New Releases for November 2007

Index of New Releases for November 2007

Artist:	ST-ONGE, ALEXANDRE
Title:	Mon Animal Est Possible
Label:	ALIEN8 RECORDINGS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	ALIEN 070CD

"Mon Animal Est Possible is a collection of electronic love songs written and conceived by Alexandre St-Onge, whose purpose behind the recordings was to try to communicate with monsters and exorcise/exercise his own monstrosity through them, thus making possible his own animal. A collection of eight pieces of just under 40 minutes, Mon Animal Est Possible reveals St-Onge at his most melodious and sensuous thus far. The album is largely centered on vocals, both those of St-Onge and his partner Fanny. This is the polar opposite of his debut solo effort released by Alien8 back in 1999; St-Onge has traded in massive passages of near silence for lush ballads and love songs filled with vocals and cinematic backgrounds. It is rather difficult to draw contemporary comparisons to this recording, although one may be reminded of the recently reissued classic L'enfant Assassin des Mouches by Jean Claude Vannier. In terms of more recently released music similarities could be drawn to the experimental passages from vocalists like Scott Walker and Robert Wyatt."

Artist:	TORNGAT
Title:	You Could Be
Label:	ALIEN8 RECORDINGS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	ALIEN 071CD

"Torngat is a formidable trio hailing from the fertile and diverse musical community of Montreal. Up until now the band has enjoyed success in a few key cities, but with You Could Be things are about change. This is the band's third recording and a follow up to 2005's stellar La Rouge EP. Torngat is an instrumental trio made up of primarily drums, keyboards and French horn, although it is the multi-instrumentalism of all three players that really give Torngat that spark of something special. Julien Poissant is the band's drummer but also plays a variety of instruments on the album; in a live setting he can be found playing extra keys with the left hand, bass drum with the right foot, high hat with the left foot and trumpet with the right hand. Wurlitzer and analog synth are Mathieu Charboneau's primary tools, but he is also known to juggle duties with xylophones, percussion, trumpet, melodicas additional keyboards and live electronic effects. French horn player Pietro Amato seasoned his chops performing with Belle Orchestre and has toured and recorded with Arcade Fire. Amato also contributes a host of other acoustic and electronic instrumentation as well as some vocals to the album. Torngat perform music that could be construed as post rock; like much of the genre they exude a strong cinematic quality. Like their sister band Belle Orchestre, the music of Torngat is less dark and melancholic than post rock. Instead of doom and gloom the band delivers uplifting melodies and fantasy inspired passages, yet still manage to infuse their songs a certain emotional weight unnoticed in the bubblier tunes of the former project."

Artist:	NADJA
Title:	Radiance of Shadows
Label:	ALIEN8 RECORDINGS (CANADA)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	ALIEN 072CD

"The Canadian ambient doom band Nadja returns with the follow-up to their critically acclaimed Touched release. Radiance of Shadows is a mammoth monster of a record, spanning well over an hour with three tracks that are more epic and heavier than ever. Nadja's constantly increasing fan base will not be disappointed with this outing; it's classic Nadja. Radiance of Shadows has the feel of the super-saturated and dense recordings favoured by the likes of Fennesz and Tim Hecker but with the bite of metal. Radiance of Shadows opens rather gently taking its time to give birth to an amazing Isis-like riff which becomes completely washed out with Nadja's trademark wall of ambient noise. Just when you think it cannot get any louder or more saturated it begins to subside into another more subdued section of ambience and occasional riffing. This eventually gives way to a brutal tandem of guitar and drums that recalls early Swans. Nadja has an unique ability to make their long recordings seem like they are a few tracks blending into one as oppose to the grandiose epics that they are."

Artist:	CPC GANGBANGS
Title:	Mutilation Nation
Label:	ALIEN8 RECORDINGS (CANADA)
Format:	LP
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	ALIEN 073LP

"Announcing the vinyl edition of CPC Gangbangs' killer debut Mutilation Nation! CPC Gangbangs rise from ashes of garage punk architects Les Sexareenos, Daylight Lovers and Spaceshits and create a new drug, punk, weirdo, hate trip that spews from the Franco-Anglo Petri dish of Montreal. With already 5 vinyl only EP's under their belt CPC Gangbangs have solidified their status in the subterranean abyss that is the new punk underground railroad. Although their sound is celebratory and consuming it is often evil as well and full of the promise of self-destruction boosted by copious amounts of cocaine, LSD and Canadian Maple Whiskey. This sound is part Warsaw, part 13th Floor Elevators, part Flamin' Groovies, part Turkish psychedelic rock and all while their feet are deeply rooted in the unrestrained attack of primal punk deconstruction. Guitars are broken, amps are on fire, drums avalanche off the stage and someone gets hurt."

ALPHABET CITY (UK)

ANIMAL DISGUISE

Artist:	CADAVER IN DRAG
Title:	Raw Child
Label:	ANIMAL DISGUISE
Format:	CD
Price:	$11.00
Catalog #:	ADR 084CD

"Pummeling psychedelic heaviness from the fertile musical underground of Lexington, Kentucky, the three-piece Cadaver In Drag are often linked to the genre labels of 'noise' or 'metal,' but like most bands in the ADR universe, it is nearly impossible to categorize what's really going on here. Just know that this is an extremely heavy trip, and that the striking cover art tells the entire story better than I ever could. Added aural mind-fucking courtesy of Robert Beatty (of Hair Police) on synthesizer and mastering duties. Demonstrating their capability of harnessing the thick, violent power of Man is the Bastard while filtering it all through a cloud of phased-out Floydian weed smoke, Cadaver In Drag weave a tale of misanthropy and disgust with Raw Child, their debut full-length, proudly presented on both vinyl and CD formats from Animal Disguise Recordings."

ANTICIPATE

Artist:	SAWAKO
Title:	Madoromi
Label:	ANTICIPATE
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	ANTICIP 003CD

This is Tokyo/NYC-based Sawako's third full-length album, Madoromi, (a Japanese word which loosely translates to the state of being between sleep and waking). Kato Sawako presents a narrative universe of spacy, dreamy in-between-ness. Working through the woozy shift of the album's arc, one emerges at the other end with a return to a physical world decidedly of the present tense. Filled with contrast and dynamics, Madoromi firmly places Sawako at the forefront of the softly-colliding aspects of the digital and organic -- showing that she manages to hang in the fold between these worlds and access each with aplomb. Subtle electronics frame abstracted instrumental source material (vibraphone, guitar, cello, music box) and a variety of real-world sound (random objects, distant, disembodied voices and the occasional presence of Sawako's faintly-whispered vocals). With tracks like "Uta Tane" and "Far Away," she highlights the acoustic elements, rather than obscure the natural beauty of the sound for the sake of finding something new, which helps to further bring out the qualities that were quietly hiding beneath the surface. On songs like "Kira Kira" and the album closer "Tiny Tiny," Sawako uses chimes and tones that twinkle and pop, reminding one of hazy memories recalled through developed and reconfigured memory banks. Existing somewhere between the art gallery, the headphone commute and the bed-time ritual, Sawako's sound traverses boundaries such as digital minimalism, ambient and electro-acoustic -- arriving at a singular approach which feels both mental and tender -- restraining itself from going too far in either direction. Finding the melodies within the melodies, the fragments are assembled into soft, resonating compositions that combine all the fragility of a lone person playing toy instruments in their room with the technological prowess of skilled DSP processing. These qualities add up to a warm, moody, forward-minded balance, which defines Sawako's music.

APHEX RECORDINGS (UK)

Artist:	DJ HATCHA & KROMESTAR
Title:	3000/300
Label:	APHEX RECORDINGS (UK)
Format:	12"
Price:	$11.00
Catalog #:	APHEX 004EP

"Two of the scene's biggest names bring you their latest collaboration. A-side '300' - featured on DJ Hatcha's latest mix compilation, Dubstep Sessions Vol. 1 (November 2007), here two of the scene's biggest names have mixed together and formed snappy beats, a simple bouncy bass-line, along with string and vocal samples from the smash hit film 300, to create a powerful club banger. AA-side '3000' - a more minimal track from the pair. Continues the Spartan theme, but with a far darker tone, rolling bass-line and melody that has the same tones as that minimal tech sound dubstep is so often being compared to now."

APOSTASY RECORDINGS

Artist:	SON OF EARTH
Title:	Pet
Label:	APOSTASY RECORDINGS
Format:	LP
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	AP 024LP

"Son of Earth began life in early 2000 as Son of Earth-Flesh on Bone Trio. Aaron Rosenblum, Matt Krefting and John Shaw, inspired by many spirited late-night experimenting sessions, began to play out using wild arrays of sound-making devices. As the years have gone on, the group has chiseled away at the number of instruments used and brought their once maximalist and varied sound creation down to a whisper, a murmur, a sound that hints at and flirts with texture and atmosphere; a music made from almost nothing. Seven full years into their life-span, Son of Earth offer their first full-length LP, Pet. The record represents a culmination of sorts of a certain arc in the Son of Earth sound, one where simple electronics and oddly-played instruments are combined to create a music that walks a tight-rope between easily definable atmospheres and emotions. The results are so delicate, that at times the music seems to cease to exist at all."

Artist:	TARP
Title:	Tarp
Label:	APOSTASY RECORDINGS
Format:	7"
Price:	$5.50
Catalog #:	AP 025EP

"Synth-duo Tarp is made up of Joshua Burkett (Vermonster, Believers, solo, etc.) and Conrad Capistran (Sunburned Hand of the Man, Sephiroths Knot). Two tightly-edited masterstrokes flank the sides of this 7", taking Tarp out of their familiar live setting and thrusting them under a sonic microscope. Neat and polished, yet still utterly unconstrained. Amazing journeys packed into each four-minute track. Tarp effortlessly glide through a full spectrum of atmospheres: 'call-and-response' conversation, brooding ambience, rhythmic pulses, and melodic lullabies. Full color sleeve art by George W. Myers."

AREAL RECORDS (GERMANY)

ARGON (UK)

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Artist:	MONOROOM
Title:	Memory Inc. Part II
Label:	ALPHABET CITY (UK)
Format:	12"
Price:	$11.00
Catalog #:	ALPHA 071EP

Artist:	ADA
Title:	Fizzmann
Label:	AREAL RECORDS (GERMANY)
Format:	12"
Price:	$10.00
Catalog #:	AREAL 045EP

Artist:	MATTY G
Title:	West Coast Rocks Remixes
Label:	ARGON (UK)
Format:	12"
Price:	$11.00
Catalog #:	ARG 013EP