listen records

…..pick of the week…..

*keiji haino/jim o’rourke/oren ambarchi – imikuzushi – black truffle – lp
– limited gatefold double lp version with printed innersleeves. “the yearly summit of keiji haino, jim o’rourke and oren ambarchi continues with imikuzushi, which finds the group extending the power-trio strategies of 2011’s highly-praised in a flash everything comes together as one there is no need for a subject and bringing to them a newly-sustained intensity. for this performance, haino limits himself to electric guitar and vocals, forming complex networks of slashing rhythm work, noise squall and chromatic shredding, moving at times to near-silent passages of howled vocals and isolated, hanging guitar strums. the tendency towards driving free-rock which surfaced on moments of the trio’s last release is cemented here, with o’rourke’s fuzzed-out, non-linear bass riffing moving the music into almost garage-rock areas, combining with ambarchi’s drums to form a bedrock of hypnotic, metronomic pounding which transforms itself effortlessly into passages of flowing free-time. like all of haino’s best work, the trio transcends any ‘rock’ genre exercise to enter a non-idiomatic zone of ritual intensity, creating a music formed purely out of instrumental and group-mind possibility. presented as four unedited excerpts salvaged from an epic show that lasted well over three hours, the sometimes raw nature of the recording only adds to its directness and harshly emotive quality.” –francis plagne, melbourne, november, 2011. design by stephen o’malley (sunn o)))) with high quality live shots by ujin matsuo and stunning images by tokyo-based photographer and sound artist shunichiro okada.

…..new arrivals…..

a place to bury strangers – onwards to the wall – dead oceans – lp/cd
       – packs every bit of the searing sonic maelstrom listeners have come to expect (nay, demand!) from brooklyn’s a place to bury strangers. yet, the adroit songcraft that’s always been there is brought more the fore, pop hooks are repurposed and more instantly recognizable.
laurel aitken – calypso rock & roll: early mento recordings – rumble – lp
– “unmissable singles collection documenting the early days of the man the world will always remember as the ‘godfather of ska’. this is a must-have for anyone willing to know more on the origins of rocksteady and ska.”
laurel aitken – boogie in my bones: early steps of the godfather of ska – rumble – lp
– “more of the r&b and early mento singles by the godfather of jamaican ska. chronicling his last twelve months before leaving the island in 1960, this collection includes his collaborations with legendary jamaican producers such as chris blackwell and duke reid, confirming his calypso leanings, but also anticipating that pronounced guitar offbeat heralding the approach of ska.”
*the caretaker – patience (after sebald) – history always favours the winners – lp
– kirby returns in 2012 with his long-in-the-making soundtrack to grant gee’s film about w.g. sebald. patience (after sebald) is a multi-layered film essay on landscape, art, history, life and loss by the acclaimed documentary film-maker grant gee. grant approached the caretaker to work on a soundtrack for this work and he sourced out-of-copyright franz schubert works from 1927 including the famous work “winterreise.” the soundtrack has been pieced together using snippets and fragments of this source material.
cloud nothings – attack on memory – carpark – lp/cd
– new album from this band that now actually functions as a band… for fans of drive like jehu, jawbreaker, braid, etc.
*esperit! – endavant continu – bankrobber – lp
– “one-man-band recording this first album that features a collection of sounds (accidentally) recorded between 2005 and 2011 in various places such as highway stops, swimming pools, in the forest, and occasionally in a studio as well!!! it obviously has that home-made lo-fi feel, and it’s a great mix of electric and acoustic psychedelia, trippy folk and real people vibe all way through. vinyl release is limited to 500 copies only.”
kenneth higney – attic demonstration – one kind favor – lp
– “often considered the holy grail of ‘real people’ records, kenneth higney’s attic demonstration was never actually intended to be an official release. it was recorded as a vehicle with which to sell higney’s songs to other artists and was only pressed to vinyl in 1976 when he grew tired of duplicating cassette tapes. attic demonstration is a strange sonic world all of its own. it is neither too weird to be unappealing to ‘regular’ music listeners nor is it one of those discoveries that leaves you wondering what all the hype was about. acoustic guitar ballads of nearly atonal desolation mix readily with rock ‘n’ roll numbers featuring hiccuping drums and alien sounding electric guitar.”
house of low culture – poisoned soil – taiga – lp+12″
– holc is the long-running solo project of aaron turner (isis, mamiffer, lotus eaters, etc.) and poisoned soil is their first proper album to be released in nearly a decade. the three lengthy compositions within conjure a wide variety of spatial effects and spectral imagery when experienced under headphones: distant rumblings, ominous premonitions and strange equilibrium disturbances, all underscored by the hiss of naked electrical current. pressed on 200 gram virgin vinyl, poisoned soil is presented as a grand lp+12″ set with spot colors, printed innersleeves and flooded pockets in an edition of 500.
perispirit – spiritual church movement – digitalis – lp
– new collaboration from ricardo donoso and luke moldof, following on from releases for prurient’s hospital productions label. the album is a highly disjointed meeting of analog and digital production techniques recalling autechre at their most progressive.
wendy rene – after laughter comes tears – light in the attic – lp/cd
– subtitled: complete stax & volt singles & rarities 1964-65. “first ever anthology of southern soul legend wendy rene including eleven singles, nine rarities and two unreleased songs. listen, delve and enjoy. glorious mono sound restored and remastered from the original tapes.”
*saga – s/t – acid nightmare – lp
– cult swedish heavy progressive rock group saga’s super rare lone album released back in 1974. a rich blend of prog/fusion, heavy acid blues and dark folk-rock, making this a must-have in any collection of ’70s proto-metal and prog-rock as well. limited to 400 copies, in remastered sound and original artwork.
john k. sampson – provincial – anti – lp/cd
– new solo album from john k of the weakerthans.
ulrich schnauss & mark peters – underrated silence – bureau b – lp+cd
– underrated silence is a quiet album, for the most part. its multi-layered fabric reveals something new every time one listens to it — a wealth of fresh discoveries, new rhythms emerging from the sound cloud, hitherto unnoticed melodies illuminating the background. schnauss and peters have crafted music which is enchanting in the truest sense of the word — shimmering sounds, floating echoes, rhythmically reverberant chords which wrap themselves around the listener, lifting you into a state of suspension and carrying you gently away.
sound ceremony – s/t – one kind favor – lp
– “canadian born guitarist and songwriter ron warren ganderton’s 1979 lp with his group sound ceremony. ganderton self-released three lps with the band while living in the uk during the 1970s and ’80s. all of the group’s efforts are undeniably unique, but their middle record is the true brain-damaged winner of the bunch. the record surely fits somewhere into the uk punk explosion of the day, but it’s also looks back to the mid-sixties rock that ton cut his teeth on and ahead to some sort of maniac future form of entertainment that perhaps has not been invented yet.”
*sunn o))) – 00void – southern lord – lp/2cd
– much needed reissue of these doom monsters’ second album. deluxe double cd contains the nurse with wound remixes.
twilight sad – no one can ever know – fat cat – lp/cd
       –  the twilight sad’s third full-length, marks a sonic shift for the band. freshly inspired by a listening diet of cabaret voltaire, can, liars, magazine, autechre, and public image limited, the band turn to a dark, synth-heavy sound; the resulting lp shares thematic and sonic space with the most innovative offerings from depeche mode, the cure, or even nine inch nails.
vazz/la bambola del dr. caligari – whisper not/the wrong holiday – forced nostalgia – lp
– the fourth release from archival imprint forced nostalgia. a-side features vazz’s absolutely incredible “lost” album of casio-pop from 1982. while the b-side features 5 tracks of mid-’80s gloom-pop and slow-wave from Italy’s la bambola del dr. caligari
various – beat frauleins: female pop in germany 1964-1968 – grosse freiheit – lp/cd
– following two funky fräuleins compilations, the time has come for the beat fräuleins. back we go, deep into the ’60s, when the beat forced its way into the innocent world of german schlager, when the rhythm grew hotter and the lyrics sharper, the drums louder and the guitar more distorted. beat fräuleins brings together 19 highlights of the era.

…..used goodies…..

luke abbott – holkham drones – border community – lp
aleph-1 (aka alva noto) – s/t – ideal/raster-noton – 2lp
alva noto – unitxt – raster-noton – lp
alva noto – xerrox vol 1 – raster-noton – lp
alva noto – xerrox vol 2 – raster-noton – lp
antony & the johnsons – the crying light – secretly canadian – lp
asura – s/t –  non projects – lp
devendra banhart – nino rojo & rejoicing in the hands – young god – 2lp
devendra banhart – oh me oh my… – young god – lp
black boned angel – eternal love – riot season – lp
blank realm – heatless ark – not not fun – lp
the books – the way out – temporary residence – lp
karl bosmann – eskalation – youdon’thavetocallitmusic – lp
william s. burroughs – break through in grey room – sub rosa – lp
byetone – plastic star – raster-noton – 12″
codes in the clouds – as the spirit wanders – erased tapes – lp
nicolas collins – devil’s music – em – 2lp
donnacha costello – color series – minimise – 10×12″
denzel & huhn – filet – city centre offices – lp
deru – pushing air – neo ouija – lp
dictaphone – m.=addiction – city centre offices – lp
expressway yo yo dieting – bubblethug – weird forest – lp
fridge – happiness – temporary residence – lp
fridge – the sun – temporary residence – lp
gavouna – stings & dum machines – arable – lp
jose gonzalez – in our nature – mute – lp
robert henke – atom/document – imbalance – lp (sealed)
land of kush – monogamy – constellation – 2lp
larsen – LLL – important – lp
monolake – atlas – imbalance – lp (sealed)
monolake – silence – imbalance – lp (sealed)
sandro perri – plays polmo polpo – constellation – lp
pinch – underwater dancehall (instrumentals) – tectonic – lp
portishead – third – mercury – lp
sam prekop – old punch card – thrill jockey – lp
psychic reality – vibrant new age – not not fun – lp
puzzle muteson – en garde – bedroom community – lp
rockford kabine – italian music – combination – lp
arthur russell – first thought, best thought – audika – 3lp (sealed)
collie ryan – the hour is now – sebastian speaks – lp
silver mt zion – 13 blues for thirteen moons – constellation – lp
joseph suchy – entskidoo – entenpfuhl – lp
sunken foal – fallen arches – planet mu – lp
tecumeh – avalanche and inundation – important – lp
tomutonttu – s/t – beta lactum ring – lp
torngat – la petite nicole – alien 8 – lp
triple burner – s/t – madrona – lp
alexander tucker – grey onion – latitudes – lp
ultralyd – conditions for a piece of music – rune grammofon – lp
valet – naked acid – marriage – lp
moritz von oswald trio – vertical ascent
various – music de wolfe vol 1 – de wolfe – lp
various – dramatic funk themes vol 1 – show up – lp
various – killing melody – ethbo – lp