New Arrivals
Dort Ist Der Weg
Latest from these blackened doomdrone soundscapers, once again demonstrating that these guys definitely don't let any sort of genre classification define what they do, cuz what they do here is let their krautrock freak flag fly, whipping up a gorgeous chunk of hazy, rhythmic psychedelia, a reinterpretation of a classic Popol Vuh jam (from 1976), which does indeed channel the same sort of brooding, blissy mesmer, a dreamy, dark dirge, hypnotic and hazy, spidery guitar melodies over simple …
Off / On
Off/On is an evolutionary act of fissure, the opening of a rift in Forma's sonic landscape. The second LP from the Brooklyn cosmic synth trio of Mark Dwinell, Sophie Lam, and George Bennett, Off/On's universe is darker, its terrain more enigmatic and aggressive than 2011's critically-acclaimed self-titled album. Recorded at the renowned Schoolhouse space in Bushwick, Off/On combines swirling arpeggios, gnarled sequences, and deconstructed motorik rhythms to conjure an atmosphere of entropic …
Surviving The Garden Of Hate
"Copper Glove, the new project from Baltimore's Door (formerly Earth Crown; who shared splits with Secret Abuse and Kites on past Arbor releases), shows a further progression of his one man industrial-noise synth unit. In opposition to his former work, Copper Glove is more mindful of composition; utilizing tone generators and processed synthesis and vocals, to present a dense cut up analog form of industrial concréte. Door's nihilistic optimism carries itself with a sense of effortlessne…
skls
S K L S are Joachim Nordwall & Henrik Rylander, the key members of Swedish noise-rock band The Skull Defekts. That’s their debut release under the name S K L S, which seems to be a kind of side-project for darker, electronic minimalistic sounds. As opposed to the full guitars & drums line-up of The Skull Defekts follows the traditions of motoric Kraut-style (Can or Neu! — like), S K L S is defenitely oriented mostly on spacey-psychedelic-electronic-meditation of Cluster or Popol Vuh. It’s…
Untitled
Open the gates to the mystifying world of Belgian electronic producer Hans Dens’ Innercity project. Truly alien, truly futuristic rhythmic mantras and techno miscalculations. Dens’ unique minimal beat style, combining elements of electronic, Kraut, and New Age weirdness, creates an otherworldly entity that transcends our earthly boundaries. Limited edition pressing of 300 copies.
A.C.V.I. Tapes
Lovely early MB archival material recorded and issued as private editions between May and August 1980. Limited numbered edition of 211 copies in professional box, with a 12 pages booklet with reproductions of original tapes covers, a note and new collages by M.B. Destroyed time capsules. Ancient loops of faded music become an hypnotic wall of infectious sounds. If you are willling enough you could get lost in this world made of cold and dreamy distant memories.
III
III is as immediate as a truck with failed brakes crashing through your living room wall. The third and final installment of a trilogy entitled Ceremony, its opening moments rage and wail, with distorted guitars pulling out in front of the drums like hellhounds that have slipped their master's leash. But this isn't a mono-dimensional freak-out. Smith paces himself, pulling back into brooding drones and pensive picking before lashing out once more. As befits a journey that's taken three di…
VII
The seventh album from Montreal's harbinger of blackmetaldoompsychedelia appears on Important. Of the two sides of Aun's bi-polar output this falls into the cataclysmic doom zone, full of downtuned scorched-earth riffage and ominous ambience. The inclusion of drummer Away from Voivod lends a thunderous motorik propulsion to 'Falcon' and punctures 'Broken Bill' with neck snapping weight. For fans of Earth, Sunn 0))), Pelican, Gnod - Recommended.
Fragments (1974)
an amazing release by the Czech electronic pioneer. In spite of his picaresque life and many eccentricities, it ought to be, and is, as a composer that Rossmann is best known. His artistic output was not only music, of course, and his output in any case was not particularly large. There are about 30 works in all and there are occasional gaps of up to three years between one piece and the next. But what he did produce shows that he was one of the few truly original Czech composers of the last cen…
Volume 1
Awesome electronic music by Thomas Gorbach. The composer uses algorithms to compose, but the result is so musical that it sounds intuitive and dramatic. He synthesizes sounds that mix poetic, elusive textures with powerful rhythms that come and go like images in a fog. He describes these sound sources as "various murmur and instrumental pickles" The compositions include 'Trilogy: not to yield an inch, hermitage, oysters'; and 'Miasma'.
Mort aux vaches
MINBLOWING EDITION! 'This might very be the first time that Staalplaat repeats a cover for their Mort Aux Vaches: the metallic cover for this one was also used for the Mitchell Akiyama release (unless of course one states that a lot where printed on paper), but with a different pin. Musicwise of course Vernon & Burns are something different than Akiyama. What many perhaps don't know is that perhaps the whole Mort Aux Vaches enterprise started with VPRO and Staalplaat was by asking people to deli…
Aigéan
First solo album from bass player extraordinaire Michael Francis Duch, exploring 1960’s experimental works as vehicles for contemporary improvisation. Duch is a highly generous musician and improvisor. This is equally audible as he moves in the outskirts of reductionism, flirts with noise, engages in the domain of contemporary composition or happily endulges in the joys of free jazz. Mixing a keen and exploring sense of sound with firm and insisting formal thinking, he approaches his bass …
Pioneers - the Beginning Of Danish Electronic Music
Finally arrived! A lavishly deluxe packaged compilation that holds the earliest recordings of Dansih electronic music. The cd contains works by Danish electronic pioneers Else Marie Pade, Jørgen Plaetner, Bent Lorentzen, Gunner Møller Pedersen, Fuzzy, Svend Nielsen and Svend Christiansen. The booklet contains interviews with all the composers except from Plaetner who died in 2002, and a general introduction to the environment surrounding the Danish electronic musicians in the late 1950 - early 6…
IN IT: Immersive Live Salvage
A 5.1 Surround DVD (Dolby Digital + DTS, "audio only") + Ambisonic UHJ vinyl LP (an LP that can play surround when playing through an ambisonic encoder. It can also be played on a regular stereo). Following an invitation from Autechre to support them on their 2010 European "Overstepper" tour (30 concerts, 15 countries), UK experimental multidisciplinary artist Russell Haswell filled a Pelicase with a contact mic, crystal mic, electronics w/light sensors, fx pedals, SOS whistle, various m…
Underneath the surface
Since the very first notes, this music appears to be about memory, decay and subversion. It is a deep investigation on the ability of sounds to freely attract or reject each other, in accordance with their own nature and disposition, and still maintain their meaning. Combining dense, multilayered sheets of synthetic sounds, treated bass, electronic percussion, the six tracks reveal their non-architectural principle as the music develops through warm textural details, reverberations, underlying m…
... And They Have Escaped The Weight Of Darkness
It may well be the case that the whole modern classical scene suffered from a possibly fatal case of over-familiarity and over-exposure these last few years, but it would be a shame if a genuinely gifted musician and composer like Iceland's Ólafur Arnalds was lumped in with the vast majority of his contemporaries - the guy is just the real deal. And if there were any doubts about his talents, Arnalds created and released a new song a day for one whole week during the month of October this …
Neuma Q
The new addition to the Die Schachtel 'Composers' series, an utter immersion into the purest electronic sound, exploring a broad spectrum of electroacoustic phenomena, low-end drone, magically constructed and sequenced in a way that preserves its intimate feel
Chapter Ahead Being Fake Vinyl
Not sure you could gather four bigger names from the drone metal inner circle to record a pair of splits. Hats off to Hydra Head. Both new splits come with awesome artwork from Aaron Turner, and this Torche / Boris split comes with a pretty fucking sweet t-shirt option. Don’t try and tell me you haven’t been dreaming of wearing Wata on your chest. This one hasn’t sold out of black vinyl quite yet
ToTheOtherSideΔ
BeMyDelay is the solo project of Marcella Riccardi (Blake/e/e/e, Franklin Delano, Massimo Volume), singer and guitarist. Her interest in archaic blues and adventurous music is the ground for building a song collection which tastes of experimental blues, vocali drones, acoustic pareidolia. "ToTheOtherSide" is another piece of the puzzle of that female psychedelia that goes from Grouper to US Girls, Valet and many more. The sound here is more shaped and definite than Liz Harris’ or Honey O…
All Things Are From Him, Through Him And In Him
Brethren Of The Free Spirit combines the considerable 12-string guitar talents of James Blackshaw with the lute skills of Dutch instrumentalist Josef Van Wissem. Those of you who picked up the excellent Blackshaw-curated Garden Of Forking Paths compilation on Important a couple of weeks back will already be familiar with Van Wissem's abilities, dexterously coaxing his baroque instrument into the modern age. The two musicians compliment each other beautifully - there's no treading on toes here, b…