New Arrivals
Against the Day
Since Sam Shalabi enjoyed his mini-breakout in 2004 with the Shalabi Effect's The Trial of St. Orange, the Montreal composer has explored the overlap between popular Western music and traditional Middle Eastern musics, particularly those from Egypt, the country from which Shalabi's parents hailed. These projects tend to be diffuse and ambitious: Shalabi works with dozens of musicians on long, brash drones, or plays meditative oud pieces in comfy theaters. Land of Kush, …
Debris
Field recordists Douglas Quin and Cheryl Leonard have gone to great lengths to capture their Arctic and Antarctic field recordings, spending countless frigid days with frozen fingers trying to hold tightly to hydrophones dangling amidst the ice floes and slushy waters. It's no wonder those two present their work in such an unadulterated fashion when the work came at such cost and at such peril. But Jana Winderen is far more creative in her approach to field recordings, only too happy to …
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…
The Black Dirt Sessions
Displays fully honed examples of all of Rose's various styles & themes - traditional, raga & ragtime. "Cross The North Fork" - a 13-minute revisiting of a track 1st laid down on the great "Kensington Blues" is a winding, thoroughly engrossing journey. It is a welcome neighbor to the album's other spendid joys ranging from the jaunty & infectious "Fishtown Flower" to the pensive & appropriate melancholy punch of "Box Of Pine." Limited to 2000 copies on 180g RTI vinyl.
Inventions
Sandy Bull's 1965 LP Inventions remains one of those legendary albums that almost no one has heard. Its impact, however, can be scene in the title of this new compilation spotlighting a great unsung hero of "psychedelic folk." "Blend," the 22-minute opus from 1963 that opens this disc, surely fits that designation, perfectly blending folk, jazz, and Indian influences into what Bull called "new guitar raga." An eclectic virtuoso who switched from acoustic guitar to banjo to Stratocaster to oud (m…
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…
The Ann Steel Album
Repressed! "Roberto Cacciapaglia is an Italian electronic composer who's made albums using every possible permutation of the same six notes, right up to modern classical, with The Ann Steel Album as the weird anomaly. Made with an American model who moved to Italy to make it big in fashion, Roberto took her languid, Laurie Anderson-esque voice and created a detached futurist popstar. The odd sound of these European futurist pop songs make it sound like the machines are breathing, creatin…
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…
\'Live @ Sensational Fix
On June 17, 2008, the exhibition Sonic Youth etc.: Sensational Fix openedat LiFE in Saint-Nazaire, France, with a focus on their multi-disciplinary activitiessince 1981 collaborations with visual artists, filmmakers, designers,and musicians, as well as other works selected by the band.As part of the exhibition project, My Cat Is An Alien performed on stagewith their long-time collaborator Ramona Ponzini (Painting Petals OnPlanet Ghost, Black Magic Disco, Z ev) singing Japanese, Michael Mo…
Whisper Not / The Wrong Holiday
This latest release on the excellent Forced Nostalgia imprint is by some distance its most illuminating release to date - a split LP that features an astonishing rediscovery from the early 1980's synth-pop era. That album is 'Whisper Not' by Vazz - a duo consisting of Anna Howson & Hugh Small, and is redolent of so much classic, deeply cherished music from around the same period (think Crépuscules, Antena, early Cocteau Twins on the one hand, and The Cure's 'Seventeen Seconds' on the othe…
truth & distance
This is an extended, limited vinyl edition of a dark ambient classic, featuring an extra 10 minutes of bonus material. Initial copies come on white vinyl!* Another heart-stopping debut brought to you by the increasingly inspired Digitalis imprint, Concern is the recording project of Gordon Ashworth who in a previous incarnation (as Oscillating Innards) delivered an altogether more brutal take on experimental music before planting his feet firmly in the world of shimmering, layered drone…
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…
VPRO RadioNome
Kaa Antilope from Belgium is possibly one of the better kept secrets from the 1980's. Known to few people but loved by those. The reason is simple... this band was unique with their wonderful neo romantic, playful and melancholy sound. Their songs are best described as experimental synthpop with a poetic touch. Only one 7" record was released in 1982. Even today their music stands out with its very special sound of its own. There has not been a single other band since the 1980's that can be comp…
Deceh
Limited edition of 400. Handmade letterpressed covers. Deceh is a fine drone quartet utilizing traditional ethnic drone instruments as well as vintage analog synthesizers. This record was recorded on a centered room microphone as the group sat in a perfect square around it. This method of recording perfectly captured the focused intimacy of the moment, complete with the crackling bellows of an ancient harmonium. Bringing strict discipline, control and patience, theyre able to achieve densely tra…
MP3 Deviations #8
The MP3 Deviation album contains pieces that are results of the collaborative research by a team of the New Aesthetics in Computer Music (NACM) and myself, led by Tony Myatt at Music Research Center at the University of York in UK in 2009. My idea was to develop new software based on the disruption of the MP3. Primarily I thought the MP3 as reproducing device could have created very new sound by intervention between its main elements, the compression encoder and decoder. It turned out th…
Rain in skull
Australian Charles Curse's music is one of the weirdest things I've come across all year. On Rain In Skull, fragments of disjointed folk melodies move across a plain of wheezing chords, tape hiss, children's voices, ambient washes, amp hum, electronic glitch and bits of buzz in general. The contrast between downcast guitar playing and the physical claustrophobia-inducing weight of sound is equally perplexing and intriguing. It's all presented in a decidedly lo-fi environment but the sound constr…
The Parasites Of The Western World
The Parasites of the Western World are a band from Portland, OR who released their recorded debut in 1978. It's a fascinating spin, a galactic ramble across the otherworldly themes of alienation and paranoia, seemingly inspired by LSD and Philip Dick. Primarily the creation of Patrick Burke and Terry Censky, the Parasites were limitless with invention and completely DIY. This is a record that was recorded in an apartment, by a crew thoughtful enough to curtail it's loud excursions for the…
Espoo
Vladislav Delay's EP Espoo features two conceptual, rhythm-intense tracks. Whereas the groove of the opener "Olari" derives from a sound loop which is manipulated by filters and echoes, the reverse is done with "Kolari." Starting from an impulsive, staccato beat, a sound carpet is woven by means of modifiers which gradually shape a permanent melody, close to Terry Riley's minimalistic concepts. Both tracks share a linear increase in density, and because of their break with the common four…
Slime Code
Fractured bleep techno and de-composed electronics for followers of Container, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Konono No.1, Ekoplekz, Harmonious Thelonious - Edition of 500, initial copies on olive green wax* Following a pair of strong LPs for Dekorder, Dan Hayhurst (audio) and Reuben Sutherland (visuals) released 'Slime Code' on cassette for Patten's Kaleidoscope label last year - and it's a peach. The music was performed live to 8-track tape from which a digital edit was compiled and from that…
Pyramid of the moon
When Maserati first began performing new songs for their next album, the one that immediately stood out with audiences was “Pyramid of the Sun,” a chugging behemoth driven, as usual, by one of the best rhythm sections in underground rock. It was an instant fan favorite and quickly cemented itself as an institutional song that would surely show up in the set list virtually every night for years to come. Unbeknownst to fans, there was an alternate version of the song that took the head-nod…