Isengrind – ‘Night of Raining Fire’ LP £12
Solange Gularte (Natural Snow Buildings) returns for her second solo LP for Blackest Rainbow. A dreamy psychedelic haze of shimmering drones, minimal string plucking with barely-there vocals, Gularte’s sound is somewhat more far out in comparison to say Twinsistermoon or Natural Snow Buildings. Night Of Raining Fire showcases this with tracks like the almost medieval sounding Still Voyager, or the outsider folk sound of Nadirs of the Sun. The record comes packaged in a stunning full colour sleeve covered in Gularte’s strange surreal illustrators. Limited to 500 copies. 400 on heavyweight blck virgin vinyl, 100 on coloured standard weight vinyl, exclusive to direct customers!
Various – ‘Menagerie #3‘ LP + zine £13
Jake Blanchard’s third volume of Menagerie finally shows up just over a year after #2… The concept this time is slightly different, not only do the artists create imagery based on the musicians music, but this time the musicians also create a track based on an image created by the artist. Two exclusive new tracks from each of these artists: Ben Nash, Isengrind, C Joynes and Twinsistermoon. And exclusive new artwork by Jim Stoten, Simon Fowler, Adrianne Neil and Jake Blanchard. The sleeve is a collaboration between Jake and Jim and it is incredible! The LP is pressed on heavyweight black virgin vinyl, packaged with a A5 12 page litho printed full colour booklet. Limited to 500 copies.
Chris Forsyth & Koen Holtkamp – ‘Early Astral’ LP £12
Chris Forsyth has recently been touring around Europe with his Paranoid Cat Band in support of their excellent LP on Family Vineyard as well as playing with Meg Baird on her recent record and a continuing member of the Peeesseye. Koen Holtkamp plays as part of Thrill Jockey’s Mountains, as well as releasing solo material on aformentioned Thrill Jockey and Type. On Early Astral Forsyth and Holtkamp team up, playing guitar and synthesizer and modular electronics respectively. The record consists to two tracks, each with a great kraut guitar groove, but frequently rocking into a blissed out epic psychedelic smog of wailing riffs and bubbling electronics. 400 on heavyweight blck virgin vinyl, 100 on coloured standard weight vinyl, exclusive to direct customers!
Ben Nash – ‘Oh Lordy Me! (My Heart Is Wandering Again)’ LP £12
It’s been quite some time since a full length solo Ben Nash release, and it’s finally here, and so,what different from his more psychedelic folk drones he showcased way back on ‘The Seventh Goodbye’. Probably best left for Ben to explain this one for you… “I recorded this new full-length record during downtime from playing with Chora and after a long break from recording any solo music. Having become somewhat disillusioned with the process of overdubbing conventional “physical” instruments repeatedly in my solo work I have spent a lot of time experimenting with different ways of inputting, manipulating and arranging sound electronically, both in a variety of computer based environments and also using an Apple iPad. This release is the first in a series that will document these experiments. All sounds on the album stem from and are sequenced within Yamaha’s TNR-I app with some minimal mix processing in Logic” – Ben Nash, Camberwell Green, September 2011. Edition of 250 copies pressed on heavy weight black virgin vinyl. Preorders come with a bonus CDR of new exclusive material!
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A unique collaboration between Atay Ilgün (Svefn Plural, Treefingers) and Daniel Vincent (The Resonance Association, Onion Jack, Safety Deposit Box). Lush finger-picked guitars traverse over sheets of glacial ambience in this debut collaboration between the two multi-instrumentalists. Comes on a white C40 cassette with download of extended versions of the sessions.
Edition of 100, 2011. The third installment in Shadows’ Dark Knight themed cassette series is a robust collection of noise electronics, rumbling loops and vocal oddities recorded over the course of 2011. “A Death in the Family” showcases Wyatt Howland (Skin Graft) and David Russell’s (Collapsed Arc) finely tuned ability to create bleak yet colorful sounds. This forty minute killer contains aggressive contributions from Roman J (Plague Mother) and harmonic vocal layers from Amanda Howland (Dead Peasant Insurance) all masterfully mixed by Russell on to pro-dubbed cassettes. Cover art by Mike Mignola. Co-released with Atavistic Transformations.
Edition of 120, 2011. Versus Series II cassette seven: Side A is a live recording of Columbus, Ohio based electro-acoustic percussionist Ryan Jewell on his home turf at Skylab. Ryan’s live sets are meaningfully patient displays of ingenious object play amplified via snare drum et al. This live document is a window into one of my personal favorite sound artists showcasing his decisive nature. Side B finds Bbob Drake (fluxmonkey) and David Russell (Collapsed Arc) exploring the finer details of their handmade rigs at Negative Space recording studio with John Delzoppo manning the board. “Scatterer” presents Drake and Russell’s collaborative ability to create deeply engaging textural soundscapes.
Recorded within the bleak transitional period immediately prior to the sessions that would now become known as Bermuda Drain, Dominick Fernow sketched out four compositions which can only be framed as “ambient power electronics”. Some of Fernow’s most destitute works to date, this release captures Prurient at its most vulnerable and sedate, reflective and rapt. Compositions that throw away that past decade of experience, only to start at the foundation of his art. Original exclusive cover art collage by artist Genesis Breyer P-Orridge. Limited to 500 copies, orange & purple vinyl.
Six song 12” debut from Italian Horn, a solo project of New York City writer Anthony Pappalardo. Continuing the home recording tradition of My Dad is Dead, East River Pipe and Sebadoh, Red Affair channels equal parts Guided By Voices, Bailterspace and Flying Saucer Attack. …synth and subtle noise intertwine with short strummed songs creating direct but layered soundscapes. Cover collage created by Robert Pollard and limited to 300 copies.
Pine Smoke Lodge – ‘from the yellow’ 2xcassette $10
mini CDr limited 30. nada 06. Slowly unfolding synthesizer meditations. Moving on and exploring new places. A sense of wanting to let go, but still holding on. For headphones and distanced listening. Hand packaged. mini CDr
A joint duo split between Gainesville, FL soundcrafters Persepctives and Southern Ontario’s Basked Unit. A side is a minimal freeform instrumental via Royallen & Do Tell, guitars interweave tales between piano notes for a strange trip down memory lane. Flip side sees Thoughts on Air visit the house of sun for a relaxing afternoon session with Knit where two guitars and various contact mics / patch cords join as one for a flowing medley of mid-winter looped patchwork.