The heavyweight trio of Keiji Haino, Jim O'Rourke, and Oren Ambarchi return with their 12th and most epic release to date, the triple LP With pats on the head, just one too few is evil one too many is good that's all it is. Documenting the entirety of their final performance at the dearly departed Roppongi home of Tokyo underground institution SuperDeluxe in November 2018, the music spread across these six sides splits the difference between the guitar-bass-drums power trio moves and experiments with novel instrumentation that have defined the trio's decade of working together. Containing some of the most delicate music the three have committed to wax since the gorgeous 12-string acoustic guitar and dulcimer tones of Only wanting to melt beautifully away is it a lack of contentment that stirs affection for those things said to be as of yet unseen, this wide-ranging release also offers up some of their most blistering free rock performances yet. The side-long opening piece finds Haino on a single snare drum in duet with O'Rourke on unamplified electric guitar, playing in the lovely post-Bailey vein heard on his classic '90s recordings with Henry Kaiser and Mats Gustafsson. For the first trio performance, Haino makes another new addition to his seemingly infinite catalogue of instruments, this time a homemade contraption he refers to as "Strings of Dubious Reputation." Joined by O'Rourke on increasingly spaced-out electric guitar and Ambarchi on skittering percussion, Haino's wonky, slack strings adds a definite "musique brut" edge to this side-long performance, certainly one of the most enchantingly odd in the trio's discography. Arriving in a deluxe trifold package with photos by Lasse Marhaug alongside inner sleeves with extensive live images, this epic release is perhaps the most remarkable document yet of this unique trio's stamina and continuing inventiveness.
Guitar Solos is the debut solo album of British guitarist, composer, and improviser Fred Frith. It was recorded while Frith was still a member of the English experimental rock group Henry Cow and was released originally in October 1974. Voted one of the best albums of 1974 by NME critics it also attracted the attention of Brian Eno, resulting in Frith playing guitar on two of Eno's albums. Frith's never tiring spirit in creating and performing music has made him one of the most notable and creative guitar players and musicians in the scene of improvised and composed music. For the anniversary of this release, Week-End Records have encouraged Frith to arrange a set up similar to what he used 50 years ago to record an album of new compositions which will accompany the original record.
In 1994, UK ambient pioneers O Yuki Conjugate recorded their landmark Equator album. To mark the 30th anniversary of this musical milestone, many of the same personnel -- Roger Horberry (co-founder of O Yuki Conjugate), Dan Mudford (ex-Sons of Silence and co-creator of the Shaun of the Dead soundtrack), Joe Lamb (ex-Sons of Silence) and Malcolm McGeorge -- came together to make New Meridian, reflecting the range of influences they've picked up over the intervening years. Generously described as "almost like normal music," the eight tracks of New Meridian feature instrumentation ranging from classic analogue to actual wooden logs. The result takes the listener on a rain-drenched, open-top ride from electronica avenue to the drone caverns of Uranus, with various fourth world ambi-dub diversions along the way.
Umeko Ando (1932-2004) was a folk singer from Japan. She was a representative of the Ainu culture on the Hokkaido Island in the north of Japan. Ihunke is her first album which was recorded with the Ainu musician and dub producer Oki Kano in 2000. The 16 Ainu songs on Ihunke are delicate, natural gems. They are built on Oki Kano's tonkori patterns (a five-string harp), over which Umeko Ando develops her repetitive, mantric vocals, often in a call-and-response manner. Oki Kano is one of very few professional tonkori players who performs worldwide with his Oki Dub Ainu Band. The songs possess a mystical energy -- when crows call accurately with Ando's brittle voice in the first song, it seems like natural powers join in with her music. Her voice sounds like animals of the sky and the forest. Oki Kano: "It was a lot of fun to record with Umeko Ando. Many Ainu hesitate to break from tradition -- if Umeko hadn't been so flexible to work with the younger generation and recording technology, this album would never have happened. Our sessions were intense, and we were proud and happy about making such beautiful music." Only recently (in 2008) have the Ainu officially been acknowledged as indigenous people who are culturally independent from Japan. This record is an example of how their music has been passed on through generations in the underground Ainu communities while it was oppressed by the Japanese hegemony. It deserves a huge audience. Includes liner notes and download code.
Anadol is a psychedelic synth folk project by Gözen Atila, a Turkish sound artist and photographer based in Berlin. Her third album Uzun Havalar is based on collective improvisations of middle eastern folk songs called "uzun hava." They turn out as rich, atmospheric synth ballads. A diverse roster of improvising musicians creates their fascinating complexity. Anadol recorded them during extensive sessions in Istanbul. One can hear drummers laughing and playing guitars, composers howling, announcements in French and screams in no language, record collectors playing oscillators, and trumpets through spacious echoes. Anadol represents Gözen Atila's liberation from a rather academic approach to electronic composition which she pursued during her music technology studies in Istanbul. She calls her education the "darkness of serious music" where she first tried to belong, then to break free with the help of lo-fi synth pop. As a producer of radio plays and an expert field recording artist she has developed a distinct sense of timing, editing and sound design. Her Anadol project walks in the footsteps of lone synth experimentalists like Bruce Haack and The Space Lady with their childlike curiosity for electronic sounds, pushing the boundaries of minimal equipment. On Uzun Havalar she translates her experimental background into these floating folk ballads. The album was originally released on tape via Kinship in 2018.
"Whether it is traditional or contemporary, we need to be authentic," says Gözen Atila who performs as Anadol. "I don't claim that I am authentic, but this is what I want to achieve." A sense of authentic exploration, introspection, and celebration coats every inch of Anadol's latest album. After Uzun Havalar, the Turkish artist returns with an album that continues to explore a variety of deeply embedded musical traditions while also hurtling into new terrain. The music and influences -- as well as the history, culture, and geography behind them -- that make up Atila as an artist all coalesce to create something entirely new. The result is something that is simultaneously exploring history and tradition, while harnessing innovative modern sounds and techniques. "If there is any tradition I am somehow connected to, or influenced by, then it's multi-genres," she says. "Such as Turkish Pop and Arabesk music from this country where I grew up. There is a connection to folk and also French pop or Flamenco, Middle Eastern melodies and orchestration, Greek adaptations, Kenny G. solos, American guitars." This can be heard on Felicita, not in as much as you can link up the influences directly but in the way it glides across genres, eschewing convention and predictability along the way, to result in a kaleidoscopic experience. For the album, Atila found a talented roster of jazz musicians in Istanbul who she recorded on top of her synth productions and field recordings. Soon enough saxophone, drums, and strings began to stack up against preset drum loops from vintage organs. It's a record where woozy psychedelic excursions bleed into dreamy synth lines, immersive ambience, and the occasionally disconcerting yet incredibly tactile use of field recordings. Felicita translates as "happiness" and this album is something that explores the complexities of such an emotion. "I did not name the album like this because I just wanted to call it happiness," Atila says. "A song like 'Felicita Lale' is a sad and confused song about a female character who can't get out of bed. It's a funny rumination, in her thoughts, saying to get up and lie down repeatedly. At some point the lyrics say: 'hep agla, felicita', meaning: 'Cry all the time, Felicita'. Like she is talking to happiness itself and telling it to cry. So it is not about happiness, it is more about the concept of happiness which can be very sad."
ASA (Arturo Lanz, Saverio Evangelista, AtomTM ) are the last three futurists on earth. Radial is the result of a vivid creative merge between Esplendor Geométrico and AtomTM. A transparent diamond formed by a heavy implosion. Its underlying massive mechanics are covered by a crystal surface made to cut reality in half. Just one letter short of 'radical,' this album is no less than exactly that -- an orgy of powerful, blunt repetition and hyperbolic simplicity, a profound evocation of nothingness and its surroundings.
"Landmark album from 1975 that more than played its part in bringing reggae to a new international audience. The title track is still today one of the iconic '70s reggae anthems and the album as a whole is brim full of roots reggae classics. Recorded at Channel One, Randy's & Harry J's and mixed at Treasure Isle. Black Star Liner raised the bar for roots reggae music on release and time has not dimmed its majesty. Featuring remastered audio."
SUN RA
Outer Spaceways Incorporated (Gold Vinyl) LP
Gold-color vinyl. "Sun Ra's Arkestra was at its most radical during this period, alternating simple chants with very outside playing and dense ensembles. Although no precise date is given, these five cuts are thought to have been documented circa 1967 - 1968 by Sun Ra (piano) and his Arkestra in New York City, where the band was in residence at the time. A must have for any serious avant garde jazz fan."
Pitchfork: Best New Reissue: 8.3 "Few records have weathered the fast-moving, fickle trends in electronic music like those of Microstoria. The duo brings together two of the most prescient, playful minds in the German electronic underground -- Jan St. Werner (Mouse on Mars) and Markus Popp (Oval). Their albums as Microstoria are considered foundational texts in ambient music while equally sounding just as cutting-edge now as on their initial release. Continually cropping up in 'best of' lists from the likes of Pitchfork and FACT while finding new fans through remixes by Jim O'Rouke and Stereolab. After being long out of print and coveted by collectors, the duo's cult classic albums init ding and _snd now receive the expanded reissue treatment as a double LP, featuring remixed sleeve artwork based on the original designs and a full remaster of each by engineer Rashad Becker. Microstoria's first outing init ding (1995) captures the thrilling, anarchic energy of Germany's experimental underground in the '90s, rendered in beautifully understated atmospheres. In those early studio sessions, Popp and Werner would cycle through synthesizer patches and effects settings while playing, sounds glitching and taking on new shapes with each turn to create moments of genuine surprise. Throughout the album the duo wrest paradoxically organic sounds from digital instruments, with everything from bird-like calls to aqueous washes of bass or fizzing strings that crest like rolling waves of warm analog thrum. The duo's sophomore album _snd (1996) provided a subtle refinement of those earlier recordings, stripping back the dense layers of texture to play with space and tension, with an even greater contrast between light and dark. The album finds comfort in colder, deliberately digital soundscapes -- the sound of neon lights illuminating the empty concrete of the city at night, or dial-up router glitch bathed in the warming glow of monitor screens. This is no mere wallpaper music, but living, breathing ecosystems of sound teeming with detail and tangible feeling. Nearly 30 years on from their original release, both init ding and _snd still offer thrilling new revelations with every listen. Much like the nature of their creation, these are records that reward deep listening. The expanded reissue of these two classic albums highlights their enduring influence and uncanny genius, standing essential titles from two artists still shaping the landscape of contemporary music today."
2024 repress on black vinyl. "Many call Roger Salloom the underground Dylan because of his incredible songwriting capabilities. Still active today, this album was originally released in tiny quantities back in 1967. Songs like 'Born To Lose,' 'Relativity Blues,' and many more. Kevin Kline (the actor) performs with the Vest Pocket Players on their lengthy improv rap."
Mule Musiq is very happy to welcome Danish romantic house music producer Kasper Bjorke. He has been releasing quality music from HFN Music, Compost, and Mirau, to name a few. Mule has known his music since After Forever and has really liked it. Kasper sent some music and the label liked the '80s inspired romantic synth pop house music. One of Mule's favorite new artists Bella Boo and Kasper's fav new artist Longhair joined the release as remixers.
Mule Musiq welcomes another fresh producer to its vast catalogue of music from all around. This time Andro Gogibedashvili aka Saphileaum. A deeper shade of soul, precisely fashioned, growing from different playgrounds of inspiration. Exploring Together, his debut album for Mule, navigates a merry-go-round of gentle driven rhythm zones. Fourth-world spheres, Balearic tropes, field recording zones, tropical downbeat, tribal percussions, trancing sounds, balafon hums, mallet airs, hooky house -- it's all there, circling the eavesdropper into a dreamland of melodic undercurrents. Exploring Together is vast. Multifunctional. Spiritual. Made for gatherings. Lost in music actions, only touched by the hand of rhythm and sound. His ten tracks are created for such flashes, wide spreading a musical narration of illuminating durability.
In Words is the first solo album by the Danish musician, composer, and visual artist Alexander Tillegreen. The album represents a series of varied electronic music pieces while also carrying examples of ongoing work with psychoacoustic phenomena. Composed partly of material taken from his artistic practice as an installation artist and his ongoing interdisciplinary artistic research into psychoacoustic phenomena, Tillegreen investigates subjective sonic perception and the negotiation of language. Particularly, these investigations are done through the use of the phantom word illusion, originally discovered by music psychologist Diana Deutsch. Tillegreen's unique sound works unfold like a kaleidoscope of phonetic mirrors which render possibilities to reflect upon the listener's own psychological and culturally situated linguistic embeddedness. Gender-distorted voice perception, speech and language borders are all challenged and thematized throughout Tillegreen's work. The polyrhythmic seriality of spatialized syllabic structures is accompanied by elements of heavy bass drops, high-frequency tensions, undulating synth lines, and hypnotic effects. Some of the many compositional potentials of the phantom word illusions are exercised and unfolded in selected tracks throughout the album. Other parts of the album represent more diverse approaches to abstract electronic music. In Words morphs soundscapes into glacial, spherical passages of ambient backdrops, while at other times emphasizes raw tectonic blocks of hyper-panning drones that erupt into high-velocity outlets of energetic, granular fields. Tillegreen is alternating between cyclical, minimalist, hypnotic approaches and complex, glitchy polyrhythmic melodic structures that shift and melt into evocative ambiences. The phantom words and the nature of Tillegreen's musical visions progressively demand more of the listener's attention and represent the artist's ongoing artistic work and scientific research into psychoacoustics and language. While In Words is a highly conceptual album, the musical bandwidth is extensive.
Hive Mind Records have worked with Honiunhoni to bring you a vinyl version of Jingul by Ustad Noor Bakhsh. The album contains six exclusive solo tracks unavailable anywhere else. This is the debut solo release of Benju maestro, Ustad Noor Bakhsh, from the Makran Coast of Balochistan. The album is named Jingul, after a bird that often frequents Noor's house, and whose songs inspired the last track on this release -- an original by Noor. The album was recorded live on location, over a memorable sunset on the Shadi Kaur creek, close to Noor's village, near Pasni, Balochistan. Noor plays an Electric Benju, amplified using an old pick up and Phillips amp that he found in a market in Karachi three decades ago. The Benju is said to have once been a Japanese children's toy called the Taishōgoto. At some point in the 20th century, it was modified and naturalized by Baloch musicians who made it in to a refined folk instrument for themselves. Balochistan straddles the space between modern day Pakistan and Iran but its music, particularly that of Makran, evokes the well documented migrations and seafaring; historical intimacies with Africa, Persia, and Arabia, via the greater Indian Ocean world. It is this world that Noor's music wanders through.
Arto Lindsay's 7 Types of Ambiguity - A Parade is a stereo mix of an original sound installation that was installed at ECAL/University of Arts and Design, Lausanne, Switzerland, in 2022 as part of a research project led by Thibault Walter and Stéphane Kropf called Phantom Power. The idea was simple, and yet the process and level of collaborative work implied was enormous: how to recreate a carnival parade -of the kind Arto had witnessed in the streets of Bahia in Brazil numerous times- inside a white cube and using only sound. How to replicate the complex intrications of those stories, heard or fantasized, the smaller blocs of musicians crossing the path of blasting sound systems mounted on trucks, those religious rhythms mingling with popular traditions, class and race struggle at street level « prime example of the proximity of sexuality and religion, of tradition and novelty and a place for true social innovation -- and the effect it all has on the bystanders that are completely part, or even become the subjects of the whole. Arto went to Salvador de Bahia with a narrative of a parade in his mind, and recorded excerpts in a terreiro, a temple of Afro-Brazilian religion, with four musicians, three of which he had previously worked with. Those mixed tracks were crafted into a sound sculpture directly in the room in Lausanne on a 27 channels immersive installation, adding layers of meaning within the room itself, hallucinations, weather patterns or places, like when the parade stops during a rain shower or gets so close to the ocean as to lose the sound of the percussions in waves. This composition was later remixed, the spiral of speakers on the floor of the room engraved on a vinyl, and the position of the listener defined for the experience of this record.
We Release Jazz announces the fourth Bruno Spoerri release in the WRWTFWW discography, this time focusing on the Swiss legend's unheard jazz catalogue. The pristine six-track album Musiques Légères (1976-1982) is available as a limited edition half speed mastered biovinyl LP housed in a heavy 350gsm sleeve with superb design by Nicolas Eigenheer and the classic WRJ obi. Swiss jazz and electronic music pioneer Bruno Spoerri unveils a treasure trove of never-before released songs in this rare archival collection recorded between 1976 and 1982 that includes collaborations with the fabled Radio Suisse Romande-backed music ensemble GIR (Groupe Instrumental Romand) which featured the crème de la crème of Helvetic forward thinking musicians with an international reputation. The super team of instrumentalists/composers represented Swiss national radio in endeavors that spanned a vast array of music genres such a jazz, pop, experimental music, or what they referred to as 'musiques légères' (light music), their very own brand of jazz and funk infused easy listening. One notable member of GIR was drummer extraordinaire Stuff Combe that We Release Jazz collectors will know from his Stuff Combe 5 + Percussion LP. Musique Légères (1976-1982) offers a marvelous blend of easy listening jazz, joyful synth improvisations, and soulful funk ballads, a testament to Bruno Spoerri's multifaceted talents and ability to approach various genres while keeping his very personal and very magical touch. Among the hidden gems on the carefully curated collection is the immensely catchy "Prince Karl," an undeniable hit that truly deserves to be heard. This is the fourth Bruno Spoerri release from WRWTFWW, following the synth heavy and galactic Voice of Taurus (WRWTFWW 014LP, 2017) and The Sound of the UFOs (WRWTFWW 015LP, 2017), and the compilation of unreleased experimental tracks Rare & Unreleased 1971-1998 (WRWTFWW 033LP, 2018). Musiques Légères (1976-1982) is pressed on biovinyl, a sustainable alternative to traditional vinyl. Biovinyl replaces petroleum in S-PVC by recycling used cooking oil or industrial waste gases, resulting in 100% CO savings in bio-based S-PVC production. Furthermore, it is 100% recyclable and reusable, embracing the circular economy ideology.
Recorded in an abandoned water tank in rural northwest Colorado and inspired by Muriel Rukeyser's circa-1935 poem of the same name, violinist Leslee Smucker explores the range and saturation of intense natural reverb on Breathing Landscape. The artist pushes her instrument to the limit -- by turns percussive, sweeping, and scraping -- and, on several tracks, utilizes her own voice as well, resulting in an album that combines breathtaking beauty and visceral texture. Leaning into the meditative quality being present in one moment can provide, this is music you can feel on your skin, calling out from our decomposing modernity into the indifferent sky above. Conjuring deep time but captured in one day, the album is simultaneously immediate and vaporous, primeval-sounding yet unapologetically modern. In what she describes as a "sauna of sound," Smucker "was transported by the reverberation to another realm. Birds and trucks passed outside, while the wind was an integral part to the sound making."
LP version. Geneva-based duo Bound By Endogamy delivers a heavy blend of rave, synth-punk, and industrial music. Shlomo Balexert and Kleio Thomaïdes are both prominent figures in the local squat and punk scene, having been involved in numerous projects over the past decade. Following several cassette releases and a remarkable debut 7'' on Lux Records, the band presents a self-titled album that combines raw, growling basslines, crisp analog rhythms, and passionate vocals ranging from breathy to fiercely cutting. On stage, the project consists of drums, a sampler, and vocals. Shlomo handles the drums alongside sharp synthesizers, while Kleio delivers powerful vocals reminiscent of a professional boxer. Expect a fusion of DAF and Kleenex with a hardcore edge.
Discrepant re-presents the vinyl edition of Lebanese trio Malayeen. Malayeen is the project of Lebanese musicians Raed Yassin (keyboards, turntables, and electronics), Charbel Haber (electric guitar and electronics) and Khaled Yassine (darbouka, percussion). Born from Yassin and Haber's love for the music of quintessential Egyptian guitarist Omar Khorshid, Malayeen disassembles and re-configures the work and style of the iconic guitarist innovative take on Arabic music. The final result makes for an original and unique update of Khorshid and belly dancing inspired songs from the past. Over the course of seven compositions, appropriately named after Khorshid and famous belly dancers from the Arabic diaspora, the three musicians' varied backgrounds and techniques collide and coalesce in an experimental yet magical fashion, not actually playing Khorshid's music, but inspiring themselves from the cult guitarist's genius to create something completely new, modern and unexpected. A unique LP featuring the combined talents by key players of the Lebanese avant-garde. Design by Studio Safar S.A.L.
Double LP version. Color vinyl. "Culled from three 1985 gigs in the UK during a transitional and transcendent time in the band's story, Sonic Youth's The Walls Have Ears appeared/disappeared as a 2LP set in 1986, not just a live album but an artful tapestry full of live experimentation with songs, between-song tape segues, darkness, humor and audio verité. It's now issued for the first time officially under the band's auspices."
"The '85 shows were the second time the band appeared on UK soil, Brits now getting juiced to the mythos of the emerging guitar-slinging American independent underground; an art/punk band from NYC sporting casual attitudes and tees sporting Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, and Prince made some good press copy on top of their bludgeoning stage appearance. Paul Smith of the newly-founded Blast First label acted as an overseas diplomatic envoy for Sonic Youth through their SST years as well as issuing their classic 1988 Daydream Nation outside the USA. However the Smith-produced 'bootleg' of their '85 UK gigs surfaced much to everyone's surprise, just before EVOL was to be released. It turned out to be a marker of the group's dissatisfaction that ultimately led to the release's deletion, and the band and Smith parting ways after Daydream. In this 2LP set brimming with primitive classics like 'The Burning Spear,' 'Death Valley 69,' and 'I'm Insane' (uncredited on sleeve), segues and live guitar changes ooze together threaded by Madonna tapes and vocal loops off the board (somewhat a necessity for distraction until the band had a full-fledged stage crew to prepare guitars). The first two sides of Walls are massive, cavernous, with newly-drafted drummer Steve Shelley. SY tear it up especially on one trash-fi excerpt of 'Blood On Brighton Beach' (actually 'Making The Nature Scene') from a legendary outdoor gig November 8th where [Thurston] Moore, [Kim] Gordon and [Lee] Ranaldo's guitars treble-blast dissonant shockwaves over the black-stoned beach of Quadrophenia fame. The record's second slab spotlights an April 1985 at London's Hammersmith Palais and was one of the final appearances live of Bob Bert on drums, again featuring some molten takes on 'Brother James,' 'Flower' (listed as 'The Word (E.V.O.L.)'), and others. This document remains an essential representation of some lean and mean years of the quartet's throttling march out into the world." --Brian Turner
DELLARGE
INRI (Industria Nacional Del Ruido Infinito) 2LP
A cross-cutting label exploring the boundaries between different disciplines based on deep listening and music research, Modern Obscure Music is set to release INRI (Industria Nacional Del Ruido Infinito), the new album from Dellarge. Inspired by the scenic beauty of his studio's surroundings at Lake Pátzcuaro in Michoacan, Mexico, Alejandro Barba, aka Dellarge, delves deep into the depths of his artistic consciousness to craft a spiritual album that encapsulates the essence of the place. INRI stands for Industria Nacional del Ruido Infinito (National Industry of Infinite Noise) and serves as a vessel for Dellarge's innermost self-expression and reflections on the potential of humanity. A multifaceted artist and veteran of the music industry for over two decades, his latest musical creation is an intimate and personal album and a departure from previous techno/EBM-orientated Dellarge releases. INRI offers a mesmerizing blend of ambient, futuristic, and industrial sounds that transport listeners into a realm of mysticism, futurism, and duality and stands as a testament to Dellarge's artistic growth and his ability to transcend boundaries, offering listeners an immersive experience that connects them to his world. Drawing inspiration from numerous sources, Dellarge found creative fuel in books such as El Arte de los Ruidos by Luigi Russolo, Manifiestos y Textos Futuristas by F.T. Marinetti, and science fiction classics including Congreso de FuturologÃa by Stanislaw Lem, Neuromancer by William Gibson, and Dune by Frank Herbert. Musically, he delved into the works of Coil, Michael Bundt, The Threshold Houseboys Choir, krautrock legends CAN and Popol Vuh, early Kraftwerk, Arthur Brown, Yello, Esquivel, The Residents, and Hector Lavoe for inspiration. When asked about the creative process behind the album, Dellarge revealed a disciplined routine that involved immersing himself in the sounds, focusing on minute details that connected with the vivid world he envisioned. Ethereal tracks such as "Viento Androide" and "Viaje al Sol" offer a glimpse of a hopeful future, while darker compositions such as "Corpus de Sangre" and "Toro de Falaris", explore the wickedness and compassion within humanity. Each piece in the album represents a unique sonic journey. Includes Silent Servant and Pedro Vian remixes. Blue, transparent 180 gram vinyl + 7"; includes poster.
After the not-quite-reissue of Prince of Parrot Shooters/The Aqueducts of Cannel Island (PCD 003LP, 2022), wide-eyed mystic and tireless searcher of the netherworld Spencer Clark returns to the Discrepant fold with Barbados Wild Horses under his Monopoly Child Star Searchers moniker. Recorded while Clark was living in the Canary Island's by Tupperware and Lagoss' Dani Tupper, Barbados Wild Horses brims with insular romanticism and escapist bliss, with sun-kissed synth-lines interwoven around his trademark hand percussion bouncy rhythms reflecting the scenery of the islands as a liberating utopia. With track titles taking an almost self-explanatory stance, the album starts with the crepuscular vibes of "Upper Romantico," a poetic meditation on the lovelorn potential of the fading sunlight, setting the tone for the rest of the tour. "Lava Tube Solos on Horseback," the first of two tracks featuring Sun Araw's Cameron Stallones, sees the latter's guitar noodles riding the cascading rhythms and digital choir harmonies while in "Neopreno Antiguo" he solos freely around a hypnotic synth line. Finishing off the escapade, "Nightcharcos Punta Brava" drifts in ethereal starlit contemplation, with the percussion taking a more backseat approach, setting into a steady pulse for Clark's gliding synth tapestries. Another piece of the fascinating puzzle Clark's been assembling for over two decades now, Barbados Wild Horses glimmers with a laid-back sensibility that's as unhinged as enveloping. Not an easy feat by any measure. Clark succeeds again.
In the 1970s, Robert Cahen turned to the burgeoning field of video art, where he became a pioneering artist. He was originally trained in musique concrète, his creative background, and joined the Groupe de Recherches Musicales in 1972. The pieces on this record were composed in the GRM studios between 1971 and 1974. They testify to a lively inspiration and imagination combined with a precocious formal mastery that already carries the seeds of later developments, which the artist cleverly and inventively deployed in the field of visual arts.
A discreet but essential figure in the field of musical creation, Horacio Vaggione has been crafting an ambitious, precise and highly significant body of work for over the last fifty years, coupled with a demanding research activity. This disc offers four purely electroacoustic pieces which illustrate, each in their own way, this singular and fascinating grammar developed by Horacio Vaggione, a complex but fertile grammar which establishes a very special relationship between structure and texture, between matter and formula, to create a fascinating musical space, made up of polyphonies and metamorphoses.
"Ten killer tracks spanning The Fall's career from 1979 to 2001. Pressed on limited edition white vinyl. The material featured on White Lightning encompasses the period between 1978 and 2001; just short of two-thirds of the group's four-decade existence. White Lightning is presented on white color vinyl including sleeve notes."
SHACK
Here's Tom With The Weather (Red Vinyl) LP
LP version. Red color vinyl. The Shack story is one of music's greatest legends. It incorporates hardship, bereavement and chaotic mis-adventure, but above all it tells the tale of beautiful music triumphing over trouble and tragedy. Here's Tom with The Weather boasts a majestic and fresh form. These are magical songs, psychedelic folk songs of the finest Head vintage. Sleepy-eyed, wistful and mystical, yet crafted with a cunning and acute dexterity beyond just about anybody you can think of. The two profoundly Liverpudlian brothers Mick and John Head have made several brilliant albums together, but none as quickly as Here's Tom, which was completed in seven weeks at Brynderwen Studios in North Wales along with drummer Iain Templeton (RIP), bassist Guy Rigby, and producer Jay Reynolds in 2003. In the '80s, the two brothers from the notorious Kensington estate in north Liverpool were singer and guitarist with The Pale Fountains, an effervescent pop group which imploded under the weight of two albums in 1986. The Heads returned in '88 as Shack and a debut album Zilch. In '97, they created a new group called The Strands and recorded the delicate, dreamy masterpiece The Magical World Of The Strands. They spent a long time making another classic HMS Fable, and then decided that next time they wouldn't take quite as long recording. Enter Here's Tom With The Weather. Showcasing John's slow, shy emergence as a songwriter to challenge his brother, toasting Mick's newest confirmation as the most unrecognised genius of his or any other generation. "The journey we've had together has been beautifully turbulent," laughs John. "But there's times when we glide and we're gliding forward now." Mick agrees. "Making this album has been frantic, chaos, carnage, intense: the normal way with us. But it doesn't sound like that. That's all that matters. The story is what it is. But so are the songs and so are the records. Because we're good." Nobody could disagree with that.
LP version. Trances, Jules Reidy's follow-up to the celebrated World in World (2022), takes place in between states, tracing a kind of restless movement in search of -- or is it away from? -- a center. The twelve tracks shift between fragment and epic, returning to familiar phrases between forays outward into uncertain expanses. Through its exploration of the cyclical movements of grief and emotional turbulence, Trances produces a sonic world as raw, absorbing, and surprising as anything Reidy has created to date. Trances' primary instrument is a custom hexaphonic electric guitar tuned in just intonation. Reidy's combination of fingerpicked phrases, open strums, and corrugated processing push on the grammar of guitar-driven experimentalism, locating expressive heft in open-ended harmonics and the odd angles formed by overlapping elements. Chords are slowed and stretched as if to examine their resonance, then overtaken by subterranean motion. The effect is that of oceanic depth, but the rippling that passes between the compositions' sedimentary layers often takes on a metallic edge. The addition of synthesizers, sampled 12-string guitar, field recordings, and half-submerged autotuned voice further denaturalize the compositions. Reidy's vocal interjections -- their particular linguistic content rendered inaccessible -- are based on counting and self-observational techniques for bringing oneself back into the present; at times Reidy's picking also assumes a mantra-like quality, though ultimately the flow of the composition subsumes both. There is a heavy sense of the strange throughout these songs, which bleed at their edges into a continuous, questioning whole. That Reidy's compositions here have a tendency to engulf the listener, like a wave or a squall, can be variously comforting and disorienting.
"I want to introduce this work Halos of Perception to you in the way Lisa [Lerkenfeldt] introduced me to it, through the sharing of experiences. Lisa and I met for a walk near South Yarra station to talk about this work, when inclement weather made it too wet to visit the tunnels. Moving almost seamlessly from a world of leisurewear, infinite milk alternatives and blaring neons to stretches of green by the water that brimmed with sounds and life, we saw a few people climbing the Burnley bouldering wall, butterflies suspended in the hot wind and lots of plants I wish I knew the names of. Overhead the cars rumbled like a ceaseless animal as we talked about hidden ecosystems, imagined spaces and networks of care. Stemming from a serendipitous encounter with an original Cave Clan member that led to many underground adventures, this work explores the worlds that exist outside of our perceptions... We paused on the walk to eat berries and talk about how The Caretaker creates transitory worlds with recorded sound, how this technology captures memory, and the exploratory pursuits of Pauline Oliveros' Deep Listening Band. These citations of memory and deep listening inform Lisa's use of analogue and classical instruments, playback artefacts and acoustic feedback in her own world-building. When speaking about Halos of Perception, she describes it as a fascination with timbre and acoustic artefacts. Ideas of networks and enmeshment are felt deeply in Lisa's compositions, motifs overlaid over each other evoking the image of many hands interlinking playfully, tenderly, softly. The way her compositions delve into refraction and echo makes me think about the tunnels and the way they splinter off into many possibilities. Manipulated textures reminiscent of the chalky, earthy, moss air that perfumes the tunnels' subterranean air... Realized in collaboration with hyperreal video artist Tristan Jalleh, Lisa's dream landscape melds waterfalls, leaks, flower graffiti, and hidden messages lit up by imagined light sources with existing subterranean networks. There's a real sense of wonder in this world she has built, how the city can reveal itself to you with some patience and care, how the city and its secrets can find its way into your dreams." --Panda Wong (August, 2022)
"Delicate and beautiful music from the combined forced of the recently ubiquitous East-Coast psychedelic combo Elkhorn and Pelt's Mike Gangloff, laying down two epic raga-like performances captured on a 2022 collaborative tour. Gangloff -- fresh from the triumph of his VHF solo fiddle album Evening Measures -- has found a distinct instrumental voice, blending drone music and trad influences in way that really advances the tradition into new areas. 'East Dauphin Suite' builds patiently on the interlocking acoustic guitars of the Elkhorn duo, with Gangloff's hardanger fiddle carrying the melody over the top. The sound is a neat riff on American primitive, with just enough Appalachian-style touches via Gangloff's careful glissandos cutting through the Vuh-type chords and patterns to create a unique and supremely melodic hybrid. 'Summerfield Raga' takes things further out, with more microtonal variation in the embroidery, with assertive bowing and an increased energy level. Pressed in Chicago and housed in an amazing jacket by Jake Blanchard."
Born in 1933, with a career spanning over 65 years, the American composer Philip Corner has explored the most diverse artistic and musical expressions: as a pianist and trombonist, he performed historic and contemporary authors such as Ives, Cage, Cacioppo, Hellerman (in 1963 he also took part in the first integral performance of Vexations by Satie curated by Cage in New York). As a composer and performer, he was a member of Fluxus (defining with his Piano Activities the most iconic performance of the movement, albeit in the "over the top" rendition by Maciunas, Williams, Vostell, Paik, Higgins, Patterson, and Knowles in Wiesbaden in 1962); but also (between 1962 and 1965) of Judson Dance Theatre, composing music for dance and theatre pieces by Lucinda Childs, Yvonne Rainer, Living Theatre, etc. In 1963 he co-founded the Tone Roads Chamber Ensemble with Malcolm Goldstein and James Tenney; in 1972, with Julie Winter, the ensemble Sounds out of Silent Spaces (at whose performances took part Annea Lockwood, Alison Knowles, Ruth Anderson, and Tom Johnson); and in 1975, with Barbara Benary and Daniel Goode, the Gamelan Son of Lion. He experimented with both "action music" and "meditative music," electronic or concrete montages, proto-plunderphonic collages, graphic scores, verbal philosophical/poetic instructions, contemporary gamelans, extreme minimalism (in 1977 in New York his Elementals lasted 123 uninterrupted hours on a single note, played in turn by guests spanning from Beth Anderson, to Cage to Paik); but he also composed for string quartets, chamber music ensembles, and orchestras. As a visual artist he created countless assemblages, calligraphies, collages, drawings, paintings and objects made of various materials, showcased in museums and collections around the world. Corner has been living in Italy since 1992, and he presented several projects at AngelicA (amongst which an unprecedented trio with Joan La Barbara and Alvin Curran paying homage to Cage), but perhaps the most peculiar one has been Chorus at the Corner: A Joyfull Noise, a commission entirely dedicated to his compositions for choir. A concert made possible by the availability of two "resident" choirs at the festival.
In May 2022, at the age of 88, Christian Wolff performed once again at AngelicA, nine years after the monographic concerts the festival had dedicated to him in 2013, which was documented on the CD album Angelica Music, (ANGELICA 030CD, 2020). Among the greatest and most singular living composers, for the opening of the thirty-second edition of the festival he presented a world-exclusive program, alongside two of his long-time collaborators, the percussionist Robyn Schulkowsky and the drummer Joey Baron, and an Angelica orchestrA of seven electric guitars, made up for the occasion around students and teachers of the Conservatory "G.B. Martini" of Bologna led by Walter Zanetti. Spanning over 58 years of the composer's production, the program offered on May 7th revolved around Sveglia, a new composition for seven electric guitars commissioned as a world premiere by the festival. Renowned up to that point as a pianist, it was apparently Wolff's interest for several rock bands of the time who pushed him to buy an electric guitar in the mid-'60s, and the first of his compositions to incorporate this instrument were the three Electric Spring of 1966-67. In the 2000s he also composed three pieces for solo guitar (two of which were recorded by Sergio Sorrentino, guest of Angelica orchestrA at this time), but he had never composed for an ensemble of guitars only, as on this occasion. Largely completely notated, but with a series of compositional features left open (i.e. no specification of tempi, dynamics and spacing of musical elements), Sveglia also includes short quotations from other compositions (Bach's Brandenburg Concertos n. 3 and 6, and a motet by Gombert), "that need not necessarily be noticed." The other piece composed specifically for the concert in Bologna (and for one held later in New York, at the space for experimental music from which it took its title) is Roulette, performed by Wolff with Schulkowsky and Baron.
I-I
I-I (Uchihashi Kazuhisa, Y. Tatsuhisa, S.Mitsuhisa) CD
Modern Obscure Music introduces to the world to the innovative sounds of the Japanese improvisational music trio I-I. Composed of three exceptionally talented musicians, Kazuhisa Uchihashi (guitar, daxophone, pedals), Mitsuhisa Sakaguchi (synthesizers, pedals) and Tatsuhisa Yamamoto (percussion). This dynamic ensemble has embarked on a remarkable musical journey with their homonymous debut album. With this raw and unfiltered approach to music, I-I promises a unique listening experience. The album's overall sound and style can be described as completely improvised, devoid of any predetermined theme or content. Instead, the musicians rely on their deep understanding of each other's musicality to create spontaneous and captivating harmonies. This organic approach results in a tension-filled sound that challenges traditional norms. In their own words, the musicians stated that there are no particular themes or messages they seek to convey through the songs. Their creative process is one of pure exploration, allowing their musical intuition to guide them. I-I is the trio's debut album, marking the beginning of their musical journey as a collective. Despite the complexities of spontaneous creation, the trio revealed that they faced no significant challenges during the album's production, making the creative process smooth and seamless. The trio hopes that listeners will fully immerse themselves in I-I by sitting down in front of their audio systems and playing it as loudly as possible. Their goal is to provide a unique and unforgettable musical experience that transcends traditional boundaries.
A bona fide legend from the ghettos of western Kingston, Gregory Isaacs was a true reggae original whose voice is one of the greatest of the idiom. His ballads made him a favorite with the ladies, but Gregory addressed social issues with equal conviction, and tales of rude boy life were sung firsthand. Maximum Respect is a digital killer from the early 1990s, cut for the pioneering sound system owner Count Shelley, the durable rhythms provided by Steelie and Clevie and the Firehouse Crew. With love ballads, reality tunes and songs praising the dancehall, Gregory covers all the bases and more. This is a must for all true Gregory fans!
Will Long is an American artist. He curates and manages the label Two Acorns, as well as producing music since 2005, in various forms under his own name for Terre Thaemiltz's Comatonse Recordings, and as Celer for his own label and many others. Here he joins the perfectly aligned Scissor and Thread label of Francis Harris and Anthony Collins for the Too Much EP. "Too Much" is a deep cut from the same grooves as the Long Trax series," says Will Long, "a further entry for the downtrodden, the overwhelmed, and those that think change has come. A midnight meditation of intentional simplicity, strained, and on that night train." The title track is lush, loose deep jam that combines wistful, warm pads with an insistent groove and choice samples. Francis Harris steps up to provide one of his signature reforms, adding a little more percussion and drive to the track, while DJ Aakmael (Greg Stewart) offers up another version that takes the track somehow even deeper, adding some additional instrumentation and raw sounds.
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