howdy all,
as we head into summer, there are two important things to note… don’t leave your vinyl in your car for long periods, especially in the sun, and secondly, and more importantly… our air conditioning is on full blast all summer and it’s nice and cooooooooool in here.
…..pick of the week…..
*fabio frizzi – zombi 2 – death waltz – lp
– “one off pressing of 1000, 140 gm vinyl re-mastered and pressed at 45 rpm for maximum stereo destruction. comes with a2 (42 x 60 cm) poster of cover artwork. the first time this classic soundtrack to the notorious lucio fulci video nasty has ever been made available on vinyl to collectors. this soundtrack is one of the holy grails of italian cinema with the maestro fabio frizzi delivering a dizzyingly brilliant soundtrack that can hold its own with anything released by john carpenter or goblin. cover art by legendary uk poster artist graham humphreys who was responsible for the original cinema posters for the evil dead, nightmare on elm street 1-5 and return of the living dead. exclusive sleeve notes from composer fabio frizzi and renowned italian horror expert stephen thrower.”
*sir richard bishop – the unrock tapes – unrock – lp
– “after having released records on labels such as locust, drag city and john fahey’s revenant, richard bishop’s…. the unrock tapes… contains eight complete tracks, six of which are highlights taken from earlier tour cdrs that were released on micro-editions years ago. they have never been available on vinyl. two completely new and unreleased songs make this album even more special. bishops guitar playing skills contain a variety of influences. they could arouse the absurd impression that his work has something to do with what one would call ‘world music’. but his playing gets its fire and fascination from being irreverent in bishop’s unique way. the spirit of his former outfit sun city girls is still floating through the album, even if it is not the musical intention, however it gives an impression of an underlying ever increasing and developing personal signature. on the one hand, bishop uses influences respectfully (omar khorshid) and on the other hand his style is typically disrespectful. his guitar playing is delicate and hybrid; because of his subtle skills bishop is able to express himself in a wide range of styles without losing authenticity. that his ragas fray out and end up in distortion and his flamenco sounds arabic, is also part of his game. bishop is a grand-seigneur of the modern american underground and a big part of its substance and integrity. he is a magician with his guitar; still a winking prankster. variable and never too predictable. that is also what makes him special. unrock in its purest form. released in a limited pressing of 500 copies in 140g clear, virgin vinyl.”
…..new arrivals…..
john barry – stringbeat – doxy – lp
– “while john barry’s name is most widely associated with the james bond films (to which he wrote most of the soundtracks) he is also well known for his work on other award-winning films like midnight cowboy, dances with wolves, out of africa, and the 1960 cult flick beat girl. here barry serves up a cool slice of instrumental lounge music (think james bond’s bachelor pad), featuring tunes by the top songwriters of his day, as well as his own compositions.”
*blue phantom – distortions – kismet – cd
– this legendary 1971 album was recorded by unknown musicians in milan, for use as incidental music in films, television and radio. an astounding blend of creepy grooves and distorted guitar, it was released in tiny numbers in italy, france and the uk, and is highly sought-after by collectors today. this welcome reissue comes complete with the only other track released under the blue phantom name.
dean blunt & inga copeland – black is beautiful – hyperdub – lp
– “after three albums for as many labels, dean blunt and inga copeland, also of the group hype williams, release their debut hyperdub lp, black is beautiful. black is beautiful is laced with their signature hazy glow and is full of crunched eurovision lullabies, kinetic drum machine jams, unsettling funk, smeared walls of synth, moments of unadulterated opiated bliss, mogadon rap, infinite coughs and insights into the odd sexual behaviour of crackers.”
*demdike stare & slant azymuth – make do and mend ep1 – make do – 12″
– influenced entirely by 3 classic self-funded hauteur projects from the finders keepers archive miles whittaker, sean canty and andy votel take three conceptual works by independent creatives jp massiera, billy green and sandy harbutt and bruno spoerri (switzerland) and dissect, re-contextualise and re-stitch some of their finest home-produced historical projects spanning 5 decades of manmade and self-motivated patchwork expermiantal pop.
christian fennesz – aun: the beginning and the end of all things – ash – cd
– fennesz’s score of the film aun: the beginning and the end of all things — a 100 min., 35mm feature drama written/directed by the austrian artist/filmmaker, edgar honetschläger. telling the story of mankind’s quest for the future, his desire to create the tomorrow, his fear of and loathing for the apocalypse.
johann johannsson – copenhagen dreams – ntov – lp
– composer/producer/multi-instrumentalist johann johannsson is one of iceland’s most prolific creative musicians, both as a solo artist and composer, presents the soundtrack to max kestner’s “city symphony,” copenhagen dreams. the album features music for string quartet, clarinet, celeste, keyboards and electronics and was recorded with some of johann’s favorite icelandic musicians. issued only on vinyl.
*kluster – zwei osterei – bureau b – lp
– essential vinyl reissue!!! zwei osterei is the second half of a recording session which took place on a single day in november 1970. klopfzeichen is the first part (coming soon!). yet the uncompromising zwei osterei surpasses the earlier klopfzeichen album by some distance in terms of its harsh noisiness and near brutal sonic attacks. how unsettling kluster’s music must have been for the professional avant-garde of the period (music journalists, critics etc.). kluster turned pretty much everything associated with so-called progressive pop music on its head. no song structure, no rhythm, little more than muffled pulsation. still no electronic instruments, just guitar, drums and non-musical sonic sources as kluster unleash a sound spectacle which anticipates the industrial artists who emerged some years later. back in 1970, kluster could not have known that they were setting in motion a process which would endure until the present day. but they no doubt hoped as much.
*thomas koner – novaya zemlya – touch – cd
– novaya Zemlya (lit. “new land”), is an archipelago in the arctic ocean in the north of russia and the extreme northeast of europe, the easternmost point of europe, lying at cape flissingsky on the northern island. of course we find the unique köneresque glowing drones that we know from his previous works. but we will also be touched by an unrevealed, barely perceptible sense of melody and harmony that köner has gradually developed since kaamos and nuuk.”
konkoma – s/t – soundway – cd
– rooted in 1970s ghana, konkoma is the brainchild of saxophonist max grunhard and producer ben lamdin (nostalgia 77). the idea was to create a band around two highly-esteemed ghanaian musicians — alfred bannerman and emmanuel rentzos. konkoma adds a progressive edge to their rich blend of afro-funk, jazz, soul and traditional african rhythms as well as acknowledging the ’70s recordings that spawned the sound.
jurgen muller – science of the sea – digitalis – cd
– now available on cd…. “jürgen müller was a self-taught amateur musician who, while studying oceanic science at the university of kiel, purchased some electronic instruments and set up a mobile studio on his house boat, docked along the town of heikendorf, on the north sea. for one week in 1979, jürgen took up with a film crew on a mission to document some sea-water toxicity testing that was being performed by a couple of notable biologists, only a few kilometers offshore. at the end of the expedition, he decided that he would make music to capture the strange feeling conjured by these experiences.”
marissa nadler – the sister – box of cedar – lp
– “a collection of eight new tracks subtly linked to last year’s self-titled critically acclaimed lp. ‘heartbreak is a great muse, but it can wear you down,’ she admits, referring to the stormy relationships that haunted many of the heavenly hooks on her most recent works. ‘for the sister, i realized i had muses all around me, whether it was childhood, betrayal, friendships, new love, nature, or hope. the narrator’s stronger in my songs now, and more able to bounce back if they choose to.” on the sister she keeps her confessionals as intimate as possible.
*gary sloan & cloan – harmonitalk – cache cache/finder keepers – lp
– alaska, 1980. the robotic harmonica and his clones have landed on glacier planes. meet mutant commander gary sloan – this is the dawn of harmonitalk! less than 1000 copies of this privately pressed alaskan electronic harmonica album by the tight-knit synth trio called clone actually survived the journey out of their anchorage base camp, leaving an explosive trail of unidentified synth pop, new age, low-fi blues, techno, vocoded folk funk and prog rock blazing behind them. see what happens when a homespun innocent blues collective become possessed by the souls of vangelis, klaus schulze and suzanne ciani on the frost bitten film set of john carpenter’s the thing.
small faces – ogden’s nut gone flake – charly – lp
– with the full co-operation of both surviving members, kenney jones and ian mclagan, the last five years have seen a massive program of tape recovery and upgrading. masters have been pulled in from all over the world. using these, it is now possible to represent all of the small faces’ original albums sounding better than at any time since the ’60s. ogdens’ nut gone flake, recorded in late 1967 and early 1968, and released in the summer of that year, is by far and away the small faces’ best-known and most successful album.
travel agency – s/t – kismet – cd
– this mysterious san francisco outfit formed in 1966, and issued several 45s before their sole album (produced by bread’s james griffin) appeared in november 1968. a classic set of beatles-influenced psychedelic pop, it boasts strong songs with plenty of fuzz guitar and atmospheric organ, and makes its long-awaited return to cd here, complete with five rare bonus tracks culled from non-album singles. digitally remastered.
*wicked lady – the axeman cometh – guerssen records – cd
– if you are looking for raw, psychedelic hard-rock, look no further — guerssen presents the complete recordings (1968-1972) from wicked lady, the legendary uk underground power trio led by ace guitarist martin weaver, later a member of dark on their round the edges album. the music here was originally recorded in 1968/1969 and features new artwork and liner notes by weaver, who tells the real (and bizarre!) story behind wicked lady for the first time. the stuff of legend, this is a real fest of fuzz, wah-wah and heavy riffs that will blow the mind of any hard-psych collector. vinyl soon.
*wicked lady – psychotic overkill – guerssen records – cd
– second volume to complete the anthology of wicked lady recordings, their final tracks recorded in 1972, just before the band split up and guitarist martin weaver left for dark. another batch of excessive, over-the-top, doom-y psychedelic hard-rock including underground classics like “i’m a freak” and the 21-minute epic “ship of ghosts.” maximum sound quality, new artwork and liner notes by psychedelic guitar god, martin weaver, telling the real story behind wicked lady for the first time.
*various – pulse emitter/date palms/expo 70/faceplant – immune – 2lp
– “this four way split 2lp was supposed to be released for record store day 2012 and features exclusive full sides of material from pulse emitter, date palms, expo 70, and faceplant (aaron coyes of peaking lights). packaged in a beautiful uncoated stock jacket featuring visual artwork by will hutchinson and is limited to only 1,000 copies worldwide with a free download coupon.”
…..euro import reissues…..
so, we drummed up some pretty interesting “reissues” of some pretty major titles that have not been reissued any other way and some of which originals sell for pretty big money. these all look really good and most are on colored vinyl. so many different things, i’m not going to bother listing them all here, but take my word for it, if you are reading this news letter you are probably interested in some of these.
…..restocks…..
*13th floor elevators – psychedelic sounds of – international artists – lp
beastie boys – check your head – capitol – lp
beastie boys – hello nasty – capitol – lp
beastie boys – ill communication – capitol – lp
big youth – screaming – sunspot – lp
*blonde redhead – in an expression of the inexpressible – touch & go – lp
*blonde redhead – melody of certain damaged lemons – touch & go – lp
david bowie – ziggy stardust – emi – lp
cadence weapon – hope in dirty city – upper class – cd
*can – the lost tapes – spoon – 3cd
caribou – andorra – merge – lp
caribou – swim – merge – lp
*susanne ciani – lixivation – finders keepers – lp
*clearlight – symphony – wah wah – lp
bob dylan – the original mono recordings – columbia – 8lp box
*franco falsini – cold nose – spectrum spools – lp
*faust – iv – virgin – lp
flaming lips – yoshimi battles the pink robots – warner – lp
*ilaiyaraaja – fire star – bombay connection – lp
isis – the red sea – second nature – lp
*perry leopold – experiment… – guerssen – lp
liars – wixiw – mute – lp
*dean mcphee – black peace – blast first – lp
of monsters & men – my head is an animal – universal – lp
nina simone – little girl blue – bethlehem – lp
*throbbing gristle – greatest hits – industrial – lp
jack white – blunderbuss – third man – lp
*witch – havoc – now again – 4cd
*peter zummo – zummo with an x – optimo – lp
*various – those shocking shaking days – now again – lp
thanks for listening…..
listen records
10443a – 124 street
edmonton, ab
t5n 1r7
780.732.1132