New Arrivals
III
Picking up the threads with ease, Espers III was intended to be an aural reversal of the layered sound of II. The goal was to record fewer tracks in order to achieve a stronger, more oxygenated sonic presence. Where II was almost claustrophobic in its density and darkness, III was envisaged as being somehow lighter, effervescent; perhaps even of a cheery disposition at times (whoa there! Don't go not breaking our heart, Espers). Under these auspices, recording started in late 2008 and spi…
The Live in Lisbon
What happens when two stars collide? An interstellar collaboration out of this galaxy! Here in this new fantastic LP from Virginia Genta (of Jooklo fame) and Chris Corsano (arguably considered 'the last drummer on earth'), both musicians put blood, sweat, and lots of muscle into three new wildly charged cuts!!!! The album begins at sunset on a terrace in Lisbon (Summer 2008) with ferocious sax and drums escalating as the sun sets with Chris' incredible drum solo leaving everyone in a trance, whi…
Red, Black And Green
Originally produced and issued by charles 'bobo' shaw himself, red, black & green, by the band "solidarity unit, inc." documents what happened at "the bag room" in st. louis, mo, the day jimi hendrix died. shaw & the ten piece group produce a raw, teeming clattering sound, captured in a gloriously blunt low-res recording as stark as the b&w cover art. lake & bowie were by this time already powerful soloists, & both declaim fervently and damn near relentlessly over shaw's swaggering themes. de…
Super Roots 10
Previously only available as a Japanese CD, now a limited 2 X 12" cut at 45rpm for maximum fidelity & feat. art & production by EYE himself. Limited to 2000.
Cult Spectrum
Since 2009 Grant Evans has been peering ever deeper into the kosmische abyss with his records as Nova Scotian Arms for Aguirre, Preservation and Hooker Vision. He's also known for the lush Quiet Evenings releases with his wife, Rachel Evans (Motion Sickness Of Time Travel), but in solo flight his sound is more wide-eyed, exploratory, reaching heady new climes on 'Cult Spectrum', arguably his most vivid vision yet. Perhaps it's thanks to an exquisite mastering job by Lawrence English, but …
Slit And Pre-Slit
Reissue limited to 200 copies, originally released as private press in a limited edition of 100 copies in 1977, this ia a Major historical reissue: Slit And Pre-Slit was Jim Shepard’s first ever release, privately pressed in an edition of only 100 copies in 1977 and mostly given away to friends and musical/cultural heroes like Lester Bangs, Todd Rundgren, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Brian Eno, John Cale etc. Its extreme rarity has meant that few have had the chance to wrap their ears around it, …
Live at the Storyville, NYC - 24 October 1977
Quite simply one of Sun Ra's best live albums. This rare recording (originally on Horo records) finds Ra, along with a 19-piece Arkestra, playing a mix of his own compositions ('Images' and 'Lights') along with several jazz standards (including Jelly Roll Morton's 'King Porter Stomp' and Duke Ellington's 'Lightnin''). While Ra's own compositions were usually more avant-garde affairs, he always revelled in playing the classics as well in an effort to give his audience a lesson in jazz histo…
Provocative Electronics
Provocative Electronics is an exploration in analog synthesizers and recording techniques. As in the days of musique concrete and the beginning years of synthesizer development, Ortmann experiments with tones and his own brand of electronic tweakage. Provocative Electronics is not a homage, but yet another document in the ongoing history of Electronic Music. For fans of the 20th century Greek composer Xenakis, minimalist John Cage, or pioneer of musique concrete Pierre Schaeffer, Mort Garson, Mi…
Beguiled Entropy
Expo '70 has garnered a great deal of notoriety over the last few years in certain circles in which the moniker is usually mentioned to describe types of cross-genres. After completing a couple US tours and a handful of limited releases and re-releases in 2010, a short hiatus was in order. During this time last year Justin Wright, sole operator of the project, recorded tracks for an upcoming release. Wright entered a basement studio and improvised over two nights layered recordings for the first…
Cult Cargo: Grand Bahama Goombay
The second in our series of exploration of the panAmerican funk experience, Cult Cargo: Grand Bahama Goombay is a deep overview of Funky Nassau’s redheaded sister city, Freeport, GBI. From 1969-1976 Frank Penn’s GBI studio and label cranked out a dozen LPs and twice as many singles infected with the Miami sounds drifting in over the 100 mile strait. The catalog is a fruity blend of rake and scrape, bush, junkanoo, calypso, reggae, and of course, goombay, wi…
Trop de pas assez
Salmigondis is a collective (born in 2006) of musicians and graphist designers. Free rock, psychedelic, noise Ludovic Renaud (keyboard, turntables, electronics), Jean-Pierre Barja (bass, keyboard, electronics), Jérome Declercq (saxophones, keyboard, basse), Mathieu Renaud (guitar, electronics), Jean-Noël Cognard (drums,objects, voice). Recorded in 2007. Limited to 150 copies.
Boca Negra
LP version, ultralimited: For a band with only two members, this group gets an impressive variety of sounds. Rob Mazurek on cornet and Chad Taylor drummer also use the studio as an instrument, alternating between post bop jazz and near ambient soundscapes. Taylor's rhythmic sense is unerring throughout the album, whatever the tempo. Electronics are added at times, and add effect, especially at slower tempos making for spooky music along with slurred horn. "Green Ants" has sputtering …
Broken Bones
This latest in the Latitudes series of limited LPs comes from American noise-pop band Gowns, whose Red State album you may recall as being one of 2007's more unclassifiable recordings. A folkish spectre hangs over these pieces, particularly when it comes to the wiry, haunting violin sequences strewn liberally across the session - they bring to life the sinister spoken word of 'Dog', crowning a soundscape that's always on the precipice of turning nasty. Much of Gowns' music tends towards uncertai…
Birdland
This is the deluxe remastered LP edition of the previously cassette only release on Beniffer Editions. It is their third official full length, described as 'a totally peaced out collection of destructo boombox symphonies'. Sounds about right to us. This French Canadian duo, who’s output has been prolific already - two full lengths, two cassettes, a single and an appearance on the “World’s Lousy Vol. 2” comp - is mining territory similar to Chrome and Suicide channelled through warm layers…
Le viandier de taillevent
for almost 10 years, the québécois collective napalm jazz gets its hands dirty with its unorthodox approaches to improv.' 'mostly activ as a duo with erick d'orion and philémon they like to get different guests like for example a_dontigny, arnaud rivière, erikm or erik minkkinen. limited to 181 copies and coproduced with notype from montréal." (label info)
III
I don't care how many goddamn cute hobo bands there are out there right now. Not two runny shits. There's something Hank IV knows that few other current "of interest" bands realize, and it's a painfully simple thing: guitars were meant to sound like this, not that (pick something). That's as plainly as it can be put. This is twin-guitar punk rock in a class of its own, driving more than dueling and hot-sauce-free. I'd say "power with taste" but then I'd have to kill myself. I will say that…
Espoo
Vladislav Delay's EP Espoo features two conceptual, rhythm-intense tracks. Whereas the groove of the opener "Olari" derives from a sound loop which is manipulated by filters and echoes, the reverse is done with "Kolari." Starting from an impulsive, staccato beat, a sound carpet is woven by means of modifiers which gradually shape a permanent melody, close to Terry Riley's minimalistic concepts. Both tracks share a linear increase in density, and because of their break with the common four…
Basement Recordings 1978-1982
A while ago one of the members of the youngest antwerp based free jazz band SHELDON SIEGEL (all 16 year olds..) visited me, I had just met them and he wanted to come by to get some records. We spoke about free jazz for a while, then he said the magical words "My dad use to play free jazz in the 70's as well".. I was like "ow, and if that was in antwerp, was it with WIM?", he said "Yes yes, he's on one of their tapes with Fred Van Hove, Ivo Van Der Borght etc". My heartbeat went a little faster, …
Particles
'Imagine the moment before the origin of the Universe, when nothing yet existed. According to the standard theory, our universe sprang into existence as 'singularity', a zone of infinite density, which is also what is thought to exist at the core of the 'black hole'. The result of its expansion is what we call the 'Universe' and it is also what this album is all about. The gate was opened one night in May, in a basement of Northampton, Ma. by Paul Flaherty on saxophone and Weasel Walter on drums…
beet5 / Nervures
Limited edition of 200 copies. beet5 takes Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto as its starting point. The slow movement was recorded using a special turntable for the blind that plays back records at quarter speed. I had an old recording of the piece lying around; I forget who the pianist was. The slowed down version was very striking, recognisable as Beethoven’s music but much sadder, more fragile. I developed a piece around this, using my usual array of synthesized sounds, field recordings, ‘borr…