New Arrivals
Hustler Power Electronics Convention
You must live in tokyo to be able to follow the immense output of the soundburrier that is Masaya Nakahara, aka Violent Onsen Geisha, most of his work doesn't make it out of Satou Dan's Tatsunoya bar in Shinjuku, not because no one wants it, just because the tokyo noise scene seems to gather there late at night to forefil their pork anus - chicken paw needs, and Nakahara's last 40 cdr's were the ideal soundtracks for this ritual. the old skool dead pan electronics, plunderphonics, parodies, nois…
untitled
Five tracks, totalling approximately fifty minutes. Packed into the small horrible room (rip) inside the cedar house (rip) down in Lexington ky (still alive), individuals huddled in every corner, painting the room in colored cables, glossy wood and metal boxes. Deafness and disorientation was administered through the afternoon on into the night. Summoning over two hours of recorded tape, it was decided to cut the baby in half for adoption between two imprints. Heavy blossom ferried away the long…
Luminous Night
Luminous Night is the first set of new Six Organs Of Admittance material to leap forth from Ben Chasnys' cerebral cortex in 18 months, and what a joy it is. With the release of odds-and-sods collection RTZ earlier in the year there to bridge the gap between 2007s Shelter From The Ash it doesn't seem like he's been away for long per se but for serious Chasny-heads a new album is something to get pretty excited about and with his other musical outlet Comets On Fire either on extended hiatus or spl…
Sete
First release for the italian duo (Alessandro De Zan, Riccardo Mazza), recorded and assembled during one year, giving as result the deepest sound ever. Beautiful and fresh vibes coming out from acoustic guitars, percussions, flutes, voices and birds' field recordings, in five fine composed tunes spacing between Amazzonia and Africa, flying on the wings of perfect bliss. This is going to be particularly appreciated from those who love '70s brazilian psych such as Lula Cortez, Zè Ramalho, Stenio M…
Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh
This is an identical 180-gram vinyl reissue of the 1973 Vertigo release, wich is possibly Magma's great opus. Whether one prefers one of their other studio or live releases to it, there is no doubt that Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh is the most original, definitive Magma album around (although this reviewer personally prefers the Mekanik Kommandoh version!).Featuring a cast of thousands including a choir, brass section, flute and tuned percussion, Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh marries the stripped…
Assez de trop pas
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). + some guests : Charlot (voice, percussion, flute), Philémon (sax, electronics), Eric Lewis (trumpet), David Khalifa (percussion), Etienne Foyer (drums). Recorded…
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…
Elklink
Reissue of 'The Rise of Elklink' cassette (Polyamory) 1999 with one bonus track. "The Rise of Elklink originally appeared as a cassette on the storied Polyamory label in '1999. Behind the ambiguous moniker lurked core Shadow Ring member Graham Lambkin, aided by Adris Hoyos with a cameo from fellow Shadow Ring bandmate Tim Goss. Although The Rise of Elklink was produced in tandum with The Shadow Ring's Lindus LP, the two projects were different in intent. Song form and narration are replace…
Hallway Of Mirrors
VHF is releasing a bunch of solo guitar dudes over the next few weeks. Here's one of 'em! It's an album from New York's Alexander Turnquist called Hallway of Mirrors. It says that above so it's kinda pointless me saying that. Having said that the New York thing was a new bit of info so it's not all filler! I've not heard this chap before but I was rather taken with him on first listen. It's not a million miles away from the likes of James Blackshaw.... ie extreme 12 string fingerpluckery which i…
Foetus
An internationally known artist, Franco Battiato has been everything in his long career, from beat singer to avantgarde performer, producer, contemporary music composer.His beginnings lay in the mid 60's, with many singles released with no particular success, the first two under his real name of Francesco. He had left the native Sicily (he was born in Jonia, near Catania in 1945) moving to Milan around 1965.Fetus, housed in a outrageous cover (reproducing a foetus) was definitely a prog al…
Carrion hut
“The revered beard brandishes pick ‘n’ mix. Carrion Hut collects five very different pieces recorded between 2003 and 2007. “The Frosted Growth” finds Nyoukis in Dubbletwee mode, snarling and barking at his multitracked self. While on the side-long “Late Night Vocal Gravy”, Nyoukis is at his most composerly. The real diamond, though, is the text piece “Strange New Ache”, originally written for Inside Wino Lodge but left off the final cut. The text – read out loud, inverted and mangled, by…
Absent Coast
Another sublime drone album from the unshakably good Root Strata camp, En's The Absent Coast is a real upper tier ambient release. Distinguished by its depth and effortless musicality, this album is one for genre fans to really savour. After the sandblasting noise/tonal onslaught of 'A Dying Sun/Return To Holyoke', the album calibrates itself to a stately simmer that comes to life during the quite sublime 'Honeysuckle Heart', which combines glassy sustains with crackl…
By The Throat
2012 repress, LP version. This is Reykjavik-based composer/producer Ben Frost's second release for the Icelandic Bedroom Community label. By The Throat is blood red and cloaked in shadow. Produced in Iceland by Ben Frost and Valgeir Sigurðsson (Björk, CocoRosie, Bonnie "Prince" Billy), this album features performances by Amiina of Sigur Rós fame, Arcade Fire's Jeremy Gara, Swedish metal outfit Crowpath and composer Nico Muhly. Aside from the purely musical language of harmony and melody, there'…
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 …
Teeth Mountain
Driven primarily by neo-tribal drums, which would seemingly put them in league with the rumbling sound of Bmore's Thank You. But "12 Plus Harsh Tanz" in particular is much more reflective. The guitar brings to mind the cracked post-1960s dream-psyche hangover of Pink Floyd, I'm thinking here of an instrumental interlude that might have been on Obscured by Clouds, or perhaps the contemporaneous Eastern-infused lines of Popul Vuh's Daniel Fichelscher. It's headspace music, to be sure, but in some …
Brooding Forest
Hunting Rituals is the moniker of Scott Johnson (also Scott Cloud, Thoughts On Air) which was inspired from many impromptu collaborations with other weirdo musicians within the city limits of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Brooding Forest was the first recording to feature a second member, a fellow collaborator Jeremiah Buchan from Bottom Feeder who was also a main influence on the overall ritual sound process. This recording fuses Scott's focus of feral improv with Jeremy's premeditated lands…
When California Falls Into the Sea
The product of more than a year's work, finds Caminiti shifting away from the evocation of the land elements and towards the urban- the coarseness of blood on the streets and people living in squalor juxtaposed with beautiful, fleeting moments like sun reflecting off of glass buildings into dingy puddles- to produce a dialogue where guitars float through the air weightlessly, weaving around each other like butterflies and other moments that are more solitary, monolithic excursions into the night…
Maru Sankaku Shikaku
New psychic territorial landscapes the cosmic cartographer mapped yesterday before tomorrow. Acid Mothers Temple main man Kawabata Makoto links up with LSD March guitarist Michishita Shinsuke to create another amazing platter of fantastic sounds and vibes. Maru Sankaku Shikaku (Circle Triangle Square) finds the duo moving on from the electric guitars of their previous duo releases to an all acoustic album featuring ethnic instruments from around the globe. Two side long pieces mesh drone music w…
The Lost Tapes
Limited Vinyl Box Set, includes 5 x 180GM vinyl LP's, 28 page 12" booklet and a 24" poster - includes 30 previously unreleased tracks* "The Lost Tapes was curated by Irmin Schmidt and Daniel Miller, compiled by Irmin Schmidt and Jono Podmore, and edited by Jono Podmore. When the legendary Can studio in Weilerswist was sold to the German Rock N Pop Museum, they bought everything, including the army mattresses that covered the walls for sound protection, and relocated it to Gronau. Whils…
Lux Aeterna
greay-area LP reissue, Lux Aeterna, was originally composed to celebrate a friend of William Sheller's wedding, thematically driven by concepts of union and togetherness, and ostensibly based on the Catholic mass, this is far from any sort of religious music you've ever heard. Following in the footsteps of other iconoclastic composers, like Serge Gainsbourg, Jean-Claude Vannier, Lee Hazlewood, David Axelrod, Scott Walker and of course Magma (more on that in a second), Sheller conjured up w…