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LP
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FTR 605LP
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$22.00
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RELEASE DATE: 10/8/2021
"Here is the first Lazy Magnet LP since 2019's Mahogany. And it's a beautiful instrumental album which has known many iterations since it was first conceived. Lazy Magnet has long been the home recording project of Jeremy Harris. Over the course of its long arc the actual music has taken many forms -- this time he has chosen to dedicate an entire body of work on a single instrument: the acoustic piano. The initial idea for Make It Fun Again dates to 2007, when Harris and his buddy Robert Parker (depicted on the cover) were screwing around recording anti-melodies on a cheap monophonic keyboard. This goof was too good to let go of, and Harris revisited his tape of the 'sessions' as he traveled. He taught himself how to notate the music and agonized for 13 years over how it might be presented. Harris says, 'The style that I finally decided on was a recreation of a time in Amiens, France while I was on tour in 2009 where I was in an old barn in the middle of the night playing a fucked-up piano while it rained heavily outside. I was gently playing the themes and slowly piecing together chords based on the made-up scales that the toy keyboard had struggled to play back...' Fast forward to the summer of 2020... 'I opened up Logic Pro and started composing the music within its midi programming environment. It took a couple months for me to finally get all ten pieces to where they felt finished, but it ended up being well beyond my ability to sight read or play. I sent the automatically generated score to my friend Sakiko Mori. She told me it was all incorrect and impossible to read. I went back and basically taught myself how to properly write scores and corrected the pieces so that she could read and perform them. 'We booked time at machines with magnets and she recorded all of it in about four hours.' The result is these ten instrumental pieces, played on piano by Mori. To my ear the feel of the program is very much in the vein of early 20th Century French pianists -- Satie, Debussy, Poulenc -- stately, melodically complex and simple at the same time, possessing many depths. The title track is a bit different -- seemingly an example of extended pedal treatment and reel to reel manipulation. Regardless, the music on Make It Fun Again is of a piece, and a deeply pleasurable one. Almost like a massive return to a previously unknown form. Gotta dig that. Eh?" --Byron Coley, 2021
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FTR 600LP
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$22.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 10/1/2021
"It is with great pleasure we announce the vinylization of the fourth (of five) albums released during their lifetime by this superb Providence-based acid-folk duo, who existed from 1996 to 2003. The Iditarod was primarily the vehicle for Carin Wagner and Jeffrey Alexander, who created a spare UK-damaged folk sound with intimate psychedelic touches and fully contemporary atmospherics, although they often had friends along for the ride. On this album (edited down from the original CD), guest musicians are Matt Everett (from Alec Redfearn's band, Eyesores), Jesse Poe (from Tanakh), and Margie Wienk (of Fern Knight and Eyesores). Together, they create a lovely haunted forest of sounds. Although the ensemble is small, certain passages (like the traditional 'Let No Man Steal Your Thyme') have a jazzy lilt that evokes Pentangle, despite the fact the arrangement is quite stark. Somehow they manage to capture the essence of a full band despite their actual size. On the opposite end of things is a track like 'Cycle Circle,' with backwards guitars, dolorous bells chiming in the distance, and a vocal from Carin that sounds like spirit projection. In between there are a host of excellent surprises. The album was recorded in Richmond, VA in 2001. It was originally issued on CD by the Bluesanct label, and came out a little bit before the whole New Weird America thing took off. This was back when there were a lot of people trying out different approaches to unlocking the secrets of the acid folk tradition, but before there was a name for what they were doing, or any kind of real scene to chronicle. In that sense, The Iditarod were a bit ahead of their time. But we won't hold that against them. I have lost track of what Carin is up to these days, but Jeffery has kept busy, with bands like Dire Wolves and solo projects like Meditations for Beowulf (FTR 470LP). It's very nice to revisit some of his back pages. The blend the Iditarod offers sounds as great as ever, and augurs a cool future that was just beginning. Tally ho!" --Byron Coley, 2021 Edition of 250.
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FTR 535LP
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$22.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 9/24/2021
"The sixth LP by NYC trio, Rhyton, is as heavy as an Egyptian space-funeral. The vibe of this masterful album is fully embodied by its gorgeous Robert Beatty cover art, which looks like a Mati Klarwein reinterpretation of Tony Scott's '68 Verve LP, Music for Yoga Meditation. Rhyton was formed in 2011 by Dave Shuford and fellow travelers, with a notion to balance the songwriterly stance of D. Charles Speer with something more improvisation based. As Shuford says, 'Originally we took certain international rock icons, mainly European and Japanese touchstones, to be points of departure. In general, and as the drummer changed, some of the influences stateside came more to the fore. Improvisation, though still prevalent, began to take a secondary role in the creative method. The studio has continually increased its position as a focused tool for the group, dating back to the Kykeon album and expanding again on this latest batch. Studio -- structure -- rupture -- living asunder.' Pharaonic Crosstalk was recorded at Gary's Electric studio in Greenpoint in bits and pieces, when it wasn't being used otherwise. The process was begun about four years ago, and really only got finished when the Plague shut things down. The sound this time has evolved as Shuford suggests. Drummer Rob Smith shows some of the lessons he must have learned while studying with Bernard Purdie, lending even the zoniest sections a groove-oid bottom that won't stop. And this does not infer boogie tendencies, so much as a solid new approach to fundamentals. Shuford's multivalent string aktion, combined with Jimmy SeiTang's wonderful bass/keyboard dualism and Smith's provocative percolation make this an album of crazy hybridized stoned space-funk-psych-fusion while still manifesting experimental highlights. It is a heady goddamn brew. And never more so than when Al Carlson (who engineered the session) is guesting on sax or the great Tennessee roots pianist, Hans Chew, shows up on clavinet (who knew)! Pharaonic Crosstalk is one of the sweetest bubbles of expressed space-time we've heard in a good long while. Super hard to pin down (like so many truly great records), its contours are a glorious mind-fuck for listeners of all ages." --Byron Coley, 2021 Edition of 400.
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LP
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FTR 258LP
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$22.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 9/17/2021
"Here is the second volume of protean solo improvisations recorded by Loren Connors in his artist's garret in New Haven, Connecticut. Like the first volume, it was committed to tape and pressed to vinyl in 1979. Never having seen a copy of this record, and having pressed it before we discovered a master cassette exists, this is as good a transfer as can be had for the nonce. Loren's chair creaks like rusty crow and the amount of random tapping and thumping during the original session just about drove Jim O'Rourke and Jeremy Lemos crazy when they were working on it. But they persisted, and we all owe them a debt of gratitude. Although most people cannot help themselves from believing all nine volumes of this series are of a piece, the second volume sounds quite different from its predecessor. For one thing, it is truly solo. There's no sign of Kath Bloom's voice or recorder to be found. The guitar attack is much more active here, as is the vocalizing. Loren gives off a vibe most easily compared to Bud Powell's manner of vocally emphasizing his piano runs. This style of accompaniment has much less of a blues-counterpoint to it, serving more as way to amplify the strange melodic arc of the guitar as it moves through dark space. Some of the instrumental phrases and tag-lines here are surprisingly similar to elements of Eugene Chadbourne's Parachute-era solo improvisations, although Loren is usually reluctant to describe his efforts in terms of overt avant gardism. He was, however, cavorting and collaborating during this period with known avant gardists, so perhaps we are best left to draw our own aesthetic conclusions from just listening. Whatever it is he was doing in the dark of Daggett Street, I think we can agree it was incredible. And if you can't dig it, well... have a nice life." --Byron Coley, 2021
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FTR 592LP
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$22.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 9/10/2021
"Fantastic studio recording, caught by Taylor Hales at Chicago's legendary Electrical Audio, documenting the first full meeting of all the players on this album. Mako Sica, at this point in time revolve around the core duo of Przemyslaw Krys Drazek (electric trumpet, mandolin, electric guitar) and Brent Fuscaldo (vocals, electric bass, harmonica, thumb piano, gong, percussion). For this session, these two are joined once again by Chicago's always-revelatory percussionist, Hamid Drake, with whom they have previously recorded Ronda (FTR 409LP) and Balancing Tear (FTR 513LP). In addition, Ourania features the upright bass and shamisen of Tasu Aoki (Drake's longtime partner in Fred Anderson's trio). Also included in the roster is Thymme Jones, the leader of Chicago's epic Cheer-Accident (among many other roles), and a dab hand at everything from balloon to grand piano. The basic idea for the album was to continue building on Mako Sica's recorded collaborations with Drake, and to do so in as spontaneous as setting as possible. It would be hard to say they didn't succeed like crazy. From a two-hour session, the quintet emerged with 90 minutes of finished material, selections of which are presented on Ourania (a name stemming from Greek mythology, attached to the Muse who was the Goddess of Astronomy). The three long tracks on the album are all as stunning as they are different. 'Rain' begins with strings and keys and Brent's vocals accented by Hamid's drums. Thymme comes in with an outlined piano presence recalling Necks' Chris Abrams, and the burble of instrumental interplay makes me think of Josh Abrams' Natural Information Society intersecting with the Sun City Girls at their most melodious. Have twangy guitar will travel, overlaid with Miles-via-Stanko trumpet clouds. 'Gasping for Breath' is a term taken from Janusz Anderman's book Poland Under Black Light. It refers to the Solidarity movement but also is an apt reference to the current problems America faces and the tragic loss of George Floyd. Tatsu's shamisen starts things with a plucked groove that expands quickly. Layers of vocals play words against non-words, while the pulse thickens. topped with slinky bass/trumpet dialogue whose bent and fried notes hint at don cherry's most worldly smears. 'Ourania (edit)' is a short teaser from a much longer piece. Beginning with vocals start that may or may not be words, everything comes together like a snowball creating an avalanche. Stately piano figures, sizzling percussion, guitar skeletons, sloughs of trumpet and all else, combine into a slowly whirling ghost tornado that disappears into you head. And that's it -- Ourania. As fresh a slap of freedom as you'll feel this year. Dig it." --Byron Coley, 2021
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LP
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FTR 533LP
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$22.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 8/27/2021
"This is the third LP by the duo comprised of Greg Dalton (aka Gary War) and Rob 'Sunburned' Thomas, formerly known as Dalthom, but actually named whatever the pair feel like calling it. Recorded shortly before the disastrous election of 2016, it is partially filled with the darkness, paranoia and creeping dread that filled that time period. But there is also a hefty amount of the druggy, electronic ecstasis for which the duo is known (no matter their handle.) Gary and Rob met when the former was playing guitar for Bobb Trimble in the late oughts. They recorded a (still unreleased) album of 'frenzied electronics' in 2012. They followed that with the mellower (and way stonier) Voizes & Ragui, which was eventually issued as a limited art edition in 2017 (Feeding Tube/Poon Village), and may someday find wider release. Their next LP, Frame Slip (FTR 233LP) had an even wider sonic palette (with a couple guest musicians), displaying a thorough, druggy appreciation of rare wobble-psych records. Both of these protean efforts are killers, and should be listened to deeply and often. The same is definitely true of this session. Dalthan 3, is even bloopier and dizzier than its antecedents. The main extra person here is theremin-and-whatnot wizard Kris Thompson (Gary's bandmate from his Trimble days), There are also some extra keys on one track by Jesse Gallagher (ex-Apollo Sunshine). But Rob and Gary are generally responsible for the madness going on here -- what a better writer might call 'a field day for the heat.' Keyboards, strings, tubs, puckeroos, voices... all of these things were recorded in unexpected ways and places (via computers, handhelds, etc.) then welded together like pennies found inside a stack of rare private press LPs Paul Majors stole from a dollar bin in Kentucky. There are more layers to the sound here than anyone could untangle in a year of Taco Tuesdays. Parts of some tracks may start to sound familiar for a while, perhaps employ a riff or rhythm that hearkens back to something you can't quite remember. But before your brain can get a handle on any of it, everything has shifted. And what sounded ominous and lurking in a dark psych way, is now more like watching a stoned lumberjack step into a heretofore unnoticed pile of cow shit at the Cummington Fair. Pretty hilarious. In a smelly way. It is truly difficult to describe exactly what Dalthon/Dalthan do exactly, but man, it is a goddamn sweet and disruptive spin. And the deeper you get, the weirder everything is. No turn left unstoned. Y'know?" --Byron Coley, 2021
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FTR 594LP
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$22.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 8/20/2021
"Absolute collage hell from the bowels of several known earths. We have worked with the horrible Orchid Spangiafora (aka Rod Carew) before. Back in 2013 we were tricked into doing an expanded 2LP reissue of Rod's 1979 Twin/Tone album, Flee Past's Ape Elf. A mistake we swore we'd never make again. Glands are a different story, being a two-headed beast comprised of Allie Caulfied (of Just Bananas magazine) and Bobbi Manring (former leader of both Poop World and The Giant Scissors). Them we never worked with before. Things became confusing when we hosted a live show with one of Caulfield's other units, Pant Sniff & Dodo, who we thought were actually pretty cool. We suggested to Allie that maybe we should 'do something' together, and he eventually sent us this album, with a note that read, 'Done all by me! How is it?' Well, we were kinda confused by it, but rather than admit that, we told him it was 'cool, man.' He just giggled. Then we got the art, and the credits, and realized we'd been hoodwinked by the goon. Or goons, rather. But posing as a single goon, if you get my drift. So here we are, stuck again with a record we cannot make heads or tails of. Will we never learn? Apparently not. Hard for us to tell (and none of them will 'fess up) as to who did what. So I paid for a guy to go to Carew's house, ring the bell, hypnotize him with a lucky rock and ask him a few vague questions. He was not able to get any answers, so he ended up peeking through windows and snooping. From overheard conversations, he picked up the notion that the pieces were put together by the active participation of both Carew and Caulfield. Manring mostly played some guitar that was sucked up into the compositions as source material. Thus, she is the real hero of the project. She made actual music, while the other two jalopsters merely diddled with 'found sounds' and 'lifted tracks.' That they actually managed to turn these threads of unease into anything is quite remarkable. But clearly it was Bobbi's input that gave them a sort of starting point. Without her cunning strums, this would be just another 'Dime Operation' (slang for a cheap haircut). Anyway, when you listen to this record, remember -- we're as stumped as you are! The rhythms of the loops makes Ted want to dance, but they just make me hungry. So I'm gonna go get a box of donut holes. You want anything?" --Byron Coley, 2021
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FTR 370EP
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"Samuel 'Sam' Gas Can is often viewed as Massachusetts' answer to the question: Daniel Johnston or Jad Fair? Like those two vaunted talents, 'Sam' has a dab hand with creating instantly memorable pop hooks that manage to glow with outside energy even as they rub your (figurative) shoulders. On this single, Sam joins up with some old running mates from Worcester to create an off-kilter roots-pop exploration of the connections between Sesame Street's Ernest and Fecal Matter's Kurtis. Both are presented as excellent neighbors, and this message is driven home with exceedingly peppy arrangements that feature harmony vocals, tooting saxophone and a rather out-of-time musical focus. Sounds kinda crazy, I know, but the tunes are as addictive as watching a sped-up home movie of Jonathan Richman with his hair greased up, jumping into a swimming pool full of shaving cream. There's just something about it that mesmerizes." --Byron Coley, 2018
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LP
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FTR 618LP
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"Gorgeous debut LP by a new Belgian duo made up of Annelies Monseré and Steve Marreyt. Steve has been active in a lot of places. I believe I first ran into his work as a member of the folk-psych collective, Silvester Anfang, but he has had his hands in a lot of pots (as it were). Annelies has a long recording history as well, with many fine and floating sides out there to prove it. The pair have known each other for a good long while. Steve appears on a couple of Annelies' albums, and they previously worked together in a band called Luster. But Distels is a project different from any of their others. Both Annelies and Steve have long had an abiding interest in traditional music of Britain, and Distels was created as a vehicle for them to explore it. The sessions happened in fits and starts over the past few years, but the individual pieces hang together beautifully as an album. Five of the tunes are traditional British ballads, the other is one authored in that style by Peter Bellamy (founder of the Young Tradition, and a key figure in the UK folk revival of the '60s). And the approach Distels take to the songs is breath-taking. Blended vocals, haunted keyboard tones, slowly-struck guitar chords, and stately drones create a densely inviting environment for these ancient songs of love, loss and longing. If you aren't swept away by this music's power, I dare say you have neither ears nor heart. Reportedly, Distels are already working on some new material. Let's hope a follow-up comes together sooner rather than later. I'm not getting any younger and neither are you." --Byron Coley, 2021
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LP
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FTR 604LP
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$22.00
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RELEASE DATE: 7/30/2021
"Footings is the long-running/rocking outgrowth of Peterborough NH's great ruralist duo, Redwing Blackbird. Initially formed as a trio in 2012 by Eric Gagne on guitar and vocals, Footings' sound embraces a sort of inner light derived from folk music, but surrounds it with a variety of rockist tropes. This rock action can take many forms, especially on this new album, which features their most expanded/expansive line-up yet. Original trio member Elisabeth Fuchsia (frequent Pile collaborator) is on viola and long-time collusionist Candace Clement provides guitar, synth and vocals. Jordan Holtz (from Rick Rude) supplies vocals. Ben Rogers (Eric's bandmate from Death to Tyrants) adds drums where needed. Will Killingsworth (Ampere/Bucket Full of Teeth) adds pedals and tambourine as required. The latter pair were also responsible for engineering the album, but their musical additions are sonically notable. Gagne's songs and deep vocals, often the core of the band's operation, combine the literary qualities of a heavy reader with the observational data of a poet. In this, Footings might occasionally be mistaken for one of Will Oldham's multifarious projects. But the band has a distinct way of scrambling their eggs, and that was never clearer than it is here. Full songs are interspersed with fragmentary shards in a way that reminds me of how Michael Hurley faded out 'Rat Face' after its intro, on Hi Fi Snock Uptown. I mean, 'Sleeping' sounds tantalizingly close to a Neil Young penned out-take from Deja Vu for the 35 seconds it runs. But that's all there is! This outré editing process works quite well. By allowing themselves to create slivers of textural similarity to Sonic Youth ('Ordinary Night'), Crazy Horse ('Sleeping'), and even Heldon ('Wouldn't It Be Something'), Footings display wide possibilities while maintaining their primary focus on creating a kind of avant-garde American roots music with the brash complexity of Yo La Tengo and the stately depth of Wilco. Annihilation is the best Footings record to hit the planet yet. And that is saying something." --Byron Coley, 2021
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Cassette
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FTR 376CS
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"Back in 2012 Mark Cunningham of Mars and Blood Quartet, who also records as a solo artist was back in Western Mass, where he once had some roots. Mark came by the store to hang, but he was itching to do something, so a jam was suggested. Once the shop was closed, Mark brought his trumpet back to the store. To meet him, Brett Robinson stood up his bass, Jen Gelineau lifted her violin and Ted Lee entered his percussion zone. At that time these last three were mostly gigging with Egg Eggs, but they didn't let that stop them from playing a light and fine improv set. On the first side, Mark's trumpet really sets the pace with long, loosely Baker-fried lines, and everyone hits a fine and abstract groove. On the flip, Jen's violin carries a bit more of the tonal weight with Mark dropping back into the shadows to lay strange accents onto her saw lines, while Ted and Brett both pop like knuckle monkeys. Now that's what I call music. Pretty dang bracing!" --Byron Coley, 2021
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FTR 550LP
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"In one sense all collaborations and recordings thereof have a certain surprise factor. Any time two or more people get together to create something from nothing, the exact contours of the resulting experiment are likely to contain at least a few unknown elements. This notion is especially true when the people collaborating are coming from not obviously congruent places. And (at least to me) this makes Monocot a project that was guaranteed to toss a curve. Monocot is an improvising instrumental duo comprised of drummer Jayson Gerycz and guitarist Rosali Middleman. Jayson' work I know mostly from the Cleveland rock band, Cloud Nothings, and cool sessions with Matthew J Rolin and Tony Pasquarosa. Rosali's records on Siltbreeze and Scissor Tail are great, but they seemed more focused on songs more than anything else. They both do have great guitar on them, but that didn't seem like it was her main thing. Anyway, not having any idea what to expect, I was blown away by the music on Direction We Know. Jayson and Rosali met in Cleveland in 2018 when she was playing with Purling Hiss. They ran into each other a few more times and talked about the idea of doing some studio jamming. A session finally happened in the Fall of 2019 when Jayson was again in Philly, and as far as I know this sole date is the full accounting of Monocot's existence thus far. In this duo Rosali pulls out all the stops, and plays in a way she has only hinted at on earlier records. Flowing sheets of both psych and free-form rippery careen all over the place. Some parts remind me of Matt Valentine at his outer pinnacle, but the intensely lateral spread of Jayson's percussion has a way of making the roar seem a lot more contained and sensical than it otherwise might. And although it doesn't exactly sound like anything they've actually done, the tone here makes me remember bits I've heard by the Corsano/Chasny Duo that really pushed all my buttons. This Monocot session ran through night and into the morning. When it was over neither of the musicians remembered just what it was that they'd played. Which makes sense. Everything just happened without plans or rules to hem things in. Freedom can be a messy business, but when it's good it's truly liberating. And Direction We Know is real damn good. Let us hope Monocot reconnoiter sooner rather than later. Luckily for now, we have this album to bide the time. So do it." --Byron Coley, 2021
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FTR 378CS
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"Magic Tuber Stringband is Durham NC-based duo, made up of Evan Morgan and Courtney Werner. Their primary instruments are guitar and fiddle, but they are not married to these particular axes and follow their instincts when they feel other instruments are called for. Playing music with its bite rooted in the Piedmont tradition, Magic Tuber mostly write their own material, while exploring and expanding dynamics of string interaction that are as old as the hills. Treading a line that begins in equal parts of blues and Anglo-Scottish lineage, they introduce different motific elements at points. 'Teo's Farewell' has a central portion with a very Middle Eastern feel. 'Wood Thrush Song' is a modernist collage of field recordings and layered violin tones. But mostly, Evan's playing (and occasional singing) mixes traditional and American Primitive approaches with casual surety, and Courtney does the same. As on their first album, Wayward Airs for Earthbound Vagrants (Blue Hole MC), Magic Tuber also display a somewhat Fahey-esque hand with song titles. The first three on this one are 'Quarry Ate the Mountain,' 'Waltz for Things with Wings,' and 'Devil on a Root Monster.' But as good as those titles are, the tunes are better. The vibe reminds me of a pared-down version of Jack Rose's work with the Black Twig Pickers, in the way it manages to keep one foot in the tradition without sounding at all hidebound. Magic Tuber Stringband is a great (and dare I say, joyous) sophomore effort by a most wonderful band. I hope to hear more from them soon, and so will you." -Byron Coley, 2021
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LP
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FTR 619LP
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"Reissue of the very limited debut LP by this Massachusetts-based musician. We first ran into Kass's Good Cry label when she put out Jordan Perry's eponymous debut, which we promptly reissued (FTR 376LP). And we are well pleased to be able to do the same for The Language Shadow -- a most excellent album by all known metrics. Kass (who works with Meg Remy's U.S. Girls) sings and plays guitar, dulcimer and small instrument-style percussion. Recorded at Montreal's Hotel2Tango, her music has the clean, hard bite of a Northern Spy apple. Some of the songs are performed as elegant solos, but there are additional instrumental touches by several Canadian musicians from the Toronto and Montreal scenes. But even when there are a few players piling up, the arrangements maintain a spare quality keeping the focus tight on Kass's voice, words and strings. The additional keys, cello and electric guitar are all used for highlighting and support. The album's overall sound is hard to peg with any precision. The predominant female folk styles these days follow either the English or Laurel Canyon models, but The Language Shadow kneels before neither of these altars. The melodies are simple but rich, balancing sweetness against the lyrics, which can be quite dark. The same poise is displayed on the covers Kass chooses -- the Kinks' 'Strangers' (a Dave Davies masterpiece from Lola) and Jennifer Castle's 'Nature' (a beautiful Cohen-esque song from her Pink City LP) -- creating a very sumptuous whole, that should knock everyone's socks off. Nice one, Kass." --Byron Coley, 2021
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FTR 556LP
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"While we wait for Aaron Rosenblum to finish up his album of field recordings, we sometimes ask him about various tapes he has recorded of other artists. These, he tends to provide more quickly. Thus, here is the first of what we hope to be a series of live shows by various artists, documented by Mr. Aaron. The artist in Pat Gubler, aka PG Six. The venue is The Tavern at Hampshire College. The date is March 30, 2001. This was still an early point in Pat's solo journey, but the aesthetic documented here appears to be fully formed, and his playing is great on both harp and guitar. The set is typical of what he was doing around the time his first album came out -- a commingling of covers and originals, most with traditional Anglo flavor, all possessing an easy intimacy. The audience was small in the Tavern that night -- it is not a large room -- but you can feel how every listener present is hanging on every note, every breath. They are, as Professor Leary might say, 'tuned in.' And this focus is well rewarded. The more closely you listen to the words and fingers of PG Six, the deeper you sink into the music. His work is not the ideal background noise for strip poker parties. It's glorious darkness and light can only be fully appreciated via active listening. Pat reaches out for rings of karma not to toss them into your face, but to tuck them close to his heart. We catch glimpses of their illumination only in passing. So even though some form of radiance is often the central motif of his music, it is not always easily apprehended. I suppose this legerdemain is the deference the material deserves. Whatever it is Pat does, it sounds pretty damn great here. On a night just over two decades past. Our thanks to Aaron for his visionary switch flicking! And to you, for understanding it's import." --Byron Coley, 2021
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FTR 611LP
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"Jonny Kosmo, the Los Angeles (via New England) registered therapist and home recordist is a card-carrying expert in the shape of your desire and the horizon of meanings your dreams catalyze. In his briefcase lives his weapons grade kaleidoscope, a 1972 Mayfair recorder, and a neatly folded pair of pants that fits seamlessly to the shape of your longing. His armchair prescriptions for the zeitgeist hover ever present on his most recent LP Pastry which hits you Like 69 cc of heady nostalgia for a time he never lived in. The album is like if David Lynch's Dr Jacobi and Stevie Wonder teamed up to make a new brand of funky golden shovels to 'dig yourself out of the shit' with (So of course Kosmo has an affection for feeding tubes own brand of immaculately silent shudders). But don't mistake Kosmos penchant for the gooey gone past as a hauntological hypnagogia or any other mishmash of intellectual twaddle. Kosmo isn't Mark Fisher, because he is what Fisher could never be... alive and well, thriving amidst the world of fear, confusion, and pain -- yet another well cloned representative of the hidden love that lives at the bottom of the stories we tell ourselves. Kosmo achieves this effect through his buoyant optimism that benevolently anthropomorphized the street art and billboard thematic which now populate the hipper regions of Los Angeles. His songs break that unholy ground and become (yet again) the seed for the building of the next world. Here for your consideration, is a new bedtime story sung in the daylight and danced in the moonlight. A siren song for today's hipsters to pool together their silver spoons, use their illusions, and become tomorrow's lovers. If he lands this trick, it's undeniable that in the future the word Kosmo will become ubiquitous with the way a googly eye can make a face out of any old thing. Sure, the uninitiated will think they are getting an innocent confection, but it's really laced with love potion number 10. So, go get yours before it comes and gets you, got me?!" --Dr. Omeed Goodarzi
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Cassette
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FTR 380CS
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"How happy we are to present the debut cassette by this new, scrambled Massachusetts trio. The Impenitents line-up includes Salem's always wonderful Andrea Pensado, whose previous releases for the label are the Without Knowing Why LP (FTR 203LP) and Los Condenados' Yeppers! LP (FTR 126LP), both of which display different aspects of berserk invention mixed with pure charm. On Lip Therapy she is in charge of vocals and some electronics. This is Erik Browns's Feeding Tube debut, although he has shared releases with folks like Belltone Suicide, Noise Nomads, and Limbs Bin while recording as Wish for Skin, Scald Hymn or one of his other various operational noise-handles. His job here involves electronics and scrap metal. Andy Kivela makes his FTR debut here as well, although his work with outfits like Graph, 23 Ensemble, and McCoy Tyner Overdrive has made him in a buzz in our ears for a while now. He handles drums for The Impenitents. The four pieces on Lip Therapy are explosive slugs of roast pork. Andrea's brilliantly destroyed vocals create the orgone haze on top, Andy's drums cover the bottom with lumpy goodness, and Erik's blastoid sonic distress inflates the middle bladder like creamy custard larded with fish hooks. The Impenitents manage to create a collage whirlwind that functions more as free rock spurt than many other similar 'noise' projects. Like Wolf Eyes, their compositions maintain a structural integrity suggesting they are playing music that actually functions in future-rockist terms. The more you listen to this stuff, the more you can begin to understand and appreciate the craft of its construction. So, I suggest you get started right now. 'Cause the full immersion flash of perception might take a while. Good lip health to you!" --Byron Coley, 2021
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2LP
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FTR 586LP
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Sold out, repressed in 2022 on white vinyl... ""... The Ohio-based guitarist's artistic leaps in recent years are rivaled only by those of Daniel Bachman, another once-precocious player formerly in the John Fahey / Jack Rose mold who has over the years transcended the idiom to create his own singular, deeply personal music. Rolin's latest LP, the double album The Dreaming Bridge, makes similar strides. For many practitioners of this style, the first and perhaps most challenging feat is to escape the gargantuan shadow of Fahey. Some do this by adding other instruments or field recordings to their DADGAD ruminations; some opt to play electric. Of course, Fahey did all of those things, too. Better still to have not been directly influenced by Fahey in the first place: Rolin's initial embrace of the acoustic guitar was inspired not by Fahey himself, but rather by Fahey-influenced guitarists like polymath Jim O'Rourke and trickster prodigy Ryley Walker. This vicarious influence is exemplified by Rolin's distinctive, at times irreverent approach to guitar soli. While the influence of Walker's nimble 12-string probing is evident on tunes like Rolin's impressionistic '10:30 AM,' and while the guitarist's patiently unfolding, contemplative 'Weeping Willow' indeed recalls O'Rourke's masterpiece Happy Days, Rolin remains very much his own man, with his own idiosyncratic approach. This is clear from the first notes of The Dreaming Bridge's opening track 'Pinhole,' which introduces Rolin's affinity for shimmering, almost choral, reverb, the effect doubling as a compositional element. Similarly, on the overtone-rich 'Drown,' Rolin's virtuosic playing is practically a duet with its own echo, an effect deployed not to obscure, but to buoy. This deep attention to atmosphere serves a crucial function on The Dreaming Bridge, which sparkles throughout with a strident, Zen-like focus Then there are the tunes themselves. Terrific tunes! Like William Tyler -- another possible influence -- Rolin, despite largely working from the necessarily limited palette of instrumental solo guitar music, thinks like a songwriter. This more traditional approach can be heard on tracks like 'Moonlight' and 'Backyard Blues' which follow a compositional logic complete with verses and choruses. Rolin performs these compositions beautifully; as a player he is dexterous and dynamic, with a light and agile touch reminiscent of early Will Ackerman or Alex De Grassi. Album highlight 'Hallucinations' features saxophonist Patrick Shiroishi's keening, double tracked reed work, which at times simulates the sound of two violins playing cat and mouse between the stereo channels..." --James Toth Also features Entourage, Shadowfax, and Jen Powers.
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LP
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FTR 580LP
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"Originally issued as a CDR on Matt's own Child of Microtones label, the stone madness of this session was so overwhelming we begged him to let us do it on vinyl. Luckily for one and all, he agreed. Recorded here and there, with a variety of different ensembles. Galactic Ooze is one of the most fully warped missives from Planet MV, and that is saying something. While there is a certain continuity between the layered threads of MV's deeply processed vocals and amazing stunned-noodle guitar figurines, the music here is always in flux. There's lots of electronic jiggering which brings to mind the squeedle elements of Blows Against the Empire (still the apex of the Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra's discography), but there's none of the dogmatic claptrap that sometimes derails that album's liberationist thrust. The music on Galactic Ooze is a sweet sideways slip into deep space. Amidst tightly forested jams, there are many beams of sound that act like sun rays, illuminating the process from within, with skeletal frameworks outlined in pure scorch. You can catch whiffs of everything from the roll of Soon Over Babaluma-era Can to the thunder-echo of Yabby You's Beware It Dub at various points in the program, but the insanely sweet angularity of the guitar lines is trademark MV throughout, no matter how wildly the deck shifts at times. And for all their cosmic detailing, the songs are as abundantly human as always, addressing the eternal mysteries of life (whether lived in the woods of on the street). And asking the kinds of questions that require something more than a snappy answer. Galactic Ooze is a beautiful mutational meditation on where we exist inside our own personal cosmos. And its secrets unfold at their own pace, layer by layer by layer. As a great man once said, 'walking on water wasn't built in a day.' You can that that to the bank." --Byron Coley, 2021
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LP
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FTR 153-3LP
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Blue vinyl. "Owen Maercks's Teenage Sex Therapist LP is one of the forgotten twisted pop masterpieces of the Twentieth Century. Owen had been in Monster Island with Henry Kaiser, who proposed he do a solo album or his songs. Henry had moved back west by this time, so Owen went out and recorded this album there. Henry produced, and added amazing horn parts by Jon Oswald, Larry Ochs, and John Gruntfest. In 1978, the album was mixed, pressed, and distributed exclusively to radio stations, record labels, and the like, in hopes of getting Owen signed. The music didn't fit any extant pigeonhole, however, so no deal was in the offing. About the only note of its passing was made by an A&R guy at Elektra, who swiped the arrangement (and lyric rearrangement) of 'Little Black Egg' (originally by The Nightcrawlers) for use by his protégées, The Cars. Well, fuck them. Teenage Sex Therapist is ripe with jaw-drop moves. Flashes of Eno, Beefheart, Lou Reed, The Bonzos, and various of Owen's other obsessions fight each other for air time. And everyone goes away a winner. If this one doesn't make your teeth wiggle, you need a new jaw." --Byron Coley, 2014
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LP
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FTR 560LP
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"There have been some very cool guitar duo LPs over the years -- Bert Jansch & John Renbourn's Bert & John, Danny Kalb & Stefan Grossman's Crosscurrents, Jody Harris & Robert Quine's Escape, Charalambides' Joy Shapes, Bill Orcutt & Michael Morley's Electric Guitar Duets, any comp of Kansas Joe McCoy & Memphis Minnie, etc. -- but there has never been one quite like Avoidance Language. It is a wild-eyed classic from start to finish. Ostensibly a meeting between two guitarists lurking around the Boston area (although Rob has since moved to Japan), Joseph's mastery of other instruments (harmonium and banjo) affords the pair a wider range of sounds than some of their precedents. But they also eschew vocals here, so that kinda balances things out. At least in my book. The album's four tracks display brilliance and variety in spades. 'Feet of Clay and a Crown of Stars' is a two guitar conversation, with notes initially slurring and sliding against each other, then spreading out like waves of sound hitting a sandy beach. It's like something you might hear inside your head if John Fahey dunked you in one of the hot tubs at Big Sur. On 'Stutter Study' Allred uses his harmonium to soften the rhythmically tangled briar patch improvs by Noyes. 'A Valid Subspecies' pairs Noyes' guitar with Allred's provocatively original banjo inventions. Rob's playing on this one mixes ruminative downstrokes with aggressive single string highlighting in a style quite different from his trademark whirlwindery. Finally, on the title track, we are shown another intricate and deftly woven two guitar tapestry. It makes me imagine what Robbie Basho might have done in response to 'The Hall of Mirrors in the Palace at Versailles' from John Cale & Terry Riley's Church of Anthrax album. What can I say, but 'Wow.' Avoidance Language is one for the ages. Don't miss your chance to get ahead of its curve." --Byron Coley, 2021
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LP
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FTR 542LP
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"We were introduced to the work of Brooklyn polymath Curtis Godino by Gary Panter. We asked Gary to recommend someone with light show expertise, and he said Curtis was the guy. That was true. We also learned that Curtis was an ace musician, which has resulted in two prior FTR releases. The first was The Cave LP (FTR 417LP, 2019) by Worthless. The second was the Corners and Their Places cassette by Nothing To Semble. Both of these releases were form-busting masterworks of outsider/prog crossover with hallucinogenic overtones. And even mightier is this new LP, Alien Nation, which sounds to us like a lost '67 Mothers album, recorded at Apostolic Studios while the band was in NYC for their six-month run at the Garrick Theater. Admittedly there's nowhere near as much guitar as you'd find on an actual Mothers record, so imagine what the band might have done on a session where Frank was sick and things were led being by Don Preston and Ian Underwood in full freak mode. The music is wonderfully cartoony electronic wheezing with all sorts of other instruments (and/or mock instruments) blended into the mix. And the vocals don't sound like Frank either, but just imagine if John Kilgore had left open microphones strewn all over the studio for various people to spoot into when they wanted. It's kinda like that. But even more fucked up. With hints of Bonzos-style pop-malfunction surfacing here and there like toy robot blimps. Really wonderful stuff. If I could be any recreational drug I could name, I'd like to think I'd sound just like this." --Byron Coley, 2021
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LP
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FTR 536LP
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"What's round on the ends and high in the middle? Why, the new LP by those proud Buckeyes, Sex Tide, of course. Ohio is the first album they've recorded with a full quartet line-up. Bassist Phillip Park and saxophonist Ryan Mcauley join the core duo (drummer/vocalist Aurelie Celine and guitarist Chris Corbin) to create a new fat-ass sound that continually conjures up visions of the 1970 Stooges. As with the previous Sex Tide LPs we've done -- Possession Sessions (FTR 325LP, 2017) and Flash Fuck / Vernacular Splatter (FTR 436LP, 2019) -- a lot of the vibes here are generated by Aurelie's relentless pounding and reckless vocals, along with Chris's truly unhinged guitar. With Park's bass holding things down in an entirely new way, and Mcauley's alto wailing for the ghost of Steve Mackay, Celine and Corbin are allowed the freedom to go even further out than usual. And this is a challenge neither of them can pass up. The new width of Sex Tide's sonic contextualism is evident from the start. 'Everything That Happens in the Dark' is outlined by blasted saxophone lines and riven down the middle by a bass line as thick as the trunk of a Buckeye (the state tree of Ohio.) And if the start of 'State Medical Board' doesn't make you think of a Funhouse-era remake of 'Real Cool Time,' you better sit down and have a cold compress. Once your bean is chill, you might well be able to appreciate the wildly crunching ebb and flow of the four tunes on side one. It's a massive event. And the flip is even more amazing, if you ask me. Over a bottom resembling the one created when the Cramps broke open the bones of Bo Diddley and Link Wray, things start with a freaked-out blues wail, before lurching into a something like a distended re-imagination of 8-Eyed Spy's version of Nancy Sinatra's 'Lightning's Girl.' The music just goes on riffing and wiggling from there, and the whole side flows together like a hot lava sundae from the volcano of your choice. And 'experts' may tell you the last volcanic activity in Ohio was back in the Devonian Period, but I suggest you fuck both them and the horse they rode in on. Ohio is nothing if not a large scale and very molten happening." --Byron Coley
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LP
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FTR 544LP
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"Fantastic new LP by this Brooklyn quintet, most of whom are deeply involved in the legendary Sunview Luncheonette scene. The roots of Jantar lie in a nameless experimental duo formed by Chad Laird and Tianna Kennedy in 2005 or so, but this duo has evolved into a working band with two distinct creative strategies. One of their aims in make 'experimental easy listening music,' which involves working angles that are similar to film music, although perhaps with a bit of Stereolab poured on top. Their other mode is more overtly rockoid, and that was the intent when they recorded Sempronia in the summer of 2017. While the sounds here do have moments of cinematic heft, the main thrust has a sheen that reminds me of updated examples of Canterbury classicism (specifically Soft Machine, Hatfield & Gong) as well a certain sophisticated element of the West Coast underground of the early '80s (Monitor, Romans, Fibinaccis, etc.) Without any kind of the nostalgic twaddle that haunts most contemporary stabs in the Canterbury direction, Jantar's music uses elements of the sound to create new kinds of rock. Meaning it's informed by such bands rather than indebted to their four-eyed legacy. Great keyboard tones, rhythm clumps, vocals and all else. The music on Sempronia is a wonderful convergence of a lot disparate threads that manage to meld together better than anyone could dream. As sweet and smart as any pie. Honest." --Byron Coley, 2021
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FTR 373CS
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"Feeding Tube is excited to announce the first new release in a good long while by Michael R. Bernstein, one of the central figures in the sub-underground scene of the late '90s onward. Back when he was still based in NYC, Bernstein played and recorded extensively with Double Leopards and Religious Knives, and also ran the important Heavy Tapes imprint. After that he relocated to the DC area, eventually opening the excellent HR Records (one greater DC's best stores). Sometime in the last year, Mike decided to start making some music and passed along a few files. This cassette, subtitled Meditations and Realizations for Five Voice, is a documentation of these new experiments. The structures of the five pieces are quite different, but they're all assembled in similar ways, using sequencers to create overlaid patterns of notes, riffing on the discoveries of the first generation of 'minimalist' (so-called) composers. In the course of my audio travels, I hear the work of many artists who are trying to create their own unique response to the music of Reich, Young et al., but Bernstein really fucking nails it. The subtleties of his temporal and melodic shifts are amazing and hypnotic. His attention to the pace at which these changes happen is also indicative of a different level of rhythmic sophistication than is displayed by most of his contemporaries. Slower Learn is a lesson in how much potential this sort of material still harbors. Nice to have you back, Bernstein!" --Byron Coley, 2021.
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