listen records

…..pick of the week…..

*tod dockstader – electronic volume 1 – mordant – lp
– awesome! killer reissue of this early electronic master’s library music… volume 2 to follow. “mordant music beautifully join the dots between the hauntological zeitgeist and original library music with the first of two vinyl reissues of seminal tape music by tod dockstader. born 1932 in saint paul, minneapolis, dockstader majored in psychology and art but would go on to explore his interests in painting and film as an apprentice editor in hollywood. this led to a job as a sound engineer in 1958, employed at gotham recording studios, where he started meticulously composing during long after-hours sessions. in 1960 his first lp ‘eight electronic pieces’ was issued on folkways records and later used to soundtrack federico fellini’s ‘satyricon’ in 1969, but his most famous piece of the ’60s was ‘quatermass’, completed in 1964 and later reissued in the ’90s. it formed part of a quartet of albums for owl records that were respectfully re-released by starkland, shedding overdue attention on a body of work which was dismissed at the time by the likes of otto luening and vladimir ussachevsky at columbia-princeton electronic music center for his lack of academic experience. this lp was first issued by library music label boosey & hawkes in 1979 after a long period of inactivity, and renders some 23 electronic cues of exceptional calibre, at once freaky, funky, spaced-out and wonderfully dramatic – and all coming from an avowed non-musician. much like daphne oram – another sonic autodidact who was also shunned by the establishment – dockstader’s music has a genuinely alien, ethereal quality that equally stems from his explorative naivety and a taste for evocative tone and structure, resulting in a phantastic sound which stands out from its era and has since fed forward into contemporary music, from mordant’s own productions, to the aesthetics of ghost box, public information, sub rosa and many more. this is a truly charming side rightfully in need of a loving reissue – saving us all the £70+ 2nd hand asking price!”

*shin joong hyun & yup juns – s/t – lion – lp
– spring of 1974 witnessed the birth of psychedelic power trio shin joong hyun & yup juns. “in korean, yupjun literally means a brass coin,” shin explains. “however, during that time it was used as slang to describe a sense of unpleasantness and dislike. since i was so unpleasant and dissatisfied [in my career] , i told myself, ‘ok, fine, i am just a yupjun,’ and named my band with a rebellious attitude.” he began by renting a room at seoul’s tower hotel to serve as a creative base for the group. after six months of preparation, the group cut ten powerful songs filled with monster grooves, fuzz guitar, emotive singing, and top-notch songwriting. killer.

…..new arrivals…..

cuff the duke – union – paperbag – lp
– finally in on vinyl! the new album from this canadian outfit.
d’angelo – voodoo – modern classics – 2lp
– “though inspired by the birth of his children and trips back to virginia, voodoo’s roots are in 1960s, ’70s and ’80s funk and soul; a nostalgic nod to the ideas and inventions of black music trailblazers powered by avant-garde hip-hop and jazz-influenced rhythms. d’angleo’s aim, he said, was to reclaim r&b. he wanted to be like sly stone, george clinton, and al green. and most of all, he wanted to be like jimi hendrix. the concept behind voodoo was simple. put together a brilliant ensemble of r&b musicians bent on grooving together. record them live, in real-time, jamming face-to-face in an effort to capture their conviviality and chemistry. voodoo was like crack for purists — this was real music, serious as a heart attack, deeply reverent and worshipful of the past.”
*eleh – retreat, return, repose – important – 3cd
– “edition of 1000. this deluxe three cd set presents eleh’s retreat, return, and repose together for the first time. the lps were originally available via important records mailorder only. retreat is a collection of exploratory sound assemblages put together during a cabin sojourn. new timbral richness, tonal expansion and deep synthesis make these pieces rather different from previous work. return reflects on time away. repose contains only one piece, the final recording of ‘circle two: coastal rotation for dune loop’ which was debuted at 2010’s mutek festival in montreal.”
*john fahey – voice of the turtle – 4 men with beards – lp
– “the voice of the turtle is one of the most beguiling albums from one of america’s most legendarily beguiling musicians. originally released in 1968 on his own takoma label, fahey credits some of the compositions and performances to the fictional guitarist blind joe death, and some of the songs are actually rumored to not be fahey at all but in fact obscure blues 78s. whatever the case may be, it’s one of fahey’s most adventurous and beautiful lps. reissued here on 180 gram vinyl in a deluxe tip-on jacket with an exact replica of the original 12 page booklet.”
bill fay – s/t – 4 men with beards – lp
– “london singer-songwriter bill fay released two albums on the deram label in the early ’70s and promptly disappeared into relative obscurity for 30+ years. in the last 10 years or so those albums have finally begun to get the recognition they deserve, and 4 men with beards is proud to be able to bring them back into circulation on 180 gram lp. first up is the self-titled debut from 1970, an absolute classic of british folk-rock.”
*tim hecker/daniel lopatin – instrumental tourist – software – lp
– “the first chapter of sstudios (software studio series). sstudios invites artists in the field of electronic music to create collaborative works of quality and vision. with a deliberate focus on source material of a synthetic and mimetic nature, hecker and lopatin designed a sound palette from the acoustic resonance of digitally-sourced ‘instruments of the world.’ the intrepid cowboy sound-voyager was inverted, forging a synthesis with the ecstatic other; digested exotic instrumentation fuel the tepid journeys of a sampler tourist. instead of leaning heavily on the proverbial malian time signature’s sublime truth, instrumental tourist pictures the synthetic veneer of exoticism as pushed air captured by oscillating ribbons. the studio meetings between hecker and lopatin were conducted to mimic the tropes and techniques of jazz-based improvisation, with little preparation prior. in an era where electronic production can produce the totalities of symphonic effect, and solo sound composition is easier than ever, the necessity of collaborative work is questioned. could their own respective artistic pursuits be neatly compiled and encapsulated by the very sound bank paradigm that they’ve exploited? why work together at all? instrumental tourist finds two artists transcending their respective visions by agreeing to a new language, one which verbalizes their mutual infatuations and apprehensions with the systems they’ve both built and are buried by.”
isis – temporal – ipecac – 2cd+dvd
– 2012 three disc (two cds + dvd) set from the late atmospheric doom metal band. temporal captures moments from throughout their lengthy career including alternate takes, demos and rarities. the dvd features five official music videos.
eyvind kang & jessika kenney – the face of the earth – ideologic organ – lp
– the second beautiful album by the duo of jessika kenney — a vocalist known for her haunting timbral sense, as well as her profound interpretation of persian vocal traditions — and eyvind kang — a violist for whom the act of music and learning is a spiritual discipline. all tracks were composed by kenney (voice, percussion, electronics) and kang (viola, setar, electronics).
norbert moslang – indoor_outdoor – ideologic organ – lp
– the deep electric rainforest sound atmospheres that the listener will hear on this record was the tip of the iceberg of a rich and elaborate work process. for over 30 years, norbert möslang has made installations, sound performances,and music records that are deeply involved in the hidden world of vibrations to convert them into loud sounds and thick textures. living simultaneously in spheres of inside/outside, micro-vibrations, spatial structures, underground music venues, art galleries, underwater, glass windows, body movement, precise equalizers, insects, microcosms, and electronic devices, möslang constructs fascinating, untrammeled worlds of both philosophical and physical power.
*aki onda – cassette memories vol 3 – important – cd
– “aki onda is an electronic musician, composer, and visual artist… particularly known for his cassette memories project — works compiled from a ‘sound diary’ of field-recordings collected by onda over a span of two decades.” “south of the border is the third installment of my cassette memories album series. all field recordings were taped in mexico, a country i’ve had a special fondness for since i was a little child. my first memory was watching photographs and super 8 films my father shot in mexico city from his time there during the 1968 summer olympics, where he competed as a member of the japanese national hockey team. it made me realize there is a place completely different from japan, and i started dreaming about ‘another world.’ when i was a teenager, i encountered alejandro jodorowsky’s seminal film el topo, which shocked me with its surreal images and strong mysticism. that experience shaped my primal image of the country, although i wasn’t sure if it was true reality or pure imagination. finally, I made my first visit to mexico in 2005. i was amazed that everything was as i had envisioned. mexico embraces extreme wealth and poverty, highly contemporary and primitive lifestyles, intellect and superstition, and any sort of polarities all in one. somehow, in this chaos, the boundary between reality and imagination disappears. in this way, everything is possible, and that’s what I believe. technical notes: i had three cassette walkmans to make field recordings while i was traveling in mexico. two became broken due to tape head and motor wear, but i continued using them. some of the beautifully messed-up sound collages you will hear were produced accidentally due to the imperfect condition of the recorders.”
tomahawk – stone letter – ipecac – 7″
– late record store day 7″ single from the upcoming album!
*ugly things #34 – magazine
– “as always we have an array of fantastic stories lined up about some of the greatest overlooked bands from the ’60s and ’70s. headlining features this time include the story of the haunted (montreal garage icons of ‘1-2-5’ fame), the wild and mysterious milan a.k.a. the leather boy, the viletones, and a garage-punk mystery unlocked at last: the bees, who were responsible for the insane ’66 acid-punk freakout ‘voices green & purple!’ also cyril jordan shares his personal memories of the beatles and the first wave of the british invasion, greg prevost digs into his deep archive of byrds collectibles, and there are stories on the spike drivers, french proto-punk glam freaks the rob jo star band, brit r&b combo the others (‘oh yeah’), the blue aces, dandelion label folkie beau, dutch beat from jenny & the rascals, and striped trousers from the velvet illusions. and of course our extensive review sections covering all the latest reissues, rock’n’roll books, and dvds.”
*the wire – #347 – magazine 
– “our massive annual survey of the past 12 months in underground music, including the top 50 releases of the year, the top 50 archive releases of the year, and a mass of genre charts, all voted for by our crack squad of contributors, who also give us their personal highs and lows of 2012. we also take an in depth look at some of the year’s lesser commented on trends and developments, and ask a number of the year’s most active musicians and players to deliver their verdicts on the cultural year. also inside the issue: invisible jukebox: bryan ferry (yes, really); collateral: damage mark fell; cross platform: madge gill and david tibet’s myrninerest; epiphanies charles hayward; global ear christchurch, new zealand; inner sleeve: alasdair roberts; unofficial channels; bites; ruff sqwad; patrick farmer; bbc scottish symphony orchestra play john zorn.”
*various – contemporary guitar – 4 men with beards – lp
– 180 gram vinyl. “originally released in 1966 on the takoma label, contemporary guitar is a beautiful compilation of solo acoustic guitar instrumentals from folk and blues legends such as bukka white, john fahey, and robbie basho as well as lesser knowns like max ochs and harry taussig. an essential compilation of american guitar soli.”

…..restocks…..

arcade fire – suburbs – merge – lp
*bee mask – when we were eating unripe pears – spectrum spools – lp
black keys – the big come up – alive – lp
born gold – little sleepwalker – audraglint – lp
david bowie – rise and fall of ziggy stardust – emi – lp
*bunalim – s/t – pharaway sounds – lp
calexico – algiers – anti – lp
caribou – andorra – merge – lp
complex – s/t – guerssen – lp
complex – the way we… – guerssen – lp
converge – unloved and weeded out – deathwish – lp
*karen dalton – 1966 – delmore – lp
danger doom – mouse & the mask – epitaph – lp
daphni – jiaolong – merge – lp
miles davis – porgy and bess – legacy – lp
miles davis – in person – doxy – lp
serge gainsbourg – historie de melody nelson – light in the attic – lp
grizzly bear – yellow house – warp – lp
*let the right one in ost – death waltz – lp
louvin bros – satan is real – light in the attic – lp
louvin bros – tragic songs of life – light in the attic – lp
mf doom – mm… food – rhymesayers – lp
mf doom – operation doomsday – metal face – lp
joanna newsom – milk eyed mender – drag city – lp
*os mutantes – everything is possible – luluka bop – lp
lee perry – blackboard jungle dub – get on down – 3×10″
*portishead – third – mercury – lp
purity ring – shrines – last gang – lp
radiohead – pablo honey – emi – lp
radiohead – ok computer – emi – lp
*raime – quarter turns over a living line – blackest ever black – cd