listen records

Well, we made it home, and boy oh boy is jet lag a real bummer. Oh well, a small price to pay. Anyway, some sweet sides in this week, and HOPEFULLY a bunch of things showing up tomorrow after having to chase down some orders that didn’t seem to ship while I was away.

ALSO… Looks like we’ll be hiring someone again real soon! If you dream of hanging out and talking about records all day, then bring us a resume along with your top ten albums of 2019 and of all time!

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…..pick of the week…..

Sunn o))): Pyroclasts (Southern Lord) LP
The Pyroclasts album is the result of a daily practice which was regularly performed each morning, or evening during the two week Life Metal sessions at Electrical Audio during July 2018, when all of the days musical participants would gather and work through a twelve-minute improvised modal drone at the start and or end of the day’s work. The piece performed was timed with a stopwatch and tracked to two-inch tape, it was an exercise and a chance to dig into a deep opening or closing of the day’s session in a deep musical way with all of the participants. To connect/reconnect, liberate the creative mind a bit and greet each other and the space through the practice of sound immersion. The players across the four pieces of Pyroclasts are Tim Midyett, Tos Nieuwenhuizen, Hildur Guðnadóttir, and as always, SUNN O)) founders Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson. The music on Pyroclasts is inextricably woven to Life Metal. It exists on the very same tape reels, was explicitly recorded by Steve Albini. The brightness and vividness of that glorious session glares through these four tracks, the precision and radiance, prismatic lustrousness of the saturation, the elemental sculptural shapes, the abstract renderings. It is a sister, or perhaps a shadow album. Or perhaps the now apparent miasma or aether. But it also exists in a form of a pause, a time space which exist in between and around the compositional structures of SUNN O)))‘s titanic works. For the listener or recipient/participant there are deep rewards within the patience of pulling down the walls and letting the music feel and feel the music. To be immersed will reveal great detail and color, clarify image, encourage a depth of focus and stillness which may lead to a quite profound experience. Sitting inside the space of time. A deep form of elementalism, even atomism, and connection with presence moment, time and reality. SUNN O))) would invite our audience to consider these points of perception when experiencing and listening to Pyroclasts. SUNN O))) would also invite and encourage their audience to use Pyroclasts as a lens to review and re-experience the complexity of the Life Metal album, and even to interrupt its sequence with Pyroclasts. This elaboration can bring the astute listener both abyssal, hallowed rewards. Pyroclasts was recorded and mixed by Steve Albini at Electrical Audio on two-inch tape July 2018 and mastered by Matt Colton through all analogue AAA process at Metropolis July 2019. Four of Samantha Keely Smith’s incredible consciousness memory landscapes grace the album sleeve artwork.

File Under: Drone, Doom, Metal
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……new arrivals…..

Allah-Las: LAHS (Mexican Summer) LP
On their fourth LP, drummer Matt Correia, bassist Spencer Dunham, and guitarists Miles Michaud and Pedrum Siadatian turn their collective gaze outward and toward the horizon. Simply titled Lahs (a reference to a common misspelling of the band’s name), their new release on Mexican Summer finds the band turning in their most cohesive and ambitious work yet. The Allah Las seem to be transmitting from a place not found on any map. Those familiar with the band’s work will recognize their skillful melding of melodies and moods, but through that lens we see them venturing into new, exciting territories. Indeed, their growth not just as songwriters, but as performers, arrangers, and producers – is clearly audible. Correia croons in Portuguese on “Prazer Em Te Conhecer” (Nice to Meet You), which evokes George Harrison while also sounding like a rare 45 from a Brazilian flea market. The breezy sweetness of “Pleasure” could pass for a song by Spanish folk darlings Picnic, were it not for the wistful wisdom in Dunham’s delivery. “Polar Onion” takes us through the inevitable lows one encounters on a long journey, as Michaud laments “drown in the sea, I fill my cup – but it’s not enough” – a caricature of the lonesome cowboy seeking and occasionally glimpsing enlightenment. One of the most notable evolutions from their previous work is a razor-sharp focus on the groove. We hear the rhythms of Krautrock influencing songs like “Houston” and “Electricity,” with steady and precise drumming that create complexity from repetition. Whilst both “Roco Ono” and “Star” incorporate elements of disco and soul into Allah Las universe, highlighting an airtight rhythm section unafraid to tap their toes. Opener “Holding Pattern” conveys what the title suggests; you’ve almost arrived, you can see the ground, but you’re not quite there yet. Airy, ethereal harmonies chant the title, holding you in suspense – and eventually give way to an entirely different mood just before the fade – as if telling the listener “we’ve landed safely.” The persistent shuffle of “In The Air” drives the song forward, while Siadatian’s echo slapped voice bounces along on top, describing “images that can’t compare to the real thing in the air.” Electric guitar and mellotron trade licks, mirror each other’s kinetic ascending and descending lines and calling to mind the playful jubilance of Kevin Ayers in his prime. Tracking was done mostly by the band at their own studio in Los Angeles, allowing them more time and space to experiment with tunes and tones. Producer/engineer Jarvis Taveniere (Woods) was brought in to help polish it off, resulting in a sound both crisp and clear while keeping with the warmth and atmosphere the band are known for.

File Under: Indie Rock

Ancient Shapes: Flower That Wouldn’t Bloom (You’ve Changed) LP
A Flower That Wouldn’t Bloom is the third offering from the flower pop super group Ancient Shapes comprised of Daniel Romano, David Nardi, Vee Bell, Roddy Rosetti and Ian Romano. In all realities it is the amalgamation of two recording sessions that took place almost a year apart – in essence this is the greatest hits compilation. Inside this heated material you will find such subjects as sadness, happiness, loneliness, togetherness, longing, acceptance, colonial guilt complexes and home town optimism.

File Under: Indie Rock, Power Pop

Big Thief: Two Hands (4AD) LP
In tomorrow, hopefully…. Big Thief had only just finished work on their 3rd album, U.F.O.F. – “the celestial twin” – days before in a cabin studio in the woods of Washington State. Now it was time to birth U.F.O.F.’s sister album – “the earth twin” – Two Hands. 30 miles west of El Paso, surrounded by 3,000 acres of pecan orchards and only a stone’s throw from the Mexican border, Big Thief (a.k.a. Adrianne Lenker, Buck Meek, Max Oleartchik, and James Krivchenia) set up their instruments as close together as possible to capture their most important collection of songs yet. Where U.F.O.F. layered mysterious sounds and effects for levitation, Two Hands grounds itself on dried-out, cracked desert dirt. In sharp contrast to the wet environment of the U.F.O.F. session, the southwestern Sonic Ranch studio was chosen for its vast desert location. The 105-degree weather boiled away any clinging memories of the green trees and wet air of the previous session. Two Hands had to be completely different – an album about the Earth and the bones beneath it. The songs were recorded live with almost no overdubs. All but two songs feature entirely live vocal takes, leaving Adrianne’s voice suspended above the mix in dry air, raw and vulnerable as ever. “Two Hands has the songs that I’m the most proud of; I can imagine myself singing them when I’m old,” says Adrianne. “Musically and lyrically, you can’t break it down much further than this. It’s already bare-bones.” Lyrically this can be felt in the poetic blur of the internal and external. These are political songs without political language. They explore the collective wounds of our Earth. Abstractions of the personal hint at war, environmental destruction, and the traumas that fuel it. Across the album, there are genuine attempts to point the listener towards the very real dangers that face our planet. When Adrianne sings “Please wake up,” she’s talking directly to the audience. Engineer Dom Monks and producer Andrew Sarlo, who were both behind U.F.O.F., capture the live energy as instinctually and honestly as possible. Sarlo teamed up with James Krivchenia to mix the album, making bold and direct decisions on how to present the album. With raw power and intimacy, Two Hands folds itself gracefully into Big Thief’s impressive discography. This body of work grows deeper and more inspiring with each new album.

File Under: Indie Rock

Black Marble: Bigger Than Life (Sacred Bones) LP
When Chris Stewart set out to write and record his third album as Black Marble, he was newly living in Los Angeles, fresh off a move from New York. The environment brought much excitement and possibility, but the distance had proved too much for the car he brought along. With it out of commission indefinitely, he purchased a bus pass and planned his daily commute from his Echo Park apartment to his downtown studio, where he began to shape Bigger Than Life. The route wound all through the city, from the small local shops of Echo Park to the rising glass of the business district, to the desperation of Skid Row. The hurried energy of the environment provided a backdrop for the daily trip. When Stewart finally arrived at his studio, he’d look through his window at the mountains and the sky, seeing the beauty that makes L.A. unique – the same beauty his fellow commuters, some pushed to the edge of human endurance, had seen. That was the headspace he was in when he began to map out the syncopated drums and staccato arpeggiation of Bigger Than Life, an ode to his new condition and a shimmering synth-pop response to its cacophony. “The album comes out of seeing and experiencing a lot of turmoil but wanting to create something positive out of it,” Stewart explains. “I wanted to take a less selfish approach on this record. Maybe I’m just getting older, but that approach starts to feel a little self-indulgent. Like, ‘Oh, look at me I’m so complicated, I get that life isn’t fair,’ It’s like, yeah, so does everyone. So with this record, it’s less about how I see things and more about the way things just are. Seeing myself as a part of a lineage of people trying to do a little something instead of trying to create a platform for myself individually.” As with every Black Marble album, Stewart recorded, produced, and played everything you hear on Bigger Than Life using entirely analog gear, though the process was new. This time around, he wrote everything on his MPC and sequenced it live to his synths – only using the computer to record, not to create. “I try new approaches every time, which helps me stay engaged but also its kind of a trick I play on the creative side of my brain,” Stewart says. “Keeping one side of my mind busy on organizational creativity I think frees up the other side where the inspirational creativity comes from.”

File Under: Electronic, Synth Pop

Blood Orange: Angel’s Pulse (Domino) LP
In tomorrow, hopefully…. Angel’s Pulse is the new mixtape from Blood Orange aka Devonté Hynes. It follows the widely celebrated and critically acclaimed album Negro Swan, released in August 2018. “My new record is called Angel’s Pulse and I performed, produced and mixed the entire thing myself,” Hynes notes. “I’m calling it a mixtape. I have a habit through the years of making records that I just give to friends, or on tape to people on the street, or no one. Usually this material is made directly after the album I’ve just put out. Somewhat of an epilogue to the thing I’ve made before. This time…I decided to release it. I put as much work and care into it as I do with the albums I’ve released, but for some reason trained myself into not releasing things the rate at which I make them. I’m older now though, and life is unpredictable and terrifying…so here you go mates. Hope you enjoy.” Featuring the recently debuted “Something to Do” and “Dark & Handsome” plus guest appearances from Toro y Moi, Kelsey Lu, Ian Isiah, Justine Skye, Project Pat, Gangsta Boo, Tinashe, Porches, BennY RevivaL, Arca and Joba.

File Under: RnB, Electronic, Funk, Soul

Clipping: There Existed an Addiction (Sub Pop) LP
In tomorrow, hopefully…. The science-fiction visionary Octavia Butler once declared that “there is nothing new under the sun, but there are new suns.” The aphorism could apply to any art form where the basic contours are fixed, but the appetite for innovation remains infinite. Enter Clipping, flash fiction genre masters in a hip-hop world firmly rooted in memoir. If first person confessionals historically reign, the mid-city Los Angeles trio of rapper Daveed Diggs and producers William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes have spent the last half-decade terraforming their own patch of soil, replete with conceptual labyrinths and industrial chaos. They have conjured a mutant emanation of the future, built at odd angles atop the hallowed foundation of the past. Their third album for Sub Pop, There Existed an Addiction to Blood, finds them interpreting another rap splinter sect through their singular lens. This is Clipping’s transmutation of horrorcore, a purposefully absurdist sub-genre that flourished in the mid-90s. If some of its most notable pioneers included Brotha Lynch Hung and Gravediggaz, it also encompasses seminal works from the Geto Boys, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, and the near-entirety of classic Memphis cassette tape rap. The most subversive and experimental rap has often presented itself as an “alternative” to conventional sounds, but Clipping respectfully warp them into new constellations. There Existed an Addiction to Blood absorbs the hyper-violent horror tropes of the Murder Dog era, but re-imagines them in a new light: still darkly-tinted and somber, but in a weirder and more vivid hue. The album contains interludes with hissing recordings of demonic invasions, and guest appearances from Griselda Gang’s Benny the Butcher and Hypnotize Minds horror queen La Chat. Other tracks feature contributions from noise music legends The Rita and Pedestrian Deposit. It all ends with “Piano Burning,” a performance of a piece written by the avant-garde composer Annea Lockwood. Yes, it is the sound of a piano burning. There Existed an Addiction to Blood fits neatly into the broader scope of the band’s career, which has seen them expand from insular experimentalists into globally recognized artists. Clipping’s latest masterwork embodies what the band has been building towards – a work that finds them without peer. This is experimental hip-hop built to bang in a post-apocalyptic club bursting with radiation. It’s horrorcore that soaks up past blood and replants it into a different organism, undead but dangerously alive. It is a new sun, blindingly bright and built to burn your retinas.

File Under: Hip Hop

Deathprod: Occulting Disk (Smalltown Supersound) LP
Deathprod aka Helge Sten has been deeply embedded in the Oslo music community for decades, but his brooding soundscapes and deliberate process make him seem sometimes like a phantom. Sten is a founding member of Supersilent, adding his sounds and treatments to the avant jazz leanings of that powerful collective, and he has collaborated with artists as diverse as Biosphere, and Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones. But Occulting Disk is the first new Deathprod album in 15 years; his attention to detail is next level, and the darkly powerful soundscapes arch and swell like the shifting of the Earth’s tectonic plates. Raw, emotional, political and deliberate, this is ambient music with deep intention. Fans of Arca, Oneohtrix Point Never, Tim Hecker, Steve Reich, Autechre, Swans, and GAS will all need this record – Deathprod makes some of the most powerful experimental ambient composition of our time. His last LP, Morals and Dogma, from 2004, was listed as one of Pitchfork’s top 50 ambient albums of all time. FACT calls Sten the “dark ambient master.” The New York Times said “Sten loves to summon up thick, often ominous clouds of sound, gesturing at everything from avant-garde composition to black metal without ever quite revealing his hand.” Occulting Disk is an anti-fascist ritual. Recorded in Oslo, Reykjavik, Berlin and Los Angeles between 2012 and 2019. Liner notes by Will Oldham. LP cut by Rashad Becker at D&M, Berlin.

File Under: Ambient, Electronic

Kim Gordon: No Home Record (Matador) LP
In tomorrow, hopefully…. Multi-disciplinary artist Kim Gordon‘s first solo album, No Home Record follows the recent opening of her solo exhibition “She Bites Her Tender Mind” at IMMA (Irish Museum of Modern Art) in Dublin and “Lo-Fi Glamour” at Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, PA. No Home Record was produced largely by Justin Raisen (Charli XCX, Ariel Pink, Sky Ferreira) at Sphere Ranch in Los Angeles, along with contributions from Shawn Everett (Jim James, The War on Drugs) and composer/filmmaker Jake Meginsky (L’appel Du Vide, Milford Graves Full Mantis). Gordon’s solo debut album’s title is a nod to the French-Belgian director Chantal Akerman’s film No Home Movie. Despite the exhaustive nature of her résumé, the most reliable aspect of Gordon’s music may be its resistance to formula. Songs discover themselves as they unspool, each one performing a test of the medium’s possibilities and limits. Her command is astonishing, but Gordon’s artistic curiosity remains the guiding force behind her music. It makes sense that this “American idea” (as Gordon says on the agitated rock track “Air BnB”) of purchasing utopia permeates the record, as no place is this phenomenon more apparent than Los Angeles, where Gordon was born and recently returned to after several lifetimes on the East Coast. It was a move precipitated by a number of seismic shifts in her personal life and undoubtedly plays a role in No Home Record’s fascination with transience. The album opens with the restless “Sketch Artist,” where Gordon sings about “dreaming in a tent” as the music shutters and skips like scenery through a car window. “Even Earthquake,” perhaps the record’s most straightforward track embodies this mood; Gordon’s voice wavering like watercolor: “If I could cry and shake for you / I’d lay awake for you / I got sand in my heart for you,” guitar strokes blending into one another as they bleed out across an unstable page. Front to back, No Home Record is an expert operation in the uncanny. You don’t simply listen to Kim Gordon’s music; you experience it.

File Under: Indie Rock

Harlem Gospel Travelers: He’s On Time (Colemine) LP
“The Harlem Gospel Travelers are not from Harlem. They came to Harlem, however, from far-flung corners of the five boroughs of New York City, and it was in Harlem, that legendary center of African-American culture, that they found their voices. As members of the music education program Gospel For Teens, these young men spent many hours on the subway or the bus to ultimately end up at an unassuming brownstone on W. 126th Street. They walked through the red door at the parlor level, the one with the cross on it, and inside they found a world of music. Gospel music. “As their teacher, my job was less to impart information, and more to show these talented young men what they already knew. They already knew how to sing, that much was obvious, but it was here that they learned what their voices could really do and how to use them. We listened to the music of the masters: The Soul Stirrers, The Swan Silvertones, The Violinaires and The Swanee Quintet, and these young men, really boys at the time, soaked it all in. They quickly moved from imitation to creation, writing their own songs and building original arrangements of traditional material from the ground up. They honed and tightened their harmonies. They learned when to shout and when to whisper. What you have before you is the distillation of all their hard work — the first full-length album from The Harlem Gospel Travelers. “Each member of the group gets a chance to lead here, and each gets to showcase his unique and individual voice. Their styles are already fully formed at such an early age (the youngest member is 18, the oldest just 21), and they use them here to great effect. Each song has a purpose, but the goal of the album as a whole is simple: to glorify the name of God and to sing His praises. We hope you like the music included on He’s On Time, but more than that, we hope it lifts up your spirit and brings you joy for years to come.” – Eli “Paperboy” Reed

File Under: Soul, Gospel

PJ Harvey: All About Eve(Lakeshore) LP
The 14-track album contains 10 original pieces of instrumental music, as well as two new songs written by Harvey and sung by Gillian Anderson and Lily James; this physical release also includes demo versions of ‘The Sandman’ and The Moth’, performed by PJ Harvey. The score is pressed on 180g black vinyl, and housed in a heavyweight deluxe spined outer sleeve, with the record itself housed in a heavyweight, double sided printed inner sleeve. The vinyl release includes a digital download card. On composing this score, Harvey says, “I have always loved stories, and so to compose music to support and enhance a story being told is a challenge I enjoy. I also love the freedom that working instrumentally can give me without the constraints of song form.” “For All About Eve I chose to work with my long-time collaborator James Johnston as he has a soulfulness and sensitivity to his playing that inspires me. I also worked with Kenrick Rowe who has a versatility to his drumming I knew I could experiment with until I found what was right.”

File Under: OST

Lightning Bolt: Sonic Cathedral (Thrill Jockey) LP
In tomorrow, hopefully…. Lightning Bolt play with abandon that is unmatched and remarkably undiluted since the duo’s formation 25 years ago. They are often called one of the loudest rock outfits in existence, both on record and on (or famously, off) the stage. Brian Gibson creates sounds that are unexpected and remarkably varied with his virtuosic bass playing and his inventive approach to the instrument, centered around melody rather than rhythm. The dizzying fury of Brian Chippendale’s drums twist from primal patterns into disorienting break beats as his distorted, looped, and echoing vocals weave more melody into the mayhem. Amidst the fray there has always been shreds of a pop songs discernible in the eye of every Lightning Bolt song. For their seventh full length, Sonic Citadel, Gibson and Chippendale have done the daring, stripping away some of the distortion mask to reveal the naked pop forms as never before. Their relentless energy, inventiveness and, unrestrained joy still drive their songs, pulling you in and compelling you to bounce and yes, even sing along. Over their career Lightning Bolt’s incomparable sound has been built on the ebb and flow between the power of raw, unbridled simplicity and a boundless, childlike sense of wonder. Sonic Citadel marks the duo’s most varied and diverse work since their seminal album Wonderful Rainbow, exploring a large breadth of emotions between and within each song. Gibson and Chippendale again recorded with Seth Manchester at the esteemed Machines With Magnets to capture the abandon of their music with clarity and Gibson’s incredible dynamic range clearly to make the record as visceral an experience as their live performances. The pummeling “Blow To The Head” and swirling “Van Halen 2049” bookend the album with two of the most ferocious songs in the band’s catalogue, with the former built as a Black Pus (Chippendale’s solo outlet) track on steroids. In stark contrast, songs like “Don Henley In The Park,” and “All Insane” take on almost conventional pop shapes despite being entirely spontaneous pieces crafted in the studio. “Hüsker Dön’t” too defies expectations as one of the poppiest songs in their discography with a chugging but clear chord progression and some of Chippendale’s least distorted vocals. These wildly varying approaches are a testament to the duo’s immeasurable capacity to explore new sonic territory organically, and largely through improvisation. For the bulk of Lightning Bolt’s work together, they have slowly molded improvised jams which sometimes take years to develop on the road. The song “Halloween 3” may sound familiar to fans who have seen the band live in the last 15 years, and is named after a popular video of the duo performing an early version of the song. Sonic Citadel, however, also prominently features songs which began as solo recordings, be it a Black Pus 4-track recording or a series of looped bass figures from Gibson. Sonic Citadel is the work of band unafraid to challenge themselves, unbound by expectations, joyfully defiant, and possessed of the same inventive curiosity which set them apart on day one and is unmatched still 25 years later.

File Under: Noise Rock

OST: Once Upon A Time in Hollywood (Columbia) LP
Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood visits 1969 Los Angeles, where everything is changing, as TV star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) make their way around an industry they hardly recognize anymore. The ninth film from the writer-director features a large ensemble cast and multiple storylines in a tribute to the final moments of Hollywood’s golden age. Personally curated by Tarantino himself, the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is a love letter to the music of 1960s-era Hollywood. Featuring over 20 standout tracks from artists such as Paul Revere & The Raiders, Deep Purple and Neil Diamond, the album creates a true time capsule of a golden era of filmmaking. Vinyl 2LP-set housed in a double gatefold jacket with printed insert and 11″ x 17″ of Hollywood map poster folded.

File Under: OST

Various: Desert Sessions 11 & 12 (Matador) LP
In tomorrow, hopefully…. In 1997, Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) and a handful of friends retreated to the desert of Joshua Tree, CA in order to isolate themselves from the distractions and comforts of their everyday lives. What began as a casual writing and recording session amongst friends has since become a project of legend. Spanning twelve volumes over the course of two decades, Desert Sessions has featured some of music’s most cherished icons stepping out of their comfort zones and collaborating with one another to create some of the most exciting music of their careers. Ending a 16-year hiatus since its last installment, the most mythical, longest running rock n roll mixtape odyssey in existence, Desert Sessions returns this October with the most ambitious entries yet in its expansive and elusive catalog. Vols. 11 & 12 (a/k/a respectively as Arrivederci Despair and Tightwads & Nitwits & Critics & Heels) is out October 25 on Matador Records. A limited edition first vinyl pressing includes a one of a kind custom mix & match body swap booklet. Vols. 11 & 12 were recorded mostly in a six-day span in December 2018 at Rancho De La Luna studios in Joshua Tree, CA, with Queens of the Stone Age founder and Desert Sessions ringleader/producer Joshua Homme enlisting a cast of players including Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), Stella Mozgawa (Warpaint), Jake Shears (Scissor Sisters), Mike Kerr (Royal Blood), Carla Azar (Autolux, Jack White), Les Claypool (Primus), Matt Sweeney, Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows, Toast of London), newcomer, Libby Grace and Töôrnst Hülpft. The results are eight new songs that embody the legacy of freedom from expectations and inhibitions that stretches back to 1997, when Homme led a first retreat to the Joshua Tree desert. What began as a casual writing and recording session amongst friends—isolated from daily distractions and comforts—has since become a possibly infinite body of work. Now spanning 12 volumes over the course of two decades (and a total of two documented live performances), The Desert Sessions has featured some of music’s most cherished icons—past players have included Polly Harvey, Mark Lanegan, Josh Freese, Dean Ween, among many others—deliberately removing themselves from their comfort zones and working together to create some of their most relaxed yet challenging work.

File Under: Rock

…..Restocks….

Kenny Burrell: Introducing.. (Blue Note) LP
Lana Del Rey: Norman Fucking Rockwell (Universal) LP
Descendents: All (SST) LP
Firehose: Ragin’ Full On (SST) LP
Firehose: If’n (SST) LP
Husker Du: Zen Arcade (SST) LP
Husker Du: New Day Rising (SST) LP
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: Infest the Rats Nest (ATO) LP
Minutemen: Double Nickles on the Dime (SST) LP
Negative Approach: Tied Down (Touch & Go) LP
Angel Olsen: All Mirrors (Jagjaguwar) LP
Orville Peck: Pony (Royal Mountain) LP
Saccharine Trust: Pagan Icons (SST) LP
Tropical Fuck Storm: Braindrops (Joyful Noise) LP

Well, in a dramatic turn of events, we got stuck in Japan for a third, unexpected week due to Typhoon Hagibis! We are safe and fine, our area in Tokyo didn’t get hit hardly at all, however our flight was cancelled and rescheduled from Sunday to the following Saturday! Oh well, there’s much worse places to get stranded. But aside from a few mornings the store should more or less be open as usual all week thanks to our top notch staff. Stop in and buy some records from them! Bring them a coffee or a snack. If there’s anything on this list you want, hit up the shop as the emailed/messaging me could result in disappointment as there’s pretty big time difference.

Oh ya… if you don’t follow us on Instagram, WHY NOT?! And now you know.

CHECK OUT OUR WEBSTORE!!!
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…..picks of the week….

Various: Strain, Crack & Break: Music from the Nurse With Wound List Volume One (Finders Keepers) LP
After years of mythology, misinterpretation, and procrastination Nurse With Wound’s Steven Stapleton finally chooses Finders Keepers as the ideal collaborators to release “the right tracks” from his über-legendary psych/prog/punk peculiarity shopping list known as The Nurse With Wound List, commencing with a French specific Volume One of this authentically titled Strain Crack Break series. Featuring some Finders Keepers’ regulars amongst galactic Gallic rarities, this double-vinyl dossier demystifies some of the essential French free jazz and Parisian prog inclusions from the alphabetical “dedication” inventory as printed the anti-bands 1979 industrial milestone debut. When Steven Stapleton, Heman Pathak, and John Fothergill’s anti-band Nurse With Wound decided to include an alphabetical dedication to all their favorite bands on the back of their inaugural LP the notion of creating a future record dealers’ trophy list couldn’t have been further from their minds. By adding a list of untraveled European mythical musicians and noise makers to their own debut release of unchartered industrial art rock they were merely providing a suggestive support system of existing potential like-minded bands. Many of the rare, obscure and unpronounceable genre-free records on The Nurse With Wound List have slowly found their own feet and stumbled in to the homes of open-minded outer-national vinyl junkies, mostly without consultation of the enigmatic NWW map. Via vinyl vacations, on cheap flights and interrail tickets, buying bargain bin LPs on a shoestring while oblivious to the pending pension worthy price tags after their 40-year vintage, Stapleton and Fothergill, even if you’ve never heard of them, were at the bottom of the pit before “digging” became pay dirt. The List has been mythologized, misunderstood, and misconstrued. It’s also been overlooked, overestimated, and under-appreciated in equal measures. Bolstered by the sub-title “Categories strain, crack and sometimes break, under their burden,” all bands on the inventory (many chosen on the strength of just one track alone) were chosen for their genre-defying qualities. Forty years after Nurse With Wound’s first record, Finders Keepers, in close collaboration with Steve Stapleton remind fans of this kind of “lost” music, that there once existed a feint path which was worn away decades before major label pop property developers built over this psychedelic underground. A collaborative attempt to officially, authentically, and legally compile the best tracks from the list, succeeding where many overzealous nerds have deferred. The first volume of the series focuses exclusively on individual tracks of French origin, the country that unsurprisingly hosted the highest content of bands on the list. Comprising of musique concrète, free jazz, Rock In Opposition, Zeuhl School space rock, macabre ballet music, lo-fi sci-fi, and classic horror literature inspired prog.

Features Jacques Thollot, Philippe Besombes, Igor Wakhévitch, Mahjun, Lard Free, Etron Fou Leloublan, Jean Cohen-Solal, Z. N. R., Red Noise, Pierre Henry, Horrific Child, Dashiell Hedayat, and Jean Guérin.

File Under: Prog, Psych, Avant Garde
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Two Daughters: Recordings 1979-1981 (Vinyl on Demand) LP
Anthony & Paul was Anthony Burke and a mysterious Paul. Two Daughters were recording in Brixton around 1980-1982 and were closely connected to the Industrial Records and Throbbing Gristle gang. They recorded a debut tape called, Ladder of Souls released on their own Methane Music in 1980. Their one-and-only LP Kiss The Cloth / Gloria was released in 1981 on Anthony & Paul Records, a sub-division of United Dairies Records the label run by Stephen Stapleton of Nurse with Wound. The LP then also got reissued on United Dairies in 1987. A substantially edited version of “Return Calls – We Are” can be found on the Cherry Red compilation, Perspectives and Distortion (1982). The music and unique percussion-driven style of ambient and experimental sounds are in the vein of bands like O Yuki Conjugate — they still hold the test of time. Anthony passed away in 2004.

File Under: Electronic, Ambient, Minimal
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Inoyama Land: Commissions: 1977-2000
(Empire of Signs) LP
Makoto Inoue and Yasushi Yamashita’s Inoyama Land project spans nearly four decades, still active to this day. A portmanteau of their family names, the “Land” of Inoyama hovers between imagined mythical space and concrete reality, extending beyond physical releases into installations, site-specific sound design and theatre scores. After their famed Haruomi Hosono-produced 1983 release Danzindan-Pojidon, the duo became involved in the budding environmental music business that was taking shape in Tokyo during the development boom of the asset bubble – working directly with figures like Hiroshi Yoshimura (with whom they developed sound design for the International Stadium in Yokohama) and Takashi Sekiguchi (Bamboo from Asia). This collection expands upon their sound heard on Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-1990 (LITA 167) to illuminate material that is even lesser known outside of Japan – some of it presented publicly for the first time. Working initially with Munetaka Tanaka’s Sound Process Design (an acoustic consulting company formed by Tanaka with Satoshi Ashikawa, before Ashikawa’s tragic death in 1983), their commissioned work mirrors the sound world first fleshed out on Danzindan: chiming synthesizers, pastoral hues, childhood memory – all pulsing with a distant, emotional resonance. This material – culled from limited CD issues of the material on Tanaka’s Crescent label, Kazunao Nagata’s Transonic Records and self-released CDRs – presents a window into this process, illustrating how Inoue and Yamashita’s idiosyncratic musical identity gelled perfectly with all of the disparate environments of their commissions. Included is music written for the Kankaku (Sense) Museum in Miyagi, an exhibit on slime molds at the National Museum of Nature and Science in Ueno park, the 1977 stage performance Collecting Net (which also included music that would later become Danzindan-Pojidon) and their score for a Tokyo re-staging of New York avant-theatre pioneer Richard Foreman’s post-modern stage piece Egyptology.

File Under: Ambient, Electronic, Japanese
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…..new arrivals…..

Kath Bloom & Loren Connors: Moonlight (Chapter) LP

The extraordinary creative partnership of New Haven, CT duo Kath Bloom and Loren Connors has haunted fans of fragile folk and blues since the early 80s. Kath taught herself guitar during shifts as a janitor at a New Haven cemetery, while Loren’s free-form idiosyncratic style had been developing since the late 60s. Between 1981 and 1984, the duo recorded two live and four studio albums, mostly self-released in tiny quantities. Early on, their music mixed folk and blues traditionals with a handful of Kath’s vulnerable, moving originals. By the later albums the songs were all Kath’s – her fragile voice and subdued finger- picking set against Loren’s abstract but always supportive playing. Together the duo created a sound almost impossibly emotional and haunting. Moonlight emerged as the duo’s final album in 1984, in an edition of 200-300 copies. As her creativity accelerated, Kath’s songs became looser and more intuitive, but Moonlight contains an early version of one of Kath’s most beloved songs, “Come Here.” Loren’s longterm collaborator Robert Crotty contributes electric guitar to a couple of tracks. After reissuing four of Kath & Loren’s landmark albums on CD in the late 2000s, Chapter has now embarked on the first ever vinyl reissues for these remarkable records. Another 1984 album Restless Faithful Desperate was reissued in 2018, while 1983’s Sand In My Shoe will be released alongside Moonlight in October 2019.

File Under: Blues, Experimental, Folk
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Kath Bloom & Loren Connors: Sand In My Shoe (Chapter) LP

The extraordinary creative partnership of New Haven, CT duo Kath Bloom and Loren Connors has haunted fans of fragile folk and blues since the early 80s. Kath taught herself guitar during shifts as a janitor at a New Haven cemetery, while Loren’s free-form idiosyncratic style had been developing since the late 60s. Between 1981 and 1984, the duo recorded two live and four studio albums, mostly self-released in tiny quantities. Early on, their music mixed folk and blues traditionals with a handful of Kath’s vulnerable, moving originals. By the later albums the songs were all Kath’s – her fragile voice and subdued finger- picking set against Loren’s abstract but always supportive playing. Together the duo created a sound almost impossibly emotional and haunting. Kath & Loren’s first two albums in 1981-82 were live recordings, released via Loren’s Daggett Records label. Next came 1982’s Sing The Children Over on Massachusetts label Ambiguous Records. Then Sand In My Shoe emerged in 1983 as the first release on Loren’s new St. Joan label, in an edition of 200-300 copies with handmade sleeves. Restless Faithful Desperate and Moonlight followed in 1983-84, before the prodigious duo parted ways. After reissuing Kath & Loren’s four landmark studio albums on CD in the late 2000s, Chapter has now embarked on the first ever vinyl reissues for these remarkable records. Restless Faithful Desperate was reissued in 2018, while Moonlight will be released alongside Sand In My Shoe in October 2019.

File Under: Blues, Folk, Experimental
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Delia Derbyshire: The Dreams (Fantome Phonographique) LP

Delia Derbyshire is one of the most innovative electronic musicians of the 20th Century. She is best known for her pioneering work for the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and for composing the classic theme song for the original Doctor Who, believed to be the earliest “electronic” theme song in television history. A brilliant composer and one of the few women operating in the early era of electronic music, In the early ’60s she collaborated with the British artist and playwright Barry Bermange for the BBC’s Third Programme to produce four Inventions for Radio, a collage of people describing their dreams, set to a background of electronic sound. This is the first, simply titled Dreams, an attempt to represent, in sound, the sensation of dreaming. Derbyshire’s electronic and musique concrete soundbed is the perfect underscore to the narration, simultaneously jarring, dissonant, and terrifying. An amazing piece of work from one of the legendary pioneers of electronic music.

File Under: Early Electronic, Experimental
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Greg Foat & James Thorpe: Photosynthesis (Athens of the North) LP
Athens of the North is very pleased to introduce part two of our nod to the world of library. This time round Greg Foat journeys into the world of synthesis with good friend James Thorpe. This new LP was recorded in the old Bees Studio on the Isle of Wight earlier this year, a special, different piece of work which I was delighted to receive on ¼ inch tape without warning. Greg’s output continues to be prolific without ever tiring, he never plays it safe and is always looking forward whilst having an ear for our musical heritage.

File Under: Jazz, Library
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Funkproof: The Revival (Tidal Waves) LP

George Semper needs little introduction to soul and funk fans. The Trinidadian-American multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, publisher and label owner from San Diego is known as an innovator of the jazz organ, wielding major influence on funk and hip-hop. Notably sampled by Cypress Hill on their classic ‘Insane In The Brain’, Semper’s talent led him to collaborate with literally hundreds of artists, including Jimmy Smith, Merry Clayton, Isaac Hayes, Joe Tex, Johnny Taylor and Donny Hathaway. His 1966 LP Makin’ Waves is considered a Hammond organ essential and his 1977 production The Perfect Circle a cornerstone of Bay Area Funk. George Semper’s career began in the late 1950’s as a leader of several R&B soul groups like the Kingsmen, Imperialites and Chessmen. He ran two successful San Diego nightclubs, and his abilities as a musician, writer, and arranger led to a varied performance and studio career throughout the 1960s and all the way through the 2000s. He worked with legendary acts from the likes of Brenton Wood, Mary Love and Johnny Taylor & he collaborated with venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Monterey Jazz Festival and Wattstax. George Semper was AR and musical director for clubs, artists and labels…he produced his own records, those of others and those for his own Inner City Records & Inner City Attractions labels. Many of these are now considered highly collectable gems. Lesser known are Semper’s numerous band concepts and unreleased studio projects…all cut with top LA session players at recording studios in Hollywood, Compton and Watts. One such is … FUNKPROOF. FUNKPROOF was formed in 1972 and was comprised of players from Brenton Wood’s United Soul Association and The Merry Clayton band. Semper produced the recordings himself and he’s handling the Hammond B3, keys, Sax and lead vocals. Original members Al McKay (Earth Wind & Fire) and Robert Roselle were later replaced by Richard Cavasos on guitar, Nathaniel “Basey” Johnson (Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd St Rhythm Band) on bass and Ernest Ray “Brother Puff” Johnson (The Ghetto, Hot Ice) completing the lineup on drums. FUNKPROOF completed a full-length album (slated for release by MGM) that was never issued (because MGM was acquired by Polydor) until now! Today we present to you this unreleased hidden funk gem, completely remastered and its history revived, straight from The George Semper Music Archives vaults. Every track on this remarkable album delivers a consistently funky and soulful groove! Pitched between Chitlin’ circuit grit and electronic exploration, FUNKPROOF conveys a timeless message of love, life, and happiness through urban music culture This unreleased 1972 Funk-bomb is now available as a deluxe 180g vinyl edition (limited to 500 copies), and also comes with an insert containing exclusive liner notes and pictures. Also included with this release is a digital download card (w/extra tracks).

File Under: Funk
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Hampshire & Foat: The Honey Bear (Athens of the North) LP

After the success of ‘Galaxies Like Grains of Sand’, Warren and Greg retreated back to the Isle of Wight to start work on long discussed concept album based on a fictional children’s book The Honey Bear. Each track a chapter of the book, hypnotic folk pieces mixed with ambient field recordings that Warren and Greg collected around the beaches, cliffs and gardens of the island. They brought everything together at home, organically forming this beautiful ambient folk tale during the island’s idyllic summer evenings. After finishing the initial mixes on the island they brought the tapes up to Scotland and overdubbed with Strings, Oboe and Flute. Whether your 5 or 50, the charm and beauty of The Honeybear is undeniable.

File Under: Jazz, Library
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Herbie Hancock: Inventions & Dimensions (Blue Note) LP

In honor of Blue Note Records’ 80th Anniversary, the legendary jazz label is launching the Blue Note 80 Vinyl Reissue Series. Distinct from the Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series, this second series curated by Don Was and Cem Kurosman features 180g vinyl LP releases in standard packaging with albums spanning the many eras of the label’s history presented by themes: Blue Note Debuts, Blue Grooves, Great Reid Miles Covers, Blue Note Live, and Blue Note Drummer Leaders. The series resumes in October 2019 with Part 2 of the Great Reid Miles Covers theme – Jutta Hipp – Jutta Hipp with Zoot Sims (1956), Herbie Hancock – Inventions & Dimensions (1964) and Joe Henderson – In ‘n Out (1964) – and will continue with three albums released each month for the coming year. For his third Blue Note album Inventions & Dimensions (1964), pianist Herbie Hancock began moving away from the modernist hard bop sound that defined his first two albums Takin’ Off and My Point Of View. Inspired by explorers like Eric Dolphy and Tony Williams, Hancock went in search of greater musical freedom by composing a set of ingenious originals each with their own unique inner logic that did away with what he considered the established jazz “assumptions” of the time. Hancock also pared the instrumentation down to feature his piano with Paul Chambers’ bass and a nuanced rhythmic bed laid down by percussionists Willie Bobo and Osvaldo “Chihuahua” Martinez. On the album’s unforgettable cover the designer Reid Miles lets Francis Wolff’s imposing photo of Hancock on an NYC street do all the talking. This Blue Note 80 Vinyl Edition is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.

File Under: Jazz

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Lee Hazlewood: 400 Miles from L.A. (Light in the Attic) LP

Phoenix, Arizona 1955…a twenty-five year old disc jockey and fledgling songwriter, Lee Hazlewood, is trying to break into the music industry. He takes Greyhound bus trips to Los Angeles to pitch songs, only to be rejected each time. Undeterred, Lee starts a record label called Viv Records. Running the label out of his house, Lee finds the artists, writes the songs, produces the sessions, arranges the pressings of the records and handles distribution. Recently discovered tapes in the Viv Records archive yielded an unbelievable find, the earliest known recordings of Hazlewood singing his songs…Lee’s first demo! The mysterious and bountiful tapes featured Lee singing early unheard compositions and a complete first draft of his Trouble Is A Lonesome Town song cycle that would become his first official solo album in 1963. Light in the Attic Records is proud to continue it’s Lee Hazlewood archival series with 400 Miles From L.A. 1955-56, a collection of previously unknown intimate recordings, never intended for release. Lee sings, plays guitar and even presses the record button on the tape machine. These are rural sketches and small town dreams, captured in an innocent time before the path ahead was clear. These songs rewrite Lee’s recorded history, adding a new first chapter to his saga. For Hazlewood addicts, hearing these early tracks and the embryonic version of Trouble Is A Lonesome Town is akin to finding an early draft of the Old Testament. “That’s beauty of Lee’s songwriting. It lives on. People will hear it for the first time, even though it’s fifty years old or whatever, if it’s good enough and strong enough, they’ll accept and like it as much as if it was just created. That’s the wonderful legacy that Lee has. It’s wonderful to look back and make all this early work available. To put “Boots” and all those other LHI songs into perspective. That it all started somewhere and this is where.” – Arizona Music Historian and record producer, John Dixon.

File Under: Country
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Joe Henderson: In ‘n Out (Blue Note) LP
In honor of Blue Note Records’ 80th Anniversary, the legendary jazz label is launching the Blue Note 80 Vinyl Reissue Series. Distinct from the Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series, this second series curated by Don Was and Cem Kurosman features 180g vinyl LP releases in standard packaging with albums spanning the many eras of the label’s history presented by themes: Blue Note Debuts, Blue Grooves, Great Reid Miles Covers, Blue Note Live, and Blue Note Drummer Leaders. The series resumes in October 2019 with Part 2 of the Great Reid Miles Covers theme – Jutta Hipp – Jutta Hipp with Zoot Sims (1956), Herbie Hancock – Inventions & Dimensions (1964) and Joe Henderson – In ‘n Out (1964) – and will continue with three albums released each month for the coming year. From the moment that Kenny Dorham picked a 25-year old Joe Henderson out of obscurity in 1962 and had him join his band, it was obvious that Henderson was a very powerful force, a young giant who sent shock waves through the jazz world. Henderson, who had a very distinctive sound from the start along with the ability to play both “inside” and “outside,” sounded very much at home whether playing bebop or free improvisations. He also proved to be a perfect musical brother for Dorham. Henderson’s In ‘N Out album finds the two horns expressing similar ideas, blending together perfectly, and creating memorable music that is beyond description. Every note that Dorham and Henderson play on this classic LP is passionate, intense and meaningful. While most young musicians would be in awe if teamed with Dorham, McCoy Tyner, Richard Davis and Elvin Jones, Henderson not only had no difficulty playing with those masters, but he raised the intensity level and forced them to keep up with him. The brilliant album cover design by Reid Miles is a quintessential example of the bold typography that made his style so influential. This Blue Note 80 Vinyl Edition is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.

File Under: Jazz

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Loleatta Holloway: Loleatta (Tidal Waves) LP

Loleatta Holloway (born in Chicago,1946) was an American R&B-Disco singer known for her massive hit songs such as “Hit and Run”, “Love Sensation” and “Relight My Fire”, all of which have been sampled extensively worldwide. Billboard magazine ranked her as the 95th most successful dance artist of all-time. Holloway first began her career singing gospel music, then in the early 70s, she met her future producer, manager (and husband) Floyd Smith which kick-started her impressive recording career. Shortly after Holloway signed with the Atlanta-based soul music label ‘Aware’ where she recorded two albums: Loleatta (1973) and Cry to Me (1975). Later, in the mid 70s she signed with top Philadelphia arranger and producer Norman Harris’ Gold Mind/Salsoul Records, where she recorded many more top charting hit singles and launched her career as a disco act. From then on (and until this day) Holloway’s songs (which became DJ favorites) were heavily remixed and sampled on a multitude of tracks from renowned acts such as Black Box, Whitney Houston, Bobby Byrd, Raekwon, Flo Rida, Pitbull, Ice Cube…and MANY others. Loleatta Holloway passed away at the age of 64 on March 21, 2011 leading to a wave of tributes and condolences from across the globe (Holloway also had a huge following in Europe and Japan). Her debut album (Loleatta from 1973), which we are presenting you here today, is a total classic … it is here that Holloway developed her throaty, full-bodied vocal style and dramatic presentation we all came to enjoy and admire. The album features the hit singles “Mother of Shame” & “Our Love”. Also included is a beautiful rendition of the Syl Johnson track “We Did it”. Fast & slow-paced grooves, blazing horns accompanying the driving rhythm section, female backing vocalists soaring in unison, chiming guitars … and of course Loleatta’s explosively powerful and joyful vocals make this a fantastic (and dance-floor friendly) album. Holloway really brings the tracks & arrangements (penned by a number of hugely talented songwriters) to life using a combination of emotion, passion and power. Originally released in 1973, Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the first official reissue of Loleatta’s classic debut album. Remastered from the original master tapes by Ginn Music Group-Aware Records and available as a deluxe 180g vinyl edition (limited to 500 copies).

File Under: R&B, Disco

Jutta Hipp: with Zoot Zims (Blue Note) LP
In honor of Blue Note Records’ 80th Anniversary, the legendary jazz label is launching the Blue Note 80 Vinyl Reissue Series. Distinct from the Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series, this second series curated by Don Was and Cem Kurosman features 180g vinyl LP releases in standard packaging with albums spanning the many eras of the label’s history presented by themes: Blue Note Debuts, Blue Grooves, Great Reid Miles Covers, Blue Note Live, and Blue Note Drummer Leaders. The series resumes in October 2019 with Part 2 of the Great Reid Miles Covers theme – Jutta Hipp – Jutta Hipp with Zoot Sims (1956), Herbie Hancock – Inventions & Dimensions (1964) and Joe Henderson – In ‘n Out (1964) – and will continue with three albums released each month for the coming year. German Jazz pianist Jutta Hipp remains one of the most intriguing yet little-known figures in Blue Note history. A unique and short-lived presence on the NYC jazz scene in the mid-1950s, Hipp moved to the U.S. with the aid of critic Leonard Feather and recorded a series of Blue Note releases that culminated with Jutta Hipp with Zoot Sims, a sublime date with the feeling of high-level blowing session featuring tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims, trumpeter Jerry Lloyd, bassist Ahmed Abdul-Malik, and drummer Ed Thigpen. Highlights of the set including the up-tempo opener “Just Blues” and the gorgeous ballad “Violets for Your Furs,” and the album – which features a seminal graphic cover design by Reid Miles – turned out to be her final recording as Hipp left the music scene shortly thereafter. This Blue Note 80 Vinyl Edition is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.

File Under: Jazz

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Majeure: Mass Flashback (Holodeck) LP
Reviving the essence of Krautrock and classic horror soundtracks, veteran composer and multi-instrumentalist AE Paterra is back with his latest cinematic full-length as Majeure entitled Mass Flashback out September 27, 2019. Known best as one half of highly influential prog duo Zombi, the Pittsburgh area native has been performing and recording experimental music in a multitude of projects for over two decades. Majeure’s arrangements of analog synthesizers, live drums and delicate sound design sculpt a fantastic array of gripping instrumental music that sparks the imagination. From epic to abstract, Majeure’s waves of triumph and despair are orchestrated to guide Mass Flashback through a compelling journey into the cosmic recesses of the sound library and beyond. Born and raised in rural Pennsylvania, Paterra learned piano as a child and started playing drums in high school. Naturally gravitating towards the creativity and virtuoso style of 70’s and 80’s prog, metal and classic rock, Paterra excelled at percussion and developed a high level of musicianship by the time he moved to Pittsburgh to attend college. After stints drumming with various collaborative projects and touring bands, Paterra met bass and synth player Steve Moore in 1999 and bonded over their mutual love for Italian horror scores and bands like Goblin. The duo released their first album as Zombi in 2001 and have since become widely regarded as one of the best prog bands of the modern era, organically honing a distinct sound and dedicated fanbase over the course of their lengthy discography. After several successful albums and years of touring with Moore, Paterra established his solo identity as Majeure in 2009 to explore nuanced interests outside of the scope of the band. Since then, Paterra has continued his prolific career with both Zombi and as a solo artist in addition to numerous side projects including film scores, gallery residencies, founding his own tape label, and in 2017 he became the synth player in experimental rock band Grails. Throughout his extensive portfolio of work, Paterra continues to return to his self-reflective base as Majeure, adding new innovative chapters to his remarkable and ever-growing legacy. Mass Flashback marks the return of Majeure in top form, embracing the role of world builder and storyteller through the use of tone and rhythm. Paterra’s signature mood is conveyed through a special union of traditional composition with the seemingly limitless expansion possible with the use of electronic instruments. The slow rising intro of “Face Dancer” and title track “Mass Flashback” are built on layers of warm synthesizers that morph, intensify and eventually burst into methodically pulsing drums and bass. Every peak is carefully balanced with moments of cavernous darkness that seamlessly oscillate between each determined extreme. The euphoric lead melodies of opening track “Longing, Love and Loss” are countered by the ominous drones on closing track “Universal Out,” showcasing the polar sonic spectrum of Paterra’s unique range. On Mass Flashback, propulsive arpeggiations and sequences provide the foundation for chord progressions to gather and ascend into movements of pure harmonic climax. By meticulously shaping every rich and expressive song element, Majeure keeps the audience suspended on each consecutive beat as Mass Flashback progresses through a rewarding odyssey of high drama in electronics. Harnessing years of experience and crafted methodology, Majeure delivers a sharp and impressive addition to his extensive catalog on the timeless and incomparable Mass Flashback.

File Under: Electronic, Krautrock, Prog, Zombi
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Cal Massey: Blues to Coltrane (Pure Pleasure) LP
Cal Massey, a track title from the Clifford Jordan album “Glass Bead Games”. And this album, the only one recorded under his name. There was much more to his musical life than this title. Born January 11th 1928 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Massey studied trumpet under Freddie Webster, and following this played in the big bands of Jay McShann, Jimmy Heath, and Billie Holiday. After that he mainly worked as a composer. In the late 1950s he led an ensemble with Jimmy Garrison, McCoy Tyner, and Tootie Heath; John Coltrane and Donald Byrd occasionally played with them. In the 1950s he gradually receded from active performance and concentrated on composition; his works were recorded by Coltrane, Tyner, Freddie Hubbard, Jackie McLean, Lee Morgan, Philly Joe Jones, Horace Tapscott and Archie Shepp. Massey played and toured with Shepp from 1969 until 1972. He also performed in The Romas Orchestra with Romulus Franceschini. In examining Massey’s life and music, three names continually emerge. One is that of the great tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, whom Massey met as a teenager in Philadelphia and who remained a close friend until his death in 1967. After Coltrane’s passing, Massey frequently joined forces with saxophonist, poet, and playwright Archie Shepp; though Shepp was about ten years Massey’s junior, the two developed a bond that remained close for the rest of the older man’s life. Massey, Coltrane, and Shepp are all linked by the proliﬁc but obscure composer and arranger Romulus Franceschini, who lent his hand to many important jazz projects, such as Coltrane’s Africa/Brass and Shepp’s Attica Blues. He maintained with Massey a symbiotic relationship not unlike that of Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington. On the whole, as in the case of Ellington and Strayhorn, it was difﬁcult to tell where one musician’s contribution ended and the other’s began. Massey also shared a radical political stance with Shepp and Franceschini. It is impossible to separate his work from the militant arm of the Civil Rights Movement that took shape in the 1960s and 1970s. As Fred Ho has noted, “Titles such as ‘[Hey Goddamn It], Things Have Got to Change,’ ‘The Damned Don’t Cry,’ and ‘The Cry of My People’ spoke directly to a consciousness of oppression and a politics of liberation.” In fact, the Black Panthers were a driving force behind Massey’s creation (with Franceschini) of The Black Liberation Movement Suite. At the ﬁrst Pan-African Arts Festival in Algiers in 1969 Massey met exiled Panthers leader Eldridge Cleaver who commissioned the Suite primarily as a fundraising venture. The work would be performed at Black Panther beneﬁts three times during Massey’s lifetime. Massey paid heavy dues for his adventurous music and ideology, as did many of his contemporaries. According to his widow, an altercation with an executive at Blue Note Records resulted in his being blacklisted (or, as Fred Ho put it, “whitelist-ed”) from major recording companies. As a result, only one album was recorded under his name, Blues to Coltrane (Candid, recorded 1961, released 1987). Massey died from a heart attack at the age of 44 in New York City, New York. October 25, 1972.

File Under: Jazz

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Fumio Miashita: Wave – Sounds of the Universe (Personal Affair) LP

Musician, music therapist and founder of Healing Music in Japan. Fumio Miyashita began his musical career in 1966. In 1969, he was an original member of the rock musical, ‘Hair’, in Tokyo. He formed the progressive rock groups Far Out and Far East Family Band, releasing ground-breaking albums and touring internationally. Always interested in oriental philosophy since studying karate at a young age (he became a black belt in high school), he became interested in oriental medicine after an injury on stage that only healed after undergoing acupuncture. In 1977, he immigrated to the United States, where he continued to study oriental medicine, philosophy, the Chinese Five Elements and also began, in earnest, to research music therapy. In 1981, he decided to return to Japan, moved to Shinshu Iizuna Highlands and established Biwa Studio. One reason for choosing Iizuna Highlands was because it’s altitude is 1,250 meters and during his studies he learned that this is a very positive and healthy altitude for the human body to reside in. There he created numerous works, including music CD’s and image videos. His passion was for creating music that was helpful to people and his recurring theme in his works was relaxation and healing for the mind and body. He named his music ‘Healing Music’ and he established his own unique style of music therapy.

File Under: Ambient
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Hamlet Minassian: Armenian Pop Music (Numero) LP

A winsome and dizzying spin on disco pop, recorded in westernized Iran during last moments before the 1979 revolution. All but criminalized in the wake of Ayatollah Khomeni’s theocratic repression, Hamlet Minassian’s solo masterpiece is a testament to the Middle East’s forgotten dance music culture. This six-song, 44-minute LP hybridizes Euro attitude and Armenian traditional songs to create long, hypnotic proto-house, seemingly beamed in from another dimension.

File Under: Disco, Middle Eastern

Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter Four: Memphis (Constellation) LP
Matana Roberts returns with the much-anticipated fourth installment of her hugely innovative, profoundly iconoclastic and rightly acclaimed Coin Coin project. Roberts deftly weaves a sonic tapestry of African-American ethnography and history with strands of jazz, blues, free improv, Afro-futurism, traditionals, spoken word and avant-garde composition – always guided by her powerfully personal/universal narratives and wholehearted, singular artistic spirit. “Roberts isn’t just a storyteller, musician, ethnographer, historian, bandleader, arranger, improviser, or activist. She plays all of those roles, yes; collectively, they power one of the most provocative ongoing bodies of work by any American musician.” – Pitchfork “Throughout the [Coin Coin] project thus far, Roberts has used her music as a medium through which to explore the liminal zones between lore and history that define the ways in which we understand ourselves in the present. Primarily interrogating her own sense of identity as an African American woman, Roberts calls upon numerous other voices – from her family’s history, her culture’s mythology – to create not historical documents but living artifacts of collective cultural memory: simultaneously disorienting and exhilarating in their chaotic multiplicity.” – The Quietus

File Under: Jazz

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Pharoah Sanders: Moon Child (Tidal Waves) LP
Pharoah ‘Farrell’ Sanders (born 1940) is a leading figure in the world of jazz and one of the last living legends with connections to players like Sun Ra and John Coltrane. His tenor saxophone playing has earned him royal status amongst free jazz players, critics and collectors. Originally Sanders was interested in urban blues music, but his high school teacher exposed him to jazz and this took Farrell in an entirely new direction. Once completing high school Sanders quickly packed his belongings and headed to Oakland, where he got a chance to work with musicians of high caliber such as saxophone players Sonny Simmons and Dewey Redman (who were both later to be major forces in new jazz and free jazz). Soon the young Pharoah would meet John Coltrane and would feel being attracted to the life as a professional musician. By the early sixties Sanders moved to New York where the major jazz scene was happening. Here he’d spent most his time honing his skills at rehearsals with Sun Ra….sadly he was not making much money with the Arkestra and soon found himself living on the streets, trying to stay up all night playing and then scrounging for money during the day, often selling blood to eat. Sanders recorded his debut album for ESP soon after, but it wasn’t until he started playing with his old friend John Coltrane that he would fully unleash the fury of his saxophone on the world of free jazz. The records Pharoah Sanders played on for Coltrane laid the foundation of what was to come for both the world of free jazz and for Sanders as a musician. After Coltrane’s tragic death Sanders would record further with Alice Coltrane, John’s widow, on the album Karma (1969 – Impulse!), which is universally accepted as Sanders’ masterpiece. Along with musicians Alice Coltrane and singer Leon Thomas, Sanders helped to create the genre of spiritual jazz. By this point in his career & on the album we are presenting you today (Moon Child, recorded in 1989), Sanders had largely withdrawn from the kind of screeching avant-gardism on which he at first staked his reputation. Here Sanders plays with an all-star line-up consisting of Stafford James (Sun Ra) on bass, William Henderson (Roy Ayers) on piano, & Eddie Moore (Sonny Rollins) on drums. Moon Child, with its attractively spacy vocals, is reminiscent of the days of “The Creator Has a Master Plan,” and this mood is kept throughout the album and in the choice of cosmic tunes represented on it. On this album the legendary saxophonist clearly reinvented himself as a more traditional improviser, capable of thoughtful and pensive deliberations. Catchy mystical New Age vocals, astrological references… Pharoah may remain an acquired taste, but few jazzmen can equal his unique formula of mastering the ‘groove’. Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents: the official reissue of this fantastic album containing these rare 1989 French sessions, back available on vinyl for the first time since 1990. This edition comes packaged as a deluxe 180g LP and is limited to 500 copies worldwide (with obi strip).

File Under: Jazz
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Masahiro Sugaya: Horizon, Volume 1 (Empire of Signs) LP
Almost completely unknown in the west, Masahiro Sugaya has been composing and producing music since the 1980s in an exceptionally wide range of fields and practices. From arrangements for musical acts like the acoustic guitar duo Gontiti to acousmatic diffusion at spaces like Paris’s Groupe de Recherches Musicales (GRM), Sugaya’s reach is almost exhaustive in its breadth, but it was in the 80s bubble-era kankyō ongaku scene that he first found his musical voice. Horizon, Volume 1 presents a window into these works, culled from Sugaya’s early scores for experimental Tokyo theatre group Pappa Tarahumura. As a teenager, Sugaya would visit the avant garde hub of record/book shop Art Vivant run by Satoshi Ashikawa of Sound Process, guided by Ashikawa’s recommendations into the worlds of experimental composition, jazz and ethnographic music. It was there he also met musician Yoshio Ojima—the two would become close friends and contemporaries, working within a circle of Tokyo musicians that also included Midori Takada, Hiroshi Yoshimura and Satsuki Shibano. Ojima, an early adopter of new musical technology, would introduce Sugaya to the possibilities of composing with computers, synthesizers and samplers, which would become a trademark in Sugaya’s early works. Surprisingly, the sound sources on Horizon are entirely digital, showcasing Sugaya’s ability to organically recreate complex musicianship approaches via keyboard using hyper-realistic samples. Much like Ojima and Yoshimura’s work, the results eschew electronic music’s usual coldness for something more warm and inviting, the feeling of a human in deep conversation with technology. Flourishing within the boom of experimental theatre subsidized by corporations during the bubble economy, Pappa Tarahumura forged a unique dream-like style that merged performance art, modern dance and fantastical installation-like stage sets. Sugaya fashioned multiple soundtracks for their productions in collaboration with director Hiroshi Koike, the first two of which, The Pocket Of Fever_ (熱の風景) and Music From Alejo_ (アレッホ – 風を讃えるために), he self-released in 1987 on cassette, handing them out at Tarahumara performances. The third, The Long Living Things (Zoo Of The Sea) (海の動物園) followed in 1988 as a CD on Yukio Kojima’s ALM records. Aside from his brief inclusion on Light in the Attic’s Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-1990 (compiled by Empire of Signs’ Spencer Doran), Horizon presents this work outside of Japan for the first time.

File Under: Ambient, Japanese
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Hans Zimmer & Benjamin Wallfisch: Blade Runner 2049 (Mondo) LP
Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch were given the near impossible task of scoring the sequel to one of the greatest and most beloved science-fiction films of all time. The original BLADE RUNNER had an incredible score by Vangelis that has gone on to be one of the most iconic pieces of music in film history, so it’s to their credit that they absolutely knock it out of the park with 2049. What they do with the music in 2049 is astonishing. It makes you feel like you’re in the same universe as the original film, but it’s also apparent that things have changed. There are hints at the past but also strange and beautiful new sounds to explore and get lost in. Expansive, dreamy yet forceful, and propulsive when it needs to be, the score to 2049 is a little more downbeat than the original. The sonics throughout are incredible, and it really feels like you’re wandering strange neon-lit alleyways with no clue where you are. It’s a truly beautiful (and beguiling) listen that captures real human emotion alongside more artificial replicant soundscapes. BLADE RUNNER 2049 features Viktor Kalvachev’s art with a spot Varnish Cover and layout by Chris Bilheimer.

File Under: OST
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Zoviet France: A Flock of Rotations (Vinyl on Demand) LP

A Flock of Rotations was originally released in 1987. Having willfully obscured themselves in Newcastle upon Tyne since their inception in 1980, Zoviet France developed a radical relationship with cheap technologies, homemade acoustic instruments, primitive looping and sampling techniques, and basic dub trickery from which the group has crafted a distinctly unique vocabulary of sonic hypnosis.