Anonymous transmissions from a spectral, dead-of-night mystery zone. Recorded in 1996 and originally release by Japan's enigmatic La Musica Records label on limited cassette. A group that deconstructs and liberates the chance nature of contemporary classical and noise music enough so that their boundaries blur. Available for the first time on vinyl and digital. Recorded in 1996 and released without any identifying credits in an essentially private cassette edition, Bibiotheca Hermetica's sole release, One, was only the second by the Japanese La Musica label and remains one of its more obscure and enigmatic entries. The group works in spaces adjacent to contemporaneous outfits like Nijiumu and Toho Sara though its non-idiomatic improvisations and decentered, free sound explorations call back to seminal collectives such as the Taj Mahal Travellers and the East Bionic Symphonia. The music constantly shuffles and sifts filled with hypnotic clatter and clamor, rattling percussion, toughly scraped strings, gurgling bass tonalities and pirouetting winds. An anonymous transmission from a spectral, dead-of-night mystery zone. Housed in a custom die-cut, "Uni-Pak" style gatefold with metallic ink, spot finishes and matching La Musica inner sleeve. La Musica Records was a label founded by Asahito Nanjo in Tokyo during the 1990's. It released nearly 200 cassettes and CD-Rs, all handmade in micro-editions sold at shows. The catalog featured artists and recordings largely of obscure, often completely unknown origin, sanctioned and "grey-area" documentation of the Tokyo psychedelic underground.
Triple Point, featuring Pauline Oliveros, Doug Van Nort, and Jonas Braasch, was an improvising trio with a core instrumentation of soprano saxophone, greis/electronics, and V-accordion. The name refers to the point of equilibrium on a phase plot, which acts as a metaphor for the group's improvisational dialogue. Triple Point's musical interaction was centered around an interplay between acoustics, physically-modeled acoustics (v-accordion), and electronics. Van Nort captured the sound of the other players on-the-fly, either transforming them in the moment to create blended textures or new sonic gestures or holding them for return in the near future. Oliveros changes between timbres and "bends" the intended factory sound models through her idiosyncratic use of the virtual instrument, while Braasch explores extended techniques, including long circular-breathing tones and multiphonics. This mode of interaction has resulted in situations where acoustic/electronic sources are indistinguishable without very careful listening, while other times, this becomes wildly apparent. This continual, fluid morphing is a product of Deep Listening and listening in the moment. The tracks were recorded by Jonas Braasch during a week-long residency at the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC), Troy, NY, August 2012. Mastered by Tom Eaton at Sounds & Substance.
These stunning recordings combine the great strengths of Pauline Oliveros on her Roland V-Accordion, Issui Minegishi, Ichigenkin master and great-great granddaughter of the founder of the Seikyodo Ichigenkin tradition and Miya Masaoka on her 21 string Japanese Koto. Together, these masterful improvisors create a beautiful and fascinating world of instrumental communication. This trio of legendary artists establish a sonic zone so compelling that you'll never want to leave. This double CD preserves the original session edits chronologically in order to preserve the emotional flow of the recordings. Disc one presents the first day of sessions and disc two presents the second day. Hence the title, Two Days In Dreamland. Recorded at Dreamland Studios in Hurley, New York. Mastered by Tom Eaton at Sounds & Substance. Pauline Oliveros, composer and accordionist, was a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music. She was a founder of the San Francisco Tape Music Center along with Ramon Sender and Morton Subotnick and she also served as its director. Minegishi Issui is the great-great-granddaughter of Tokuhiro Taimu, founder of the Seikyodo Ichigenkin tradition. She received her earliest training from her great-grandmother, Matsuzaki Issui, who was the third hereditary head of Seikyodo and who was also designated by the Japanese government as official guardian of the Ichigenkin tradition, as one of the country's Intangible Cultural Treasures. Miya Masaoka is an American sonic artist, composer and performer. Her work explores bodily perception of vibration, movement and time, while foregrounding complex timbre relationships. She has created a body of work that encompasses scores for orchestras and ensembles, sculpture works instigating new modes of listening, interactive media. Among her awards are the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, a Fulbright, the American Academy Rome Prize, the Doris Duke Artist Award and the United States Artist Award.
LP version. "Courtroom Wedding, the feral new album by singer-songwriter-punk rock legend Chris D.'s new unit Poison Fang Society, succeeds In the Red Records' release of two expansive albums by the bandleader's Divine Horsemen, Hot Rise of an Ice Cream Phoenix (2021) and Bitter End to a Sweet Night (2022). The taut, economical eight-song set grew out of several songs penned in the immediate wake of the COVID pandemic lockdown and originally envisioned as material for a third Divine Horsemen record. But logistical problems involving the band's co-lead singer Julie Christensen's ability to record in Los Angeles led to the formulation of a new solo configuration rooted in the past. Poison Fang Society guitarist Larry Schemel, most recently of Death Valley Girls, and Tucson-bred drummer Johnny Ray are both veterans of the eight-piece lineup heard on the Flesh Eaters' 1999 album Ashes of Time. They are joined by bassist-keyboardist-guitarist Sharif Dumani, who also engineered the collection and co-produced with Chris D. The songs Chris brought to the studio reflect a shift in style: 'I was really trying to write some more traditional kinds of songs, but not make them sound really anonymous. On the last couple of albums, the Divine Horsemen albums, there was a lot more cut-up stuff. I still did some cut-up in the lyrics with this record, but not as much. The lyrics to 'Cellars to Weep' were very influenced by songs like Bob Dylan's 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' or 'Highway 61 Revisited,' even though song doesn't sound like that. I wanted to keep that kind of surrealist humor that Bob Dylan has -- those nonsense phrases that add meaning when they're all put together.' With tracks inspired by subjects as diverse at the gun-toting MAGA couple who pointed their weapons at Black Lives Matter protesters ('Goddamn Thieving Shame') to the sleazy come-on cover lines of '50s pulp paperbacks ('Sex Kitten'), Courtroom Wedding flexes a lean, potent sound that recalls the knife-edge attack of the Don Kirk-era Flesh Eaters and the heavyweight vibe of Chris' second solo album (as Stone by Stone), 1989's I Pass for Human. Like this punk grand master's finest work, it displays an electric, tormented immediacy."
LP version. "'The music on this record is a reflection of journeys and travel. The real world kind and the metaphorical ones as well. Having experienced the arrival of my children, the decline and departure of my parents, and the many years of venturing out and returning home in my own life, travel feels like the perfect tropology to consider the mysteries we inhabit. Travel and its impressions, rituals, superstitions -- the possibilities and risk-all open up onto the landscape of our biggest questions, fear and wonder. Two songs established the spine of this music. Songs I've always loved, it seems even before I'd heard them. The first one, and the source of the title is 'You Belong to Me' by Jo Stafford. Colonial overtones unmissable to our modern ears aside, it's also a beautiful mid-century romance -- and an ode to the threat of a shrinking world. The song represents the loneliness and the mystery of being alone and left behind. The singer is not asking their loved one to shut down horizons, merely reminding them to return when the traveling is done. To set aside The Silver Plane of transition, change and the in-between for the intimacy of solid earth. The second song is 'Promised Land' by Chuck Berry. Also about a journey and another one that moves easily between allegory and narrative. The singer is on the move across segregated America trying to get to the promised land of California. The song is both a tall tale that evokes Mark Twain, and an American epic that can keep good company with Herman Melville. When the hero finally makes it to California, his first instinct is to call home and reassure the Old World that he's safely arrived in the new one. The songs on Fly the Ocean in a Silver Plane were recorded at home over the last couple years. I played electric guitar, rubber bridge acoustic guitar, Ableton Live and an Electron Digitone synth. My friend Mallory Linnehan aka Chelsea Bridge contributed beautiful violin and vocals to a couple of the songs. We recorded those performances on a summer afternoon in Chicago at the Not Not space with the windows open." --Mark N/Pan?American
"White Boy and the Average Rat Band was formed in the unlikely small mountain town of Richlands, Virginia in late 1979 by guitarist and songwriter Michael Matney. Fresh out of high school in 1979, Matney would venture over the mountain to neighboring Tennessee to try his luck in the music Mecca of Nashville. There Matney would join Kriss Famous' longtime established local act Tabu, replacing Ron Keel as lead guitarist. It was in this arrangement that Matney would be christened with the name 'White Boy.' His time with Tabu and in Nashville would be brief before returning back to Virginia. Once back home, Matney would take a job with a local record store and recording studio owner who would grant him recording time in exchange for employment. There Matney would helm his own project deemed White Boy and the Average Rat Band; writing, composing and producing the self-titled debut. On the project, Matney played all the instruments, in exception to the two separate drummers used to complete the album. Musicians were then assembled in order to represent a band on the album and in live performances. In 1980 the White Boy and the Average Rat Band self-titled debut album would be released in a limited number of 300 copies, of which 50 would be lost. They would see very limited distribution, which only added to the curiosity the album would become. The band in the early 1980s would have a short life-span that would well be surpassed by their reputation on into the next couple of decades. Matney would then go on to other projects, such as a live guitarist sitting in with Dr. Hook and as a touring guitarist with David Allen Coe. During which time, unannounced to Matney, White Boy and the Average Rat Band's name was gaining somewhat of a cult status amongst record collectors around the globe seeking private press releases and on-the-fringes type rock bands. As the records continued to circulate through the hands of these collectors, the album began to become more and more difficult to find, as well as fetching prices in the high hundreds of dollars. In 2010 a bootleg pressing of the band's album would begin to circulate. This unofficial release would be a response to the high demand of people seeking the record. Although it was unknown to the band at the time and obviously done without permission, the bootleg only helped to grow the band's cult status even greater. Riding Easy offers the first official reissue of this lost 1980 album."
"Between 1975 and 1978, Brian Eno's Obscure imprint produced ten LPs to document the work of virtually unknown composers at the time. These records continue to inspire both practitioners and fans of experimental, ambient and modern classical music. Ensemble Pieces, Obscure No. 2, is the second LP to feature composer Gavin Bryars -- the first being his magnum opus The Sinking of the Titanic. Bryars would play a big role in finding projects for Obscure and helping to realize them in the studio with Eno. Christopher Hobbs was an early member of Cornelius Cardew's Scratch Orchestra and performed with anarchic free improv titans AMM. Ensemble Pieces presents two Hobbs compositions, his debut recordings. On 'Aran,' the composer is accompanied by Bryars and John White -- utilizing various percussion, reed organs and toy piano to construct an otherworldly gamelan music, while the Scottish bagpipe-inspired 'McCrimmon Will Never Return,' featuring Hobbs and Bryars on reed organs, evokes the slow-motion minimalism of Eliane Radigue or Folke Rabe. John Adams' masterpiece 'American Standard' premiered in 1973 at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art where these recordings were made. While this neo-Romantic three-part suite explores distinctly American musical forms (march, hymn and jazz ballad), Adams threads in found-sound tape elements from AM talk radio, which suggests a mottled landscape of Robert Ashley, The Residents or Negativland. The album's closing piece, Bryars' '1, 2, 1-2-3-4,' features Hobbs, Cardew, Derek Bailey, Eno and Roxy Music's Adam McKay. Each musician performed while listening on headphones to identical pre-recorded music, though factors such as tape-speed and battery life of the individual Walkmans provided tantalizing variables that affected pitch and duration. Despite this process-oriented approach, '1, 2, 1-2-3-4' is exquisitely sublime -- at times predicting the gauzy, haunted music of The Caretaker."
"Between 1975 and 1978, Brian Eno's Obscure imprint produced ten LPs to document the work of virtually unknown composers at the time. These records continue to inspire both practitioners and fans of experimental, ambient and modern classical music. Machine Music, Obscure No. 8 and the third title to feature Gavin Bryars, showcases 'systems music' pioneer John White. Largely known for his compositions for tuba and piano, White was a stylistically omnivorous artist who felt at home in his position as musical director at the Western Theatre Ballet as well as playing alongside Cornelius Cardew and Bryars in the radical Scratch Orchestra. Performed by the composer, Christopher Hobbs, Michael Nyman, and Bryars, the album's first side is comprised of four White pieces. Short, repetitive themes -- for brass, woodwinds, strings, piano and jaw harp -- share common ground with the minimalist work of Steve Reich and Terry Riley. Splendid timbral variations reveal a trance-inducing listening experience. 'Drinking And Hooting Machine,' the side's eerie finale, features the sound of five musicians (including Eno himself) blowing into empty milk bottles -- a reminder that serious avant-garde music can sometimes be puckish and strange. Side two consists of Bryars' 'The Squirrel And The Ricketty Racketty Bridge,' a mesmeric piece that finds Derek Bailey, Fred Firth, Bryars and Eno each striking a pair of tabletop guitars. Fans of Michael O'Shea and Eno's own protege Laraaji will find much to love here. Machine Music serves as an ideal entry point to the kind of compelling art music that would become Obscure's stock and trade."
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Los Felcas were one of the best bands to come out of Peru during the golden years of the cumbia and tropical sounds explosion. In Lima, founding member, guitarist Florentino "Tino" León, quickly joined the Peruvian cumbia tropical movement led by electric guitarists Enrique Delgado (Los Destellos) and Berardo HernÔndez "Manzanita.". This new style was soon practiced by other groups from Lima, such as Los Ecos, Los Beta 5, Los Diablos Rojos, and, a bit later, by bands from the rest of the country. This movement became a massive phenomenon. Nelson Ferreyra and the multifaceted singer Pablo Villanueva Branda "Melcochita", who had become fans, introduced them to the MAG record label. In mid-1973, they recorded their first 45 RPM singles, with "Sabor a Felcas" being their most popular release. They recorded several albums during the late '70s and '80s, mostly on MAG: "La Blanquiñosa," "Tu bello cuerpo," "La cusqueñita" and "Manzanita coloradita." In the early 1990s, chicha music became popular in Argentina, especially in the north, where "Boquita perfumada" by Los Felcas was a hit. This compilation brings together their finest recordings, taking from albums and obscure 45s, blending a wide range of influences -- from psychedelic vibes to rhythms closer to guaracha and chicha -- and now being reissued for the first time.
With only six singles released between 1965 and 1966, and from an apparently remote place such as Lima, Peru, Los Saicos created a raw, wild and visceral sound, the Southern Hemisphere equivalent of the garage rock that was coming out of the US North West at the same time. Theirs is the same DNA shared by The Sonics, Rocket From The Tombs, The Cramps and Black Lips. This release compiles all their recordings, including some later rarities available here on CD for the first time, and tells their amazing story.
"I'd never heard Los Saicos until a few days ago but had experienced the Wau y Los Arrrghs!!! version of 'Demolición.' Whilst appreciating the inherent wildness, I never for a minute considered that the original could have been even more deranged. More importantly, this snarling maelstrom of nihilism was cut in Lima when the rest of the world was wetting itself over The Beatles. I hear direct links to both The Stooges and The Cramps here and several more equally enthralling combos. The latter spawned several generations of individuals who would dig deep to previously (mostly) unheard seams of music and other forms of culture that have since become part of the mainstream fabric. The unhinged nature of the song titles is one thing but after you become acclimatized to the inherent strangeness, other aspects become apparent. The rhythms and the way the guitars chime and twang to offset the howling are no mere approximations or interpretation. Chemistry is by far a more important factor in the gestation of sound than proficiency or ability. There's a point where nature takes over and kicks in the call of the wild. The individuals have no other option than to just go with it. Primitive to the point of primordial, Los Saicos are an important benchmark. Not were. Who ever thought there could be a combo out there in Peru that would make The Sonics sound like Simon and bloody Garfunkel? There is quite possibly some other music out there, someplace, that could well make us re-address this consideration, but until then, cherish this short course of Saicotherapy." --Lindsay Hutton
2026 repress. Ranil is undoubtedly the most unconventional figure among the greats of Amazonian cumbia, earning a well-deserved place alongside all the better-known iconic bands. He worked as a teacher, criollo guitarist, radio host, TV entrepreneur, and politician, but gained lasting fame as the founder of Ranil y Su Conjunto Tropical in the 1970s. By 1968, around the same time Los Destellos were making waves in Lima, groups like Los Wembler's de Iquitos and Juaneco y su Combo began electrifying cumbia in Iquitos. This new genre, dubbed Amazonian cumbia, exploded nationwide in 1973, thanks to hits by Juaneco y su Combo, Los Mirlos, and Los Wembler's. The success these bands achieved spawned dozens of other groups from the Amazon. Ranil, always a visionary, recognized the movement's potential and joined forces through his first single recorded on the Dinsa label in 1974. Unhappy with the contractual terms, he went on to found Producciones Llerena, the label on which he would release the rest of his discography. Over the years, Ranil y su Conjunto Tropical featured guitarists like LĆmber Zumba and Luis Nigro, while Ranil remained the lead vocalist and bassist for group. Zumba and Nigro had already played with other regional bands and written songs for groups like Los Destellos and Los Mirlos. This compilation offers a glimpse into the vast musical output Ranil created in the late 1970s and early 1980s, bringing together 14 tracks from the band's ten LPs. These records have always been hard to come by as, despite being recorded in Lima, they were distributed by Ranil from Iquitos. Psychedelia, rock fusion, cumbia, salsa, mambo, Amazonian folk -- you'll find all these flavors blended into the vibrant, jungle-rich sound Ranil crafted.
2026 restock. This anthology of Los Wembler's allows listeners to appreciate the legacy of the iconic group from Iquitos, the most important city in the Peruvian Amazon which is only accessible by air or river, and their key role in the creation and revival of Amazonian cumbia. Los Wembler's emerged as a family band in the late 1960s in the Belén district of Iquitos and are regarded as pioneers of electric guitar-driven Amazonian cumbia from Perú. The selection of songs that make up this compilation dates from the period between 1972 and 1980, at the peak of the band's career. Songs such as "Sonido amazónico" or "La danza del petrolero" have become highly influential classics of the genre. Most of these tracks are reissued here for the first time after remaining unavailable for decades. Selva includes an insert with liner notes and photos. Pressed on 180g vinyl.
2026 repress. Released in 1969, Gal Costa is the album that cemented Gal as one of the boldest voices of Brazil's Tropicalia movement -- and it still sounds thrillingly alive today. Coming right after the genre-shaking TropicÔlia ou Panis et Circencis, this LP captures a moment when Brazilian music was breaking rules, blending psychedelia, rock, samba, and poetic experimentation into something totally new. Gal's voice is the real star here: warm, fearless, and incredibly expressive. She moves effortlessly from soft, intimate moments to explosive, full-throttle performances, always sounding confident and emotionally present. Backed by adventurous arrangements and songs from key Tropicalia figures like Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, the album feels both playful and politically charged, even when it's being subtle. Several tracks stand out as absolute classics. "Baby" is a highlight right away -- cool, tender, and deceptively simple, with Gal delivering Caetano Veloso's lyrics in a way that feels both innocent and quietly radical. On the other end of the spectrum, "Divino, Maravilhoso" is pure intensity: urgent, raw, and electrifying, capturing the restless spirit of the era and showcasing Gal's power at full blast. "Não Identificado" leans into dreamy psychedelia, floating between romance and cosmic imagery, while "Que Pena" shows her knack for turning heartbreak into something irresistibly melodic and catchy. What makes this record special is its balance. It's experimental without being alienating, sophisticated without losing its groove. Tracks flow naturally, pulling you into a colorful, slightly rebellious world that reflects the cultural tension and creativity of late-'60s Brazil. If you're curious about Tropicalia or just want a timeless album driven by pure vocal charisma, Gal Costa (1969) is an essential listen.
2026 restock. Another Thought was the first collection of Arthur Russell's music to be released after his death in 1992. Released on CD by Point Music in 1993 it marked the beginning of nearly 30 years of work to let the world hear the enormous archive of unreleased recordings Arthur left behind. Be With Records revisits this first compilation. This is the only place where you can hear some of Arthur's most recognizable music, like the title track "Another Thought", "A Little Lost", "This Is How We Walk On The Moon", "Keeping Up" and the woozy disco of "In The Light Of The Miracle" and "My Tiger, My Timing". Though technically a compilation, the whole of Another Thought comes together as a consistent, coherent, wonderful album. Janette Beckman reproduced her iconic photograph of Arthur in his newspaper boat hat for the sleeve. Tom Lee gave permission to include his liner notes from the original CD booklet, together with Arthur's lyrics. Another Thought is absolutely essential for even the most casual Arthur Russell collection. In fact, it's essential for any fan of non-obvious pop music. CD version comes in triple-fold digipack with insert and original liner notes.
"Welcome to the mind-expanding 1968 jazz recording of Bill Plummer and The Cosmic Brotherhood -- where Eastern and psychedelic influences meld together to produce one of the trippiest jazz albums on Impulse Records. This LP is a much-sought-after sonic travelogue, with the pop-psych spoken-word sitar freakout of 'Journey To The East' to Bill Plummer's swinging, rapid fire/cool jazz compositions, to his covers that go straight to the heart of any '60s genre-crossing jazz fans. Featuring an incredible who's who of the high-caliber talent bubbling over in the Los Angeles music scene at the time: Carol Kaye (legendary bass player of The Wrecking Crew); Maurice Miller (drummer in The Jazz Corps); Dennis Budimir (guitarist with Chico Hamilton Quintet, Ravi Shankar, and Frank Zappa); Mike Lang (piano with Flamin' Groovies & Hal Blaine); Tom Scott (saxophone with Gabor Szabo & Thelonious Monk); Ray Neopolitan (Bass for The Doors & Leonard Cohen); Milt Holland (percussionist with The Wrecking Crew and Captain Beefheart); Bill Goodwin (drums for Mose Allison and Tom Waits). Housed in a beautiful gatefold sleeve with iconic liner notes by Frank Kofsky, who comes out swinging hard in favor of the album, while shaking the dust off any jazz snobs left in the '60s who still were not ready to embrace the future of jazz. Produced by Bob Thiele who produced everyone from John Coltrane, Art Blakey, to Charles Mingus, this sonic rarity is yet another impressive vinyl reissue from the folks at Jackpot Records."
"Iggy Pop is on the cover as Ugly Things presents an expansive, mind-blowing interview with manager/publicist/journalist/tastemaker Danny Fields, who reveals intimate insider tales of the Stooges, MC5, the Velvet Underground, Nico, Brian Epstein, the Ramones, and his role in triggering the Beatles' 'bigger than Jesus' firestorm. For 'Teenage Grease 1972,' Peter Stanfield burrowed deep into the archives to dig up everything you need to know about the Flamin' Groovies' UK sojourn of that year. Then there's '60s Canadian psych/rock legends the Collectors, '70s French femme punk trailblazers the Lou's, a chat with Vern Miller of the Remains, and the final installment of Dave Laing's epic interview with Ed Kuepper of the Saints. Plus the strange tale of the Bugs' Boston Strangler cash-in Strangler in the Night, the continuing saga of Canadian '60s punks the Churls, the Glass Cage from British Columbia, and more of Cyril Jordan's encounters with Brian Wilson. And as always, the essentials reviews sections covering all the latest and greatest reissues, and rock 'n' roll related books."
Ak'chamel, The Givers of Illness plunged into truly deranged extremes to summon the decayed, otherworldly essence captured on Spiritually Unemployed, embracing unhinged and esoteric methods during the tracking process. Recorded in a makeshift adobe studio amid liminal border-zone ruins. Nocturnal treks along forgotten stretches near the U.S.-Mexico line, through derelict border outposts and sun-bleached vehicle husks, yielded unique recording opportunities: Ak'chamel dragged tape decks like sacrificial talismans, to capture gravel crunch, distant javalina fights, and unintentional EVP-like anomalies. Harvesting the psychic weight of migration, abandonment, and geopolitical limbo. A half-broken oud, double-reed pipes, a battered hurdy-gurdy, and self-built spike fiddles were "tortured" pre-recording; strings detuned to unstable microtonal chaos, reeds soaked in questionable desert-sourced liquids, and instruments were kept outdoors to absorb ambient dew, dust, and wild temperature swings, ensuring every take carried an unpredictable, haunted instability. Vintage cassette decks and reel-to-reel units were powered through erratic, low-voltage setups (literally dying generators) which introduced random voltage drops, speed fluctuations, and ghostly dropouts mid-take -- turning tracking into unpredictable spirit interventions. Fresh analog takes were dubbed onto tapes previously buried in arid soil throughout the hot day, then exhumed and played back while layering new overdubs; creating a palimpsest of temporal erosion where past decay bleeds into present performance. Live performances were blasted through overloaded, malfunctioning analog chains (cranked cassette walkmans, battered spring reverbs filled with gravel, warped echo units), then physically "mauled" by running the tape through sandpaper-wrapped capstans or crushing segments underfoot before resplicing -- resulting in tracks that feel compressed, twisted, and ruptured. Thus the desert claims its due: instruments tortured into prophecy, tapes interred and exhumed in chapels of malfunction. Spiritually Unemployed is the resulting artifact -- a sonic border autopsy where enlightenment arrives not as a sealed doctrine but as an open infested wound.
Double LP version. Xerrox Vol. 1 is the third studio album by German electronic artist Alva Noto. It was released in 2007 as part of the ongoing Xerrox pentalogy, based on the concept of digital replication of source material. Using the process of copying as a basis, the Xerrox series deals with the manipulation of data through endless reproduction. Due to the inherent fallacy of making copies from other copies, everyday sounds become so altered that they are hardly associated with their source material. As a result, entirely new sounds are created: copies of originals become originals themselves. Together with Christoph Brünggel, Nicolai designed a "sample transformer" that takes audio fragments and manipulates them beyond recognition. In this process of taking something familiar and defamiliarizing it, samples from obvious sources-advertising jingles, airport tones, telephone hold music, and film soundtracks-were used and altered, resulting in sounds totally unlike their original source. The result is a series of haunting, intricately realized pieces that recontextualize Nicolai's "glitches and bass" sound into extended, cinematic, organic, and almost orchestral works. Xerrox Vol. 1 was followed by Xerrox Vol. 2 (2009), Xerrox Vol. 3 (2015), Xerrox Vol. 4 (2020), Xerrox Vol. 5 (2024).
Double LP version. Xerrox Vol. 2 is the sixth studio album, released in 2009 by German electronic artist Alva Noto. It is the second installment of the Xerrox penthalogy, based on the concept of digital replication of source material. As with the first Xerrox album, the starting point is a set of samples culled from external sources. This time, snippets and recordings from Sunn O))) collaborator Stephen O'Malley and composer Michael Nyman are featured, as is an excerpt from the 2004 Insen tour with Ryuichi Sakamoto. While Alva Noto's oeuvre is predominantly affiliated with pristine sound design, the Xerrox series holds more intimate gestures and emotional sensibility. This volume moves further from the conceptualism and orderliness of prior musical outputs, ranging from heart-warming elegies to mind-bending sci-fi projections in extrasolar territories.
Double LP version. Xerrox Vol. 3 is the eighth solo studio album by German electronic artist Alva Noto, released in 2015 as part of the ongoing Xerrox penthalogy, which began with Xerrox Vol. 1 (2007) and Xerrox Vol. 2 (2009). Inspired by formative influences such as Andrei Tarkovsky's 1971 film Solaris, La Isla Misteriosa y el CapitƔn Nemo by Juan Antonio Bardem, and Henri Colpi, Carsten Nicolai exchanges austerity for cinematographic lushness in the remarkably widescreen third volume of his Xerrox series. In line with the series' focus on "using the process of copying as a basis," the eleven compositions of this volume can be heard as copies of memories, exploring emotional data patterns that are reflected as melodic vectors and noise.
WRWTFWW Records presents the release of Nighthawks, the new collaborative album from composer Azumi Okamura and musician/sound designer Andrea Esperti, available on limited edition LP (300 copies worldwide) cut at 45rpm, and housed in a heavyweight sleeve with inside-out print. A sublime convergence of Japanese piano poetry and Swiss sonic craftsmanship, Nighthawks brings together Azumi Okamura's intimate, emotionally resonant compositions with Andrea Esperti's refined approach to sound design. Esperti is known for his work alongside ambient legend Takashi Kokubo, and here he extends that sensibility into an intimate and immersive space. Echoes of dreams from an imaginary world drift through the album: forgotten memories rising gently, only to fade again. The music unfolds like a series of inner scenes -- reflective, rich with atmosphere -- where minimal piano motifs meet organic textures and subtle electronic detail. Rooted in the emotional solitude of Edward Hopper's urban landscapes, Nighthawks balances stillness and warmth. Gentle, simple melodies glow softly, wrapped in environmental music that evokes autumn air and walks by the beach. Resisting excess and spectacle, the record embraces poetic minimalism and emotional clarity. Each piece feels suspended in time, offering quiet moments that linger long after the sound has faded -- a drifting, cinematic journey shaped by sensitivity and restraint.
WRWTFWW Records presents its fifth collaboration with NY-LA ambient/jazz/downtempo musician Danny Scott Lane with the first ever vinyl release of his 2022 full-length album Holy Goodnight, available on limited edition LP (500 copies worldwide) housed in a heavyweight sleeve. After Home Decor, Shower, Caput, and Songs For Sex, here's another Danny Scott Lane classic. On Holy Goodnight, he handles synths, keyboards, bass, guitar, percussion, and field recordings for a smooth nightride through city pop, contemplative jazz, vaporwave, slow funk, cozy ambient, library music vibes, and relaxed moods. Holy Goodnight feels like cruising through a half-asleep city with the windows down and the radio low -- lush harmonies and soft grooves guiding the way. It's warm and hazy music for late hours and early mornings, introspective, comforting, cinematic, and intimate. Following the release of chillout staples on WRWTFWW, Danny Scott Lane further cements his unmistakable sonic universe. Complete the collection and sink deeper into the night. For fans of ambient jazz, city pop, downtempo, smooth funk, vaporwave, library music, night drives, neon lights, quiet introspection, cozy late hours, and peaceful goodnights.
This is the first recording album by Carl Stone and ASUNA (Asuna Arashi). Spring 2024. Carl Stone and Asuna performed together for the first time at an international experimental music festival held in Kanazawa city, where Asuna lives. Carl Stone is a pioneering composer of computer sampled music. and ASUNA known for its "100 Keyboards" performance, played in this duo with over 100 toy instruments, samplers, and synthesizers. Carl samples and processed the sound of Asuna's various toys in real time. Asuna then incorporates the sounds into her own sampler and sends again the signal to Carl. The two transformed the sounds on the live show, music born mysterious cultural parade of toys was stirred up by the electronic sounds, melting one into the other. They then on to record in the studio, Tokyo. ASUNA then edited the song based on ideas that were in the opposite direction to the way the two performed on the recording. "Sampling" comes from the ancient Latin "exemplum," which means the act of juxtaposing something taken from measurement or observation, and it is self-evident that a sample is made because of an object. However, as music is an art of time, the editing was done in such a way that the relationship between the sample and the object is reversed. In other words, Carl's sample and the editing of the target sound made of electronic sounds are placed before ASUNA's sound, and the original sound is placed after it (except "Casual Resonant"). This album is a composition of improvisations in which ASUNA sliced Carl Stone's sampling idea from the opposite direction when editing the samples. Mirroring the process of how that album was compiled, each song title on the album is made up of anagrams of "Carl Stone" and "Asuna." This is because the process of the duo felt like an anagram, as if Carl Stone reconstructed Asuna sound and Asuna further re-edited it from the upside down.
VA
Prince Philip Presents: Dubplates & Raw Rhythm From King Tubby's Studio 1973-1976 2LP
20256 repress. "This compilation is dedicated to the memory of the late great 'Prince' Philip Smart -- the first apprentice of King Tubby and the first engineer at Tubby's studio besides Tubby himself. Alongside Tubby, Philip was integral to the innovation that took place at Tubby's studio in the mid-1970s, where the mixing of new roots reggae revolutionized the sound of Jamaican music and created styles and techniques that are still being echoed today, nearly 50 years later. Though rarely credited on records in comparison to Tubby, Philip also mixed a lot of the paramount music produced by those close associates of Tubby's studio such as Bunny Lee, Yabby You, and Augustus Pablo. Philip was closely tied to Pablo due to their childhood friendship and was a partner in his stylistically significant early production works. In the early years of Tubby's studio, both men were making and cutting custom dubs there for their sound systems before starting to produce their own tunes from scratch, and Philip becoming the second chair engineer. Several of the songs on this compilation are a selection of the aforementioned work. All of the songs here are sourced from Philip's personal tape archive, and basically all of these mixes and versions have been scarcely if ever heard, and never released before. This double album comprises a rare and genuine glimpse into the dubplate workings of the inner circle of Tubby's studio in the mid-1970s, where the prime players and emerging giants of reggae music production and sound system versioned, remixed and voiced rhythms for custom and exclusive cuts. Some of the cuts heard here were formerly exclusive power plays on King Tubby's own legendary sound system, and unlike some previous issues of such material, these are genuine mixes done at the time. Some other tracks clearly exude the youthful enthusiasm of the participants. Rest in power Prince Philip Smart." --RB/DKR, Summer 2023
2026 repress. Remastered, expanded gatefold double LP version. This version features new artwork by Tina Frank, based on the original 2001 Mego release. Contains "Ohne Sonne" and "47 Blues," previously only available on the Japanese CD versions, as well as a new, extended version of "Happy Audio," exclusive to this release. Endless Summer, originally released in 2001 by Mego, was a breakthrough album for Christian Fennesz -- the album which brought his name and music towards the first steps of mainstream recognition. Following on from the more experimental Hotel Paral.lel (EMEGO 016CD) and the Beach Boys-homaged Plays single, Endless Summer brought the guitars more to the front, the electronics shimmered more, and the melodies shined more brightly. It went on to become a classic of its time, topping many end-of-year polls. Cut at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin, September 2010.
MIJ
Yodeling Astrologer LP
2026 Limited restock. "Yodeling Astrologer (aka: Color By The Number) could be considered an anomaly, a one-off or a miracle of circumstance in the history of psychedelic pop music. Mij, a.k.a. Jim Holmberg was discovered by ESP-Disk owners while playing in Washington Square Park in the summer of 1968. His style and persona mesmerized the label heads, and he explained to them a recent auto accident had fractured his skull but left him changed. He perceived sound, color and vision differently and he had funneled this new world of perception directly into his music. All this was enough to warrant getting Mij into the studio to lay down a record of his rambly, cosmic folk songs. The entire album was recorded in three hours, first-takes and impromptu production intact, then pressed up and introduced to the world shortly thereafter. To focus on the yodeling aspect of the Yodeling Astrologer would miss some of the depth of this album. Not just a hippie novelty act of the time, this is a truly thoughtful and somewhat frenzied document. Like Buffy St. Marie's Meditations, Linda Perhacs' Parallelograms or Cold Fact by Rodriguez, this is an album of sincere folk songs colored with subtle psychedelic touches. Uneasy reverberations and soft echoes glide over Holmberg's breezy songs, creating a consistent sonic environment as spontaneous as it is intriguing. Available on vinyl for the first time since an incredibly limited original pressing in 1969 on ESP-Disk."
SCIENTIST
...The Dub Album They Didn't Want You to Hear! CD
2026 restock. "Totally killer previously unreleased dub companion LP to Flick Wilson's School Days LP. Jah Life was no slacker when it came to mixing dubs, and sat in with Scientist at King Tubby's for the mixing of many of the classic Junjo/Radics/Scientist albums. But more importantly, they also mixed a ton load of dubs for Jah Life himself, many of which, like this album, remain unreleased... until now! Nine out of ten tracks from the Flick Wilson album are dubbed here, and one track from the Wayne Jarrett's What's Wrong With the Youths album. Classic Scientist 1980-style mixing, nothing else like it, hard stuff. Cover features a fantastic previously unseen photo from Beth Lesser."
DURUTTI COLUMN
The Return Of The Durutti Column (45th Anniversary Edition) LP
2026 restock; LP version. Alongside Joy Division, The Durutti Column were amongst the first artists to be released by Factory Records. Their debut album, produced by Martin Hannett, showcased the filigree guitar work of Vini Reilly, awash with reverb and early experiments with synthesizers. It would be a first album of a five-decade career, in which The Durutti Column would quietly emerge as one of the most influential acts from the Manchester scene and beyond. To celebrate the album's 45th anniversary, London Records revisits the album with new editions, with audio sourced and remastered from the original tapes for the first time since 1980, with vinyl cut at half speed. LP version includes restored "second edition" artwork with textured sleeve. Liner notes by The Durutti Column/Factory Records expert James Nice.
2026 repress; triple gatefold heavyweight 180g vinyl. Remastered original LP, including five unreleased tracks, presented for the first time on vinyl. Susumu Yokota's venerated 1994 classic Acid Mt. Fuji is reissued in expanded, deluxe fashion, as part of the 30th anniversary celebrations of the label that originally presented it. Japan's Musicmine -- specifically it's electronic subsidiary Sublime Records -- released the album on June 29th 1994, simultaneously with Ken Ishii's Reference To Difference, as their inaugural joint offering. Acid Mt. Fuji is an enchanting mix of mystical ambient acid and futurist minimal techno, taking the listeners on a psychedelic pilgrimage, where 303, synths and electronic percussion are scented with reverb, echo and forest recordings. Merging Japanese new age and sparse electronica, the recording is free, organic, and energized -- proffering a unique blend of early '90s western styles and the essence of his home country. Yokota originally planned an ambient record, but Acid Mt. Fuji evolved into a concept work featuring the Roland TB-303, which he recorded live at home alongside a sampler, yielding experimental and innovative results. With references to Japanese folklore, nature and shrines, tracks like "Kinoko" and "Meijijingu" invite the listener to immerse themselves in the album's spiritual depths. Acid Mt. Fuji is a powerful testament to the establishment of rave culture in Japan, which rapidly developed within just two years, from 1992 to 1994. Largely due to praise for the breathtaking originality of the LP, within this burgeoning national techno scene, Yokota rose to prominence as one of its key figures. He then became one of the most renowned artists to emerge from his homeland and enter the global electronic pantheon. He inspired a new wave of Japanese producers and DJs, contributing significantly to the growth of the techno movement in Japan. This triple vinyl deluxe edition includes the original album's eleven tracks alongside five raw and jacking rare gems, available on wax for the first time, which were previously included only in the Japanese 2016 deluxe edition CD. The liner notes are written by DJ/producer Alex From Tokyo, who was a good friend of Yokota, and experienced the '90s Tokyo club scene firsthand as an insider. His compilation Japan Vibrations Vol. 1 captures this golden era, and features music by Prism (Susumu Yokota), Ryuichi Sakamoto, Haruomi Hosono, Yasuaki Shimizu, Quadra (Hiroshi Watanabe), and more.
2026 repress. Double LP version. Juan Atkins and Moritz von Oswald -- the two indispensable protagonists of the "Electric Garden" -- plug back into the wilderness. Transport brings together a set of studio-refined sequences aimed at colonizing some of the dark energy that pulsates through those areas that are thoroughly electrified, even if not on the grid. The Detroit-Berlin axis triangulates to a third point that, like the atomic particle that lives in two places at once, flickers between a form of techno-charged ambience and a futuristic club-jazz that cannot be broken down into constitutive parts. Borderland remains caught in a state of enraptured stillness, invisibly moving between every imagined future for electronic sound making. The result: a font from which springs serene and exhilarating musical ideas that vibrate with refined energy for 60 seconds in every minute.
2026 repress. "Volume One is the debut album. It was the only album recorded with second guitarist Justin Marler, before he became an Orthodox monk. Volume One showcases a darker sound and stronger doom metal influence than Sleep's later work."
2026 restock; LP version. Wewantsounds continues its Akiko Yano reissue series with the release of the singer's third studio album To Ki Me Ki, recorded in New York and released in 1978 in Japan. It follows her cult Iroha Ni Konpeitou LP and keeps the similar blend of Japanese pop and New York funk found in the latter. To Ki Me Ki features such musicians as Rick Marotta, Will Lee, and David Spinozza, and also programmer Hideki Matsutake who would soon join the YMO with Akiko. To Ki Me Ki is reissued outside of Japan for the first time, remastered in Tokyo by revered engineer Mitsuo Koike and featuring original artwork by Tsutomu Murakami with four-page color insert and new liner notes by Paul Bowler.
OHNO, YUJI
Touch: The Sublime Sound of Yuji Ohno LP
2026 restock. Wewantsounds presents the release of Touch, a selection of sought-after tracks produced by Yuji Ohno, one of the most revered producers and arrangers on the Nippon music scene. His blend of jazz, space funk and disco have long been sought-after by DJs around the world and Wewanstounds has been given unique access to the Nippon Columbia vaults and to Mr. Ohno himself to come with a versatile selection from his '70s body of work, all bearing his uniquely recognizable sound. The set includes works with singers Nanako Sato, Hatsumi Shibata, and Ken Tanaka alongside tracks from his cult anime soundtracks for Lupin III and Captain Future. Approved by Yuji Ohno himself, Touch was remastered in Tokyo by Nippon Columbia and features liner notes by Nick Luscombe in conversation with the maestro and artwork by Optigram's Manuel Sepulveda. Also featuring Ann Young, Mieko Hirota, and Electric Keyboard Orchestra.
"For years, Jackson C. Frank was as ghostly a legend as they come. Even the relatively few record collectors who revered his work were only aware of the lone LP released during his lifetime. For all most listeners knew, Frank made an incredible album in 1965 and then vanished, despite that record having been produced by Paul Simon. 1975 Mekeel Sessions features six tracks recorded in the mid-'70s at a studio in Lake Hill, New York about five miles from Woodstock where Frank was living at the time. Only uncovered decades later, these recordings hum with the same mysterious warmth that defined Jackson at his peak. His guitar work, alternating between strummed and fingerpicking, is perfectly understated. His stark and somber voice, more weathered than the lighter tone on his debut. While the Mekeel tapes were intended for Frank's sophomore album, it never came to be. What one hears is not a singer-songwriter fading out of view, but rather a singular artist who never stopped trying to build his own world -- even when no one was watching. For fans of everyone influenced by Jackson: from Nick Drake, Sandy Denny and Bert Jansch to more contemporary acts like Elliott Smith, Vincent Gallo and Iron And Wine who surely used Frank's sparse approach as a template."
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There's Always Glimmer LP
Los Jardines De Mis Abuelos LP
Percussion Spectrum (Themes) LP
Two Days In Dreamland 2CD
Life Of The Mother Cassette
Bill Plummer And The Cosmic Brotherhood LP
Fly The Ocean In A Silver Plane CD
Fly The Ocean In A Silver Plane LP
On The Double (Clear Vinyl) 2LP
All The Young Droids: Junkshop Synth Pop 1978-1985 (Color Vinyl) 2LP
Apologize To The Future LP
White Boy And The Average Rat Band LP
Voyage of the Faithful CD
YOURPRETTYPLACEISGOINGTOHELL CD
Live at Rockpalast 1999 2CD
Complete Studio Recordings '77-'81 LP
Peel Sessions And More '84/'85 LP
Los Demenciales Chicos Acelerados CD
Demolicion! The Complete Recordings CD
Spacing Out/Latin Lips 7"
Tirititran: Una Recopilación De Flamenco-Jazz Vol 1 2LP
Spiritually Unemployed LP
Get Up & Chant/Need To Belong 12"
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