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viewing 1 To 25 of 38 items
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VHF 151LP
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"Second in a series of three records of Library Music miniatures from composer and multi-instrumentalist Daniel O'Sullivan (Æthenor, Ulver, This Is Not This Heat, etc.) following 2020's Electric Māyā. For heads, the term 'Library Music' in 2021 might evoke dodgy Italian gray market LPs and crate-diggers hunting for 'funky breaks' -- but London's venerable KPM Music is working with groundbreakers like O'Sullivan to open up new avenues for composers to experiment with. Fourth Density's fifteen tracks include several beguiling instrumental beauties, including the Ashra-like 'Astral Survivor' and the drifty 'Faster Than Light.' Mixed in with the instrumental are almost-pop gems like the hypnotic 'Orgone Attenuation' and 'Head In The Belfry,' both with guest vocals from Astrud Steeholder. Like the other volumes, this is in a beautiful jacket designed by O'Sullivan and Turner Prizenominee Mark Titchner and pressed on aesthetically complimentary blue vinyl."
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VHF 154LP
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"Remarkable debut album by new Cosmic-Appalachian string band, birthed from the same Virginia firmament that has brought forth Pelt, Jack Rose, Black Twig Pickers, and Spiral Joy Band. Led by Mike Gangloff's droning fiddle and Matt Peyton's fingerpicked guitar, Eight Point Star mines the modal traditions of both old-time Appalachia and far-out drone music to produce beautiful tunes that are equal parts memorable and psychedelic. Side A starts with the gentle guitar and fiddle duet of 'Winchester's Dream' before segueing into the loping 'Waiting on the Band,' where the subliminal pulse of Tim Thornton's upright bass animates the music until the lengthy lockgroove repetition of 'The Interloper.' Closing the side, 'Flowerthrower' and 'Mount-Calvary Peacock' have a vibe reminiscent of Popol Vuh's mid-70s masterpieces, combining sawing fiddle and melodic guitar with simple and haunting chord structures. Side B is bookended by two country-blues influenced numbers, with Peyton's boisterous vocal and guitar and Isak Howell's harp leading the upbeat 'Brand New Shirt' and the elegiac 'Weeping Cherry Cry.' In between the two vocal features are a segued mini-epic of moods, including an expanded group lineup collapsing midway through 'A Water Panther Speaks' into an eerie soundscape of singing bowls and distant gong sounds as dark as the night in remotest Virginia."
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VHF 153LP
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"Following a series of records with Thrill Jockey (including the sensational Seasonal Hire with Steve Gunn), the Black Twig Pickers return to the VHF mothership to continue their charming and original take on old time and Appalachian-inspired string band sounds. Together since 2001, and a continuous presence in the music's true home of Southwest Virginia, the Twigs represent the actively working evolution of the traditions -- learning songs from other locals, playing dances at the Floyd Country Store, etc -- without retroartifice or nostalgia. The ragged-but-right performances and recording (and Sally Ann Morgan's perfect cover design) sit at the ideal intersection of DIY/'underground' and local string-sound values. On Friend's Peace, the band travels a range of styles, from the lovely harmony on the trad-classic 'Moonshiner' to the racing fiddle/guitar/banjo on the 'Money Musk' medley. Mixed in with the traditional songs are several perfectly-placed original tunes, including Mike Gangloff's keening 'Cara's Waltz' and Isak Howell's solo guitar spotlight on 'Barnswallow'."
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VHF 150LP
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"First in a series of three records of library music miniatures from composer and multi-instrumentalist Daniel O'Sullivan (Æthenor, Ulver, This is Not This Heat, etc). For heads, the term 'library music' in 2020 might evoke dodgy Italian gray market LPs and crate diggers hunting for 'funky breaks' -- but London's venerable KPM Music is working with groundbreakers like O'Sullivan to open up new avenues for composers to experiment. Electric Māyā includes eighteen gems, beautifully arranged and recorded specifically for the challenge of the short form. These are fully realized tunes, not just clips from the middle of some jam to be used on late night TV. The obvious touchstones here are Eno's On Land and Music For Films, but O'Sullivcan's touch on multiple instruments and knack for melody extend the music far beyond mere atmospherics. There are plenty of drifty segments, each rendered fully realized -- a timely reminder that a well-made drone or bit of ambience can set its spell in two or three minutes rather than thirty. In a beautiful jacket designed by O'Sullivan and Turner Prizenominee Mark Titchner."
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LP+4CD
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VHF 148LP
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"27th Anniversary set for the multi-dimensional midland screw, led by Phil Todd and Melanie O'Dubhslaine. Nearly six hours of cosmic, psychedelic, mind-boggling sounds, featuring a newly recorded LP plus four max-length CDs curated by AshNav connoisseurs Rob Hayler, Henry Rollins, Pete Coward, and Neil Campbell. The CDs are drawn from the band's massive back catalog of mostly small run / private releases, covering activity dating back to 1994. Mining a deep well of thousand-yard stare psychedelia, Ashtray Navigations possess of one of the most exciting outré music catalogs of the contemporary era, matching the classics from any era in originality and straight-up bonkers fun. This epic release includes a full range of hypnotic jams, including sequencer-led cosmic workouts, drifty ambience, and a heavy dose of Phil Todd's ripping, laser guitar leads. The gatefold LP also includes pithy liner notes from Matt Valentine, Henry Rollins, Jon Dale, and more." "Phil. Well I am glad you're finally back from your place in Monaco and getting to work. The pictures of you with the polo mallet and the horses you sent were impressive, sure but when you sell yourself as an artist type and then are seen cavorting with those over tanned Euro trustfunders, it is alienating to your audience. You are, however, the only person I have ever met who has actually cavorted and that's why you will always be a mid-level god to me." --Henry Rollins
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VHF 149LP
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"Mysterious and minimal instrumental album by Richard Youngs, dreamt at home and recorded quickly in Glasgow's Green Door Studio. Centered on a single piano chord and bare snare strikes, Youngs builds a haunting atmosphere in four episodes, featuring his guitar, organ, harmonica, and voice. The reductive and hypnotic approach here recalls his early classics like Advent and Festival. Another essential work from the prolific and truly unique musician. Creator of nearly one hundred albums, Richard Youngs somehow continues to find ways to surprise listeners. Even in these dark, dark ages where everyone knows everything, Youngs finds new creative ways -- recording albums of accessible 'rock' and folk music for the overground Glass and O Genesis labels, playing high-concept disco in the critically acclaimed AMOR; and releasing an extensive and bewildering series of albums where he plays all instruments with his feet!"
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VHF 076LP
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"VHF presents the first time on vinyl for Pearls From The River, the all acoustic epics album from the 'classic' Pelt trio lineup of Jack Rose, Mike Gangloff, and Patrick Best. Recorded in a single March 2003 session in Virginia by Mikel Dimmick, this was a superb distillation of their interests at the time (both alone and together -- Rose's first solo records, the emergence of the Black Twigs as a busy working band, etc). 'Up the North Fork' is a trio for banjo, baritone banjo, and cello -- after the snakey bowed introduction, the fast thwacking of the banjos and forcefully strummed cello take over and whip up a storm. The other two tracks are lengthy ragas (one in C, one in D) with the virtuoso modal guitar of Rose front and center. The title track features Rose on twelve-string, dueling with Mike Gangloff on esraj. Best's thick, sonorous double-bass bowing anchors the duet between the lightning thrumming/plucking of Rose's guitar and Gangloff's arcing, sharply bowed half-time melody. 'Road To Catawba' has Rose on six-string, with Gangloff moving to tamboura. Best's bass is again the foundation, with whistling overtones rising from his bow over the low drone. Liner notes by Byron Coley. 'Join Pelt in celebrating the ecstatic joy that results from refusing to accept the alleged primacy of shit-culture. It does not exist if we will not believe in it. And we must refuse it on all levels always. The proof of its surrender is at hand. Yr hand. Right now, motherfucker!' --Byron Coley"
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VHF 147LP
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"Debut collaboration between these like-minded English underground titans, perfectly mixing the long-form pop eccentricities of Grumbling Fur with the free electric sound of Astral Social Club to produce four epic and memorable tracks. The music is dense and layered, with hidden hooks, haunting vocals, unidentifiable electronic shuddering, delicate ambience, etc. Challenging but completely accessible and beautiful stuff. After a brief vocal declaration of purpose, 'Back To The Egg' rides a motorik pulse ala Harmonia or Kraftwerk for ten hypnotic minutes. 'Three Years Apart' pulses gently in a burbling cloud, reminding that along with crafting song gems, Grumbling Fur has collaborated with noted avant-composer/performer Charlemagne Palestine. 'Ozone Antifreeze Intelligence' layers electronics over a haunting piano and vocal melody, framed by subliminal fuzz guitar. 'Toejam Boxdrum' closes the album with an uproarious polyrhythm hidden by more layers of soft-focus electro-fizz, gradually giving way to thick bass riffs and tremelo'd interjections."
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VHF 146LP
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"Debut album by the New Zealand duo of Bruce Russell (Dead C, Handful Of Dust, etc) and Luke Wood. Visceral Realists is a high-concept commentary on the state of vinyl, analog recording, music culture, art, etc. A 45-rpm bullet of short bursts of free electric sound, the music here is tactile and rough but not 'noise music.' Russell and Wood play over loops of scratchy records, with their guitars and electronics surging to get over the wall. Russell's guitar sound from his vintage transistor amp and anti-style is instantly recognizable from countless classic Dead C sides, but the tracks are more painterly than recent DC epics -- these are celebratory vignettes of thoughts -- singles, if you will. Originally made as an unfindable edition of twenty by Wood's Ilam Press label to accompany an exhibit of NZ lathe-cut records, this new edition is beautifully packaged in a debossed and letterpress printed sleeve designed by Wood and printed by Stumptown in Portland. Two color risographs printed by Wood in NZ are tipped onto the jacket, and an additional two inserts provide revelatory notes by Russell and glam shots of the instruments that made the sounds. Also includes download slip."
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VHF 143LP
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"Wingtip Sloat's slashing and arty post-punk sounds weirdly contemporary these days, so what better news than to have their first new music in almost twenty years! Purge And Swell is a 12-inch 45 RPM mini LP with ten new tracks, and is accompanied by a 76-minute bonus CD Lost Decade with thirty-one additional tracks. The 12-inch includes plenty of the trebly guitar blare and low-fi charm immediately familiar from the group's classic early '90s singles, backstopping winning and memorable tunes like 'Stars Bailed Out' and 'Gizzard Jett.' The bonus CD includes bric-a-brac from the Sloat rehearsal room, with found poetry, perfect ninety-second rockers (the DC-specific 'Cruisin' The Ellipse'), confusing instrumental detours, and winsome covers of Eno, Dylan, Wire, Belle & Sebastian and more."
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2LP
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VHF 145LP
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"First ever reissue and first time on vinyl for this unique Flying Saucer Attack live album, expanded with additional material and a new side four mix from Jim O'Rourke. Produced in collaboration with Dave Pearce / FSA and Bruce Russell (compiler of the original CD release for his Corpus Hermeticum label), featuring new artwork by Bruce Russell as well. While rightly known for the folk-influenced songs and spacey instrumentals of their proper albums, the briefly active live version of FSA unexpectedly delivered a blistering wave of electric sound. Recorded at various shows in 1994, In Search Of Spaces heaves with long passages of feedback guitar racket, broken up by sections of surging rock music. The live band focused almost exclusively on visceral, trebly guitar noise-- which, while always a key element in their sound, was greeted by audiences with total mystification (and often disapproval). Following a few brief attempts to settle a lineup and play songs from their records, Dave Pearce / FSA abandoned live performance altogether, leaving behind this album (and the barely available P. A. Blues CDR) as the sole document of his in-person delivery. Originally compiled and released in 1996, this reissue adds several minutes of music back to the original program that had been edited out by FSA for being 'too rock.' For side four, Jim O'Rourke revisited the original 1994 live tapes and has made a spooky and brooding new mix of music exclusive to this release."
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VHF 144LP
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"The debut release by The Slowest Lift (Sophie Cooper and Julian Bradley) presents a new chapter in the long-running tradition of radical English music duos. Originally formed via a commission from the Supernormal Festival, Cooper (an accomplished solo performer and collaborator) and Bradley (from frequent VHF delinquents Vibracathedral Orchestra) play a kind of gentle post-industrial psychedelia, with Cooper's lovely vocals floating over a collage of live and electronic performances. The songs are a blend of straightforward performance and eccentric bricolage, with rude electronic interjections sitting comfortably alongside delicate guitar and keyboard melodies. Zoviet France-like low-fi atmospherics compete with Cooper's voice for air on tracks like 'Crystal Fracture' and 'Hi From The Skyline Swim,' while the duo's surprising cover of Duran Duran's 'The Chauffeur' deep on side two sneaks in perfectly, a mini-pop music drama reimagined as pure hallucination."
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VHF 011LP
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"First-ever US vinyl of the debut album by Bristol's Flying Saucer Attack, and first vinyl edition of any kind since 1993! This edition of the album is produced in full collaboration with FSA/Dave Pearce. Aka Rural Psychedelia, Flying Saucer Attack's first album was released in 1993 after a couple of instantly sold-out singles. Released at the height of the shoegaze boom, the album is a blend of memorable fuzzed out songs and far-out instrumental doodles, sidestepping the rock bombast of many contemporaries in favor of a home-made aesthetic. FSA's blend of razor-edged static, softly sung melody, and echoing atmospherics builds a dour beauty that sustains itself over the course of the entire program. 'My Dreaming Hill,' 'Wish,' and 'The Season Is Ours' are couched in fuzz and whispery reverb, but are beautiful and accessible tunes, able to stand on their own in any context. 'Popol Vuh 1' and 'Popol Vuh 2' are straight up tributes to the now much better known German masters, steeped in the hushed atmosphere of the best Vuh records (if not exactly the sound)."
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VHF 092LP
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2016 repress. LP version. "Fourth full-length from Jack, an inspired mix of styles and sounds that brings his in-person mastery down to LP/CD scale. Kensington Blues is Jack's most diverse outing by far, with straight ragtime, heavy 12-string, and that sweet, sweet Weissenborn lap guitar all checking in. Honed during endless touring in 2004, the repertoire here is delivered with maximum authority in a series of first-take performances recorded in early 2005. 'Cathedral et Chartres' and 'Calais to Dover' are dense, brooding 12 string numbers, recalling the key tracks on 2004's Raag Manifestos CD. 'Calais' features a sequence of right hand picking furious enough to evoke a dream state ala Charlemagne Palestine's Strumming Music. 'Rappahanock River Rag' and 'Flirtin' With the Undertaker' are pure syncopated ragtime, while 'Kensington Blues' offers an almost regal take on the intersection of Anglo and American trad. The epic 'Now That I'm A Man Full Grown' was the signature piece of many of 2004's live shows, a display of mind-boggling slide invention that straddles the line of east and west ala 'Yaman Blues' from the Opium Musick LP. In something of a surprise inclusion, Jack's take on Fahey's 'Sunflower River Blues' (long a staple of Pelt and J.R. gigs but never included on a record) is subtle and expressive, with a wonderful rise and fall that perfectly accentuates Fahey's beautiful melody."
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VHF 142LP
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Includes download code. "Part of a collaboration with Jack Rose's estate and Three Lobed Records to restore all of his LPs to print, VHF presents new vinyl editions of the celebrated guitarist's first three solo albums, newly cut by John Golden Mastering from the original source material. Originally issued on LP by Eclipse Records between 2002-04, these releases chart an eclectic, more experimental approach left behind as his technique and compositions became more refined and deliberate on later works like Kensington Blues. Recorded and originally released in 2003, Opium Musick is an eclectic collection with pieces for 12-string (the percussive and dark "Black Pearls"), 6-string, and lap guitar. The lovely raga-ish "Yaman Blues" features Mike Gangloff (Pelt, Black Twig Pickers) on tanpura, and echoes the extended modal work on Pelt's contemporaneous Pearls From The River. The near-ragtime of "Linden Ave Stomp" showcases Glenn Jones on his vintage Gibson in a jumping duet with Rose's lap steel. "Linden Ave" charted a path that Rose would determinedly pursue -- short ragtime and old-time influenced pieces (originals and classics), with all phrasing worked out to a perfectionist standard. The lovely "Mountaintop Lamento" was memorably used in Catherine Pancake's film about coal mining in Appalachia, Black Diamonds: Mountaintop Removal and the Fight for Coalfield Justice."
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VHF 085LP
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Gatefold sleeve. Includes download code. "Part of a collaboration with Jack Rose's estate and Three Lobed Records to restore all of his LPs to print, VHF presents new vinyl editions of the celebrated guitarist's first three solo albums, newly cut by John Golden Mastering from the original source material. Originally issued on LP by Eclipse Records between 2002-04, these releases chart an eclectic, more experimental approach left behind as his technique and compositions became more refined and deliberate on later works like Kensington Blues. Originally compiled from a variety of sources as a limited-edition CD to sell on tour in 2004 (released by VHF, later released on vinyl by Eclipse), Raag Manifestos presents much of Rose's rawest and most experimental music, cutting across various acoustic styles, but with a much more jagged and aggressive attack than later music. "Black Pearls from the River" and "Hart Crane's Old Boyfriends" are dense, serious assaults on the 12-string, with the intensity of the latter enhanced by Ian Nagoski's roaring electronic backdrop. With subtle tabla accompaniment by Eric Carbonara, "Crossing The Great Waters" is another epic modal journey in the style of Pelt's "Road To Catawba" and Rose's own "Red Horse." The traditional "Blessed Be the Name of the Lord" finishes off the LP on a calming note."
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VHF 141LP
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Includes download code. "Part of a collaboration with Jack Rose's estate and Three Lobed Records to restore all of his LPs to print, VHF presents new vinyl editions of the celebrated guitarist's first three solo albums, newly cut by John Golden Mastering from the original source material. Originally issued on LP by Eclipse Records between 2002-04, these releases chart an eclectic, more experimental approach left behind as his technique and compositions became more refined and deliberate on later works like Kensington Blues. Rose's 2002 solo debut Red Horse, White Mule was a bit of an outlier in the underground gestalt at the time, coming just before the wave of releases from the new generation of Takoma- / Fahey-inspired players. Strictly a solo affair, Red Horse balances the epic, side-long raga of "Red Horse" against a second side of shorter pieces, including the ragged slide style of "The Colonel's Blues." The compositions and performances incorporate the new and the classic with a rough-hewn charm."
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VHF 140CD
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"Hazel is the fifth record from Æthenor, the group of eclectic travelers that includes Stephen O'Malley (SunnO))), KTL), Daniel O'Sullivan (Ulver, This is Not This Heat, Grumbling Fur, etc.), Kristoffer Rygg (Ulver), and Steve Noble (Brötzmann Trio, N.E.W.) Together they bring their considerable pedigrees into play with unexpected and original results. Contradicting expectations of a massive blow-out of sound, everyone plays with remarkable, effective restraint. Atmospheric and layered, this latest release features bits and pieces of identifiable rock-moves peeking out from under a thick blanket of hard-to-identify drift. Based on live recordings made on a lengthy tour of Italy in 2010, Hazel has been extensively edited and supplemented, but without losing the elemental sound of a group playing live together. Though there's plenty of weird ambient sound to be heard, this isn't a sound- effects/'pedalboard' record. Like the previous En Form for Bla, Noble's drums anchor the music with spare and considered playing, sometimes lashing out with abstract punctuation, and other times laying out a Can-like groove. O'Malley's guitar is also restrained, providing a bed for O'Sullivan's constantly morphing Rhodes, synths and electronic effects. Kristoffer Rygg contributes a rousing vocal incantation to 'Ermanna' and peppers the mix with ghostly modular details. Æthenor's catalog continues to be not like anything else out there right now. Sleeve designed by Stephen O'Malley."
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VHF 140LP
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LP version. Includes download code. "Hazel is the fifth record from Æthenor, the group of eclectic travelers that includes Stephen O'Malley (SunnO))), KTL), Daniel O'Sullivan (Ulver, This is Not This Heat, Grumbling Fur, etc.), Kristoffer Rygg (Ulver), and Steve Noble (Brötzmann Trio, N.E.W.) Together they bring their considerable pedigrees into play with unexpected and original results. Contradicting expectations of a massive blow-out of sound, everyone plays with remarkable, effective restraint. Atmospheric and layered, this latest release features bits and pieces of identifiable rock-moves peeking out from under a thick blanket of hard-to-identify drift. Based on live recordings made on a lengthy tour of Italy in 2010, Hazel has been extensively edited and supplemented, but without losing the elemental sound of a group playing live together. Though there's plenty of weird ambient sound to be heard, this isn't a sound- effects/'pedalboard' record. Like the previous En Form for Bla, Noble's drums anchor the music with spare and considered playing, sometimes lashing out with abstract punctuation, and other times laying out a Can-like groove. O'Malley's guitar is also restrained, providing a bed for O'Sullivan's constantly morphing Rhodes, synths and electronic effects. Kristoffer Rygg contributes a rousing vocal incantation to 'Ermanna' and peppers the mix with ghostly modular details. Æthenor's catalog continues to be not like anything else out there right now. Sleeve designed by Stephen O'Malley."
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VHF 092CD
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2016 repress. "Fourth full-length from Jack, an inspired mix of styles and sounds that brings his in-person mastery down to LP/CD scale. Kensington Blues is Jack's most diverse outing by far, with straight ragtime, heavy 12-string, and that sweet, sweet Weissenborn lap guitar all checking in. Honed during endless touring in 2004, the repertoire here is delivered with maximum authority in a series of first-take performances recorded in early 2005. 'Cathedral et Chartres' and 'Calais to Dover' are dense, brooding 12 string numbers, recalling the key tracks on 2004's Raag Manifestos CD. 'Calais' features a sequence of right hand picking furious enough to evoke a dream state ala Charlemagne Palestine's Strumming Music. 'Rappahanock River Rag' and 'Flirtin' With the Undertaker' are pure syncopated ragtime, while 'Kensington Blues' offers an almost regal take on the intersection of Anglo and American trad. The epic 'Now That I'm A Man Full Grown' was the signature piece of many of 2004's live shows, a display of mind-boggling slide invention that straddles the line of east and west ala 'Yaman Blues' from the Opium Musick LP. In something of a surprise inclusion, Jack's take on Fahey's 'Sunflower River Blues' (long a staple of Pelt and J.R. gigs but never included on a record) is subtle and expressive, with a wonderful rise and fall that perfectly accentuates Fahey's beautiful melody."
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VHF 139LP
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"The mighty 'classic' lineup of the Vibracathedral Orchestra returns with their first new music in many years. Here the quintet of Michael Flower, Neil Campbell, Bridget Hayden, Adam Davenport and Julian Bradley (joined by raconteur John Godbert) feature in a set of upbeat tracks that put the group's radical instrumental strategies into a package of full-on rock action. Recorded live using a binaural head system, the sound is nicely ragged in a you-are-there way, with scouring guitars and bleeping electronics riding atop the band's signature grooves. As with some of the band's other records, there's more than a hint of the early Velvet Underground spirit in these ten tracks. If you wish that Cale and Reed would have been more of an instrumental band, here it is."
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VHF 138LP
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"This first-ever VHF release by the 21-years-running Ashtray Navigations brings one more core piece of the UK freakout underground back to the mothership. With a discography that boggles even the most ardent Discogs user and an on-point WTF graphic sensibility, Ash Nav fits perfectly into the extremely fertile and prolific scene that has produced titans like Sunroof! and Vibracathedral Orchestra. On this generous 100-minute package, Phil Todd and Melanie O'Dubshlaine essay a kind of guitarand- electronics exotica with burbling rhythms, Heldonlike laser guitar leads, field recordings, synth racket, etc. The totally fun take on Les Baxter's all-time classic 'Quiet Village' (here wittily retitled 'Quite Village') is a good example of the explorer spirit at work. Considering the amount of unhinged psychedelic fuzzwah lead damage laid out across this thing, it's arguably the most effusive guitar heroics record of the genre, hopefully inspiring a new generation of young rockers out there to get on the bus."
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2LP
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VHF 133LP
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"Kawabata Makoto emerges from a period of relative quiet with his first widely available solo release in several years, the blockbuster Krautrock-flavored Astro Love & Infinite Kisses. This lovely and impressionistic record showcases the other side of Makoto's outrageous works with Acid Mothers Temple. Taking cues from classics of the genre like Tangerine Dream's Phaedra and Steve Hillage's Rainbow Dome Musick, 'Dos Nurages' is the album's centerpiece, a 41-minute hypnotic epic, with echoplex'd guitar anchoring a stream of expertly done glissando. The title track is a darker drone in the tradition of Kawabata's Inui series of releases for VHF. 'Woman From Dream Island' closes the record with a thick buzz of tamboura overlaid with trippy backwards guitar, before giving way to a gentle, fingerpicked acoustic coda."
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7CD
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VHF 137CD
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"No Fans Compendium is a deluxe, limited-edition seven-disc set of Richard Youngs's recordings for his long-running private No Fans label. Five CDs are the artist's personal selection from his No Fans releases, all of which were issued in tiny editions (20-50 copies) and only available for sale at his rare shows or at Glasgow's now-defunct Volcanic Tongue shop. In addition, Youngs has included two full discs of material previously unavailable in any form: a recording from 1989 predating his earliest widely known work, and a new recording from late 2014. Unbeatable as a survey of Youngs's career, everything here is of equal quality to his over-the-counter releases. In keeping with his penchant for unpredictable stylistic mashups and reinventions, there are folky laments, achingly beautiful 'songs,' tape collage, rude prog noise, minimalist experiments, multi-tracked vocals, etc. Each disc is housed in an individual card folio with artwork repurposed from the original releases."
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VHF 120LP
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"The Secret Base starts up at full throttle, straight into a raw-sounding live outing, with Flower's overdriven guitar occupying the same sonic space that gives his Japan banjo / shaahi baaja workouts with Chris Corsano their urgency. The sound is dark and rough, almost Xpressway-like in its claustrophobic atmosphere. The percolating Krautrock stylings of 'If You Can't Smoke 'Em' chugs along hypnotically for over 13 minutes to close out the side. The entire B-side's 20+ minutes are devoted to the clanging free sound of 'Eyes of Wood,' where gamelan-like metal percussion dominates the proceedings."
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