Animal Psi

Karen & Peter – ‘Aggro Dulce’ CS + book
Cassette + 19-page booklet of Karen Schoemer’s poems to accompany the release, with beautiful artworks by Peter Taylor. In the fall of 2021, sound artist Peter Taylor and poet Karen Schoemer decided to create songs together, despite never having met. Both drew on the faded industrial landscapes of their respective countries. Peter was inspired by the Calder Valley in Yorkshire, with its history of coal mining and asbestos contamination; Karen had recently relocated to a rural town in upstate New York once known as “Factory Hill,” where remnants of 20th century fires and floods scar the landscape. Their independent investigations of disparate locales uncover commonalities that hint at wider, even universal, human conditions. Karen Schoemer is a poet and former music journalist who frequently collaborates with musicians including Oli Heffernan, Mike Watt, Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby. She contributed words to Ivan the Tolerable’s “Out of Season” (2020) and words and vocals to The Long Year (2021, both released by Stolen Body Records). With Mike Watt she records as the duo Jaded Azurites. She is vocalist for the upstate New York band Sky Furrows, which released its self-titled debut album in 2020. Peter Taylor has been making music as Mortuus Auris & the Black Hand/MAbH since 2008. He is also a visual artist working across many disciplines including photography, animation, illustration, miniatures and painting. He is based just outside of South West London by the River Thames.

Chihuahua – ‘Crythor Du’
Crythor Du is CHIHUAHUA’s follow-up to their 2021 debut ‘Violent Architecture’. A looser and more experimental approach, stemming from extended jam sessions a là CAN, is prominent across this record and features a wider range of instruments and influences than its predecessor. Jazz, noise, post and krautrock collide here and make Crythor Du a musical force to be reckoned with. Noisy Post-Rock from Manchester – Experimental and Uncompromising.

Tankengine – ‘Tankengine Tankengine Tankengine EP’
TANKENGINE were recently described as a band with ‘staggering potential’, which if nothing else gave their spouses a good laugh, and TANKENGINE TANKENGINE TANKENGINE is their third EP. They are Adam Hiles on vocals & guitar (yourcodenameis:milo, Mammal Club, The Shitty Beatles), Ross Harley on vocals & really good bass (yourcodenameis:milo, Ross Harley, Crucial Taunt) and Dr Ivan Diaz on drums (Little Moscow, Lingua Vulgaris, Jolly Green Giants). TANKENGINE TANKENGINE TANKENGINE is preoccupied with the nausea-inducing realisation that we’ve lost the receipt for the future we were sold. There’s no going back now and the only way out is through.

cowman – ‘slaughter’
After a lengthy hiatus from 2013 to making a return to the fray this summer, Benjamin Heal’s Cowman alter ego is back with a vengeance: hot on the heels of the ‘Crunch’ EP, which was essentially the salvage from an aborted album project, we have a full-length album proper in the form of Slaughter.

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Tinnitustimulus – ‘Scrinj Maas’ C40
Live hard analog sessions recorded in 2021. A headcleaner of primal room sound; gritty jackhammer fuzz saturating waves of ring mod, undercurrents of filter sweep and bell-tones of metallic clang — all unfolding with organic evolution. A perfect union of Japanese and American aesthetics. Edition of 100 copies, with full color artwork and labels.

Dominic Coppola – ‘Prisms in Dalliance’ C30
Interplanetary drift and current which properly unfurls over repeated listens. Crystalline intonations unfold and cascade into a heavy mass of expansive geometrics — Intercede for Us. With the more subdued B-side, tone chords slowly emerge from swirling petroglyphs of dark resonance; truly ‘At the Mercy of an Aphrodisiac’ indeed. Mastered by James Plotkin. Edition of 100 copies, with full color artwork and labels.

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Jürgen Eckloff – ‘Diese, Nichts & Solche’ C46
Jürgen Eckloff (*1978 in East Berlin) is a sound artist and filmmaker whose audio works often deal with the deconstruction of language and the mechanisms of communication. Since the early 2000s, he has released numerous short films, works for radio, as well as records, often on the 90% Wasser label, which he has run with Robert Schalinski since 2001. Together with the latter and René Lamp, Eckloff was a core member of the influential artist collective Column One until their disbanding in 2016. “Diese, Nichts & Solche” is Eckloff’s first work for Fragment Factory. Three new compositions for cassette at the intersection of concrete music, language and field recordings, subtly accentuating the sheer absurdity of our times. Eckloff lives and works in the Havelland region, north of Berlin. Edition of 100 copies, comes with A5-size postcard.

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The Real Codington Factory – ‘Nickel World’
The Real Codington Factory was founded in 2019 by songwriter Shea Glasheen (from NYC grunge-punks, Cronies). Starting as an alternative grunge / indie band, and later evolving into more progressive noise-punk territory, RCF references current bands in the local NYC scene such as On Pink, Lip Critic, Cohort B, along with the likes of Lightning Bolt, Melvins, TAD etc. Nickel World is RCF’s 14th release, recorded in early January 2022 in rural Pennsylvania. Featuring dictatorial vocals recorded via an intercom, a broken down drum setup and short sharp shots of frenzied guitar riffage.

Tenchpress – ‘Tombmagic’
Brandishing a single LA Galaxy-branded drum stick and yet more unearned bravado, TENCHPRESS presents a vital new sonic totality: TOMBMAGIC. Cleaner, more neutered, more desiccated than anything that came before, the ternate album from Avon-via-Leeds’s worst finds a sonic inventory in the airless plunk of an open snare drum, the sandblasted purity of foley percussion, the test tube sterility of free soft synths, and the empty digi-gurgle of treated vocals.

Daniel McClennan – ‘Unfurling Redemption’
Known for his energetic furling beats with noise-rock experimentalists Warren Schoenbright and Why Patterns, this solo release sees Daniel McClennan draw on classical and avant-garde influences such as Giacinto Scelsi; Svarte Greiner; Valentin Silvestrov; William Basinski; along with sound-artists such as Jacob Kirkegaard and The Caretaker. Unfurling Redemption is a collection of eight assemblages comprised of synthesised instruments and freely available/stock sound samples. These assemblages explore the widely observed and seemingly inherent desire for overcoming in humankind, a dangerous proclivity for dreaming the transcendent.

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Graham Dunning – ‘Silo’
Graham Dunning is perhaps best known for modifying and manipulating hardware, both in his plate-spinning solo “mechanical techno” sets and with the mad inventions of Mammoth Beat Organ, his duo with Sam Underwood. In recent years the London-based artist has also been exploring live coding, achieving analogous results through software. Silo uses the text-based sample sequencer TidalCycles on a diverse selection of tracks broadly recalling underground dance music of the late 80s and early 90s. The combination of classic house and techno tropes with off-kilter and randomised elements infects familiar territory with an air of uncanniness, like a past vision of a possible future.

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MATTHEW HIMES – “Hold Tight” b/w “My Ride” 7″ lathe
As we receive this new offering from Matthew Himes we enter hazy fields of wildflower, a waking dream not entirely unfamiliar. Following the path of last year’s solo full length “Hemlock & Bergamot”, Himes delivers two new fresh cut blossoms of drifting songcraft. The lead single “Hold Tight” is a comforting promise of better times to come, one day at a time, while the flip side “My Ride” is a sort of pre-post mortem, speaking to lost friends and ashes unspread. The music is transmitted from times before and yet to be, from long boat trips on slow moving bodies of water, and care-free days now seemingly gone forever. Released as a limited edition lathe-cut 7″ and digital maxi-single. Square record cut in MONO to clear polycarbonate with printed labels featuring hand-stamped pink ink detail. Each copy is housed in a clear poly inner sleeve, and packaged in a white reverse board outer jacket with full color photo artwork. Made in a limited hand-numbered edition of 16 copies.

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Collapsed Memory – ‘No Logical Sequencies’
Inspired by Tangerine Dream and Software but filtered through the Rhythm & Sound disintegration vortex and abstracted atmospheres of Mount Shrine. Part ambient industrial, part occult sound design. Comes with an accompanying 24-page zine (No Portrait #2) as a visual counterpoint. All elements compiled during a two-year period starting early 2020.

Empty House – ‘Blue Bamboo’
Blue Bamboo consists of four improvised pieces for meditation or total chill out. Recorded over a few days in February and built upon drones created by the organ through a dream pedal or Tanpura box. The tracks were then splashed with colour and hues with treated piano, shakuhachi flute, bells, synth, field recordings and other instruments. Inspired Fred Laird’s faith in Buddhism as well as the music of Eno, David Sylvian, Midori Takada and Popol Vuh. Digitally released by Earthling Society, April 2022, the cassette edition includes the previously unreleased 16-minute composition, ‘Extinction Mantra’

Winded – ‘Deap Phat’
Growing up skateboarding and playing music in the Los Angeles DIY scene became the foundation of how Alance Ward’s music would always sound. Moving to Chicago to record and tour with various bands is how he learned to refine that sound. Being immersed in Chicago’s creative atmosphere Alance found himself playing drums on tours for artists like Jim Fairchild, formally of Modest Mouse, and the duo Azure Ray. All the while unconsciously filing away ideas that would become his solo music project, Winded. After experiencing a recent esoteric awakening, Alance relied on a cocktail of intuition and instinct rather than beers and booze to make his latest Winded recording. Adopting an automatic writing practice gave way to the hybrid style heard on Deap Phat. Like some kind of post punk parallax, the songs seem to morph in woozy ways with each listen. A whirlwind of hybrid post-punk / post-funk, ‘Deap Phat’ chops and skews through riffs, beats and day-glo electrofried psychedelia

Basalt Shrine – ‘From Fiery Tongues’
Basalt Shrine are the Filipino doom/post-metal super quartet of Bobby Legaspi (Surrogate Prey, Malicious Birth), Rallye Ibanez (Ex-Religious Nightmare, Surrogate Prey) and Ronaldo and Ronnel Vivo (Dagtum, The Insektlife Cycle, Abanglupa, Imperial Airwaves, Ex-Hateure). ‘From Fiery Tongues’ is their debut album. It’s heavy. Really heavy.

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LAMIEE/Dròlo Ensemble – ‘The Deafening Moment of the Whistle After the Noise’
A combination of ancient and contemporary, bringing the music outside of time, and simultaneously popular and experimental, in hybrids of chamber music and jazz. The most important aspect is that you have never heard anything like this before….

Juhani Silvola – ‘Wolf Hour Roundelay’
We can hear traces of John Cage’s prepared piano, the rhythms of Igor Stravinsky, Gamelan music, West African rhythms, abstract free improv, doomy minimalism and extended techniques in the vein of Sciarrino and Lachenmann. The resulting pieces are simultaneously familiar and strange, created for a mind-blowing listening…

FLAK – ‘Magpie Live’
The legendary guitarist known as Flak invited musicians of the fields of avant-jazz, free Improvised music and beat music coming out from funk, namely Rodrigo Amado, José Lencastre, Luís Lopes, Guilherme Rodrigues, Francisco Rebelo and Rui Alves. Uniting the worlds of rock, jazz and electronic music in inventive and intriguing ways…

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Charles Barabé – ‘La vie des objets’
Kaleidoscopic textures of crackling noise and subterranean drones woven from a ubiquitous ‘silence.’ Vinyl records sampled and processed through a modular system further isolating and magnifying the sound.

Andreas Brandal – ‘1995’
Unearthed tape loops from the artist’s childhood home consisting of recordings on destroyed and damaged cassettes as well as shellac records played on a gramophone. Newly mixed and edited.

Slow Bell Trio – ‘When The Circle Was Closed’
Midwest trio that taps into the slower, more meditative side of improvisational music allowing for some deep listening.

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Kitchen Cynics – ‘Strange Acrobats’
Kitchen Cynics is the musical project of Alan Davidson from Aberdeen, Scotland. Active since the late 80s, with over a hundred releases, Alan is a prolific and talented songwriter whose work draws on his own experiences as well as the characters and history of Aberdeen. Full of charm, his albums are tender, bittersweet, packed with a dry wit and an ear for a melody that can pluck your heartstrings, whilst the words resonate deep within.

St James Infirmary – ‘Archipelago’
St. James Infirmary, of Ashington, Northumberland (UK), was formed in 1985 as the vehicle for singer, songwriter and multi- instrumentalist G.W.Lang and has been continuously active ever since. G.W.L. is assisted in producing his prolific output by an evolving and rotating cast of bandmates and (at last count), SJI has boasted in the region of 40 members. For ‘Archipelago’, SJI present a set of mesmerising hypnotically beautiful meditative pieces, rich in electronic ambience and reverential presence.

Plattenbau – ‘(=2021)’
Aleksandr Chiesa first came to attention as part of the Moscow-based post-punk synth duo, Гласность (Glasnost), releasing two albums with CN: Пиета (Pietà,. 2019) and Дом Культуры (House Of Culture, 2020). Now resident in Berlin, Платтенбау (Plattenbau) is a solo project showcasing his love for acid techno and new beat; presenting an album of sounds that could’ve been commanding the dancefloor of an Antwerp club, in 1988.

Dybbuk – ‘Dybbuk’
With Jake Bielby (Plague Rider; Live Burial) on guitars / programming and the ubiquitous James Watts (Plague Rider; Lovely Wife; Friend; Lump Hammer; Möbius) on vocals, this debut from Tyneside experimental death metal progressives, DYBBUK layers the riffs thick and fast in a sensory overload, across two 30 minute compositions, smashing boundaries and ripping open the heart of metal.

United Bible Studies – ‘The Return Of The Rivers’
David Colohan formed free-flowing folk-drone-jazz-noise outfit United Bible Studies in 2000 while studying at the University of Dublin. Since then the group have worked with a shifting cast of collaborators that Colohan estimates at more than two hundred. Amassing a considerable discography, this album sees Colohan team up with Dom Cooper (Owl Service), Matt Leivers (Awkward Formats) and Gayle Brogan on two 20-minute compelling and hauntingly beautiful minimalist pastoral compositions.

Pound Land – ‘Pound Land Plus’
Pound Land was formed in 2020 by vocalist/lyricist Adam Stone (Future Bomb/Holy Ghost People/frequent collaborator with Dead Sea Apes) and multi-instrumentalist Nick Harris (Reverends of Destruction/ ex-Dead Sea Apes). ‘Pound Land Plus’ repackages the debut album (‘Pound Land’ by Adam Stone) released by Misophonia Records in 2020 with an additional unreleased track from the same session (‘Bunker’); along with ‘Mutated’ , which is an album of remixed tracks from ‘Pound Land’ and ‘Can’t Be Arsed’ . ‘kitchen-sink’ punk for the 21st century’

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