FORCED EXPOSURE MAILORDER UPDATE NEW RELEASES FOR THE WEEK OF 02/13/2012 |
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order from our NEW! beta site: http://beta.forcedexposure.com you can also click on cover art or album info to order online a secure order form is available for credit card purchases. and via mail: for more information about shipping or ordering direct any questions to mailorder@forcedexposure.com |
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100% SILK | |
SFV ACID: Grown 12″ (SILK 016EP) 12.00 “Like the permanent midnight warm up at a Genesis ’88 bash, the empty squelch sounds of SFV ACID are at their tab-on-tongue-in-cheek, acid burning best. But don’t come listening for the happy-faced ecstasy-laced house-for-rent vibes of the free-samplin’, glory vocalin’, disco duckin’ SILKy celebrators. These are heady, midsummer night dreams of a bygone house era. There’s luxury and play to SFV ACID’s homegrown arcade grooves, as the DJ tweeks and turns sci-fi sounds over luscious piano leisure. It’s alien versus elator, Robo-copiousness. Driving down an alley in the San Fernando Valley never felt like this; woozy and wound up, sensual and cell-blocked, bouncy and breathy; like, gag me with a silver spoon. As one electronic element bends, another synthetic sonance breaks, into a pleasure pulse that bubbles up like a shaken sparkling water. That’s the fizzy tingle, the SFV ACID aftertaste.” |
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BROWSER, BOBBY: Just Browsing 12″ (SILK 017EP) 12.00 “Bay Area bruiser Andre Ferreira aka Bobby Browser makes PeopleMover music: taking his sweet time to glide. Side A ‘Bass-ic’ backdrops are ever-changing: wade through winds on the night yacht, dewy fields for the drumline, front row Fashion Week, whirl-a-girl-globe-twirl. Side B ‘Glist-opher’s’ guest vocals by Mara Barrenbaum give the EP that art-echo-deco, opulent opera, Blessed House happy-hedonist feel. Rollin’ Roland silly strings play cucumber-cool Q and A with bubbly-bath acid stabs. It’s sunny techno, rat-a-tat trance, Tom Bomb Club Dub, woodwind hopscotch, Rob Rouser five-star quality. For your Uplift Mo’ Blow Party Plan. Just browsing? Just buying.” |
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50 WEAPONS (GERMANY) | |
DAMAGE & DOC DANEEKA, BENJAMIN: They!Live CD (50 005CD) 15.50 On their debut album They!Live, Benjamin Damage & Doc Daneeka present a versatile and deep journey through the territories of club-land, equally fitting for dancefloors and home-listening. This is a collection of Berlin-inspired, UK-influenced UK funky, deep-house, tech-house, Detroit- and dub-techno, all recorded in Berlin between late August and early November 2011. You’ll find as much depth as you will find uplifting energy on here. There is as much darkness as light. Melodies and soundscapes go hand-in-hand with club-pleasing beats. On some tracks you will hear the lush voice of UK singer Abigail Wyles, who came to Berlin to record with the Swansea boys. For Benjamin Damage it all began with the raw, energy-fueled Maximum Carnage mix tapes with DJ Venom, mixing up bassline/niche rhythms with the emerging UK funky sound. Following this, was the insanely catchy “Deeper” for Doc Daneeka’s Ten Thousand Yen label, which was perhaps the true beginning of the deep rave sound. Following the success of “Deeper” came the brilliantly-diverse four-track solo EP Antidote. Featuring haunting melodies, intricate rhythms and vicious bass, the record was supported by the likes of Jackmaster, Sinden and Seb Chew and received radio play on Rinse FM and Radio 1. “Creeper,” the first collaboration with Doc Daneeka, moved the deep rave sound on further into the beautiful and unexplainable. Sent directly to Modeselektor on New Year’s Eve, it saw a huge San Francisco audience into 2011 that very night and was promptly signed the next day onto their 50 Weapons label. With the B-side “Infamous” complete, the duo was shipped out to a huge studio in central Berlin to write this magnificent album. |
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ABDUCTION | |
NEUNG PHAK: 2 LP (ABD 047LP) 16.50 In the pantheon of Western-tilted South East Asian tribute groups, Oakland, California’s Neung Phak (pronounced: “Noong PAHK”) have carved out a decade’s worth of inspired and unique recordings and performance since their 2001 debut, (birthed as a spin-off from legendary Bay Area group Mono Pause). Galvanized by exposure to thousands of South East Asian cassette tapes, LPs and radio broadcasts harvested during years of travels (co-founder Mark Gergis is a key conspirator with international record label Sublime Frequencies), the 7-piece group play folk and pop sounds from Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Vietnam and elsewhere, using a variety of Western and non-Western instruments. Neung Phak delivers international sounds that trade the gloss and sheen of so-called “World Music” for the energy and unpredictability you can find when you’re somewhere else. After two releases on Abduction and several performances and tours, Neung Phak have returned with their second full-length studio LP. 2 showcases molam-folk pop and acid-rock hauntings from Thailand’s yesterday and today, Javanese dancefloor dangdut, and Cambodian instrumental dramas — all retold in inimitable Neung Phak parlance. The stunning Indonesian pop gem, “Bang Toyib,” features guest Alan Bishop (Sun City Girls) on Bahasa vocals. Thai dance-pop cuts “Poot” and “Poo Jud” feature veteran singer Diana Hayes. The damning “Fucking USA” was purportedly recorded in a North Korean studio — and the epic retelling of the classic southern Thai-styled “Sat Chatri,” closes down the LP in sprawling, psychedelic form. Limited edition one-time pressing of 500 copies with download card. |
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AEI MUSIC (UK) | |
VA: GetDarker Presents: This Is Dubstep 2012 2CD (GD 006CD) 22.00 GetDarker presents This Is Dubstep 2012. The series, respected as one of the most popular yet credible dubstep compilations is back with an album to define the sound of 2012. An upfront and up-to-date selection brings forth 40 of this year’s freshest tunes. GetDarker is respected as one of the most popular yet credible brands throughout dubstep, an endorsed independent online magazine devoted to dubstep music and UK underground culture. Evolving from an original site launched in 2003, GetDarker has since expanded beyond its London, UK roots and now has strong support from a global audience. GetDarker has bolstered its brand as an award-winning leader in dubstep via the TV-advertised compilation series This Is Dubstep, weekly GetDarkerTV webcasts, a Top 15 podcast, merchandise and exposure at UK festivals and international tours. Showcasing the full spectrum of the genre, these multimedia platforms have provided exposure to up-and-coming artists as well as brought the audience closer to the scene’s biggest stars. Artists include: Nero, Chase & Status, Tinie Tempah, Skream, Modestep, Torqux & Twist, Benga, Flux Pavilion, Goth-Trad, Icicle & Distance, Mala-Digital Mystikz, Cutline, Belle Humble, Kromestar & Dark Tantrums, Cyrus, Phaeleh, Tunnidge, Benny Page, Benton, DJG, MRK1, Plastician, Tunnidge, Mr. Lager, Von D, Lee Scratch Perry vs. Mala, Ed Sheeran, Gemini, Jess Mills, Distance, Tes La Rok, Skream, 16bit, Author, Ed Thomas, Horsepower Productions, Truth, V.I.V.E.K, J:Kenzo, Gemini, Kryptic Minds, Psy:Am & Stinkahbell, Jakes, Biome, Lost, Sigma, Funtcase, Sleeper & District, Above & Beyond, Zoe Johnston and Synkro. |
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ASA WA KURU | |
VA: We Are The Works In Progress 2LP (AWK 001LP) 19.00 “We Are The Works In Progress is a fourteen song double LP benefit (with download code) to support Japan and its ongoing efforts to heal post-tsunami. Compiled and organized by Kazu Makino of Blonde Redhead, the double LP features exclusive tracks from Deerhunter, Blonde Redhead, Four Tet, Pantha Du Prince, Broadcast, Liars, Terry Riley, John Maus and Interpol.” Also: David Sylvain & Ryuichi Sakamoto, Nosaj Thing, John Roberts and Stalactite. |
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BECAUSE MUSIC (FRANCE) | |
JUSTICE: On’n’On/Canon EP 12″ (BEC 5161123) 12.50 The NSFW 12″ single from Justice’s Audio, Video, Disco full-length. Brodinski remixes “On’n’On,” while Erol Alkan and Tiga remix “Canon.” Also includes the original version of “On’N’On.” |
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JUSTICE: On’n’On 10″ (BEC 5161129) 12.50 This track is taken from Justice’s Audio, Video, Disco (BEC 5161059/5161064), featuring Morgan Phalen from Diamond Nights. “We wrote the lyrics with him and tried, as always, not to sound too stupid, avoiding clichés like “come to the dancefoor,’ but without pretending to be Bob Dylan, either. Our lyrics are always a bit quirky. If they sound good and there’s a little edge or something fun to them, we’re happy.” Two tracks ruined by Rick Rubin, plus the “Video Village” remix. Includes download card. |
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BLACK TRUFFLE (AUSTRALIA) | |
BRINKMANN & OREN AMBARCHI, THOMAS: The Mortimer Trap CD (BT 006CD) 17.00 The Mortimer Trap is an epic, 77-minute “variation” of Morton Feldman’s For Bunita Marcus, constructed by German experimentalist and techno icon Thomas Brinkmann and Australian sound artist Oren Ambarchi. Pulsating waves of claustrophobic ambience generated from who-knows-what patiently builds into a throbbing, rhythmic pulse of gorgeous sonic density. Since the ’80s, Thomas Brinkmann has experimented with sound, its textures and its construction methods. His custom-built two-arm turntable on Concept 1, the sampling of damaged records on Klick and various experiments with carved-groove vinyl are just a handful of career highlights that mark Brinkmann out as a true musical pioneer. Oren Ambarchi, primarily known for his solo guitar records for the Touch label, has worked with a diverse array of artists such as Keiji Haino, Fennesz, Phill Niblock, Jim O’Rourke, Voice Crack, Keith Rowe and Sunn 0))). Ambarchi and Brinkmann first worked together in Japan in January 2011 in a trio with Mika Vainio. The Mortimer Trap is their first collaborative work as a duo. |
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BOYSNOIZE RECORDS (GERMANY) | |
HANDBRAEKES: #1 12″ (BNR 072EP) 12.50 Boys Noize and Mr. Oizo finally collide. They joined forces and created a duo called Handbraekes. Their first track “Callgurls” was already premiered on Annie Mac (BBC Radio 1) in 2012 and is an eye-opener of what you can expect of two geniuses clashing their machine parts together: 100% a #1. These four tracks will set a new benchmark in the EDM scene. |
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BUREAU B (GERMANY) | |
DORAU, ANDREAS: Blumen Und Narzissen CD (BB 087CD) 17.00 If it had been up to Andreas Dorau’s teacher, “Fred Vom Jupiter,” his biggest hit, would never have seen the light of day. The 16 year-old Dorau wrote the song during project week at school and his tutor was of the opinion that the composition was therefore the intellectual property of his institute of learning. Luckily, the teacher in question didn’t get his way. And, as they say, the rest is history. In the year 1981, the small, cool Düsseldorf label Ata Tak first released “Fred Vom Jupiter” as a single, selling 20,000 copies in the space of a few months, followed up by the Blumen Und Narzissen LP. It is a strange album, for the most part conceived and executed by a 16 year-old on a family holiday in the mountains. And what is even more extraordinary: it was successful. For Blumen Und Narzissen was a pop album, and when one considers the time (1981) and place (FRG) of its creation, then nothing would have appeared to have had less of a chance of success than a pop album in Germany. The mainstream charts were led by the Smurfs and Ernst Mosch, bars and discos resounded to the sound of Deutschrock and blues, while beyond the mainstream, well-meaning tree-huggers and punks ruled the roost — two marginal groups whose seriousness was a bore. A tiny niche was occupied by Dorau’s soulmates, the likes of Der Plan, Palais Schaumburg et al, but in this very niche they were destined to remain. Blumen Und Narzissen is — even decades later — a great album. Dorau had actually planned on issuing not just the one single on Ata Tak, but ten further singles, each on a different independent label he admired. Thus Blumen Und Narzissen sounds just like that: a collection of singles. “Nordsee,” “Junger Mann,” and “Tulpen Und Narzissen” certainly had the potential to become hits. Connoisseurs will note parallels to the golden years of pop: singles, a girl group (Die Marinas), a passion for style. And now? Not much has really changed. The German charts continue to showcase an equally gruesome parade of local talent. And because good pop music is good pop music, Blumen Und Narzissen has found and will continue to find fans both at home and abroad. Both strange and contrary, Blumen Und Narzissen sounds neither old-fashioned nor 30 years old. Housed in a digipak with liner notes, rare photos and six bonus tracks which appear on CD for the first time. |
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DORAU, ANDREAS: Die Doraus & Die Marinas Geben Offenherzige CD (BB 088CD) 17.00 …Antworten Auf Brennende Fragen. After the success of his debut album Blumen Und Narzissen (1981), featuring his “Fred Vom Jupiter” hit, German new wave/pop upstart Andreas Dorau was urged by his new record company, Teldec, to come up with a sophomore effort as soon as possible. To bridge the gap, Dorau first released a single entitled “Kleines Stubenmädchen,” a jaunty number with amusing lyrics and a professional, radio-friendly production. But Dorau had not reckoned with the sensitivity of the censors: the humorless sexism detector ruthlessly raised the alarm amongst the radio stations. Those making the decisions at Teldec had the odd idea of asking Dorau to record an apology or explanation on cassette for radio programmers to play either before or after the incriminating song. Dorau could have filled a whole cassette to clarify the subject, perhaps even upholding a claim to artistic freedom. But — doffing his cap to the spirit of punk — Dorau naturally rejected the suggestion. A shame. Teldec lost interest in Dorau and the album was released on CBS — minus “Stubenmädchen,” of course. A far greater problem loomed, however: the musical landscape of the Federal Republic of Germany had changed since the release of Blumen Und Narzissen. Major record companies had radically commercialized what Alfred Hilsberg had once benevolently termed “Neue Deutsche Welle” (NDW)/German New Wave (thinking of bands such as Fehlfarben, Der Plan, D.A.F.). They remolded rock bands into new wave bands, wrote idiotic ditties and had clueless jumping jacks and jills perform them. One can imagine that Dorau did not exactly jump for joy when he realized he was about to be lumped in with the rest of them. The relationship between Dorau and his sophomore work was clouded from the word “go.” And it still is. Although it is actually a really good record: from the psychedelic lyrics of “Polizist,” “Sandkorn” and “Texas” to beautiful observations of daily life (“Feierabend”), the music meanders its way through snappy pop, bossa nova, exotica, disco and new wave. A certain, unique strain of psychedelia courses through the whole album, detectable in the cover, the lyrics and the instrumentation. Of course, there’s a world of difference between Die Doraus Und Die Marinas Geben Offenherzige Antworten Auf Brennende Fragen (trans. “The Doraus And Marinas Give Openhearted Answers To Burning Questions”) and the “idiots of NDW.” But try explaining that to the man on the street. By the way: “Kleines Stubenmädchen” is included on this re-release as a bonus track, along with three others. Housed in a digipak with liner notes and rare photos. |
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SCHNAUSS & MARK PETERS, ULRICH: Underrated Silence CD (BB 094CD) 15.50 Transporting the sound of shoegazer aesthetics into an electronic context, this is how Ulrich Schnauss once described his artistic goal. Influenced by bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Cocteau Twins and Chapterhouse on the one hand, yet wholly at ease with the electronica of bands like The Orb, Bionaut, Orbital, 808 State and unequivocally appreciative of veterans of the genre, Tangerine Dream or Manuel Göttsching, for example. A brother in spirit to Robin Guthrie, one might say — an apposite epithet for Schnauss. His collaborative partner Mark Peters might also be considered his soul brother. Through his band, Engineers, he has similarly found success in following in the footsteps of his musical paragons. Engineers have released wonderful albums of dream-pop, infused with the same spirit as the solo efforts of Schnauss. Peters and Schnauss have been friends for many years and over a year ago, Schnauss joined the ranks of Engineers. For the past couple of years, they have been meeting up sporadically and making music. The fruits of these sessions served as the basis for the ten tracks on this joint album. More used to traditional songwriting, the working process was new to Peters. In the absence of conventional structures, the sole aim of creating an atmosphere was an approach he was somewhat unfamiliar with, but one he found liberating. Working only at night was a decisive factor for Peters, lending the music a somnambulant quality — an effect that was intentional, striving to create something which cannot be ascribed to a particular musical category or zeitgeist. For Schnauss meanwhile, conjuring up an atmosphere through music is the most normal thing in the world: he creates music for those little escapes. On this latest album, Schnauss brings the piano more into play than usual, which enhances the overall impression splendidly. Underrated Silence is a quiet album, for the most part. Its multi-layered fabric reveals something new every time one listens to it — a wealth of fresh discoveries, new rhythms emerging from the sound cloud, hitherto unnoticed melodies illuminating the background. Schnauss and Peters have crafted music which is enchanting in the truest sense of the word — shimmering sounds, floating echoes, rhythmically reverberant chords which wrap themselves around the listener, lifting you into a state of suspension and carrying you gently away. |
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CADENZA (GERMANY) | |
UNER: Palua 12″ (CADENZA 072EP) 14.00 Uner joins Cadenza for the first time with the Palua EP. “Pallene” marks itself with an insatiably rhythmic appetite. Bongos tap, tom drums echo and shakers hiss, underpinned by a provocative piano melody. Winding along at a pitter-patter pace, Uner’s live percussion performed alongside Nacho Gonzalez makes for an elegant atmosphere. Building demurely with a rising bass line, “Cocoua” swings into dusky late-night vibes as a melodic chord pattern makes its entrance. Gloriously simple in its stabbing arrangement, “Cocoua” feels hypnotic and sexy. |
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COCOON (GERMANY) | |
MAETRIK: The Reason 12″ (COR 093EP) 12.50 Maetrik presents a 12″ to accompany his Live At Cocoon Ibiza release, which reflects a matchless mixture of pumping deep house, energetic soul and adrenaline-enriched noise. This 12″ features the mind-blowing up-tempo-techno monster “The Reason” and the programmatic, Maetrik-style definition “Particle House” with its breathless house mantra. |
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COMPOST (GERMANY) | |
PITCHBEN: Stand Up 12″ (COMP 389EP) 12.00 Pitchben’s debut album Pitchslap (COMP 380CD) garnered respect and massive props from press and party folk, went straight into the top 10 at Beatport and RA charts and was voted best “disco” newcomer in 2011 in DJ Mag and Trax. Finally, the first remix package is ready to emphasize the quality, sexiness and extravagance of Pitchben’s discotheque. Tiger & Woods, Runaway (Marcos Cabral and Jacques Renault) and Sportloto deliver slick, shapely remixes of “Stand Up” and “Keep Giving Me Love.” |
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CONSTELLATION (CANADA) | |
TINDERSTICKS: The Something Rain CD (CST 086CD) 15.00 “The Something Rain brims and bristles with canny narrative thrust. Slinky, supple compositions are spiked with plenty of barbed edges and sparkling fizz. Right out the gate, album opener ‘Chocolate’ features David Boulter’s sequel to the spoken-word classic ‘My Sister’ from Tindersticks’ 1995 eponymous release. Boulter narrates the story while the band works up a brilliant, brewing crescendo, abetted by the swirling horns of long-time collaborator Terry Edwards. This is indeed a new Tindersticks classic — edgier, more exuberant and more expansive — that spurs The Something Rain into a song cycle of rolling, at times rollicking, and always inimitably Tinderstickian takes on smoky Northern Soul. Staples’ home studio Le Chien Chanceux has figured prominently throughout the Tindersticks reunification period, but with The Something Rain, this space — and Staples’ ongoing immersion in recording and mixing techniques — has fully emerged as ground zero for the band’s sound. For the first time, Le Chien Chanceux studio serves as the location for the entirety of a Tindersticks album production, and Staples himself is solely credited with the recording and mixing. The album sounds terrific, and is a testament to Tindersticks’ continuing reinvigoration.” |
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TINDERSTICKS: The Something Rain LP (CST 086LP) 23.00 180 gram LP version with art prints and download code. |
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COULDN’T CARE MORE (GERMANY) | |
SAN, SEBASTIEN: Asylum EP 12″ (NT 003EP) 12.00 After releases on Gigolo, Rush Hour, Planet E and We Play House, French producer Sebastien San presents the Asylum EP, made to be played on every dancefloor there is. With the hypnotic techno-soundscapes of “Asylum,” Sebastien San has created one of his best tracks, ever, and the other two tracks are of the same quality. “Does Compute” is driven by inescapable hooks while “Alpha Centauri” slows it down with warm strings, Chicago house claps and a subtly pulsating bassline. |
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CROSSTALK | |
VA: Altering Illusions 4LP (CROSS 006LP) 70.00 “Limited edition label compilation from Echospace (Detroit)featuring unreleased material from cv313, Deepchord, Echospace, Intrusion & Variant.” Colored-vinyl housed in a full-color gatefold sleeve. As always, immersive and masterfully deep tracks from the Echospace roster. |
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D-EDGE RECORDS (BRAZIL) | |
ZOPELAR: Falling In Love EP 12″ (DEDGE 003EP) 12.00 Zopelar presents a crucial moment in his classical training on this 12″ release, one marked by the inflection of his approach. “Falling In Love” features the gentleness of delicate chords and the energy of relentless progression, culminating in a passionate epic. Diversely, Kolombo’s interpretation synthesizes the feelings that burst on the original’s groove and encapsulates it into a powerful journey of an irresistible corporeal pull. “Poiesis,” Zopelar’s collaboration with Felipe Sá, gifts us with a fierce rhythmic voyage. |
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DIAL (GERMANY) | |
NAUJOKS, CHRISTIAN: True Life/In Flames LP (DIAL 024LP) 20.00 Gatefold LP version. After his self-titled debut of 2009, True Life/In Flames is the second album by Berlin-based Christian Naujoks. Recorded by Tobias Levin at the Laiszhalle Philharmony Hamburg. A dense concert atmosphere sets the tone. Stringent seriality is combined with a romanticism of the minor key which one also finds in a certain corner of modern 20th-century piano music, in the vein of Michael Nyman, Wim Mertens, Arvo Pärt, John Cage and György Kurtág. Deep contemplation and solemn expression paired with intellectual clarity. Each note has weight, and every sound a purpose. Unlike Naujoks’ debut, True Life/In Flames completely relinquishes the use of any sort of electronically-generated sound. Instead, there is a consistent stylization of what one might call “organic sound.” The figure of the bedroom producer is relieved here by that of the composer and pianist. There’s a piano, played by Naujoks; there’s the marimba of Martin Krause and then Naujoks’ voice. This album could be designated as a suite with various movements, bracketed by the conspicuous reprise of its most song-like piece, “Moments I” and “Moments II,” as well as by the economy of the unchanging instrumentation and the black and white cover photograph by Dirk Stewen that references the recording location: the Laeiszhalle of the Hamburg Philharmonic. Piano and marimba stand there on an almost cave-like stage, surrounded by music stands, microphones and stacked Egon Eiermann SE 68 SU chairs — a company of genuine instruments. Again, Christian Naujoks embraces the world of contemporary music-loving connaisseurs. True Life/In Flames is a gift for all those hunting the unique, the deep, the outstanding. All’s quiet at the beginning, as it is at the end. |
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ECHO BEACH (GERMANY) | |
DUB SPENCER & TRANCE HILL: Too Big To Fail CD (EB 088CD) 17.00 Dub Spencer & Trance Hill, Switzerland’s dub heroes have teamed up on this new project with Umberto Echo, one of the most sought-after dub remixers this side of the English Channel. In 2006, Dub Spencer & Trance Hill released their Echo Beach debut Nitro (EB 057CD), a sort of Spaghetti Western in dub with plenty of dynamite. Since then, the Swiss musicians have added three further notches to their list of releases — Return Of The Supercops (EB 063CD), Riding Strange Horses (EB 071CD) and, most recently, The Clashification Of Dub (EB 081CD/LP) — as well as several echo-laden cover versions of classic party hits such as “Jeanny” or “Enter Sandman” and canonized songs like “London Calling,” earning them kudos all over the country and setting feet tapping. On their last European tour, the dubsters cooperated with the Munich-based mix master Umberto Echo, whose illustrious profile spans several pages. For his debut album Dubtrain, the jazz label Enja (Chet Baker, Abdullah Ibrahim, Rabih Abu-Khalil) set up a special sub-label, Enja19. Last year, Echo Beach released the album Dub The World (EB 074CD), which featured his distinctive, ultra-precise dub take on tunes by Sly & Robbie, Seeed, Damian Marley, Stereo MCs and Gentleman. At their joint club and festival performances, the combination of live band and live mixer turned out to be the proverbial “marriage made in heaven.” On the decks, Umberto Echo transformed Dub Spencer & Trance Hill’s riddims and melodies into thrilling, transcendental sound collages. The vibe was so good that they decided to hit the studio for a joint session after the tour: founding member Marcel Stalder (bass) and his bandmates Julian Dillier (drums), Philipp Greter (keyboards) and Markus Meier (guitar) met up with Umberto Echo at his studio, plugged in and let rip. And here are the results. It is no exaggeration to say that this meeting of minds is for continental Europe what Scientist Meets Roots Radics was for Jamaica and Massive Attack vs. Mad Professor was for England: an alliance too big to fail. |
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ECHOCORD (GERMANY) | |
FLUXION: Traces CD (ECHO 011CD) 17.00 Traces is Fluxion’s second album on Echocord. This work is about his travels in music — the sounds, influences and aesthetics of his actual travels, expectation-journey-destination, alongside the musical influences deriving from them. Through his prism, those sounds, pictures, travels, emotions, etc., left traces of new directions, of future journeys to take. Fluxion captured the motion in his travels with a different feeling on each track. “No Man Is An Island” is an unreleased Dennis Brown vocal version — an influential song with a clear message. “Desert Nights” evokes desert rock meeting dub in a road movie. “Stations” tells of that special place between destinations — always a feeling of something promising. “Butiama” is an actual place, where variations and consistency in rhythm is within people’s DNA. “Migration” is a new, promising start. These 11 tracks have been carefully selected, opening the dub spectrum as well as reaching other uncharted territories. After a decade in the field of dub, techno and ambient, Fluxion expands his horizons with music that will not fall under one specific territory. |
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FABRIC (UK) | |
PINCH: FabricLive.61 CD (FABRIC 122CD) 17.00 “In addition to his output on his own labels, including his 2007 debut artist album, which included vocal and instrumental versions. Pinch has released on a plethora of seminal electronic labels, including Planet Mu, Soul Jazz, and most recently Honest Jon’s, who recently released his collaborative album with Fabric 55 artist Shackleton to critical acclaim. FABRICLIVE 61 includes a track from said album and a host of other collaborations with such names as Photek, Loefah and Quest, as well as a host of previously unheard forthcoming Tectonic releases. Ever an innovator, Pinch commences the mix half-way though a track, finishing at the same point in the same track, allowing the mix to be played on a continuous loop. Subtle sounds and vocals were layered throughout the mix in post-production, affording FABRICLIVE 61 a rare coherence and attention to detail that will reward listeners for years to come.” |
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FIRE (UK) | |
CARDINAL: Hymns CD (FIRE 216CD) 18.50 “Eighteen years after the release of their landmark self-titled debut, Cardinal — the recording collaboration between Richard Davies and Eric Matthews –are preparing to unveil their long awaited new album. The new record, entitled Hymns, picks up where their debut left off — well-crafted, layered orchestral pop, with Matthews’ multi-instrumental talents enhancing Davies’ sublime songwriting gems. Hymns comprises ten new originals, another milestone in the band’s quest to provide the missing link in chamber pop history, following the Beatles and Bee Gees and before Belle & Sebastian, and a worthy follow up to their self-titled debut, a record lauded then, and now, as one of the most important albums of the ’90s. Ushering in an era of appreciation for the orchestrated pop music the 1960s, with a modern approach, Cardinal’s debut opus, originally released in 1994, seemed to come out of nowhere with its layered textures and delightful melodies, swimming against the tidal wave of grunge.” |
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GROOVE MERCHANT | |
LEVY, O’DONEL: Black Velvet LP (GM 501LP) 11.50 Exact repro of this 1970 album with organist Charles Covington, reedist Fats Theus and trumpeter Billy Skinner. Mellow soul renditions of pop songs like “I’ll Be There” and “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy.” |
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SUN RA & HIS ARKESTRA: Jazz in Silhouette LP (SATURN 5786HLP) 14.00 180 gram exact repro reissue of this 1958 recording, originally released on Sun Ra’s own Saturn Records before being reissued on Impulse. Features tenor saxophonist John Gilmore, plus an early version of the classic “Enlightenment.” |
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HISTORY ALWAYS FAVOURS THE WINNERS (UK) | |
CARETAKER, THE: Patience (After Sebald) CD (HAFTW 013CD) 16.50 James Leyland Kirby returns in 2012 with his long-in-the-making soundtrack to Grant Gee’s film about W.G. Sebald. Patience (After Sebald) is a multi-layered film essay on landscape, art, history, life and loss by the acclaimed documentary film-maker Grant Gee. It is an exploration of the work and influence of German writer W.G. Sebald (1944-2001), told via a long walk through coastal East Anglia tracking his most famous book The Rings Of Saturn (1995). The book mixes history, travelogue, memoir, meditation, fiction and images to explore the personal, public and often overlooked histories of Suffolk. In 2009, Grant approached The Caretaker to work on a soundtrack for this work and he sourced out-of-copyright Franz Schubert works from 1927 including the famous work “Winterreise.” The soundtrack has been pieced together using snippets and fragments of this source material. The CD album artwork features another specially-commissioned painting by Ivan Seal, and comes in a gatefold digifile sleeve. Mastered and cut at Berlin’s Dubplates & Mastering. |
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HONEST JON’S RECORDS (UK) | |
DEMDIKE STARE/HYPE WILLIAMS: Meet Shangaan Electro 12″ (HJP 066EP) 11.00 Essential installment in the Shangaan remix series, with futuristic pop duo Hype Williams turning out a mesmerizing tribute, lagging somewhere ages behind the party people, achingly soulful and lost. If you have to ask what the Demdike Stare side is like, then you don’t deserve it. |
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HYDRA HEAD | |
CAVE IN: White Silence LP (HH666 218LP) 23.50 LP version. “White Silence has an energy and a balance that feels like the work of seasoned vets, consummate professionals that have, with great heart, focus and authenticity, honed their songwriting ability in ways we feel fortunate to have witnessed firsthand. If you followed the member’s individual trajectories after Cave In’s un- declared 2005 hiatus, you’d have been witness to a spectrum of songwriting capabilities. Brodsky’s singer-songwriter eccentricities, Zozobra’s 2-piece metallic power, Cloud’s rock energy, and Doomrider’s thunderous roll; all tastes of the potential a re-unified Cave In might present. 2009’s Planets of Old was a four song return to form, a small taste of what Cave In were capable of producing with so much experience under their individual and collective belts.” Includes download code. |
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INTERNASJONAL (NORWAY) | |
CAGE & AVIARY: Migration CD (INT 004CD) 17.00 Electronic duo Cage & Aviary present their debut album Migration on Prins Thomas’ Internasjonal imprint. Part man, part machine, part cockatiel, Cage & Aviary take flights of fancy whenever they can. Jamie Paton is a DJ, a one-finger keyboardist, and a pot-tickler. Nigel of Bermondsey is a musician, South London’s finest oscillator, and a dedicated dabbler. Together, they are winners of the cosmic lottery. Having put out releases to much acclaim, Cage & Aviary have since spread their wings with releases on DFA, Tiny Sticks and Astro Lab. Their own label, The Walls Have Ears, is slowly carving out a reputation for quality dubbed-out dance music, too. Now, the feathered friends are set to take a new flight of fancy on Migration. From the rolling, cinematic sheen of “Giorgio Carpenter (Director’s Cut)” that openly wears its influences on its sleeve to the cosmically spaced-out funk of “In Todd We Trust” and the slo-mo, disco-not-disco of “Good Egg, Bad Apple,” the pair spread their production wings across the dancefloor. Then, we teleport ourselves via the Leroy Burgess funk-portal to the disco-boogie rockin’ “Infatuation,” whose slick-rick R&B production adds even more sex appeal to the bird-caged discotheque, while “Dead Dancers” brings a live, percussive and guitar Liquid Liquid vibe and then in contrast we have the shimmering and floating sun-drenched keys and vox that melt into “Friday The 14th Part IV.” Finally the duo sign off with the proto-house groove of “Lean On Me” which features guest vocalist Denise Johnson (of Screamadelica and A Certain Ratio fame) and the title track “Migration,” which oozes yet more Moroder and Carpenter-inspired funk. |
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INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS | |
BUBBLE PUPPY: A Gathering Of Promises LP (IALP 010LP) 11.50 Exact repro of International Artists’ second biggest act after The 13th Floor Elevators. Originally released in 1969, A Gathering Of Promises is a brilliant record of raw, garage-psych. |
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KARAOKE KALK (GERMANY) | |
J.R.PLANKTON: Neon CD (KK 065CD) 15.50 Karaoke Kalk introduces another exciting new artist to their roster. J.R.Plankton is a collaborative project by Jens Strüver and Robert Ohm. Strüver also manages the M=minimal label. His first collaboration with studio-nerd and multi-instrumentalist Robert Ohm was an hour-long radio-play/sound collage about the legendary composer Moondog, repeatedly broadcasted on German radio nationwide. Now, their own pure musical work Neon is nothing less than a tour de force. From the word go, the album sets an incredibly high standard. Opener “Musique Electronique” is, without a doubt, a nod to the founding fathers of German electronic music, Kraftwerk. The highly-charged electro style laid down on this opening track sets the pace for what follows over the remaining 37 minutes of the album. Clocking in at a massive 8 minutes, “City Jungle” is epic. Musically, the track switches down a gear though entering a more atmospheric world of ambient oscillations and arpeggiated synth sounds, while the tune moves towards a more driving, industrial feel towards the end. “Sundance” kicks in with a throbbing slap bass part, soon to be followed by wah-wahed guitars, all of which make for a surprise disco-funk track on this otherwise electro-oriented album. This is clearly a feel-good track and is sure to have any room jumping in seconds. The penultimate track “Nakamura” starts as another downbeat foray into ambient but again builds to reach a powerful, minimal crescendo. The track makes powerful use of textures to paint a sonic landscape which is a world unto itself. And this superb album draws to a close with “Regen” (trans. “Rain”), which is another masterpiece of arpeggio action. The tune teasingly implies that it might kick off at any moment, but the beat remains absent, creating instead a hypnotic tension. Neon has all the elements one might wish for from a modern electronic record. The experimental nature of some of the more protracted interludes should appeal to fans of Kraut and electronica: these moments are ideal for losing oneself in the trance-inducing intimacy of one’s headphones. At the same time, there’s plenty on the album to interest all you DJs out there who would do well to drop some of the more uptempo tracks on Neon. Debut albums don’t come any stronger than this. |
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KOMPAKT (GERMANY) | |
TERRANOVA: Hotel Amour 2LP+CD (KOM 248LP) 21.00 Gatefold double LP version with a free CD version. Terranova member Fetisch Bergmann witnessed the beginnings of club culture, and he was there when house and techno started to blossom. As an early adopter, he simply doesn’t see the benefit of rehashing what has gone before, but wants to move forward, seizing the future he was promised in the days of yore by the likes of Larry Levan, Grandmaster Flash, Ron Hardy or Lee Perry. Whether teen punk, hip-hop’s first European trainee or house DJ in the most legendary booths of the late ’80s, Fetisch inhaled the glamour of the night and learned the tricks of the trade from those who knew it best. Originally conceived in 1996, Terranova became Fetisch’s go-to project to explore new club territory and collaborate with like-minded people, building his own cult following ever since. Kompakt truly feels honored to be the home to an artist drawing on such a rich background in club culture, especially with new album Hotel Amour being poised for actual world dominance. But whoever wants to conquer the world has to get there first. With much of the album’s ideas conceived on a night train between Berlin and Paris (Fetisch’s second home), these tracks certainly share their creators’ wanderlust, never settling in one place, but staying eager with new rhythmic landscapes (and hotel rooms). Together with Berlin’s house staple and Terranova fellow &Me (a member of the act since 2007), they pour new wine in the old bottles of dance’s dramaturgy, respecting the formula, but not necessarily sticking to it. Heavy, bouncing bass drums fuse with juicy synths, high-precision sequencing rules the frequency range, and an armada of guest vocalists bring their own brand of seduction to the fore: Whomadewho’s Thomas Høffding, husky-voiced Billie Ray Martin, eternal globetrotter Snax, German underground celebrity Udo Kier, acclaimed actress Nicolette Krebitz as well as the one and only Khan, all lend their voices to the album. |
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TERRANOVA: Hotel Amour CD (KOMP 095CD) 15.50 Terranova member Fetisch Bergmann witnessed the beginnings of club culture, and he was there when house and techno started to blossom. As an early adopter, he simply doesn’t see the benefit of rehashing what has gone before, but wants to move forward, seizing the future he was promised in the days of yore by the likes of Larry Levan, Grandmaster Flash, Ron Hardy or Lee Perry. Whether teen punk, hip-hop’s first European trainee or house DJ in the most legendary booths of the late ’80s, Fetisch inhaled the glamour of the night and learned the tricks of the trade from those who knew it best. Originally conceived in 1996, Terranova became Fetisch’s go-to project to explore new club territory and collaborate with like-minded people, building his own cult following ever since. Kompakt truly feels honored to be the home to an artist drawing on such a rich background in club culture, especially with new album Hotel Amour being poised for actual world dominance. But whoever wants to conquer the world has to get there first. With much of the album’s ideas conceived on a night train between Berlin and Paris (Fetisch’s second home), these tracks certainly share their creators’ wanderlust, never settling in one place, but staying eager with new rhythmic landscapes (and hotel rooms). Together with Berlin’s house staple and Terranova fellow &Me (a member of the act since 2007), they pour new wine in the old bottles of dance’s dramaturgy, respecting the formula, but not necessarily sticking to it. Heavy, bouncing bass drums fuse with juicy synths, high-precision sequencing rules the frequency range, and an armada of guest vocalists bring their own brand of seduction to the fore: Whomadewho’s Thomas Høffding, husky-voiced Billie Ray Martin, eternal globetrotter Snax, German underground celebrity Udo Kier, acclaimed actress Nicolette Krebitz as well as the one and only Khan, all lend their voices to the album. |
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KRANKY | |
WINDY & CARL: We Will Always Be CD (KRANK 163CD) 13.00 “The first new recordings from Windy & Carl in more than three years.” |
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WINDY & CARL: We Will Always Be 2LP (KRANK 163LP) 17.00 Gatefold double LP version. |
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LEENA (GERMANY) | |
MOUDABER, NICOLE: Hair 12″ (LEENA 023EP) 14.00 Starting out as a promoter and label manager, Nicole Moudaber booked huge acts for her Soundworx nights at London’s legendary Turnmills club, but it wasn’t long before she started to produce herself. Carving out her very own edgy house and tough, soulful techno sound, her music was picked up by tastemakers including Carl Cox, John Digweed and Pete Tong. Her remix of Cox’s “Chemistry” spent weeks at the top of the Beatport techno chart. “Hair” and “Let Go” will set main rooms in Ibiza alight. |
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LOAD RECORDS | |
FNU RONNIES: Saddle Up LP (LOAD 138LP) 15.00 “FNU Ronnies have been burning the long one on this platter, emerging with a masterpiece of sealed plastic heavy on heady froth. For those that demand rock fury it is here in buckets. The sound on this LP is a murky tunnel of punked out alien sounds with dirty sounds & ideas last talked about at NASA around the time of the last faked moon landing. So if future sounds are where you lay your jammy pack, this LP is gonna be playing where you park. Comes in intense gatefold jacket.” |
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WHITE LOAD: Wayne’s World III b/w Godfather IV LP (LOAD 140LP) 15.00 “Limited edition of 500 only vinyl only release chocked with 25 tracks of rock music with no excuses, sounding like a locomotive of stale beer with paint chips under the nails coming straight for your E-Z chair. You are knocked clear across the room with some ringing in your ears. In year head rebounds a pelvic grunt with flavors of dirty rock superheroes like Dwarves & The Oblivians, & your blood pumps hard.” |
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LOVE EDITS (GERMANY) | |
VA: The Beat: Reworks 12″ (LM 003EP) 14.50 No info provided, but a must-have for fans of mysterious re-edit records from well-known producers. |
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MAGAZINE (GERMANY) | |
LOOPS OF YOUR HEART: And Never Ending Nights CD (MAGAZINE 005CD) 15.50 Please allow us the pleasure of introducing Axel Willner’s Loops Of Your Heart. Hailing from Sweden, the man behind this record alone needs no introduction, as he is already well-known in the electronic music scene for his project The Field. Loops Of Your Heart reflects Axel’s experience in Germany, where during his lengthy stays, his mantra-like arpeggiators contributed to the first manifestation of the sound of Cologne Tape, a group that formed while he was staying there. You can also hear this on the much sought-after debut Render, which came out on Magazine in 2010. Only a foreshadowing of what was to about to come, Willner has been living in Berlin and letting his creativity go crazy. With an arsenal of special synthesizers and guitars, he has put together And Never Ending Nights. After touring worldwide with The Field for the last 10 years, this album is like coming home again. You can hear German children speaking outside his studio in Berlin (on the track “Neukölln”) and it is not only the track titles which tell of things that have come to an end and or are about to happen. The old German musical tradition of letting yourself go (Holger Czukay, You, Anima, Cluster, you name it) is in the air, and Willner breathes it. His highly personal approach to music and composition leads to nothing less then a matchless album that embodies beginning anew. |
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LOOPS OF YOUR HEART: And Never Ending Nights LP+CD (MAGAZINE 005LP) 22.00 LP version with CD. Please allow us the pleasure of introducing Axel Willner’s Loops Of Your Heart. Hailing from Sweden, the man behind this record alone needs no introduction, as he is already well-known in the electronic music scene for his project The Field. Loops Of Your Heart reflects Axel’s experience in Germany, where during his lengthy stays, his mantra-like arpeggiators contributed to the first manifestation of the sound of Cologne Tape, a group that formed while he was staying there. You can also hear this on the much sought-after debut Render, which came out on Magazine in 2010. Only a foreshadowing of what was to about to come, Willner has been living in Berlin and letting his creativity go crazy. With an arsenal of special synthesizers and guitars, he has put together And Never Ending Nights. After touring worldwide with The Field for the last 10 years, this album is like coming home again. You can hear German children speaking outside his studio in Berlin (on the track “Neukölln”) and it is not only the track titles which tell of things that have come to an end and or are about to happen. The old German musical tradition of letting yourself go (Holger Czukay, You, Anima, Cluster, you name it) is in the air, and Willner breathes it. His highly personal approach to music and composition leads to nothing less then a matchless album that embodies beginning anew. |
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MINUS (CANADA) | |
HOBO: Iron Triangle 2×12″ (MINUS 118LP) 20.00 2×12″ version. M_nus introduces a new name to its artist family: Hobo. Iron Triangle is a stunning take on the stripped-to-the-bone essence of electronic dance music. Joel Boychuk aka Hobo takes us on a tour of the Iron Triangle — a destination point for the techno artist whose very name embodies both the restless spirit of his productions and his journey from being one-half of the former M_nus duo Tractile, to being a recognized star performer in his own right. With this album, Boychuk intends to encapsulate the unique atmospheres of the three geographical points and spaces in between that have influenced both his musical output and his outlook as a person. What is the Iron Triangle, and how has it influenced his approach to making his first full-length album? “The Iron Triangle is both a simple concept and complicated percept — kind of abstract but also very simple. In its simplest form it’s an area between three places where I come from, covering a bit of Canada and the U.S. — three places which are connected by a lot of history and three important train lines that once ran between them, hence the ‘iron.’ Where it begins to stretch into a much more abstract and complicated territory is in how I relate to the iron triangle: sometimes I’m there, sometimes I’m not there and sometimes I wish I was or wasn’t there. At the end of 2010, I had been away from the triangle for much longer than usual and mentally, I was as far away as ever. I reflected on past experiences and looked forward to new ones as inspiration for the album: All of the tracks are based around experiences I’ve had at this place, sometimes just an image or memory. My approach to production changes frequently: sometimes I produce just because I enjoy doing it; other times I view it as something that needs to be done for the purposes of clearing the mind; and sometimes it’s just done for raw musical experimentation. I think my sound went back to its earlier roots while making this record, at times playful and weird with a tinge of darkness. In that respect, some of the tracks on the album share exact influences with other previous tracks of mine, so I can infer from that the evolution in the album’s sound directly reflects my evolution as a producer.” |
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MO’S FERRY (GERMANY) | |
BEJNAR, PIOTR: Cracow Fight 12″ (MFP 059EP) 12.00 For Piotr Bejnar, Cracow Fight is not only a platform to present himself. He also welcomes his friend and producer Jackname Trouble on board and finishes the 4-tracker with two excellent remixes from German producers Yapacc and Patlac. |
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MODERN LOVE (UK) | |
DEMDIKE STARE: Elemental Part 4: Iris 12″ (LOVE 076EP) 18.00 Part four in this 4-part set. This 12″ slots into the Elemental quad-gatefold which came with parts 1 & 2 (LOVE 073_074LP). The 2CD album Elemental features a different tracklisting with alternate versions of some of these vinyl tracks plus extra content. Mastered and cut by Lupo at Dubplates & Mastering, pressed on colored vinyl and limited to 1,000 copies for the world. Featuring specially-commissioned artwork by Andy Votel. |
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MOVECLEAN (GERMANY) | |
MOVECLEAN: Moveclean01 12″ (MOVECLEAN 001EP) 14.00 Moveclean is an anonymous project. Let the music speak for itself. |
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MUNSTER RECORDS (SPAIN) | |
JUANITA Y LOS FEOS: Pesadilla Adulta CD (MR 318CD) 17.50 New album by Juanita y Los Feos, one of the most active bands in the thriving Spanish garage/punk/new wave scene. Pesadilla Adulta is a major step forward for the band, who have been together since 2004. The sharp production takes JYLF to new wave and post-punk perfection in should-be-hits such as “Autolesionarse,” “El Final,” “500 Muertos” or “Circo Roma,” while maintaining a trace of their garage punk origins. |
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CRAMPS, THE: File Under Sacred Music: Early Singles 1978-1981 10×7″ BOX (MR 7239EP) 78.00 Repressed on vinyl; Limited edition 7″ boxset. Munster Records presents a compilation of the The Cramps’ early singles plus some tracks from the same period, 1978-1981, that were never issued in that format. Six replica sleeves and four new sleeves were especially designed for this edition. Plus a stamped envelope includes photos and memorabilia.”I’ve no idea why The Cramps don’t seem to figure in a lot of alleged histories of punk or just plain music in general. This could be down to them being utterly or unpigeonhole-able (is that even a word?) or just outright ignorance. Perhaps a bit of both, but hey, let’s not concern ourselves with that. The band changed the face of culture. Period. Without bothering ‘the charts’ or playing too many stadiums, their seismic effect on everything you hold dear will be felt for all time. This ancient knowledge — some of their grooviest gravy — is presented here for your delectation and delight. So get a crack-a-lackin’ with blasting these twisted hymns morning, noon and night. And while the ruckus is in full swing, pray to whoever might listen that Ivy will get around to compile the ultimate document of her undulating combo in commemoration of their services to entertainment. The bloody gears of this here rockin’ machine will be rolling way beyond the foreseeable future. Reasons outwith anyone’s control might mean that you can’t see the band anymore but no one — no how — will be able to make this thing stop. Meanwhile, dig into this feast for the little ghouls that understood all along or indeed anyone with a decent set of ears.” –Lindsay Hutton |
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NONPLACE (GERMANY) | |
FRIEDMAN, BURNT: Bokoboko CD (NON 033CD) 15.50 Burnt Friedman presents his fourth solo album. Bokoboko is an entirely instrumental recording, impossible to pinpoint to existing genres of music. “Bokoboko” comes from the Japanese, like the other track titles, and means “uneven,” “hollow-sounding” — adjectives aptly describing the album’s crooked, dynamic grooves as well as the many percussively-resounding instruments. Friedman, recognizable more or less by the sound of the ten instrumental tracks, plays prepared oil barrels/steel drums, all kinds of wood and metal percussion, gongs, monochord, a home-made rubber-band guitar, organ, synthesizer, and electric guitar. He is sometimes joined by Hayden Chisholm (wind instruments), Joseph Suchy (guitar), Daniel Schröter (bass), as well as, making his first guest appearance, Takeshi Nishimoto, a Berlin-based Japanese musician playing the sarod, a traditional Indian string instrument. The uneven types of rhythm, which provide the specific oscillation on which all the tracks are based, in principle obey all the components: melodies, noises, monophone sequences and dub echoes inserted into pre-sketched, programmed basic tracks. “Deku No Bo” and “Sendou” follow the same rhythmic formula, the same seven-part cyclic groove, even though it is hard to discover any superficial resemblance between the two. The same is basically true of the three parts of “Rimuse”: here, an even groove is superimposed over the one divided into ten. “Bokoboko” follows the rhythmic pattern of 11 (divided into eight and three). The ten tracks on Bokoboko were recorded and mixed in Friedman’s Berlin studio over the past three years. The cover shows a detail from a work by Theo Altenberg. |
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FRIEDMAN, BURNT: Bokoboko 2LP (NON 033LP) 21.00 Double LP version. Burnt Friedman presents his fourth solo album. Bokoboko is an entirely instrumental recording, impossible to pinpoint to existing genres of music. “Bokoboko” comes from the Japanese, like the other track titles, and means “uneven,” “hollow-sounding” — adjectives aptly describing the album’s crooked, dynamic grooves as well as the many percussively-resounding instruments. Friedman, recognizable more or less by the sound of the ten instrumental tracks, plays prepared oil barrels/steel drums, all kinds of wood and metal percussion, gongs, monochord, a home-made rubber-band guitar, organ, synthesizer, and electric guitar. He is sometimes joined by Hayden Chisholm (wind instruments), Joseph Suchy (guitar), Daniel Schröter (bass), as well as, making his first guest appearance, Takeshi Nishimoto, a Berlin-based Japanese musician playing the sarod, a traditional Indian string instrument. The uneven types of rhythm, which provide the specific oscillation on which all the tracks are based, in principle obey all the components: melodies, noises, monophone sequences and dub echoes inserted into pre-sketched, programmed basic tracks. “Deku No Bo” and “Sendou” follow the same rhythmic formula, the same seven-part cyclic groove, even though it is hard to discover any superficial resemblance between the two. The same is basically true of the three parts of “Rimuse”: here, an even groove is superimposed over the one divided into ten. “Bokoboko” follows the rhythmic pattern of 11 (divided into eight and three). The ten tracks on Bokoboko were recorded and mixed in Friedman’s Berlin studio over the past three years. The cover shows a detail from a work by Theo Altenberg. |
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OLD NEWS (AUSTRIA) | |
O’ROURKE, JIM: Old News #7 2LP (OLDNEWS 007LP) 27.50 More archival works from Jim O’Rourke see the light of day on Old News #7. Side one and two were recorded circa ’96-’97 at the Steamroom, Chicago. Side three was recorded live in Nagoya at Tokuzo, April 2011. Thanks to Carlos Giffoni. Side four recorded during ’93-’94 and originally released on These Records. Thanks to Andrew & Howard Jacques. “Welcome To The Django” is a 2-sided mid-’90s excursion of O’Rouke’s first experiments with a Serge Modular System. “Natural Born Killers” is a recent live jam recorded in Nagoya. “Tacere Fas” is legendary early ’90s piece, finally available again, originally appearing on the compilation Unentitled, released by These Records in 1994. Available only in this format. |
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OMNI RECORDING COMPANY (AUSTRALIA) | |
ORCHESTRA PETER THOMAS: Orion 2000 CD (OMNI 149CD) 20.00 “The highpoint of a career that boasts the legendary Space Patrol (Raumpatrouille) and Chariots Of The Gods soundtracks, Peter Thomas’ Orion 2000 is a near-mythical release that was only ever pressed in minuscule amounts as a German library LP (in 1975) and has never been available commercially before now. Drums pound, basses buzz, horns flail and star-maidens wail. Berserk electronic and musique-concrete effects collide with manic energy. There is nothing on this world (or any other) that sounds like the ‘blaxploitation-kraut-jazz-in-space’ sound of the Orchestra Peter Thomas. Remastered from the original master tapes and presented with exclusive liner notes, the original artwork, three extra previously unreleased tracks (15 total) and rare photos.” |
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SCIORTINO, PATRICE: Chronoradial CD (OMNI 150CD) 20.00 “In the world of sound library and production music French avant-garde composer Patrice Sciortino is both unique and universal. His astounding late 1960s and early 1970s recordings for the prestigious Musique Pour L’Image and PSI labels receive their first serious reissue and reappraisal here. Reissued for the very first time is his landmark 1970 LP Chronoradial plus a swathe of beautiful yet confronting, and incredibly rare, late 1960s French library cuts. Thirty-six track CD. All original recordings. First Official release on CD ever. Twenty page full color booklet with exclusive liner notes and rare photos. Ultra-rare French production music workouts that bare comparison to Bernard Herrmann and Ennio Morricone at their best.” |
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STONEMANS, THE: All In The Family CD (OMNI 151CD) 20.00 “Founded around 1920s Hillbilly recording star ‘Pop’ Stoneman, by the mid-1960s the group comprised Pop and five of his thirteen children. With a dizzying sound that melded old-timey traditions, sunshine pop and breakneck bluegrass jams, The Stonemans hit the country charts often but are now strangely forgotten. Mini-skirts and mandolins mutate through quasi-psychedelic visions of space (‘The Five Little Johnson Girls’), identity fraud (‘Christopher Robin’) and suburban delirium (‘West Canterbury Subdivision Blues’), while instrumentals like ‘Bluegrass Ramble’ cut and sear. For the very first time all of their chart hits and many astounding LP cuts are presented on this 34 track CD, remastered from the original master tapes and presented with exclusive liner notes and a treasure trove of fabulous photos.” |
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CURLESS, DICK: The Long Lonesome Road CD (OMNI 152CD) 20.00 “Known as ‘The Baron of Country Music,’ Dick Curless was a commanding vocal and physical presence. Possessed of a magnificent rumbling baritone, standing an imposing 6′ 3″ and eye-patched (due to genuine health problems) Curless battled drug and alcohol addictions for much of his life yet left a compelling catalog of music. The 1968 LP The Long Lonesome Road is perhaps his greatest album and is presented here in its entirety (including the bleakly autographical hit ‘Bury the Bottle with Me’) with 19 astounding extra cuts. They range from Curless’ chilling trucker anthem ‘A Tombstone Every Mile,’ the stark ‘Foggy Foggy Dew’ to rollicking barroom laments like ‘Loser’s Cocktail’ and the haunting anti-war ode ‘Old Bob Burton.’ Remastered from the original master tapes and presented with exclusive liner notes and rare photos. Twenty-nine track CD. All original recordings. Many tracks first time on CD.” |
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PERMANENT VACATION (GERMANY) | |
TALABOT, JOHN: Fin CD (PERMVAC 089CD) 15.50 While staying true to his sound, John Talabot has nevertheless shown a constant evolution as a producer since his first release. He has traced a solid musical path that has turned him into one of the big references of European house and has made him also a highly in-demand remixer. This progression now crystallizes in Fin, his first full-length album for Permanent Vacation — a record in which the Barcelona mastermind sets aside danceable immediacy to expand his stylistic palette more than ever. For that purpose, Talabot melts all the elements that have constructed his distinctive sound until now and makes them emerge from a new perspective in which the construction of complex song structures, intricate rhythms and super-positions of ever-evolving melodies and atmospheres pick up the baton of the “a kick-drum and a sampler” philosophy of his initial productions. The result brings us 11 tracks dominated by dark ambiances, gaseous textures and bittersweet moods that, above all, reveal a kind of vivacity that’s really hard to find in contemporary electronics. Fin is far from being a track collection. From the majestic opener “Depak Ine” to its solemn ending with “So Will Be Now,” one of the two tracks that features Talabot’s soul- and label- mate Pional, each song traces an overall dialogue with the rest, culminating in a highly emotional journey through Talabot’s always compelling and unique musical vision. “Talabot has become an exemplar of a new breed of producers working at the intersection of deep house, disco, and indie pop, and he has carved out his own niche somewhere between the slow-motion theatrics of artists such as Mark E and Tensnake, the globe-trotting jewel tones of Four Tet and Caribou, and the psych-pop rush of Animal Collective and Delorean.” –Pitchfork (8.5; “Best New Music”) |
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TALABOT, JOHN: Fin LP+CD (PERMVAC 089LP) 18.00 LP version with CD. While staying true to his sound, John Talabot has nevertheless shown a constant evolution as a producer since his first release. He has traced a solid musical path that has turned him into one of the big references of European house and has made him also a highly in-demand remixer. This progression now crystallizes in Fin, his first full-length album for Permanent Vacation — a record in which the Barcelona mastermind sets aside danceable immediacy to expand his stylistic palette more than ever. For that purpose, Talabot melts all the elements that have constructed his distinctive sound until now and makes them emerge from a new perspective in which the construction of complex song structures, intricate rhythms and super-positions of ever-evolving melodies and atmospheres pick up the baton of the “a kick-drum and a sampler” philosophy of his initial productions. The result brings us 11 tracks dominated by dark ambiances, gaseous textures and bittersweet moods that, above all, reveal a kind of vivacity that’s really hard to find in contemporary electronics. Fin is far from being a track collection. From the majestic opener “Depak Ine” to its solemn ending with “So Will Be Now,” one of the two tracks that features Talabot’s soul- and label- mate Pional, each song traces an overall dialogue with the rest, culminating in a highly emotional journey through Talabot’s always compelling and unique musical vision. “Talabot has become an exemplar of a new breed of producers working at the intersection of deep house, disco, and indie pop, and he has carved out his own niche somewhere between the slow-motion theatrics of artists such as Mark E and Tensnake, the globe-trotting jewel tones of Four Tet and Caribou, and the psych-pop rush of Animal Collective and Delorean.” –Pitchfork (8.5; “Best New Music”) |
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PHILPOT (GERMANY) | |
TOH, TIM: Pandemonium 12″ (PHP 058EP) 14.00 This is mind-bending, next-level house from Tim Toh, pressed on colored vinyl. |
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TEPELI, MURAT: In The Mood For… 12″ (PHP 059EP) 14.00 Murat Tepeli presents outstanding tracks for Philpot. From the jacking “Çiftetelli” via the deeper territories of “Mastika” to the core of electronics “Good,” this EP covers the whole spectrum from one of Germany’s most gifted producers. |
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PHOENIX RECORDS (UK) | |
FLOWER TRAVELLIN’ BAND: Satori LP (ASH 3002LP) 22.00 2012 repress. Deluxe LP format; 180 gram pressing. Reissue of the second Flower Travellin’ Band album, originally issued by Atlantic Records in Japan in 1971. Satori is a conceptual hard rock/psych album driven by Hideki Ishima’s furious guitar licks which erupt and explode over the harmonic heart beat of the drums and bass. Yamanaka’s banshee-like vocal style turned him into an occidental Iggy Pop or Robert Plant while the band itself was rapidly becoming Japan’s answer to Led Zeppelin. Satori is a huge album in every way. From power chords to Eastern-tinged North African six-string freak-outs and crashing tom-toms, the band flexes its collective muscle from start to finish. In short, this is a real rock classic of the type they simply don’t make any more. |
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SPEED, GLUE & SHINKI: Eve LP (ASH 3026LP) 22.00 2012 repress. Phoenix Records presents the first 180 gram virgin vinyl release of Speed, Glue & Shinki’s 1971 debut album, Eve. Ex-Food Brain guitarist Shinki Chen, bass player Masayoshi Kabe (also known as M Glue) and Filipino Vietnam war veteran Joey “Pepe” Smith, who doubled as both the trio’s drummer and vocalist, released two legendary albums in the early ’70s. Eve, the earlier of the band’s two efforts, was probably the band’s only “real” recording, as the self-titled second release in 1972 was put together by Smith from studio outtakes of Chen’s guitar playing and tracks omitted from Eve. This is a bluesy, psychedelic album, with Chen’s Hendrix-style guitar playing firmly underpinned by Smith’s insistent percussion style modeled on the style and technique of his idol, Ginger Baker. The band dissolved immediately after the release of Eve, as the other two members found Smith’s drug-fuelled lifestyle decidedly unappealing (he was a huge fan of amphetamines and diligently applied himself to establishing a prodigious habit). Chen decided he didn’t want to record again, and became a successful live artist, Joey went back to the Philippines and started the immensely successful power trio Juan de la Cruz Band, and Masayoshi Kabe would win fame with the band Pink Cloud. In spite of their short-lived activity, Speed, Glue & Shinki were important first and foremost as pioneers of the Japanese psychedelic rock scene. Gatefold sleeve. |
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STRAWBERRY PATH: When The Raven Has Come To The Earth LP (ASH 3034LP) 22.00 2012 repress. Another lost gem for lovers of Japanese psych and hard rock, this time from the inspirational ’70s prog outfit, Strawberry Path. From its extremely cool front cover to the last track, this is an album that will appeal to garage fans, psych heads, mondo music lovers and acid freaks alike, merging as it does a variety of Western influences, ranging from Jimi Hendrix (check out Shigeru Narumo’s hard psych guitar) to Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. Originally released in 1971, Strawberry Path were the forerunners of Japan’s Flied Egg, one of the most influential Japanese prog bands to emerge in the ’70s. This is hard psych rock at its best, and an album which has soared in value over the last few years. Highly collectable and highly listenable. All-analog pressing housed in a gatefold sleeve. 180 gram virgin vinyl. |
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LES RALLIZES DENUDES: Blind Baby Has Its Mother’s Eyes LP (ASH 3035LP) 22.00 2012 repress; LP version. Legendary Japanese rock outfit Les Rallizes Dénudés were formed in 1967 and incredibly, for a group that had only one official release (Oz Days Live, a double vinyl compilation release in 1973), played their last gig almost 30 years later in October 1996. The band’s name apparently means “fucked up and naked,” which more than adequately describes their music. Formed by band leader Mizutani Takashi, the music remained remarkably familiar over the years, and is best described as high volume, raw, lo-fi, repetitive, feedback-drenched guitar-noise fests with nods in the direction of The Velvet Underground and Blues Creation, but without the electronics. Radical left-wing politics were never far from the band’s agenda, with one original band member (Wakabayashi) being involved in the Japanese Red Army’s hijacking of a flight to North Korea. Consequently, the group’s live appearances became less frequent and increasingly clandestine. All the band’s albums were released in very small quantities, and because of the group’s reputation for secrecy and violence, as well as the difficulty in tracking down their recordings, Les Rallizes Dénudés has assumed almost mythical status. Blind Baby Has Its Mother’s Eyes sits at #11 on Julian Cope’s list of top Japanese albums. |
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LES RALLIZES DENUDES: Heavier Than A Death In The Family 2LP (ASH 3037LP) 31.00 2012 repress. 2LP version. Phoenix Records releases the oft-bootlegged Heavier Than A Death In The Family by legendary Japanese rock/psychedelic noise band Les Rallizes Dénudés. This “album” is in fact, a blistering assemblage of live performances (all recorded in 1977, except for “People Can Choose,” which was recorded in 1973) which sits at an esteemed #3 position on Julian Cope’s Japrocksampler top 50 list. Reverb so heavy, it will split your frontal lobe in two. |
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KOSUGI, TAKEHISA: Catch Wave LP (ASH 3041LP) 22.00 2012 repress. Takehisa Kosugi is an inter-media artist and performer who started his career back in the ’60s in Tokyo. With his first band Group Ongaku (free anarchist-conceptual improvisations) he was introduced to the Fluxus avant-garde movement. During the ’70s, he was a member of the mystical, psychedelic, droning rock band Taj Mahal Travellers. He co-founded the band in 1969. Since the end of the ’70s until now, he has released several solo albums and commissioned works for events and sound installations. His album Catch Wave (1975) is an absolute progressive masterpiece, bringing Takehisa Kosugi’s musical talent to territories usually reserved for kosmic Krautrock. 180 gram vinyl, housed in a gatefold sleeve. |
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UCHIDA & THE FLOWERS, YUYA: Challenge! LP (ASH 3044LP) 22.00 2012 repress. LP version. Following his self-imposed exile in Britain, soon-to-be Flower Travellin’ Band leader Yuya Uchida embarked on the task of creating a hand-picked band in the hope of achieving a home-grown outfit to rival groups he’d been listening to in London. Legendary guitarist Hideki Ishima was his first recruit, followed by steel guitarist Katshiko Kobayashi and then the bravest move of all, the beautiful vocalist Remi Aso was asked to front the band, now named The Flowers. The band’s debut LP, originally released in 1968, completely changed the Japanese musical scene, featuring as it did, hard covers of Big Brother And The Holding Company, Cream and Jefferson Airplane songs, and its ground-breaking cover art, featuring the band’s members, including Miss Aso, naked in a cornfield, changed the musical landscape for ever. First vinyl reissue, includes an LP insert. On 180 gram vinyl. |
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FLOWER TRAVELLIN’ BAND: Anywhere LP (ASH 3054LP) 22.00 First album from the legendary Japanese rockers fronted by Yuya Uchida. Although an album consisting mainly of cover versions, 1970’s Anywhere still exhibited many of the musical traits that were to come to the fore on the band’s next release, the classic Satori, an album of original material delivered with panache by the increasingly confident Uchida. An album made memorable by its risqué cover as well as its ground-breaking approach to Western rock music. Features the original LP artwork and includes the original Japanese insert. |
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POST PRESENT MEDIUM | |
EARN: A Following Shadow CD (PPM 051CD) 9.00 “Earn is Matthew Sullivan, known to some already as Privy Seals, his extremely harsh noise project, collaborator with underground ambient artist Sean McCann, owner of the cassette label Ekhein, one half of the group 1958-2009 and former member of the legendary Deep Jew. A prolific gentleman with an ear for blissful engulfing tones and radiance that go beyond ambient or shoe gaze. His project Earn stands as a testament at his ability to use minimalism as an approach to guitar playing to find sounds, exude gentle brushes of color and embrace the emotional state of the player.” |
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COPELAND, ERIC: Car Alarm/Brain Dead 7″ (PPM 052EP) 6.00 “Eric Copeland is a member of Black Dice from New York. His solo work under his own name exhibits an exciting and intensely original take on song structure, delivery and approach. Since 2007 Eric has recorded and released a hand full of LPs and singles and lately has been cranking out the tunes on 7″s via PPM. On his previous three 7″ releases ‘Doo Doo Run b/w ‘Fundinkdeath’, ‘Puerto Rican b/w ‘The Eyeball’ and ‘Whorehouse Blues b/w ‘Guk & UFO’s Over Vampire City’, Eric has taken and warped pop song ideas and skewed them incredibly, crafting out some very killer tunes.” |
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PRO-TEZ | |
HEWEK & IZHEVSKI, GORJE: Nomdetemps 12″ (PROTEZ 022EP) 12.00 Deepmix Moscow Radio heroes Gorje Hewek & Izhevski present modern house par excellence on Pro-Tez. “Aureol” evolves around gorgeous, arpeggiated padded piano keys and perpetual house percussion layered with elegantly uplifting strings and moody vocal snippets. “Inspire” is more bass-driven, with daintier, mesmerizing keys and slow-burning atmospheres. Not to be missed. |
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RASTER-NOTON (GERMANY) | |
KYOKA: Ununpentium/iSH 12″ (R-N 115EP) 14.00 The fifth release in the Raster-Noton Unun series is a 12″ release by Kyoka, known for her chaotic, direct approach and heavy/rough sound, resulting in a broken pop-beat with experimental yet danceable rhythms. Produced by Frank Bretschneider. Berlin, June/July 2011. Remix for “HADue” by Atom TM. Photo by Sylvia Steinhäuser. Live drum by Tetsuya Yamasaki, Turkey. Ryuichi Sakamoto on Kyoka: “it sounds like a toy box turned upside down. How can she make such pretty & chaotic sounds!? I love it!” |
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REEL TIME (UK) | |
VA: Mondo Hollywood: Original Soundtrack CD (RT 1006CD) 17.00 Released in the summer of 1967, this oddball documentary focused on the more unconventional inhabitants of Hollywood, such as multi-millionaire Lewis Beech Marvin III (founder of the mysterious Moonfire cult), celebrity hairdresser Jay Sebring (later murdered by the Manson gang) and psychedelic pioneer Richard Alpert (an associate of Timothy Leary at Harvard). Its equally unconventional soundtrack boasts a rare performance from cult singer-songwriter Bobby Jameson, as well as garage rock from The Mugwump Establishment and weird and wonderful contributions from numerous other denizens of Tinseltown and makes its CD debut here. Background notes included. Other artists include: Mike Clifford, Davie Allen & The Arrows, The Riptides, God Pan, Darrell Dee, 18th Century Concepts and Teddy & Darrell. |
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RRYGULAR (GERMANY) | |
XAVIER, TIM: Play On Words EP 12″ (RRY 050EP) 12.00 Tim Xavier is the owner of the Manmade Mastering Studios — usually the last link in the chain before the final pressing on vinyl. With his Play On Words EP, Xavier proves that he can realize the earlier production steps as well. The very sophisticated dry to dubby tracks happen somewhere between weird coldness and warm brutality. Xavier plays a lot with room and reverberation and lets the listener sink into the depths of his soundscapes. |
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RUSH HOUR (NETHERLANDS) | |
BNJMN: Black Square CD (RH DC1_CD) 17.00 Now available on CD with 5 bonus tracks taken from his debut release Plastic World. With Black Square, BNJMN evolves into a more fluid production style, largely by allowing more space into his music. By keeping his drums more sparse and light, his music takes even more of a serene, futuristic quality. A modern electronic classic, we dare to say. Braindance, anybody? Although a quick comparison is made between his music and that of early ’90s UK electronica, BNJMN states that he is trying to stay current and not be influenced by the past, rather making music which is all about the moment. He is also not too bothered about being connected to what else is going on in the musical world. Instead, he prefers to let himself be inspired by his surroundings which are those of the sea and nature around Bournemouth, on the south coast of England, which definitely comes out in his music. |
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RVNG INTERNATIONAL | |
BLUES CONTROL & LARAAJI: FRKWYS Vol. 8 LP (FRKWYS 008LP) 21.00 Repressed; LP version. “Volume 8 in the ongoing FRKWYS series on RVNG Intl. is a double album-length collaboration between Blues Control and Laraaji. Following the ‘fodder first’ tradition of previous FRKWYS installments, Vol. 8 was birthed over e-mail dialogue between RVNG and Russ Waterhouse and Lea Cho of Blues Control. Blues Control’s evolved output gracefully arcs with influence and innovation that gleams electronic, New Age, and hard rock terrains. Laraaji’s name came up early in that conversation and felt intrinsic to Waterhouse and Cho’s own musical calling. After learning various instruments in his formative years and studying composition at Howard University, Laraaji eventually found his musical conduit in an electronically-modified zither. Laraaji’s 1979 album Celestial Vibration (recorded as Edward Larry Gordon) places the stringed instrument at the forefront on two side-length excursions in rhythmic ambiance. The 1980 album Ambient 3: Day of Radiance, produced by Brian Eno for his ambient record series, further documented Laraaji’s zither explorations alongside Eno’s soundscaping. Laraaji continues to pursue music both in its recorded form and as a healing tool. Over two album sides, the listener is transported from the urban sound garden of ‘Awakening Day,’ through the soulful yow of ‘Light Ships,’ into the texture bliss of ‘City of Love,’ and finally the reflective pool of ‘Freeflow’. The first bonus track ‘Somebody Scream’ demonstrates Laraaji’s dexterous zither-playing over thirty-five minutes of music, while the second, ‘Astral Jam,’ starts with a Wu-like beat (courtesy of Laraaji) and warps into a rolling snare trance.” Includes a download code for the entire album, plus “almost an hour of bonus material.” |
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SACRED BONES | |
WAR: At War For Youth 7″ (SBR 069EP) 5.50 “An ongoing collaboration between two of Copenhagen’s most active musicians in its burgeoning punk scene. Loke Rahbek co-runs the Danish label Posh Isolation, sings for the band Sexdrome, and records with Skurv and Damien Dubrovnik while also performing under the solo moniker of LR. Elias Bender Rønnenfelt sings and plays guitar in Iceage and is a member of Marching Church and Pagan Youth. Between the two of them a rich lineage of musical history and influences can be traced, but within the context of SB releases, War is a band who falls somewhere between Daily Void and Trust.” |
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ZOLA JESUS: In Your Nature 7″ (SBR 073EP) 5.50 “It is our honor to present the ‘first and only official authorized Zola Jesus remix, In Your Nature, as heard through the ears of David Lynch. We gave Mr. Lynch a copy of her album Conatus and let him pick which track he wanted to work with. He chose a track that we felt already had single potential and replaced the tension building string patches with intricately crafted guitar parts orchestrated and performed by himself and music assistant Dean Hurley. What was once a dance track becomes a lurching cinematic masterpiece. The beat is slowed to a crawl, drum and synth patches removed entirely, and what is left is something perhaps closer to the nature of Zola Jesus than we ever could have hoped for.” |
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SING SING RECORDS | |
AMBULANCE: It’s All Up To You/I Remember 7″ (SING 036EP) 7.00 “This lone single from New Jersey’s Ambulance sits in the top tier of power pop 45s and is usually only afforded by serious collectors but now its here for mass consumption! Consisting of Steve William (gtr), Johnny C. (b) and Bobby Padula (d), the trio would call the legendary Dirt club in Bloomfield, NJ their home base (they even did a commercial for them) but were also known to frequently play the NYC punk clubs. The single, recorded in 1978, and originally issued in an edition of 1000 copies, was well received at the time and got decent airplay.” |
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SCREAMING URGE: Homework/Runaway 7″ (SING 037EP) 7.00 “Columbus, Ohio forms the southern point of Ohio’s golden triangle of D.I.Y. (with Cleveland at the north, and someplace between Akron and Youngstown to the east). From these few hundred square miles emerged dozens of bands whose musical roots flow directly from the splendidly guileless art-rock of Rocket From the Tombs and Pere Ubu -with barely a trace of Ramones, Sex Pistols or Elvis Costello — Screaming Urge’s ‘Homework’ is this series’ theme-song. They were certainly the punkiest outfit in the gloriously experimental Columbus scene at the turn of the ’80s, but the thoroughly un-punk artwork on their LPs and the EP still scares off the headbangers. They played the heck out of Columbus’ clubs, church halls, sidewalks and a burlesque club they rented. Major label nibbles came to naught, but they left behind a cool 45 (New Age 002) and two LPs-worth of world-class DIY-punk. Drummer Dave Manic went on to Great Plains.” |
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ROCKIN’ HORSE: Yes It Is LP (SING 038LP) 14.00 “Rockin’ Horses’ Yes It Is has been critically hailed as one of the true lost British power pop relics. When the late Greg Shaw (Bomp Records & Magazine) created his Voxx subsidiary, the first single he decided to reissue was Rockin’ Horses’ 1971 magnum opus single, ‘The Biggest Gossip in Town.’ Shaw declared that the single was the greatest power pop song of all time. Heady stuff.” |
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SMALLTOWN SUPERSOUND (NORWAY) | |
LINDSTROM: Six Cups Of Rebel CD (STS 221CD) 17.00 “With the latest album from dance producer Hans-Peter Lindstrom, Norway’s latest entry in the space race has been launched out of the wooded outskirts of Oslo. Six Cups Of Rebel, Lindstrom’s fourth solo album (his first to feature vocals), is a super-sized cosmic disco rocket that burns up a galaxy of eclectic influences in its wake, from Bach to Deep Purple, from prog rock and arpeggiator disco to acid house, while sounding sleek and utterly contemporary.” |
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LINDSTROM: Six Cups Of Rebel 2LP (STS 221LP) 24.00 Gatefold 2LP version. |
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SOUL JAZZ RECORDS (UK) | |
VA: Voguing: Voume One 2LP+CD (SJR 255A-LP) 25.00 Gatefold double LP version, volume one; includes a free Junior Vasquez mix CD. Artists on the vinyl: Inner Life, Masters At Work, Ellis D, Cheryl Lynn, Loose Joints, Armand Van Helden, Raze, First Choice, 2 Body’s and Diana Ross. |
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VA: Voguing: Volume Two 2LP (SJR 255B-LP) 25.00 Gatefold double LP version, volume two. Artists: George Kranz, Junior Vazquez, MFSB, Rageous Projecting Kevin Aviance, First Choice, Malcolm McLaren, Nitro Deluxe and Salsoul. |
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VA: Voguing And The House Ballroom Scene Of New York City 3CD (SJR 255CD) 22.00 …1976-96. “Voguing, where dancers choreographed movements and poses taken from fashion magazines such as Vogue, first emerged around 1988 in the extraordinary ‘house ball’ community of Harlem, New York. Here African-American and Latino gay and transgender men competed against one another at ‘drag balls’ for the ‘realness’ of their drag, their ability to walk on a fashion runway like a model — and for their dancing skills — out of which came ‘voguing.’ In 1990 voguing erupted into the mainstream when Madonna’s song ‘Vogue’ became number one in over 30 countries. The previous year ex-Sex Pistols’ svengali Malcolm McClaren had first brought voguing into the cultural milieu with his song ‘Deep in Vogue,’ featuring the dancer Willi Ninja. In 1990 Jennie Livingstone’s film Paris is Burning, also documented the house ballroom scene in its ascendant, the film a runaway success. As voguing entered into the mainstream, the ‘house ball’ scene came downtown mixing with the fashion crowd of Manhattan. With this shift, Voguing was first seen outside the ball scene at legendary dance clubs such as Larry Levan’s Paradise Garage and Junior Vasquez’s Sound Factory. Here also the music evolved from the pertinent classic disco tracks of the 1970s into a harder house sound as artists such as Masters at Work and Junior Vazquez produced music that perfectly complimented the ‘pop, dip and spin’ moves of voguing. Limited edition 3CD pack includes exclusive bonus Junior Vasquez mix CD plus a unique set of postcards by photographer Chantal Regnault. Booklet includes sleevenotes by author Tim Lawrence and interviews with DJs David DePino and Junior Vasquez.” |
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SPECTRUM SPOOLS | |
TURMAN, ROBERT: Flux 2LP (SP 010LP) 27.50 Flux is the 1981 debut solo outing of Robert Turman, an American multi-instrumentalist and avant-garde composer. Until recently, Turman was perhaps best known for his contributions to the ballistic NON project with Boyd Rice, as well as other obscured U.S. industrial acts such as Z.O. Voider. In the summer of 1981, Turman decided he would take a drastic turn from the noisy/electronic/industrial work of his compatriots, and began work on what is now the classic Flux cassette. Flux was originally self-released in extremely limited numbers. Weary of the noisescapes of old, he set out to create long-form minimalism utilizing kalimba, piano, “Mini-Pops Jr.” drum machine, and tape loops to create a complex bed of interweaving micro-stasis. The results of these new experiments were as beautiful as they were perplexing. A curious, dusty fidelity carries these classic tracks across four sides of vinyl, including all of the original Flux content. These compositions glow with a sprawling, slow-motion haze that’s light years ahead of its time. Flux reveals wide spectrums of sound from melancholic kalimba and percussion patterns to slowed-down, syrupy exotica. Turman had complex ideas in his mind, yet only the simple technologies of the day were at hand. Hear the click of the stopping and starting Tascam 3340 open-reel tape machine as one hand presses the “record” and “play” buttons and the other plays piano phrases. While there are similarities in style to classical minimalism, Turman’s sound and vision is his own and is exclusive to his limited discography. Released in a limited edition 2xLP set. Lovingly remastered and cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates & Mastering from the original C-60 cassette master. Original cassette artwork and scans provided by Aaron Dilloway. |
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SPLENDOUR (NORWAY) | |
DISKJOKKE: Now Dance 7″ (SPLO 012EP) 8.50 “Diskjokke (aka Joachim Dyrdahl) brings us quirky, spaced-out & dubby mixture of house, Italo & disco. The single Now Dance is something that didn’t fit with his more recent ambient tracks but definitely gets your feet moving as a single. While his excellent Sagara LP for Smalltown Supersound definitely proved that Diskjokke is a versatile producer & skilled artist, this single shows that he still knows how to start a party.” |
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STRANGE ATTRACTORS AUDIO HOUSE | |
YONA, YAIR: World Behind Curtains CD (SAAH 071CD) 13.00 “Anchored by chiming steel string guitar, World Behind Curtains marks the ascendance of Yair Yona from solo steel string acolyte into master arranger, pulling the post-Takoma school of playing along with him into beautifully festooned cathedrals of sound. His exuberant attack on the acoustic guitar can be aggressive & ripe with punk rock muscle, only to return with graceful fingerstyle caresses. Each of the eight compositions sparkles with multi-instrumental color, alternating between full string arrangements, piano, horns, chimes and splashes of electric guitars.” |
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SUPERFLY (FRANCE) | |
HAMILTON QUINTET UNLIMITED, THE BOBBY: Dream Queen LP (SRLP 004LP) 30.00 “High-quality reissue of holy grail ’70s spiritual jazz funk LP available for the first time in 30 years. Deep and soulful, this privately pressed 1972 LP, good from start to finish, is an essential testimony from an out of sight band. Unique sound! Strictly limited to 1000 copies! Superfly Records are proud to present a fully licensed high-quality reissue, pressed on 180 gram vinyl with authentic paste-on covers printed in Japan!” |
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SUTRO PARK | |
DAVIS, REVEREND GARY: New Blues And Gospel LP (SP 1018LP) 18.00 “Wonderful, rare Davis recordings. The sessions that created New Blues And Gospel were the last before Reverend Gary Davis’ death and feature the only studio version of ‘Whistlin’ Blues.’ This album was never released in its original form on CD and some of the tracks are not available anywhere else. One of the finest releases by one of the best blues guitar pickers.” On 180 gram vinyl. |
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TAPETE (GERMANY) | |
ME AND CASSITY: Appearances CD (TR 224CD) 17.00 For the past year and a half, Dirk Darmstaedter has been stockpiling a stunning new collection of ten songs, grabbing time to write in hotel rooms while on tour across Europe, in the offices of Tapete Records (the label he co-founded) or at his house in the countryside near his native Hamburg. The result is Appearances, Dirk’s sixteenth release, this one under the guise of Me And Cassity. Appearances manages to sound as fresh as any first record by an emerging artist, full of energy and urgency, while at the same time tempered by a certain level of maturity, experience and sensibility that has built Dirk’s reputation as “one of Germany’s underground pop heroes,” according to the New York Times. The agenda for the new album was to record everything live in the studio, right onto analog tape in order to achieve a more old-school sound. “Fuller, louder, towering, climactic,” said Dirk. “This is how I learned to make records from folks like Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley (Elvis Costello, David Bowie, Morrissey) and Fred Maher (Material, Lou Reed).” The Me And Cassity group, featuring drummer Lars Plogschties, bassist Ben Schadow, keyboardist Nikko Weidemann, stormed through a five-day recording session at Le Chatelet studios in Hamburg’s Altona neighborhood to create this ten-song collection, which references influences such as Todd Rundgren, The Lovin’ Spoonful, Nick Drake, and Bob Dylan. A wide panorama of moods, the songs on Appearances range from sweet to passionate, pastoral to gritty, vulnerable to tough. Sparkle and hum, truth and grit. Appearances can be deceiving, but not this album. |
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SOFT HILLS, THE: The Bird Is Coming Down To Earth CD (TR 227CD) 15.50 The Soft Hills are the musical adventure of Garrett Hobba, Brittan Drake, Randall Skrasek, and Brett Massa. A Seattle band with an appreciation for experimentation and harmony, their songs draw from a wide range of influences from folk to psychedelic to ambient, drawing on literary influences and incorporating experiences from dreams and visions. To listen to The Soft Hills’ music is like wandering through a magical landscape where horse-like creatures run wild across velveteen fields and mythological birds soar under melancholy clouds. It is the band’s love for space, melody, and sonic exploration that shines through their compositions. With a growing sense of recognition, The Soft Hills find themselves developing a focused and crafted sound, and playing major venues across the U.S. In order to create a deeper, mind-altering experience for the audience, the band incorporates visual art into their live performance, projecting surreal images interspersed with live video. The band’s unique blend of vocal harmonies, reverb-heavy guitars, synth textures and visuals has made their show a rare spectacle pleasing both to the eye and ear. During the winter of 2011, the band went into the studio to record their new album, The Bird Is Coming Down To Earth, with producer Matt Brown (Trespassers William, Memphis, Lucinda Williams). Working with Matt proved to be a fruitful and enlightening experience. He helped the band capture the naturalness and spontaneity of each song, allowing them to blossom into strange, mysterious animals. The album features 10 new tracks and explores themes such as death, chaos, rebirth, sadness for things lost, and takes the listener on a journey back to a time of childhood wonder. People might hear influences from artists like Neil Young, Sigur Rós, and Grizzly Bear. The record was mixed by Erik Blood (Moondoggies, Shabazz Palaces). |
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THESONGSAYS (GERMANY) | |
PUBLIC LOVER: A Broken Shape Of You CD (SONG 007CD) 17.00 Public Lover’s debut album, A Broken Shape Of You, shows Bruno Pronsato and Ninca Leece doing what they do best: electronic avant-pop with a playful touch of romance. The album comes third in their short catalog, after their EP Musique D’Hiver Pour L’ Été, released on Pronsato’s label, Thesongsays, and Naked Figures, a more upbeat but equally elegant effort for Telegraph. Both records revealed Public Lover to be something rather fresh: an electronic duo that has both production savvy and lyrical finesse. With A Broken Shape Of You, this budding dynamic reaches maturity, creating what is surely one of the best albums of the year. There are two sides to Public Lover — the indie group and the production duo — and the tension between these two gives the album its momentum. At times it’s driven by Ninca Leece’s singing. The title track sets the scene with a string of potent images: “cold sunshine,” “frosted window pane,” “shadows of you and I.” On “Under Your Tongue,” she keeps us guessing with ambiguous metaphors: “It’s something, to keep under your tongue, it’s something, between your teeth.” “I Try,” one of the duo’s best songs and the only previously-released one here, strikes the album’s most melancholy note with those simple two words speaking volumes as they repeat. “Your Eyes Taste Like Mine” follows a similar blueprint: the oblique title phrase becomes more meaningful and more mysterious as the song floats on. At other times, the album’s pop element subsides, letting its unique production take the fore. From the first note of the opening song — a distant, quivering minor chord — it’s clear the album’s aural palette is something truly inspired. Pronsato has always earned accolades for his impeccable sound design, but his key strengths are in texture and rhythm; Ninca Leece, a trained vocalist and indie artist at heart, fills in the gaps with her ear for warmth and melody. Dusty piano keys bounce off polished kick drums, surreal vocal lines float above imperfect hand claps, and room noise and vocal outtakes (two of Pronsato’s trademarks) give the mix a sonorous dimension. Delivered in hues of pale winter light, the album has a wispy, almost weightless feel — something thanks in part to Stefan Betke, better known as Pole, the esteemed dub techno artist, who mastered the album. A Broken Shape Of You is something many electronic albums are not: understated, elliptical, and most importantly, personal. |
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THRONE OF BLOOD | |
HARKIN, EAMON: Rigor Music 12″ (THRONE 021EP) 12.00 Known as one the most adventurous promoters in New York, this is Eamon Harkin’s first-ever solo EP. “Electric Light” is expansive without feeling overblown. The song’s build-up is matched only by the dubby, subterranean stomp of the Brendon Moeller dub mix. “Rigor Music” is a propulsive acid track that feels classic without staying utterly beholden to its predecessors. The Roman Flügel mix closes out the single in a storm of snarling synths, snares and a speaker-shaking bass. |
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TOMPKINS SQUARE | |
VA: Aimer Et Perdre: To Love & To Lose Songs, 1917-1934 2CD (TSQ 2653CD) 27.00 “This is one from the heart. The unique pre-war music of the Cajun bayous, the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine and Poland, and the American rural countryside has been collected to narrate the human odyssey of love gained and love lost. Early songs of unbridled anticipation and desperate longing color the canvas of love, courtship, dejection and marriage — a never ending cycle. The accompanying 60-page booklet features many rare, previously unpublished images and comprehensive lyrical translation. Three original artworks Robert Crumb provide a backdrop for these sublime songs of passion and despair. Respectfully crafted by Christopher King and Susan Archie for Tompkins Square. Thirty-six songs on two CDs.” |
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TYPE (UK) | |
PORTER RICKS: Biokinetics CD (TYPE 100CD) 15.50 Techno isn’t a genre that has birthed many classic albums, and the dub techno subgenre even less so, but one indisputable classic is Porter Ricks’ debut Biokinetics. Originally issued on the legendary Basic Channel sub-label Chain Reaction in 1996 following a trio of 12″s, Biokinetics was the first of the label’s album releases, and still stands as its crowning achievement. The duo was made up of dark ambient pioneer Thomas Köner and sound engineer Andy Mellwig, and between them they re-framed the techno sound, imbuing the spacious ambience pioneered by label bosses Mark Ernestus and Moritz Von Oswald with a frosty, isolated experimental bent, and combining it with the sort of haunted minimalism of early Plastikman. What separated Biokinetics from other albums at the time was its unwavering narrative — the exact sound has been interpreted countless times since, but the immersive qualities of this singular record have rarely been touched. Maybe it is down to the silvery underwater concept that ties each track together — the bubbling pads, sub-aquatic basses and muffled kick drums. But as with any great album, it’s hard to exactly put your finger on what makes it a classic. Simply put, Biokinetics is one of the most important records in the genre, and it is Type’s pleasure to make it available to the world once again. Features new artwork. |
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UNKNOWN LABEL | |
TENDERNESS: Gotta Keep On Trying (DJ Harvey Edit) 12″ (GJ 1222EP) 11.00 Tenderness’ 1978 single, plus DJ Harvey’s edit. |
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VAMPISOUL (SPAIN) | |
VA: Subway Salsa: The Montuno Records Story 2CD (VAMPI 128CD) 22.00 Record Mart, an unassuming music store down in the sprawling complex of the Times Square subway station in Manhattan, should be considered one of Latin New York’s most important historic musical landmarks. It its heyday, it was not only a place where occult knowledge and cultural legacies were exchanged and passed on from one person to another, but the shop also served as the home base for Montuno Records, a small but important independent label started by proprietor Jesse Moskowitz in the 1970s. The shop and label are inextricably intertwined and constitute a New York Latin institution of sorts. Thankfully, the two entities and its proprietor are alive and well today, keeping the spirit of Subway Salsa alive for old fans and future generations alike. This compilation is an homage, paying tribute to a label that stands out as a plucky cultural beacon from a time when Fania reigned supreme. In Jesse’s cramped store one could soak up the sights of Latin album cover art, the tropical sounds blasting over the speakers, and eavesdrop on conversations among the diminutive shop’s knowledgeable staff and customers. Just as the New York metropolitan transit system is a crossroads and a means of exchange and travel, so too is its sole surviving cultural tenant Record Mart, an underground urban grotto oasis that despite a period of closure and a dwindling market, seems to hold on as tenaciously as many veteran salsa musicians from the ’70s still do to this day in the city. This collection samples the recordings from Montuno’s catalog that exemplify danceable Afro-Antillean music, from Nuyorican salsa to Haitian compas, Latin jazz to traditional Cuban genres (including the all-percussion rumba, the flute and violin-flavored charanga, and guitar/trumpet-dominated son), as well as several interesting hybrids incorporating funk, doo-wop and Brazilian sounds. Includes comprehensive liner notes by Pablo Yglesias aka DJ Bongohead, including an in-depth interview with Jesse Moskowitz, plus original LP artwork and many unseen pictures. |
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VA: La Onda Vampi CD (VAMPI 140CD) 9.00 Starting in 2002, Vampisoul is now established as one of the hippest and most respected reissue labels on the planet. New Orleans funk, Detroit R&B, boogaloo, Cuban jam sessions, exotic soundtracks, West African highlife, Latin soul, trippy tropical sounds, Peruvian groovers, Argentinian jazz, Nigerian Afrobeat — it’s all in their deep and expanding catalog. Based in the frenetic, beating heart of Madrid, Vampisoul is ideally situated to access the wild and wonderful music of Latin America, Europe, West Africa and the USA. Since 2002, they have built up a wealth of contacts across these continents. Such invaluable relationships have allowed them to release rare vintage sounds from the ’60s and ’70s that have consistently hit the target with the music-loving public, and they are also increasingly releasing new material and working with artists such as Joe Bataan, JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound, Garotas Suecas and Frente Cumbiero. La Onda Vampi is the latest in a series of popular Vampisoul samplers which includes previous titles In Search Of The Cool, Gettin’ Soulful, Movers and I Gotta New Dance. The label keeps travelling to familiar and new international destinations and their usual richness of sounds is broadened here by Iranian grooves, ’60s Czech mod R&B, flamenco rumba, psych library music from Italy, Colombian cumbia — the present and recent past of the label is represented on this fantastic selection. Today, Vampisoul is a flourishing independent label with a catalog that reveals an ocean of amazing sounds. Includes an exclusive, previously-unreleased track by Brazil’s Garotas Suecas. |
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VEE JAY | |
REED, JIMMY: Found Love LP (VEEJAY 1022LP) 11.50 Exact repro reissue of legendary blues guitarist 1959 album. Featuring hits like “Baby What You Want Me To Do,” “Big Boss Man” and “Hush Hush,” plus contributions from Eddie Taylor, Lefty Bates, Willie Dixon and Earl Phillips. |
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FORCED EXPOSURE MAILORDER EMAIL UPDATES | |
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