Animal Psi

ELECTRIC EYE – ‘Pick-up, Lift-off, Space, Time’ LP
Electric Eye’s highly anticipated full-length debut is finally set for release by their native Klangkollektivet Records, as well as international distribution by Fuzz Club Records on April 5, 2013. The super group quartet, Electric Eye, opens up a new chapter in Norway’s strong and long lasting tradition for psychedelic music. Spacerock, inspired by blues, India and the ever-expanding boundaries of the great unknown, are key components in Electric Eyes sonic landscape. The album will serve to showcase, for the first time, the talents of seasoned musicians (Øystein Braut, guitarist of The Alexandria Quartet; Njaal Clementsen of Bergen noise-rockers The Megaphonic Thrift and Low Frequency in Stereo; underground studio-guru and guitarist in art-rocker act, Hypertext, Anders Bjelland; and Jazz/Noise/Drone-drummer, Øyvind Hegg-Lunde) The A-side of Pick-up, Lift-off, Space, Time features only three songs, which together form the albums most «trippy» parts. The kraut-inspired single “Tangerine” concludes the first part of the record with nine-minutes of pure dynamic and monotony. The song, which begins with the sound of the sitar and drone instrument Tanpura, ends in a cacophony of sound, bongo drums applied through a Roland Space Echo, screaming organs and tremolo-ridden guitars. While the B-side is a bit more up-tempo, and makes use of more classical song structures, before the album fades out into the self-titled tune “Electric Eye”, a duet with The Megaphonic Thrift’s lead singer, Richard Myklebust. The Black Angels, Wooden Shjips, Pink Floyd in Pompeii and The Flaming Lips “Embryonic” are all references for Electric Eye’s catchy clash of Psychedelia and krautrock. Whereas other Norwegian psychedelic acts have aspired to perfect the shoegaze-style, this band has more edge, attitude and defined melodies. This places them closer to the more recent neo-psychedelic-scene, spearheaded by The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols in the nineties. This particular branch has little in common with hippie-bands and flower power, or newer psychedelics fascination with pastel-colors. Neo-psych combines a darker expression, lots of reverb, fuzz-guitars and jam-based music. Electric Eye borrows freely from the different psychedelic decades, combining their key elements into a unique mix of psychedelic space rock and blues. Pick-up, Lift-off, Space, Time!

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Pan Gu – ‘Primeval Man Born of the Cosmic Egg’ LP
In Chinese mythology, Pan Gu is the primeval man, born of the cosmic egg. One day the egg split open. The top half became the sky and the bottom half the earth. Pan Gu, who emerged from the broken egg, grew ten feet taller every day, just as the sky became ten feet higher and the earth ten feet thicker. After 18,000 years Pan Gu died. Then, like the cosmic egg, he split into a number of parts. His head formed the sun and moon, his blood the rivers and seas, his hair the forests, his sweat the rain, his breath the wind, his voice thunder and, last of all, his fleas became the ancestors of mankind. The material for Pan Gu’s debut release was improvised in Lasse Marhaug’s rehearsal space with Leslie Low (The Observatory, ARCN TEMPL). With not much talk about what they would do or accomplish from it, the duo played for the moment. Up to that point, this would have been only their second time improvising together. The first time was a live performance in Singapore where they discovered that whatever sound or noise they made, they would never get in each other’s way; Lasse with his harsh electronics and Leslie’s looped manipulation of acoustic guitar and voice. Cold and warm; harsh and soft; polar opposites coexisting in one space. This perhaps, is the simplest way to describe Pan Gu’s music, but by no means lacking in nuance and subtlety which each listener will discover on the record. The cover art was painted by Denis Forkas Kostromitin who studied traditional Xieyi painting for several years on frequent trips to rural China. The composition has a tall scroll-like proportion creating a truly unique artifact via medieval Chinese perspective and materials. The Chinese canon is all about harmony and the legend of Pan Gu’s death/transformation is stripped down here to a metaphor. The sacrificial nature of the legend is reflected through the posture of the corpse, subtle composition touches (the body “undressing” itself from life while entering the realm of death) and the misty morning landscape. Kostromitin’s ambition was to avoid the effect of an image inspired by Chinese tradition. Instead, he attempted to create a genuine Shan Shui painting. Packaged in a heavy, black folder with obi. Limited to 300 copies. Black vinyl + download.

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Metalux – ‘Paw The Elated Ruin’ C36 $7
Operating under the guidance of the singular creativeness of esteemed avant-navigators MV Carbon and Jenny Graf Sheppard, Metalux are undoubtedly responsible for some of the most distinctly unusual and enthralling preternatural experimental music of the past decade. Ever since banding together in the late 90′s, the duo’s numerous recorded and live works have rendered a suitable explanation of all the encompasses their vanguard productions almost unfeasible; the at-once disjointedly colliding yet ingeniously intersecting torrents of homemade electronics, tape delay, blaring riffs relayed via both guitar and synth, and subsonic rhythms are all masterfully rendered into a peculiarly riveting design which only Carbon and Sheppard seem to hold the secret to. The eight songs on Paw The Elated Ruin fluctuate between apparitions of the skewed-punk of the duo’s early tenure in Bride Of No No with the post-industrial electronic nihilism of peers such as Wolf Eyes, the otherworldly improvisational blasphemy of avant-pioneers Smegma, and the destructive reconfigurations of Nautical Almanac. While potentially resembling some of the mechanization of accustomed song-forms, Metalux’s inventive abstraction carries the finished exclamations past whatever barriers divide familiarity and innovation. Paw previously saw release as a very limited run of self-released CDR’s and stands as another compelling highlight in a discography that’s seen release via such esteemed imprints as 5RC, Load Records, No Fun Productions, Bennifer Editions, and Hanson Records. Obsolete Units is immensely thrilled to be able to give this triumphant dissertation a second coming. Pro-dubbed/pro-printed edition of 100.

KILT – ‘Culos Asados’ C44 $7
KILT is the evolving noise hellion of dissonance masterminds Raven Chacon and Bob Bellerue, dual forces operating from Albuquerque, NM and Brooklyn, NY respectively. The Culos Asados cassette showcases two remarkable live performances which were dispatched within days of one another back in 2010 via Bellerue’s current turf. Both unrelenting sets show the two esteemed artists’ piercing and inharmonious furry unleashed with a gritty, grating relish. As both recordings took place at two experimental haunts that have since distressingly succumbed to the great New York City area’s expanse of expense (those venues being the Bed Stuy-based DIY cove The Party Expo and the immensely-missed Williamsburg destination Zebulon), Culos is at once a crudely compelling tribute to the amorphous, ephemeral remembrance of powerful performance and a testament to Chacon and Bellerue’s instinctual symmetry as purveyors of overwhelming abrasion and cacophonous enlightenment. Taking both players’ esteemed pedigrees into account (Bellerue is proprietor of the Anarchymoon label and has helped organize the Ende Tymes Festival in Brooklyn since 2010, which Chacon is a member of the Postcommodity art collective as well as having acted Composer-In-Residence for the Native American Composers Apprenticeship Project), the success of their collaborative synergy is hardly accidental. Pro-dubbed/pro-printed edition of 100.

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XANDER HARRIS – ‘THE NEW DARK AGE OF LOVE’ CD/LP
Austin’s resident synth denizen Xander Harris finally drops his sophomore full-length after a 2 year absence and it’s far and away his deepest richest creation yet. a saga of sleek dystopian instrumentals, ideal for night drives or staring at a skyline in the distance. stream the record on the NNF soundcloud page.

MOON WHEEL s/t CS
proper debut by this long-gurgling kosmische laboratory outfit. shades of Agitation Free and other Teutonic tinkerers lurk in these mysterious and compelling compositions. excellent.

JONAS REINHARDT – ‘MASK OF THE MAKER’ CD/LP
phenomenal leap forward from Jesse Reiner’s cosmic innerspace project. recorded on two coasts over two years, this is the apex of his galactic italo space quest, full of glowing terrariums and downhill disco nebulas.

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The Jezter – ‘Gigatine’ C20 £6
The tape is called Gigatine and contains 20mins of raw lo-fi occult beats created using an SP-404sx sampler. It’s part horror flick, part hippie gathering. Available on Bandcamp as a “name your price” download or limited edition of 20 cassettes, hand dubbed and painted.

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CONTROL UNIT – ‘IN A FRAME’ LP
Second Control Unit full length out on UK imprint Alt.Vinyl, also home to Zoviet France, Rhodri Davies & other great artists.

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Ars Phoenix CS
ARS PHOENIX is a dark electronic trio from Florida, started by electronic mastermind Jon Glover ten years ago. Now a solid trio who delve in dark dirge like synth heavy pop they present their most recent and mature recordings here on their cassette “Amethyst” to celebrate their current tour. LIMITED TO 50 copies.

Oikos – ‘Solve Et Coagvla’
OIKOS are the Spanish duo of David San Martín and Rafael Femiano. A diverse cross section of musical elements living in tension. The aggregate revealing more than could be know from each part. Dense guitar magik draped over layers of digital texture. A shimmering and loud work that represents the menacing nature that lies behind the facade of all living things. After their epic and transcendent “Ecotono” CD on Utech and tape on Merz they present “Solve Et Coagvla” as a new dark vision. Recorded between 2008-2011 with artwork & design by LOCRIAN member Terence Hannum. Mastered by Andy Lippoldt. Take a listen to “Omniscience” that features guitar work from LOCRIAN member and LAND OF DECAY co-founder André Foisy.

Oko – ‘5730±40’ CS
OKO begins as a low rumble in near darkness. The two performers begin to improvise, using sound building blocks and voice to create an uneasy soundscape. The video projections of mountain and forest scenes gradually become brighter, the space is filled with smoke and the smell of burning leaves. As the performance progresses, the sound’s grip on the bodies of the performers strengthens, throwing them around like puppets. At the crescendo the performance breaks and opens to whiteness and stillness. The space is filled with a bright light and a low hum. OKO are the duo of Robert Heim & Aleks Slota who hail from Germany and are known for their multimedia performances. Recorded in Berlin in 2012. c60 / Black ink on Smoke Gray shell / Packaged in a hand printed Chipboard Brad Pak with full color insert.

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Thoughts On Air – ‘January Man’ C36 $6.5(Can)/$7.5(USA)/9.5(World)
Worn Habit no. 07. Edition of 48 copies. Instrumental passages that reflect upon the inner essence. Looking back and understanding you can’t change what was, accepting and knowing you can change what will be. Originally a four tape box in an edition of 1, January Man is a compilation of the artists favorite parts recorded during a moment of clarity at the beginning of the year. Moments of Mallo Yallo and Lazy Haze return through fried country-fied guitar stylings mixed with lo fidelity atmospherics to create another dreamy soundscape you’d want to float within endlessly.

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David A. Feil – ‘the’ cassette
Co-released with Houston based writer/artist/musician David A. Feil, each cassette contains an hour-long spoken-word audio recording split over the two sides and comes packaged in a fold-out broadside print of the original text itself. The text was originally composed in August 2012. Using a database of 3000+ poems compiled over the summer of 2012, an arbitrary-but-not-random instance of the word “the” plus the word following immediately after was queried from each record. With no seeming beginning or end but with a clearly defined form and rhythm, the text’s flowing list of nouns functions as the skeleton of a poem, a story, or memory inescapably fleshed out further in each individual’s imagination. Originally performed as part of the Texas Contemporary Arts Fair 2012.

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Gaël Moissonnier – ‘Live at Knot Gallery’ 3”CDr
24 minutes of schematic noise & processed field recordings from Lyon’s modular emigrate. Recorded live and mastered by Spyros Emanouilidis. 60 copies.

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