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FORCED EXPOSURE MAILORDER UPDATE
NEW RELEASES FOR THE WEEK OF 06/28/2010 |
click on cover art or album info to order online
from http://www.forcedexposure.com
a secure order form is available for credit card purchases.
we also accept orders via FAX at 781 321 0321.
and via mail:
FORCED EXPOSURE / 219 Medford Street / Malden, MA 02148 / USA
for more information about shipping or ordering
please refer to our FAQ: http://www.forcedexposure.com/faq.html |
| ARBOR |
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ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER: Zones Without People LP (ARBOR 115LP) 13.00
2010 repress. “Daniel Lopatin’s Oneohtrix Point Never represents a rift in time; an isolationist expedition into the archaeology of sound that utilizes the analog polysynth as a means of organic creation. Zones Without People is the second record in the OPN trilogy; acting as a bridge between the drifting, nebulous landscapes of Betrayed in The Octagon and the finely detailed sound sculpture of Lopatin’s present work. An exercise in ‘in between-ness’: reconciling noise and melodicism, drone stasis and the transience of concrète, and the amorphous zone between 70s Kraut synth music and 80s techno. Arpeggios and sequencers play a key role in this amalgamation, as these forms of repetition create an attachment to a certain sentiment neither human nor machine. The record reflects this transformation; the A Side has distinct emotional flourishes, while the majority of the B Side seems to be overtaken in cold, mechanized melodies; attempts at teaching a machine to feel. The final track, ‘Hyperdawn,’ is a solution to these two disparate modes of interpreting stimuli: a pure union of veins and patch cables. Pro printed cardboard sleeves with pro printed labels and an insert by Christelle Gualdi.” |
| ART FAG |
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BEST COAST: Sun Was High (So Was I) 7″ (AF 007EP) 7.00
“Solid orange vinyl edition. Best Coast has been featured in the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times in addition to numerous print publications.” “From Best Coast to Dum Dum Girls to the Pains of Being Pure at Heart to Vivian Girls to Strange Boys and beyond, pop is ascendant once again, especially the sort with debts to clean-cut ’50s rock and girl-group pop and soul.” — New York Times. |
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INTERNET FOREVER: Break Bones/3D 7″ (AF 008EP) 7.00
“Internet Forever is a band from the UK. Edition of 500. Two songs, ‘Break Bones’ and ‘3D’ on 500 black records with a download card. The artwork was designed by Dee Dee from Dum Dum Girls.” “The cute, late-’80s precursor to indie rock, twee was precious and raucous, poor fidelity and rich in whimsy. Now bands like Internet Forever are channeling its precocious spirit into songs that are as sweet and fuzzy as peaches bathing in a sea of kittens on a planet made of marshmallow.” — The Fader |
| B-MUSIC |
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VA: Cloud Cuckooland CD (BMS 027CD) 15.50
Rare prog rock from Ihre Kinder, Out Of Focus and Armageddon; proto-electronica from Sam Spence and Deuter; and rare music from the films of Rainer Werner Fassbinder. “Eckart Rahn is an untainted music lover in the purest sense. The original Kuckuck label founder came from a non-musical background in an obscure village in Germany with no money, few career prospects and little outlets for his creative energy. Sharing a common psyche with most young Germans after the Second World War, Rahn was literally starting from scratch, inventing his future with a blank canvas and taking risks with nothing to lose. The humble beginnings of the founder of one of the longest running European independents were simple – when he eventually heard music he fell in love with it and dedicated his life to it. A man in charge of his own destiny, from this point on, Eckart Rahn was only ever going to be his own boss. The ideologies of rebellion, rule breaking and risk taking, which would provide the foundation for the German rock explosion affectionately known as krautrock, were sewn into Rahn’s DNA from the outset. When Eckart first heard a Blue Note recording of Sonny Rollins, Live At The Village Vanguard, he immediately spent his only money on the record with hope that he would soon be able to afford a record player to play the damn thing on. This unique approach to life would later lead Rahn through his career in the music industry taking gambles on forward thinking artists in the hope that the record buying public would eventually catch up. Christened with the German word for the cuckoo bird, the label was titled in reference to the way that Rahn would lay musical eggs under an unassuming parent company like the feathered brood parasite. Combining three key elements Rahn worked alongside two other collaborative forces to get Kuckuck off the ground. With himself taking care of A&R and contractual paperwork, he enlisted the services of American DJ and record producer Mike Sondeck who would bring American electronic composer Sam Spence to the label along with his imported Moog synthesisers (paid for by The American National Football League). Rahn would also share the company with a stylish design and advertising company from Munich called ConceptData who would supply Kuckuck’s indelible graphic styling – exemplified by its cuckoo logo and typeface and their unmistakable record labels. Most of the music you will hear on this compilation is from the pre-1974 period, which is in no way intended to paint the full Kuckuck picture. This compilation intends to focus on Kuckuck’s prog rock years that would be filed under the kosmiche or Krautrock banner. You might spot that some early artists that might be filed under blues rock, pop or SSW are not included here but should be explored on their own merit or as a piece of the full picture puzzle – a jigsaw that won’t be complete until Mr. Rahn decides to take the key out of the cuckoo clock for good.” |
| BE AS ONE (ISRAEL) |
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PATCH PARK: Oddity 12″ (BAO 024EP) 12.00
Patch Park is no stranger to Be As One, and now it’s time for “Oddity” to ignite the floors, a masterpiece from Patch, delivering it in Be As One style. With a groovy techno bass line and freaky ’90s sounds, Patch Park is breaking the market again with another summer anthem. Swiss techno lord Deetron makes his second appearance on Be As One with his remix of Patch’s original. Techno for the morning — druggy and twisted. |
| BLACKEST RAINBOW RECORDS (UK) |
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SYLVESTER ANFANG II: Commune Cassetten LP (BRR 166LP) 19.00
Second pressing on heavyweight pink vinyl. “A new slab of wax of tranced out psychotic psychedelic-ness from the occult loving Belgium-based clan. This new incarnation being Sylvester Anfang II (as opposed to Silvester Anfang) reached a new level of sheer awesomeness in 2009 with the incredible double LP on Aurora Borealis; on Commume Cassetten they continue their bizarre trip into the darker — but somehow super psychedelic — realm of the occult obsessed mind. There’s a real fucked up Krautrock boogie vibe throughout, but retaining some of the doomed funeral folk qualities of the original Anfang guise, as well as some loose as hell, total stoned-out ritualistic baked grooves. The LP comes housed in a techni-colour collaged artwork with a black and white image of a lady, which we can presume is a witch, with a dagger and chalice… a sleeve that really sums up the music enclosed. The sleeves are pro-printed and wrap around the deep pink heavyweight wax which has some sweet full colour labels. This is one hell of a 40 minute trip.” |
| BLAST FIRST PETITE (UK) |
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PEACHES/EFFI BRIEST/ALAN VEGA: Jonny/Universe/No Tomorrow 10″ (PTYT 019EP) 14.50
Blast First Petite continues to celebrate Alan Vega’s 70th birthday with three Vega tracks, including one by the man himself. Peaches strips it back to the bone. Buffs it up. Pops an upper wearing a come-hither knife smile. A symphony in 121 seconds. Effi Briest: a sextet of nu-American female power souls summoning the sound spirit of the Triple Goddess. (En)Chanted voices re-encode half-heard street mutterings. Hypnagogic mellow-trons swathe summer solar breezes. Provocative cover art by Cary Kwok. A limited edition of 1,500. |
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FRIDAY & DAVE BALL/THOMAS BRINKMANN/ALAN VEGA, GAVIN: Ghostrider 10″ (PTYT 027EP) 14.50
Blast First Petite continues to celebrate Alan Vega’s 70th birthday. Mr. Gavin Friday, solo artist, one-time singer with The Virgin Prunes in this unique collaboration with David Ball, the musical maverick of Soft Cell & The Grid, present a specially recorded, subtly re-coded, poptastic dancefloor shudder-fest version of Suicide’s “Ghostrider.” Thomas Brinkmann’s 2005 dancefloor twitch-out is teleported in to crash his own party. “Puss On Tha Time Warp” sees Vega speed-dialing up car radio statics with a jazz break. Cover art by Alan Vega in a limited edition of 1,000. |
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PAN SONIC: Gravitoni CD (PTYT 045CD) 17.00
Pan Sonic is Mika Vainio and Ilpo Väisänen. All hail the unsmiling Finns. “After this, Pan Sonic goes into deep freeze,” says Vainio, in one of his more loquacious moments. Eleven tracks of their trademark warm, deep, muscular sound that acts as a personal trainer to your speaker cones. Gravitoni is their seventh son born as a duo since 1995. No live shows whatsoever are planned to celebrate their 15-year run at the forefront of expanding the electronic music scene (although Ilpo would still like to play in Africa someday soon). Comes with a 16-page booklet of photographs. |
| BLOSSOMING NOISE |
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MERZBOW: Collection 4 Cassette (BN 047CS) 9.00
“Early Merzbow works featuring Masami Akita and Kiyoshi Mizutani. Recorded and mixed at Gap Works, Tokyo on 16 June, 1981. Remixed by Masami Akita at Lowest Music & Arts Studio, Tokyo. Remastered from original master tape January 2010. Originally Released on Lowest Music & Arts 1982. Edition of 150.” |
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MERZBOW: Collection 5 Cassette (BN 048CS) 9.00
“Early Merzbow works featuring Masami Akita and Kiyoshi Mizutani. Recorded and mixed at Gap Works, Tokyo on 16 June, 1981. Remixed by Masami Akita at Lowest Music & Arts Studio, Tokyo. Remastered from original master tape January 2010. Originally Released on Lowest Music & Arts 1982. Edition of 150.” |
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MERZBOW: Normal Music Cassette (BN 049CS) 9.00
“Early Merzbow works featuring Masami Akita and Kiyoshi Mizutani. Recorded and mixed at various studios in 1982. Remixed by Masami Akita at Lowest Music & Arts Studio, Tokyo. Remastered from original master tape January 2010. Originally Released on Lowest Music & Arts 1982. Edition of 150.” |
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MERZBOW: Flesh Metal Orgasm Cassette (BN 050CS) 9.00
“Recorded Live at ZSF Produkt Studio, Tokyo, September 1988. Remastered from original master tape January 2010. Originally Released on ZSF Produkt in 1988. Edition of 150.” |
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KAPOTTE MUZIEK: Twenty Five 10 CASSETTE BOX (BN 051CS) 85.00
“October 1st 2009 marked the 25th anniversary of seminal Dutch experimental group Kapotte Muziek (Broken Music). We are proud to present Twenty Five, a 10 cassette collection featuring over 11 hours of Kapotte Muziek’s recorded history. Professionally duplicated on high quality chrome tape, housed in custom branded wooden boxes with letterpress insert on handmade imported paper, & signed and assembled art slides numbered by Frans De Waard. Edition of 100 numbered copies.” |
| BOXER RECORDINGS (GERMANY) |
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PIG&DAN: On A Train 12″ (BOXER 079EP) 12.00
Pig&Dan bring the summer to the dancefloor with a heavy drumbeat. As if after an endless winter, you look out your misty windows, and suddenly, the door bell rings — you look through the spyhole, and what you see is bright summer light. And this is exactly what happens when you listen to this release — it goes straight into your heart — cozy, deep, touching and intense. Includes a vocal mix, a dub version, and a remix by Werner Niedermeier. |
| BPITCH CONTROL (GERMANY) |
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ALLIEN & APPARAT, ELLEN: Orchestra of Bubbles 2LP (BPC 125LP) 18.00
2010 repress; double LP version; originally released 2006. |
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JAHCOOZI: Barefoot Wanderer Remixes Part 2 12″ (BPC 219EP) 12.00
Part 2 of a remix package of Jahcoozi’s album Barefoot Wanderer (BPC 215CD). The A-side explores previously unknown features of the marvelous album opener “Barefoot Dub,” while the flipside turns to the gently provocative “Read The Books.” Remix artists Stereotyp, Ramadanman, and Ikonika filter out the typical clues to the various genres — dancehall, dubstep, hardcore techno — in order to produce tracks which aren’t typical, but play upon expectations, excess and suggestion. |
| BUREAU B (GERMANY) |
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GURUMANIAX: Psy Valley Hill LP (BB 054LP) 17.00
LP version. Mani Neumeier has always relished working with the most diverse of musicians. That was the case in Guru Guru days, and it is very much the same today. For his latest project Gurumaniax, he teamed up with his old colleague Ax Genrich (Guru Guru guitarist from 1970-75) and the bass player Guy Segers (doyen of Belgian avant-garde rock, founder of the key band Univers Zero). So: experience, virtuosity and professionalism to the power of three. Neumeier had been wanting to get something going with Genrich for some time. Indeed, they had shared the stage together on a number of occasions in recent years. Their last session together in the studio, however, took place around 35 years ago. The death of Guru Guru founding member Uli Trepte (track 8 is dedicated to his memory), only served to strengthen Neumeier’s resolve. As he points out, who knows for how long either Neumeier himself or Genrich will be able to play their instruments with the same degree of virtuosity which they command today. Still, while the pair of them are blessed with such rude health, feeling not a day older than 50, Mani was determined to give it everything one more time with his old colleague and record the results for posterity. Neumeier and the bassist Guy Segers got to know each other a good year earlier, when they played an improvised gig together with Makoto Kawabata (Acid Mothers Temple) and Daevid Allen (Gong) at the Zappanale Festival. They hit it off immediately, making Segers a logical choice for the Gurumaniax project. Four days in the studio, three at the mixing desk and the psychedelic diamond was finished. Some song fragments already existed, but most were spontaneous creations of the triumvirate in the studio. Recalling classic Guru Guru highlights such as UFO (1970), Hinten (1971) and KänGuru (1972), the trio launched themselves freely into improvisation, channelled through their psychedelic/progressive/avant-garde rock terrain of choice — others call it Krautrock. There is even a direct reference to their second LP: the track “Spaceship Memory” is, as the name suggests, a musical descendant of “Spaceship” from the year 1971. And just in case you missed it: the project name is the sum of its members’ names: Guru+Mani+Ax. |
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ROEDELIUS: Lustwandel LP (BB 055LP) 17.00
180 gram LP version. The third studio album by Hans-Joachim Roedelius, originally released by Sky Records in 1981, fulfilled a dream he had long cherished. A series of chamber music pieces, with grand piano solos taking center stage in some places, archaised percussion patterns in others. Lustwandel represents a logical progression, following on from Jardin Au Fou (re-released on Bureau B in 2009). Both albums were recorded at Paragon Studios in 1979 and produced by Peter Baumann (Tangerine Dream). Electronica in the sense of synthetic sound sources or rhythm are absent from Lustwandel, in keeping with so many Roedelius solo works. This led to lively action amongst Cluster fans 30 years ago, as they divided into different camps. Roedelius’ unique musical style and irrepressible enthusiasm take his listeners down more of a sidetrack to the aural landscape of European harmonic and rhythmic tradition. There are obvious parallels to so-called serious chamber music, if not all the way along the route. His music has never been bound by contemporary aesthetic debate nor susceptible to emerging theory. As an autodidact, his techniques of composition and piano-playing are so well developed, that Roedelius has never wanted, nor needed to bother himself with any of that. It is a carefree Roedelius who saunters through both the 19th and late-20th centuries. Boundaries dissolve in his music. Here the glow of a magic lantern, there the glare of a neon light. Herein lay the originality of Lustwandel: he availed himself of traditional forms yet expressed them in contemporaneous fashion. Roedelius and Lustwandel could easily have been assimilated into the postmodern era which arrived in the 1970s. But, as usual, he was many miles away from the hub of cultural activity, without the slightest inclination to pay any attention to new phenomena. This child of the sun walks some very different paths indeed. Printed inner sleeve with photos and an essay by Asmus Tietchens. |
| CADENZA (GERMANY) |
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REBOOT: Shunyata 2×12″ (CADENZA 051LP) 25.50
2×12″ version. This is the debut album from Frankfurt’s Reboot aka Frank Heinrich. The term shunyata comes from Buddhism and translates loosely as “emptiness.” But not just in the negative sense: it speaks also to impermanence, a state of constant flux. It’s a great description of Reboot’s music, where everything is in constant and kaleidoscopic motion. From the sound designs to the grooves to the way the tracks evolve, they all interconnect; intricate polyrhythms wind through the music like ivy, binding the album together. It’s those rhythms you’re likely to notice first: dazzling arrays of congas, bells, cymbals, shakers, woodblocks; sounds like tuned water-drops or aluminum barrels; steely drum machines slicing the air like knives. But behind the layers of percussion there are stranger, shadowier elements at work: chimes, pings, electronic gurgles, scraps of faraway voices, field recordings, and beneath it all, a spongy, squishy bed of bass, comforting and all-encompassing. Heinrich’s modular synthesizer system plays a key role in fashioning the music’s unusual contours. It’s an open-ended collection of devices — oscillators, filters, sequencers and esoteric functions — wired together and able to be re-routed in infinite ways. There are no presets. Shunyata’s long, undulating lines and morphological structures reward deep, repeated listening. There’s the headlong tumble of the Detroit-inspired “Hermano” for joyous peaktime moments, the liquid spiral of “Down Pantha” for the hours where time stands still. Tracks like “We Only Just,” and “Save Me” offer darker vibes, heads-down and hypnotic. “Dreilach” goes even deeper, with a rippling bass melody that gets deep inside your chest, your brain, your veins. The title track seems to spin at two velocities at once, balancing a driving, linear groove with half-speed voices to create a sense of suspended animation — the perfect encapsulation of the album’s central theme. |
| CICADELIC RECORDS |
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BLUE THINGS, THE: The Blue Things Story Volume One LP (CIC 975LP) 20.00
“The Blue Things Story Volume One is back, originally issued in 1987, it has been out of print since 1989, now in a limited edition 180 gram vinyl pressing of 600 copies. Also expanded to include a whooping nineteen tracks.” |
| CLR (GERMANY) |
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LIEBING (FEAT. MARKUS SPRENGLER)/TOMMY FOUR SEVEN, CHRIS: Ataraxia/Sor 10″ (CLR 033EP) 12.00
This is the fifth episode to complete the five releases in the run up to the much-anticipated 10 Years Of CLR compilation. The final finale, Chris Liebing presents his very own contribution called “Ataraxia,” and already it’s already receiving smashing reviews. This is an increasing, deep and impressive track with dark background vocals that are the icing on the cake. Also features Tommy Four Seven’s track “Sor.” |
| COCOON (GERMANY) |
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VA: Cocoon Compilation J 6×12″ BOX (COR 023LP) 96.00
6×12″ version packaged in a deluxe box. Cocoon’s hotly-anticipated letter series of inspired dance-music compilations reaches letter “J.” For ten years now, the Cocoon-style alphabet is a guarantee of high class and exclusively-produced floor burners by the international techno and house elite, and, beyond that, a reliable indicator for the stylistic bandwidth of contemporary electronic dance music. And even with the previous editions A through I having set the bar high, the “J” edition starts with a true musical sensation, as the opener “Cocoon Dark Dub” comes from nobody less than Moritz von Oswald. So, initially, it’s the heartbeat of dub techno that pulsates through a lonely piano and noise fractals, and the club world holds its breath for a good eight minutes. However, the “J” compilation literally pulls out all the stops over the following 110 minutes playtime and shows what modern electronic dance music has to offer in these times. The Dial impresario Pantha Du Prince celebrates crystalline ice dance, while Cécille label-head Nick Curly, with his sensual tribal house, feasts on the most compact form of disco boogie that one can imagine. With “SBboty,” the Kompakt ambassador DJ Koze flabbergasts the audience by combining virtually incompatible elements. Improvised horn licks whirr through a flickering, resonating body, while the bass kick fills up the tropical, ambient air. However, the invariably Cocoon policy to always support interesting newcomers becomes visible with the contribution of Basti Grub’s “Sick,” which climbs into your brain with its melodic high-frequency hook line and mysterious vocals, matching perfectly to the melancholic playfulness of the tracks by Guy Gerber. Ali Shirazinia aka Dubfire and Popof present some stringent hypno techno with a diaphragm-shaking bass drum. Besides the above-mentioned, the “J” compilation holds such well-known producers such as Loco Dice, Extrawelt, Reboot and last not least, long-time Cocoon companion Ricardo Villalobos, whose 12-minute-long dance on the echo-filled “Humusweg” once again draws the bow to the Basic Channel sound from the other side, leaving plenty of room for your own visions in between the pulsing metronome of the bass line. |
| COLD SPRING RECORDS (UK) |
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MERZBOW: Graft LP (CSR 129LP) 23.50
Graft is an album by Japanese noise master Masami Akita aka Merzbow. This LP album is pressed on lime-green vinyl in a “bootleg”-style sleeve and sealed with a sticker. Limited to 300 regular copies. According to the Merzbow blog, the design was inspired by a ’70s Jethro Tull bootleg called My God, and the recording was inspired by the plant illustrations in the Voynich manuscript. Recorded in November 2009 at Munemi House, Tokyo. |
| COMEME (ARGENTINA) |
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REBOLLEDO + MALOSO: Desierto 12″ (COMEME 007EP) 12.00
Rebolledo and Daniel Maloso present this epic EP, a score for an imaginary, mysterious Western, full of hypnotic disco-beats, furious guitar chords and rattlesnake shakers. A Cómeme adventure where the traces of Morricone, Argento, Patrick Cowley, Kenneth Anger and the typical caveman rhythms of Rebolledo and Daniel Maloso melt under the relentless desert sun into an epic adventure of 2010 outdoor dance psychedelia. |
| DEEP VIBES (GERMANY) |
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DJ QU: Law 12″ (DVR 012EP) 12.00
First EP from DJ QU with remixes from Brothers’ Vibe and a very special 14-minute long remix from label boss Sascha Dive. |
| DIAL (GERMANY) |
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PANTHA DU PRINCE: This Bliss 2LP (DIAL 009LP) 18.00
2010 repress, originally released 2007; double LP version. This is DJ, producer, composer and furniture maker Hendrik Weber’s (aka Pantha Du Prince) second full-length release on Dial. Weber has always explored new worlds of sound under pseudonyms such as Panthel, Gluhen4 or as bassist of Hamburg-based group, Stella. 2006 was a fine, fine year for Pantha du Prince — his remixes for Depeche Mode and Phantom/Ghost plus the 12″ single Lichten/Walden were all met with the highest acclaim and critique. The follow-up to all this, This Bliss is an album that aspires to push all boundaries from the heart of house and techno music. It was produced here and there, on trips visiting friends. On trains, planes and automobiles while travelling between Hamburg, Berlin, New York and an old Parisian monastery. From Terry Riley to Wim Mertens, Robert Skempton to the mighty ski jumper Steiner, Pantha Du Prince takes inspiration from a varied and wondrous spectrum of composers and artists. Pantha Du Prince invites invasions and emissions as a source of inspiration to motivate the interpretation of his music. Before concluding that Pantha Du Prince is taking us down a road of obscurity — immediately refrain from such thoughts. This Bliss is one of the most harmonious and blissful audio journeys in dance music arguably heard in the past half decade. The clear origins and destinations his music take you to and from are ever present (see Detroit, Moodymann, minimal and acid) but the true thread that seems to hermetically hold This Bliss album together is a mood of exquisite melancholy that is inherent to each track. |
| DIE SCHACHTEL (ITALY) |
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CURRAN, ALVIN: Under The Fig Tree LP (DS 019LP) 26.50
Two masterpieces of the early ’70s by Alvin Curran, released by Die Schachtel for the first time ever. Using VCS3 live electronics and environmental sounds, Alvin Curran created a hypnotic and meditative transcendency of minimalist beauty. Limited deluxe vinyl LP edition. “The two works presented here are ‘seminal’ pieces of two genres from which a great part of my musical practice springs, and to this day, continues to evolve from. ‘Under The Fig Tree’ is, in fact, the realization of one monophonic piece contained in my well known early collection of single line melodic compositions entitled Music For Every Occasion. The version I present here was originally made for a performance of trombonist Giancarlo Schiaffini, playing against the recording. It is realized by myself playing a VCS3 (Putney) synthesizer, one of the first in a famous line of portable electronic synthesizers from the early ’70s. Notable are electronically produced timbres which approximate acoustic flutes, clarinets, trombones and tubas — long before the availability of multi-track tape machines, these ‘tracks’ were recorded on multiple Revox tape recorders and mixed on a custom-made mixer. ‘The Magic Carpet’ is, remarkably, my first ‘sound installation,’ long before that phrase came into our daily vocabularies. It was inspired by a project of my dear friend and sculptor Paul Klerr — an American with Italian-Jewish roots, who lives in Rome. He had this brilliant idea to fill a gallery with steel and gut wires, to which I suggested that he was actually building a fantastic musical instrument which could even be played by the visiting public — so my intervention in this spontaneous collaboration was to figure out how to amplify this jungle of long steel wires — which I did with simple contact microphones placed at various connecting points; and further adding a ‘vertical’ element of sounding glass chimes plus aluminum and brass tubing and occasionally placed metal chimes.” –Alvin Curran |
| DIGITALIS |
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SVARTE GREINER: Penpals Forever (And Ever) LP (DIGI 056LP) 18.00
LP version. The first side (first two tracks) were originally issued on the Penpals Forever cassette on Digitalis in 2008, limited to 180 copies. Both tracks have been completely remastered. The remaining pieces are all new and exclusive to this release. Svarte Greiner is the nom de plume of Deaf Center’s Erik K. Skodvin. Hailing from Norway, his solo efforts are always stripped bare, white-knuckle sojourns through dark, haunted ambient sonic corridors. Penpals Forever (And Ever) is the imaginary tale of a long dead Baroque painter and his telekinetic correspondence with a flightless bird. It feels archaic; experimental death marches circa 1622. Like Guercino’s Et in Arcadia ego, once the end is realized, there’s nowhere left to go. It’s beyond our experience and sometimes you never recover from the shock. Despite its rather cheery title, Penpals Forever (And Ever) is another step toward the abyss. Musically sparse, Svarte Greiner finds new channels connecting desolate landscapes through ethereal nightmares. It is music best served cold. Chattering, looping guitar lines that feel like muscle being separated from bone slowly build into aching piles of aural dissonance. It’s painful to a point. Recorded voices speak a language you can’t understand underneath ominous, echoing single notes. Distant metal fragments scrape the dirt from detuned strings while a nefarious feathered minstrel bows dying instruments in the background. No hope left, death is just around the corner. As it ever was, Svarte Greiner is again weaving something deliciously sinister. This is music that is uncomfortably bare. Within its blood-stained confines, there is nowhere to hide. Skodvin’s tangled, gnarled tale goes back and forth into infinity until it becomes clear that the flightless bird in question lives inside your skull. Drowning slowly into one’s own twisted mind, Penpals is the soundtrack of loss; the procession of fears gradually becoming so overbearing that you can’t escape your own demons. |
| DIRTER PROMOTIONS (UK) |
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CURRENT 93: Like Swallowing Eclipses (Dreamt By Andrew Liles) 6LP BOX (DPROM 076BOX) 100.00
For the first time on vinyl, the complete, highly-acclaimed Andrew Liles remixes of the first five classic Current 93 albums. Andrew Liles has re-imagined Nature Unveiled (1984), Dogs Blood Rising (1984), In Menstrual Night (1986), Dawn (1987) and Live at Bar Maldoror (1985). Also exclusive to this set is a sixth LP, Haunt Invocation (Apadno), which is a remixed version of Faust (2000) and A Special Plan (2000). These influential albums by Current 93 are regarded by many as ground-breaking and innovative — building upon this, Andrew Liles has re-dreamt and re-imagined these pieces with the flare and vision that he is renowned and respected for. All the records in this 6LP set come in individual covers in a beautiful spot-varnished box and are adorned with astounding artwork by David Tibet and photographs by Simona Dalla Valle. |
| DOXY (ITALY) |
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WILLIAMS, HANK: Montgomery LP (DOY 631LP) 21.00
“A collection of rare early private recordings, radio airchecks and demos by the man who single-handedly penned many of today’s country music standards. The first recording featured here, ‘Happy Rovin’ Cowboy’, is from 1939, when Hank was just 16 years old. He began making his own private recordings in recording booths, often simulating radio show performances in an attempt to impress a real station. Hank got his first gig at a real station, however, by playing outside the entrance WFSA in Montgomery until they finally invited him to play inside. Soon ‘The Singin’ Kid’, as he was then known, became so popular with local audiences that he got his own show, dropped out of high school, formed his own band and began touring all over the South. Hank was soon fired from WFSA, however, for ‘habitual drunkenness’, but this did little to stall his career. If anything, it was WWII that slowed the entire recording industry down, but nonetheless Hank still managed to get some demos out during this time, many of which are included here. By 1948, Hank had his first massive country hit and was off to greener pastures, namely Shreveport, Louisiana and the legendary Louisiana Hayride.” 180 gram virgin vinyl. |
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WILLIAMS, HANK: Nashville Sessions 2LP (DOY 633LP) 30.00
“In 1951 Hank Williams was ready for the big time, and in country music that meant Nashville, Tennessee, The Grand Ole Opry, and particularly the Acuff-Rose Music company. Acuff-Rose, run by Grand Ole Opry Star Roy Acuff and professional song writer Fred Rose, was the first Nashville-based music company and the mainstay of country music for many years. Here, under Rose’s tutelage, Hank’s true talent began to shine and his songs just got better and better. This double LP is a collection of Hank’s work from 1949-1952, with disc one being a collection of demos recorded during Hank’s brief time in Nashville, including alternate versions of the three songs– ‘Kaw-Liga,’ ‘Your Cheatin’ Heart,’ and ‘Jambalaya’–that Hank took to the top of the charts. The demo version of ‘Kaw-Liga’, which Hank co-wrote with Fred Rose, is very different from the one he eventually released, a welcome surprise for any fan! It also includes versions of ‘I Could Never Be Ashamed of You’, written for his shotgun bride, Billie Jean; an amazing and foreboding version of ‘Angel of Death’, suggesting that Hank knew full well that he didn’t have much time left; and ‘Log Train’, a song written for Hank’s dad, and chronicling his early boyhood in logging camps. How To Write Folk And Western Music To Sell was a booklet published in 1951, and while Hank did not actually write the text, he did lend his name to the project and market it on radio stations across the South. Disc two features a collection of songs Hank sold to other artists during this period (with one example being ‘A Tear in My Beer’, which Hank gave to Big Bill Lister, but which just sat around in an attic until it was discovered by Lister’s son in 1988), and rare radio performances from 1950, including the ‘Farmer Jim’ show in Jackson, Mississippi and the March of Dimes broadcast. Includes detailed liner notes.” 180 gram virgin vinyl. |
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HOPKINS, LIGHTNIN’: Country Blues LP (DOY 637LP) 21.00
“By the time this LP was recorded in 1959, Lightnin’ Hopkins was already a star, but hoping to catch Hopkins in a more informal and relaxed setting, American folklorist Mack McCormick travelled to Texas with just a mono tape recorder. Despite, or perhaps because of, the lack of professional equipment, McCormick manages to capture Hopkins in rare form. The listener has the impression that Hopkins is just hanging out on his front porch with a few friends, playing the blues. It was through his contact with McCormick that Hopkins was presented to rock & roll / blues revival audiences, playing Carnegie Hall with Joan Baez and Pete Seeger in 1960.” 180 gram virgin vinyl. |
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HOOKER, JOHN LEE: The Blues LP (DOY 638LP) 21.00
“After years spent traveling and playing music across the South, towards the end of WWII, Hooker, like so many other Delta-born bluesmen, ended up working in the factories of Detroit’s booming automotive industry. After a few years spent playing the blues in the back alleys of Motor City and purchasing his first electric guitar, Hooker began rising up through the ranks of the legendary Hastings Street scene. In 1948, the 31-year-old blues guitarist finally got his first big break. With the help of agent Bernie Besman, and L.A.’s Modern Records, Hooker’s first single, Boogie Chillen, unexpectedly went to #1 on the R&B charts — a rare occurrence in the music business, but undoubtedly testimony to his equally rare talent. The next few years (1948-1952), documented here, were a whirlwind of hits for Hooker, who began spreading his own brand of raw, foot-stomping Delta blues across America, and eventually the world, becoming one of the most idolized and imitated musicians in the history of blues, and paving the way for the blues-based rock & roll explosion of the 1960s.” 180 gram virgin vinyl. |
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HOOKER, JOHN LEE: Folk Blues LP (DOY 639LP) 21.00
“By the time the folk / blues revival of the 1960s rolled around, and hoards of radio-addicted American and British teenagers had begun seeking out the roots of rock & roll, John Lee Hooker had already had numerous hits and his loud and raw electric Delta blues was blaring from radio sets across the nation. Soon every budding rock band from London to San Francisco was naming him as a primary influence and playing (or trying to play) his songs. Thanks to this wide crossover fan base he toured heavily during this period, spreading his foot stomping boogie all over the USA and Europe. The tracks on this particular album, however, is a collection of sides from 1954 (with the exception of 1952’s ‘Rock House Boogie’) when Hooker was still recording in Detroit — primarily for Modern Records (where Hooker landed his first #1 hit, ‘Boogie Chillen’, in 1948), but also simultaneously ‘moonlighting’ for numerous other labels under many different pseudonyms in an attempt to pay the rent. In an era of millionaire musicians it is difficult to imagine how a man with so many number one hits could still be short on cash, but at this time black musicians were often paid next to nothing for their recordings and forced to forfeit their royalties to the record labels. Here Hooker is backed by the great Eddie Kirkland on second guitar — his constant sideman during this period. Hooker’s style was notoriously difficult to play behind, and Kirkland, a brilliant guitarist in his own right, was one of the few who had a good enough ear to keep up with all of the off-tempo changes. This album does not feature any of Hooker’s hits, and while that may be a drawback with some lesser artists, when you are dealing with one of the giants of both the blues and, by association, rock & roll, it is actually both refreshing and rewarding to gain exposure to some of his lesser known material.” 180 gram virgin vinyl. |
| ECHOCORD (GERMANY) |
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STL: Travelling Dubs And Echoes EP 12″ (ECHO 045EP) 12.00
Echocord welcomes STL aka Lunatik Sound System aka Stephan Laubner to the label. Stephan is mostly known from his very famous label Something. Travelling Dubs And Echoes EP contains 3 tracks. The A-side is long, dirty dub-techno for home-listening and the dancefloor. B1 is a floating ambient dub track. B2 is the strongest track on the EP, a powerful, stomping track, which is a remix of the B1 track “Dub Zero.” The remix is done by STL and Stephen Hitchell. |
| EQUATION RECORDS |
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ORGANUM: Valentin 7″ (E=MC 023EP) 13.00
“233 numbered copies. Heavy matte picture sleeve plus matching card insert (both full CMYK). First vinyl release by Organum in over 7 years. It is hard to underestimate the importance and significance of Organum. David Jackman (the force behind the project) wishes the audio to speak for itself and prefers not to attempt to describe the contents of this release. However, it is worthy to note that the greatest possible care was made to every aspect of this release — which was mastered at Prairie Cat Mastering, who provided the most clear and dynamic audio possible. A release worthy of inclusion in the extensive discography of Organum.” |
| FABRIC (UK) |
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OPTIMO: Fabric 52 CD (FABRIC 103CD) 17.00
“Fabric 52: Optimo (Espacio) rises up to the usual Optimo challenge, where the notion of genre is forever redefined and all conventions snubbed; an escapist adventure of sounds fuelled solely by the pair’s inherent musicality and anarchist spirit. With blends so effortlessly perfect, it’s near impossible to tell where one track ends and the other begins, the mix gallantly stands out as a seamless collection of mixing mastery. Filled with an untamed feeling of wanderlust, Fabric 52 peaks, drops, soars and unexpectedly flips through the most sublime, astonishing terrains: an all-in-the-box joyride from the tip of a shiny disco ball to the lower sublevels of a bassbin to the mechanic slopes of techno to the tribal-tinted percussive loops of UK funky. A rare chance to hear the raw, filthy urges of Levon Vincent’s growler ‘Love Technique’ glide alongside the deep swells of Oni Ayhun, or the polished slowdisco trio Desire skank to the funk-a-fied steel drums of Crazy Cousinz, or the frenzy of electro-tinged Fad Gadget court gracefully with Prins Thomas. A divine melting pot that can only make sense in the hands of Glasgow’s mighty duo.” Other artists include Basic Channel, Discodromo, Spencer Parker, Locussolus, Rebolledo, The Minister, Altz, Thomas Brinkmann, Rheingold, Roska, Matias Aguayo, Nakion and Xex. |
| FIRE (UK) |
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HTRK: Nostalgia CD (FIRE 104CD) 14.50
Originally released in 2007, this is the debut mini-album from mysterious Australian three-piece HTRK, who formed in 2003 and who now currently reside in the UK. Inspired by the sounds and images of David Lynch, The Birthday Party and electronic artist Pita, HTRK effortlessly create music of sublime tension and beauty. Heavily processed and bathed in reverb, Nostalgia is a collection of 7 live recordings from 2004. It was after Nostalgia that Rowland S. Howard became interested in HTRK, eventually going on to produce their debut album Marry Me Tonight (PTYT 016CD). Nostalgia was recorded with two microphones and an old tape deck, prior to their first tour of Sydney in 2004. Says member Nigel, “We ran through our set and the performance was uncanny… we called it Nostalgia because of our hatred of bands and fans who suck the past dry, as well as our own guilty nostalgia for the nihilistic energies rampant in the ’80s underground, and the strange role that the Tarkovsky film Nostalghia played in the earliest days of the band’s creation up in the Macedon hills. It is in many ways our definitive introductory statement.” “Ominous collusions of downtown basslines and ricochet beats (in bullet-time). Sound like, y’know, a motel room, a tyreprint curve in the rain, an alibi.” –Plan B |
| FUTURE CLASSIC (AUSTRALIA) |
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WORST FRIENDS: Neeves For None 12″ (FCL 045EP) 12.00
Worst Friends brings the Balearic and conquers summer in the north of the world. Future Classic is from Australia, though, and heading into winter, it’s almost less than 15 degrees Celsius. For real. This neat little EP is built to relieve the stress, and with Eddie C of Jisco fame on the remix, it also brings a lot of party at the 7:15 mark. |
| GEM RECORDS (NETHERLANDS) |
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EGBERT: Haasten EP 12″ (GEM 004EP) 12.00
One of techno’s fastest rising stars brings his strongest EP to date with two huge tracks. “Haasten” (trans. “hurrying”) has been destroying crowds during Egbert’s live sets around the globe for the past few months. A dark, commanding bass line that skips over the beat is accompanied by a retro-sounding orchestral jab. “Yourself” is paving the way for the future of percussion-based techno with punishing drums, deep basses, narrow mids and rattling hats that kick ass. |
| GET BACK (ITALY) |
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MORRICONE, ENNIO: Escalation LP (GET 717LP) 24.00
“Set in 1968’s Swinging London, Escalation, was the debut film of then 25-year-old director Roberto Faenza. True to his youth, Faenza’s dark comedy dealt with the war being waged between armies of bourgeois parents and their hippy offspring. The tale of Luca, the ne’er-do-well son of a wealthy Italian industrialist, and his father’s attempt to use any means necessary to bring him home to Italy and make him take his rightful place at the helm of the family empire (even if it means destroying him). Ennio Morricone’s unique ability to use music to express the inner psyche of his films’ protagonists is what makes his scores so unique. Here Morricone teams up with fellow composer Bruno Nicolai and the vocalizations of Alessandro Alessandroni’s ‘Cantori Moderni’, making this one of his less minimal soundtracks, as both an orchestra and a choir is used. In 1968 Morricone was at the height of his career, scoring not only Sergio Leone’s classic Once Upon a Time in the West, but also, unbelievably, more than 20 other films! Innersleeve features poster of the film.” |
| GIRADISCOS (SPAIN) |
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LUGER: Lüger LP (GD 006LP) 30.00
“Madrid-based quintet responsible of this gorgeous debut album, Lüger are heavily influenced by classic acts such as Hawkwind, Faust, and Neu!. So the music is provided with surpassing Krautrock elements, however they sound less vintage, rather modern, comparable with the likes of Turzi or Wooden Shjips in a wider sense. This is a limited 500 copies vinyl pressing in 180g vinyl, sure to become a sought-after collector’s item in the near future — so get it now!” With hand-numbered insert. |
| GOLDEN PAVILLION (PORTUGAL) |
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PERTOT, GINO: Jew Nails LP (GP 1001LP) 30.00
“After 34 years, this lost gem of Austrian psych folk is finally reissued! This is most likely the RAREST Austrian LP, and one of the most elusive records ever. The music is honest and spontaneous, crossing paths between fragile folk and psychedelic dark undertones with a touch of glam, expressive lyrics and fleeting guitar lines. The 300 copies privately pressed in 1976 were sold at concerts or handed to friends and familiars. This reissue is fully licensed, limited to 400 copies in black vinyl. A must for all psych-folk lovers.” |
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EXPERIENCIA: Passa A Passo LP (GP 1002LP) 30.00
“Completely unknown Portuguese LP from 1973 that sounds like a cross between Peruvian psych such as Laghonia & Traffic Sound, and a UK lost gem on Harvest or Deram, with 2 great vocalists, seering guitar lines flowing in harmony with a superb groove. This reissue is the second in the Golden Pavilion series, fully licensed, done in association with Acalanto and limited to 400 copies.” |
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DRAGON: Dragon LP (GP 1003LP) 30.00
“The Belgium group that self-produced this album in 1976 in the UK on the Acorn label. A lost jewel of prog with awesome mellotron, killer guitar and excellent vocals. This is the 3rd Golden Pavilion reissue. Fully licensed & limited to 400 copies in black vinyl. This reissue comes in a beautiful gatefold cover & pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl.” |
| GUERSSEN RECORDS (SPAIN) |
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EDEN ROSE: On The Way To Eden LP (GUESS 066LP) 23.50
Vinyl release. Proto-progressive, groovy instrumental psychedelia, recorded in France in 1969 by this pre-Sandrose band and originally released on the tiny Katema label. Swirling Hammond grooves by keyboard virtuoso Henri Garella, top guitar-playing by Jean-Pierre Alarcen, and a tight, funky rhythm section create one of the best early prog/psych French albums ever. Completely mind-blowing Hammond B3-work from one of the best players of the era, backed by burning guitar, and a solid, propulsively grooving rhythmic backbone. |
| HUNDERGRUM (SPAIN) |
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VA: Psicotrónica! Vol. 1 LP (H 2010LP) 27.00
Subtitled: Spanish Cinematic Grooves & Funky Soundtracks, 1968-1978. “In the late sixties and early to mid seventies, while Spain was still under Franco’s last years of dictatorship, Spanish cinema entered two important periods known as ‘Landismo’ (named after actor Alfredo Landa) and ‘Destape’ (The Strip Period). Lots of bizarre, soft-erotic/comedy and exploitation films were shot, most of them featuring groovy and delirious soundtracks. Serious and well-respected musicians like Antón García Abril, Adolfo Waitzman and Gregorio Gª Segura incorporated the latest musical trends coming from other European countries, like Italy and France, in their work. This was a frenetic period in which these composers adopted the hip and modern sounds of the time to their compositions for soundtracks, mixing them with their Spanish roots, resulting in an avalanche of incredible soundtracks for exploitation films. Virtually every Spanish comedy/exploitation/action film released during 1968 and 1974 included the typical scene of ‘young people dancing to groovy music at the club full of weird hippies’, especially if the directors were people like Pedro Lazaga and Mariano Ozores and the cast featured actors like Alfredo Landa or José Luis López Vázquez. Sadly, the majority of these soundtracks are lost forever, as they were never released on vinyl and the audio master tapes usually were erased or ended up in the trashcan. On Psicotrónica! you’ll find tracks taken from real soundtracks alongside others which sound 100% cinematic, but were never included in any film. All of them taken from unknown records released in Spain between 1968 and 1978, including many rare library private recordings. A real fest of Spanish styled blaxploitation & library grooves, psychedelic funk full of flute, fuzz and wah-wah guitars, Hammond grooves, sexploitation sounds, bossa-scat nuggets, thriller-spy-action grooves. Released at the same time, the two Psicotrónica volumes feature a different musical theme on each side and are housed in cool full colour picture sleeves. Carefully remastered sound plus insert with detailed liner notes in English / Spanish.” |
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VA: Psicotrónica! Vol. 2 LP (H 3010LP) 27.00
Subtitled: Spanish Cinematic Grooves & Funky Soundtracks, 1971-1976. Volume 2 in the series, with an arguably superior front cover than the first one. Highlights include George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody In Blue” transformed into a funk-bomb by genius arranger Adolfo Waitzman, Rafael Ferro’s Spanish-style take on a blaxploitation-spy movie theme, and Los Mismos’ exploito-psych cover of Quincy Jones’ “Ironside” theme. |
| IN MY ROOM (GERMANY) |
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TRENTEMØLLER: Into The Great Wide Yonder 2LP (IMR 002LP) 20.00
Gatefold 2LP version. In My Room presents Into The Great Wide Yonder, the second studio album by Anders Trentemøller and the follow-up to the highly successful The Last Resort (PFR 018CD/LP). Into The Great Wide Yonder is a truly remarkable album, offering as much depth and soul as its predecessor, yet sounding ultimately fresh and different. Above all, the ten tracks show an artist that’s willing to take risks, find inspiration in new places and move beyond the sound of his previous album. Compared to the intimate electronic mood pieces of The Last Resort, these tracks indeed have a more strange, mystic and dramatic vibe, with a lot of dynamics, distorted, driving twang, guitars, and real and electronic drums mixed with haunting synths. With Into The Great Wide Yonder, Trentemøller is not only exploring new, moody and atmospheric universes, but also combines his sense for glorious soundscapes with a firm melodic and tonal touch. The original chord progressions and feel for melodies is fundamental to him, and that’s also the reason why most of the instruments are played by Trentemøller himself on this album. The Danish multi-instrumentalist and producer shows an unexpected talent for finding vocalists that fit the mood of his songs. The first single of the album, the beautifully tender “Sycamore Feeling,” featuring Marie Fisker, is a typical highlight. In fact, all the vocal tracks are stunning. Trentemøller chose to collaborate with the English artist Fyfe Dangerfield from UK-based Guillemots and Danish singers Solveig Sandnes and Josephine Philip from the debuting Danish indie girl duo, Darkness Falls. They all manage to add their own sound and flavor to the album, while their voices blend perfectly with Trentemøller’s atmospheric songs. This is an album that keeps growing for a long time, as every track works its way stealthily under your skin. The sound of this album might be one step ahead of his previous work, but we still easily recognize the hand of Trentemøller, in this inspired collection of songs and atmospheres. The sonic richness, sharp contrasts and daring musical colors are vintage Trentemøller. Into The Great Wide Yonder is the work of an artist and producer who seems to be completely at ease in the studio. No wonder, as Trentemøller prefers the silence of the night and the solitude of his own apartment in his hometown Copenhagen to create his music. So even though the album sounds like a big production job in an expensive studio, all of the tracks were in fact recorded in his home. Eerie sounds from everything including a Theremin to an old music box is used to create a warm, analog sound with a lot of attitude. Trentemøller: “I recorded most of the album in my computer, but in the final stages I transferred all the parts to analog tape through a lot of vintage EQ’s and pre amps. The tape saturation and the analog outboard really helped getting the warm sound that I was after.” Into The Great Wide Yonder might demand more from the listener than The Last Resort, but getting to know the tracks is definitely a rewarding experience, as the album will keep growing and growing for a long time to come. |
| INTERNASJONAL (NORWAY) |
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LE TOUGH, MANO: Oblique 12″ (INT 014EP) 12.00
Mano Le Tough reemerges on Internasjonal, fusing the deeper shades of house and techno with a strong melodic sensibility. “Oblique” boasts a perfect, effective dramaturgy with a slightly spooky broken melody box theme rising out of a thick mist of grinding chords before morphing into a deep acid finale. Château Flight toughen up the beats and throw in some African wood percussions and sparse psychedelic dub effects for a superb, multi-layered rework. |
| KARAOKE KALK (GERMANY) |
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TOOG: Goto LP (KK 057LP) 15.50
LP version. This is the second album on Karaoke Kalk for French musician, poet, blogger and director, Toog. He started his musical career in 1999 when he met the widely-venerated Scottish singer/songwriter Momus. They went on an extensive tour together, playing almost 150 shows. In 2004, Toog released his album Lou Etendue on Karaoke Kalk together with Italian actress and director Asia Argento. Goto is a collection of musical ideas, references, nostalgia and gags — background noise with coarse exaggerations, where madness and graceful levity go hand-in-hand. Whistles and explicit statements try a balancing act between humor and serious contemplation. A musical diary, reflecting memorable encounters, experiences and oddities. Toog is helped on some tracks by David Fenech and Fashion Flesh, who the artist admired for his work with Matmos, Cornelius and Momus. The artist’s wife Florence Manlik, who designed the cover, can also be heard on some songs. As Toog himself explains, “Goto is narrative, meditative. It’s travel with an electronic donkey, where the fern tree line at the top of the mountains is nothing but a miniature. Slow is how my heart beats: 56 bpm.” Includes a download voucher for the entire album, plus one extra track. |
| LEENA (GERMANY) |
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SOLOMUN: Sisi 12″ (LEENA 016EP) 12.00
Solomun’s Sisi is a sure extension of his impeccable production skills and style, and is also one of the most unique releases on Leena thus far. “Sisi” opens with a head-spinning explosion of notes and chords being fired out like sparks in a continual loop. Then halfway through, they stop, only to build again. “Talk To The Hand” is bass-heavy with euphoric piano chords in the second half, while “Curesto” brings all of the elements together with build-ups and drama. |
| LIGHT IN THE ATTIC |
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PURDIE, BERNARD: Lialeh CD (LITA 003CD) 14.00
“Finally back in print and much more deluxe than the first go around back when we first started in late 2002! Light In The Attic proudly presents a new deluxe CD pressing to the Lialeh soundtrack, the first major black porn movie and the final word in soulful shagging music. Bryan Records released this Shaft-era classic in 1974, and since then it’s been harder to find than a honky in Harlem. Legendary drummer Bernard ‘Pretty’ Purdie composed, produced and performed Lialeh’s score, while between projects with Curtis Mayfield, Aretha, Gabor Szabo, The Last Poets, The Rolling Stones, James Brown… Music fans have long looked to Lialeh for seven original Purdie tracks, his first as writer/composer, untempered by the A&R’s who guided his records for Flying Dutchman, Date, Prestige and Mega.” Deluxe digipack CD with 16-page booklet. |
| MACRO RECORDINGS (GERMANY) |
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ELEKTRO GUZZI: Elektro Guzzi 2×12″ (MACROM 018LP) 20.00
2×12″ version. Vienna’s Elektro Guzzi challenge the meaning of “live” in electronic music. Bored of laptop sets? With a “classic” set-up of guitar, bass and drums, Elektro Guzzi align themselves with an unheard level of discipline, tightness and danceability. No computers, no pre-recorded loops, no solos. Probably the first time techno is really played live. As sequential as they may sound, they couldn’t be more analog. The quest for the ultimate live presentation of techno has come to an end. Produced by Patrick Pulsinger (Hercules & Love Affair, M-Plant, Cheap), the album is a masterstroke resulting in great dancefloor movers, state-of-the-art analog recordings and a prime showcase of Elektro Guzzi’s incredible creative capabilities. Played live with no overdubs, this record breaks down the demarcation line separating man and machine. Everything in techno has been done? You ain’t heard nothing yet. |
| MADLIB MEDICINE SHOW |
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MADLIB: Madlib Medicine Show No. 6 – The Brain Wreck Show CD (MMS 006CD) 16.00
“Madlib follows History of the Loop Digga: 1990-2000 with the sixth installment in his Madlib Medicine Show, his psych-prog-avant-freak-out-funk rock mix Brain Wreck Show. Madlib’s been pegged as a ‘jazz guy’ as far back as 2000, when he — as his alter ego Quasimoto — released the song ‘Jazz Cats.’ His releases with the fictional ‘jazz group’ Yesterdays New Quintet didn’t help matters. But, no matter how many jazz records are thrust at him by money-hungry record dealers, he most often — at least lately — gravitates to the rock side of the spectrum. That’s late 60s to late 70s psych-prog-avante-freak-out-funk rock mind you; from the Tropicalia of Brasil to the Krautrock of Germany to the fuzzy sounds of mid ’70s Nigeria, the Beat Konducta’s rock tastes know no cultural bounds. Actually, we’re not sure if they know any bounds. This — an introductory mix entitled the Brain Wreck Show (admission, he wrote on the CD master, ‘One Brainticket’ — an homage to one of his favorite Krautrock bands) — should serve to give its listeners a delightfully freaky funked up experience into the rock side of Madlib’s collecting conscious. We’re glad you’re along for the ride. The Madlib Medicine Show series is a combination of Madlib’s new hip-hop productions, remixes, beat tapes, and jazz, as well as mixtapes of funk, soul, Brazilian, psych, jazz and other undefined forms of music from the Beat Konducta’s 4-ton stack of vinyl.” |
| MODULE (FRANCE) |
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DDAMAGE: Aeroplanes CD (MOD 031CD) 18.00
“dDamage is a French band formed by Ape and Doctor Agueev. Their music is a brillant alchemy of hip-hop, electro, breakcore, rock… Since 2000, dD have collaborated with artists such as MF Doom, Mike Ladd — and French A-list bands like TTC, La Caution — to name a few. They are considered by many people as the black sheep of the French electro scene. Their album, Aeroplanes, is the result of many meetings with international artists that have been trapped by the dDAMAGE bank of sounds. They, for example, meet living legend Tim Simenon (Bomb The Bass) in Paris and kidnapped Jon Spencer to produce ‘Fuzzbox’ that bring the brain beyond the electro-punk experience, full of beats made of rage, with a wide range of colors and rainbows of analog synthesizers. On the other hand dD also collaborates with New-York rapper Agallah and southern star Young Jeezy on ‘The Truth’, a cappuccino colored track that stretches the time, condensing hip-hop and electronica. Monster dDamage swallows and throws many musical cohesions, judiciously out of the flood in vogue and tendentious French hypers already tired to exist. Shootin’ up audio streams though different time zones, the duo has now an international bad reputation due to their musical know how that goes from punk to country, rap to electronic shit and a high quality agenda of gigs from all around the world. dDamage music is no school, no hype, no way, no future, no past, no present, just a dDamage fuzzy state of mind, comin’ straight from the sewers of Paris.” |
| MONIKA (GERMANY) |
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GREIE GUT FRAKTION: Stadt Mixe 12″ (MONIKA 067EP) 11.00
To accompany their Baustelle album, AGF and Gudrun Gut under their collaborative name Greie Gut Fraktion have also released a 12″ of the lead song, “Wir Bauen Eine Neue Stadt,” complete with remixes. Alva Noto’s treatment results in a droning track that builds towards a crescendo, and Greie & Gut’s radio version of the Palais Schaumburg song brings the track up-to-date. Wolfgang Voigt delivers two piano mixes for a truly diverse single. |
| MOUNTAIN PEOPLE (SWITZERLAND) |
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MOUNTAIN PEOPLE, THE: Mountain010 12″ (MOUNTAIN 010EP) 12.00
Announcing the 10th release on Mountain People, successfully tested on several occasions. |
| NINJA TUNE (UK) |
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HERBALISER, THE: Herbal Tonic CD (ZEN 158CD) 15.50
“From the old skool referencing ‘Gadget Funk,’ through the spy theme atmospherics of ‘The Missing Suitcase,’ the cartoon psychedelia of the previously unreleased ‘March of the Dead Things,’ and the epic reach of both ‘Stranded On Earth’ (from 2008’s Same as It Never Was on !K7) and the beautiful ‘A Song For Mary,’ Herbal Tonic shows the musical mastery that a pair of hip hop heads from South West London developed.” |
| NOW-AGAIN |
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WHITE, PAUL: Paul White And The Purple Brain CD (NA 5061CD) 16.00
“An inventive showcase of what’s possible when armed with just a sampler, a few studio toys and a fertile imagination, Paul White And The Purple Brain is the intriguing sophomore album from South London producer Paul White. A collaboration of sorts, the entire record is based around and inspired by the work of little-known Swedish psych-rock guru ST Mikael. Heavy on Eastern influences and otherworldly concerns, Mikael’s music ranges from searing electric guitar-led dirges to dreamlike ballads to ghostly atmospheric experiments and has been issued in tiny quantities since the 1990s on the Subliminal Sounds label. Paul White And The Purple Brain is a remarkably diverse album that defies easy categorization. Which suits him and his ‘home’ label One-Handed Music (in collaboration with whom Now-Again releases this album) just fine. Praised as someone who ’embodies all that is good about a new generation of producers’ by Dazed & Confused magazine, Paul White has won over fans of left-leaning sounds and interesting hip hop, including Diplo, Mary Anne Hobbs, Benji B and Gilles Peterson.” |
| ON-U SOUND (UK) |
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PERRY & ADRIAN SHERWOOD, LEE “SCRATCH”: Dub Setter CD (ONU 1006CD) 16.50
“Born from the sessions that birthed Lee Perry’s Mighty Upsetter album, but far more than just a straight dub version of that set, Dub Setter is a 10 track collection of heavy-weight dubs comprised of both radical reworkings of Mighty Upsetter tunes alongside brand new material. It is also the first full-on dub album with Adrian Sherwood at the controls since Never Trust A Hippy in 2003. As well as making an excellent companion piece to Mighty Upsetter, this album finds Sherwood operating at the peak of his rootical production powers, playing the studio to full soundbwoy effect as he draws on a vast range righteous musics from around the globe to create a conquering lion of earth-shaking psychedelic rhythm and sound that will delight any fan of the trademarked On-U style.” |
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PERRY, LEE “SCRATCH”: The Mighty Upsetter LP (ONU 121LP) 19.50
LP version. “First issued on CD only in early 2009, Lee Perry and Adrian Sherwood’s first new recording together in two decades. Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Jamaican music’s most celebrated producer, has been through more creative rebirths than most artists can imagine. Now well into his seventies, he is currently enjoying another. Over the past half-century he has masterminded more than 1,000 different records, under his own name, with his ever-changing band, the Upsetters, and for countless other artists – each with its own unique, quirky sound.” |
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PERRY & ADRIAN SHERWOOD, LEE “SCRATCH”: Dub Setter LP (ONU 126LP) 19.50
LP version. |
| OUT-SIDER (SPAIN) |
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DRENDALL, B.A. THROWER & FRIENDS, JOHN: Papa Never Let Me Sing The Blues LP (OSR 001LP) 29.00
“Superb North American album, this was released as a private pressing in 1972 and has extremely good production for being a private. There’s a bit of everything on it, from blues rock with the opening track ‘Cold Night in August,’ to acoustic gems with a folkier mood, some psychedelic jams, honky-tonk — all very well executed and with remarkable guitar work. Fully licensed, first ever vinyl reissue. Five disc rarity in Record Collector Dreams books. Limited reissue of 500 copies, printed in HQ 350g carton and 180g vinyl with unbeatable 24-bit remastered sound quality. Includes an insert with photos and liner notes by Patrick Lundborg. ‘A solid album, very worthy of reissue.’ — The Acid Archives.” |
| PERMANENT VACATION (GERMANY) |
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SHAPIRO, SALLY: He Keeps Me Alive 2×12″ (PERMVAC 024EP) 20.00
2008 release. Two songs from Euro/Italo disco queen of the 21 century Sally Shapiro, alongside exclusive remixes from by Lindstrøm, The Juan MacLean, Tensnake and CFCF. Presented in her distinctive Euro-style, Sally Shapiro’s two tracks, “My Fantasy” and “He Keeps Me Alive,” leave nothing to be desired. Norwegian superstar Lindstrøm expands “Time To Let Go” to an almost 11 minute long galactic journey. NYC’s The Juan Maclean turn “I Know You’re My Love” into an original true Italo disco love affair. After 12 inches on Radius, Mule Musiq, Mirau and remixes for Junior Boys and Alexander Robotnick, Tensake delivers a dancefloor bomb with his remix of “I’ll Be By Your Side.” Montreal-based wunderkind CFCF has remixed the likes of Crystal Castles and The Teenagers, and here transforms “Time To Let Go” into a timeless pop anthem. |
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DMX KREW: Come To Me 12″ (PERMVAC 034EP) 12.00
2009 release. The first release in Permanent Vacation’s Ever Green series, on which the German label re-releases buried treasures and hard-to-find gems, begins with a track from the mighty DMX Krew. “Come To Me” was originally released from DMX’s classic 1998 album Nu Romantix on the Rephlex label. Although the track is over ten years old it sounds fresher than fresh today. The track has never been released as a single and comes complete with an exclusive instrumental version on the flipside. |
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PERMANENT VACATION: Tic Toc (feat. Kathy Diamond) 12″ (PERMVAC 040EP) 12.00
2009 release. Permanent Vacation label-heads Tom Bioly and Benjamin Fröhlich fulfill their dream of working with beloved disco diva number one Kathy Diamond on “Tic Toc,” a hooky, old-school track with a piano line that puts it on the cutting edge of house and disco. After the A-side’s additional instrumental version of “Tic Toc,” “Zucker Hut”s aims for the dancefloor with its tropical atmosphere, floating strings and arpeggiated synths. |
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ROOTS UNIT: Mabonda 12″ (PERMVAC 042EP) 12.00
2009 release. This is the first release from the newly-formed Roots Unit, the duo of Piers Harrison and Christopher Galloway who are most known for being half of Soft Rocks. Roots Unit are dedicated to bringing some life back into house music and it shows on “Mabonda,” which is reworked for a Soft Rocks version on the flip. |
| POKER FLAT (GERMANY) |
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TASNADI, SVEN: Tell Me Again 12″ (PFR 113EP) 12.00
Sven Tasnadi’s next harvest for Poker Flat includes deep, spooky and moody moments of next-generation deep house. “Tell Me Again” is a slow, bumping house track with supple and dynamic grinding grooves matched with slowhouse tension. Steve Bug’s “I Told Ya” remix draws out the tension even further, and of course, drops in some trademark Bug elements. Flip the wax over, and you’ll find Tasnadi in collaboration with Anthony Collins for a percussive journey of pumping dub techno-meets-New York house. |
| PSEUDONYM RECORDS (NETHERLANDS) |
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OUTSIDERS, THE: You Mistreat Me EP 10″ (PSEUD 99013EP) 22.00
“Strictly limited edition 500 copies, heavyweight 10″ black vinyl. Remastered in the 24-bit domain from the original master tapes. The first two Outsiders singles for the illustrious Muziek Expres label and an unreleased 1965 live version of ‘Thinking About Today.'” Side 1: 1. You Mistreat Me 2. Sun’s Going Down 3. Thinking About Today (Previously unreleased live version 1965) Side 2: 1. Felt Like I Wanted To Cry 2. I Love Her Still, I Always Will Mono / Extended Play 45 R.P.M. |
| RINSE (UK) |
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KISMET: Rinse: 12 CD (RINSE 017CD) 17.00
Kismet takes the incendiary Rinse series on its twelfth outing, a pulsing journey through the deep, soulful and minimal branches of the vast forest known as house music. Holding down Monday night’s 9PM-11PM set on Rinse FM with his crew Circle (as well as his own peak-time Friday night 9PM-11PM set), Kismet is one of Rinse FM’s most revered DJs from an up-and-coming scene. When he first began DJing as a teenager, garage was thriving on the underground and about to cross into the mainstream. UK giants such as EZ and Norris “Da Boss” Windross left little room for fresh-faced newcomers to make their mark. As house and garage parted ways, Kismet followed house’s path, continuing to collect records. Meanwhile, British rave music continued to splinter and evolve, and each time it shed its skin, new champions were born. Now, Kismet is the young blood of the new generation of DJs who play house to London’s underground dancefloors. Kismet has built his respect and following on unerring taste and a record-bag which is regularly restocked with upfront heaters. Rinse: 12 showcases why he is one of the most cherished DJs amongst Rinse FM listeners. Kismet is at the forefront of a new generation of British house DJs and, much like Alexander Nut’s Rinse mix, Rinse: 12 invites the listener to experience a relatively nascent but very true club scene at ground level. Running parallel to the commercially-celebrated “funky” scene, but playing to a more aurally-sophisticated crowd — for those old enough to remember the splinter between “uplifting house & garage” and “garage,” we are at a similar crossroads. Strengthening London’s sonic links between Detroit and Berlin, Kismet invites all to hear how young London gets down to house in 2010. Artists include: Thomas Schumacher, 2000 And One, DJ Madskillz, cirE aka Error, C. Robert Walker, Rishi Romero, Hiro, Dealers Of Funky Music, Leo Fernandez, Mike Jacinto & Mark Mendes, IC (Circle), Lebzito, DJ HAL, David Garcet & K. Hocini, Kolombo, Glenn Fiasco, Todd Bodine, Plasmik, Wbeeza, and Tina Penni Anne. |
| ROOT STRATA |
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STARVING WEIRDOS: Shrine Of The Post-Hypnotic CD (RS 020CD) 15.00
2007 release. “More heavy head trips from the Weirdos camp. Shrine Of The Post-Hypnotic is the second real CD released by the group, and by far the most coherent one to date. Flowing like an epic nighttime hike through the damp forest of the Northern California coast, it’s packed to the brim with acoustic sound worlds and moon beams of electricity. Unfolding slowly, It never peaks out, instead drifting along like a dense patch of heavy coastal fog.” |
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SMITH, STEVEN R.: The Anchorite CD (RS 024CD) 15.00
2008 release. “Originally released in 2006 on Important Records as a limited run LP in their ongoing Arts & Crafts Series, Root Strata is proud to present the reissue of The Anchorite, a dazzling jewel in Smiths substantial discography. Performed live to two track with the aide of tape loops and prerecorded takes, the music maintains a drifting, painterly quality that easily evokes the American west as much as the European east which Smith so lovingly mines for his Hala Strana recordings. Sepia toned and tinged with a luminous distortion, The Anchorite, as the name suggests, is reserved, pulled back and solemn, some kind of hermetic prayer for the end of the world. Beautifully repackaged with new artwork in a heavy black & white gatefold CD case with offset printing.” |
| RUNNING BACK (GERMANY) |
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DATABOY78: Thursday 12″ (RB 023EP) 12.00
The story of this record includes anarchic after-hours, laptops, gurner-DJs and the need of pressing something that sounded nice, uplifting, somehow Kompakt, pop-trance and convincing on a 12″. Databoy78 thought the same, so here we go with a seductive and hypnotizing drama. Flip the script for a splendid remix by Zurich’s super DJ Lexx, who houses tings up and gives away a dope Swiss beatz excursion on top of it all. |
| RVNG INTERNATIONAL |
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HISTORICS: Infinidelity Part 1 12″ (RVNGNL 002.5EP) 11.00
“The Infinidelity Part 1 12″ flickers to life with a re-work of ‘Fan Fare’ by Tom Croose, a track that swells with a massive drum loop, buzzy bass blasts, and an ominous synth line only to break itself down and accentuate a stark female vocal sample. The glimmering sensibility of Croose’s track pitter-patters over into the buildup of Sir Billy and Creso’s Saturday Crimson Mix of ‘Kinda Personal’, another warm track with its roots grown thick in a heavy kick and its wings beating to the crisp high hat on the up beat. Low Motion Disco’s take on ‘Languages’, a meditative number, recalls the even unfolding of an early morning, the calm of the evening, and the moment before you head into the night for the acid thump of Pink Stallone’s remix of ‘City to City’ and repeat the shimmering cycle.” |
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ALLEZ-ALLEZ: Hideous Racket 12″ (RVNGNL 003EP) 11.00
“The cargo of Allez-Allez’s debut EP, Hideous Racket, contains a suspiciously alien sound that could only be kept secret for so long before being smuggled and peddled by RVNG Intl. on the war torn and drug dirtied mutant dance floors. This London lab tech duo staked their claim with social and online experiments and now expand their methodically creative reach with four tracks made for the interstellar overdrive. The EP begins with the melodically rich and playful title track before the aquatic acid house of ‘Seven Down Six Across’ bubbles to the surface to close the a-side. The b-side starts with the James Holden championed ‘Weird Science’, a washy blend of Frippertronic frequencies and a street smart beat, and rounds out with the shimmering Rhythm Ace shuffle of ‘Slump’, described by Optimo’s JD Twitch as ‘Chris & Cosey riding a flying hoover over the city in Blade Runner.’ Designed by Kevin O’Neill at Will Work for Good, each 12″ is packaged with a red or blue vinyl cling allowing your own commentary depending on the mood. First pressing limited to 550 copies.” |
| SAMADHISOUND |
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NAKAMURA, TOSHIMARU: Egrets CD (SAMAD 017CD) 15.00
“To fans of free improvisation and the Japanese onkyo, or noise scene, Toshimaru Nakamura needs no introduction; to newcomers, the name of his instrument — the no-input mixing board — may sound forbidding, or mechanistic. But for over a decade, Nakamura has cultivated a world of tones from this unlikely instrument, making music both harsh and mesmerizing, humanist and expansive — with something to lure in music fans of any stripe. ‘Egrets has Toshi’s signature minimalist stamp but sonically there’s a lot more variation to this work,’ says founder of samadhisound David Sylvian. ‘I have great admiration for Toshi, for his sense of discipline, his risk taking, his openness, generosity and intelligence.’ Two guests join Nakamura on this release. ‘Semi’ is a duo with guitarist Tetuzi Akiyama, who has collaborated with Nakamura for over a decade. ‘Since we started to play together, we have been functioning as a unit to host guests to form a trio or quartet, sometimes larger. I think that has given a character to our duo. Observing ourselves, it seems like we don’t play’ on’ each other so much. Instead, we reserve some room for other musicians and listeners.’ Their duet is spacious, but complete; Akiyama’s ringing acoustic guitar leaves wide spaces where Nakamura chatters and fizzes, quiet but busy like a bird circling a behemoth. By contrast, this was the first time Nakamura had worked with Arve Henriksen, the in-demand trumpeter and co-founder of the acclaimed electro-acoustic group Supersilent. They met at a 2009 session in London, which was organized by David Sylvian during the recording of his audio installation, When We Return You Won’t Recognize Us. Henriksen recorded duo and solo performances for this project, which Nakamura pared down to breath sounds and instrument noises: we hear every exhalation and every click of the valves on ‘Heater/Refrigerator,’ while on ‘Tane’ the two banter vigorously, bubbling ideas from the guts of one instrument to the other. ‘Egrets’ is presented in a digipak with artwork and design by Chris Bigg, continuing Samadhisound’s commitment to creating beautifully packaged, stunning music.” |
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BANG, JAN: …And Poppies From Kandahar CD (SAMAD 018CD) 15.00
“Jan Bang’s first album under his own name evokes a powerful sense of place — but it’s not a place you would recognize, or ever expect to find. A descendent of Jon Hassell’s ‘fourth world’ concept, it sketches scenes of struggle and malice, in locales both primitive and urbane. As a producer, Bang stitches it together like a patchwork atlas and then makes the seams disappear: live recordings and studio constructions, old samples and new solos come together to form an exquisite whole. Bang recruits a cast of collaborators from Norway and beyond, who will be familiar to anyone who’s followed his recent productions: trumpeter and vocalist Arve Henriksen, whose albums Cartography and Chiaroscuro were co-produced by Bang; the stunning vocalist Sidsel Endresen, whose captivating turn on ‘The Midwife’s Dilemma’ grows out of a moan and a half-croak; and samadhisound founder David Sylvian, who wrote the titles for each piece and the album as a whole, setting these abstract scenes in a disruptive context. The sounds on …And Poppies From Kandahar come from the studio and the stage, close-mic’d instruments and field recordings, the clank of a bottle and the grandeur of an orchestra. Says Bang, ‘As a ‘samplist’ I collect sounds that may become useful in other situations. It´s much like collecting sand shells without knowing how to use them — just keeping them because of their pure beauty.’ The result transcends idiom or genre. A sample of guitarist Eivind Aarset clicks over humble handclaps on ‘The Midwife’s Dilemma’; trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær solos over a melody by Robert Schumann. ‘Self Injury’ is a hybrid of live and studio tapes, where upright bass casts a pall over Arve Henriksen’s monastic falsetto. And ‘Passport Control’ excerpts ‘Gammler Zen + Hohe Berge’ by Germany’s Kammerflimmer Kollektief, marrying its urgent tempo to wary brass. The conclusion, ‘Exile from Paradise,’ is a performance of Sidsel Endresen’s ‘Undertow’ that was taped at Punkt Festival 2008 — and that features Jon Hassell on trumpet. ‘To me, Jon is one of the most important philosophers of our time. I can hear his influence in a lot of peoples work, including my own.'” |
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RABELAIS, AKIRA: Caduceus CD (SAMAD 019CD) 15.00
“On his samadhisound debut, Spellewauerynsherde, Akira Rabelais crafted austere settings to found recordings of Icelandic songs of lament. His follow-up, Caduceus, is a different beast — a study of guitar and extreme distortion that’s both harsh and mesmerising. samadhisound founder David Sylvian describes it as ‘caustically romantic’: ‘Akira’s recording presents you with an auditory experience quite unlike any other. It’s by turns a brutal and discomforting ride. Outside of the full-on audio assault, there’s unsettling disquiet in its quietude. Once heard it won’t be forgotten and for those seeking out recorded music that is transformative, experiential, this material has that potency.’ To create the distortion, Rabelais wrote a filter by modeling sources such as fuzz boxes and old guitar pedals. Samples of AM radio also lurk in the mix. ‘You can hear faint fragments of voice in a couple of places on the album. I used static concretely and as a data modeling source. It’s exceptionally tasty… right up there with a wedge of Red Leicester and a well structured Nero d’Avola.’ Several of the pieces on Caduceus evolved in multiple directions, and all but one of the tracks are presented in two parts — for example, the opening and closing cuts, or tracks three and four. ‘As with just about everything I do it’s mostly a matter of listening and waiting for the tracks to reveal their intentions. The album came to have a cinematic quality in my mind’s eye, something like a soundtrack to a Western by Cocteau and Chris Cunningham.’ Listening suggests scenes — the slow-motion gunfight, the hero’s death, the peace of sleeping under the stars. But usually a soundtrack sticks to the background; few films could stand up to Caduceus’ onslaught. Perhaps the most challenging release in samadhisound’s catalogue, Caduceus is rigorous, uncommon, and essential. Its sonic rewards are matched only by the chance to grapple with the personality behind it, which is as mercurial as the title suggests.” |
| SHITKATAPULT (GERMANY) |
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BELIAYEVA, XENIA: Ever Since CD (STRIKE 113CD) 15.50
This is the long-awaited debut album from Germany’s Xenia Beliayeva. Since her first releases on Anthony Rother’s Datapunk label, Xenia Beliayeva developed a certain style that she has now mastered. Her first album on T.Raumschmiere’s Shitkatapult sets a landmark in the terrain of today’s dance music: cool, dark, electronic. Tracks like “New Day,” “Satellite,” “Mind Damage” or the title-track “Ever Since” work far beyond the boundaries of club music and reach out to a larger audience. Combined with a futuristic style of love and shadows, Xenia Beliayeva puts this album, produced by mastermind André Winter, in the tradition of dark wave/pop music by the likes of Sisters Of Mercy, Human League, Soft Cell and others. Xenia, born in Moscow, lives in Hamburg nowadays and fits in the actual Shitkatapult roster perfectly alongside a number of electronic music artists that are oriented towards the idea of songwriting — far more than just making tracks. |
| SMALLTOWN SUPERSOUND (NORWAY) |
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DISKJOKKE: En Fin Tid CD (STS 184CD) 17.00
“At once hypnotic, stomping and futuristic, this record maintains their trippy, epic prog-disco aesthetic without sacrificing melody or subtlety. The album flows like a journey in sound, with each song seamlessly drifting into the next. The album, recorded and entirely self-produced in Diskjokke’s new studio, draws its inspiration from Holger Czukay’s mid-’80s period, Brian Eno, Arthur Russell, European disco, Alan Parsons, Tangerine Dream, Arthur Lyman and Craig Leon.” |
| SMALLVILLE (GERMANY) |
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MELCHIOR & PRONSATO: Puerto Rican Girls 12″ (SMALL 020EP) 12.00
Both living in Berlin, Melchior & Pronsato connect their world of sound and built one of the loveliest records in the whole universe of reduced deepness. On “Puerto Rican Girls,” Melchior & Pronsato play the most wonderful Rhodes-line ever created, connected with a neverending rhythm that could last for ages, featuring the voice of Ninca Leece. “We Make It Right” brings together what belongs together — a fluffy bass line with a groove that makes the sunshine brighter. |
| SMUDGE |
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VERTICAL SLIT: Slit And Pre-Slit LP (SMUDGE 001LP) 19.00
“‘Originally released in a vanity pressing of 100 copies, this debut by James Michael Shepard & Vertical Slit has long been a holy grail item on many a collector’s list. Legend has it almost 1/4th of the pressing ended up in the hands of luminaries such as Todd Rundgren, John Cale, Robert Fripp & Peter Hamill to name but a few. Musically this stands toe to toe with the cream of Nurse With Wound list prog obscuros AND Acid Archives psych outsiders. Imagine a bridge between Magical Power Makos’ self-titled debut LP& The Decaye’s Ich Bin Ein Spieglei. Mastered in the furnace of the future so to bask in the luminous glow of the past. Edition of 350.’ – Smudge. Legendary 1977 LP of recordings made between August 1974 and January 1977. Very highly recommended!” |
| SOLEILMOON RECORDINGS |
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MUSLIMGAUZE: Iran CD (SOL 006CD) 14.00
“Iran was the first Muslimgauze recording to be released on CD, and therefore occupies a special place in the hearts of Muslimgauze fans. The year was 1988, and Dutch label Staalplaat had recently been introduced to the music of Muslimgauze through their association with Soleilmoon. At the time, Staalplaat was known for their attractively presented cassette releases. Iran was their first CD release, and signaled the start of the label’s transition away from the cassette format. Soleilmoon reissued Iran in America in 1993 after Staalplaat relinquished their rights to the material, although by then more than half a dozen Muslimgauze CDs had been issued by Staalplaat, Soleilmoon and other labels. Iran was available for another five years, until 1998, when it went out of print. The Muslimgauze catalog is profoundly deep, with 200 or more releases, depending on how you count them. Ever the one to love his latest compositions above all others, Bryn Jones, the man behind Muslimgauze, pushed his record labels to issue new product and let older titles go out of print, which for the most part made sense. After all, fans want the newest album, so why keep something old in print? But with the passing of time, the question has been answered: History is relevant, and the old recordings are still important. Thus it is with particularly great happiness and pride that we bring back the first ever Muslimgauze CD. For this reissue the CD packaging has been completely redesigned. The original print films were converted into digital files so that the photographs could be reused, but the essay Breien Met Mist / Zonder Handleiding (Knitting With Fog / Without Manual) written in Dutch by Andrew McKenzie of The Hafler Trio, was deleted, allowing us to put full emphasis on the presentation of the images. The new package is printed entirely on high quality heavyweight papers, and is a work of art in its own right, rivaling the music recorded on the CD it’s designed to hold. A sturdy slipcover pocket holds a black-and-white four-page booklet together with a CD slipcase made with scented, metallic gold paper. It is truly an art object to cherish and treasure.” |
| SOMETHING (GERMANY) |
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LUNATIK SOUND SYSTEM: The Heavy Minded Orchestra 2LP (SOME 013LP) 26.50
Vinyl release. Stephan Laubner aka STL aka Lunatik Sound System invites you to something very special — a journey into the depths of his soulful ambient music. This vinyl double pack contains selected works from the Something CD series and comes strictly limited to 500 copies with no repress! On this beautiful album there are painted, extended listening tracks of orchestral heavy-minded soundscapes, haunting melancholic waves and mellow, dreamy sound sculptures, which can change depth perception when listening carefully and in full-length. Deep and wonderful details drift at the horizons and within the apparent insignificant moments. Take a time-out and enjoy this fascinating music. This Lunatik Sound System double vinyl comes with a full inside/out cover and is meant for collectors and listeners, as well as for ambient DJs or people who want to spice up their mix-set with a nice in or outro. |
| SOUL JAZZ RECORDS (UK) |
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VA: Spirits of Life: Haitian Vodou CD (SJR 105CD) 16.00
2010 repress. “Soul Jazz Records are reissuing Spirits of Life: Haitian Vodou, new mid-price special box-edition, recorded in Haiti, to coincide with the release of Kanaval their new photography book and music CD about Kanaval in Haiti. Voodoo music recorded by Soul Jazz Records in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Voodoo is the sacred African-based religion of Haiti famous for it’s Hollywood-styled image of spirit- possession, sacrifices and walking dead. The music of Voodoo features intense, complex African drum rhythms alongside vocals. The music of voodoo is used to bring spirits into the body of worshippers who become possessed by the spirit that enters their body. Voodoo was brought to Haiti by slaves and later bought about the revolution that made Haiti the first Black republic. Voodoo flourishes in Haiti today and is the lifeline of it’s society. Haiti is next to Cuba, Jamaica and Puerto Rico in the West Indies and consequently the music is a mixture of heavy African rhythms alongside Latin and Jamaican music.” Includes 30-page booklet. |
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VA: Spirits of Life: Haitian Vodou 2LP (SJR 105LP) 21.00
2010 repress. Double LP version. |
| STAUBGOLD (GERMANY) |
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KLANGWART: Zwei LP (STAUB 084LP) 17.00
Vinyl release. Staubgold presents a re-issue of the legendary second Klangwart album Zwei (trans. “Two”), originally released on the group’s own Klangstelle label in 1999. It is strictly limited to 200 copies in clear vinyl with the original artwork. “Both ‘Zweitoneins’ and ‘Zweitonzwei’ are powerful drone pieces. In the first, a single tone bends and wavers like an airfoil caught in a relentless monochord cross-current. A grand ascent into the airstream caps 17 minutes of adamantly grounded variations in aerodynamic drag and lift. Imagine Tony Conrad bowing one viola note so aggressively as to achieve lift-off. The shimmering flux of ‘Zweitonzwei’ is far less assertive — an aurora of diaphanous haze that gathers, hovers, and dissipates within the undefiled acoustic space shared by Jliat, Organum, and Harry Bertoia.” –Gil Gershman |
| STRANGE ATTRACTORS AUDIO HOUSE |
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MY EDUCATION: Sunrise LP (SAAH 060LP) 17.00
LP version. “Comprised of pieces from the band’s original score for F.W. Murnau’s 1927 silent masterpiece Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, My Education has discovered the perfect forum for which to flex their compositional muscles, achieving ever-transcendent musical heights in the process. This original score was perfected over the last two years through live scoring to the film, performed at sold out shows from coast-to-coast throughout the USA. Just as the music provides new context to the film as a live accompaniment, Sunrise flashes brightly from the speakers, sparking vivid and lush imagery for the listener. Finding parallels to the timeless soundtracks-as-albums Popol Vuh composed for a number of Werner Herzog’s films — music with such visual distinction that it went on to become both synonymous with the screen and the band’s legacy — Sunrise leaps onto celluloid with confident grace, distinguishing itself as My Education’s most diverse and mature release yet.” |
| SUBLIME FREQUENCIES |
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SOULEYMAN, OMAR: Jazeera Nights: Folk & Pop Sounds of Syria CD (SF 055CD) 15.00
Repressed. On tour in the U.S. right now! Sublime Frequencies is honored to present Omar Souleyman’s third Western collection on disc. This retrospective features live recordings spanning 15 years of Omar’s tireless repertoire, and is rife with frenzied Syrian dabke (a regional folkloric dance and party music), Iraqi choubi and a host of Arabic, Kurdish and Turkish styles, among others — an amalgamation that exemplifies the musical essence of Northeastern Syria. Culled from cassettes recorded between 1995 and 2009, this collection offers a further rare glimpse into Syrian street-level dabke folk-pop — a phenomena seldom heard in the West, not previously deemed serious enough for export by the Syrians and rarely, if ever, included on the import agenda of worldwide academic musical committees. Over the years, Souleyman’s popularity has risen steadily and the group tirelessly performs concerts throughout Syria and has accepted invitations to perform abroad in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon. In 2006, Sublime Frequencies partnered with Omar to release Highway To Hassake (SF 031CD), the first compilation of his works to be issued in the West. The success of this release and the video for the song “Leh Jani” helped see Souleyman and his group invited for their first Western tour in 2009 alongside label-mates Group Doueh from the Western Sahara. This successful tour quickly elevated Souleyman to the status of an international legend — and deservedly so. This release coincides with the beginning of Omar’s 2010 international tour in May which will take him to the UK, the European mainland, and hopefully the U.S. and Canada. CD features a full-color 8-page booklet with great photos, a general overview of the lyrics translated into English and liner notes by compiler Mark Gergis. |
| THE GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC CO. |
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JAMES, ELMORE: The Best Of Elmore James Vol. 2 CD (GA 215CD) 12.50
“Best of Elmore James, Vol 2 is a comprehensive package of hit, rarities and b-sides. The CD contains 18 tracks and new liner notes from blues historian Bill Dahl. Elmore James’ influential slide guitar has garnered him a place in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame.” |
| TIGERSUSHI (FRANCE) |
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VA: Tigersushi Presents More G.D.M. X – 10 Years Of Goddam Music 2CD (TSR 020CD) 18.00
Tigersushi celebrates its 10 year anniversary in 2010, the year of the Tiger. Ten years of activism, love, and artistic ambition. To celebrate, the label releases a double compilation: More G.D.M. X, a retrospective as much as a glance into the future. A lot of unreleased exclusive tracks, some confirmed hits and some personal classics. The first CD (“Easy”) shows the bright pop side of Tigersushi with songs by Poni Hoax, Panico, Principles Of Geometry, Krikor And The Hillbillies, while the second CD, mixed by Joakim, explores the more experimental, inner-side of Tigersushi with K.I.M., Jackson, Joakim, and Discipline. Other artists include: My Sister Klaus, DyE, In Flagranti, Freddie Mas, Nakion, Desmond & The Tutus, King Of Town, Maestro, Crackboy, and Guillaume Teyssier. |
| TOMPKINS SQUARE |
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FAIRFIELD, FRANK: Unheard Ofs & Forgotten Abouts CD (TSQ 2387CD) 13.00
Subtitled: Rare and unheralded gramophone recordings from around the world — (1916-1964). “On this, the first release on Frank Fairfield’s Tompkins Square imprint, Pawn Records, Fairfield presents an exciting collection of reissued recordings from his personal 78 rpm record collection. It provides a broad view of the ‘Gramophone era,’ specifically concerning the recording of vernacular music from around the world: from Atlanta, Georgia to Kisumu, Kenya; from the ’10s to the ’60s. The records have been beautifully transferred by the highly respected record collector and producer Michael Kieffer. Frank’s self-titled debut album on Tompkins Square has won over fans like Greil Marcus and Ry Cooder, and landed Frank opening spots for Fleet Foxes and Brendan Benson. Pitchfork ran an extensive interview with Frank in their new column The Out Door, and he’s been a staple on Greg Vandy’s show on KEXP, Seattle.” Includes 16-page booklet with notes on each track by Fairfield. |
| TRAUM (GERMANY) |
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MOONBEAM: Distance 12″ (TRAUM 126EP) 12.00
Moonbeam’s track “Distance” carries the haunted and ghostly feeling of the ’80s, with spine-tingling melodies which have always been the strength of their music. “The Underwater World” dives headlong into deep, dubbed techno soaked in bass, while at the same time, unbelievably colorful melodies appear as friendly “invaders.” This track is a masterpiece and will be transformed into a visual piece of art by Moonbeam themselves, on the day of the release. |
| TRUTH & SOUL |
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LEONHART & THE AVRAMINA 7, MICHAEL: Seahorse And The Storyteller LP (TSLP 009LP) 19.00
LP version. “Over the past 10 years, Michael Leonhart has performed and/or recorded with some of the best names in music. Some of those names include Yoko Ono, Mos Def, Steely Dan, Brian Eno, James Brown, Bill Withers, David Byrne, and Todd Rundgren, not to mention the 50 plus recordings he has appeared on for Truth & Soul. However, Seahorse and The Storyteller, is the first time the world will be exposed to the psychedelic, reverb drenched, and highly intimate music that has surfaced solely from the imagination of Michael Leonhart. While on the road with Steely Dan in 2005, Leonhart came up with the idea to record a concept record that would meld the styles of Bollywood funk scores, ’60s psychedelic rock, and the mythical storytelling of artists like Peter, Paul, & Mary and Donovan. Seahorse and The Storyteller is a modern musical opera that in the words of Leonhart, ‘tells the story of two mythical creatures who meet, fall in love and begin piecing together the mysteries of each others’ past.’ Seahorse is a record that defines genre generalizations and will prove to be one of the most enjoyable and interesting records of 2010. With quirky arrangements featuring strings, mellotron, fuzz guitar, horns, vibes, farfisa, gang vocals, and practically every percussion instrument under the sun, Michael Leonhart & The Avramina 7 have created a new and unique sound that heavily draws influence from artists like R.D Burman, The Beatles, Fela Kuti, and ’60s psychedelia, but manages to sound completely fresh and new and like nothing else out there.” |
| TZADIK |
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ZORN, JOHN: The Goddess – Music For The Ancient Of Days CD (TZ 7383) 14.50
“Continuing in the mystical tradition of In Search of the Miraculous, The Goddess is a stunning collection of Odes in celebration of Women in Myth, Magick and Ritual throughout the Ages. Expanding the ever-growing Alhambra ensemble with the searing guitar of Marc Ribot and the evocative harp of Carol Emanuel, the music takes on a lush orchestral sound and more than a touch of the feminine. Blending an hypnotic minimalist propulsion with the complex cinematic sweep of Zorn’s fast changing extended file card compositions, the music develops from moment to moment in ways both surprising and inevitable. Breathtaking and hauntingly beautiful, The Goddess is a lyrical treat for your ears!” |
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MALKIEL, RAFI: Water CD (TZ 8151) 14.50
“Born in Israel and now based in New York, Rafi Malkiel is a composer/performer of remarkable creativity and versatility. Active for many years as a trombonist in the Latin, jazz and Downtown music scenes he has performed and recorded with Loren Schoenberg, Willie Colon, Reggie Workman and Ray Anderson among many others. Lyrical and edgy, Rafi is joined here by verteran choro master Anat Cohen and a large ensemble of horns and strings for a beautiful program of New Jewish originals. Lush, driving and utterly delightful!” |
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CHARMING HOSTESS: The Bowls Project CD (TZ 8152) 14.50
“The Bowls Project is an exciting new recording by Charming Hostess, one of the most consistently creative and explorative ensembles working today. Based on inscriptions found on ancient Babylonian Jewish amulets, the texts speak of mysticism and magic, angels and demons, and the trials and joys of love and sex. Especially audible are the voices of women here– their work, hopes, and dreams. Using music drawn from the rich traditions of the Babylonian Jews and sources both Jewish and African, The Bowls Project is one of the most personal projects to date by this radical west coast ensemble.” |
| UNIVERSAL SOUND (UK) |
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VA: Voodoo Drums CD (US 016CD) 16.00
2010 repress. “Soul Jazz Records are re-issuing Voodoo Drums, recorded in Haiti, to coincide with the release of Kanaval, their new photography book and music CD about Kanaval in Haiti. 19 rhythms of Haitian Voodoo drumming! Recorded in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, this record features The Drummers of the Societe Absolument Guinen. This music is at the heart of both Latin and African music and this CD explains the connections between the music of Africa, The West Indies and onto America. These rhythms feature heavily in dance music today, especially with artists such as Masters At Work, Joe Claussel, Osunlade and others.” |
| UPON YOU (GERMANY) |
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MESTENO, MATHIAS: Mustangs In Utah 12″ (UY 035EP) 12.00
Danish foreign affairs correspondent Mathias Mesteño has returned after an extensive visit to Chicago Soundscapes, managing to sneak a suitcase full of classic house tracks through customs. Mesteño’s crafty little fingers have combined three decades of musical history with samples and inspiration, long breaks and warm kick drums, turning them into modern club tracks. “Buckskin” pounds with its dusty boiler beats, while “El Mestengo” proudly grooves itself. As to be expected, the Chicago expert proves that he’s fearless with “Bareback.” |
| VINYL LOVERS (RUSSIAN FEDERATION) |
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OZRIC TENTACLES: Curious Corn LP (VL 900618LP) 24.00
“1997’s Curious Corn finds our favourite DIY neo-psych space rockers rocking around the universe once again with a genre-defying mix of Eastern / African-influenced synth / glissando guitar-driven grooves. With each new release the Ozrics seem to top themselves and when this came out over a decade ago it had fans and critics raving that this was their best release yet. Here the Ozrics, featuring Ed Wynne on six-string guitar and synth, John Egan on flute, Seaweed on synth, Rad on drums and Zia on bass, take listeners ever deeper down the rabbit hole… a satisfying journey for those who dare to follow.” |
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SUN RA ARKESTRA: Egypt Strut LP (VL 901059LP) 24.00
“In 1983 Sun Ra travelled to Egypt — the land of great African kings and perhaps descendants of an alien race, and therefore, a kind of spiritual homeland for Ra — to record two compositions by the godfather of Egyptian jazz, percussionist Salah Ragab. The second piece, ‘Dawn’, is a composition based on an Islamic hymn sung during the Arabic month of ‘Shawall’ and features Ra playing the Hohner melodica. This record is particularly significant because, despite Ra’s enormous discography and tours to all corners of the globe, this is one of the few times he ever recorded with a non-African American musician. Perhaps Ra was intrigued by the fact that the two men shared the same initials? Or perhaps he was drawn to his exceptional talent as a percussionist… knowing Ra it was probably a little of both. Also includes ‘Watusa’, recorded live at ‘Il Capo’ Jazz club in Cairo in January 1984.” Backcover notes by Hartmut Geerken. |
| WAGON REPAIR (CANADA) |
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HRDVSION: Where Did You Just Go? EP 12″ (WAG 064EP) 12.00
This 12″ features tracks from the full-length release Where Did You Just Go? (WAG 064CD) from Canadian Nathan Jonson aka Hrdvsion. Where Did You Just Go? takes the listener to a variety of places, at least some of which will doubtless be new to many ears. A non-compromising creator of glitch-heavy electronic music for the last decade or so, Hrdvsion has finally matched his esoteric vision to the more formal structures of house, techno and electro/breakbeat. |
| WATER |
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BORGES, LO: Lo Borges CD (WATER 243CD) 15.00
“Originally released in 1972, Lo Borges’ solo debut is a stunning piece of post-bossa nova Brazilian pop music. Combining influences ranging from soul, jazz, pop, psychedelic, and bossa nova with brilliant musicianship and wild arrangements, Lo Borges is one of the finest Brazilian records of the 1970s, if not ever. Borges emerged out of the Clube de Esquina musical collective, from the state of Minas Gerais, along with Milton Nascimento, a movement that rivaled the brilliance of the more well known Tropicalismo. Absolutely brilliant and available on CD in the USA for the first time ever.” |
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WHITE, BUKKA: Mississippi Blues CD (WATER 244CD) 15.00
“Originally recorded in 1963 for John Fahey’s Takoma record label, Mississippi Blues, is one of the finest albums White produced during his later period, after being rediscovered by the folk revival of the early 1960s. A pre-war country-blues artist of the highest order, White, like many of his contemporaries had lived in obscurity for many years, but his great talent remained.” |
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