Animal Psi

WHITMAN/FORMER GHOSTS 7″
Former Ghosts is the brainchild of Freddy Ruppert, who started out performing music with his abrasive and emotionally charged solo project, This Song Is A Mess But So Am I. The project dealt solely with the loss of his mother. Eventually the project saw it’s end and some years went by before he re-emerged as Former Ghosts. This time around the music was a little more accessible but lyrically, it still packed a punch. Former Ghosts is more of a band than it is a solo project and the recordings and live performances include contributions from the likes of: Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu), Nika Roza Danilova (Zola Jesus), Yasmine Kittles (Tearist), and Carla Bozulich (Evangelista). On this record, Annie Lewandowski (Powerdove) fronts the vocals for a cover of the song “Shake” by Whitman. Whitman is the moniker of Christopher Payne who has performed and recorded with a long list of performers, as well as a lone wolf. His heart-on-sleeve songwriting is haunting,tender, and at times, uncomfortable. On this record he is joined by Cellist Rich Seymour for a cover of the song “New Orleans” by Former Ghosts. Released in a pressing of 330 records (165 on white vinyl and 165 on black). Records come in professionally printed jackets with artwork by Christopher Payne and include a digital download. Co-released with: Tiny Panda Records

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IF25 – REMNANTS – ‘TONAL FRAGMENTS’ C28
Edition of 100. Remnants is the tape music project of Ryan Marino (Imminent Frequencies) and after some time “Tonal Fragments” is Remnants’ return to IF. Using only the sounds of crude cassette tape loops, “Fragments” presents seven minimal compositions of hiss and decay that are informed by a sense of shifting currents and glacial passages. A haunting lullaby of collaged entropy and aural grit form the most fully realized release from this project to date.

IF26 – A HANDFUL OF DUST – ‘FROM A SOUNDTRACK TO THE ANABASE OF ST-JOHN PERSE’ C42
Edition of 150. A Handful of Dust is the duo of New Zealand noisemakers Bruce Russell (The Dead C) and Alastair Galbraith. Incorporating elements of drone, spoken word, minimalism, improvisation and utilizing everything from violin to toy telephone, The Dust crafts a genuinely unique style of free-form music. “From A Soundtrack To The Anabase Of St-John Perse” a tape originally released via Russell’s own Corpus Hermeticum imprint nearly two decades ago finds the duo under the influence of the 1924 poem of the same name and at the height of their creative experimentation.

IF23 – EMACIATOR – ‘FINALITY AND CONTRADICTION’ C34
Edition of 100. Emaciator is the long-running project of Los Angeles native, Jon Borges (Pedestrian Deposit, Monorail Trespassing). Over the past decade Emaciator has evolved from its early industrial beginnings into the psychedelic bliss it emits today. The first Emaciator release in four years finds Borges crafting ambient columns of sound with masterful attention to texture and depth.

IF24 – TOM WHITE – ‘CORRUGATED’ C61
Edition of 100. Tom White is a London-based artist working in the areas of sound, installation and film. Following recent releases on Chocolate Monk and My Dance The Skull, White presents an intricate collage of manipulated found and appropriated sounds taken from a series of concrète reel to reel tape experiments recorded throughout 2012 and 2013.

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MATTHEW SHAW – ‘Moon Cycles/Fowey’ 2xCDr £10
Brand new double disc set from Matthew Shaw. Recordings made in Fowey, Cornwall, UK, and Kyoto and Tokyo, Japan. As with previous works Matthew manages to immaculately blend layered instruments, electronics and field recordings to create luscious soundscapes. I believe he’s creating some of the finest ambient drone in the UK at the moment and is essential listening for anyone of who enjoys the genre. Black and white cover photographs by Matthew. Sleeves are printed on parchment paper. Hand numbered insert with photographs from the locations of recordings. Limited to 70 copies. Purchase from Blackest Rainbow includes instant download of the album.

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ALEX MONK – ‘The Safety Machine’ LP 18€
Screen printed sleeve in two versions (2 x 100) on heavy white stock, housed in a heavy PVC sleeve. First pressing of 200 copies on gorgeous heavy translucent white vinyl. Graphic design by Levi Seeldraeyers and Marieken Hensen. Screen printing by Smeraldina-Rima.

THROW DOWN YOUR HAMMER AND SING/SHELDON SIEGEL split LP 18€
Split LP by Throw Down Your Hammer And Sing and Sheldon Siegel. Throw Down Your Hammer And Sing is the trio of Nate Wooley, Fred Lonberg-Holm and Jason Roebke, Sheldon Siegel is the trio of Erik Heestermans, Gerard Herman and Gino Coomans. Two sides of grainy textures and truly happening improv. This album was a co-production of Smeraldina-Rima and croxhapox. The artwork was made by Berlin-based artist Hannelore Van Dijck — resulting in two different LP-sleeves, each sporting two different drawings. The sleeves were screen printed by Smeraldina-Rima on heavy white stock and are housed in a heavy PVC sleeve. Comes with screen printed insert on heavy black stock. Graphic design by Marijke Loozen. Edition of 2 times 200. Pressed on heavy black vinyl.

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[AUR002] AuerbachNSN – ‘Ethnocultural Empathy’
A straight forward Power Electronics/Harsh Noise album inspired by Genocide Lolita, Slogun, Siege Electronics, To The Lovers Farewell and Con Dom. Album covers such topics as Trans activism and its failure, American Race Wars, a newly surgically slashed teen trans-couple, Luka Magnotta and Racial Awareness.

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various – ‘25 Minutes Of Trance Classics‘
Passive Aggressive returns with an array of artists, who bring their creative juices to the table in the midst of the gritty world of power electronics. From the very harsh to the mystically numb, ’25 Minutes Of Trance Classics’ has something for everyone, and heaps of alienation for anybody expecting ‘trance hits’. On side 1, Transpire make a guest appearance with an unusual piece. Breakbeats begin to collapse on themselves, and what at first seems a calm journey through surges of synthesis erupts into a devastating drone attack from another dimension. The rest of the side presents us with two contrasting works – a look through the window out at a mechanical garden with Bliss, and a furious debut from Hyrax. On side 2, C.T.A.N returns with the job of re-working Bliss’s piece, juxtaposing something a little unexpected with solemn drones. Next is a reverb-coated acoustic number from Circa Cologne, cryptic lyrics take the listener through a thought provoking six minute journey. To conclude, C.D.T.M bring you a haunting piece. As a repetitive vocal and wild breakbeats remind you of your ‘problems’, the listener is continually knocked off-track with crackling synth meltdowns.”

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THE ORIGINAL FLOWERING EARTH – ‘HARMONIC RESONANCE’
Harmonic Resonance is probably the soundtrack that was playing when the earth formed. The sounds from Goldtimers Tapes owner Colorado’s Kyle Wade as the Original Flowering Earth are timeless and primordial. These tell an age-old tell of the cosmos, of Pangaea and of the Ice Age. There is an assuredness to this compelling sonic world, and it transcends the superfluous commodities and frivolousness that comes with more recent times. This is not a bikini-clad woman with orange skin. This is not NASCAR or potato chips. This is an origin tale that is buried deep in the ground, close to the core of the earth. It lies there next to some pterodactyl bones; it lies there fossilized in amber. Baby blue shell, chrome tape with full color label. Edition limited to 100. Pro-print j-card with attached pressed flowers.

MIRACLE BLUES – ‘UTILITY LISTENING’
Lillerne Tapes boss Gabe Holcombe does indeed conjure up some must-have releases, including the aptly named Utility Listening. As Miracle Blues, Gabe’s focus under this moniker seems more hyper-aware of the minute details of nostalgia and sleep. These untitled tracks were seemingly locked into an isolation tank for years. After being sensory deprived for so long, this is the slow awakening to the senses. These sounds are patient, careful and ever lovely. Light grey shell, chrome tape with full color label. Edition limited to 100. Pro-print j-card with attached pressed flowers.

Beru/Aloonaluna – ‘The Second Life/Premonitions and Tusks’
BERU and Aloonaluna met when they were billed for the same show in San Francisco, California in March 2013. Jessica Collins (aka Beru) drove up from Los Angeles on a whim, checked into a hotel with a pool and swam. Later that night, Jessica and Lynn (Aloonaluna) met, and Lynn fell in love. It only happens so much, you know. On the A side, Beru’s music is like opening Pandora’s box. What shadows and souls are found! If there was a spectrum for every emotion, it is housed in this part of the release. On the B side, Aloonaluna’s tracks weave some strange and lethargic broken pop anthems. She explains to a young child about death, how babies are born and the death of love. They are premonitions. Pink shell, chrome tape with full color label. Edition limited to 125. Pro-print j-card with attached pressed flowers.

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Pregnant Pig Vs Preggy Peggy – ‘Everyone Is Pregnant And It’s Disgusting’ C60 $8
“This pregnancy themed tape is in fact a split despite what the “versus” would imply. The 3 tracks on Preggy Peggy’s side were made with gargling noises, electronics & hunting calls, and were recorded on a handheld digital recorder, a phone, & a cassette recorder respecitvely. Lots of people from her hometown helped out, as they usually do when she’s doing stuff about town. The first track was recorded in a basement with an audience…there were a bunch of New England Conservatory students and noise dudes in one spot. Chris Cooper (from Fat Worm of Error) was also on the bill that night (and he played a really stellar set that’s stuck with Peggy ever since). The second track was recorded at her friends Kate and Adam’s wedding which took place outside near some woods. Jennifer from Egg Eggs played a violin. Steve Norton probably played a bass clarinet. According to Peggy it was a really nice day and they started playing by themselves on the grass and by the time they were done a bunch of people had gathered to watch. Third track was recorded at a dance studio with Peggy’s friend Yuka Takahashi…who Peggy says is a great dancer; she + Yuka were rehearsing at her usual place which has big wooden floors & high ceilings. Very echoey. Peggy asked Yuka to work the cassette recorder as she moved around the room so that she’d be more involved in the result, and she even sat on it & stuffed it under the carpet at one point. The other dance people were pretty freaked out by this, and they almost got kicked out of the studio a couple of times. The Pregnant Pig songs were recorded to 4-track throughout July-September, 2013. Sounds present are voice, guitar, various cutlery & other metals, Bulbul Tarang, & lap harp. The sounds accompanying strings were made with a Fisher Price talk-to-me record player used to create loops on different surfaces. Limited to 50 hand-numbered copies.”

Kommissar Hjuler/PVA in Hair split C60 $8
Kommissar Hjuler’s side is another in a long line of recordings. Hundreds, in fact. & like everything else, this is equally creative, expressive, perceptive, and clever. It’s interesting to recognize the limits of similarities in the two sides…the language barrier of Hjuler’s side is something that affected and inspired P.i.H.’s side, too. In a positive way: it drains out any clear subject matter. German dialogue is a worthwhile listen on its own, but lack of knowledge on the subject may leave the listener with an urge to research them more, and subsequently discover their whole output…. But for those requiring facts: Kommissar Hjuler for his side, once found a book by chance, on Albert Thigoleis Thelen. “Die Insel des Zweiten Gesichts,” which he read at school some years ago. He opened it to a random page: number 405; He then ripped it out of the spine, made a vertical cut in the middle, put the second part three lines down, and then read all sentences, which in this recording now no longer gives sense. perhaps Hjuler’s approach has roots in dada theory????????? ? ?/ /? (?) PVA in Hair’s side was arranged from many months of recording on a portable cassette recorder. Fragments of domestic and outside sounds are featured. Birds, traffic, over heard conversation, wind, vacuum cleaners. Cinderella is a constant theme as a single voice says over and over “I am burdened by Chores”. Later, a voice describes her ‘sheer beauty’ and ‘perfect long blonde hair.’ in the same desperate, repetitive manner. Kommissar Hjuler said it “sounds like a female Costes”, for some reason. Seemingly drunk on descriptions of Cinderella’s beauty, a different voice interrupts suddenly, frantically shouting non sensical words, screaming and yelling like a petulant child. A comical “Boing!” sound effect is dispersed randomly through (said absurd rant,) almost likening it to a more extreme version of the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, i.e. “I’m late! I’m late! akodnjsdnidsnd dshdsfsjdfh IM LATE JHSJKJHKAKNEUKWIDHOAHDOIH!!!!! This split as a unified whole may be hard to grasp…blame that possibility on the complexity that comes with the vividness of the recordings. Both these sides are felt with the freshness of immediate experience; straight from voice to tape – that is a shared approach. This expression is particular to them: put any outlandishness in that down to their collective attempts to form lifelike images. Hjuler’s sculptures on the cover draw comparisons between P.i.H.’s selected images… and distinguishes its own unique connotations, resulting in the eradication of seemingly magnified differences between the two. This in turn allows obvious dissimilarities to dissolve with ease into a fluctuation of one idea to another. Maybe the language barrier helped facilitate this particular language of collaboration? Thus it is a perfect metaphor for the music held within. Both sides of the tape reflect each one’s separateness from the other. Understanding this shared commonality is tantamount to appreciating the manner in which they worked together with one another. Limited to 50 hand-numbered copies.

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SM051 EXPO ’70 – ‘Filer à l’anglaise’ CS
The LP version features 3 extended jams from the latter days of the working relationship between mainman Justin Wright and Matt Hill (prior to his wonderful recordings under the ‘Umberto’ moniker). Recently unearthed by Justin specifically for this vinyl release (although watch out for an extended version for cassette only later) the set starts with the wonderful zoned out pulse of “Acerbic Lament” interspersed by Wright’s piercing guitar tones and textures. “Winter of Discontent” is more organic, otherworldly and in places reminiscent of some of the early Popol Vuh catalogue. The reverse features the epic sidelong “Ceremony of the Blind”; constituting 3 parts and to these ears represents one of the finest sides to the huge Expo 70 catalogue. A compelling cosmic soundscape punctuated by evolving waves of carefully constructed synth and guitar drone with flurries of percussive pulse, particularly on the closing section “Eternal The Night”. Another essential addition to the ever growing Expo 70 collection, this cassette combines the Deep Distance LP tracks with 2 bonus tracks. Limited to 100 Cassettes + download.

SM053 LAUBE – ‘Schwach Gekerbt’ CS
Laube are back and not interested in playing around. None of the tone has been left to chance. The raw material has been mastered by James Plotkin, the sound testifies that it’s been worth waiting for three years. “Schwach Gekerbt” is the logical progression to its predecessor “Ausmerzen” in regard to Laube’s notion of Adagio. Again self-recorded in their rehearsal room with Resl von Konnersreuth as their patron saint, the exercise of this material yields sonic oneness in its discrete and continuous moments. It’s a machine, like the artwork suggests. A well oiled, organic one. And if oil is its outcome, you get the many facets lying in here. Laube used severe sounds for that, like those of broken cymbals, a ’73 Fender Rhodes Mark 1 piano, a Fender Studio Bass tube amp, Korg MS 20’s filters and assembled field recordings, samples, bowed single-string-drones and tape loops. On the track “classic cream” you even get to hear an adapted tape of the german poprock group PUR. “pewter grey metallic“ has been recorded in a church, solely played in the rain on a pipe organ. There are details to discover, like the unusually interacting bass and Rhodes lines, sometimes entwining, than punctual arhythmic, dissonant, dissolving in subtle harmonies – all too slow over cutting drums.Just a few aspects could have been scraped out in these lines and writing about music is always unsatisfying. So after listening again to this record after quite some time, I am left speechless, finding myself thrown back into that reality the record began with: having a cup of tea or coffee, still some oil on the table. Faintly crenated- that’s the translation of the german title, is actually an understatement, this album is leaving some marks. Limited to 80 Cassettes + download.

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