Animal Psi

Joel Vandroogenbroeck – ‘Biomechanoid’ LP
Biomechanoid is the classic 1980 album by composer and flutist Joel Vandroogenbroeck. It’s 1980, in Munich, Germany, upstart production music label Coloursound Library releases their debut album. Capitalising on the success of Ridley Scott’s Alien film, the label dropped Biomechanoid, featuring cover art commissioned by HR Giger – whose horrific Necronom IV lithograph served as the basis for the design of Alien – and the music of the relatively unknown Joel Vandroogenbroeck. Comprised of bleak, cinematic synth soundscapes and percussion, the album served as an inaugural calling card for what would be a decade of dizzying solo releases by Vandroogenbroeck for Coloursound, running the gamut from Mesopotamian ethno-folk to synth sequencer funk to electro drum breaks to in-utero ambient delights. Though the Belgian-born Vandroogenbroeck, 74, may not be a household name; in an ideal world, he would be. As the founder, flautist, harpist, sitar player and keyboardist of the seminal acid-fried Swiss psych outfit Brainticket, he spearheaded the groups three main (and collectible) releases in the early 70s – Cottonwood Hill, Celestial Ocean and Psychonaut. Combining a love of exotic instruments coupled with mind-bending out-of-body excursions, the ever-changing collective developed something of a cult following throughout Europe and earned a reputation as one of the heavier psych outfits on the circuit – which was something of a double-edged sword. While their experimental sound resonated with hippies everywhere, it didn’t with the authorities, who associated the act with heavy drug consumption and subsequently began a ban of their music, especially the Psychonaut album, if for the title alone. After that bitter brush with censorship, the group quietly disbanded in 1972. After the dissolution of Brainticket, Vandroogenbroeck departed for the island of Bali with the intent of learning to build and play the gamelan – an ensemble of primarily percussion instruments from Indonesia. It would become yet another weapon in his ever growing arsenal of exotic instruments: he was already proficient in the sitar, harp, kalimba, assorted percussion oddities and all woodwinds by this point. Vandroogenbroeck became so enraptured with the frenetic sound of the gamelan that he subsequently left the tropics to start up a joged bumbung (a variation on a gamelan) band back in Switzerland. While playing small festivals and civic events with this group, Joel began to slowly gravitate towards the synth-heavy kraut sounds of artists like Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze at the same time. And once he began dabbling with oscillators, he never turned back. After inking a library deal around this time with the nascent Coloursound label, who gave him complete creative control, Vandroogenbroeck began turning out releases at a rapid rate, often three to five a year, and under a variety of aliases like V.D.B. Joel, J.V.D.B, and Eric Vann. Starting with the desolate synth drone of Biomechanoid, he continued to expand his sound palette on while on Coloursound, moving from early arpeggiators on Computer Blossoms to percussive sound collage on Birth Of Earth; and from Oberheim DMX drum breaks on Video Games & Data Movements to Apple II ambient programming on Digital Project. Biomechanoid stands after all these years as an album full of dark, strange, disturbing soundscapes, the obscure side of Brainticket, proving how Joel was still a creative artist. Release Details: * Artwork by HR Giger * Matt finishing * Double-sided insert * 180gr. vinyl * Edition of 500 copies.

Orphan Fairytale – ‘My Favorite Fairytale’ 2LP
Welcome to the wondrous world of Eva Van Deuren’s one-girl project Orphan Fairytale. She creates a fairylike, mystic and hypnotizing sound world using only self-made electronics, toy instruments , cassette loops and small keyboards. The music show a great deal of playfulness. Dreamlike patterns are enriched by carefully placed notes and tones. After almost 10 years of performing and recording, the time has come for a round-up and Aguirre is happy to present a wonderful set of four sidelong pieces. The 2xLP set consists of delicate twinkling tunes recorded during the period of 2008 – 2011 wherein Eva shows an admirable creativity, coalescing minimalism, new age, psychedelic and repetitive sounds. Not always too far away from contemporary fellow artists like Dolphins Into The Future, Innercity and Panabrite with whom she shares a certain ambience. Originating from Antwerp, Belgium Eva Van Deuren grew up in a flourishing Belgian music scene. Releasing cassettes on numerous independent cassette labels Audiobot, Beniffer Editions and Sloow Tapes just to name a few. In the summer of 2007 she was even asked to open for Sonic Youth (!). It was Thurston Moore who was very fond of her music. After that she has released full albums on Ultra Eczema and Blackest Rainbow and now we like to welcome her to Aguirre! Release details: * Artwork by Johan and Hannah * High Gloss finishing * Edition of 500 copies.

Gnod – ‘The Somnambulist’s Tale’ LP
An early and one of the most special Gnod recordings is out now on Aguirre. The Somnambulist’s Tale consists of two sidelong adventurous pieces which are carried by an incredible loop. The haunting ambience in combination with electronics, distant guitar layers, conversations between the band members, a typewriter, and other sounds from found objects makes this quite an atypical Gnod release, but definitely a great one. Influenced by early Krautrock bands like Can, Hawkwind and Ash Ra Temple, Gnod brings us back to those days, add twisted sounds and strange lyrics to the whole and deliver a truly mesmerizing psychedelic drone record. Gnod is a British krautrock band from Salford, England. Formed in 2006, the band is a collective from Manchester with an ever-rotating list of members. They run experimental electronic live nights in Salford called Gesamtkunstwerk (German for “whole arts work”) where they offer “outsider electronics, hardwarped machine rhythms and analogue debauchery all reflecting the postindustrial mill space”. They have a punky belief in the dissolution of the boundary between artist and audience to the extent that it is not unlikely to find gig-goers onstage, adding to the instrumental melee. Release Details: * Artwork by Fliss Horrocks * Matt finishing * Edition of 500 copies.

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905.178: Headboggle/Collin McKelvey split C60
30 minutes each of squishy synth work from Headboggle & Collin McKelvey. Hboggle offers up six monsters, a mixture of live sets, sessions at colleges, and jams with buds. Shannon Kerrigan, John Elliott, and Jeff Hatfield all showing their mugs. McKelvey burns through one half hour of every changing textured layers. Pro dubbed, edition of 100. Comes with download code.

905.179: Andrew Kirschner – ‘Patient’ C31
Ohio dirt devil AK drags electronics through the mud creating crude, blistered soundscapes. Totally clear shells with imprinting on the B side, covered with labels, visiable through the cassette. Pro dubbed, edition of 50. Comes with download code.

905.180: Afterlife/Roped Off split C29
Slowly unwinding, elated-meets-somber vibes from Afterlife. Roped Off goes on a weirdo modular synth/electronics joy ride. Pro dubbed, edition of 100. Comes with download code.

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Boomruin/BMRN – ‘My Drums Cover A Multitude Of Sins’ C40 $6
Connecting dark waves of cinematic sounds and slumbering beats – England’s Boomruin/BMRN creates a delicate environment with My Drums Cover A Multitude Of Sins. The 40 minute album is broken up into short movements that crackle and blend into one another. Developing a sense of time and space, MDCAMOS slowly saunters from one moment to another, lingering elements from each moment gently layers onto the memory of what was before. The overall presence of the album is a somber thread that weaves in and out of the fabric of an atmospheric beat tape. Best experienced from beginning to end as the true appreciate for this album is in its whole. Limited to 80 purple cassettes.

Walter Gross + Lumiere Soto/Valance Drakes C40 $6
Walter Gross is well known for his unorthodox styling and composition. Gross teams up with Lumiere Soto to offer the echoing voices of desperation. The collaborative piece shows how versatile Gross can be as he exchanges beats for a dulcimer to create a lost in the woods at night feeling. Manipulated sounds of a lost cassette warbles as we are led deeper into the abyss – the whispering whirlwind of eased up distortion and echoing vibration causes an inner workings of sickening turmoil of emotions and rawness beyond scope. The split tape takes a different turn on the flip side, as Valance Drakes provides a head nod to Walter Gross sampling his material to reconstruct and repurpose the beauty of Gross through the eyes of Drakes. The beats bleed through on this side as we are provided with the best of both worlds. Drakes glitch work piecemeals the tracks into short composition of atmospheric darkness and draining beats. Limited to 150 dark blue cassettes.

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Neros tanzende Elektropäpste – ‘Rotes Brikett’
Exactly 30 (!) years after the release of their last offering on Reinfall Tapes H´rath, “Die hohe Kunst des Schwitzens” (The noble art of sweating, 1983), there is news from Aachen´s NDW-absurdists Neros Tanzende Elektropäpste. NTEP-mastermind ENK, word-smith and synthesizer buff extraordinaire meanwhile living in the North- East of China – during daytimes disguised as a Professor of Linguistics – has returned to his musical roots: un-dusted his fretless bass guitar and drumboxes, and for good measure added a hefty alto sax to the Nero´s acoustic arsenal. Joined via internet by his original NTEP collaborator Rolf Merx on guitar, he lays down a thick carpet of synthesized hamster funk, pumping retro electo pieces, and rythmic sound collages for lyrics bristling with NTEP´s trademark Dada humor. Poking fun at the pompous twats running today’s Germany, the war-mongering Yanks, the churches, and generally taking the piss. Due to the long hiatus and abundance of material accumulated, “Rotes Brikett” (= Red Briquette) features almost two hours of new songs. Ranging from polished, catchy numbers to old-style NTEP-oddities using samples from underground movies, the processed voices of Dada pioneers Huelsenbeck and Schwitters, and original lyrics spoken or sung by computer, in eye-winking Kraftwerk tradition. The heavily effect-treated saxophone (think: Jon Hassle, with a dash of James Chance) adds a different flavour to some of the pieces. A worthy return of Aix-la-Chapelle´s former underground heroes. Who would have expected this? In another place, in another time: Neros Tanzende Elektropäpste are back. Sharper and wittier than ever, musically matured, and still in a class of their own. Nonsense deluxe! Double-tape box charged with 2 high quality, custom made chrome (type2) tapes, professionally dubbed on tascam copy machine.

Muffbude – ‘Grundlagen der Waldwirtschaft’
New double MC album from germanys soundcrap taskforce no.1. The recording dates of the sources, that was used for this record, spread over a time from 1980 to 2013. Recycled rehearsal room recordings meet sound exibitions. Bedroom collages from airplays and lots of ethereous surroundings come along with artist discussions. A real adventure in sound! Double-tape box charged with 2 high quality, custom made chrome (type2) tapes, professionally dubbed on tascam copy machine.

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Jar Moff – ‘Financial Glam’ LP
Athens based Jar Moff returns with his second PAN LP in 2013. This is a music of upheaval. Continuing with themes established on his previous ‘Commercial Mouth’ LP, ‘Financial Glam’ reflects the flux and tension of his home city, a gripping opus of grandiose crescendo and collapse, broken rhythm and disquieting calm. These intricately composed collage works, constructed from hundreds of archived samples, provide a fitting and highly personal soundtrack to austerity in the shadow of empire. The craft hints at a year’s worth of meticulous assembly and industry; the album title hints at a biting critique of the circus outside. The combination of Jar Moff’s technique, ear and unique perspective on, and proximity to, one of the defining stories of our era makes this release a truly important work. A side ‘Financial Glam’ and builds with growing fanfare and unease, the malaise occasionally tamed by sublime stabs of synth and rhythm. B side ‘Kresentosiagona’ (translation: “Crescendo of the Jaw”) is characterized by a complex rhythmic treatment of individual orchestral samples. The perpetual escalation of the instruments begin to form a fragile and perilous platform over time, it’s fragile movements and majesty ever close to the crash. The LP is mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at D&M, pressed on 140g vinyl. It is packaged in a pro-press color jacket which itself is housed in a silk screened pvc sleeve with artwork by Kathryn Politis & Bill Kouligas.

Heatsick – ‘RE-ENGINEERING’ LP
Well known for his epic multi-hour live club sets and acerbic wit, he characterizes this collection of new material as a “cybernetic poem” that both indulges us in the mores of hypnotic dance music while holding a critical, and at times satirical, lens toward the culture writ large. The opening title track is symbolic of this balance, the crisp spoken word poetry communicating hypermodernity in crisis in a piece that equally evokes the masked humour of Chic and the biting surreality of Chris Morris. “Modern life is still rubbish you say. Modern rubbish is still life” The tracks ‘MIMOSA’ and ‘SPECULATIVE’ play with a similar conflict, warping the themes of modern luxury familiar to Malcolm McLaren’s seminal ‘Paris’ album, and delivering rare vocal lines that convey distance and a degree of uneasiness. The masterful club tracks that constitute the bulk of this album feel all the more powerful and honest when framed in this hyper aware context, confirming the underlying inclusiveness in Warwick’s music and perspective. We dance together, we crash together. The LP is mastered and cut at D&M, Berlin. It is pressed on a 140g vinyl which itself is housed in a silk screened pvc sleeve featuring artwork by Bill Kouligas & Steven Warwick.

NHK’Koyxen – ‘Dance Classics Vol.III’ LP
Kouhei Matsunaga’s ‘Dance Classics Vol.III’ is the continuation of his ongoing development of his more dance oriented material, as seen from his sets with Sensational and also his other minimal techno project NHK. Not feeling tied down to one genre, Matsunaga nestles in the PAN roster, and however that isn’t to say that he is dance per se as witnessed from his recent collaborations with Conrad Schnitzler. The album focuses more on bass/base electronics, music for the dancefloor and/or altered state reflection. Having composed pieces for WDR based on Henry Chopin, Kouhei is equally at ease jamming with Sensational, whilst simultaneously executing a obsessively numerical sequence of dance pieces that borders on Hanne Darboven-like compulsivity. Born in Osaka, Kouhei Matsunaga is a musician and an illustrator. He started drawing during childhood under the influence of his grandfather. He grew up listening to hardcore- techno and hip hop, studied architecture and has been mainly making music since 1992. Under many different aliases (NHK, NHKyx, Internet Magic, Koyxen) he has released numerous albums on labels such as Skam Records, Wordsound, Raster Noton and his first ever album “Upside Down” on Mille Plateaux in 1998. He has also collaborated with artists like Merzbow, Jungle Brothers’ Sensational, Autechre’s Sean Booth, Mika Vainio, Conrad Schnitzler, Anti Pop Consorium’s High Priest, Rudolf Eb.er, Puppetmastaz crew, Asmus Tietchens, Ralf ‘RLW’ Wehowsky and so on. His own label Flying Swimming was founded in 2002 with the main purpose being to publish and curate events of experimental contemporary music and art. The LP is mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at D&M, pressed on 140g vinyl. It is packaged in a pro-press color jacket which itself is housed in a silk screened pvc sleeve with artwork by Kathryn Politis & Bill Kouligas.

Dalglish – ‘Niaiw Ot Vile’ LP
Chris Douglas’ story reads like a lesson in the development of outsider electronic music over the past 20 years. He began throwing the first ambient techno parties in San Francisco at just 16 years old, and moved to Detroit a year later to begin working with Mike Banks (Underground Resistance) and James Stinson (Drexciya). He relocated to Berlin in the early 2000’s after being invited to support Autechre on their Confield tour (and perform at the now legendary Autechrecurated ATP Festival), and has since steadily released challenging and intense records as Dalglish, O.S.T., Scald Rougish and Seaes, all the while maintaining an elusive personal profile. He has also worked extensively in film music as having recently composed the soundtrack for the film‘Out of Competition’ for the 70th Venice Biennale, as well as Anna Eborn’s recent film ‘Pine Ridge’ among others. Furthermore he is a founding member of audiovisual collective SYNKEN featuring members of Transforma. His PAN debut, dedicated to his friend, the sadly deceased musician and Isolate Records founder Wai Cheng (Optic), is a complex and cavernous exercise in texture and rhythm, marrying the freedom and tonal breadth of electroacoustic composition with percussive patterns disjointed to the point of collapse. It is easy to see how his work is often critically received as emotionally challenging. There is a closeness to these compositions, and his muscular, full spectrum passages are often counteracted with brittle and delicate detail. Unhinged and unrestrained, you will be hard pressed to find a single loop throughout the entire album, with each of the compositions mutated through vividly reverberating, clangorous landscapes. The LP is mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at D&M. It is pressed on a 140g vinyl which itself is housed in a silk screened pvc sleeve featuring artwork by Ian Liddle, Bill Kouligas & Kathryn Politis.

Bill Kouligas/Valerio Tricoli split CS
Xmas Special Tape from Bill Kouligas and Valerio Tricoli, plus a re-press of several sought-after titles from SND, Heatsick, NHK’Koyxen and Rashad Becker. Get the cassette for free If you buy any 3 or more titles listed here.

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NNA067: Great Valley – ‘Lizards fo Camelot’ LP
Nestled in the lush greenery of southern Vermont on the banks of the Connecticut river, lies the bizarre haven of Brattleboro, home to the chivalrous rock and roll duo Great Valley. Comprised of Peter Nichols and Jo Miller-Gamble, Great Valley have been kind enough to bestow their latest opus, “Lizards of Camelot”, to their northern neighbors up here at NNA. “Lizards” manages to cross over from a mere concept album into what we would call more of a “journey” album, by creating a vivid tale of a reptilian-led escapade through lands unknown. Peter and Jo weave this folklore with the classical palette of guitar, drums, vocals and keyboard, resulting in a warbly, technicolor flavor of rock that stands alone in terms of sonics and atmosphere. Tastefully twangy guitar lines flutter out over fat organ bass lines and ultra locked-in drum beats, with a unique concoction of bombastic drum triggers and synthesizer filigree bringing it all together. At times resembling The Cure playing a heated game of D&D,Lizards” mixes up all the tastiest facets of rock into a cohesive whole, with elements of New Wave, progressive rock, surf guitar shred, and classic Sixties psychedelia all thrown into the mix. Peter’s slithery, love-soaked crooning narrates the adventure, like a bard’s song unfolding over a technical assemblage of rock-blocks. The strong, groove-laden songwriting is reinforced with warped, nitrous balloney interludes melting throughout, with plenty of digital flutes, chimes, and keyboard solos accentuating the odyssey. While hard to categorize, “Lizards Of Camelot” is soaked through with the unmistakable “Brattleboro sound”, fitting in nicely alongside like-minded freaky friends such as Blanche Blanche Blanche, Happy Jawbone Family Band, Chris Weisman, Flaming Dragons of Middle Earth, Big French and so on, many of whom have lent loving contributions to these recordings. Although DIY at heart, “Lizards” has all the makings of a well-conceived and executed proper Album, assembled at home by po ring imagination into an 8-track, like a punk mentality shining through a Brian Wilson-esque lens to create the ultimate bedroom fantasy.

NNA068: Wanda Group – ‘A Slab About Being Held Captive’ LP
Washed up on the shores of Brighton UK, we find “A Slab About Being Held Captive” laying there quietly in the sand. This soaking enigma is the latest creation of Louis Johnstone, following up an influx of recent vinyl on Opal Tapes, Notown, Where To Now?, and Svetlana Industries. Since their debut release “Bass Urine” on NNA in 2011, Wanda and the girls have matured to a new point of refinement, sinking deeper into the careful organization of disconcerting sounds. “A Slab” truly is a seasick collage, with a pervading aqueous essence flowing throughout the two side-long pieces, carrying along with it fragments of field and domestic recordings and sample clutter. Syrupy waves of sound meld into one another with cinematic pacing, forming a gelatinous backdrop for hard cut interjections of concréte style sample manipulation, lending themselves to an air of confusing tension. As the liquid bath abruptly turns to slate, a group of gulls squawk at a bubble filled with muffled porno moans as they glide by. Body sounds and animal conversations are drowned out by the mechanical purrs of an industrial assembly line, sputtering and choking their last breaths as they struggle to stay afloat. Maddening tones seem to permeate from within, sizzling their way through the stereo field like two magnets dancing, drilling through the headspace. This hypnotic phenomena forces the mind inward, reducing it to a skull full of opiate brain mush and half-cooked soggy memories. These collections of moments may fall shamelessly into near-nothingness at any given time, eventually refilling themselves with sound in a cyclical rising and falling, perhaps acting as an abstract reflection on mental states of indifference, alienation, or just general life terror and bleakness. Wanda’s ability to maintain compositional fluidity throughout such a dynamic range of materials is reinforced by an original sense of movement and pacing, and the ability to form a creative symbiosis between cold sterility and organic warmth. Although ultimately, it’s probably best left to the artist’s own words: WANDA GROUP IS OR COULD BE OR WANTS TO BE A GROUP IT IS NOT I SHOULD BE BUT I AM AFRAID IT NEVER BECAME ONE EITHER DUE TO A LACK OF FRIENDSHIP, KINDNESS OR POUNDING HUMAN REGRET ? WHO KNOWS ? WANDA GROUP TRIES TO MAKE EARTH MUSIC THIS COULD BE INSIDE OR ABOVE OR RIGHT ON THE LAND I THINK THAT YOU SHOULD LOOK AT CONCRETE OR MOUNTAINS TO TRY AND MOVE YOURSELF ART GALLERIES WORK BUT SOMETIMES I THINK PEOPLE NEED TO LOOK AT THE STUFF THAT IS GROUND OR SHOVED RIGHT INTO THE EARTH OR HAS BECOME THE EARTH ALL IS ONE SORT OF THING ETC WANDA GROUP DOES TRY TO LOVE IN A MASSIVE WAY IT IS ALL VERY SERIOUS AT POINTS AND SOMETIMES I NEEDS TO BE WANDA GROUP REALLY SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO FUCKING SPEAK OR TYPE (MAYBE ONLY EXIST IN A STATUE  ?)” Mastered and cut by Lupo at Calyx Mastering in Berlin, Germany. LP comes with free MP3 download coupon. Digital version available December 10th, 2013.

NNA069: Guerilla Toss – ‘Gay Disco’ LP
Birthed from the depths of the sweaty basements of Boston, Massachusetts, deranged rock outfit Guerilla Toss is nowadays considered to be a New England underground staple by the freaks and weirdos that inhabit the region. The band has churned out numerous cassettes, records, and CDs in the past two years on on labels such as Feeding Tube Records, John Zorn’s Tzadik, Sophomore Lounge, and Digitalis Ltd. By touring relentlessly and providing their audience with an unforgettably intense live show that demands, and encourages, ravaging physical body movement of the listener, ‘Gtoss’ has quickly garnered a cult following of loyal servants. Their newest record, “Gay Disco”, is an album that draws influence from new wave and no wave dance music, extreme dementia, drug problems, and absurdist humor. However, in the midst of the chaos, it is clear that the compositions are well-crafted and spout from the minds of educated individuals while avoiding the common esoteric pitfalls that could be associated with their sound. Kassie Carlson’s ferocious vocals run the gamut of the human voice, blasting with jet engine shrieking and boiling over with urgency, while at the same time presenting a demented and direct spoken narrative with surreal conversational lyrics. Peter Negroponte’s full force drumming spews forth alongside her like a tentacled beast, battling off fits of rage and panicking between four-on-the-floor dance beats and controlled, pounding trashcan thrash. Guitarists Simon Hanes and Arian Shafiee duel to the death with angular and jagged riffs ping-ponging between each other while keeping pace with dancey stabs of clanging string shrapnel. As messy as it sounds, Hanes’ fuzzed and scuzzed bass jamming still retains heaps of thick, gooey funk in the purest sense, which perfectly compliments Shafiee’s masterful axe work that manages to shape-shift seamlessly between hardcore rawness, jazzy meanderings, and squealing noise rock pepperings. That glue that binds is Ian Kovac’s synth work, which adds a healthy dose hyperactive danceability and electronic flourishing that contributes to the album’s overall doped-up disco flavor. Gtoss succeeds in using the power of dissonance, aggression, and disorientation to derail the dancefloor in a record that captures the essence of a high-energy live band in its loudest, rawest recording to date. Mastered and cut by Lupo at Calyx Mastering in Berlin, Germany. LP comes with lyrics sheet + free MP3 download coupon. Digital version available December 10th, 2013.

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(UDR09) CYMBLS – ‘Farewell said I rising’ one-sided LP 12€
‘Farewell said I Rising’ is the first release by CYMBLS. The members Cristiano Carosi and Isabella Cotellessa have recorded and mixed it between february and august 2013, inspired by the mix of avant experiments and melody of the italian sountracks from the 60s and 70s. Exprimental, fragmented, hypnotic, psychedelic pop duo. Synthesizer, organ, flute, drums, voice, samples, electric guitar and electric bass. Tracklist: Ambershade, Whimsical, Word blind, Urtica, Forecast One sided LP vinyl limited to 200 copies, black vinyl, mastered and cut at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin.

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