New Arrivals
Boolean Blues
ASESOME NEW RELEASE! Josh Hanson is another of Portland, Oregon’s underappreciated sons. Having come up through the ranks of long-time, long-forgotten faves Hochenkeit, he also spent time as a member of The Davis Redford Trio. But Hanson’s path diverges into a totally different sphere nowadays, spinning solo modular synth exploits to the stars. Influenced not just by the likes of Subotnick and Cluster but also various types of Eastern sounds, Hanson is looking forward, trying to find new pa…
Ceremonies to breathe upon
Two contrabass players here, Andrew Lafkas, of whom I not really heard I think and Michael T. Bullock, of whom I did hear before, and know as someone who likes his improvised playing to be minimal - to say the least. I think Bullock at times also uses electronics, but I am not if he uses any of that here. Its not mentioned on the cover, nor the fact that this is perhaps a live concert. I do however think this is a live recording, however one with no audience, but a direct-to-track recording of t…
I Dreamed A World Of Darkness And You The White Light Shining
Gorgeous solo album from Isaac Edwards of ODAWAS. Think Popul Vuh's soundtracks for Werner Herzog. Limited to 300. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky
After a fourteen year absence, Michael Gira resurrects his legendary apocalyptic no-wave band for a fabulous new album on his own Young God imprint. Assembling a cast of musicians that includes familiar Swans and Angels Of Light conspirators, Gira also welcomes a few new members to the fold with guest stars including Devendra Banhart, Mercury Rev's Grasshopper, Bill Rieflin (of Ministry, REM and Robyn Hitchcock's band), Shearwater multi-instrumentalist Thor Harris and even Gira's three-and-a-hal…
Live installation at Loop-Line recorded by Toshiya Tsunoda
USW56, USW57, USW59, USW61, USW113, these five hand-made electronics hanged from a ceiling have an ultrasonic wave transmitter, a reciever and an amplifier. Each frequency of the ultrasonic wave is about 40khz but slightly different. And when each instrument swings, each frequency changes a little caused by the Doppler effect. On thier instruments we can hear beat signals between transmitted and received ultrasonic waves changed in frequency. (Manabu Suzuki) Where does art work appear? How do pe…
Strings.Lines
Created between September 2008 and February 2010 in the artist's studio. Viola da gamba: Pierre-Yves Martel. Violin: Chris Bartos. 'strings.lines' came to life from an obsession for old and forgotten object-matter and the desire to produce music that exists in between the new and the old. The starting point to the composition of this work were acoustic tuning forks. In 2007 Nicolas Bernier became fascinated with this object/instrument of particularly beautiful design, and started a collec…
The ethnic project
Improvisations incorporating ethnic aereophones and contemporary contrabass sounds. Vinny Golia, ethnic woodwinds, duets with double-bassists Barre Phillips, Joëlle Leandre, Bert Turetzky, Lisa Mezzacappa.
Seconds
A beautiful acoustic-based record featuring careful, melancholy arrangements in the tradition set by his famous previous record - but with a few unpredictable musical touches. Seconds weaves black threads of lyrical reflection into its sleeve in the short-lived Higgins tradition. His was never a hippie-dippy perspective - back in the day, his songs featured a thoughtful, but worldweary, occasionally even paranoid perspective. Accompanied by his fellow travelers (including a couple Red Hash playe…
Amber Sea
Duo of Agnes Szelag & Marielle Jakobsons (aka DARWINSBITCH). They create electroacoustic songs on many instruments such as violin, cello, voice, bass, gezhong, piano, & accordian. Their scores are often conceptually or process-driven, resulting in their unique style of electroacoustic music, reminiscent of Scandinavian free folk, lullabies, dramatic film scores, & electronic improvised music
It's You
Sydney, Australia's Holy Balm trio jack out a heat-warped LP of avant-dance songs for Not Not Fun. 'It's You' feels like dance music that's been made in a hot country. It's got a faded, sun-bleached quality and drunk-in-the-afternoon sloppiness that's entirely endearing to our tastes. Their synth melodies are always prone to slipping saltily off-key and the beats are basically functional - lumpy kicks and squirmy, acidic synth pop bass - ridden with alluring nonchalance by Anna John in a hybrid …
Under Stellar Stream
For his latest album, UK avant-folk maverick Richard Youngs seems to be converging on some of the most assured and firm-footed vocal work of his career to date, fashioning rock-solid songs from typically leftfield instrumental tactics. On 'Broke Up By Night', Youngs sounds like a gnarled old folkie of almost Ewan MacColl proportions, albeit accompanied by organ drone and wispy electronics. It's a rather magical, mantra-like cadence he elicits, and the album springboards nicely from this point. S…
Monsters Of Felt
Robert Horton’s musical exploits are diverse, heady and spans over three decades. From his early punk days to joining various groups in pursuit of free jazz, drone and even psychedelic hillbilly, Horton is happily hard to pin down. He also makes his own instruments. One found regularly across the 30-plus releases he’s been involved with since 2005 is the ‘boot’, a four-stringed instrument that plays like an otherworldly dobro or slide guitar. Tom Carter has been a lightning rod-like figure…
Himmelgeister 19 (2008)
“Himmelgeister 19 (2008)” for chamberorchestra and 3 voices. Johnny Chang (violin), Conrad von Coelln (viola), Nataliya Demina (violin), Rodion Dubirnij (trumpet), Jürg Frey (clarinet), Sven Herman (accordion), Eva-Maria Houben (harmonium), Marcus Kaiser (violoncello), Tobias Liebezeit (percussion), Normisa Pereira Da Silva (flute), Radu Malfatti (trombone), Koen Nutters (bass), Sven Oetter (horn), Michael Pisaro (guitar), Burkhard Schlothauer (violin), Thomas Stiegler (violin). Antoine Beuger (…
Apparitions
Bleak analog electronics and voice from Justin K Broadrick. Apparitions is a dark, insalutary recording of sub bass throb, scathing frequencies and sheets of feedback unleashed with the ferocity of early power electronics sides. A material electric attack from places unknown. Photographs by Paul Lee. Edition of 500."
Regine Flory
Zak Boerger's combination of fuzz, acoustic guitar & extended downer ballads most immediately aligns him with the New Zealand scene centered around Peter Jefferies & Alastair Galbraith as well as associated international satellites like Flying Saucer Attack & the Twisted Village roster, but there's a lonesome edge to the music that would situate it ouside of any particular historical tradition & closer to the mystery school of regional private press obscurities. The acoustic tracks skirt the fri…
divide by zero
NEW SERIES FRAMEWORKAn extension of our CONCRETE ELECTRONICS NOISE,a brand new mix-up of unusual conceptions of sound material by young unknown composers, well known not-so-young composers and old but clever composers.Benjamin Thigpen, nomad, born in the United States, immigrated to Paris at the age of 31. He studied music, literature, philosophy and esthetics. He now composes in European studios such as GRM, EMS, Visby and STEIM, as well as in his bedroom and in the train. After six years as a …
Treeg Salaam
Group Doueh's second Sublime Frequencies album 'Treeg Salaam' is finally available on CD. If you're not familiar with Group Doueh, this is as good a place as any to get your fix, featuring tracks compiled and edited from Salmou "Doueh" Baamar's personal cassette archives recorded between 1989-1996. Next to Omar Souleyman and Group Bombino, Group Doueh are one of the few acts to be fully signed and released through the label, offering full length albums of original material which have become cher…
Scilens
Edition of 200 housed in vacuum sealed package* Chicagoan electro-acoustic trio present their 10th release and third full length album. The equipment list for 'Scilens' should give some indication of the breadth of sonorities they're working with: A-Bitrman, Acousticon hearing aid, A-52, air conditioner, bass drum, baoding balls, bows (cello and violin), cassette recorders, contact microphones, crotales, cymbals, DS-1, EHX-2880, e-bow, electric fan, electric bass, fabric, floor tom, found…
Bag It
After 4 intensive days of recording with Steve Albini (WTF!?! Thought he didn't like jazz) The Thing created Bag It!, a new mastodon of ecstasy music. The Thing is well known for their free jazz versions of rock classics from artists such as PJ Harvey, White Stripes, The Sonics, Yeah Yeah Yeahs & Lightning Bolt. This time the band is only doing two rock interpretations, one by Japan's 54 Nude Honeys & one by the The Ex/ Muzsikás. The rest of the tracks on the album are written by Mats Gustafsson…
Ethnic Expressions
Easily one of the most coveted and sought-after of all jazz LPs is the elusive Holy Grail that is Roy Brooks' Ethnic Expressions. It's not just rarity that makes a record of this nature so desirable, nor is it the compelling music within -- sometimes, like a Van Gogh or a Picasso, it's the personality of the artist himself that's inexorably entwined with the record itself that lends a fascinating, mesmeric and mythical quality that simply can't be contrived. The sixth release in Jazzman's …