New Arrivals
Open Window
*300 copies limited edition* That true beauty lies in the essentiality and meticulous combination of a few elements is sometimes not just a cliché. The delicate blend of Roland CR-78, acoustic guitar and dissonant organs that intertwine in Open Windows is a vivid demonstration of this. It is these few elements, now distant and hinted at and now close and deafening, that paint the backdrop of melancholic nostalgia where laconic whispers move the listener within the paintings that bear the sonic s…
Femenine
2024 Restock. Last copies. Double-LP version, black vinyl in gatefold sleeve -- on vinyl for the first time, in a revelatory new remaster by Jim O'Rourke. In 2016, Finnish label frozen reeds published the première release of Julius Eastman's Femenine, for chamber ensemble. Laying unheard for decades prior, the release documented a 1974 performance by the S.E.M. Ensemble with the composer himself on piano. Lauded in Pitchfork (awarded "Best New Music"), The New Yorker, and The New York Times, the…
Earth, Our Planet?
“Earth, Our Planet?”: A call for environmental awareness. This time, Pedro Vian - the founder of Modern Obscure Music - presents his fourth solo album (following his 2020 release, "Ibillorca"). Due for release in spring 2024, "Earth, Our Planet?" promises to immerse us in a moving odyssey, crossing the boundaries of musical genres to provoke an urgent meditation on the protection of our planet. On this occasion Vian has composed the album influenced by the myth of the eternal return, the composi…
Tsubute Mosaic
Merzbow (aka Masami Akita), animal rights activist, writer, and musician, an Iconic figure in International noise scene. Renowned for his pioneering contributions to the noise music genre, Merzbow has solidified his position as one of its most significant and recognizable figures. From his groundbreaking utilization of tape loops to craft expansive industrial landscapes in the late 1970s, to his transition to laptop-generated static noise at the turn of the century, Merzbow has consistently push…
Trollpietra
For some time now, a strange music has been resonating in HDK's headquarters; a music where dungeon-synth, house and techno rave meet in a blasphemous yet juicy cocktail... The caves of the Trollpietra are a sordid and unhealthy place, inhabited by creatures of the night and strange homeless spirits. Trollpietra caves were once the laboratory of a mad herbalist who distilled magical potions which he sold in the county black market. Before dying, the mad herbalist hid his most incredible and dang…
Live at I.U.C.C. 4/27/80 (2CD)
**333 copies, one-time pressing** Volume 11. 2 disc set documenting the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra in concert at the Immanuel United Church of Christ - April 27, 1980. This is the eleventh and final concert that Tom Albach recorded at Immanuel United Church of Christ. Easily ranking as one of our favorite performances of the series, its also destined to be considered one of the greatest Arkestra live recordings, brimming with intense energy and culminating in the 1-2 punch of a blazing “Lelan…
Live at IUCC 11/25/79 (2CD)
** 333 copies, one-time pressing ** 2CD SET in gatefold slipcase 2 disc set documenting the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra in concert at the Immanuel United Church of Christ - November 25, 1979. This is the eighth in a series of eleven concerts recorded at the church. This month sees the Arkestra stretching out and reaching blissful heights… the 30+ minute long version of “Carnival” is worth the price of admission alone, but the same could be said for the monumental “Nation Rising” or the deep ta…
Moonbuilding - Back to School 2023
Cor. Issue Four. There’s some parenting wisdom that says after you’ve had three children you might as well have a few more as it makes no odds. Four to six is the sweet spot, apparently. Less stress they say. So here’s to our fourth. Check back in on those stress levels when we get to six. Mags, not kids. Do we need to remind you that Moonbuilding is brought to you by former Electronic Sound commissioning editor Neil Mason and published by Colin Morrison’s Castles In Space label? Or is that the…
Insula Dulcamara
Paul Klee’s Naturstudium (1923) recalibrated the dialogue between art-making and the natural world. By peering closely at nature, Klee’s project was one of a magical de-mystification, seemingly a contradiction in terms until you realize that by looking clearly and dispassionately (the studium part of Naturstudium), he brought us full circle to wonder and awe. Spanish percussionist Luis Tabuenca also peers inward at his world—here the universe of percussion sounds—inviting us to a microscopic lis…
Mental EU
New output from Primorje, the collaborative project between Giovanni Donadini (Ottaven, Canedicoda) and Matteo Castro (Mercury Hall, Lettera 22, also founder of Second Sleep label).
Aún Es Tiempo De Soñar
*200 copies limited release* Aún es tiempo de sonar marks the beginning of the end for the Argentinean Banana: the end of their mass popularity, having been recognized until 1978 (and still going) as one of the most trending outfits in Argentina thanks to their ballad-driven compositions, and the beginning of a wholly new orientation in a symphonic prog vein. César Pueyrredón’s, the mastermind and Banana’s main composer, passion for melody and his unique romantic style were the main drivers behi…
Alpha Centaury
*300 copies limited release* We brought you Rialzu, Skryvania, Cheval Fou, and now it’s time for the first vinyl reissue of Alpha Centauri’s diamond: Alpha Centaury. Originally privately released in a limited pressing of 300 copies in 1976, and equally hard-to-find as the aforementioned titles this gem is shrouded in mystery, for the simple reason that Alpha Centauri didn’t even pursue publicity during their short-lived existence. Yet, being equipped with extremely scarce resources, including ha…
Inner Cop Avoidance
An anonymous ICA fan writes in a reddit post, that if you layer these two voices on top of each other and play KP’s voice backwards the band members will speak in unison saying, “we mean there are footsteps while we stand still”. This was suggested a short time after the band played their first concert back in 2022. A few weeks later in another chat someone suggests how the ICA acronym could be understood as a counterabreviation of CIA, “… a music to infiltrate a secret police force?”… Then a ce…
Jazz-Funk from Luxembourg 1981-1986
*300 copies limited edition* Tucked away in a corner of northwestern Europe and so small you could drive through it in minutes without noticing you were ever there, Luxembourg is often overlooked. This is also true for Luxembourg’s music scene, and even more so in the early 1980s. Aside from a string of victories at the annual Eurovision song contest or the mighty Radio Luxembourg that had for decades been blasting jazz, rock and other modern music into stolid Western European ears, very little …
If I Had A Pair Of Wings: Jamaican Doo Wop, Vol. 2
Repressed by popular demand! Lauren Laverne's comp of the week on BBC Radio 6 Music w/c 11th Jan.
Psychoacoustic Electronics
Tip! *300 copies limited edition* Andy Ortmann owns Nihilist Records, of whom we also reviewed The New Blockaders and Diana Rogerson's works last week. And before I say anything about the music on this album, I would love to show you a bit of the inside of my head. Because when I read the title of this impressive triple vinyl totalling over two hours of music, I was thinking about something completely different. So: What is psychoacoustic music, and how do psychoacoustic electronics fit into the…
FasFari
Tip! *150 copies limited release* Xing presents the new LP FasFari by Alessandro Bosetti, thirteenth release of the XONG collection - artist records. The release is on white vinyl, in a limited and numbered edition of 150 copies, together with a print run of 20 collector's editions. Each of these are accompanied with a graphic and text table, designed and hand drawn by the artist with phonetic alphabet, that transcribe the memories of his encounter with each 'voice donor’.
FasFari is composed of…
Embrace
Mega tip! *300 copies limited edition* ‘This celebration of the group’s 30th anniversary is composed entirely of recent works, but each will move around in time as well as in form, in ways that belong to traditions of both improvised and composed music, but also in ways that belong distinctively to this group. It demonstrates breadth and depth that suggest great temporal reach, embracing musical values that touch the art’s ritual origins and offering a sense of ongoing relevance and renewal. Tru…
Amulet
The music released as Amulet (or The Amulet Edition) is Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson's semi-secret testament. Originally available in exceedingly limited quantities at live shows and via direct mail-order in 2008 as a hand-assembled 4 miniCDR set housed in a circular Thai Amulet case and never properly distributed, the material finally receives the wider re-release on vinyl and CD it so richly deserves. Only the second and sadly already the final release in his post-Coil solo guise as The Thres…
Penny OST
*100 copies limited edition* Penny is a feature documentary directed by Maya Hardinge. It follows the life of Penny from a teenager living in Uckfield (UK) to Germany and overland by truck in the 1970’s through Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and full circle years later back to her home town. The soundtrack, like the film, is a collage, composed of sounds and events depicting Penny’s journey. While the recently released cassette on woodfordhalse foregrounds Penny’s voice by incorporating generou…