Well, we’ve had a busy week around here! Pulling and pricing up a storm for Sunday’s big Jazz drop! If you haven’t been bombarded on social media by our add, all you need to know is at Noon on Sunday, Jan 22nd, we’re posting over 150 used jazz records to the used section on our online store. While they will be available in store as of Monday, the selection might (hopefully) get pretty picked over on Sunday. We’ve got everything from $10 reissues to $200+ originals. We tried to not over do it on any given artist either to allow for more variety. Hopefully you are able to take some time and take a look, and maybe even grab a few tasty slabs! Besides that, there are some pretty great new slabs in this week as well if used jazz records don’t float your boat…
OH… and we’re doing something we rarely do… WE ARE HIRING! At least one, maybe two part time positions. Weekend availability is a must! Drop a resume off at the store along with your top ten albums of all time and this year.
Current operations…..
– in-store shopping/pick ups – 11 – 6 pm Monday – Friday, 11 am – 5 pm Saturday
(if you don’t want to come into the store for a pick up, call and/or use the back door)
– We will be wearing masks, if you want to, great! If not, that’s also fine, but please be respectful of other people’s space and decisions.
– Sanitize your hands (we’ll have some)
…..picks of the week…..
White Heaven: Strange Bedfellows (Black Editions) LP
Reissue, originally released in 1993. White Heaven’s second album, Strange Bedfellow, is one of the great unsung albums of the ’90s Japanese underground. Released two years after their striking debut, Out (BE 005LP), the album reveals the group shifting to a more dynamic and finely honed sound. You Ishihara’s songwriting and arrangements take center stage, leading the group to transmute classic west coast psychedelia and garage into a thrillingly direct collection of songs that span from fuzz drenched, driving rockers to smoldering numbers that fade into the night… Only ever available in an edition of 700 LPs released in 1993 by PSF Japan, Black Editions present Strange Bedfellow, newly remastered in this deluxe edition. Heavy tip-on jacket with ink pigment foil stamping, metallic spot colors, contrasting gloss film laminate and matte satin finishes. Includes new full color folding insert. Pressed to high quality vinyl at RTI. Recorded at Inter Music Studio, Tokyo October 1992. Remastered at Peace Music Studio, 2020 by Soichiro Nakamura.
File Under: Japan, Psych, Kris’s Picks
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Coil: Queens of the Circulating Library (Dais) LP
Clear wax! Queens Of The Circulating Library stands alongside Time Machines and Nurse With Wound’s Soliloquy For Lilith as a post-industrial pinnacle of sensory-warping long-form drone. Crafted by the distilled duo of Thighpaulsandra and John Balance, the 49-minute piece unfurls in swirling, cyclical waves, tidal as much as textural, channeling the spirit of levitational minimalism pioneered by La Monte Young. Touted as the first part in “a continually mutating series of circulating musickal compositions” upon its initial release in 2000, the album remains a compelling case study in Coil’s exceptional capacity for mutation and extremes. The theatrical introductory monologue delivered by Thighpaulsandra’s mother – a career opera singer, in her 80’s at the time of recording – sets the stage for a grandiose ascension. Written by Balance, the text is declamatory but dreamlike, refracted through megaphone echo: “Return the book of knowledge / Return the marble index / File under “Paradox” / The forest is a college, each tree a university.” As her voice fades, the lulling synthetic infinity deepens, congealing into transient crests of volume and haze, like slow-motion surf misting in moonlight. Thighpaulsandra describes their aesthetic intention as a “bliss out,” static but shape-shifting, an amniotic drift towards an eternal vanishing point. A supreme sonic embodiment of the slogan on the sleeve of Time Machines, two years prior: “Persistence is all.”
File Under: Industrial, Electronic, Drone, Ian’s Picks, Kris’s Picks
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Cosmic Jokers: Planeten Sit-In (Kosmischen Kuriere) LP
The compilations Planeten Sit-In and Sci Fi Party, both originally released in 1974, are a contemporary document of the legendary jam sessions of the Cosmic Jokers. Under a conceptual mantle, the recordings were brought to a young audience. Among the musicians the elite of the krautrockers of that time, like Manuel Göttsching, Klaus Schulze, Jürgen Dollase, and Harald Grosskopf. Plus, Dieter Dierks, who was responsible for the recordings, arrangement, and mixing, but also participated as a musician. Newly transferred from the original analog tapes and carefully remastered for the first time.
File Under: Krautrock, Prog, Psych, Ian’s Picks
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Karate: Time Expired (Numero) BOX
At the turn of the century and after three albums, Karate’s tenure within the insular east coast indie rock scene had expired, but the band was just getting started. Collected here is the band’s spacious, adventurous, and sometimes difficult second half presented in fastidious detail. This five LP box includes the trio’s “Unsolved”, “Some Boots”, and “Pockets” albums, a first time vinyl pressing of their “Cancel/Sing” EP, and recently unearthed rehearsal recordings of two unreleased tracks, all annotated by Geoff Farina’s account of Karate’s adulthood and Andy Hong’s insights into the trio’s recording process.
File Under: Indie Rock, Jaime’s Picks
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…..new arrivals…..
Belle & Sebastian: Late Developers (Matador) LP
Coloured wax! Recorded in the same sessions as A Bit of Previous, Late Developers doesn’t feel like a collection of lesser-than songs that weren’t good enough to go on the “real” record. Rather, it’s an embrace of the freedom that comes with a jumbo-sized canvas, skilled students left unsupervised to paint whatever picture they feel like. Late Developers takes you on a journey as the band floats through genres with ease – from the frantic Billy Bragg-with-hella-flute-energy of the opening track and arguably Stevie Jackson’s best song, into a legit all-out radio-ready dance party in the third quarter of the record which includes a Belle & Sebastian first, a co-write with young pop composer Pete Ferguson. They then unearth a 1994-era pre-Belle and Sebastian tune, with the help of Camera Obscura’s Tracyanne Campbell right before they bring you home at the end with a true bop.
File Under: Indie Rock
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Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers: Hard Drive (Bethlehem) LP
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers’ Hard Drive is a classic album from the hard bop era. The seven track collection was recorded in New York City in October of 1957 and released on the Bethlehem label in December of that same year. It finds drummer/leader Blakey flanked by the likes of Bill Hardman (trumpet), Johnny Griffin (tenor saxophone), Junior Mance/Sam Dockery (piano) and Spanky DeBrest (bass). Remastered 96 kHz/24 bit audio pressed on 180 gram vinyl LP at Precision Record Pressing in Canada.
File Under: Jazz
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John Carpenter, Etc: Halloween Ends (Sacred Bones) LP
Orange wax! After 45 years, the most acclaimed, revered horror franchise in film history reaches its epic, terrifying conclusion as Laurie Strode faces off for the last time against the embodiment of evil, Michael Myers, in a final confrontation unlike any captured on-screen before, one where only one of them will survive. As Halloween Ends marks the last chapter of the David Gordon Green trilogy, so it ushers the essential return of original director and composer John Carpenter to score the iconically hair-raising soundtrack alongside Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies. Recorded in its entirety at Carpenter’s home studio and Davies’ studio, the unmistakable mix of software synths, vintage analogue equipment, and live instrumentation once again provides the signature sound of Halloween, one of the most distinctive aspects of the movie franchise to date. The soundtrack was tracked scene by scene but the album itself plays like a stand alone piece of music. The general atmosphere is one of dread yet the record includes some groove laden moments reminiscent of Escape From New York or some of Carpenter’s other more dance-able scores. Exquisite and delicate ambient pieces weave their way between some of the score’s more arresting moments and yet maintain a subtle pop sensibility. The overall achievement showcases three master musicians, one of whom invented the entire horror-synth genre, crafting an evocative, playful and deeply listenable score that honors a legacy and expands on the decades of work that have been leading to this triumphant climax. Halloween Ends is the soundtrack of the final battle against evil. Watch your back this Halloween, Michael may be near you.
File Under: OST
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Eric Clapton: Unplugged (UltraDisc) (MoFi) LP
Eric Clapton’s Unplugged is far more than an album. It remains a majestic picture of a moment in time; an unvarnished glimpse into the soul of one of music’s most legendary artists; a visionary journey into the inspirations that helped shape Clapton’s character; a re-exploration and re-evaluation of deep-seated roots; a continuation of critical blues heritage; a building block on which a subgenre sprouted; a launching pad for both a later-career resurgence and discovery. A perennial audiophile favorite and the best-selling concert release of all time, Unplugged now takes on an irresistible luster that veritably gives you a front-row seat at Bray Film Studios.
File Under: Audiophile
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Climax Golden Twins: s/t (Fire Breathing Turtle) LP
The first new Climax Golden Twins record in many years. Founded in 1993 by Robert Millis and Jeffery Taylor, Climax Golden Twins is perhaps best known for the soundtrack to Session Nine (directed by Brad Anderson in 2001, original soundtrack on Milan International). CGT have released ambient recordings (Lovely on Anomalous Records), compilations of rare 78rpm shellac records (the Victrola Favorites book on Dust-to-Digital), field recording, collage, and musique concrète experiments (Dream Cut Short in the Mysterious Clouds on the Japanese Meme label), and instrumental rock, noise, and improv (5 Cents A Piece on Abduction Records and Imperial Household Orchestra on Scratch). Their new double-LP continues many of these threads and features contributions by friends from Seattle’s vibrant music scene and beyond including Alan and Richard Bishop (Sun City Girls), Ko Ishikawa (master Japanese sho player), Greg Kelley (extended trumpet technique specialist), Porest (Sublime Frequencies’ Mark Gergis), members of Kinski, Diminished Men, the A Frames, Dreamsalon, and more. The last official Climax Golden Twins release of new sounds was 2008’s Journal of Popular Noise. In the years since, CGT composed the score to the film Chained (directed by Jennifer Chambers Lynch in 2012), united with Seattle’s A Frames to record a few LPs as AFCGT (including one on Sub Pop), released further Victrola Favorites cassettes and CDs, and continued to perform live. In addition, Jeffery Taylor plays with the improv outfits Hound Dog Taylor’s Hand and Spider Trio, while Robert Millis has released solo recordings, pursued installation and sound art projects, plays with Idol Ko Si and has worked extensively with the Sublime Frequencies record label (producing Indian Talking Machine and Paris to Calcutta: Men and Music on the Desert Road (SF 112CD) in addition to films and compilations of music from Korea, Thailand, Japan, Myanmar, and more).
File Under: Experimental
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Cosmic Jokers: Sci Fi Party (Kosmischen Kuriere) LP
The compilations Planeten Sit-In and Sci Fi Party, both originally released in 1974, are a contemporary document of the legendary jam sessions of the Cosmic Jokers. Under a conceptual mantle, the recordings were brought to a young audience. Among the musicians the elite of the krautrockers of that time, like Manuel Göttsching, Klaus Schulze, Jürgen Dollase, and Harald Grosskopf. Plus, Dieter Dierks, who was responsible for the recordings, arrangement, and mixing, but also participated as a musician. Newly transferred from the original analog tapes and carefully remastered for the first time.
File Under: Krautrock, Prog, Kosmische
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Crosby, Still & Nash: s/t (UltraDisc) (MoFi) LP
The enduring charm, contemporary relevance, and harmonic convergence of Crosby, Stills & Nash’s fabled self-titled debut owe not only to impeccably played songs and resonant lyrics, but to career-defining performances by music’s first genuine supergroup. Crosby, Stills & Nash lingers as an example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Factor in phenomenal studio production and acoustic-based architecture that served as guideposts for myriad albums that followed, and popular music would never be the same. Strictly limited to 12,000 numbered copies, pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl at RTI, and mastered from the original analog master tapes, Mobile Fidelity’s UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP collector’s edition enhances the incalculably influential work for the ages to come. Surpassing the sonics of any prior version, it peels away any limitations to provide a transparent, ultra-nuanced presentation of a record that birthed the Laurel Canyon movement and established a precedent for close harmony singing that has never been eclipsed. The organic presentation of the textures; expanse and depth of the soundstages; fullness of tones; natural extension of the acoustic guitar strings; realistic rise and decay of individual notes; seamless blending of the vocals – all those important sonic facets (and more) reach demonstration-grade levels.
File Under: Audiophile
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Delivery Health: SuperDeluxe! (Holidays) LP
For more than a decade, Giovanni Di Domenico, Jim O’Rourke, and Tatsuhisa Yamamoto have been coming together in various combinations — duos, trios, and larger ensembles — slowly becoming one of the most noteworthy, understated collaborations in the landscape of experimental sound. In 2015, the trio recorded a brilliant LP entitled Delivery Health for Silent Water, laying the groundwork for an enduring project that adopted that album’s title as its name, debuting properly in 2017 with the stunner Hard Off (SW 014LP, 2017). Over the years since, Di Domenico, O’Rourke, and Yamamoto have played together in Bonjintan, their project with Akira Sakata, and in further collaborations with Eiko Ishibashi and Joe Talia, not to mention O’Rourke and Di Domenico’s prolific work as a duo. A bit more than five years on from Hard Off, Delivery Health finally return with SuperDeluxe!, a stunning new double-LP on Holidays Records. Comprising roughly four years of early activity from the trio that rests at a fascinating juncture of electroacoustic composition, free improvisation, and noise, it’s easily among the most engaging and intoxicating efforts yet from one of the most dynamic bands working today. Like its predecessors, SuperDeluxe! rides a beautiful line between striking singular creative ambition and accomplishment, and simply feeling like a free-wheeling conversation between friends who have relinquished their egos and presumptions out of a deep sense of mutual respect. Ironically, as forward thinking as it feels, the album is a kind of retrospective rewind, comprising five live documents recorded, of course, at the legendary SuperDeluxe! in Tokyo between 2012 and 2014 across its four sides. Taking you deep into the very beginnings and previously unheard activities (at least for those who were there on these nights) of Di Domenico, O’Rourke, and Yamamoto, the trio weaves a knotted tapestry unfurling as sheets of sound, that sidesteps signifiers and the expectations that one might have of each of these artists on their own. Ranging from brisling ambient passages drawing on latent melodic flirtations, heavy jams on guitar, drums, electronics, and keyboards, and outright, full throttle noise, each moment represents a visionary excursion into the depths of experimental, improvised sound, revealing a shocking sense of real-time dexterity from each player, as much as the collective whole experiments in improvised sound. SuperDeluxe! is an immersion into the joys of music making, collaboration, and ultimately listening. Contemporary improvised music at its absolute best. Insert with Japanese text on colored paper; obi; edition of 300.
File Under: Experimental, Jazz
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Duke Ellington: Presents (Bethlehem) LP
Duke Ellington Presents, recorded for Bethlehem in 1956, is unusual in that it consists mainly of standards. On it, Duke Ellington and key soloists work wonders on such chestnuts as “My Funny Valentine,” “Summertime,” “Laura,” and the Rosetta Stone of be-bop, “I Can’t Get Started,” plus a few choice Ellington originals. Duke Ellington Presents is an accessible entry point for newcomers, as well as an overlooked gem for Duke fans. Remastered 96 kHz/24 bit audio pressed on 180 gram vinyl LP at Precision Record Pressing in Canada.
File Under: Jazz
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JD Emmanuel: Electronic Minimal Music 1979-1983 (Black Sweat) LP
The rediscovery of J D Emmanuel by critics and audience in the early 2010s and Emmanuel’s comeback to underground scene were crucial in reweaving the development of electronic music in the early ’80s. This deluxe three-LP set casts new light on Emmanuel’s first activity of composing and performing electronic music in 1979-’83, collecting experiments never before released on vinyl, some of which are previously unreleased in any form. Certainly seminal minimal works such as Four Organs (1970) and Violin Phase (1967) by Steve Reich and A Rainbow in Curved Air by Terry Riley (1969) — as well as Cluster, Harmonia, and Peter Michael Hamel’s early-’70s work — had a decisive impact on Emmanuel’s debut. However, since his beginnings he has reshaped and reformulated his sources of inspiration with unparalleled maturity and accuracy of vision. His poetry is closely tied to the will to expand consciousness and explore altered states, but more than a cosmic traveler, he appears as a courier of soul and heart — a self-described “student of the metaphysical nature of the Universe.” Magician of an incredible variety of analog keyboards, Emmanuel conceives sound as dynamic translation of forces and organic, expanding flows of energy. The cyclicity of patterns and phrases refers to minimalist traditions, but his music has little in common with something purely mathematical; using an approach to improvisation colored by his interests in jazz and the temporal expansion of rock jams, he charges harmonic sections with an intimate spontaneity and freedom without boundaries. These 14 “vaporous drawings,” presented with photos and writings, evoke a primordial state of grace in the listener, in parallel to Emmanuel’s contemporary ancestral work Wizards from 1982 (IMPREC 305CD). (This set contains two tracks that were initially included on the original Wizards release, but replaced by other tracks just before the final master.)
File Under: New Age, Ambient, Electronic
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Fumerolles: Nuit Jaune (Hotham Sound) CS
An illustrator and librarian by day, Montreal artist Fumerolles (Frédérique Duval) uses keyboards, effects boxes and homemade synth modules to craft a uniquely organic and benevolent form of electronic music. ‘Nuit jaune’ is her debut EP (released digitally on Kinnta records in 2018) and we love it so much that we broke our regional mandate and reached out to ask if she’d be interested in a limited cassette release. Not only did she agree, but in talking with Frederique and her partner Christian Richer (Element Kuuda), we discovered a world of shared interests and inspirations, in particular a fondness for 70s punk, DIY instruments, woodworking, library music, and an ongoing admiration for the work of the late Norm Chambers. Recorded during the heatwave of 2018, ‘Nuit jaune’ is a fittingly hazy collection of synth miniatures, reminiscent at times of Tangerine Dream, Cluster, and of course, Panabrite. What sets it apart is the gentle assuredness of Duval’s arrangements and playing. Tracks like ‘Cyclique’ and ‘Ptero’ unfold leisurely, spreading out slowly into waves of synthetic delight. On ‘Pulmo’, a lone synth voice croons gently to itself like a lowing calf, while ‘Sismographe’ follows a gentle arpeggio deep into a forest of 70s string machines. In the end ‘Nuit jaune’ feels less like a new release and more like a lost gem from a bygone age.
File Under: Electronic, Tapes
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Hudson Glover: Solar Surfing (Hotham Sound) CS
Filmed on VHS in 2020, Hudson Glover’s lo-fi film ‘Crystal Oscillators’ follows the adventures of a clown-like space alien exploring planet earth in search of fuel for his return journey home. Not much happens over the course of the film’s 23 minutes; the alien browses a record store, gets in a scuffle with some cyberpunks, and eventually ends up headlining a house show. What’s most remarkable about ‘Crystal Oscillators’ is its music; an intoxicating blend of instrumental synth pop, ambient, krautrock, and french romanticism, all written and performed by the filmmaker himself. A resident of Eureka, CA, Glover began writing songs in high school, producing hundreds of pop tunes in Garageband before gravitating to piano in college, where he studied classical harmony and fell in love with the work of Debussey, Satie and Harry Partch. A self-confessed obsessive, Glover dove into the scoring of his short film with immense enthusiasm, eventually emerging from the process with a staggering 5 hours of original music – only a fraction of which would find its way onto the screen. Joyous, melancholic, wistful, and sometimes just downright goofy, Glover’s music is refreshingly alive sounding; a welcome antidote to the po-faced academicism of much contemporary electronic music. At 84 minutes, this is one of the longest single tapes we’ve released, and still only covers a fraction of the music that Glover wrote and recorded for the film between 2017 and 2020. For those looking for more, the Pennsylvania based label Orb tapes has a completely different collection of ‘Crystal Oscillators’ tracks available on cassette.
File Under: Electronic, Tapes
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GoGo Penguin: Between Two Waves (XXIM) LP
The new EP by GoGo Penguin marks an important chapter of the band with the new member, drummer Jon Scott, who joined pianist Chris Illingworth and bassist Nick Blacka. The project was recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios after the lockdown at the end of 2021. Chris Illingworth explains: “It was an incredibly meaningful moment for us to be together as a band along with our producers Joe and Brendan, sharing meals like family, enjoying drinks and jokes after long days of work and, most importantly, making music together after so long apart.” A chance to explore new ideas and experiment, as they expanded the range of sounds and voices within the tracks, and the Eurorack modular and Moog synths found their places between their signature piano, double-bass and drums on tracks like Badeep, Wave Decay and Lost in Thought. Another feature which brought something new to the recording was the Palm Mute Pedal developed by Danish pianist Otto Sammy. Otto sent the band a prototype which would feature on both The Antidote Is in the Poison and Wave Decay. There is always a degree of abstraction in GoGo Penguin tracks and their titles, leaving the listener to make their interpretations and find their own emotional response. However, there is also always an underlying idea personal to them that inspires the compositions and is core to the writing process. The music on Between Two Waves takes its inspiration from the duality found in the major events in human lives. “Over the last couple of years, the pandemic has affected everyone; it has brought us together and yet also divided and separated us. In the bands personal lives there has been cause for celebration with the birth of a son but also tragedy with the loss of loved ones. These moments can simultaneously make us feel both loved and isolated, fearful but confident, proud and humbled. For us, the feeling of Ascent is the journey through these experiences in life, always finding another unknown at the end but not something to be scared of, just something new to discover.”
File Under: Jazz
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Hijokaidan: Zouroku No Kibyo (Urashima) LP
Reissue, originally released in 1982. Zouroku No Kibyo is the first album by Hijokaidan, released in April 1982. It is a compilation of live recordings from 1981, when the extreme performances of Hijokaidan first attracted attention, and is a record of the chaotic inner energy of young people in their early 20s, influenced by rock, jazz, contemporary music, and avant-garde art, erupting outside. It was first released on the independent Osaka label Unbalance Records and came to be regarded as a historical masterpiece of independent recordings in Japan. It was later released on CD several times by Alchemy Records, and was also released by the major Japanese label Teichiku Entertainment. An analog reissue of the album was released in 2006 by the German label Vinyl On Demand in the form of a double LP set. This will be the first time that the album will be reissued in its original form as a single analog disc, this time on Urashima in 2022. Hijokaidan is a Japanese noise band with a turning lineup that has ranged from two members to as many as fourteen in its early days. The group is the project of guitarist Yoshiyuki “JOJO” Hiroshige, its one constant member, who is owner of the legendary Osaka-based Alchemy Records. The ensemble began at the very end of the ’70s as a performance art-based unit whose anarchic shows would often involve destruction of venues and audio equipment, food and garbage being thrown around, and on-stage urination. As the group’s lineup changed over time, their focus became less performance-based and more musically based, fine-tuning their sound into a dense wall of white noise created by each member both for live performances and for studio recordings. Zouroku no Kibyo resting at a fascinating juncture between space-harsh progressive, improv and noise, it was years ahead of its time when it first appeared becoming one of the great holy grails of Japan noise. Creatively thrilling — filled with emotive highs and lows — it’s a crucial piece in the puzzle of Japan’s wild and wonderful history of noise music. The album pushes noise practice and the very notions of language into uncharted realms, improvising with a ferocity different from that of hard rock or punk, and a chaos unlike that of free jazz. Released with original cover art with draw by Hideshi Hino, plus all the inserts that were on the original 1982 LP: live photo book (two A3 double face foldable), one Japanese sheet, and a lucky triangle card with, exclusively for this edition, extensive liner notes by JOJO in Japanese and English. Edition of 299.
File Under: Japan, Noise, Industrial
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Incapacitants: Feedback of N.M.S. (Urashima) LP
Reissue, originally released in 1991. Incapacitants are the best noise band to ever come out of Japan; the group was formed in 1981 in Osaka, as the solo project of Toshiji Mikawa, a member of the amazing noise group Hijokaidan. Mikawa later moved to Tokyo, where he joined with Fumio Kosakai (also an occasional member of Hijokaidan, as well as a former member of C.C.C.C.) to make Incapacitants a duo and they released its first album Feedback of N.M.S. on Alchemy Records CD in 1991. Sometimes it’s the result of luck. In others it’s due to years of rigorous work or through unlikely combinations of individual creative practices. In the case of Feedback of N.M.S., the first release to feature the collaborative duo of Mikawa and Kosakai, all three are in play. Comprising three tracks of visionary expression — incorporating elements of junk metal, modular synthesis, hand-made noisy objects, and real-time instrumental and vocal improvisation — it encounters each artist entering a new stage of their career, harnessing the challenges posed by the other as a means to drive toward new creative unknowns. Central to this is the pair’s unique approach to structure and form, in addition to their chosen instruments and electronics. The first track “Curse Of Ceauşescu”, played on two sides of the first vinyl is something incredible. A truly stunning, visionary expanse of texture and tonality — pushing noise practice and the very notions of language into uncharted realms. The others two tracks that fill the sides of the second vinyl complete this masterpiece increasingly pushing into more constrained of electronics phenomena, site specific resonance, and complex harmonic interplay, that consistently rethink the terms of noise, infusing it with tension, dissonance, and a deeply emotive, human touch. An absolutely masterful piece of work, threaded with risk, ambition, raw immediacy, and precision. While astounding artists in their own right, deserving every bit of the accolades they’ve thus far received, Toshiji Mikawa and Fumio Kosakai seem capable of something profound together that has yet to have heard. Feedback of N.M.S. is everything you would hope to hear from an experimental endeavor and so much more. Includes six cards reproducing Takuya Sakaguchi’s original drawings and adding an unreleased drawing and extensive notes in Japanese and English; edition of 299.
File Under: Japan, Noise, Industrial
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Chu Ishikawa/Der Eisenrost: Tokyo Fist OST (WRWTFWW) LP
WRWTFWW Records announce the release of Chu Ishikawa and Der Eisenrost’s soundtrack for experimental action-drama Tokyo Fist, released in 1995 and directed by legendary director/producer/writer Shin’ya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo: The Iron Man and its sequels, Bullet Ballet, Hiroki The Goblin, Nightmare Detective). Previously only published on CD in Japan, the cult movie soundtrack is available on vinyl for the first time ever. The Tokyo Fist soundtrack gorgeously blends explosive industrial music, heavy percussion, martial rhythms, and noise experimentations with contemplative ambient and emotion-filled synth soundscapes, perfectly encapsulating the nihilistic pain felt by the characters of the movie and the brutally visceral rebirth they go through. Ishikawa and Der Eisenrost’s compositions hit hard, sometimes truly terrorizing, sometimes heart-gripping in gloomy and bewitching ways. This is no holds barred music, a venture into the darkest yet most strangely beautiful corners of the human mind (and heart). The late great Chu Ishikawa was one of the innovators of the industrial and experimental scene in Japan and has collaborated with Shin’ya Tsukamoto on numerous movies. He also worked extensively with Takashi Miike, another visionary filmmaker from his home country. Ishikawa was the leader of groundbreaking industrial-metal-percussion unit Der Eisenrost whose live performances around Japan left an indelible mark on the genre’s history. Housed in a heavy 350gsm sleeve.
File Under: OST
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MIDI Janitor: Bulk Order (Hotham Sound) CS
Using a MIDI controller he found in an East Van dumpster, Vancouverite Jonathan Orr makes luminous lo-fi jams reminiscent of early Tobacco and Boards of Canada; every track a smeared mash-up of detuned synth samples and recycled beats from the cheesiest of 90s sample packs. Taking his theoretical cues from early 80s industrial cassette culture (the primitive missives of Zoviet France and Nocturnal Emissions) and his practical inspiration from more recent Dungeon Synth projects like Silent Cabin and Fogweaver (where unadorned Casios and one-fingered melodies rule) Orr has crafted a deeply infectious album of ambient electro music using nothing but scavenged gear. The Hex Sun vibe of ‘Do you Not Wish’ kicks things off in proper woozy fashion, before giving way to the rubbery bounce of ‘Gospel Dynamics’ and the pummeling drive of ‘Rudy Finds the Prism’. Side Two’s ‘Vapor King’ and ‘Amazing Vocals On Earth’ sound like lost outtakes from ‘A Few Old Tunes Vol 1’ – all overdriven drums and interlocking synth loops – while album closer ‘One World Or None’ gently returns listeners to the hazy rural dusk of the album’s opening. Behind the tongue-in-cheek nature of Orr’s project name (the artist originally imagined the MIDI Janitor as an aging maintenance man creating beats in the privacy of his supply closet) lies a sophisticated musical palette and a refreshing inclusivity of spirit. If the MIDI Janitor can do it, the album seems to ask, why can’t you? The means of digital music production are all around us; free for the taking. Why spend your time collecting thousands of dollars worth of vintage synths when you could be making meaning with the tools you have?
File Under: Electronic, Tapes
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Mumford & Sons: Babel (Glassnote) LP
Mumford & Sons offer up a 10th anniversary colored 180g vinyl LP reissue of their celebrated second album Babel! The anniversary edition features a variation of the photography originally featured on Babel, shot on location in West London by long-standing collaborator, the photographer Marcus Haney. Babel was originally released in Autumn 2012, topping the charts on both sides of the Atlantic in September 2012 for the first time, as the band’s profile soared right across the globe. It was first introduced in August of that year with lead single, “I Will Wait,” as the band continued a sold-out headline tour of the US. The record has since sold millions of copies worldwide (going 4 x platinum in both the US and UK alone). Babel won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2013, with Mumford & Sons taking home the British Group award at the 2013 BRIT Awards. In addition, Babel won the Juno Award for International Album of the Year and was also included in Q Magazine’s list of the 50 Greatest Albums of 2012. Babel followed the word-of-mouth success of the band’s debut album, Sigh No More, which debuted in October 2009 and slowly but surely sent Mumford & Sons stratospheric. Babel found the band stick close to the formula that had brought them such success, but the songs were bigger, bolder, and epic in scale. It was the fastest selling record of 2012 in the UK, and the second fastest record of the year in the US, behind only Taylor Swift’s Red. Babel spawned some of Mumford & Sons’ biggest hits to date including “I Will Wait,” “Lover of the Light,” and “Hopeless Wanderer.”
File Under: Folk
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Nell & The Flaming Lips: Where the Viaduct Looms (Bella Union) LP
After catching the attention of Flaming Lips singer Wayne Coyne at a Calgary concert with her dazzling parrot costume and passionate signing word-for-word to a David Bowie song, then 10-year-old Nell Smith struck up an unlikely friendship with the band. After sharing music she was recording at home, the band were so impressed they invited the Smith family to Oklahoma to record. Due to COVID-19, the plan was cancelled, and instead Coyne suggested she email him some covers songs, He suggested Nick Cave’s “Girl in Amber”. Even thought the young musician, now 13, was not familiar with Nick Cave, her recording inspired the band to record this 9-track Nick Cave covers album, “Where The Viaduct Looms”.
File Under: Indie Rock
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Obituary: Dying Of Everything (Relapse) LP
Legendary death metal icons Obituary return with the highly anticipated new album, Dying of Everything which destroys in the time-honored tradition of early Obituary classics Slowly We Rot and Cause of Death while maintaining the killer studio sound that the band has been perfecting in their own studio since 2007’s monstrous Xecutioner’s Return. You can hear the results on lead single “The Wrong Time” which boasts a slamming mid-tempo groove. Meanwhile, the title track boasts punishing riffs and songwriting by Ken Andrews. The album’s third single, “My Will To Live,” is a total skull-crusher. Track after track, Obituary solidify their legacy as a Death Metal institution, churning out some of the heaviest riffs in their career. Like just about every album in Obituary’s vast catalog, Dying Of Everything is instantly memorable; it’s a skill that Obituary have only improved upon over the years. It’s unusual for a band that’s been around since the ’80s to be doing some of their best work in the 2020s, but that’s exactly what Obituary have accomplished through their do-it-yourself attitude and relentless touring on a worldwide level. “I think it comes down to passion,” vocalist John Tardy offers. “I say this all the time, but if something’s not fun, I’m not gonna do it. And we’re having more fun than ever.”
File Under: Metal
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Tonio Rubio: Rhythms (Tele-Music) LP
Reissue, originally released in 1973. Tonio Rubio’s Rhythms is a stone-cold killer, a heavyweight library breaks LP and the inaugural release in Be With’s new partnership with legendary French library label Tele Music. For this extremely special 50 year anniversary reissue, Be With Records reproduced the classic Tele Music sleeve with a full color insert featuring rare photographs, fresh liner notes, and personal memories of Tonio from the likes of Jean-Claude Vannier, Jean-Claude Petit, and Janko Nilovic. Sumptuous opener “Latin Leitmotiv” is all funky phasing effects and a killer montuno, with what sounds like piano and bass in tandem, stoking straight up Latin fire. The gritty hard funk of blaxploitation groove “Red Medium” is dripping in wah-wah attitude and head-nod oddness. The atmospheric, exotica-tinged “Dead Slow” emulates the languid, sensual Afro groove of Quincy Jones’s wild masterpiece “Gula Matari” whilst the proggy, electric jazz fusion epic “Rock 73” is 9+ minutes of moody, rolling menace. But the real highlight of this cult classic — and why it has long been so desirable — is the devastating, deep, hypnotic minimalist groove of “Bass In Action N°1”. Very much in conversation with Quincy’s rendition of “Hummin'”, the loping, rumbling bassline and sweet electric piano over clean, crisp drums making it one of those tracks that sounds like a hip-hop beat 20 years ahead of time. “Bass In Action N°2” features Tonio’s own vocal scat performance. Antonio “Tonio” Rubio Garcia got his start playing the double bass in jazz clubs. In 1962, Tonio joined the Golden Stars, the first backing band of France’s teenage idol Johnny Hallyday. A genius musician with a unique guitar sound, he played on standards of French chanson including Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot’s “Bonnie and Clyde”, Françoise Hardy’s “Tous les Garçons et les Filles”, Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin’s “Je T’aime, Moi Non Plus”, and Serge and Charlotte Gainsbourg’s infamous “Lemon Incest”. Jean-Claude Vannier remembers Tonio as “a secretive, mysterious man, with an endearing personality, albeit difficult to reach out to. His virtuosity as a bass player allowed me to write very innovative basslines, because he was able to play any of my eccentricities!” Remastered by Simon Francis.
File Under: Library
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Skatalites: Essential Artist Collection (Trojan) LP
During the early 1960’s, the sound of ska exploded upon Jamaica’s musical landscape, with the driving dynamic sound championed by arguably the greatest ensemble of musicians ever to have performed and recorded on the island. Fronted by legendary saxophonist Tommy McCook, the Skatalites also comprised a veritable who’s who of Kingston-based performers, their number including trombonist Don Drummond, tenor saxman Roland Alphonso, drumming supremo Lloyd Knibb and keyboard prodigy Jackie Mittoo. Following their creation in the summer of ’64, this powerhouse instrumental combo dominated the island’s music industry for 18 glorious months, the very best of their work produced by famed Treasure Isle Records boss, Arthur ‘Duke’ Reid. The best of their output for the celebrated producer is showcased on the Essential Artist Collection, which is issued here as a colored vinyl 2LP-set. It provides the best introduction yet to the music of the incredible, multi-talented and hugely influential Skatalites.
File Under; Reggae
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Sternenmadchen: Gilles Zeitschiff (Kosmischen Kuriere) LP
Reissue of the original 1974 album by Gille Lettmann aka Sternenmädchen/Star Maiden. Live in the Quadro Studio: Gille and Klaus Schulze. Music inserts from the LPs Seven Up (Ash Ra Temple and Timothy Leary), Lord Krishna von Goloka (Sergius Golowin), Tarot (Walter Wegmüller). Statements by Sergius Golowin, Timothy Leary, Brian Barritt, Walter Wegmüller, Liz Elliot, Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser. Recorded at the Zeitschiff Studio Dierks. Carefully transferred and remastered from the original analog master tapes by HaGü Schmitz at Dierks Studios in Pulheim-Stommeln in 2022.
File Under: Prog, Krautrock
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Wallenstein: Blitzkreig (Pliz) LP
In 1971, under the direction of Jürgen Dollase, who also composed all the tracks, this album was recorded and finally released in 1972. It was recorded at Dierks Studios by Dieter Dierks himself. Dollase and drummer Harald Grosskopf were later also members of the legendary Cosmic Jokers. Loyal krautrock fans labelled this album as progressive rock — but that doesn’t really do justice. Opulent, lengthy works like “Lunetic” with a playing time of 12 minutes are today among the highlights of what is summarized as krautrock. Transferred from the original analog tapes and carefully remastered without destroying the character of the recordings.
File Under: Prog, Krautrock
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Ween: Godweensatan: Live (ATO) LP
Uncertain whether or not to cancel their re-release party for GodWeenSatan: The Oneness on September, 14, 2001, just days after the tragic events of 9/11, Ween took the stage at their local bar, John & Peter’s, in New Hope, PA. What unfolded was pure catharsis for both the band and the packed crowd. Ween ran through the album in its entirety and captured the show on 24-track tape. Originally released in 2016 and reissued here on colored vinyl 2LP.
File Under: Rock
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Wilco: Cruel Country (dBPM) LP
Cruel Country, Wilco’s twelfth studio album, is comprised of 21 country music inspired tracks, recorded at the band’s Chicago studio, The Loft. Jeff Tweedy commented on the concept and recording process of Cruel Country: “There have been elements of country music in everything we’ve ever done. We’ve never been particularly comfortable with accepting that definition, the idea that I was making country music. But now, having been around the block a few times, we’re finding it exhilarating to free ourselves within the form, and embrace the simple limitation of calling the music we’re making country.” Jon Pareles in The New York Times wrote: “Wilco makes an understated magnum opus. Its tone is naturalistic and understated; the album was recorded largely with Wilco playing live in the studio as a six-man band, quietly savoring the chance to make music together after pandemic isolation.” Jon Dolan in Rolling Stone wrote: “Their latest is a beautifully rootsy album with a broken sense of patriotic concern.” The gatefold vinyl 2LP package – created by Grammy winning designer Lawrence Azerrad – includes band photos and a unique panel of postcards.
File Under: Alt. Country, Rock
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Various: Rockin’ N Boppn’ (Stag-o-Lee) LP
Stag-O-Lee is proud to continue the DJ-Set series with compilation by cult DJ Mr. Rudy. DJ Rudy blew the label away with his selection of tunes at the Goezot festival in Belgium in September 2021. And when he sent the label the list of festivals and weekenders he played at, they were even more impressed. So, Stag-O-Lee invited him to compile what is Volume 7 in the DJ Series on Stag-O-Lee. Features Red (Hot) Russell, Jay Headley, Lenny Capello and The Dots, Bernhard Byers, Freddy Cannon, Donnie Brookes, The Jumpers, Parker Cunningham, Harold Shutters and His Rocats, Frankie Lee Sims, Cousin Leroy, Lance Roberts, Ray Smith, Dale Wright, Tommy Roe, The Phantoms, The Cousins, Jimmy Reed, Larry Trider, Bruce Channel, Farris Wilder and His Band, Bob and The Rockabillies, Gene Kennedy, Ivor Fisher, Joe Melson, Chancellors, Tommy Danton and The Echoes, The Stompers, Bobby Peterson Quintet, and Dean and Jean.
File Under: Rock, Exotica
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Various: To the Moon & Back – A Tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto (Milan) LP
In celebration of composer RYUICHI SAKAMOTO’s 70th birthday, Milan Records announces A Tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto – To the Moon and Back, a collection of songs from Sakamoto’s vast catalogue newly reworked and remodeled by contemporary artists and collaborators. Envisioned by Sakamoto’s management team and Milan Records, A Tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto – To the Moon and Back features artists across generation and genre, each with their own connection to the iconic musician, and hand-selected for the project as either past collaborators, friends, admirers, or personal favorites of Sakamoto. From contemporary admirers of Sakamoto’s work like Thundercat, Devonté Hynes, and Hildur Guðnadóttir to longtime collaborators and friends like David Sylvian, Alva Noto, Cornelius, and Fennesz, plus some of Sakamoto’s personal favorites like Lim Giong, Gabrial Wek, and 404.zero, the included artists reflect the breadth of Sakamoto’s influence on contemporary music. Given full access to the musician’s extensive catalogue of solo releases and film scores, each artist personally selected their contribution and put their unique spin on Sakamoto’s originals. The result is a collection that reflects the many dimensions of Sakamoto’s career, from the diversity of sound the consummate musician has traversed to the continued legacy of his work on artists of all backgrounds.
File Under: Electronic
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…..restocks…..
13th Floor Elevators: Psychedelic Sounds of (Charly) LP
Alice In Chains: Dirt (Legacy) LP
Beastie Boys: Ill Communication (Capitol) LP
Beck: Sea Change (Geffen) LP
Art Blakey: Buhaina’s Delight (Blue Note) LP
Phoebe Bridgers: Punisher (Dead Oceans) LP
Leon Bridges: Good Thing (Columbia) LP
Don Cherry: Om Shanti Om (Black Sweat) LP
Cluster: II (Bureau B) LP
Cluster: Sowiesoso (Bureau B) LP
Cluster: Zuckerzeit (Lilith) LP
John Coltrane: Giant Steps (Atlantic) LP
Mac Demarco: Salad Days (Captured Tracks) LP
Descendents: Milo Goes to College (SST) LP
Duster: Capsule Losing Contact (Numero) BOX
Fleetwood Mac: Rumors (Warner) LP
Gorillaz: Demon Days (Parlophone) LP
Manuel Gottsching: E2-24 (MG.Art) LP
Manuel Gottsching: Inventions for Electric Guitar (MG.Art) LP
Billie Holiday: Lady In Satin (Legacy) LP
Husker Du: Zen Arcade (SST) LP
Joy Division: Closer (Rhino) LP
Joy Division: Still (Rhino) LP
Joy Division: Substance (Rhino) LP
Khruangbin & Leon Bridges: Texas Moon (Dead Oceans) LP
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard: Butterfly 3000 (King Gizzard) LP
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard: Flying Microtonal Banana (King Gizzard) LP
Kendrick Lamar: DAMN (Aftermath) LP
Thomas Leer & Robert Rental: The Bridge (Mute) LP
Love: Forever Changes (Rhino) LP
Makaya McCraven: In These Times (International Anthem) LP
Joni Mitchell: Blue (Clear) (Rhino) LP
Neutral Milk Hotel: In The Aeroplane Over the Sea (Merge) LP
Nine Inch Nails: Broken (Nothing) LP
Nirvana: Bleach (Sub Pop) LP
Nirvana: Nevermind (Geffen) LP
Angel Olsen: Big Time (Jagjaguwar) LP
Paysage D’Hiver: Die Festung (Kunsthall) LP
Iggy Pop: Lust For Life (Virgin) LP
Porcupine Tree: Fear of a Blank Planet (Kscope) LP
R.E.M.: Adventures In HiFi (Craft) LP
Michael Rault: s/t (Wick) LP
Rush: 2112 (Mercury) LP
Arthur Russell: Instrumentals (Audika) LP
Pharoah Sanders: Karma (Impulse) LP
Gunter Schickert: Uberfallig (Bureau B) LP
Wayne Shorter: The All Seeing Eye (Blue Note) LP
Sirom: A Universe That Roasts Blossoms for a Horse (Glitterbeat) LP
Sirom: I Can Be A Clay Snapper (Glitterbeat) LP
Sirom: Liquified Throne of Simplicity (Glitterbeat) LP
Elliott Smith: Figure 8 (Geffen) LP
Sonic Youth: Dirty (Geffen) LP
Sonic Youth: Goo (Geffen) LP
Tame Impala: Lonerism (Modular) LP
Weezer: s/t (Blue Album) (Universal) LP
Various: Eccentric Soul: Bandit Label (Numero) LP
Various: Environment for Sextet (Ictus) LP
Various: Technicolour Paradise (Numero) BOX
