….news letter #536 – bend it like bender…..

howdy all,

well, not nearly as much in this week as last, thankfully, as the bins are over flowing at the moment. still, we can’t go even a few days without at least something showing up. this morning i received my much awaited box from vinyl-on-demand which made my week…. so much so that i finished this news letter at 3pm… 3pm!!! perhaps it will make yours as well.

…..pick of the week…..


*john bender – memories of mindless mechanical monologues 1976-1985 – vinyl-on-demand – 7lp book folder
– i’m going to say it… REISSUE OF THE YEAR!!!! “this outstanding deluxe box-set delivers an excellent and extensive overview of john benders music-output recorded between 1976-1985. john bender is without any doubt, the protagonist, if not the inventor of a whole musical-genre known as cold minimal wave/synth. his synthesizer-sounds already carried elements of techno and acid-beats while techno was still to be invented a decade later. his voice and his partially sentimental and mourning lyrics made his music to something outstanding and extraordinary, unheard before in this mixture. his three self-released lp’s “i don’t remember now” (1980), “plaster falling” (1981) and “pop surgery” (1983) are a must-have for every serious collector and interested person in such cold-wave/minimal-synth/techno-sounds. the lp’s “plaster falling“ and “pop surgery“ contain selections from several tape-releases known as “plaster: the prototypes“ (1981), “packing list” (1982), “at the 4th street cage 1/83” (1983) & “do the cage” (1983) which compiled many of his recordings done between 1979 and 1983. the 7lp-folder-set includes all and even extended versions from those three lp’s released on his own label record sluts plus most of his recordings from the 4 official tape-releases mentioned. in addition to these official vinyl and tape-releases the box also contains an extract of the soundtrack-recording to “johnny vortex” (1985) as well as tracks from two archive-tapes with previously unreleased material recorded in 1976 (pre record-sluts) and 1978.” if you’ve ever seen a vinyl-on-demand boxset you know that these things are made with the highest attention to detail. beautifully packaged sets shipped with the lps outside the box so that nothing gets damaged before you get your hands on it. this set is even more astounding seeing as until now, john bender was essentially a phantom, but now there are notes from john himself! highest recommendation!!!!


*pye corner audio – black mill tapes volumes 1 & 2 – type – 2lp
– got this last week, but didn’t spin it until after the news letter went out….. “not much is known about the shadowy figure of the head technician, the man supposedly behind pye corner audio. there are rumors that in another life he was an engineer to the stars, and while that can’t be verified, there’s certainly an air of expertise in this bumper set of productions. black mill tapes volumes 1 & 2 were originally released by the technician himself, and have been picked up for a very special vinyl release. these collect the first handfuls of tracks from the pye corner audio vaults, and are a perfect introduction to the head technician’s fuzzy radiophonic funk. while pye corner audio might be loosely associated with the much-lauded ghost box collective, his music is more difficult to pin down. at times, the dusty soundscapes bring to mind the flickering intro to mid-’60s doctor who, but at others, you’re catapulted into a dodge-driving, neon-flecked u.s. road movie circa 1979. it’s an enviable concoction of genres, with the muted 4/4 pulse of theo parrish sitting happily alongside the wired electro of the other people place and the cracked, home-spun ambience of early boards of canada. somehow though, our head technician uses his technical know-how to pull it off, and emerges with a collection of tracks that is far more than an exercise in retro-fetishism. black mill tapes are a collection of long-lost club records, engineered solely for the woozy drive home — 4 a.m., long highways and bright lights. just leave ryan gosling out of it. cut at dubplates & mastering and pressed up in an edition of 700 copies only. ” killer library/bbc meets electroc kinda vibes… straight up 80s b-movie soundtrack action.
…..new arrivals…..

*evan caminiti – night dust – immune – lp
– “with night dust, his debut for Immune, caminiti shifted the focus away from amplifier worship and the desert themes his work is often associated with to focus on texture, fractured dub techniques, and spacious electric guitar compositions. recorded entirely to 4 track cassette, caminiti embraced the limitations of the medium and warped the original sound sources with analog electronics, searching for beauty in the hazy and degraded sounds. inspiration came from smokey blue hues and washed out lights of some of the ’80s best vampire movies which contributes to the visually evocative narrative flow the album possesses.”
*clock dva – horology 1978-1980 – vinyl-on-demand – 6lp book folder
– includes clock dva’s first four official tape-releases released plus additional 78-80 archive-material. it covers the earliest stage of clock dva, a time of extreme sounds, noises and subversive ideas & images that will definitely be a mind-blowing revelation to all those that think to know clock dva’s work and history and leads you to the earliest s roots of new wave and industrial music, a time when only a handful of true pioneers where working such as throbbing gristle, pere ubu, the pop group.
david daniell & doug mccombs – versions – thrill jockey – lp
– “david daniell and douglas mccombs’s first collaborative lp, sycamore, was assembled from seven hours of in-studio improvisations. daniell and mccombs sifted through the material looking for their favorite moments, then combined, cross faded, mixed, and matched those moments into something that made sense to them as a long player. for their new release, the double lp versions, they gave the same seven hours of material to noted recording engineer and producer bundy k. brown (ex-tortoise), who was given free rein to assemble an lp of his choosing (subject to approval, of course).”
heavy blanket – s/t – outer battery – cd
–  j mascis rounds up a couple partners-in-crime from his adolescence with an eye – and ear – towards shredding harder, wailing louder, and generally melting faces even more brutally than ever before. stoner dirtbags cloaked in mystery, j’s longtime buddies pete cougar and johnny pancake lay down the heavy rhythm base for j’s massive licks and blistering guitar mastery. ever wondered what ‘band of gypsies’ would sound like if you mixed it up with japanese hard psych and smoked it through a giant power bong? well, now you know. don’t say we didn’t warn you.
*ilaiyaraaja – fire star: synth-pop and electro-funk from tamil films 1985-1989 – bombay connection – cd
– indian film music invariably manages to take you by surprise, time and time again. hard electro-funk and sweet synth-pop are not genres you would expect from india. yet, in the late ’80s, electronic beats and synths were eagerly embraced by the film industry of south india along with kung fu fights, aerobics, sunglasses and jogging outfits. the rich and funky tamil grooves of the early ’80s transformed into stripped electronic synthesizer music. composer ilaiyaraaja aka “the maestro” used minimal beats and synthetic arrangements to create an addictive and captivating electro synth-pop sound. his experimental mind, unfailing pop instinct and advanced harmonics make the songs a feast for the ears that will grow with every listen.
*t.r. mahalingam – portrait of a prodigy – em – lp
– the music on this release consists of the earliest recordings by flautist t.r. mahalingam, a legendary figure in the carnatic music of south india, one of the world’s great musical traditions. mahalingam, known as “mali” to his legions of fans and admirers, was a musician who revered these traditions yet opened new realms, raising the flute to levels of voice-like expressivity. portrait of a prodigy: his early years, 1940-50s reissues, for the first time, recordings from the mid-1940s to the mid-1950s and show mali at the peak of his powers, his acclaimed technical skills and rich tone at the service of his immense melodic and rhythmic gifts.
nurse with wound/graham bowers – rupture – united dirter – lp
– the first collaboration of steven stapleton’s nurse with wound and composer/sculptor graham bowers is now available as a very limited double vinyl lp in a special edition for record store day 2012 (well, it was pressed a couple weeks late, sorry). rupture is an attempt to create a musical illustration of the “goings-on” in the brain during the last hour and three minutes of life after suffering a major stroke. it is multi-layered and is primarily concerned with the internal chaos caused by the loss of control of thought processes, responses and consequential actions, with all types of incoherent disjointed memories and present real-time events — as well as moments of lucidity, panic and fear — clashing, merging and evolving. limited to 500 copies.
orchestre super borgou de parakou – the bariba sound – analog africa – lp
– now in on vinyl! analog africa presents a collection of ’70s afro sounds from benin’s defining and seminal orchestre super borgou de parakou. combines bariba and dendi linguistic folklore with soul, pachanga, breakbeats, afro-beat and rumba. remastered to recreate the energy of the band’s live sound and includes analog africa’s signature full-color booklet.
micah blue smaldone/big blood – split – immune – lp
– “this brand new split lp features new sides of material from both micah blue smaldone and big blood. this is the first new material from micah blue smaldone since his acclaimed album the red river. he is currently working on a new full length album. the lp is limited to only 500 copies pressed on high quality virgin vinyl at rti and presented in an uncoated stock lp jacket with a free download card.”
squarepusher – ufabulam – warp – cd
– “widely heralded as a ‘return to form’ legendary electronic artist squarepusher has designed his latest lp as the next stage in his iconic lineage and as an awe inspiring live show. from the inception of ufabulum, he has worked simultaneously on sound and picture. the project features a development of a longstanding aspect of his live work since 2005, the bespoke ‘video-synthesiser’ that generates imagery according to control data and audio input. custom designed himself, the imagery for each piece has two components, one represented on a large LEDled screen and the other on a screen mount.”
sugarman 3 – what the world needs now – daptone – lp/cd
– “after years of research, ten to be exact, it came to our attention that everyone’s favorite funky instrumentalists, the sugarman 3 hadn’t released a new lp in some time. well, of course!!! how could we have been so neglectful to our fans? within hours of this epiphany daptone brass had the boys back in the studio. with only eight tape tracks, a handful of peanuts, and a bottle of high proof dutch schnapps these gentlemen flexed their musical maturity–writing and tracking the entire album in four days. there were tears shed, and blood spilled over those four fateful sessions, but we’re happy to report that what went down is some of the finest instrumental tunes ever laid to tape.”
sidi toure – koima – thrill jockey – lp
– “koima is the natural progression from sahel folk, as sidi has moved from an album of duets, recorded all in one take in his sister’s home in gao, to a quintet recorded in a studio in bamako. with koima, the intent was to record a different side of songhai music from the style captured on sahel folk. thanks to the simplicity and the sobriety of sahel folk, listeners heard the songhai music in its purer form, its sparse soul exposed to everyone. on koima, the music is still distinctly gao, but represented this time in a much richer and luxuriant way.”
patrick watson – adventures in your own backyard – secret city – lp/cd
– new album from this polaris prize winner. made at home after a grueling five-year run that saw patrick and his band tour the world in support of two critically-acclaimed and successful albums. in patrick’s own words, adventures… is an effort on the band’s part to “make the kind of music we would want to listen to at home.” the album’s title is an obvious nod to this.
the wire #340 – mag
– “on the cover: r stevie moore (matthew ingram charts the remarkable life of the lo-fi pioneer through 35 years and over 400 releases of homemade radio rock and warped power pop). features: annea lockwood (julian cowley hears about protest, process and psychoacoustics); bass clef. invisible jukebox: jan jelinek (which of the many aliases of the berlin based electronic music polymath will respond to the wire’s mystery record selection?)”

…..restocks…..

*13th floor elevators – psychedelic sound of – charly – 2cd
*ilyas ahmed – with endless – immune – lp
*mahmoud ahmed – ere mela – l’arome – lp
*art fleury – i luoghi del… – die schachtel – cd
jane birkin – di doo dah – light in the attic – cd
*big black – songs about fucking – touch & go – lp
black flag – my war – sst – lp
black flag – the first four years – sst – lp
black flag – slip it in – sst – lp
*brast burn – debon – phoenix – lp
mac demarco – rock and roll night club – captured tracks – lp
*drive like jehu – yank crime – swami – cd
dr john – locked down – nonesuch – lp+cd
*thonghuad faited – diew sor isan – em – lp
husker du – zen arcade – sst – lp
jade – fly on strangewings – guerssen – lp
sharon jones – 100 days, 100 nights – daptone – cd
sharon jones – soul time! – daptone – cd
*fred mcdowell – alan lomax recordings – mississippi – lp
neutral milk hotel – in an aeroplane over the sea – merge – lp
john k samson – provincial – anti – lp/cd
*mustapha skandrani – istikhbars & improvisations – em – lp
sonic boom – spectrum – vinilisssmo – lp
*sunn o))) – monoliths & dimensions – southern lord – lp
*tinariwen – tassili – anti – lp
ugly things #32 – mag
*scott walker – 4 – fontana – cd
*various – eight trails, one path – three lobed – lp
various – minimal wave tapes vol 2 – stones throw – lp
*various – prix italia – die schachtel – 6cd+book

thanks for listening…..

listen records
10443a – 124 street
edmonton, ab
t5n 1r7
780.732.1132

listenrecords.net
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