Oi, loads of stuff in this week, and still more to show up. At least we’ll be well stocked for next weekend! Be sure to set some time aside to come down as next Friday is Black Friday RSD AND we’ll be celebrating our 15th anniversary!
…..pick of the week…..
Alessandro Cortini: Spie (Make Noise) 12″
“Alessandro Cortini returned to his Make Noise Shared System Modular synthesizer last summer, to create two variations of a patch that could be described as ‘… a gorgeous sunrise over a decimated landscape…” This Make Noise Records release was digitally mastered by Shawn Hatfield at Audible Oddities. Analog Mastered and Cut by DC at PLUSH. Pressed to 12″ Clear (140gm) vinyl and inserted into a black inner dust sleeve and Matte Jacket with artwork by Sean Curtis Patrick (who has worked with Cortini in the past). The music was composed entirely on the Make Noise Shared System Modular synthesizer.”
File Under: Electronic, Ambient
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…..new arrivals…..
Tori Amos: Boys for Pele (Atlantic) LP
One of the most successful and influential artists of her generation, Tori Amos is as much a force to be reckoned today as when she made her debut as producer in 1996 on her third studio album, Boys for Pele, over two decades ago. An ambitious and uncompromising collection of songs about mythology (Pele was a Hawaiian volcano goddess), suppression and self-discovery, the record became one of her most successful, debuting at #2 on the album charts in both the U.S. and the U.K. An international hit, Boys for Pele also burst into the Top 10 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Holland, Germany and Sweden. To celebrate the pivotal album’s 20-year anniversary, Rhino Records is releasing a newly remastered version of the original 18-track effort as a 180g 2LP-set. Moving away from the corporate environment to record in a church in Delganey, County Wicklow, and an old Georgian house in County Cork, Ireland, Boys for Pele altered the course of Tori Amos’ career. As she explains in the album’s liner notes, “This is the record where I fought for my life.” Greeted with rapturous fan support, this proved this to be a rewarding decision. Home to the fan favorites “Caught a Lite Sneeze” and “Hey Jupiter.”
File Under: Pop
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William Antonini e la Sua Orchestra: s/t (Sonor Music Editions) LP
Sonor Music Editions present a reissue of William Antonini E La Sua Orchestra, originally released in 1971. A very rare “cult” library and orchestra album by pianist William Antonini and his orchestra, recorded with the deep sounds of Dirmaphon studios in Rome. Expect some strong blues rock influences with loads of killer psychedelic sounds all over the place – amazing jazz-funk and blues funk vibes, heavy progressive riffs with big band swinging jazz and jazz-rock tunes. Huge basslines with stoned flute and deep tenor sax along with amazing early ’70s freak-beat clubbing tunes are to be found on this lost, collectible gem. Reissued with the original back liner notes written by Italian jazz father, Carlo Loffredo.
File Under: Library, Italian
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Olivia Block: Dissolution (Glistening Examples) LP
Glistening Examples present Olivia Block’s Dissolution. Olivia Block on the record: “Dissolution is a reflection upon human ‘webs of significance’, and an investigation into the ways that electronic communications and recording technologies, both past and present, facilitate, complicate and transmute the formation of these webs. Sounds of shortwave radio, municipal broadcast recordings, fragments of found microcassette tapes, tones and instruments dramatize the fragility and failures of communication and language in shaping memory and experience. This album is dedicated to Adam Sonderberg, without whom I could not have completed this project.” Personnel: Lesley Swanson – flute; Shaun Flynn – clarinet. Musicians were recorded at Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago IL in January 2015. The session was engineered by Alex Inglesian. Mastered by Jason Lescalleet at Glistening Labs, USA. Dissolution comes housed in a single-pocket jacket with glossy UV coating and black poly-lined inner sleeves with a 12×12″ vellum insert. Includes download card.
File Under: Experimental
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Bowery Electric: Beat (Kranky) LP
“The second album from New York City’s Bowery Electric was released in late 1996, less than 15 months after their self-titled debut, but it found them having traveled light years musically in the interim, the group having seemingly decided to see how far they could take the guitar/bass/drums/vocal setup into the atmosphere. Every aspect of their approach had been refined and focused: squalling, distorted guitars had been transformed into hazy, sensual sheets; the live drums transmuted to sampled rhythms more in debt to the blossoming down-tempo sound of the day; bass lines reduced to their most basic diagrams; vocals submerged to become one with the narcotized fog of the instruments; even the lyrics were reduced to a few minimal lines used sparingly so as not to overshadow the dynamic. Beat is a lush and dense mantra of shadowy percussion, barely-there vocals and immersive drones that envelops the listener in an opiated blanket of sound. The second in a trio of albums released by the core duo of Lawrence Chandler and Martha Schwendener, Beat is without doubt their definitive artistic statement. Coming 20 years to the day of its original release, this is the first time this album has been available on vinyl in almost two decades, and the first ever U.S. vinyl release.”
File Under: Electronic, Experimental
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Brian Jonestown Massacre: Third World Pyramid (A) LP
Third World Pyramid is the 15th full length release from The Brian Jonestown Massacre recorded in early 2016. It is the first album that was fully recorded & produced at Anton Newcombe’s new Cobra Studio in Berlin. Third World Pyramid encapsulates the old and new sounds of the band, with the nine tracks starting from the melancholic “Good Mourning” going through to “Assignment Song” – which is a cover of Nina Simone from her 1971 album Gifted & Black – and the latter tracks show the ever-changing dynamic of the band, acknowledging their past but also looking to their future. Featuring Ricky Maymi, Dan Allaire, Joel Gion, Collin Hegna and Ryan Van Kriedt. Also, Emil Nikolaisen from the Norwegian band Serena-Maneesh joins the band on this album, plus vocal performance Tess Parks and Katy Lane. Anton Newcombe has been a very busy man these past two years, kicking off with the critically acclaimed Brian Jonestown Massacre album Revelation in 2014. After a successful UK and European tour, the BJM followed this up with the +- EP. 2015 saw the release of Musique de film imaginé; an imaginary film soundtrack album featuring the track “Bonbon” which has, ironically, been used in Dheepan, the Palme D’or winner at Cannes film festival 2015. In June, Anton and Tess Parks embarked on a well-received tour of the UK and Europe to support the release of I Declare Nothing. Anton finished 2015 with a BJM mini-album release entitled Mini Album Thingy Wingy.
File Under: Rock
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John Cage, David Tudor & Christian Wolff: San Francisco Museum of Art, 1/16/1965 (Modern Silence) LP
Modern Silence present a live recording, originally broadcast by KPFA Radio from the sculpture court of the San Francisco Museum of Art on January 16, 1965. Coinciding with the 39th birthday of fellow pianist and longtime associate David Tudor, this historic concert with John Cage opens with a duet for cymbal with contact microphones agitated by a wide gamut of objects, and concludes with Variations IV in which loudspeakers outside the performance space interacted with speakers next to the audience. Includes a performance of Christian Wolff’s For 1, 2 or 3 People. First vinyl release of this historic performance of minimalist music.
File Under: Avant Garde, Classical
Contrepoison: Discography 2010-2012 (Hospital) LP
Hospital Productions collect some of the strongest cold-wave pop dirges of a generation with Contrepoison’s Discography 2010-2012 survey, wrapping up both his self-released tapes and releases for Dominick Fernow’s cherished imprint. Since the late ’90s, Québécois musician and noise artist Pierre Marc-Tremblay has been recognized as a vital force in nether musical realms with a palette ranging from hermetic black metal (Akitsa) to the bitterest rhythmic noise (Âmes Sanglantes), and, more recently, the nerve-bitingly melodic pop of Contrepoison, whose I Keep On Searching 12″ (2012) – included here – is a firm fixture. Arriving at the vanguard of a new slew of cold-wave revisionists and fetishists in 2010, his music stood, and still stands, head and shoulders above the rest thanks to an incessant drive and directness that can’t be ignored by anyone into the original stuff, or who has arrived via the sound’s prevailing, contemporary winds. Vacillating belting vocal pop arrangements with howling, stygian instrumentals of synth, guitar and enslaved drum machines, Discography 2010-2012 drags a perfectly malformed body of work, cycling chronologically from the pounding mix of industrial kicks and neo-folk cadence of …Until Next Morning’s amazing title cut (2010), to the blank-eyed dirge of “To Never, Forever”, before taking in the stomping “Deserted Story” from his 2011 split with Vatican Shadow, and committing the fucking addictive hits of “I Keep On Searching”, best summed up in that raging, glam title tune and sandwiched with aces from the compilation Around The Dragon’s Broken Neck Hangs The Medal Of Saint Lazarus (2010). It only gets more wonderfully bombed out and crestfallen from therein, from the plangent siren call of “Nectar Of Destiny” to the exclusive instrumental, “The Moon Has Mad The Eclipse”, and a grip of killers off The Thunders Which Collide tape (2011), including the raging banger “The Thunders Which Collide” and another cut exclusive to this set in the instrumental, “As The Blazing Sun Enters Scorpio”. Basically, it’s riddled with memorable hooks and rages like a wounded beast trapped down a well. RIYL: Cold Cave, Prurient. Edition of 500.
File Under: Industrial, Dark Wave
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Sarah Davachi: Vergers (Important) LP
Vergers is Sarah Davachi’s third full-length release following Barons Court (2015) and Dominions (2016). It marks her second appearance with Important Records following 2014’s August Harp cassette on the Cassauna imprint (SAUNA 017CS). In Vergers, she meditates on a single electronic instrument, the EMS Synthi 100 synthesizer, while also weaving sparse acoustic elements – her own voice and violin – into a series of three long-form, muted gestures. Elements of distance and alienation are certainly at play in the textural quality of these compositions, a feeling that is further defined by track titles that reference the spirit world and an album title that calls to mind the solitary tasks of the church orderly. The record opens with the aptly titled, “Gentle So Gentle”, a side-long movement that recalls the glacial character of Davachi’s previous efforts. “Ghosts And All” and “In Staying” suggest a more disjointed path, with the latter culminating in a subtly dissonant dirge that leaves little absolve between the organic, the artificial, and the impermanent.
File Under: Ambient, Drone, Electronic
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Eleh: Radiant Intervals I (Important) LP
Important Records present the first part of a re-release of Eleh’s influential Radiant Intervals, originally released in 2010. Radiant Intervals is a meticulously nuanced and restrained exploration of the rhythmic and harmonic relationships inherent in pure analog frequencies, using a blend of intuitive and mathematically based tunings. Dense patterns of sound slowly unravel and are woven together again in new ways while harmonics hover and shift overhead. Radiant Intervals is a purely analog recording, made with a Serge Modular system, Mini Moog, Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 and a Pro- One. Comes in heavy-duty, metallic silver-shimmer, screen-printed jackets. 180 gram vinyl.
File Under: Drone, Ambient
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Esben & The Witch: Older Terrors (Season of Mist) LP
The English via Berlin post-rock trio Esben and the Witch return anew with Older Terrors, their latest album and first with Season of Mist. Led by the captivating voice of Rachel Davies, the trio cut a wide swath of sound ranging from the dark and subtle to the triumphal, glorious roar of loud guitars. As the stunning “Sylvan” illustrates, they also find home in the shadows between the light and dark. Older Terrors is nothing short of a stunning and poignant album. Esben and the Witch explains, “Our forthcoming album ‘Older Terrors’ was written and recorded over the course of a year in Berlin, our adopted home. We have spent eight years getting here, sweating on stages, holed up in studios and exploring all that which inspires awe and terror. The album features four tracks. In this digital age of music we wanted to create a collection that worked together but could also be separated, each track standing alone, carving its own path and telling its own tale. This record is dedicated to the sublime. To Edward Young’s Night Thoughts, John Martin’s apocalyptic visions, Caspar David Friedrich’s forays into the forest and to the sparks of light that glimmer in times of utter darkness.”
File Under: Indie Rock
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Carla Dal Forno: You Know What It’s Like (Blackest Ever Black) LP
Carla dal Forno presents her debut solo album You Know What It’s Like, following time in cult Melbourne group Mole House and an earlier association with Blackest Ever Black as a member of F ingers and Tarcar. Her voice is an extraordinary instrument: both disarmingly conversational and glacially detached. It has something of the bedsit urbanity of Anna Domino, Marine Girls, Antena, or Helen Johnstone – stoned and deadpan – but it can also summon a gothic intensity that Nico or Kendra Smith would approve of. This voice is the perfect embodiment of dal Forno’s emotionally ambiguous songs: their lyrics rooted in the everyday, observing and exposing a series of uncomfortable truths. “Fast Moving Cars” and “What You Gonna Do Now?” weigh up claustrophobia against loneliness, inertia against acceleration, doubling-down versus taking-off; the title track acknowledges the provisional nature of love and “real” intimacy, then decides to brave it anyway. By the time the startlingly sparse “The Same Reply” arrives, the sense of dejection is absolute. The vocal-led pieces are interspersed with richly evocative instrumentals. Smothered in tape-hiss and reverb, the seasick synthesizer miniatures “Italian Cinema” and “Dragon Breath” channel the twilit DIY whimsy of Flaming Tunes and Call Back The Giants. The drum machine and bassline of “DB Rip” are pure Chicago house, but then its dark choral drones nod to Dalis Car’s dreams of blood-spattered Cornwall stone. “Dry The Rain” drinks from a stream of moon-musick that runs through Coil, In Gowan Ring, Third Ear Band, even the Raincoats’s Odyshape (1981).
File Under: Electronic, Ambient, Synthwave
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Gas: Box (Kompakt) 10LP Box
Wolfgang Voigt is a man of many means and monikers, having engendered a unique take on electronic expressionism across multiple media – from riotous early ’90s acid to cyber-folkloristic techno or the abstract drama of his current Rückverzauberung project, Voigt is a pioneering vision to be found on vinyl, canvas or flickering screens. Ranking among the most dense, hypnotic, atmospheric recordings in his oeuvre, the Gas releases have since become internationally recognized classics with a cult following, hailed as “a wondrous high point in the history of electronic music” by Pitchfork and considered “some of the most influential albums of the ’90s” by The Guardian. From foggy dub techno to anthemic electronica and loop-based ambient techno, the list of acts, tracks and even genres influenced by the full-lengths and EPs crafted under the Gas umbrella between 1995 and 2000 seems endless, giving these long sold-out original releases even more of a near-mythical quality. Following the much-acclaimed (and out-of-print) retrospective Nah Und Fern from 2008, Kompakt has decided that it’s high time for a reissue that features the core Gas albums, originally released by the legendary Mille Plateaux imprint in the ’90s, the records that introduced the project’s trademark sound between Schönberg and Kraftwerk, Wagner and the bass drum, “an endless march through the underwoods of an imaginary, misty forest and into the disco.” Inside this comprehensive anthology, listeners will experience Zauberberg (1997), Königsforst (1998), Pop (2000) and the sought-after Oktember 12 inch (1999), all together available as luxurious ten LP and four CD edition. Box is the most comprehensive version of these releases ever. The vinyl features edits that were previously unavailable on wax – with each album being presented as three LP pressings (instead of the original two LP pressings), for extended playtime and superior sound quality, finally released the way this music was intended to be heard. This highly collectible box set comes with an art-print book featuring newly processed and previously unreleased photography from the Königsforst woods around Cologne, in the style of the legendary, trail-blazing Gas artwork. Box is to be considered as the definitive take on a unique sound cosmos and an extraordinary period of music. An essential outing for every serious fan of electronic music.
File Under: Electronic, Ambient, Techno, Minimal
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German Army & Old Komm: Disquiet (Discrepant) LP
Disquiet is the imaginary soundtrack to the lost 1976 Russian-American dystopian classic. Russian occultists Old Komm collaborate with the south Californian dons of austere electronics, German Army, bringing to life the made-up soundtrack to a film that never was. Disquiet tells the story of a child born to a desolate, post-apocalyptic world, war-torn and fractured by greed. Organ tones and broken exoteric bumps coexist with dark ambient themes and cavernous beats. Remnants of wry memories, smothered dreams, dim visions of a world that never was.
File Under: Electronic, Industrial, Experimental, OST
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Hastings of Malawi: Vibrant Stapler Obscures Characteristic Growth (Sub Rosa) LP
First reissue of Hastings Of Malawi’s classic masterpiece Vibrant Stapler Obscures Characteristic Growth, originally released on the Papal Products label in 1981. Hastings Of Malawi were Heman Pathak, David Hodes and John Grieve. They recorded Vibrant Stapler Obscures Characteristic Growth in one night in 1981 with no plan and no idea of what they were doing. They played drums, clarinet, synthesizer and piano but also made use of things that they found lying around the studio – old records, cook books, telephone directories and a telephone. The recordings were played down the phone to randomly dialed numbers with the reactions added to the recording. All three had been involved in the recording of the first Nurse With Wound album Chance Meeting On A Dissecting Table Of A Sewing Machine And An Umbrella (1979) and had contributed metal scrapings, piano, effects, clarinet and guitar during the session. The star of the record is Pat Simmons who was the voice of the UK speaking clock between 1963 and 1984. In his book Lipstick Traces (1989) writer Greil Marcus seeks to draw a line from Dada through the Situationist International to punk rock. If this line exists, then Vibrant Stapler Obscures Characteristic Growth sits on the end of it. The only review that the album received was from Steve Stapleton who suggested that “nobody should miss this vinyl disaster” – good or bad are not concepts that can be applied to this recording. The record stands firmly in opposition to the now all pervading concepts of commercialization, celebrity culture and the commodification of creative activity. Originally 1000 copies were pressed on orange/red vinyl. 120 copies were sold through Rough Trade and Virgin Records. 800 copies were bought and later destroyed by the United Dairies label, adding to the elusiveness of this record. This reissue is on red vinyl, just like the original pressing. File under: dada, underground, post-industrial, concrete music, DIY, punk.
File Under: DIY, Punk, Industrial, Dada, NWW List
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Steve Hauschildt: Strands (Kranky) LP
“From Steve Hauschildt: ‘Strands is a song cycle that is about cosmogony and creation/destruction myths. The title alludes to the structural constitution of ropes as I wanted to approach the compositions so that they consisted of strands and fibers which form a unified whole. This was so the songs could have the appearance of being either taut or slack without being fundamentally locked to a grid. So the sounds/tones have a certain malleability to them and sound like they’re bending through time. It’s also grittier and more distorted than my previous albums. I wanted to try and capture that moment in nature and society where life slowly reemerges through desolation, so it has a layer of optimism looming underneath. The music represents this by seemingly decaying at times but then reforms and morphs in a fluid way back to its original state. I was also inspired by the movement of rivers, particularly their transformative aspect and how they’re in a state of flux and change, in particular the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland where I live, which notoriously caught on fire thirteen times because of industrial pollution in the 1960s and before. I was very interested in the dichotomy of oil and water and the resulting, unnatural symptoms of human industry. It’s a very personal record for me as it is a reflection of my hometown where I grew up and where it was mostly recorded. ‘ From Kranky: ‘Graceful compositions flow throughout Steve Hauschildt’s fourth release for Kranky following his Where All Is Fled full length from late summer 2015. The songs fluctuate from the serene calm of album opener ‘Horizon of Appearances,’ to the pulsing hypnosis of ‘Ketracel,’ and on to the searing grandeur of album closer ‘Die in Fascination,’ throughout, Steve remains restrained and in complete control of his sound.’ “
File Under: Electronic, Ambient
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Holy Serpent: Temple (Riding Easy) LP
In the short time since their self-titled RidingEasy debut in mid-2015, Melbourne, Australia’s Holy Serpent have gained a lot of attention for their rather punk version of heavy psych and metal. Fittingly, there’s a strong vibe of early Soundgarden, Saint Vitus and Kyuss to Temples in that it’s undeniably heavy, but also clever in its experimentation with subtle tempo shifts, multiple vocal effects and other production techniques. But it’s still more Sabotage than Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.
File Under: Metal, Psych, Stoner
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Hound Dog Taylor’s Hand: s/t (Abduction) LP
Abduction Records present the first vinyl LP release of Hound Dog Taylor’s Hand. The trio consists of Jeffery Taylor (Climax Golden Twins/AFCGT/Spider Trio) on electric guitar, Mark Ostrowski (Monktail/Wally Shoup Quartet) on drums and John Seman (Monktail/Ask The Ages) on contrabass. The music is a heavy dose of jazz, blues, and improvisation. Sharp and destructive yet cerebral and clever, these tracks finally expose one of Seattle’s best-kept secret treasures to the world as the only way you could have heard them, before would have been at one of their extremely rare live shows in the Puget Sound area or from their locally produced cassette from a few years back. The second track on side one titled “Beatrice”, features Climax Golden Twins and Beatrice Harrison. Edition of 500.
File Under: Blues, Jazz, Climax Golden Twins
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Ixtahuele: Call of the Islands (Subliminal Sounds) LP
Lush and exciting, rich and vibrant, Ìxtahuele are back with their exotic sounds on their second full length album. Guiding your mind’s eye over oceans and mountains, through jungle and desert, teasing and enticing with layered soundscapes and catchy melodies, you’ll find yourself whistling along on a winding mountain road, stalking through the rainforest, or humming lazily on a tropical beach when listening to Call Of The Islands. Building on their previous releases, both musically and thematically, the group flirts with jazz, mambo, and space age pop, all the while retaining their classic acoustic exotica sound and high level of musicianship. Call Of The Islands provides music to lounge by the pool to, to armchair travel on a cold rainy night – it’s the perfect soundtrack for a quiet drink with a lover or a friend. Sophisticated and savage, it’s exotica for the modern age.
File Under: Exotica
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Junkfood & Enrico Gabrielli: Italian Masters (Cinedelic) LP
Enrico Gabrielli and the members of Junkfood have crossed several times in the past in a variety of contexts and collaborations, but never have the two entities been found under the same roof. The occasion is revealed thanks to the Festival HalloBigallo in 2014, dedicated to Piero Umiliani, inviting both to perform with the prayer to include some readings in personnel key from the repertoire of the Maestro. After that pleasant experience, Junkfood and Gabrielli agreed to meet at the Vacuum Studio of Bruno Germano in Bologna. Italian Masters is dedicated to the figures of some of the greatest Italian composers of film scores. The result exceeds expectations: the beautiful music of Umiliani, Morricone and Trovajoli are distorted and filtered by the sensitivity of the five, while maintaining their unmistakable identity. What is most striking is the incredible consistency throughout despite the different authorship of the compositions and wide range of situations and solutions the musicians themselves bring into the music. The quintet succeed in the difficult task of standing comparison to models and simultaneously developing their own poetic and independent sound, making Italian Masters a real gem not only for the fanatics of film music, but for newbies calling to those ones shores lured by the sirens of Gabrielli and Junkfood. Personnel: Enrico Gabrielli – saxophone, bass clarinet, flute; Paolo Raineri – trumpet, flugelhorn, effects; Michelangelo Vanni – electric guitar, effects; Simone Calderoni – electric bass, effects; Simone Cavina – drums, effects. “C’eravamo Tanto Amati Da” features Edda Dell’Orso. Limited numbered edition of 300 on multicolored vinyl.
File Under: OST, Library
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David H. Kimball: Atmosfere N. 1-2 (Cinedelic) LP
Cinedelic Records present a reissue of David H. Kimball’s (Peymont) Atmosfere N. 1-2, originally released in 1971. Limited numbered edition of 600. Includes download code. An amazing and mind-blowing unrecognized gem made by Kimball, an American transplanted to Florence. Two tracks are composed by Serena Marega. Atmosfere N. 1-2 is abstract, mysterious, evocative, experimental, futuristic and avant-psychedelic. It is truly a fascinating electro-acoustic, industrial, dreamy journey that stands out in the panorama of Italian music as one of the most original and an unusual examples of psychedelia.
File Under: Library, Psych
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Egisto Macchi: Messico (Cinedelic) LP
Cinedelic Records present a reissue of Egisto Macchi’s Messico, recorded in 1975. Limited numbered edition. Includes insert and download code. The artistic achievement of Egisto Macchi was avant-garde, not only for his immense talent and brilliance of his creativity, but for the quality he managed to infuse every musical language with – ranging from instrumental and symphonic music, musical theater, library sound, more varied and articulated. Towering over all of his works is his passion, commitment, respect and great inner need to break down the sectarian walls of thinking in categories. He had sensed that beauty could be located anywhere and that the biggest task entrusted to an artist was to leave the surface, always. Messico was originally released on the Ayna label.
File Under: Library, Italian
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Egisto Macchi: Violenza (Cinedelic) LP
Cinedelic Records present a reissue of Egisto Macchi’s Violenza, recorded in 1976. Limited numbered edition. Includes insert and download code. The artistic achievement of Egisto Macchi was avant-garde, not only for his immense talent and brilliance of his creativity, but for the quality he managed to infuse every musical language with – ranging from instrumental and symphonic music, musical theater, library sound, more varied and articulated. Towering over all of his works is his passion, commitment, respect and great inner need to break down the sectarian walls of thinking in categories. He had sensed that beauty could be located anywhere and that the biggest task entrusted to an artist was to leave the surface, always. Violenza was originally released on the Ayna label. Features percussionist Vittorio Ferrari.
File Under: Italian, Library
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Metallica: Hardwire… To Self-Destruct (Blackened) LP
Metallica will release their eleventh studio album, Hardwired…To Self-Destruct, in November 2016, via Blackened Recordings. The double album features 12 new tracks and nearly 80 minutes of music and serves as the Grammy Award winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee’s first studio album since 2008’s multi-platinum Death Magnetic. Hardwired…To Self-Destruct was produced by Greg Fidelman, who also engineered and mixed Death Magnetic. “Has it really been eight years? Doesn’t feel like it! Nudge, nudge, wink, wink,” said Metallica’s Lars Ulrich. “We’re obviously beyond psyched to share new tunes with all our friends out there. We’ve been rockin’ along in the studio with Greg on and off for the last 18 months firing up the creative engines again. Putting new music out there, getting in your faces once again and all that comes with it is what we love to do more than anything else, so strap yourselves in…Incoming!” Ugh.
File Under: “Metal”
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Minghi/Montanari/Conrado: Climax (Song Cycle) LP
First reissue of one of the holy grails from the vault of the amazing Italian library music label Octopus. Originally released in 1973, Climax is a killer studio session by Amedeo Minghi, Piero Montanari, and Roberto Conrado. An incredible collection of psych jazz funk tunes with crazy Moog sounds, violent drums, and deep bass. An ultra-rare, hard-to-find item finally available again, on 180-gram virgin vinyl.
File Under: Italian, Library
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Mother Love Bone: On Earth As It Is (Monkey Wrench) 3LP Box
In Tomorrow… Founded by future Pearl Jam and former Green River members Stone Gossard (guitar) and Jeff Ament (bass) and flamboyant singer Andrew Wood, the Seattle-based punk/glam band Mother Love Bone was only active for a few promising years before the premature death of Wood following their debut 1989 EP Shine and just before the release of the group’s debut full-length Apple. Monkeywrench Records is pleased to release Mother Love Bone: On Earth As It Is, a limited edition 3LP reissue set that gathers new remastered editions of their lone studio works: Shine and Apple. The release comes complete with a 24 page booklet, rare photos, fold out poster, stencil and more. The vinyl edition is packaged in a slipcase replicating a Mother Love Bone wall mural painted by Jeff Ament.
File Under: Grunge
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Annette Peacock & Paul Bley: Dual Unity (Bamboo) LP
Bamboo present a reissue of the debut album by Annette Peacock & Paul Bley, Dual Unity, originally released in 1972. Annette Peacock’s legacy may only just be courting recognition proper with the recent retrospective release of her solo debut I’m The One (1972). Hailed as a pioneer and artistic genius by many, her debut album and predecessor to I’m The One captures Peacock in her element alongside husband; Canadian jazz genius Paul Bley. Dual Unity is a landscape of aural vision captured on tape in 1970 during their first European tour. For 33 minutes and 21 seconds, the listener is absorbed by other spirits. Using Robert Moog’s earliest synthesizers, Bley and Peacock apply the strategic use of silence to indicate its reflective nature with captivating results. Originally released in 1971, it is a statement of immensity through synthetic minimalism and a milestone in the avant-garde, free jazz movement. Personnel (in addition to Peacock and Bley performing on all tracks): Han Bennink – drums on “M.J.” and “Gargantuan Encounter”; Mario Pavone – bass and Laurence Cook – drums on “Richter Scale” and “Dual Unity”. Professionally re-mastered original sound recording with expansive liners, interviews and rare archival photos.
File Under: Electronic, Free Jazz
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Washington Phillips: And His Manzarene Dreams (Dust-to-Digital) CD/Book
Dust-to-Digital’s inaugural release, 2003’s Goodbye, Babylon (DTD 001CD), included two recordings by a mysterious gospel musician from Texas named Washington Phillips, who died in 1954. After fielding inquiries about the hauntingly beautiful songs from listeners around the world, in 2013, Dust-to-Digital checked in with Michael Corcoran, the leading researcher on Phillips, to see if any new information had been uncovered. Indeed, Michael had some leads, but he would need a working budget to track them down. Three years later, in 2016, after combing through various archives and talking with the last surviving people from the Simsboro-area who remembered Phillips, the name of Phillips’s homemade instrument (the Manzarene) has been revealed, in addition to the time, place, and manner of his death and many anecdotes about his life. Dust-to-Digital now share this story with Washington Phillips and His Manzarene Dreams, a 76-page hardcover book by Michael Corcoran accompanied by a CD of recordings made by Phillips between 1927 and 1929. To ensure a superior listening experience, the label tracked down the most pristine original copies of Phillips’s 78-RPM records, created high-resolution transfers, and had the audio expertly remastered for the best-sounding Phillips reissue to date. Hear the sublime, hypnotic, ethereal music of Washington Phillips in clarity like never before. Washington Phillips and His Manzarene Dreams includes song lyrics, label reproductions, and photos, along with liner notes by Michael Corcoran.
File Under: Blues, Gospel
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Tom Prehn Quartet: Axiom (Rune Grammofon) LP
It will always be difficult to pinpoint where free jazz started, but it´s reasonable to say it was shaped and cultivated in New York in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Albert Ayler and Cecil Taylor were important players, as was Ornette Coleman. Axiom has significant historical importance by being what is quite possibly the first European free jazz record, even if it was not released at the time. Recorded in Copenhagen in October 1963, it should have been Tom Prehn Quartet’s debut album for the Sonet label. But by the time the test pressings arrived – a couple of months later – the music already sounded old to them and Sonet subsequently pulled the plug. This, in itself, is quite remarkable, knowing that they were so far ahead of their time. A few sleeves and labels had been printed but only two complete copies survived, making it one of the rarest jazz albums ever. Axiom is expressive, full frontal free jazz of the highest order, and to think it was created by Danish musicians, most of them barely into their twenties, in 1963, is frankly mind-boggling. On the other hand, Scandinavian audiences, especially in Denmark and Sweden, had already welcomed controversial musicians like Ayler and Taylor with open arms. They also imposed a serious impact on many local jazz musicians, the Swedish sax phenomenon Bengt “Frippe” Nordstrøm even recorded Albert Ayler, in Sweden, with Swedish musicians, for his Bird Notes label as early as in 1962 , three years before his first ESP record. Elsewhere in Europe pioneers like UK´s Spontaneous Music Ensemble would debut on record in 1966, while Germany´s Peter Brötzmann would release his first record the year after. First vinyl release. Previously released as a CD by Corbett vs. Dempsey in 2015. Painstaking re-creation of original sleeve by Kim Hiorthøy.
File Under: Free Jazz
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Radiohead: A Moon Shaped Pool (XL) DLX Box
XL Recordings presents a 2LP + 2CD Deluxe Edition of A Moon Shaped Pool, the acclaimed ninth studio album from radical and revered British act Radiohead and follow-up to 2011’s The King of Limbs. The melodically rich and meditatively mid-tempo 11-track set was five years in the making and has already been hailed as one of the band’s most accessible efforts in years. The album comes preceded by the evocative videos for the Paul Thomas Anderson-directed “Daydreaming” and Chris Hopewell-directed “Burn the Witch” while further shimmering tracks like “Identikit,” “Ful Stop,” “Present Tense,” “Desert Island Disk” and “True Love Waits” have been previously performed live, the latter even dating all the way back to 1995 and an appearance on the 2001 EP I Might Be Wrong. Recording tape belly band applied: This is a piece of a Radiohead ½ inch master tape from an actual recording session. The tape degrades over time and becomes unplayable. The band thought rather than it ending up as landfill they would cut it up and make it useful as a part of the special edition. A new life for some obsolete technology. Each loop contains about ¾ of a second of audio – which could be from any era in the band’s recording past going back to Kid A. You may have silence, you may have colored leader tape, you may have a chorus.
File Under: Rock
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Steve Reich/Philip Glass: Information, Transmission, Modulation & Noise (Modern Silence) LP
Modern Silence present Information, Transmission, Modulation And Noise, a set of recordings featuring works by Steve Reich and Philip Glass. During an interview recorded at the KPFA radio station, Steve Reich and Jon Gibson introduced an east coast performance of Steve Reich’s masterpiece, Four Organs, as well as an exciting recording of Ghanian drumming which the artist recorded in Ghana. They also introduced the music of Philip Glass, playing a tape of his historical Music In Similar Motion. Personnel: Four Organs by Steve Reich, was performed live in NYC in November of 1969 by Steve Chambers, Art Murphy, Philip Glass on electric organs and Jon Gibson on maracas; Drumming by Steve Reich, was performed by percussionists from Ghana and recorded by Steve Reich; Music In Similar Motion, by Philip Glass, was performed live In NYC in November of 1969 by Steve Chambers and Philip Glass on electric organs, Jon Gibson and Richard Landry on soprano sax, Steve Reich on electric harpsichord.
File Under: Classical, Minimalism
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Steve Reich/Terry Riley: Six Pianos/Keyboard Study #1 (Film) CD
After the widely noticed performance at the “Acht Brücken Festival 2016” at Cologne’s Philharmonic Hall, Gregor Schwellenbach, Hauschka, Erol Sarp (of Grandbrothers), Daniel Brandt and Paul Frick (both of Brandt Brauer Frick) and John Kameel Farah release their interpretation of Steve Reich’s “Six Pianos” as a studio recording via FILM. The re-recording of this piece is an interpretation of Reich’s composition but still far more than just that – it is a modern approach to his idea behind it. The basic idea came up at the beginning of the ’70s at the Baldwin Piano & Organ Company in New York. During a rehearsal phase, which Steve Reich spent in this very piano store, the idea emerged of writing a composition for all the grand pianos available to him at the company. By the time of the finished piece, the actual number of pianos had settled down to six, where “Six Pianos” developed in 1973. On the occasion of his 80th birthday, the six pianists declare their love to Steve Reich with this release. Shaped by electronic club music as well as their classical education, they form “Six Pianos” in dignified modernity and top it off with today’s sound aesthetics and technical recording possibilities. Presented here is not the recording from the Kölner Philharmonie (Cologne Philharmonics), but the ensemble playing six different grand pianos in six different locations throughout Germany. Each pianist performed his part on his piano using his typical studio equipment and passed the recording over to the next one. Thus the six characteristic and individual timbres of the performers overlay to create the overall picture – “Six Pianos” the way it should be looked at in 2016. Jan Brauer mixed “Six Pianos” in the studio while Lukas Vogel provided delays for the “Keyboard Study #1”. “Keyboard Study #1” by Terry Riley is a worthy companion for Reich’s composition. The piece is kind of a building set of ever lengthening, repetitive patterns played against each other with the right and left hand displaced. The composition proposes various possible combinations for the performer to choose from and repeat at will. And what the performers have chosen proves Gregor Schwellenbach’s assumption: “Terry Riley’s and Steve Reich’s music are open doors for pianists socialized by pop music and their audience.”
File Under: Classical, Minimalism
Ryuichi Sakamoto: Music for Film (Buteo Buteo) LP+CD
Music For Film is the first compilation dedicated to the film music of Ryuichi Sakamoto, played by the Brussels Philharmonic and conducted by Dirk Brossé. This selection includes compositions from Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983), The Last Emperor (1987), The Sheltering Sky (1990), High Heels (1991), Wild Palms (1993), Little Buddha (1993), Snake Eyes (1998), Femme Fatale (2002), Babel (2006), Hara-Kiri: Death Of A Samurai (2011), Yae No Sakura (2013) and The Revenant (2015). Sakamoto was already a celebrated pioneer in electronic music and composer/pianist/singer in Japan when he was asked by Nagisa Oshima to write the music for the Merry Christmas Mr.Lawrence, his first major score. The list of major directors Sakamoto worked with is impressive: the veteran Japanese director Yoji Yamada, Takashi Miike, Bernardo Bertolucci, Brian De Palma, Pedro Almodovar, Volker Schlöndorff and Oliver Stone. Sakamoto conceived a unique approach of film scoring: a blend of splendid melodies, synthesizer work, traditional orchestral music, drum tracks, sound effects and unusual musical colors. Out of his striking contrast of musical styles and cultures, he created fascinating and enchanting standout scores. From Merry Christmas, Mr.Lawrence, there’s the haunting main theme that manages simultaneously to be Japanese and western, a central idea in the film. For The Last Emperor, Sakamoto’s score blends Chinese gestures with accessible melodies. For The Sheltering Sky, based on Paul Bowles’s novel, “Sakamoto wrote a rich, profusely emotive score, reflecting the emotional journey of the two characters.” For Little Buddha, the composer “integrates a standard Hollywood-style film underscore with several Indian motifs.” Sakamoto’s one-time collaboration with Spanish director Pedro Almodovar resulted in a flavorful sound, reliant on the sounds of a flamenco guitar. Knowing Sakamoto’s admiration for frequent Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann, it’s no wonder Brian De Palma asked him for the music for Snake Eyes. As Jerry McCulley testifies, the result was brilliant: “Sakamoto… crank[s] up the brass and swirling strings into an unsettling sonic maelstrom that would’ve done late ’50s Hitch proud.” In Femme Fatale, Sakamoto’s next collaboration with De Palma is his playful pastiche on Ravel’s Bolero, the obsessive rhythm of the opening sequence becoming a jewel heist at the Cannes film festival. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s The Revenant marked Sakamoto’s triumphant comeback after he survived throat cancer. For The Revenant, Sakamoto composed new ambient music that’s simultaneously subdued, low-key and emotionally powerful. Includes CD.
File Under: OST, Classical
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SIANspheric: Somnium (Sonic Unyon) LP
The two-decade-plus long existence of SIANspheric seems both improbable and poetic. The band’s debut, 1995’s Somnium, has been hailed as one of the top Canadian albums of all time. Amazingly, this release (out Oct 28, 2016) marks the first time this album has ever been available on vinyl. Limited to 500 copies worldwide, each album contains two long-playing LPs on red vinyl. These will not last long. “Armed with a sinewy intellect and their own brand of gaseous post-rock prescience, they burned a path through the sonic stratosphere. The waves of gentle turbulence and ethereal beauty are still as hypnotic and cavalier as they were on the first listen. A stoner classic.” – Chart Attack (#40 on Top 50 Canadian Albums of All Time)
File Under: Indie Rock, Shoegaze
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SIANspheric: Writing the Future in Letters of Fire (Sonic Unyon) LP
SIANspheric’s first new studio album in 15 years, Writing the Future in Letters of Fire (out October 28, 2016) includes nods to the band’s past and leaps forward — staying grounded, while providing dreamy whirrs and explosive noise bursts. Band members (Matt Durrant, Ryan Ferguson, Jay Patterson and Sean Ramsay) hearken back to their ’90s roots on the title track, treading the line between calm and chaos, where echoes of Smashing Pumpkins meet echoes of The Verve, and on “Shimmer”, which builds and builds… and builds… Not content to stand still, the group also pushes the envelope by incorporating glorious choral accompaniment courtesy of Hamilton, Ontario’s Earth, Wind & Choir on the first single, “I Have It,” and Tame Impala-inspired trips on the breakdown choruses of “The Simple Exit”. The psych sludge on the outro of “The Flight of the Owl” is reminiscent of Wooden Shjips and the wheels almost entirely come off during the jazz skronk of “Los Herejes” (featuring horns from Hamilton’s Eschaton) or the 14-minute, untitled, live-off-the-floor freakout that closes Side D. The album is a true past-meets-future revelation
File Under: Indie Rock, Shoegaze
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Silver Apples: Beacon (Chickencoop) LP
Beacon is the fourth album for the Silver Apples, the “come back album”, produced by Steve Albini and originally released in 1997 on CD only. Eight of the tracks were new songs that former exile and Silver Apples leader Simeon had composed with recent additions Xian Hawkins and Michael Lerner. The remaining three tunes are remakes from the Silver Apples’s past. A reworking of “I Have Known Love” opens the record. “You and I” is given an appropriate chaotic reading; a wall of cacophonous keyboards forms in the instrumental breaks, like the video game Stargate on tilt. Of the originals, the vocal-less “Cosmic String” is the standout, developing a Trans Am groove with sounds recalling the moment the beloved Pac-Man is caught by his nemesis, Speedy. Beacon is full of the influence of ’80s video games, no doubt incorporated by the twenty-something Hawkins.
File Under: Electronic, Rock
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Sleaford Mods: Live at SO36 (Harbinger) LP
Sleaford Mods’s third Berlin show took place at Kreuzberg’s legendary SO36 club. The band took to the stage on a hot sweaty June night and played to a sold out audience. The show was captured by a German documentary crew and this limited edition album captures the highlights of that incendiary performance. Among the 14 tracks on the album are favorites like “Tied Up In Nottz”, “Jobseeker”, “Fizzy” and the great crowd-pleaser and closer, “Tweet Tweet Tweet”. The recording is a testament to the connection between the band and those that follow them. Hear the glorious carnage and madness throughout the record’s duration. No language barriers, no borders, no restrictions of any kind. This album also represents the first release on Harbinger Sound’s new USA subsidiary label. Fuck England!
File Under: Punk, Rap
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Michael Snow: Music For Piano, Whistling, Microphone and Tape Recorder (Song Cycle) LP
Musician, visual artist, composer, writer, and sculptor Michael Snow is also one of the world’s most highly acclaimed experimental filmmakers. In 1975 he released this album under the record company Chatham Square. The label was founded by the owner of Michael Snow’s gallery, the Bykert Gallery, which also issued the first Philip Glass recordings. This reissue is released in collaboration with Michael Snow. 180-gram vinyl; gatefold sleeve.
File Under: Experimental, Avant Garde
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Space Art: Trip In The Center Head (Because) LP+CD
Because Music present a reissue of Space Art’s Trip In The Center Head, originally released in 1978. Space Art, the duo of Roger Rizzitelli and Dominique Perrier, is a legendary group that is considered a great pioneer of French electronic music. Perrier, having collaborated with Michel Fugain and Il Etait Une Fois, is one of legend Jean-Michel Jarre’s closest collaborators. Dominique discovered the very first synthesizer ARP (Odyssey) which he was taken with so much that he created his own band, Space Art, aside his good friend drummer Rizitelli. This curious band endorsed tight and opaque costumes of decontamination which covered their bodies and masked their faces. In 1977, “Onyx”, recorded in Studio Ferber mixed by René Hameline, became a very successful single. Issued from the album Space Art (BEC 5156240), the single sold over three million copies worldwide. Two albums shortly followed, in 1979, Trip To The Center Head then in 1980, Play Back (BEC 5156239). Space Art is behind the massive hits: “Onyx”, “Give Me Love”, “Love In C Minor” and more. Space Art’s legacy is the true “techno trance”. A keyboard virtuoso, Perrier worked on all of Jarre’s albums from Rendez-Vous (1986) to Oxygène 7- 1 (1997) and still tours with him around the world. Space Art toured with Jarre in China in the early ’80s. Alongside Jean-Michel Jarre and Cerrone, Space Art are considered one of the pioneers of electro music. One of three Space Art LP reissues, along with Play Back and Space Art, all cut from the long-awaited 2010 digital remasters and presented for the first time on vinyl. Considering the success of the Cosmic Machine compilations, French proto-electro is being revisited by fans of electronic music and being given well-deserved attention. Comes in printed cardboard sleeve with CD included.
File Under: Electronic, Synth Pop
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Space Art: Play Back (Because) LP
Because Music present a reissue of Space Art’s Play Back, originally released in 1980. Space Art, the duo of Roger Rizzitelli and Dominique Perrier, is a legendary group that is considered a great pioneer of French electronic music. Perrier, having collaborated with Michel Fugain and Il Etait Une Fois, is one of legend Jean-Michel Jarre’s closest collaborators. Dominique discovered the very first synthesizer ARP (Odyssey) which he was taken with so much that he created his own band, Space Art, aside his good friend drummer Rizitelli. This curious band endorsed tight and opaque costumes of decontamination which covered their bodies and masked their faces. In 1977, “Onyx”, recorded in Studio Ferber mixed by René Hameline, became a very successful single. Issued from the album Space Art, the single sold over three million copies worldwide. Two albums shortly followed, in 1979, Trip To The Center Head then in 1980, Play Back. Space Art is behind the massive hits: “Onyx”, “Give Me Love”, “Love In C Minor” and more. Space Art’s legacy is the true “techno trance”. A keyboard virtuoso, Perrier worked on all of Jarre’s albums from Rendez-Vous (1986) to Oxygène 7- 1 (1997) and still tours with him around the world. Space Art toured with Jarre in China in the early ’80s. Alongside Jean-Michel Jarre and Cerrone, Space Art are considered one of the pioneers of electro music. One of three Space Art LP reissues, along with Trip In The Center Head and Space Art, all cut from the long-awaited 2010 digital remasters and presented for the first time on vinyl. Considering the success of the Cosmic Machine compilations, French proto-electro is being revisited by fans of electronic music and being given well-deserved attention. Comes in printed cardboard sleeve with CD included.
File Under: Electronic, Synth Pop
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Space Art: s/t (Because) LP
Because Music present a reissue of Space Art’s self-titled debut album, originally released in 1977. Space Art, the duo of Roger Rizzitelli and Dominique Perrier, is a legendary group that is considered a great pioneer of French electronic music. Perrier, having collaborated with Michel Fugain and Il Etait Une Fois, is one of legend Jean-Michel Jarre’s closest collaborators. Dominique discovered the very first synthesizer ARP (Odyssey) which he was taken with so much that he created his own band, Space Art, aside his good friend drummer Rizitelli. This curious band endorsed tight and opaque costumes of decontamination which covered their bodies and masked their faces. In 1977, “Onyx”, recorded in Studio Ferber mixed by René Hameline, became a very successful single. Issued from Space Art, the single sold over three million copies worldwide. Two albums shortly followed, in 1979, Trip To The Center Head then in 1980, Play Back. Space Art is behind the massive hits: “Onyx”, “Give Me Love”, “Love In C Minor” and more. Space Art’s legacy is the true “techno trance”. A keyboard virtuoso, Perrier worked on all of Jarre’s albums from Rendez-Vous (1986) to Oxygène 7- 1 (1997) and still tours with him around the world. Space Art toured with Jarre in China in the early ’80s. Alongside Jean-Michel Jarre and Cerrone, Space Art are considered one of the pioneers of electro music. One of three Space Art LP reissues, along with Trip In The Center Head and Play Back, all cut from the long-awaited 2010 digital remasters and presented for the first time on vinyl. Considering the success of the Cosmic Machine compilations, French proto-electro is being revisited by fans of electronic music and being given well-deserved attention. Comes in printed cardboard sleeve with CD included.
File Under: Electronic, Synth-Pop
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Space Art: Remix (Because) LP
Because Music presents Remix, a double 12″ release featuring Space Art’s classic French electro tracks with contributions by Prins Thomas, Psychemagik, Daniele Baldelli and Marco Dionigi. Space Art, the duo of Roger Rizzitelli and Dominique Perrier, is a legendary group that is considered a great pioneer of French electronic music. Perrier, having collaborated with Michel Fugain and Il Etait Une Fois, is one of legend Jean-Michel Jarre’s closest collaborators. Dominique discovered the very first synthesizer ARP (Odyssey) which he is taken with so much so that he created his own band, Space Art, aside his good friend drummer Rizitelli. This curious band endorses tight and opaque costumes of decontamination which cover their body and mask their face. In 1977, “Onyx”, recorded in Studio Ferber mixed by René Hameline, became a very successful single. Issued from the album Space Art, the single sold over three million copies worldwide. Two albums shortly followed, in 1979, Trip To The Center Head then in 1980 Play Back. Space Art is behind the massive hits: “Onyx”, “Give Me Love”, “Love In C Minor” and more. Space Art’s legacy is the true “techno trance”. A keyboard virtuoso, Perrier worked on all of Jarre’s albums from Rendez-Vous (1986) to Oxygène 7- 1 (1997) and still tours with him around the world. Space Art toured with Jarre in China in the early ’80s. Alongside Jean-Michel Jarre and Cerrone, Space Art are considered one of the pioneers of electro music. Considering the success of the Cosmic Machine compilations, French proto-electro is being revisited by fans of electronic music and being given well-deserved attention. Remix features current leading electronic artists paying homage to the legacy of Space Art. Comes in printed cardboard sleeve with CD included.
File Under: Electronic, Synth-Pop
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Sun Ra/Merzbow: Strange City (Cold Spring) LP
Cold Spring Records present Strange City featuring completely different music on each format. Officially licensed from Irwin Chusid of the Sun Ra estate, Cold Spring’s Justin Mitchell negotiated rare and unreleased tracks from the Sun Ra archive to be remixed and treated by Masami Akita (Merzbow). The tracks incorporate the jazz power of Sun Ra, carried into brutal excess by the legendary Japanese artist Merzbow.
File Under: Jazz, Noise
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Piero Umiliani & I Suoi Oscillatori: Switched on Naples (Sonor) LP
Sonor Music Editions present a reissue of Piero Umiliani & I Suoi Oscillatori’s Switched On Naples, originally released in 1972. A very underrated Umiliani album, Switched On Naples is an outstanding library album with a pure touch of genius. Maestro Umiliani revisits Naples’s popular songs by the use of synthesizers, carrying the record out with entirely electronic sounds.
File Under: Italian, Library
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Dean Ween Group: The Deaner Album (ATO) LP
The Deaner Album is the debut album from The Dean Ween Group. Dean Ween aka Mickey Melchiondo recorded the album in several locations but finished it at his dedicated studio facility in Lambertville, NJ, across the river from his native New Hope, PA. On The Deaner Album, Dean brings his love of classic guitar rock to 14 original compositions (including four instrumentals) that echo everything from classic rock to cracked country to the quirky mix of soul, funk, metal and punk that defined Ween. “My tastes are very mainstream; I love Jimi Hendrix and Santana and Zeppelin, but my ears are always open,” Dean says. “P-Funk, they’re right up there with the Beatles. That’s what my influences were – that and punk rock – and I wanted all that in this album.” Initially, The Deaner Album found Dean moving to a more ensemble approach to recording, as he enlisted the services of current bandmates as well as old friends including the Meat Puppets’ Curt Kirkwood, legendary punk drummer Chuck Treece, and guitarists Mike “Kidd Funkadelic” Hampton, Scott Rednor, and Bill Fowler among others. “If I woke up in the middle of the night with an idea, I’d call a session and have the whole band come in and learn the song and play it together,” dean says. “That was really different for me. I could actually show some patience and not just half-ass it. If I needed a drummer, I’d get the best drummer I could to play that particular song.” Another huge change for Dean was moving into his own studio, converted from an old chicken coop in the woods of Western New Jersey on a patch of land donated by a friend’s father. “I think finally having my own studio has been a big part of why this record is as good as it is,” he says. “All the gear I’ve acquired over the years that’s been in storage and my garage and my attic, it’s all in one place now. Every guitar I’ve ever bought, every amp, every pedal, every effect, all in one place and it’s all getting used all the time. I’m there pretty much all day, every day, all night, every night, doing something – recording, practicing, mixing. It’s in the country, in the woods, nobody can hear us, and I’ve got a sound system in there powerful enough to power a big club. And you can go outside in your underwear and smoke a cigarette or blow off a grenade and nobody’s going to hear you.” Dean recorded three of the tracks on the album by himself, playing all of the instruments. That includes “SchwarzPete,” a loving tribute to guitar hero Les Paul and the collection’s oldest song, originally written years ago for a TV pilot. “I always wanted that song to be on a record,” he says. “I love that style of guitar playing.” Before diving headfirst into The Deaner Album, Dean produced and engineered Moistboyz V, his fifth collaboration with punk singer Guy Heller. “My idea was to do the Moistboyz’ record and my record at the same time, but I realized I needed to focus on one record at a time and shelved my record for a bit,” he says. “Then when I moved into my new studio a year or so ago, I just really went all in on my record, no distractions, no side projects. I did a lot of gigging, but that just benefited the record because my playing and singing just kept getting better.”
File Under: Rock, Ween
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Various: Brown Acid Third Trip (Riding Easy) LP
“We continue down the wormhole of hard rock, heavy psych, and proto-metal here on The Third Trip with a set of tunes so obscure they can’t be seen without a third eye. Most of these tracks were recorded in shack-sized studios, privately pressed for promotional purposes, and tossed out like last night’s half empties only to later be discovered to be half-full, if not overflowing with greatness. The majority of these tracks are from the good ol’ US of A with two exceptions, Ash-labelmate New Zealanders, Chook, and the mighty Limeys, Factory. As they say, first is the worst, second is the best, third is the one with the hairy chest. So take a shot of whiskey, shotgun a beer, and put some fuzz in between your nipples with the hairiest Trip you’ve taken yet. You won’t be sorry you did”.
File Under: Hard Rock, Psych, Metal
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Various: Metamorphoses (Modern Silence) LP
Modern Silence present a reissue of Metamorphoses, originally released in 1980. A Russian album of electronic interpretations of “classical” pieces by Claude Debussy, Claudio Monteverdi along with John Bull, Vladimir Martynov, Sergei Prokofiev, J. S. Bach, Edward Artemiev and Yuri Bogdanov. Yuri Bogdanov is featured on every track, on some tracks together with Edward Artemiev, composer for Andrei Tarkovsky, and others. Other tracks feature Vladimir Martynov. From the original liner notes: “The record is made on the basis of a kaleidoscope: it is interspersed with pieces of various styles, genres and eras. For example, with these pieces, the authors wanted to show a variety of ways to use a synthesizer, starting with the direct simulation of now or once existing instruments, to the establishment of new not yet known sound systems. Thus, the record is like a small musical walk through time (…)”
File Under: Early Electronic, Experimental, Classical
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Various: Musical Offering (Modern Silence) LP
Modern Silence present a reissue of Musical Offering, originally released in 1990. Features works by Oleg Buloshkin, Sofia Gubaidulina, Edward Artemiev, Edison Denisov and Alfred Schnittke. From the original liner notes: “(…) Please, try to imagine a score sounding by itself without a conductor, an orchestra even without musical instruments. This magic is possible by using the musical synthesizer, ANS. ANS is an instrument with which a composer can not only create but even draw his music without notes and orchestra. A Soviet scientist Evgeny Murzin spent about 20 years creating this apparatus which can join together three processes: music creation, recording and performing. All these processes are rather complicated. You can see the twinkling of different lamps, the rotation of grooved discs made of glass – notes are cut on a glass disc covered with a special layer; The drawings on the glass are ‘sounding notes’. To listen to the drawn picture you should press the button and a wonderful transformation will begin. Murzin dedicated his apparatus to Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin, that’s why he called it ANS. Scriabin, the creator of the ‘Poem of Ecstasy’, used in his works a highly chromatic, new type of harmonic style designed to express his beliefs, views and wishes. Soviet music lovers already know some recordings made on ANS from the films Into Space, Solaris (1972), Mirror (1975), Siberiade (1979) and others. Works of well-known Soviet composers E. Artemiev, O. Buloshkin, E. Denisov, S. Gubaidulina, A. Schnittke featured on this LP were recorded at the Electronic Music Studio (…)”
File Under: Electronic, Soviet, ANS
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…..Restocks…..
Tony Allen: Jealousy (Kindred Spirits) LP
Tony Allen: No Discrimination (Kindred Spirits) LP
Tony Allen: NEPA (Kindred Spirits) LP
Baby Grandmothers: s/t (Subliminal Sounds) LP
Black Flag: Damaged (SST) LP
Black Flag: My War (SST) LP
Black Flag: Loose Nut (SST) LP
James Brown: Think (Cornbread) LP
Nick Cave: Boatman’s Call (Mute) LP
Clash: London Calling (Epic) LP
Cluster: ’71 (Bureau B) LP
John Coltrane: Blue Train (Blue Note) LP
Bo Diddley: Have Guitar Will Travel (Cornbread) LP
Dies Irae: First (Ohrwashel) LP
Charlie Feathers: Uh Huh Honey (Norton) LP
Goat: World Music (Rocket) LP
Gorillaz: Plastic Beach (EMI) LP
Guru Guru: UFO (Play Loud) LP
Joy Division: Closer (Rhino) LP
Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures (Rhino) LP
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: Nonagon Infinity (ATO) LP
Kronos Quartet: Pieces of Africa (Nonesuch) LP
Lambchop: Flotus (Merge) LP
Moondog: Snaketime Series (Cornbread) LP
Nirvana: In Utero (Geffen) LP
OST: Trainspotting (Warner) LP
Parliament: Mothership Connection (Universal) LP
Daniel Romano: Mosey (New West) LP
Scientist: Rids the World of the Evil Curse (Mirimur) LP
Sun Ra: Super-Sonic Jazz (Cornbread) LP
Television: Marquee Moon (Rhino) LP
White Stripes: Elephant (Third Man) LP
Various: Heavenly Ethiopiques (Heavenly) LP
Various: No New York (Lilith) LP
Muddy Waters: Elevate Me Mama (Black Knight) LP
