★Telephone Explosion
The Electric Lucifer
*2022 repress. In process of stocking* Bruce Haack's The Electric Lucifer is rightly considered one of the masterworks of 20th century electronic music. Originally recorded in 1968-69 (released in 1970), it's an eminently listenable work where pop-psychedelia and Moog/musique concrete sounds coalesce. Acclaimed upon its original release (one of Rolling Stone's favorite albums of 1970) yet unavailable for over three decades, The Electric Lucifer is presented here for the first time on LP. Remaste…
Moves
Toronto-based octet Eucalyptus has been steadily gathering a devoted cult following since the release of their debut 10” Eeeeeuuucaaaaaaallyyypppptus in 2012. Led by acclaimed saxophonist and composer Brodie West, the band's languid, kaleidoscopic jazz is very much a collective endeavour, the product of an internal network of improvisational synergy they've built over more than a decade together. Moves is their sixth release, and somewhat of a milestone. In addition to it being the octet's most …
Scroll
Before forming outer limits jazz-rock outfit Badge Époque Ensemble, Max Turnbull masterminded the oddball pop persona Slim Twig, wrote and performed with U.S. Girls, and moonlighted in varyingly experimental groups across his native Toronto. While this was going on, the devout cratedigger had his third eye trained on another project—one that would span the breadth of his mercurial creativity. This “journal album,” as he puts it, is titled Scroll, and it collages together the pearls of Turnbull’s…
Máscaras
The double meaning of Brandon Valdivia's pseudonym Mas Aya neatly encapsulates his musical outlook. Over the past fifteen years, the Toronto composer, percussionist and producer has established himself as an integral part of the city's vibrant and varied music community through his membership in groups such as Not The Wind, Not The Flag, Picastro, The Cosmic Range, I Have Eaten The City and Lido Pimienta.Máscaras is anchored by Valdivia's deft and atmospheric production style that folds together…
Future, Past & Present
Barely a season passed in 2019 between the release of Badge Époque Ensemble’s self titled debut album, and its follow up, the disco-sleeved 12” Nature, Man & Woman. Now, 3 months on from the release of the group’s acclaimed sophomore album Self Help, we find them repeating the trick with a surprise fourth title on Telephone Explosion Records, the fittingly titled Future, Past & Present. A compilation of sorts, the album collects instrumental, alternate mix versions of all BÉE songs which origina…
Self Help
Telephone Explosion presents Self Help by Badge Époque Ensemble. Recorded live at Palace Sound October 2019 - March 2020. Produced & Mixed by Steve Chahley, Tony Price & Twig at That 70's Basement. Engineered by Steve Chahley and mastered by Sarah Register.
Jay Anderson - Drum kitChris Bezant - GuitarKaren Ng - SaxophoneAlia O'Brien - FluteEd Squires - PercussionGiosuè Rosati - BassMaximilian 'Twig' Turnbull - Fender Rhodes, Clavinet, synthesizers, piano
Mariangela
"In the mid '70s, Mariangela Celeste signed to a major label (Polygram) at the age of 13. She would then go on to record her self-titled album with rising European superstar Vangelis. Though tragically overlooked upon its release, Mariangela is a gem of early electronic pop with sparkling synths, drums machines, and lush arrangements, propelling the songs of an unapologetically strong-willed adolescent.By 1972, Vangelis’ band Aphrodite’s Child had earned widespread acclaim for their lavish psych…
Necropolis
Canadian private press mega-rarity/obscurity from the artistically schizophrenic Bob Bell. Recorded in 1978, Bell splits the difference between his love of basement psych splatter/pummel and squalling free jazz ramble, the former occupying side A with a stunning four-part suite of wasted guitar scuzz and churning Krautrock-like drama with an akin to German Oak, Roland Kirk, Albert Ayler, DNA, Melt Banana (minus the vocals) and Guru Guru. The latter represents Bell as a saxophonist on side B, and…
The Preservation Tapes
Known by a select few as one of Canada's most intriguing cult artists, Bruce Haack always strived for mainstream acceptance. But Haack's true ambition may have been fully realized when it was discovered that he left behind a whopping 213 reels of recordings after his death in 1988. Preservation Tapes confusingly collects just ten of these tracks, with the majority coming from a session recorded for American Christian label, Sparrow Records, during his creative peak in the early '70s. In 2016, af…