New Arrivals
Klavierwellen
Amazing release by the video & sound-artist from Brazil Marcellvs L., a four-channel sound piece titled "Klavierwellen" or Piano Waves (2011). The piano waves we hear are literally just that: while on a residency, the artist upturned a piano on a boat traveling around the canals, on which two contact microphones were attached to the soundboard and two micro omnidirectional placed between the soundboard and strings. The movement of the boat through water creates a kind of roving ambient experienc…
Ex Patris
The title Ex Patris (from the fathers) plays on the idiomatic baroque lute compositions presented here which emulate the classical repertoire. It also refers to this almost forgotten instrument, which was passed on by the fathers. The aim is to bring back and liberate the lute. The four compositions on Ex Patris form a circular narrative of interlocking repetitive melodic series. The follow up to Important release “ It is all that is made” kicks off with the pro apocalyptic track “The Day is Com…
A hidden place
Sohrab was born in Tehran in 1984. He was seven when the Iran-Iraq war ended. His name, from an old poem called “Shahname”, means “rouge water”, which can also mean 'blood'. He started a punk band with his brother and a friend, which lasted about two years before splitting. Sohrab is totally isolated in Iran, with little or no connection to what is happening there. Sohrab is, like so many, displaced within his own country and occupies a similar internal cultural isolation. This is suggeste…
Versprochen
OUTSTANDING NEW ARRIVAL Vinyl Lp, edition of 300 copies. Three years after releasing his first solo record, 'Miniaturen' on his own label 'choose', Berlin-based Konrad Sprenger (aka Jörg Hiller) now releases 'Versprochen' on the Italian 'Schoolmap' label. As if coyly playing off the various connotations of the title, which could mean 'pledge', 'promise' or a 'slip of the tongue' in German, Sprenger delivers a more mature product. Rather than going for the short, abbrieviated, cut-off statements …
Another Dull Dawn
When Chris Corsano turned 6 years old, I already begged him on my wounded knees to record an LP for Ultra eczema. He played it cool, was clearly annoyed but remained polite. From then on (he is now 46) I would email him the same question daily. I slept in a tent in front of his house, sent him letters every week, had all his different cell phone numbers, I even gave him new clothes, though he kept wearing his fully blue outfit. Much like Michael Jackson, corsano, the last drummer on earth, alway…
And
Derek Bailey, electric guitar. Pat Thomas, keyboards. Steve Noble, turntables. Recorded at Moat Studios, London, August 1997.
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 …
Historische Aufnahmen
Musician, composer and radio producer Felix Kubin has spent the last 5 years investigating, tracking down and collecting a stunning selection of hitherto neglected recordings from archives and private collections. With an eye for the antique curiosity, and an ear for the curious dusty beauty of abandoned transmissions from the past, he is now proud to present this first collection of historical recordings. The recordings presented here offer many and diverse pleasures from the analogue rea…
Albeit Albeit / Sibelius Spiders
There's no shortage of electronic reissue imprints operating these days, especially ones concentrating on 'lost' synth-wave recordings from the late 70's - mid 80's - but few have access to the kind of material amassed over the years by Forced Nostalgia, a brand new label curated by one of Belgium's most knowledgeable and methodical sound archivists: Fré De Vos. The breadth and quality of the material already scheduled for release by Forced Nostalgia is just jaw-dropping - extending the r…
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…
1978-1983
The sound of CHEN YI is rough & brutal... electronic music, soundcollages that reminds to Throbbing Gristle or (early)SPK aswell as electro-pop-tracks & songs like early Cabaret Voltaire, Chris & Cosey, Severed Heads...The Chen Yi Commune was founded in 1978 by about 20 women & men from London. The aim of the commune was to create a closed subsystem, a kind of subsociety and to narrow down its contact to the outside world only on very few specific actions.The Chen Yi commune never was interested…
The Soft Wave
Alexis Georgopoulos (ex-Tussle), who is one third of The Alps (released by Type and Root Strata), and half of Q&A (on DFA), has finished his second album as ARP. Recorded as Alexis Georgopoulos (the man behind the music of Arp), relocated from San Francisco to New York, "The Soft Wave" is expansive in scope, unfolding like a collection of short stories or filmic vignettes, each piece building upon the other. "The Soft Wave" incorporates guitars, piano, flute, & Ebows to create a dense bro…
Insect
'insect is a work by Dave Phillips that consists of untreated field recordings made in Thailand in 2001. It was first presented live on the 6th of December 2002 at Egocity in Zürich. the accompanying text evokes questions of what might happen to humanity if insects were to perish. Insect was originally issued as a cdr in an edition of 50 copies in 2003, and later rereleased by dp on demand. By the time i heard this work, almost 3 years after its release, i was astounded by its sound. A wo…
Danza Meccanica - Italian Synth Wave 1982 - 1987
Gorgeous collection of rare and early italian wave releases from 1982 - 1987 selected by Danza and with intro text by Fred Ventura in a limited run of 500 vinyl albums (hand numbered) it includes 2 inserts, LP cover on hand-made serigraphy. Highly recommended.
Rainmaker
The day has come! We’re kicking off 2012 with a deluxe reissue of Michael Chapman’s debut Rainmaker. Originally released on Harvest Records in 1969, Rainmaker is a psychedelic-guitar-folk delight. Featuring some of Chapman’s best loved songs, “It Didn’t Work Out,” which features a stellar cast of legendary English musicians of the era; Guitarist “Clem” Clempson was in the prog-band Bakerloo (soon after playing with Chapman he’d join jazz-rockers Colosseum and then Humble Pie) Drummer Aynsley Dun…
About To Choke
His only album for Capitol Records (originally released in 1996) was another exceptional batch of songs. An edgy slice of country-folk showing his unique version of Americana that was usually several things at once: his craggy voice, raw honesty, an acoustic guitar (or a piano) and an outrageous imagination. Vic Chesnutt was a rare kind of artist and definitely one of the most relevant songwriters of the last 20 years.
Harddisko
'About the record. Live-recordings of Harddisko: 16 computer harddrives on power. Superreal computer music. Upon powering, each harddrive moves with its own speed and pattern, as directed by the firmware and mechanical constitution. Electromagnetic emissions picked up as acoustic signal reveal the specific tone of a drive. In various formations, the harddrives perform according to their past usage and current state. About the artist : Valentina Vuksic (CH - 1974) is a computer artist and progra…
Smokin\'
We had heard a couple cassette outings by this Bloomington young-bloomer over the last 4-6 months and each one hit us better than the last but nothing had prepped us for Ettinger’s most recent evolution into neon skyline chase scene soundtracker and that’s part of what makes it so amazing. For Smokin’ he wrangled together a small posse of close comrades (enter The Heat) and tracked a sick session of smoky synth themes, Corvette noir moods, echo dystopia, faded voices, and sleazy Miami sax. The A…
Spirit Of The Positive Wind
featuring Brian Sullivan & Nate Nelson (Mouthus), Pete Nolan (Magik Markers, Spectre Folk) and Karl Bauer (Axolotl). The LP features two side-long tracks of bubbling, meandering noise-drone collages. "What the hell is this madness? After the Georgia Sea Island Singers took me somewhere nice it’s up to this super-group to drag me back to the fierce, nightmarish industrial landscape from whence I came. Then again this isn’t the sound of Bradford. I don’t know what it’s the sound of actua…
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…