Lunaria – ‘Asphodel Meadows’ $8.5 Daniel Guillén guides us through the shadows on an album that is striking in how it mirrors the world’s present anxieties. Distinct proof that there is no line between light and dark, but that gray is where the beauty lies anyway.
Cloudsound – ‘Tempus of Diminution’ $8.5 Otherworldly crystalline structures vibrate on long waves as if telegraphed from deep space. Physical purchases include Air is Sky, an equally gorgeous digital bonus album recorded around the same time in 2012.
Jeph Jerman – ‘Grayware’ CS Jeph Jerman is a notable sound artist of the American experimental/noise music scene, a curious sonic explorer of the different qualities of sound. He started practising with recording and performing from the mid-80’s, improvising with natural found objects and constructed crude sound-making devices which play on their own. He experiments with various recording techniques, using stereo digital recorders, old analog tape machines, contact mics and hydrophones. “Grayware” is summarising his recent multidisciplinary approach of his sonic material. Jeph Jerman’s archival recordings distressed in various ways and recomposed here, producing convincing sounds the origins of which are unknowable. Abstraction of the music form turn listener’s attention ever toward the sounds themselves, which are occasionally interrupted by sound events that change the structure and the flow of the composition.
Baingan Bharta – ‘Bëblex α’ CS/DL Bëblex αlpha is the third album (and first cassette release) from Oakland-based Baingan Bharta. Surfing on sine waves as they fold in on themselves in morphing mise en abyme recursions and flowing fractal bursts — Baingan Bharta channels complex timbres and propulsive rhythms radioed in from a rave at the end of time. Across the ten tracks of Bëblex α the hockeymasked braindancer deftly balances noise and experimental techno alongside washes of ambient, drone, dub, industrial, and other electronic musics ranging from synthesized analogue bubblebaths to deep concrète realizations and computer music machinations. Bëblex α is presented as an edition of 75 full-length cassette albums, professionally duplicated and imprinted. Available as cassette only or as Bëblex αlphaβeta combo of cassette & floppy disk (edition of 20) w/ exclusive track “Bëtablex” + bonus digital EP Bëblex β.
Baingan Bharta – ‘Bëblex β’ floppy disk/DL Bëblex βeta is a floppy disk + digital EP presented as a companion piece to Baingan Bharta’s full length cassette album Bëblex α. Presented as an edition of 20 floppy disks w/ exclusive track, “Bëtablex” available nowhere else + a download code for the digital EP Bëblex β. Available exclusively in ‘Bëblex αlphaβeta’ combo of cassette, floppy disk, & digital downloads.
Eucarya – ‘Brutal Forest’ CDr/DL Four new works by Eucarya. Three short, one long. Strange primitive folk ways and mystic dronescapes using acoustic & electric guitars, banjo, piano, voice, and electronics. Released as a limited CDr with vellum printed art. Recorded 2019 at Mills College Center for Contemporary Music (CCM) in Oakland, California. Mixed and mastered by Eucarya (eucarya.net). Brutal Forest is presented as an edition of 23 CDrs w/ vellum printed artwork.
Whirling Hall Of Knives – ‘Sabre’ Whirling Hall Of Knives return to Cruel Nature for their genre-defying thirteenth album. ‘Sabre’ covers a lot of sonic terrain – from the noise/techno-hybrid Side A opener of ‘Laid To Rust’ and closer ‘Gutterpressed’, which bookend the dusty modulating dub of ‘Those Tracers’, to the B sides head expanding mesmerising psychotropic intones of ‘Olde Slice’ and ‘8arkd’ which flow into and out of the hypno-pulsing tribal klatter of ’Ring Dialog’.
Cody Noon – ‘Ace Of Wands’ Reading (UK) based Cody Noon are an instrumental duo made up of Charlie Butler and Haydn Antoniw. “They sit at the crossroads of emo, slowcore, classic quiet/LOUD post-rock and atmospheric electronic music.” On ‘Ace of Wands’ the band have “broadened their minimalist sound to encompass more expansive and electronic textures to evoke a year of personal change. It’s about loving ghosts, wrestling, claiming abandoned spaces and coming out as transgender. Ultimately it’s about whatever you feel when you let their hypnotic sounds take you away.”
Meyer Huthwelker – ‘Purdue Generator’ Helge Meyer and René Huthwelker emerge from the hydra-headed experimental noise and ambient scene of Hamburg – Meyer is also part of the band Ex-Kopf together with Scheich In China, Huthwelker lately released a great solo tape on Phil Struck’s Stoffe imprint. Together, they play slow moving electronic music, using various modular and semi-modular synthesizers as weapons of choice.
Kombynat Robotron – ‘Feldversuchssamlung’ A four-piece haling from Kiel, Germany, Kombynat Robotron fill their lengthy jams with so much diversity and dynamics that an hour seems to pass in almost nanoseconds. Songs with such unassuming titles, are executed with an unbelievable array of skilled musicianship, the band utilising aspects of textured post rock, robotic krautrock and spacy psychedelic experimentation to flesh out their grooves and bring them to life.
Adrian Knight – ‘Pleasure Center’ CD Parallel to his work as a composer, Adrian has continued to delve deeper into the world of home recording. His new album “Pleasure Center” – the culmination of years of research and testing – is the 6th full length pop album to be released by Galtta. A wizard of song form, melody, and sophisti-pop production, Adrian writes songs that weave in and out of unique harmonies; never expected but always perfect and inevitable. Those who follow Galtta will recognize Adrian’s massive footprint on the label. Fans of Adrian will delight in the signature vocal stacks, sophisticated writing, synth work, lyrics, and hi-fi candy production – served up with a side of mechanized sleaze, dripping down the brutalist facade like out-of-date gravy. Once inside you will encounter specimens from the whole range of the human experience. Moving freely between the dystopian and utopian, “Pleasure Center” is an album about space – both outer and inner, big and small, from the mundane to the cosmic. Tales about the Golden State killer, suicidal divorcees, and homicidal space captains comingle with the bittersweet reminiscing of an aging lady of the canyon, wry commentaries on the intricate apparatus of 21st century love, digital and analog thrills, all imbued with the hazy daydreaming of a wide-eyed astronaut, drifting off to sleep… Adrian’s records tend to unfold with repeated listening. This is no exception, but those who put in the time can expect a big payoff. Turn your lights down low, pop in that CD and mosey on down the stairs to your own personal “pleasure center”… For fans of Robert Wyatt, Gary Wilson, Joni Mitchell, Alice Cohen. A Skymall Studio Production. Cover art by Tom Henry.
Posted onJuly 29, 2020|Comments Off on Fragment Factory
EVAPORI – ‘Dia-Logos I / Dia-Logos II / Dia-Logos I+II Conclusion / Imitation’ LP For nearly two decades Oliver Peters has been working as Evapori, with releases on Entr’acte, Walter Ulbricht Schallfolien, 1000füssler as well on his own now defunct Antiinformation imprint he used to run with his close collaborator Nicolas Wiese since the early 2000’s. Following his highly acclaimed Kárka LP (Walter Ulbricht, 2018), Dia-Logos… marks Evapori’s 4th full-length album, on which Peters explores and busts the boundaries between concrete music, sound poetry and contemporary classical music. Involved in the creation of this album were his fellow artists Martin Lau, Peter Schlewinski, Markus Wettstein as well as his longtime co-conspirator Ditterich von Euler Donnersperg. Oliver Peters is living and working north of Hamburg. All music written by Oliver Peters 2014-2019, mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi, artwork by Nicolas Wiese. Released in an edition of 300 copies on black vinyl, including download-code.
Posted onJuly 29, 2020|Comments Off on Invisible City Records
ICR69: Culver & Rovellasca – ‘Ritual Memory’ C65 Second collaboration between Gateshead droners Culver & Rovellasca. Dark drones, cassette hiss, concrete worship. A ferric back and forth. First instalment released in Matching Head. Cassette only, no digital. Hand dubbed C65 with double sided black and white artwork.
ICR70: Modelbau & MVK – ‘The Hidden Accord’ C60 £5 Dense, minimal drones from The Netherlands. Two interpretations of the same source but with delicately different approach from each artist. Hand dubbed C60 with double sided black and white artwork.
ICR71: Depletion – ‘Cotard Delusion’ C35 £5 Second outing on ICR for Martyn Reid’s Depletion. A continuing descent into the metallic void. Heavy electronic squall. Oppressive machinery. Melancholic currents. Hand dubbed C35 with single sided black and white artwork.
Posted onJuly 29, 2020|Comments Off on Lighten Up Sounds
(LUS-128) Adderall Canyonly – ‘Fists of Dayton!’ CS/DL Adderall Canyonly (aka Wayne Longer) returns with a round of retro noir sleaze and woozy late night swagger, a sonorous score for simulated circumstances. “Fists of Dayton” is an original soundtrack to an imaginary film. We can provide only a handful of cryptic clues, but share them here for turbid guidance. Plot points include: sad and sleepless cherubim, thoroughly arboraceous territories, a bold new era of atheism, a known region of valuable metals, and the kicker finale, inferring a still fresh kiss set to liberate. Italo grizz, ascension groove, and crime fiction sound for smoke filled Lincoln town car. Recorded to 1/2″ tape in Portland, Oregon 2006-2009, this is some of the very first material ever recorded by the project, with an analog warmth and grit for the ages. We’re proud to rebirth this OST from a parallel plane, rated “R”. Real time duplicated to Type II chrome, labeled black shell c38 with yellow leader comes packaged with full color double sided J-card featuring original artwork by Tiny Little Hammers, includes digital download coupon. Duplicated by Cthonic Streams in Brooklyn, NY.
(LUS-129) Eislandschaft – ‘Vision in the Black Tundra’ CS/DL Hypnotic minimalism returns, a lonely journey through the frigid winter wastelands. “Visions in the Black Tundra” is the newest offering from Eislandschaft, the cold-blooded ambient project from F. Curwenius (aka Goblintropp) of Argentina. The project focuses on ancient polar myth and arctic lore, creating an eerie frozen landscape of glacial texture with a melancholic singularity. Even snow becomes black with the shadow of night fall. Arctic isolationism for sub-zero trance state. Behold, frostbitten serenity. Type II Chrome, clear shell cassette with printed silver foil labels comes packed with fold out cardstock J-card featuring original artwork by F. Whelk. Limited edition of 50 copies, real time duplicated by Cthonic Streams in Brooklyn, NY.
(LUS-130 / LUS-131) Medhelan – ‘Nocturnal Wanderings’ 2CS BOX/CD/DL “What we can see is just a small part of reality… there’s a whole invisible world existing along with our ‘real’ world, and there are places where the fine line between them becomes blurred until it dissolves.” Sound artist Matteo Brusa returns to the label exploring these boundaries of invisible worlds and the blended lines between. “Nocturnal Wanderings” brings deep long-form compositions inspired by traditional pagan virtues; Nature, Magic and the landscapes of the artist’s homeland in northern Italy. Field recordings from these landscapes themselves are incorporated into the sound, bringing a connectivity and elemental atmosphere to the transcendent journey ahead. We’re proud to finally manifest this deluxe archival edition of these formative recordings from Brusa’s highly regarded dungeon synth project Medhelan, now beautifully remastered and presented in physical form, alongside a full second bonus offering of Eternal Wanderings; two exclusive, all new tracks made in the same focused spirit as the initial first recordings. The lengthy song titles convey a story, acting as a metaphor for the journey to spiritual transcendence. We follow our path in four steps. The final track title is a reference to Tir na Nog, the mythical island across the ocean found in ancient Irish sagas, which no death and suffering can reach. Detachment from the burdens of our world is complete. Released in two physical editions, as a deluxe double cassette box set with silver foil embossed dust sleeve and embroidered patch, and as a classic standard jewel case CD. Limited to 100 copies of each edition.
YORISHIRO – ‘II’ CS If the first Yorishiro album, minimally titled ‘I’, meditated on the adventure and sounds of a river descending and interacting with nature, ‘II’ is the eerie but triumphant conclusion. Set and nestled in a small valley and village in southern Japan. Static, but wandering and ruminating on the cycle of rice cultivation. The second offering from Yorishiro transmits five diverse pieces haunted by nature and myth, guiding the listener through the oscillating fate of the harvest. Carefully composed as if seen through the contemplative eyes of a sage rice farmer, the five sound narratives emanate bass, croaks, drones, loops riffs, springs, squawks, whispers …….. All playing their part in a form of meditative storytelling. 45 copies.
Nicolas Snyder – ‘Temporary Places’ These are meticulously stitched together compositions constructed from field recordings made in several geographic locations, blended with various studio materials, like manipulated clay pots, organ flutes, branches, creaky chairs, cellos, piano, chorus, chimes and bells. These are Temporary Places indeed, moving and evolving, but all the while holding space for personal exploration and contemplation. Just beautiful.
Tyler Higgins – ‘Broken Blues’ Can you imagine Charles Mingus jamming with the band Earth at a Baptist church service? No? Well, here it is, by the hands (and head) of a multi-instrumentalist in love with electric guitar feedback and the vast blues, gospel, folk, jazz and rock patrimony of that big, deep, fascinating and contradictory melting pot we call the USA.
