are you? I’m OK’ C30 5€
AMK since ‘84 – Banned Production head honcho – U.S. noise pioneer. Dokuro is proud to present Anthony Michael King’s brand new cassette “How are you? I’m OK”. Five pieces of fragorous Sonic Art ranging from “augmented” field recording, montage flexidiscs and vinyl manipulation to live performance (with the contribution of Damion Romero, Eldon M, Geoff Brandin and Matt Purse). AMK continues to offer with inexhaustible freshness the classic elements of his sound art, creating a centripetal flow in which everyone is sucked into – and yet definitely another pearl in his discography, another unmissable dowel in west coast’s underground noise scene . Cover illustration by William Zarate.

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ALN – ‘Something in the Water’ CS
ALN is the relative supergroup of modern NYC experimental music, featuring Norman Westberg (guitar, also of SWANS), Lynn Wright (guitar, also of Bee And Flower), and Algis Kizys (bass, formerly of SWANS). ‘Something in the Water’ is the trio’s debut and highlights the freewheeling, blissfully brooding ambiance of ALN’s sonic magic, captured on four live recordings taken in Brooklyn and Queens. “151115” opens the set with a sprawling but cohesive smearing of sound. The band seems to read the room, eking out glistening peculiarities of tones, drones, and other ephemeral texture. Looping heaves of grotesque miniatures spiral into darkness while dulled shards of shrapnel coast throughout the room. “260316” closes the A-side with lighter, albeit more shard-filled sheets of metallic, almost-kosmische drones. “030516” follows some demonic figure lurching along a long-faded path, either slowly escaping something or marching toward an unknown ending. “121115” closes the set out with meditative and distantly maniacal movements that retreat deep into the ether. Limited edition of 100. Imprinted, clear cassette with fold-out j-card and download card. Art by ALN

11H60 – ’11H60′
Machines are capable of expressing synthetic emotion. They can learn. They can teach. 11H60’s self-titled debut shows that there’s still a bit of heart left in machines, too. While there is certainly some mysterious, anonymous presence (read: producer) behind these fried and sprawling tones, this could be the sound of machines processing love the only way they know how. And while it’s inherently inhuman, it’s entirely sincere. A-side meditation “Lapin Démago” features unadulterated exploration of abstract textures, asymmetric coincidences, and prolonged epiphanies. The piece slowly and organically forms its loose shape in bracken-like fronds of sound. Chords strobe into the air, flashing pointillistic suggestions of harmony and contrast. Those glorious resonances bounce off of one another like computer-generated patches, each one blooming in calculated charm. The B-side’s “Cervidé” offers more optimistic, celebratory modes of computational glee. Looped snippets of sound cycle throughout one another in a kaleidoscope of epiphany-inducing noise. It seems the machines have plenty more to share. All we have to do is listen. Limited edition of 100. Imprinted, red cassette with fold-out j-card and download card. Art by Adam Meyer.

Plaguecourier – ‘Scirocco’ CS
Plaguecourier is the maligned, dark ambient brainchild of Harley Burkhart, the Oakland-based drummer of prog-metal heroes Wild Hunt and Dimesland. Under the grim and gloomy guise of Plaguecourier, Burkhart culls endlessly foreboding and thoroughly unsettling rifts of dark ambiance. Using a mix of processed samples, disfigured narratives, and haunted, metallic clatter, ‘Scirocco’ plays out like some dystopian sci-fi classic that never was. Opener “Invented Madness” kicks things off in a flurry of vaguely horrific visuals. You’re left slightly broken, disoriented, and primed for the abstract events that follow. “First Divine Permission” and “Vein to Inferno” squall and wail into the ether like some cursed, malevolent spiritual cousin of Ben Frost and Tim Hecker. “Second Divine Permission” and “Scirocco” show the more fragile, somber side of Burkhart’s compositions. Each track emphasizes negative space and fringe beauty over forward, superficial shock tactics. The two-song suite “Fatamorgana” and “The Devotee” continue the action with eerie curiosity, while “Shadow of the Wind” closes ‘Scirocco’ out with elegiac finality. Limited edition of 100. Imprinted, black cassette with fold-out j-card and download card. Art by Plaguecourier.

Confused Kundalini – ‘This Will Heal Us’
Having spent a few years lost in an unreleased state, Confused Kundalini’s ‘This Will Heal Us’ now thankfully sees the light of day. Originally intended to release in 2012 and fill catalog entry SP34, the cassette finds the mysterious project retreating into the deepest depths of distant, static drone music, best heard previously on a 2011 split with Dozens on Tranquility Tapes. This time around, the project revels in a frayed and dimly sparkling wash of industrial hums, echoed static, and tectonic harmony. Matching the emotional disorientation and ultimately optimistic themes of Tarkovsky, especially ‘Solaris,’ ‘This Will Heal Us’ plays like a forlorn lovers anthem, translated across space and distorted almost beyond recognition. The hopeful spirit and inspired connection remain amidst an unknowable amount of distance. Confused Kundalini doesn’t ignore the darker ends of the spectrum, contrasting those vaguely uplifting motifs with slowed runs of Lynchian tones and oddly-angled sound. It’s a confounding experience that highlight the more alien auras of terrestrial drone music. Home-dubbed (2012), limited edition of 20. Labeled, clear cassette with fold-out j-card and download card. Art by Adam Meyer.

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FH065 Snakes of Pennsylvania
RIYL: The Album Leaf, Sebadoh, cassette 4-tracking during the dead hours of a psychotropic day. Meeting in art school and eventually living in fabled Tarantula House in the high hills of Pittsburgh, the duo cut their teeth during countless sessions of cheap beer, cough syrup-induced drum and six-string sonic seances. With that spirit serving as fodder, this sound became a mode of transport with a dedication to keep the space-time portal open at all times. Field Hymns is proud to introduce the Snakes of Pennsylvania.

FH066 Manville Heights
RIYL: coy liaisons with fine Japanese electronic instruments, tomorrow’s sad-funk. Can machines develop sadness? Regret? Does the keyboard grazing of one’s fingertips over the years accumulate feelings and longings in these electronic tools, both so invisible to us in our waking human lives? Are we responsible for the emotional care and feeding of these electronic servants? What was staring back at you from that illuminated screen you spent so many hours, weeks, and months in front of, a screen you always assumed beheld a one-way conversation? You were correct in one sense but wholly blind to the greater mystery, unaware it was you who was watched. A sad attraction, forever trapped behind glass, a perpetually unrequited love and you never knew.

FH067 Yves Malone – ‘Death House 4’
RIYL: grimy VHS terror, dead malls at dusk, analog soundtrack horror. Mr. Malone is back with portents of dark times indeed: some people live sunny lives of vapid clarity and hopeful posi vibes and then there is the rest of us. This album is for the latter person, so say we all. Sometimes sounding like the middle section of Pink Floyd’s Atom Heart Mother Suite, other times like ecstatic devotional hymnals to a faded saint of total destruction, this cassette will certainly crush all hope of a new day into rubble. Death House 4 is the dusty, terribly fraught, and horrified soundtrack to the dark future that is rapidly approaching us. God help us all.

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