New Arrivals
Ever And Anon
The mythical LAFMS collective Smegma really needs no introduction, where would we all be without them? How many bands were so ahead of their time (1973!), and have been for so long, like Smegma have? Well, here they are with a brand new LP of their famous mix of free jazz, industrial noise, improvisation, straight-up weird music so typical of these masters / US freaks. On the opening track, they are riding on the amazing drums of historical member Dennis Duck (of Dream Syndicate) to pay h…
Spirits
After a few years spent living in Sweden and touring with Cecil Taylor's Jazz Unit, Ayler moved to NYC to begin imposing his revolutionary style of jazz on the world through a number of groundbreaking records. Spirits, recorded at Atlantic Studios in New York City on 24 February 1964, was his first effort. Recorded a few months prior to his landmark album for ESP-Disk, Spiritual Unity (but only released in Europe on Denmark's Debut Records), for the occasion Ayler recruited Norman Howard …
Astra & Knyst
Now Voks is finally presenting his first full-length album (though only 30 minutes long this is epic in Voks' universe - both 3"CD's included 10 tracks each within 20 minutes). While keeping his trademark style of hyperactive and nervous high-pitched twisted pop songs a newborn interest in (italo-western) movie soundtracks seems to be evident. The sound of super fast surf guitars is colliding with what seems chinese opera samples, world music is combined with children's whisteling tunes. Think R…
La Bamba
Over 15 years ago Daniël de Wereldvermaarde Botanicus (hat and cacti collector Cassis Cornuta) deejayed a ton of horrible la bamba versions for 2 hours in the now defunct situationist radioshow RTVS (Radio Centraal-Antwerp). The 'galdezen' of RTVS yelled-sung along, creating their own versions of la bamba while getting more and more hammered or naturally gone from a bamba trance! After telling me this short story Daniël mumbled 'I always wanted to dj all night long la bamba, I think it will driv…
Red Horse
Red Horse is the blistering free-post-everything project of drummer/multi-percussionist Eli Keszler and guitarist/mad-scientist Steve Pyne. While both musicians are active in a number of different projects (you probably wouldn't believe Pyne's day job even if we told you), Red Horse catches them working with a distilled sense of focus and is for many their breakthrough project. Red Horse (not to be confused with the similarly-titled debut) is the duo's second album, and follows the rush of…
The Fugitives
**Limited edition of 300 housed in handmade silkscreened sleeve. Tipped for fans of Atelecine, Carter Tutti Void, Factory Floor** Ninni Morgia and Silvia Kastel make their first appearance as Control Unit on Italy's freshly minted Backwards label. Guitarist Ninni Morgia is a respected member of the New York underground scene, known for his work with La Otracina for Holy Mountain and Ultramarine Records. His co-conspirator Silvia Kastel was a willing participant in his Ninni Morgia Control …
The Burden of Hope
"I don't know about you lot but we're absolutely crazy about Grails here at Boomkat HQ, last year's incredible 'Black Tar Prophecies' album on Important blew us away so it's great to see 'The Burden of Hope', the band's 2003 debut, back in press on vinyl finally. At this time the band were working under the messy banner of 'post-rock' and lumped in with the whole Godspeed You! Black Emperor/Constellation scene; they were using violins, letting themselves succumb to the influence of dusty America…
Human hips and saddle bags
'Human Skab was a 10-year old boy from Elma, Washington who played African music with buckets and spoons. Thunder Hips and Saddle Bags is a 1986 cassette recorded by young Travis Roberts with his neighborhood pals and siblings. It was injected into the underground network of tape traders, zine scribes, college DJs, and freak seekers who were universally bowled over by its bewildering and utterly poignant snapshot of the mid-1980s. Skab's music -- an orchestration of pots n' pans, three string gu…
The Inner Treaty
With the wake of his blessed collab with The Congos and his 'Ancient Romans' side still shimmering in our memory, Cameron Stallones returns from his mystic regressions to present a sixth solo LP as Sun Araw. With his return comes a startlingly fresh-faced clarity to his sound, as though millenia of metaphysical sonic travel have dislodged the overbuild of dusty amp wax and really let some cosmic sunshine thru. It's perhaps also down to some assistance in the final process from Pete Kember…
The Unmables
A mythical Magma album recorded in 1971, during the 1001 Centigrades period. The album aims at introducing wider audiences to the zeuhl feel, with a less hermetic sound, favoring a groovier jazz-rock approach. Features the vocalist of Ergo Sum on one track as well as Tito Puentes on trumpet; otherwise this is pretty much the same line-up as in their previous album. A few dreamy moments with acoustic guitar and flutes (the track 'Clementine'), and other typically dense moments with pulsati…
The Rising
Call Back The Giants first surprised and delighted the listening world in 2010, with their warmly-recieved eponymous debut album. Since that time, the duo of Tim Goss and Chloe Mutter have been locked in perfect isolation, teasing every nuance of their sound into sharp focus. The Rising presents the results of their toil, exposing Call Back The Giants as true masters of cryptic intent. Homespun keyboard minimalism, wavering teenage laments, and foreboding pronouncements of doom, synthesize into …
Che
SUNN 0))) & PAN SONIC / ALAN VEGA / STEPHEN BURROUGHS. Latest in Blast First's series of Suicide tribute, sees the original of "Che" teamed with covers of "13 Crosses, 16 Blazin' Skulls" and Goodbye Dear". Limited to 2000 COPIES only.
Occupied With The Unspoke
Golden Retriever was started in 2008 by Jonathan Sielaff and Matt Carlson whose paths first crossed in the early 00’s when Sielaff and Carlson were in experimental pop bands that frequently worked together, Au and Parenthetical Girls respectively. Through collaboration, they developed a deep understanding of each other’s musical voice and sensibilities. After exchanging a few solo recordings, it became clear that they had remarkably similar aspirations for and theories on music, th…
In Psychic Defense
“In psychic defense” is the last work of Clay Ruby as Burial Hex. With this record Burial Hex faces a new chapter in his music where noise, post-punk, a wise use of the rythm, experimental wave and dark melodies match together in a perfect balance. The record is elaborated as a protection spell in psychic self-defense, and the lyrics are from an old hymn to the Archangel Michael, always been seen as a leader and protector of the faithful. This one sided also confirms the collaboration betw…
Alphabet 1968
Black to Comm's Marc Richter is an artist that perpetually seems to be on the verge of releasing an absolute masterwork, always creeping closer and closer but never quite nailing it. Alphabet 1968 does not quite buck that trend completely, but it is an oft-brilliant and unforgettable album nonetheless. Richter's impressive artistic evolution is showing no sign of slowing.
There Are Grapefruit Hearts To Be Squeezed In The Dark
Max goldt always knew how to take the rope off the german neck by using our language in a light and ironical way. however, before he became a national celebrity for his poetic satirical writings, he had produced a vast amount of home recording pieces whose quirky complexity and uber-earthly beauty has hardly been recorgnized and appreciated until today. after some years of silence, mr goldt - who never gives any interviews - has handed out a bunch of audio tape tracks to the soul scratchers of g…
Akashic Record (Events: 1986-1990)
Outer Space is a rapidly evolving sound entity headed by John Elliott and joined by a constantly rotating cast of midwestern U.S. electronic figures. Akashic Record sees the project grow in many different directions from the self-titled Arbor album created throughout 2008 and 2009 while retaining similar aesthetics of synthesizer experimentation and it's esoteric relations. Recorded over the course of a year with close engineering assistance and compositional contributions from Andrew Ver…
Everyone Is Not Alive
Reissued limited edition 2 color vinyl of Touch People's debut album from 2 years ago (originally on The Faint's blank.wav imprint). Darren Keen, aka Touch People, records guitars, drums, bass, and keyboards, and then assembles via experimental/modern production that is both visceral and cerebral. The resulting sound bears resemblance to Steve Reich, Battles, Dan Deacon, and Tortoise.
Fugue
I began writing about this Tape & Bill Wells 'Fugue' record yesterday but I gave up as the words just were not coming to me. I guess that's probably a good sign though as I was just kind of getting into the melancholy zone of the record, which certainly is a thing of beauty. Wells' guitar playing is delicate and magical. The Tape guys really give him space to do his thing adding wonderful little details and twinkles into the mix. This quite simply is the prettiest, most charming record I …
Generator breaker
A new Astral Social Club album is always a highlight of the year and Generator Breaker is no exception. Neil Campbell is one of the veterans of the British DIY/Drone/Noise scene and with ASC he has slowly formulated his very own and unique musical universe, akin to the psychedelic visions of his contemporaries and sometimes collaborators Sunroof! and Vibracathedral Orchestra but with a more electronic, less rock-influenced approach, instead aiming towards a heavily layered techno-infused …