New Arrivals
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 …
Snow Blind
RESTOCKED!! Limited to 300 copies only "We haven't heard from New Zealand dronescaper Peter Wright in about a year. Well, it's been at least that long since we've reviewed one of his discs. Somehow two other Wright discs slipped through the cracks in that time though, which is a shame, since pretty much everything we've heard from Wright is fantastic. This latest double disc is no different Nine looooooong tracks spread out over two discs, most in the 15-20 minute range, which is ideal for Wrigh…
Dropsonde
2012 repress; originally released 2006. Biosphere is Norwegian composer and performer Geir Jenssen, and this is his fifth release for Touch. In the early 1990s he was a pioneer of so-called "ambient techno," but since then, he has refined his sound into something more magnetic and enduring. Dropsonde isn't a soundtrack like the interwoven Substrata nor an episodic journey in the way that Autour de la Lune is. Here Geir Jenssen is pushing new directions towards the jazz colors of Miles Davis a…
Monad
Wire's Bruce Gilbert restarts Touch's 7" series, which has previously seen highly collectable shortform releases from Mika Vainio, Fennesz, and Phillip Jeck. Following an Editions Mego reissue of his seminal mid '80s works and recent live outings, these two tracks comprise his first new material since 2009s 'Oblivio Obligatum' and find him working to typically stoic, yet subtly dynamic scheme of electronic sound art. Both tracks deliver cold, metallic drones with a "coruscating" resonance, all p…
Crossbow
Prurient (aka noise musician Dominick Fernow) has become one of the most well-known and influential names in the noise field. Anti-technology and anti-electricity. An unconventional use of banging objects together to create music; playing with live wire, pennies, frying pans, toolboxes, scrap metal, and used shotgun shells are an example of some of his instruments he has used before. On this new material sounds and voice gradually emerge, in a distant and threatening outhouse.
Banks Violette - TeamGallery & Gladstone Gallery, New York
This volume presents Violette's recent two-part exhibition at Barbara Gladstone and Team galleries in New York in 2007, and includes a 12-inch LP of his five-channel audio installation for Gladstone. Recorded at Team Gallery, it was composed and performed by frequent collaborator Stephen O'Malley of Sunn O))) with vocals by Attila Csihar.
Live at Cafe Oto
a rich, layered mesh of droning sound leaning towards the lower end of the scale that hangs together in a somewhat fragile manner. In many ways there can be detected some of the dynamics and stimuli present in modern noise music in what Oceans of Silver and Blood are doing. Indeed Nordwall has a partial background in this area, and both musicians took part in a very noisy conclusion to the Eight Hour Drone People concert I saw at Oto last winter, alongside the likes of Lasse Marhaug, thirty minu…
The Drive
Billed as a soundtrack to an imaginary road movie this latest album from Jon Egeskov's Pixel project (his third in all) reaches into your subconscious and yanks out whatever images are lodged in there. Using a basic palette of miniscule percussive elemnts and delicately manipulated amplifier hiss Egeskov instils a sense of gentle motion, sounding out dream-like engine noise that propels the listener down whatever shady lane they're prepared to venture down. The floating hum and crinkled analogue…
Tapes 81-89
A sumptuous 5-CD box-set covering the entire discography of the cult Absolute Body Control band. Influenced by bands from the German and UK electronic scene, Dirk Ivens (synths & voice) formed the band early 1980, and was joined by Mark de Jonghe (synths) and Veerle de Schepper (backing vocals). After a first track on a compilation and a first 7" single (Is there an exit?), Mark leaves the band and Eric van Wonterghem (who was in fact a spectator at the first ABC concert), filled in the gap…
Rose Pillar
180 Page Hardcover Book with 11" Record, featuring Kevin Drumm. What separates Dominick Fernows Prurient project from the rest of the contemporary underground cannon is its unyielding personal subject matter. From the inception of Prurient the concept has always utilized intimate details, photographs, letters and other ephemera culled from places where most artists would choose to obscure. Prurient draws these details into focus more than ever on Rose Pillar, a 180-page hardbound book of Fernows…
1979-1982
De Brassers are one of the most notorious bands in the Belgian new wave/punk history. With their no nonsense attitude they scared the shit out of the local catholic community of Hamont. De Brassers were a local mixture of the Sex Pistols (in the lowest gear) and Joy Division (they always performed a cover version of Joy Division’s Shadowplay), combining a criticism of bureaucracy and politics with experiences of psychological and existential tensions. The doomed sound they produced tells a lo…
Willow
Latest entry in Touch's bitesize Touch Sevens series, with typically lush cover design and photography by Jon Wozencroft. This one comes from NZ native Paul Douglas aka Rosy Parlane, and was recorded in Auckland back in 2008-9. 'Willow' is a blast, its radiant widescreen drones and shimmering surfaces - which corrode and curdle over the duration - calling to mind the work of labelmate BJ Nilsen. 'Morning' is more reserved, elegiac even; rotary organ tones and delicate processing conspire …
Alienology: Selected Works 1998-2008
Stunning collection of works from 1998 to 2008, MY CAT IS AN ALIEN's first decade of adventure in outer space and modern music. All ultra-rare and long-out-of-print material from space brothers Maurizio and Roberto Opalio finally available for the first time in digital format, including a previously unreleased gem entitled 'Where The Lines Go To Sleep' (2004).Starting from MY CAT IS AN ALIEN's 1999 first milestone 'Landscapes Of An Electric City' (originally spread throughout the world by Thurst…
I Luv Abortion / In The Flood With The Flood
A picture disc featuring artwork by David Horowitz and music from Xiu Xiu and Father Murphy. You get Xiu Xiu's "I Luv Abortion," backed with Father Murphy's "In the Flood With the Flood."
Passagen
Finally restocked, last copies around...Unmissable!!! Almost complete discography of P16.D4 collecting the classic recordings from 1982 til 1991 plus some unreleased recordings and a dvd of video footage never available before. "P16.D4 might not be an overly obscure name for those knowledgeable of the nascent industrial/experimental/noise scene of the early 1980s, but P16.D4 has not been as venerated as many contemporaries either. Monotype has jumped upon the opportunity to give this project th…
Live From New York
Two live Burning Star Core sets straight from Manhattan -- the Cakeshop 9/01/07 and Rehab 11/08/08. One set solo presentation, the other a duo line-up, featuring Robert Beatty (Three Legged Race, Hair Police). In chunky vinyl case with insert. Edition of 100.
Echoes In The Wonderland
As the album title could say, this is a way to the "wonderland" (also called as "the other side" - many names have been used during the history of humankind), which shouldn't be mixed with the adventure's of the famous Alice - though it might give some idea about what is going to happen, but that's just the start of it all - the start of nothing else but listener's mind. What are the "echoes" then? They are something which is coming from beyond to here where we stay - so the album is a link betw…
Repaired/Replaced
Touch presents a 7" from Mike Harding as part of the Touch Sevens series. Recorded in West Wittering in Balham using DPA 4060s onto a Nagra Ares P-ll digital recorder. Cut by Jason at Transition. Artwork & photography by Jon Wozencroft.
Flächen Mit Figuren
Beautifully minimal new work by Asmus Tietchens using layers and stretch out sound fields as a compositional basis and placing miniatures inside them. 54 minutes, 8 tracks, handnumbered edition in nice paper sleeve 300 copies.
Stand Before Me, Oh My Soul
Preservation's latest captures Italian experimentalist, Fabio Orsi in hungry, visceral form. Joined by Rich Baker's original drum loops, Fabio plays guitar, keyboards, voice and effects on eight relatively short, one might even say poppy, rock postures within an immersive ambient sound sphere. Considering that he's best known for lushly textured drone and ambient works 'Stand Before Me, Oh My Soul' is a hugely confident sideways shift into a new realm of more aggressive sonics with a def…