Forced Exposure New Releases for the Week of 9/25/2023

 

PRICE: $14.50

CAT #: CLEARER 001CD

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

"One Sunday afternoon in 1990, I had a phone call from Keith saying that Sarah Records had received the demo cassette the two of us had recorded on a 4-track in a friend's shed and were interested in putting out two of the songs as a single. They were 'Clearer' and 'Alison'. Delighted by this news, we booked some recording time with a studio we'd regularly used in our previous incarnation as Feverfew, the White House in Weston-super-Mare. This was the first time we'd ever played a note of music that was using someone else's money, so the pressure was being felt. We recorded 'Clearer', 'Fearon', and 'Chelsea Guitar', with 'Clearer' becoming Sarah 55, the first of eight singles for the band across two labels. At that time, we were still toying with a name for ourselves and had settled with the Art Bunnies. While driving us back home from Weston, though, I declared that I really couldn't see how people would take us seriously with a name like that. Disappointed, Keith (Girdler) then got out a piece of paper upon which he'd written several other contenders. These included 'Opal Trumpet', the 'Smiling Monarchs', and (thankfully), 'Blueboy'." A Colourful Storm presents Blueboy's singles collection and the band's final retrospective release. Beautiful gatefold sleeve designed by Sarah Records' own Matt Haynes with original artwork insert, postcard, and liner notes by Paul Stewart.

 

PRICE: $33.00

CAT #: CLEARER 001LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"One Sunday afternoon in 1990, I had a phone call from Keith saying that Sarah Records had received the demo cassette the two of us had recorded on a 4-track in a friend's shed and were interested in putting out two of the songs as a single. They were 'Clearer' and 'Alison'. Delighted by this news, we booked some recording time with a studio we'd regularly used in our previous incarnation as Feverfew, the White House in Weston-super-Mare. This was the first time we'd ever played a note of music that was using someone else's money, so the pressure was being felt. We recorded 'Clearer', 'Fearon', and 'Chelsea Guitar', with 'Clearer' becoming Sarah 55, the first of eight singles for the band across two labels. At that time, we were still toying with a name for ourselves and had settled with the Art Bunnies. While driving us back home from Weston, though, I declared that I really couldn't see how people would take us seriously with a name like that. Disappointed, Keith (Girdler) then got out a piece of paper upon which he'd written several other contenders. These included 'Opal Trumpet', the 'Smiling Monarchs', and (thankfully), 'Blueboy'." A Colourful Storm presents Blueboy's singles collection and the band's final retrospective release. Beautiful gatefold sleeve designed by Sarah Records' own Matt Haynes with original artwork insert, postcard, and liner notes by Paul Stewart. Gatefold sleeve, artwork insert, postcard.

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: ATCK 042LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

A Tribe Called Kotori's first foray into full-length territories, as the immensely talented Rampue takes us on a melancholy-riddled ride across his phantasmatic mindscapes. A true sound explorer, deftly steering his ship down the junction of electronica, abstract and balearic-infused prog house, the Berlin-based vibist has us transfixed and elevated throughout the twelve cuts that form the backbone to this lushly textured promenade in sound -- at times understatedly euphoric, at others rivetingly exotic. Distantly emulating the "euphonious strains" of iconic PS1 video games soundtracks from his youth days, Bubblebath Trance has us surfing a constant paradox of emotions, wistful but not abandoning itself to sorrow, dynamic yet suspended in some sort of mind-expanding stasis. A crystal-pure object that shall not reveal its secrets, even after a thousand listens and just as many wowing moments.

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: ABERRANT 006LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2023 restock. Following the incredible (and successful) compilation Taiwan Disco, the master minds behind Aberrant Records present this delicious record. Subtitled Disco Divas, Funky Queens and Psych Ladies from Asia from the 70s to the Early 90s you don't have to take a wild guess to figure out what you'll find here, a treasure trove filled with exotic jewels from Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and South Korea, from Asian funk to psych-tinged awesomeness, disco madness and much more. Features Chailai & Sawanee, Chantana Kittiyapan, Lei Si Si, Ding Dai, Yasmin, Wong Foong Foong, XYZ, Fatimah Razak, Chen Qiong Mei, Sum Sum & Pan Pan, Grace Simon, and Hit Girls.

 

PRICE: $28.00

CAT #: AWE 001LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

LP version. Currently based in Los Angeles, Laurel Halo has spent over a decade stepping into different towns and cities for a moment or more, to the point where everywhere almost became nowhere. Atlas, the debut release on her new imprint Awe, is an attempt to put that feeling to music. Using both electronic and acoustic instrumentation, Halo has created a potent set of sensual ambient jazz collages, comprised of orchestral clouds, shades of modal harmony, hidden sonic details, and detuned, hallucinatory textures. The music functions as a series of maps, for places real and imaginary, and for expressing the unsaid. The process of writing Atlas began back in 2020 when she reacquainted herself with the piano. She relished the piano's physical feedback, as well as its capacity to express emotion and lightness. And when the legendary Ina-GRM Studios in Paris invited her to take up a residency the following year in 2021, she spared no time to dub, stretch and manipulate some of the simple piano sketches she'd recorded over the prior months; these subtle piano recordings and electronic manipulations would go on to become the heart of Atlas. In the remainder of 2021 and 2022, with time spent between Berlin and London, Halo recorded additional guitar, violin and vibraphone, as well as acoustic instrumentation from friends and collaborators including saxophonist Bendik Giske, violinist James Underwood, cellist Lucy Railton, and vocalist Coby Sey. All of these sounds were shaped, melted, and re-composed into the arrangements, their acoustic origins rendered uncanny. In short, Atlas is road trip music for the subconscious. With repeated listens, it is a record that can leave a deep sensorial impression on the listener, akin to walking at dusk in a dark forest. Its humor and sharp focus would dispel any notions of sentimentality. Completely distinct from the rest of Halo's catalog, Atlas is an album that thrives in the quietest places, rejecting bombast and embracing awe. Fitting that it's the debut release on her new recording label, whose slogan parallels the mood and atmosphere of the album: Awe is something you feel when confronted with forces beyond your control: nature, the cosmos, chaos human error, hallucinations.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: BALMAT 007LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Minor Science -- aka UK-born, Berlin-based musician Angus Finlayson -- makes his Balmat debut with Absent Friends Vol. III, the third installment in a shape-shifting series across a variety of formats and platforms. And with it, he pushes forward his vision of ambient music as neither static vista or merely mood-setting atmosphere, but rather a dynamic matrix of textures, sensations, and even rhythms. The first two Absent Friends -- a 2014 set for Blowing Up the Workshop, and a 2017 cassette and web player for Whities (now AD93) -- were hybrid affairs, part DJ mix and part collage, mostly featuring music made by other people. Then, in 2020-21, Finlayson developed the project into a live show of his own material. Armed with hundreds of bespoke stems created in his studio -- idiosyncratic FX chains, feedback loops through cheap rack gear, heavily post-processed field recordings, found voices, etc. -- he would improvise on four CDJs, mixer, FX, and live synths, extending techniques he learned as a club DJ into a live context, accompanied by visuals by Stockholm-based artist Paul Witherden. Absent Friends Vol. III is an album of studio versions of the music developed for the live show. But in Minor Science's world, even a category as simple as "studio versions" is slightly opaque. Finlayson's organic process of ideation and realization might help explain the unusual coherence of the album, in which sounds and textures flow seamlessly from one to the next, sometimes seeming to stand still, and sometimes looping back. There are virtually no melodies, few recognizable motifs or riffs, yet the eight-track album nevertheless moves with a distinctive logic and a determined sense of purpose, from the frozen-in-time shimmer of the opening "Introduction" through the early cuts' studies of space and light; from the seemingly autobiographical "Summer Diary" through the rushing trance (yes, trance) arpeggios of "Contingency" and on to the dulcet denouement of the closing "Gather Your Party (Dispersed Mix)."

 

PRICE: $30.50

CAT #: BEC 5161607

FILE UNDER: WORLD

2023 repress; originally released in 2001. Gatefold double LP with a CD copy of the album. "The French-raised Spaniard distilled the scattershot Europop-rock of Mano Negra into 1998's DIY, polyglot Clandestino, a word-of-mouth smash throughout Latin Europe and then Latin America. Clandestino was warm, sprightly, melancholy, palpably humane. This is all that with magic on top, reprising and varying a small store of infectious tunes into a motley suite segued and differentiated with sound effects, funny voices, surprise guest instruments, and spoken-word samples. The pulse is Marley sans Africa-reggae, whiter than the Bellamy Brothers, ska liter than polka. The mood is festive in the urbane, liberal, and internationalist manner of Chao's new home, the pan-European haven Barcelona, a city that resisted Franco so vivaciously for so long that it assumes entertainment coexists with dread. Just in time -- Euroworld! Never thought I'd hear it done right. A" --Robert Christgau

 

PRICE: $18.00

CAT #: BOND 12071EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Romanian duo Dani and Robert aka NTFO delivering a fresh four-track EP on Bondage-Music, a minimal house banger release. The vinyl comes as 180g limited crystal-clear vinyl and includes two vinyl-only tracks on the B-side.

 

PRICE: $35.00

CAT #: BB 413LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2023 restock; LP version. Bureau B invite you on an expedition to Silberland, a singular span of spacetime created by Germany's sonic futurists of the seventies and eighties. Embracing the early electronics and tape experiments of the sixties' avant-garde, these artists aimed to boldly go, eschewing small steps for giant leaps into a nebulous and novel sound. The kosmische generation emerged from the revolutionary student movement of '67 and '68, opposing any lingering political ties to Nazism and occupying the cultural vacuum which endured long after the post-war era. Encompassing both better known and more obscure artists, this collection is a trip into the psychedelic and cerebral strain of this amorphous genre, pairing the pulsating and propulsive with moments of cosmic calm.Opener "Strahlsund" by Die Partei serves as the national anthem for this no-place, its utopian melodies and stately rhythm evoking an optimism which is swiftly skewed by the chrome tones and snapping percussion of Ralf Trostel's "Two Face". The delirious drive of Michael Bundt's "Full Steam Ahead" embraces the uncanny as jarring bursts of laughter drown out a serpentine topline before the fever breaks into the cold sweat of Moebius' "Etwas", a sweet synth sonata decorated with detuned keys. "Scharfer Schnitt (No1)" is the first suggestion of Silberland's full scope, the Populäre Mechanik A-side fusing postpunk and dubby funk and perfectly paving the way for the ritualistic stomp of Roedelius' trance-dancing "Regenmacher". Splitting the difference between Berlin and Düsseldorf schools, Tyndall offers the typically glittering "Großstadtgefühl", which smoothly segues into the synth scree of Conrad Schnitzler's beatless and balletic "Bis Die Blaue Blume Blüht". The zero-gravity drift continues with a contribution from Cologne's Phantom Band, who achieve an effortless groove while Bernd Kistenmacher takes you to the midpoint with the deep space repetition and Teutonic tessellations of "Quitting Time". The return journey begins with the beauty and sadness of Heiko Maile's "Nachtspaziergang" then sidesteps into a punkish pair from Moebius & Plank and Faust. If this bristling brace toyed with the terrestrial, Riechmann takes an aerial view of Earth via "Weltweit" and Asmus Tietchens strays way too close to the sun with a playful take on Venusian exotica. Things take a turn for the psychedelic via the Arabesque piano of Cluster's transformative "Avanti" and Günter Schickert's strung-out and smoldering "Wanderer", before the roving sequences of You's "Live Line" fire up the hyperdrive for a foray into warp speed. Cutting the thrusters almost entirely, the synthesist himself Harald Grosskopf takes the controls for re-entry, gliding through the upper atmosphere on the heartfelt waveforms of "Emphasis", cushioning the craft into Eno, Moebius and Roedelius' hypnagogic "Base & Apex".

 

PRICE: $16.50

CAT #: BB 437CD

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Compiled by Ralf Koster, DJ and curator of Hamburg's Golden Pudel Club, Where The Rabbit Sleeps is an extensive collection of tracks by Sensorama, a project comprising Jorn Elling Wuttke and Roman Flugel. Working as a production team since the late 1980s in various guises such as Acid Jesus, Alter Ego, and Primitive Painter, the pair also founded several labels with DJ Ata and Heiko MSO (Ongaku, Klang Elektronik, Playhouse). They released their debut album as Sensorama in 1995. Their music draws on a wide range of influences which reach far beyond the generic borders of techno. Sensorama released the last of their three albums in 2001, leaving us with an extraordinary body of work which still resonates today. The new compilation Where The Rabbit Sleeps offers a deep insight into the musical world of Sensorama. It is available on CD or as a double LP with a gatefold cover, remastered by Andreas "Lupo" Lubich, with new artwork by Rike Weigert and liner notes by Charlotte Goltermann, Christoph Dallach, and Andreas Dorau.

 

PRICE: $35.00

CAT #: BB 437LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Double LP version. Compiled by Ralf Koster, DJ and curator of Hamburg's Golden Pudel Club, Where The Rabbit Sleeps is an extensive collection of tracks by Sensorama, a project comprising Jorn Elling Wuttke and Roman Flugel. Working as a production team since the late 1980s in various guises such as Acid Jesus, Alter Ego, and Primitive Painter, the pair also founded several labels with DJ Ata and Heiko MSO (Ongaku, Klang Elektronik, Playhouse). They released their debut album as Sensorama in 1995. Their music draws on a wide range of influences which reach far beyond the generic borders of techno. Sensorama released the last of their three albums in 2001, leaving us with an extraordinary body of work which still resonates today. The new compilation Where The Rabbit Sleeps offers a deep insight into the musical world of Sensorama. It is available on CD or as a double LP with a gatefold cover, remastered by Andreas "Lupo" Lubich, with new artwork by Rike Weigert and liner notes by Charlotte Goltermann, Christoph Dallach, and Andreas Dorau.

 

PRICE: $37.50

CAT #: CCS 130LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Alan Abrahams aka Portable returns to the label in fine form with his latest full-length LP, Augmented Dreams. The title refers to the use of everyday technological advancements to achieve what were once only dreams or visions of past generations, making this an explorative concept album that is equal parts not-too-distant science fiction, and about as topical as it gets. From the gorgeous opening string layers of "The Pull of Time" to the classy 4/4 grooves of "Begin Again" or lead single "Guiding Me", into the apropos and angular sci-fi broken beat feels of "Parallax" and "The Color of Static", fitting Detroit-influenced love taps like "Beacon" and "The Mycorrhizal Network", the politically-inspired "Are We Not Above It?" referencing the lingering effects of colonization featuring NiQ E from South Africa on vocals and L_cio from Brazil on flute, through to the futurist pop elegance of the dreamy duet recorded with Alexey Kochetkov "I Need You" and the conclusive titular track, it is clear that both the in-depth concept and immaculately-crafted musical content in Portable's inimitable style are balanced in significance and expressive effect. This also functions as a timely statement in itself, as today's iceberg-tip evolution of AI technology is currently impending over the arts and many of our existing realities. This ten-song album serves as an imaginative yet hyperrealist narrative on how humanity's fascination with and reliance on ever-advancing technology defines the times we find ourselves in, while the skillful sonic displays and present-era production techniques along with Abraham's knack for timeless emotive songwriting offer up this solid soundtrack for the ages.

 

PRICE: $15.50

CAT #: COMP 277EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

2023 repress. Very few producers have built their reputation as quickly as Inverse Cinematics, the duo of Danilo Plessow and Joachim Tobias. In addition to solo releases on Pulver, Plessow has recorded tracks as Hipster Wonkaz and Aphro Pzyko for Pablo Valentino's Faces label and Mad Mats's Raw Fusion imprint. Motor City Drum Ensemble concentrates on Plessow's electronic side. Before he started to go more leftfield/broken-beat-ish with his Inverse Cinematics project, he was heavily influenced by the likes of Larry Heard, Chez Damier, UR, Moodymann, and Mike Huckaby, and labels like Soul City, KMS, Prescription, Harmonie Park.

 

PRICE: $22.00

CAT #: CVSD 052CD

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

2023 restock. R.I.P. Milford Graves, 1941-2021. Please watch the amazing Jake Meginsky documentary film "Milford Graves Full Mantis" if you haven't had the chance (streaming freely in the world). Corbett Vs. Dempsey presents a reissue of Milford Graves's Bäbi, originally issued in 1977 on Graves's own IPS label. This is the first reissue of one of the most legendary albums in the history of free music. Recorded live in concert in 1976, when Graves' trio with saxophonists Arthur Doyle and Hugh Glover was at the height of its powers, Bäbi is a testament to the absolutely unique approach the drummer had established for himself. He had reconfigured the drum kit, removing the second heads on all the drums and replacing the snare with two toms, which allowed him a much more nuanced sense of indirectness in his multi-directional adventures in time. The track "Ba" remains one of the most astonishing feats of percussion alchemy ever waxed, as funky as ten slap bassists and as free as an exploding grenade. Doyle and Glover are incendiary, too, inspired by Graves to new and shocking heights of achievement, their hoarse cries and whistling split-tones carried to thrilling plateaus on the energy of Graves' hands and feet. The original tapes for the session have been lost, so the reissue was lovingly remastered from virgin vinyl, itself now worth a mint. In 2017, Graves discovered a previously unknown tape in his archives featuring the same trio at its inception, in home recordings made seven years earlier, in 1969. Graves pummels a huge gong while Glover plays an instrument that, after sounding like none ever known, turns out to be bass clarinet. Extreme music recorded up close and very hot, it is among the most searing sessions never heard, until now. Rounding out the two-CD package are three previously unpublished photos by Gérard Rouy, and the original LP cover design by Graves himself.

 

PRICE: $53.50

CAT #: CMSR 010LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Still on and about after years of the most intense crate digging, gem mining, desperate head-scratching and avid schooling, thirsty as ever for the next musical thrill to wrap our ears and brains around, here comes the fruit of Cosmocities' life-long love story with Japanese electronics, Denshi Ongaku No Bigaku Vol. 1 and Vol.2. From the soul-fulfilling first crush felt upon hearing the iconic soundtrack of Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence by Ryuichi Sakamoto onto the label's release of Inner Science "Cosmo Tracks," through the life-affirming sets of Laurent Garnier at Dijon's seminal club, l'An-fer, the influence of Japanese music was paramount to the development of Cosmocities catalogue, whether directly or indirectly. This first volume features K. Inoue, Gabby & Lopez, Inner Science, Aquarium, Naohito Uchiyama, Keta Ra, Yuu Udagawa, Noah, Sauce81, Keita Sano, Waltz, Kuniyuki, and Ken Ishii.

 

PRICE: $53.50

CAT #: CMSR 011LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Still on and about after years of the most intense crate digging, gem mining, desperate head-scratching and avid schooling, thirsty as ever for the next musical thrill to wrap our ears and brains around, here comes the fruit of Cosmocities' life-long love story with Japanese electronics, Denshi Ongaku No Bigaku Vol. 1 and Vol.2. From the soul-fulfilling first crush felt upon hearing the iconic soundtrack of Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence by Ryuichi Sakamoto onto the label's release of Inner Science "Cosmo Tracks," through the life-affirming sets of Laurent Garnier at Dijon's seminal club, l'An-fer, the influence of Japanese music was paramount to the development of Cosmocities catalog, whether directly or indirectly. This second volume features Seiji Ono, Uyama Hiroto, J.A.K.A.M, Yuu Udagawa, Jazztronik, BRISA, Ryoma Takemasa, The Backwoods, LOADRUNNER, 909 State, Hiroshi Watanabe, Tomi Chair, and Satoshi Fumi.

 

PRICE: $12.50

CAT #: EDDA 062CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

After taking time out from working together to focus on separate musical projects, maverick composer Alan Roberts (Jim Noir) and crowd-rousing vocalist Leonore Wheatley (International Teachers of Pop/The Soundcarriers) have re-joined forces to introduce Co-Pilot. Happy in the haze of many boozy hours the album was recorded over just a few months whilst holed up and hanging out in Al's city centre Dookstereo studio. As Leonore added her vocal magic to Al's early demos of what would eventually become Co-Pilot's "Spring Beach" and a crooked original version of closing track "Corner House," the vibe was prophetic. The songs were the catalyst to spark a new phase of the pair working together, picking up where they left off. Powered by a "try anything" approach, Co-Pilot blends the musical DNA of what you've come to expect from each of the pair's previous flight paths. The album even features snippets from dearly departed pal Batfinks whilst "Motosaka" is perhaps the most expensive two-minutes on the album, featuring a Columbia Records Japan-cleared sample of Ryuichi Sakamoto's "Thousand Knives." Co-Pilot's destination might be unknown, but the clouds are about to part for a sound that is light years ahead.

 

PRICE: $31.50

CAT #: DDS 058LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

With the trio all hailing from the Pennine moorlands just above the Manc sprawl, Jon Collin and Demdike Stare's shared musical expression understandably reflects a parallax purview that follows leylines between lusher nooks of the inner city and windswept, barren landscapes. Never ones to play it straight, the Swedish Nyckelharpa -- a sort of hybrid viola/hurdy gurdy -- is deployed deep into a mix of oblique soundscaping, seeping into a swirl of field recordings, screwed spoken word and phosphorescent drones pinging with tape delay. Split into two distinct sides, the album opens with a scrape of wood and metal that introduces us to the nyckelharpa. Scratching its surface and strings, Collin reveals its peculiar tonality, while Demdike cut through its dissonant textures. Like ancient campfire rituals recorded to decaying 1/4" tape, the music on Minerals feels as if it's in dialog with the past, shuttled into the present by abstract processes. By the side's third act, resonant gongs billow around pitched wails that eventually collapse into silence. The second side is more spirited, opening with a thumbed kalimba cut through reverberant strings that recall Arthur Russell's iconic echo-drenched recordings. Through elaborate concréte techniques, Collin's ancient fiddle dissolves into a ferric gloop that's slowly pulled apart like toffee, taking it to a place where you can no longer really tell what you're listening to or how it was made. In fact, unlike pretty much everything we've heard from Demdike before, the material here feels mechanical rather than electronic, making for one of the most impactful, unusual releases in the vast sprawl of their catalogue thus far.

 

PRICE: $28.00

CAT #: DNR 008LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Introducing Alone Together, Viken Arman's debut album -- a kaleidoscope of influences, building a bridge between the masterful beats of J Dilla, the hypnotic grooves of Ricardo Villalobos, the free jazz spirit of Sun Ra and the aura of French house. This nine-track opus presents a sophisticated composition, combining intricate layers and unique sampling techniques to blend familiar elements of house music with unexpected twists and warm grooves. Subtle whispers of old Armenian records add a nostalgic undertone that gracefully echoes the past of the artist. Immersed in the Berlin club scene, the French producer reconnected with the nightlife from the other side of the booth. Fueled by these purest emotions, he would transition from the dancefloor straight to the studio, capturing the moment and translating the electrifying experience into music that resonated with raw energy. This creative process birthed the nine tracks that comprise the album, each a testament to the essence of the music and the profound inspiration it ignited within him. A simple philosophy that says it all: Alone Together. Obsessed with freedom, Viken Arman draws a painting at the crossroads of house, minimal, jazz, hip-hop and world music, taking you to uncharted territories with a fresh sound detached from any trend. This audacious piece showcases the versatility of Viken Arman, creating an aesthetic statement that challenges conventions and celebrates the forward-thinking nature of his artistry.

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: DC 701LP

FILE UNDER: EXPERIMENTAL

2023 restock. "In 1987, Rafael Toral began making his own compositions and solo recordings. 30 years later, these recordings sound remarkably prescient and perfectly timeless -- almost fresher today than when they were first released. Rafael has spent the time since then developing his conceptions, with continued explorations in the many records that have followed. On the 30th anniversary of his start, we are reissuing Sound Mind Sound Body and Wave Field, his first two long out-of-print albums, on vinyl for the first time. Sound Mind Sound Body was partly inspired by exploring some of the working principles of Brian Eno and Robert Fripp, extrapolated by Rafael via a unique signal path leading out of his guitar. He paid notice to the massive impact of discreet gestures, creating slow-moving tones and spacious orchestral resonances, drifting and droning with glacial majesty, hardly recognizable as guitar much of the time. The first of these pieces were recorded in 1987, and in 1994, they were released on Portugal's AnAnAnA, with material evolved in the years between, producing a remarkable equilibrium over an hour's listening. Further evidence of the necessity for gradual development exists in subsequent reissues: for the 1998 Moikai reissue, AE 1 was recorded, and for this edition, AER 7 E was rerecorded and the material for AE 2 was recorded for the first time ever -- all from original processes as noted, and none of which will cause the listener to notice a change in the otherworldly atmosphere. Wave Field, released in 1995, was a departure from the first album into new composition methods involving the dirty textures of rock guitar, sounding in the open ears of many listeners (like Jim O'Rourke, who issued the disc in the US on dexter's cigar) as a synthesis of disparate elements -- a nexus where Alvin Lucier, Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine and Eno blend together. Here, the clangorous potential of the guitar was emphasized, giving a metallic edge to the two extended pieces and 'radio edit' coda. The jacket paid subtle tribute to My Bloody Valentine, which, along with the radio edit, suggested a harmony between musical directions as wildly disparate as minimalist experimental and rock. Today, such a paradoxical intent is more widely considered as a part of the artist's purview. This allows the sounds of Wave Field and Sound Mind Sound Body to sit perfectly among the forward-reaching music of today -- as it continues to evolve in our ears, moving ever towards the next conception of listening space."

 

PRICE: $17.50

CAT #: ENT 003

FILE UNDER: Misc

Efficient Space publication Enthusiasms revives with Issue #03. 92 pages covering Ao-tearoa DIY folk proliferator Maxine Funke, the vocal magick of Cucina Povera, Australian devotional jazz mystery Singing Dust, Osaka portal EM Records, unsung dub specialist Sheriff Lindo and the living practice of e fishpool. View post-punk trailblazers through the lens of Rotterdam polaroid photographer Peter Graute, while Swiss artist Elise Gagnebin-de Bons exhibits her series of collages purposed for Ghost Riders. The issue also boasts imaginary mixtapes from Gavsborg, Greg Davis and Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Mikey Young, Sonic Boom, and Troth. Perfect bound and illuminated by designer Steele Bonus.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: ESK 155LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Mola's music is the unadorned antithesis to a rosy world. She celebrates herself to death, pulls you into her inner chaos and does without the usual romanticizing transfiguration of the merciless disorientation that catches up with you on the way home after the last cigarette. Mola knows better than anyone that she is a border commuter -- and she has never made a secret of it. Unconventional pop music that bundles the nonchalance of great soul anthems, the grace of the Italo-disco of the eighties and the ingenuousness of lascivious hip-hop bangers instead of trying to sound modern by force. Mola celebrates defeat, exposes life lies, criticizes adulthood, documents radical mood swings. She balances along the abyss in her ball gown, jokes about things you don't joke about, praises and curses intoxication and love. You can now see Mola supporting Fatoni, Roy Bianco & the Abbrunzati Boys, Mayberg, and Kaffkiez in a flurry of strobe lights after sold-out "nothing breaks me" shows in Munich, Cologne, Berlin, and Hamburg. In the end, it doesn't matter, because when you are overcome by this spontaneous feeling that is far removed from any rationality, you don't ask any questions. It tastes like the melancholy of a summer in its last breaths, like the last drink of an uncompromisingly insane night. There is sweating, pogoing and feeling together. Even where it hurts. You are not just an onlooker or a silent spectator, but part of this empowering feeling of "we." Featuring BabyJoy and Ami Warning.

 

PRICE: $189.50

CAT #: FIGURE 010LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Len Faki has always been a defining character of the techno underground. His unique approach to DJing, the consistent work as a producer and the quality output of his label Figure has all shaped the current environment. Finally faced with the opportunity of a long overdue creative break from touring, Faki decided tackle the life-time venture of releasing an album with the necessary dedication and focus. Naturally the result emerged as two parallel experiences. Both still carry all the signature features of Faki's style but with added layers of depth and detail. There's that special contrast of dark and heady grooves, paired with dreamy melodies that transport the listener to places beyond the mind. But we also see all strains of his previous work being incorporated, mixed and molded into something new altogether. While the first disc focuses on the kind of techno, which Faki has been brought up by and given back to for so many years of his life, the second is looser and more experimental, with forays into house, ambient and broken beats -- the sounds he has always kept very passionate about. It creates two distinct experiences, showcasing the entire breadth of Faki's cosmos. Many songs even exist as pairings, with their respective counterpart on another disc. Faki has given us a complete artistic statement, one that proves him to be as curious and driven now as ever, taking his sound to all-new realms.

 

PRICE: $31.50

CAT #: FKR 055X-LP

FILE UNDER: EXPERIMENTAL

Twenty-two rare and unreleased vintage tracks from the secret vaults of one of the most enigmatic composers in '60s/'70s/'80s European cinema. Originally recorded in the best studios in Poland, Italy and France for experimental film, political allegories, lost television shows, sound libraries and radio -- these tracks have been hidden behind the Iron Curtain on lost master tapes and film reels until now. Secret Enigma is the first ever dedicated anthology of this great composer's work. Originally released exactly 30 years ago in artistic cinema, Andrzej Korzy?ski's unique experiments with jazz, pop, rock, orchestral and electronic music make his name synonymous with the most praised (Andrzej Wajda) and the most provocative (Andrzej ?u?awski) Polish filmmakers (counting many more in between). As an early patron of the Polish new wave and a key exponent of the development of conceptual Polish pop music his expansive portfolio has remained commercially unreleased and untraveled (like many of the original socialist era Polish made films) and has yet to find its deserved place next to the work of Ennio Morricone, François de Roubaix, and John Barry. Now enhanced by a renewed interest in vintage art house film and a subculture of open minded music collectors many Easter European artists, such as Krzysztof Komeda (Poland), Zden?k Liska (Czechoslovakia), and now Andrzej Korzynski, have finally begun to earn their place alongside their Central European peers. For lovers of film music and experimental pop this debut anthology and appraisal of Andrzej Korzy?ski.

 

PRICE: $28.00

CAT #: FKR 063X-LP

FILE UNDER: SOUNDTRACK

As one of the most triumphant and beguiling directorial debut features to emerge from the fruitful Polish New Wave, Andrzej Zulawski's 1971 film Third Part Of The Night not only earned the thirty-year-old filmmaker a place next to other radical Polish directors such as Skolimowski and Has, but also galvanized a creative bond with long running collaborator and composer Andrzej Korzy?ski, providing fans of foreign abstract/suspense cinema with a potent creative fusion to match those of Fellini/Rota and Argento/Goblin, amongst others. Quite simply one of the heaviest psych rock film soundtracks of all time, Andrzej Korzy?ski's short and unreleased score matched the blueprint that adorned the drawing boards of conceptual French jazz orch-rock composers like Jean-Claude Vannier, Francois De Roubaix, and Alain Gourageur, creating a soundtrack that unknowingly begs comparison to Masahiko Satô's Belladonna Of Sadness and Billy Green's Stone. As one of the first progressive pop writers to come out of the vibrant (but carefully scrutinized) Polish beat scene with his bands Ricecar 64 and later Arp Life (and composing for national heroes such as Czeslaw Niemen, Niebiesko-Czarni and Test) Korzy?ski's growing passion for conceptual rock and jazz music soon lead to instrumental composition and soundtrack scores. Third Part Of The Night (1971) perhaps epitomizes that triangular on-screen unison in its vibrant youth and feeds it through a hallucinogenic mangle finding astonishing beauty (within a repulsive synopsis) against a bleak and shattered backdrop and accompanied by progressive, psychedelic orchestral rock music -- elements which would intensify for all three creatives with the next film, Diabel, which was banned by the Polish government the following year until 1988. Third Part Of The Night also marks the public unison of ?u?awski and Braunek whose later private romantic relationship is said to form the basis for another defining ?u?awski/Korzy?ski defining endeavor with the 1981 film Possession exactly a decade later, encapsulating a period that bequeaths a previously unopened vault of some of the composers finest and most inspired sonic adventures.

 

PRICE: $28.50

CAT #: FKR 116LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

The lost Belgian blueprint of Brussels based jazz fusion and how free form Franco-Flemish punk put Zeuhl school in the Classroom via the conception of COS. Emerging from behind the same clouds that kept formative Belgian progressive jazz records like Brussels Art Quintet and Kiosk's Mona Call in tangible obscurity, these impossibly rare early Euro jazz recordings shed a new ray of light on the intricate foundations of the scene that elevated COS, Marc Moulin, Placebo, Marc Hollander and Telex to Zen master status, while also capturing one of Europe's best female vocal artists in the midst of her wide eyed and uninhibited prime. Never before released on vinyl, these tracks provide a sonic chalkboard of Daniel Schell's ambitious musical equations, recalculated by precocious polymaths, then conveyed via Pascale Son's inquisitive child-like vocal explorations. For those keen to learn the Histoire De Melody COS? The classroom door is open -- prepare to be schooled!

 

PRICE: $32.00

CAT #: GRZ 032LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Famous Enough, also known as Nadav Samuel is a duo of one. From the tough neighborhood of Habima, Tel Aviv, his first experience with chopsticks at the age of 6 made him fall in love with the drum section. Since then, he's been flirting with different instruments. Nadav doesn't play violin, but knows how to listen to one. In his debut album, Searching For A Limousine, a project that was created and produced in Berlin in 2019, Nadav tries to share some thoughts and colors from his life's journey.

 

PRICE: $33.00

CAT #: GET 52716LP

FILE UNDER: HIPHOP

2023 repress. "It's safe to say that hip-hop has never seen an album like Ol' Dirty Bastard's 1995 solo debut Return to the 36 Chambers. The brief glimpses of ODB's unhinged genius provided by Wu-Tang Clan's landmark Enter the Wu-Tang album two years earlier were begging to be expanded on to a larger canvas, and, with RZA guiding production, the album promised to give Dirty the creative license to make one of the most bizarre, entertaining and original LPs in hip-hop history. With his raspy, drunken flow and dark sense of humor, Dirty fearlessly attacks from all angles, throwing himself fearlessly into punchy rhyme attacks ('Damage,' with GZA), drugged-out party jams (the monster singles 'Brooklyn Zoo' and 'Shimmy Shimmy Ya') and bizarre, grimly hilarious fantasies of sex and violence ('Don't U Know' and the R&B-tinged 'Sweet Sugar Pie'). Backed by RZA's appropriately gritty, dissonant beats and appearances from the Clan, Return became an instant hit, selling over 1 million copies and earning a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap Album in 1996. The album stands as a high water mark in the Wu Tang Clan's collective creative output and was selected as one of the Best 100 Rap Albums by The Source magazine in 1998. In honoring the legacy of one of hip-hop's most innovative releases, Get On Down is proud to present this incredible and unique special edition of Ol' Dirty Bastard's Return to the 36 Chambers as a double LP which contains the complete original album, remastered for optimal sound quality." Includes 18"x24" poster.

 

PRICE: $35.50

CAT #: GRLP 1087LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Double LP version. Nearly ten years in the making, The Task Has Overwhelmed Us is the long-awaited fourth volume in The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project series. Conceived in 2006 by the late Gun Club titan's guitarist Cypress Grove, the Project has always aimed to highlight Pierce as one of America's most fascinatingly influential singer-songwriters of the last century while propelling his outpourings into modern times by placing it in the hands of former collaborators, friends and fans. Following 2009's We Are Only Riders (GR 702CD/LP), 2012's The Journey Is Long (GR 762CD/LP), and 2014's Axels & Sockets (GR 796CD/LP), The Task Has Overwhelmed Us presents stellar interpretations of tracks from Pierce's Gun Club and solo canons along with fresh works constructed from rehearsal skeletons, previously unheard lyrics, songs only performed live. Taking song ideas without lyrics and words looking for musical settings gave rise to what Cypress Grove calls "Frankenstein songs". The stellar roll-call of contributors features the Project's original recurring core including Nick Cave, Debbie Harry, Mark Lanegan, Lydia Lunch, Youth, Jim Jones, Warren Ellis, Mark Stewart, Hugo Race, Cypress himself plus Mick Harvey and J.P. Shilo as The Amber Lights, even Jeffrey himself from original tapes. These are joined by new bloods including Dave Gahan, Suzie Stapleton, Duke Garwood, Pam Hogg, The Coathangers, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's Peter Hayes and Leah Shapiro, Humanist, The Walkabouts' Chris Eckman, Jozef van Wissem, Jim Jarmusch, Chantal Acda and Welsh space-rockers Sendelica with US vocalists Wonder and Dynamax Roberts. Like Pierce's beloved jazz, the cast often spill into each other's tracks. The mood throughout the eighteen tracks is of rare gems crafted with love, respect and the energy of committed fans, even obsessives channeling whatever facet or fragment of Pierce's unruly muse fires their creative juices.

 

PRICE: $37.50

CAT #: GRLP 1087LTD-LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Double LP version. Silver vinyl. Nearly ten years in the making, The Task Has Overwhelmed Us is the long-awaited fourth volume in The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project series. Conceived in 2006 by the late Gun Club titan's guitarist Cypress Grove, the Project has always aimed to highlight Pierce as one of America's most fascinatingly influential singer-songwriters of the last century while propelling his outpourings into modern times by placing it in the hands of former collaborators, friends and fans. Following 2009's We Are Only Riders (GR 702CD/LP), 2012's The Journey Is Long (GR 762CD/LP), and 2014's Axels & Sockets (GR 796CD/LP), The Task Has Overwhelmed Us presents stellar interpretations of tracks from Pierce's Gun Club and solo canons along with fresh works constructed from rehearsal skeletons, previously unheard lyrics, songs only performed live. Taking song ideas without lyrics and words looking for musical settings gave rise to what Cypress Grove calls "Frankenstein songs". The stellar roll-call of contributors features the Project's original recurring core including Nick Cave, Debbie Harry, Mark Lanegan, Lydia Lunch, Youth, Jim Jones, Warren Ellis, Mark Stewart, Hugo Race, Cypress himself plus Mick Harvey and J.P. Shilo as The Amber Lights, even Jeffrey himself from original tapes. These are joined by new bloods including Dave Gahan, Suzie Stapleton, Duke Garwood, Pam Hogg, The Coathangers, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's Peter Hayes and Leah Shapiro, Humanist, The Walkabouts' Chris Eckman, Jozef van Wissem, Jim Jarmusch, Chantal Acda and Welsh space-rockers Sendelica with US vocalists Wonder and Dynamax Roberts. Like Pierce's beloved jazz, the cast often spill into each other's tracks. The mood throughout the eighteen tracks is of rare gems crafted with love, respect and the energy of committed fans, even obsessives channeling whatever facet or fragment of Pierce's unruly muse fires their creative juices.

 

PRICE: $38.50

CAT #: GRVDG 006LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Balishark will be finally out on earth physically, with a handprinted cover. Five songs compose this album; the first, "Balishark," is a proper "pièce sonore," a lot of Pierre Sharki's field recordings from Balì. Alongside Guitos Samba, Jonas Taupe Gun, and Grand Matthias, Sharki fixed a composition from this atmosphere of sound in La Cabane, a studio in Lyon. "Jawabarat" is a pure interpretation of west Java gamelan rhythm and logic.

 

PRICE: $17.50

CAT #: HEIST 076EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Amy Dabbs might be one of the hardest working artists in the game right now. With releases on Aus Music, Shall not Fade, and her own Dabbs traxx, a monthly residency on Rinse FM and a tour schedule that seems to get busier by the minute, we're happy to see her hard work is paying off. Add to that some support by artists such as Special Request, The Blessed Madonna, Jaguar, and Cinthia and you know this Berlin-based artist is right where she belongs: in the spotlight. The Only breaks can love your heart EP is packed with feelgood energy and comes with a Dam Swindle remix that has the duo laying down some pleasantly unexpected breakbeats on an altogether rush-inducing record. As always, play it loud and dance, dance, dance!

 

PRICE: $19.00

CAT #: LMS 5521959

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

2023 marks 35 years since the first single by The Brand New Heavies. Never Stop (Best of) contains twenty-one seminal tracks from acid jazz royalty, The Brand New Heavies, who transcended London's local funk scene to become to enjoy global success across with hits such as "Sometimes", "You Are The Universe", "Dream on Dreamer", "Midnight at The Oasis", and more. This new compilation brings together all the singles from the band's time with London Records, featuring 15 Top 40 UK, five Top 20 UK, and one Top 10 UK hits. Liner notes from producer and long-time fan, Mark Ronson. Presented on double heavyweight vinyl with 21 hits -- all their biggest hits plus four US Singles. "Bonafied Funk" features Main Source and Large Professor. Expanded double-CD version includes remixes by Masters At Work, Dimitri from Paris (Monsieur D), Roger Sanchez, and a new remix of "Stay This Way" by Bob Sinclar. Also features Brothers In Rhythm, Tuff Jam, and Full Intention.

 

PRICE: $39.50

CAT #: LMS 5521960

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Double LP version. 180 gram vinyl. Printed inner sleeves. 2023 marks 35 years since the first single by The Brand New Heavies. Never Stop (Best of) contains twenty-one seminal tracks from acid jazz royalty, The Brand New Heavies, who transcended London's local funk scene to become to enjoy global success across with hits such as "Sometimes", "You Are The Universe", "Dream on Dreamer", "Midnight at The Oasis", and more. This new compilation brings together all the singles from the band's time with London Records, featuring 15 Top 40 UK, five Top 20 UK, and one Top 10 UK hits. Liner notes from producer and long-time fan, Mark Ronson. Presented on double heavyweight vinyl with 21 hits -- all their biggest hits plus four US Singles. "Bonafied Funk" features Main Source and Large Professor.

 

PRICE: $33.00

CAT #: IF 1084LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

LP version. Building off of the themes of identity, storytelling and experimentation on her critically acclaimed debut album, Khonnar (2018), Deena Abdelwahed's album Jbal Rrsas is the next chapter of a reimagining of what club music could be. The album spans seven tracks of bass, techno, and experimental music, with Abdelwahed consulting with masterminds like Tunisian composer and multi-instrumentalist Khalil Hentati, aka Khalil Epi, and Iraqi-British multi-instrumentalist, composer, and researcher Khyam Allami, as well as Egyptian mastering engineer Heba Kadry, to help realise her vision. Jbal Rrsas starts with the seductively apocalyptic opener, "The Key to the Exit," a deconstructed sha'bi production. With tracks like "Six as Oil" and the delightfully intense "Violence for Free," Abdelwahed leads users to a desert rave, where industrial rhythms are left unbridled. Abdelwahed's vocals on "Complain" and "Pre-Island" are powerful and exposed, confidently placed on dizzying avant-garde productions. The Wire previously said "[Khonnar is] an assured debut that sits on the edge of a whole swathe of possibilities, not only sonic but also geographical, social and political." With Jbal Rrsas finds Abdelwahed deftly navigating through those possibilities, frequently pushing against genres, labels, and social identifiers, while elevating club music to otherworldly heights.

 

PRICE: $30.50

CAT #: INT 041LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Fast-rising Dutch producer Baril returns to Intercept Records with the emphatic release of his debut album, For You, Forever. Set for release August 25th, the project see's Baril build upon his chillwave approach to dance music which serves as a warm embrace to listeners. Merging contemporary songwriting with a plethora of electronic influences, the album transcends ambient, breakbeat, and deep house -- the result is one that fits perfectly both on the dancefloor, as well as home listening. The project arrives two years on from his six-track EP One More Rush which gained the artist worldwide recognition from the likes of Bicep and Fred Again.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: KR 102LP

FILE UNDER: CLASSICAL

LP version. 180 gram vinyl; includes download card. zeitkratzer director Reinhold Friedl and his ensemble present new compositions, grounded on Domenico Scarlatti's piano sonata F-minor K.466. Commissioned by the dance company Rubato and dedicated to Mario Bertoncini (1932-2019). Little is known about Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757). His music is, so to speak, left to its own devices: free, cheeky, playful, sonorous, surprising. Harmonically strolling again and again into unforeseen regions, the ear leads, not the theory; and also, the fingers get their right: playful and haptic it goes. Scarlatti explained, "since nature has given me ten fingers and my instrument provides employment for all, I see no reason why I should not use all ten of them." Freedom, friction, and listening pleasure instead of convention: "He knew quite well that he had disregarded all the rules of composition in his piano pieces, but asked whether his deviation from the rules offended the ear? He believes there is almost no other rule than that of not offending the only sense whose object is music -- the ear." Reinhold Friedl applied this principle and composed the music for a choreography by dance company Rubato. Dance music drawn from Scarlatti, who was so inspired by dance music. The material of the piano sonata F-minor K.466 is twisted anew in all its richness, shifted back and forth, declined, frozen, noise-ified, sound structures extracted, floating. Those who know the sonata, will more than smell its shadows. Dedicated to Mario Bertoncini (Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza) who was particularly fond of K.466, on which all the music presented here is grounded.

 

PRICE: $31.50

CAT #: KRXN 033LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

GAF are back! This time under their Estrella de la Muerte configuration and with a gateway musical behemoth double album into the cosmic unknown. The prolific project, helmed by local Canarian anchorman Mladen Kurajica, dwells deep into esoteric rock genres and this time, they waste no time in plunging the listener into their brave new type of cosmic rock with a deeply influenced krautrock voyage of '70s jamming and psychonautic exploration. Recorded over three days in the cultural space of El Tanque, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, at the height of the covid pandemic of 2020 and during one of the hottest summers to date, the band entered the space with no plan in mind deciding instead to approach the recording sessions without any preconceived ideas or pre-composed songs. Clean out of external influences and ready to experiment they loaded in all their available gear, including an array of modular synths, in order to create a new approach to song writing and flesh out some ideas for a future album in situ. The very process of that search, through pure improvisation and jamming, became the album we're presenting here. No overdubs or subsequent edits were done, except for cutting some songs so that they could fit on the album. Almost five hours of recordings in total, finally reaching a seven-track, 69-minute double LP. All the reverb heard on the record is the natural reverb of El Tanque, a 16-second tail natural reverb recorded with several room mics at different locations in the venue. Eventually this became the first fully instrumental album by the Estrella de la Muerte configuration, with a line-up of seven musicians (Gaf y Estrella de la Muerte are normally a sextet). Enter then, this inspired selection of psychedelically damaged tunes, '70s space rock, psychoacoustics, and Kosmishe inspired jamming. This is healing music for your mind-altering journeys. The titled "Pyramids" here serving not only as a gateway to the cosmic unknown but also as an exploratory symbol of the bands willingness to freely embrace their subconscious inner flows into a cosmic collective. Ecstatic music for these times.

 

PRICE: $19.00

CAT #: KWR 034EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Cassy returns with E.T. Ascension, a mini journey through the sounds of house and techno which she adores. With this release she revisits the simplistic methods she used when making music in previous years when living in Berlin with her then husband, where he helped build her home-studio in the living room. With him being an established sound engineer she learned a lot from him through the process and by using predominantly just an 808 and a PC, the pair produced the main parts of these tracks together, with Cassy finishing them off herself last summer. It reminded her of the weirdness that makes her productions so great, which is what she has pinned on this release, enjoying the feelings of freedom by using the machine again, and revisiting the feelings she had when using the machine for the first time, how fresh, new and particular the sounds were.

 

PRICE: $27.00

CAT #: WUR 015STD-EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Number one in the charts in more than 20 countries with more than 2.6 million physical singles sold, a mythical video clip that is shown H24 on all TV channels, nominated for an MTV Award & Victoire de la musique, the most broadcast French song in the world for two years in a row... 20 years later, Starlight still arouses an unfailing love. The opportunity to revive this classic with a "20th Anniversary" collector's vinyl reissue. Starlight exploded and broke all records when it was released at the beginning of the millennium. 20 years later, the industry has completely transformed but the track is still popular! A classic that is all the more notorious for having been part of the advent of a new genre that would mark the history of music: the "French Touch", shaped by Daft Punk, Stardust, Cassius, Etienne de Crécy, Modjo, and thus The Supermen Lovers. The opportunity to revive this icon with a collector's vinyl reissue; new mix, new master, new disco version, all engraved on a numbered white vinyl as well as a poster (60x90cm) and maybe the chance to find one of the 10 hidden golden tickets, allowing lifetime access to all the artist's dates.

 

PRICE: $17.50

CAT #: LAD 072EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Detroit-based duo Ataxia and Mister Joshooa come together on Life and Death with their new EP Mastermind. The record marks a new installation of Ataxia's punk forward house vibe; however, this time the group has their blinders on -- this mini album is 100% dance floor oriented, all suited up to scratch the insatiable itch of the worldwide dance. Starting off strong with "Mastermind," the collaboration delivers from the second we hit play. The A-side maintains similar elements such as a resonant kick and skipping percussive beats masterfully intertwined with vocals that echo and stutter. Record scratches, cowbell, and classic vocal hits can all be found on the B-side, bringing old-school sounds to the forefront with dynamic, rhythmic grooves.

 

PRICE: $32.00

CAT #: LBR 093LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

In Hogar, Santiago Moraes reaffirms the identity that he had previously explored in his previous works, but now it is revitalized by the participation of the musicians from Transeúntes, as well as several guests from both banks of the river, such as the Nautilus band and Uruguayan guest musicians that give the final touch to a more than interesting production. Hogar is made up of nine songs in which Moraes returns to his lyrical debt to Javier Martínez, and manages to mix it with popular sounds that look towards Uruguay, the land of his parents. Moraes has an uncanny ability and acute gaze for building warm and endearing stories and characters in the old school tradition of Robert Artl and his "aguafuertes". His songs, both powerful and melancholic, are felt portraits of people who have crossed his path at various times in his life. This is his third album as a solo artist, and it includes a variety of genres: ballads and candombe, blues and milonga, like a mix between Bob Dylan and Tom Waits with Eduardo Mateo and Alfredo Zitarrosa.

 

PRICE: $33.00

CAT #: LBR 102LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Los Terapeutas is a band of songs, where new wave, candombe beat, funk and rock were mixed in a unique way, with a strange frontman who had traces of Eduardo Mateo, Damo Suzuki, Frank Zappa, and David Byrne. Candombe del no sé quien soy is related to what the group did live at that time: looking for a state of hypnotic hanging with their songs. The playing of the candombe drums was obviously an inspiration to look for that trance state, as was the music of Mateo and that of Opa, but influences can also be traced from the rhythmic experiments of German band Can of the '70s. The album was released in the late 1990s, a complicated time for Uruguayan music. It was released on vinyl, a format that was losing weight compared to the CD. They would not release an album together again until 1997. In the 2000s, Los Terapeutas slowly expanded their audience, while also leaning towards a more electric sound. The new generation of Uruguayan musicians recognized the pioneering work of the band and Alberto Wolf was seen as a kind of godfather by several of the rock groups that were beginning to become massive.

 

PRICE: $29.00

CAT #: MIG 731LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2023 restock. "A vinyl re-release of the debut-album by legendary krautrock avant garde band Agitation Free, starring Lutz 'Lüül' Graf-Ulbrich on guitar, who late became part of Ash Ra with Manuel Göttsching.""When the band Agitation Free came together in 1967 as a result of the merging of two Berlin rock groups, one of the most interesting groups in a dawning independent German music scene was created. With their improvisations between rock, jazz and new music, Agitation Free -- soon relegated to the not so flattering category of 'Krautrock' -- made musical forays into areas that few of their fellow German musicians had ever penetrated. At a time when most in Germany were still orienting themselves as closely as possible to Anglo-American musical formats, Agitation Free found a completely new and very original form of musical expression. Starting with their debut album Malesch, Agitation Free delivered a fascinating sound, influenced not least by the manifold impressions from a Near East tour. The band moved toward a form of meta-music, a weaving of exotic-sounding compositions. The album has been justly regarded as a milestone in the genre, especially abroad. Looking back, it's evident that the Agitation Free was one of the most important bands of the experimental circle known as the 'Berlin School', and a career springboard for a whole slew of musicians. At the same time, this policy of changing personnel also meant risking that the band couldn't keep itself together over the long run. Agitation Free consciously took this risk in order to remain as close as possible to their own concept -- free from commercial pressure or concessions to the latest trends and modes."

 

PRICE: $28.00

CAT #: LAV 001LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Bold arrangements, excitingly honest lyricism and a riveting voice: Viennese singer-songwriter Lorenz Ambeek emanates the virtuosity of José Gonzalez and Elliott Smith. With his first two singles counting over a million streams, paired with chart positions and international airplay, Lorenz' first album Look at Me Now sets sail for a promising musical future. Look at Me Now comes with a professional marketing-campaign of visualizer promotion on social media, online marketing and print and online PR for Europe. Previously on chart positions and rotation in Germany, Austria, and France.

 

PRICE: $11.50

CAT #: MB 019CD

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

A product of the fertile and prolific free-improvisation scene in New York City. With venues not always eager to host free improv, various musicians on the scene have taken inspiration from the 1970s loft scene, on a smaller scale, by putting on regular house concerts. The most famous of the current series is Andrew Drury's Soup and Sound; Aron Namenwirth's series Aron's Place is not far behind. (Both deep in the heart of Brooklyn, which is more freewheeling than Manhattan at this point.) NYC free-jazz eminence grise Dave Sewelson (Microscopic Septet, Sedition Ensemble, various William Parker groups) and ESP-Disk' manager Steve Holtje (Caterpillar Quartet, This Humidity) put together this quartet, with Dave bringing in Stephen Moses (Alice Donut, Voltaire) and Holtje calling on frequent bandmate Jochem van Dijk.

 

PRICE: $38.50

CAT #: MGART 611LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

First-ever official reissue on vinyl since 1975. Ash Ra Tempel is the eponymous debut studio album by the Krautrock band Ash Ra Tempel. It features guitarist Manuel Göttsching with drummer Klaus Schulze and bassist Hartmut Enke. Engineered by Conny Plank, it was recorded in March and June 1971 on Ohr Records. This 50th Anniversary Album will be released in memoriam of all the musical contributors to this release and on Manuel Göttsching´s MG.ART label."On our album, the track 'Amboss' represents the first layer. Conventional instruments communicate familiar music which is in part expanded through electronic means. In the second track of the album -- 'Traummaschine' -- the actual basic sound approach is dissolved into an electronic Nirvana which no longer allows the concrete identification of actual instruments. Innocent, virgin listening, free from any and every association, can finally begin -- and the music can be absorbed and processed free from the limitations of categorization. That is the purpose of our music: To convey freedom without any predetermined criteria or traditions. Thank you for your attention." --Manuel Göttsching (Taken from the original A-R-T Bio 1970)Available on 180gram Black Vinyl (MGART 611LP) and 140gram Limited Transparent Vinyl (MGART 611TV-LP). Sticker, 50th Anniversary RE-Edition, Re-Cut carefully overseen by Manuel Göttsching. 350 gram Quadro Fold Out Sleeve that exactly replicates complex/original OHR die-cut jacket, A2 Poster, 2x (German and English) A4 Inlay with Original Bio Sheet written by Manuel Göttsching (1970). Pressed at Optimal, Germany.

 

PRICE: $38.50

CAT #: MGART 611TV-LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Transparent vinyl version. First-ever official reissue on vinyl since 1975. Ash Ra Tempel is the eponymous debut studio album by the Krautrock band Ash Ra Tempel. It features guitarist Manuel Göttsching with drummer Klaus Schulze and bassist Hartmut Enke. Engineered by Conny Plank, it was recorded in March and June 1971 on Ohr Records. This 50th Anniversary Album will be released in memoriam of all the musical contributors to this release and on Manuel Göttsching´s MG.ART label."On our album, the track 'Amboss' represents the first layer. Conventional instruments communicate familiar music which is in part expanded through electronic means. In the second track of the album -- 'Traummaschine' -- the actual basic sound approach is dissolved into an electronic Nirvana which no longer allows the concrete identification of actual instruments. Innocent, virgin listening, free from any and every association, can finally begin -- and the music can be absorbed and processed free from the limitations of categorization. That is the purpose of our music: To convey freedom without any predetermined criteria or traditions. Thank you for your attention." --Manuel Göttsching (Taken from the original A-R-T Bio 1970)140gram Limited Transparent Vinyl. Sticker, 50th Anniversary RE-Edition, Re-Cut carefully overseen by Manuel Göttsching. 350 gram Quadro Fold Out Sleeve that exactly replicates complex/original OHR die-cut jacket, A2 Poster, 2x (German and English) A4 Inlay with Original Bio Sheet written by Manuel Göttsching (1970). Pressed at Optimal, Germany.

 

PRICE: $33.00

CAT #: MITSUKO 005LP

FILE UNDER: SOUNDTRACK

Presented by Mitsuko & Svetlana Records. Archival reissue of highly sought-after 1979 soundtrack from funky maestro Yuji Ohno, the genius jazz player/composer behind the music of Lupin III (?????) and Capitaine Future (????????????) and much more. Big grooves, irresistible basslines, horns for days, funk forever. This superb piece of music from the legendary Toho Records catalog is a must have for fans of Japanese gems. It's the original soundtrack of Shigeyuki Amane's excellent TV movie Golden Dog (Ôgon No Inu). With a secret agent dog carrying secret documents. Last appearance by the one and only Reiko Ike. Highly recommended to everyone who loves good dogs and good music.

 

PRICE: $38.00

CAT #: MOV 1680COL-LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"In The Skies (1979) is the second solo album by British blues rock inventor Peter Green, who was the founder of Fleetwood Mac and a member from 1967 to 1970. In The Skies was released almost a decade after his first solo stint The End Of The Game (1970). Accompanying Green on this album were several experienced session musicians, including Snowy White, who went on to work with Pink Floyd before joining Thin Lizzy. White contributed some of the lead guitar work on the album. Also present was Green's colleague and friend from his earliest bands, Peter Bardens, and Robin Trower drummer Reg Isidore. Five of the nine songs are instrumentals, continuing a longtime Green tradition. In The Skies is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on translucent blue colored vinyl, housed in a gatefold sleeve."

 

PRICE: $39.00

CAT #: MOV 1908COL-LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"After the success of Death Walks Behind You, an appearance on Top of the Pops, and a successful tour, it was time for emerging stars Atomic Rooster to record their third studio album, In Hearing Of. The album is a perfect example of a band evolving and in constant transition, such as they show with this little-known gem of the '70s British rock. Much less bombastic than the band's earlier releases, In Hearing Of is almost funky at times. The lyrics are doom-laden in the spirit of much of this genre of British hard rock at the time, and pseudo-classical references crop up from time to time, but Vincent Crane's keyboards are generally tasty, and the melodies are often downright memorable. In Hearing Of is available as a limited edition of 750 individually numbered copies on translucent magenta color vinyl."

 

PRICE: $37.00

CAT #: MOV 3409COL-LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

"Founded in 1971, Matumbi was among the earliest and best British reggae bands. They did, however, also record under different guises, including The 4th Street Orchestra. In their acclaimed Rough Guide to Reggae, Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton rate this album (and its counterpart Leggo! Ah-Fi-We-Dis) as 'the best showcase for Matumbi's talents.' This release marks the first LP reissue of this genuine UK roots-monument since 1976. Original member Dennis 'Blackbeard' Bovell (of LKJ and Dub Band fame) knew the local sound system-scene like the back of his hand and most tracks on Ah Who Seh? Go Deh! were initially cut as exclusive 'specials' for his own Jah Sufferer sound system and for fellow soundmen. Hardly anyone hearing these tunes at reggae parties or would have guessed they didn't originate in Kingston but were recorded in London. And neither did many who bought the records when they were released a few years later. That's hardly surprising, as the material Bovell & Co churned out could easily compete with the toughest output of their Jamaican counterparts. A splendid version of the 1970 Kingstonians smash 'Singer Man' is the most familiar tune here. But it's the band's own outstanding, heavyweight roots tunes like 'Jah Chase Dem' or 'Za-Ion,' their versions popping up later in true sound system style for maximum impact, that will have reggae fans prick up their ears. Ah Who Seh? Go-Deh! is available as a limited edition of 750 individually numbered copies on orange colored vinyl."

 

PRICE: $56.00

CAT #: MOVATM 376C-LP

FILE UNDER: SOUNDTRACK

"In the captivating Netflix series Top Boy, Brian Eno's transcendent music serves as a vital companion, molding the narrative's essence with its ethereal power. With a masterful touch, Eno's atmospheric compositions effortlessly transport us into the gritty world of crime, friendship, and survival in East London. From delicate ambience to pulsating beats, his sonic tapestry envelops every scene, elevating the storytelling and evoking a range of emotions. Eno's singular ability to capture the struggle, hope, and inner strength of the characters accentuates the raw authenticity of Top Boy, leaving an indelible mark on its viewers. His haunting melodies and intricately crafted soundscapes symbolize the unyielding resilience amidst chaos, making Brian Eno's music an integral and unforgettable component of this groundbreaking series. The double LP Top Boy is available as a limited edition of 4000 copies on crystal clear vinyl, including printed innersleeves."

 

PRICE: $9.00

CAT #: MAS 8.01

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Warehouse find, last copies. Pre-9/11, at least. "Munich actually houses other people, who are producing music besides all that horrible commercial techno/trance/Eurodisco crap. This one is produced by Jan Bruhnke, who came into the Delirium store nearly one year ago and left -- a little shy -- '...a tape for the Funkstörung guys...'. The tape itself was really a big surprise -- very noisy rhythms, which sound like the last sighs of a nearly dead drumcomputer. Sometimes the melodies and analogue sounds are influenced by old trashy science-fiction soundtracks, but sometimes they remind also of Funkstörung, if they would just sound a bit more 'cheerful' and analogue."

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: PAMPA 001EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

2023 repress. Pampa is a new label from DJ Koze and Marcus Fink, dedicated to releasing club music that's seriously danceable. The first release is by Die Vogel, a collaborative project between Jakobus Siebels and Mense Reents. "Blaue Moschee" features oompa-style brass looped over a stripped-back kick-drum. "Petardo" is driven by growling trombones and tubas set to a rolling, tribal drum tattoo with '60s British jazz horns and fiery woodwinds. "Empire" finds exquisitely-arranged brass parts interlocking into a single-minded groove.

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: PAMPA 025EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

2023 repress. Axel Boman, Pampa's favorite Barnhus boy, returns to the fold after 2010's Holy Love (which contained the undeniable track of the year, "Purple Drank"). "1979" is a cool-toned and pensive take on classic downtempo deep house, surrounding its bare percussion with light touches and a soothing, pastoral feel. "Nokturn (Grand Finale)" is carnivalesque in the grandest sense, with a dominant percussion pattern and a looping background perpetually primed for takeoff as Latin rhythms preoccupy the shoulders and hips. A minimalist bass loop takes care of the low-end groove, and, together with glimpses of vintage disco sounds, creates another surefire hit.

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: PAMPA 030EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

2023 repress. DJ Koze forthcoming Knock Knock album, melts a million genres and none into one another, and it comfortably includes "Seeing Aliens". "Seeing Aliens" unquestionably is a banger, its bass riff snaking around your body like a python, its high-drama strings, pianos, and outbursts of noise designed for maximum crowd pressure release. The exclusive B side track, "Nein König Nein" ("No King No"), meanwhile, is slightly gentler on the face of it: it's less about sonic pressure, more about hip-shaking syncopation. It's a peculiar brain-tweaking accumulation of detail, with a heart of house and disco.

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: PAMPA 032EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

2023 repress. Emitting his first material for Pampa, it's &ME. "In Your Eyes" showcases a rather pensive mood. It's just a few bars for the compound of kickdrum, tuned hi-hat tambourine, and shimmering background noise until the first chords of an improvised piano-piece are tenderly laid upon the beat. In comparison, "As Above So Below" is adding a fair amount of emphasis. It unfolds in a dry and dense sounding beat-architecture that's suspense-packed with shaker sounds and sub textual field recordings. Most certainly, a slip-proof ground for this tune's centerpiece, a scale-riding synth bass sparking an almost anthemic trigger for floor-ecstasy.

 

PRICE: $19.00

CAT #: PRTL 12021EP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Top notch slice of roots and dub from reggae legend Earl Sixteen, best known for his work with the likes of Lee Perry, Augustus Pablo, Mikey Dread, Leftfield, and Dreadzone. Earl revisits and updates a track from earlier in his career, featuring two vocal cuts, one dub version and a drum-led nyahbinghi style instrumental workout. Production and mixing duties come from the long-established Cultural Warriors crew.

 

PRICE: $18.00

CAT #: RLL 082LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Limited 2023 restock. In March 1969, the Velvets (with Doug Yule now on bass) embarked on a nationwide tour. One of these included a stint at the "End Of Cole Avenue" club in Dallas -- one of the Velvets' few live performances where a professional sound engineer was actually on hand to record the sets. Some of the songs recorded over those few nights showed up in 1974 on their 1969: Velvet Underground Live album, but the sound quality was not great due to the use of third or fourth generation tapes. However, the first-generation tapes have since resurfaced, and the difference in sound quality (heard here) is a welcome one.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: EZRDR 143LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2023 repress; LP version. "Featuring long-lost gems from ultra-rare 45s and private press singles -- plus one previously unreleased banger -- Scrap Metal Vol. 2 maintains a steady NWOBHM course. Packed with infectious outliers and supremely talented one-and-done metal warriors from the crucial British movement of the late '70s and early '80s (and some killer American obscurities inspired by them), this collection delivers all the fist-pumping, riff-mongering and flashy solos of heavy metal's golden age. As always, every track has been officially licensed and every artist gets paid. Some examples include: As a late entry into the NWOBHM sweepstakes, JJ's Powerhouse was formed in Merseyside, England, by guitarist Jon 'J.J.' Cox with members of his previous band, Quad. Much like the opener to the original Scrap Metal comp, one can hear early Metallica coursing through this legendary ripper. Coincidentally, this ultra-rare 45 was released in '83, the same year as Kill 'Em All. Taking their name from a 1978 sci-fi novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Welsh super troopers Storm Queen reveled in animal-print clothing and flying Vs. The Motörhead-meets-Priest anthem 'Raising the Roof' is the flipside to their only single, which the band self-released in 1982. Led by guitarist Dave Morse, Storm Queen's earliest lineup included bassist Bryn Merrick (RIP), who would go on to join The Damned. Roaring out of Birmingham, England, in 1975, Jameson Raid palled around with fellow Brummies Black Sabbath and named themselves after a failed 19th century attack that helped kick off South Africa's Second Boer War. Their three-song 1979 debut featured the infectious 'It's a Crime,' which comes across like a deadly hard-glam version of Budgie. Still fronted by vocalist Terry Dark, they're going strong as of 2022. Both sides of Metropolis' sole single bear the legend, 'Unauthorized duplication shall result in getting your ass beat.' This San Jose metal squad released their only single in 1986 and dedicated it to Metallica bassist Cliff Burton, who had recently been killed in a bus accident. 'The Raven' is the serpentine NWOBHM- and Edgar Allan Poe-influenced flipside to 'Time Heals Everything.'"

 

PRICE: $13.50

CAT #: RB 123EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

The lines between off-center synth songs and catchy hits have always and forever been ultrathin. With Immer the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Ede & Deckert managed to turn a red wine and post punk melancholy fueled jam session into a haunting alternative dance jam. While their instrumental sits neatly between the dark wave of Eleven Pond and the British Electric Foundation, it is the voice of the German singer with the mysterious name Sargland. One could think it is possibly an anagram? Called in for spontaneous vocal work, the repetitiveness and heartfelt expression of lovelorn of his tone and lyrics are quite simply irresistible and dichotomic. Whether it's lover's grief or delight, Immer works its magic in every way and for everyone.

 

PRICE: $20.50

CAT #: RBTW 009LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

The musical cosmos is set to bestow upon us a celestial gem that shall set dancefloors ablaze and hearts aflutter. It is none other than the enigmatic Marco Passarani aka David Woods of Tiger & Woods, the sonic alchemist who has been tantalizing senses with his kaleidoscopic grooves. Imagine, if you will, a voyage through a wormhole that transcends time and space, landing you smack dab in the midst of a euphoric dancefloor utopia. This upcoming opus, Shuffling The Cards Again, promises to be a magnum opus of cosmic proportions. David Woods has summoned their sonic forces to curate a soundscape that defies convention, much like a comet hurtling through the night sky, leaving trails of sonic stardust in its wake!

 

PRICE: $23.00

CAT #: SN 025LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Skam recorded this stuff between 1982 and 1983, then broke up, leaving these songs to be released... maybe never? Or more preferably, now, to race into the bloodstream of jaded, faded today with all the vigor and rigor of Skam's eternal youth. The band that became Skam was a world apart; they were posited for the first time by 8th graders Vince Forcier and Jack Anderson at a Jackson Browne concert, and their initial rehearsals in their parents' basement were highlighted by covers of Beatles, Stones, Who and Led Zeppelin songs. It wasn't until they'd been playing a bit that they discovered The Ramones, and it was then that the die was cast and pedal pressed to the metal for another frantic couple of years. The Skam recordings from '82 have an undeniably Clash-like countenance that sets them definitively apart from the 'First Four' of dischord -- in some ways, prefiguring the pop-punk sound of Green Day at the dawn of the '90s instead -- but subsequent recordings found them quickly evolving into a personal mastery of savage riffs and tempos, as well as post-punk conceptions. But even as they were verging into this new territory, their three years together had frayed their alliance and they soon broke up. Jack joined No Trend, Vince played in Racer X and then, the second version of Second Wind. The rediscovered Skam tapes make for an incredible addendum to the more well-known music of that incredible time and place. No Name is the name, grab it now!"

 

PRICE: $29.50

CAT #: STSLJN 355LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Pavel Milyakov (Buttechno) and Aleksandra Zakharenko (Perila) unveil their collaborative debut as pmxper. Recorded (mostly) remotely between 2020-2022, but mired in a mutual interiority, their sublimely smoky venture bridges strains of spoken word, strung-out country folk, jazz and etheric kosmische with a timeless control of mood and atmosphere that amounts to one of the finest episodes in either's oeuvre. In a properly enchanted blurring of identity, they almost entirely dispense with digital tools in favor of more pastoral and timeless energies; guitar, sax, jazzy brush drums and a Rhythm Ace FR-3 drum machine, a sort of precursor to Roland's simmering CR-78. It's that sax that takes you places though, daubing accents of blushed romance over walls of guitar in various formations, all of which sidestep the widescreen cliché in favor of something more nuanced and unusual. This isn't the open road of Lynch and Badalamenti, more the careening trailblaze of Conny Plank and Holger Czukay, Angela Conway and Bruce Gilbert, The Jesus & Mary Chain and Hope Sandoval's Stoned & Dethroned, like a melted Venus in Furs, soft, and fritzed.

 

PRICE: $18.00

CAT #: SMALL 061EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Get down with four magic house-cuts by Christopher Rau. These irresistible grooves will make the sun shine brighter for forever. Including full cover artwork by Stefan Marx.

 

PRICE: $22.00

CAT #: FFL 006LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2023 limited restock. Souffle Continu Records presents the first official vinyl reissue of Essais, the sole album by Semool, originally released in 1971. This LP is the third in Souffle Continu's series of ten reissues from the catalog of the cult French label Futura Records, fully licensed by Futura founder Gérard Terronè. Semool was a trio of Philippe Martineau, Olivier Cauquil, and Rémy Dédé Dréano. They recorded Essais between 1969 and 1971; under the underground, it's a foggy lo-fi psychedelic alien with echoes of Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath drowned in oceans of heavy delay and acid guitars. Presented in a 350g sleeve with obi strip and matte finish.

 

PRICE: $12.50

CAT #: SS 012

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

2001 release. 2023 repress. Includes "Insane Asylum" & "China Trax". These are tracks recorded in 1987 at the Blue Lightbulb Studio, mastered from the original Maxell analog cassettes.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: SUBSOUND 089LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

The Land of the Snow is a project and a state of mind of Joel Gilardini (baritone guitars, electronics, and drums programming), backed up on drums by Jacopo Pierazzuoli (Obake, Morkobot, and Deneb). TLOTS is devoted to massive, metal-oriented soundscapes: a constantly evolving sludgy mix of doom and post metal (often seasoned with noise and dub elements), which often takes its inspiration from alpine landscapes and Tibetan traditions. The new album As Within, So Without is about what's inside people, how they interact with the outside, and vice versa. It's a constant exchange and confrontation that drives peoples' lives and pushes them to widen their horizons with each step they take. As Within, So Without was conceived together with Jacopo Pierazzuoli (drums), Eraldo Bernocchi (mix and additional guitars), and Petulia Mattioli (artwork). Joel is an experimental guitarist and sound designer, based in Zurich. Beside TLOTS, he is also known for his ambient-drone works (released on labels like ZeroK, Unexplained Sounds Group and Endtitles) and is a member of the noise-industrial combos Mulo Muto (with Attila Folklor) and Psychic Drones (with Kazuyuki Kishino).

 

PRICE: $28.50

CAT #: SUBSOUND 089LTD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. Color vinyl. The Land of the Snow is a project and a state of mind of Joel Gilardini (baritone guitars, electronics, and drums programming), backed up on drums by Jacopo Pierazzuoli (Obake, Morkobot, and Deneb). TLOTS is devoted to massive, metal-oriented soundscapes: a constantly evolving sludgy mix of doom and post metal (often seasoned with noise and dub elements), which often takes its inspiration from alpine landscapes and Tibetan traditions. The new album As Within, So Without (2023, Subsound Records) is about what's inside people, how they interact with the outside, and vice versa. It's a constant exchange and confrontation that drives peoples' lives and pushes them to widen their horizons with each step they take. As Within, So Without was conceived together with Jacopo Pierazzuoli (drums), Eraldo Bernocchi (mix and additional guitars), and Petulia Mattioli (artwork). Joel is an experimental guitarist and sound designer, based in Zurich. Beside TLOTS, he is also known for his ambient-drone works (released on labels like ZeroK, Unexplained Sounds Group and Endtitles) and is a member of the noise-industrial combos Mulo Muto (with Attila Folklor) and Psychic Drones (with Kazuyuki Kishino).

 

PRICE: $19.00

CAT #: SA 038LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

2023 restock. "Yonye is a collection of solo recordings made shortly after SK Kakraba's relocation to America. In his words: 'The songs on this album are Lobi traditional music from Ghana, but they are recorded here in California. The album is called Yonye because I have traveled and seen different life, different things. The music is traditional songs, reacting to what I have seen here.'"

 

PRICE: $23.00

CAT #: SA 039LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2023 restock. "S. Araw "Trio" XI is a new configuration of the Sun Araw band, the live-action collaborative branch of Sun Araw. Over the course of several studio dates in Hollywood, California, 'Trio' players Cameron Stallones, Alex Gray, and Mitchell Brown (with no prior intentions of doing any such thing) successfully planted a garden of 'non-dimensional' objects, not only spontaneously generating these objects but also mastering their nurture and cultivation. And you can too! Gazebo Effect is a 2LP nocturnal stroll into the depths of the garden, its upper lawns and outbuildings. The listener is advised that as the objects have been 'set growing' their location at any given time is difficult to predict. The garden cannot be exited by the path it is entered, the angles involved being extremely precise. These factors (and others) clearly illustrate the value for oneself (and others) in the building of an observational structure: the gazebo. However, it must be understood that the presence of this structure has a transformative effect on the garden itself. In other words, the 'gazebo effect' is a music production system that allows a performance to be obstructed & (thus) interpreted while it is being played. What a savings!"

 

PRICE: $45.00

CAT #: SR 501LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

2023 repress. "Duo Exchange was the flagship release of Survival Records. Percussionist Rashied Ali and saxophonist Frank Lowe were both in a hurry to ignite their careers as leaders, and this record lit the match. Survival Records was a joint venture between the duo, and the recording sessions done at Marzette Watts's studio were the maiden voyage of their partnership. They went in to capture the vehemence bursting forth nightly in the downtown lofts, and the results were furious, brutal, and poignant. With the release of this album in 1973, Ali and his family and Frank Lowe and his family all became executives and clerks helping to get the word out. And getting the records out -- at loft shows and Village record haunts. The message of untamed tenor saxophone and Ali's drums should sound familiar: That's the combination that made jazz history in Ali's 1967 duets with his then-employer, John Coltrane. What eventually came out as Interstellar Space is its own pinnacle of the genre, but its release was still a year off when Duo Exchange was issued to the public. Mixed and mastered from the original tapes, this expanded 2020 edition restores sections of the original record inexplicably excised from the CD release in the nineties, and expands on it with more than double the playing time of the original LP with fascinating outtake versions that rephrase the familiar tracks. 2xLP gatefold tip-on jacket, pressed on RTI Vinyl."

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: TECN 25626

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Warehouse find; last copies of this Japanese compilation from around year 2000. Collection of singles tracks from the following mid-60s Japanese garage groups, in the "Group Sound" genre: The Napoleon, D'Swooner's, The Hi-Lo's, The Unicorns, The Gallopers, The toys, The Eagles. 22 tracks in all, with reproductions of the original sleeves, etc.

 

PRICE: $18.00

CAT #: TPG 011EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

TPG long-term friend and homeboy Ben Oyefeso pulls out a trio of double-jointed cuts for the club and not, the German producer's debut EP Lagerfeuer packs that left-of-center house punch that's come to define the label throughout the previous ten releases and certainly more than just that. Cutting his lane at the junction of oddball party music and deconstructionist boogie, Oyefeso's maiden sortie floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee. A weird, buzzing slab of body-jacking electronics that doesn't play by the book. Enough with the words, just jump on board Ben Oyefeso's ghost train for a seriously tortuous, nonconformist ride across dance music's jagged ridges and most secret crevasses.

 

PRICE: $40.00

CAT #: TVPCLP 007LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Approximately three years after the release of their debut album, Etnobotanika are back. Le?ne Duchy is yet another joint release from the Silesian duo, coming out on the collaborative efforts of Superkasety Records and The Very Polish Cut Outs. These are still the sounds of a dusty old cassette, however this time the digging didn't take place in the allotment gardens, but rather somewhere in the woods, within a thick layer of moss. Hauntology and nostalgia still play important roles yet they are no longer in the foreground. Certain associations with primordial magic, wild backwoods and unspeakable mysteries come to the fore. The ambience encapsulated in these tropes is the key to understanding this album. One can, of course, mention that sonically the producers are once again flirting with dubtechno, ambient and sampled collages, but all these genre clichés are only tools resulting from the individual inspirations and experiences of Alergeek and Uwdar (i.e. the two halves of Etnobotanika), and are meant to build the right mood, not to put Le?ne Duchy into the tight framework of, say, club music or trip-hop. If this album is to be pinned down to anything, it is probably library music. The 80 minutes of music spanning two vinyl records and a chunk of cassette tape make for quite a long record, Etnobotanika however make sure there is absolutely no dullness, precisely thanks to the variety of moods.

 

PRICE: $11.00

CAT #: WIRE 476

FILE UNDER: Misc

"On the cover: L'Rain. Inside: Trevor Mathison, Blevin Blectum, Piotr Kurek, Al Karpenter, Kate Gentile, Minaru, Invisible Jukebox: Paul Rooney, Global Ear: Beijing, The Inner Sleeve: People Like Us, Epiphanies: Alvin Curran, Unlimited Editions: Red Hook Records, Unofficial Channels: DaMetalMessiah, and in the reviews sections: Jessica Ackerley, Armand Hammer, Stuart Dempster, Thurston Moore, Horace Tapscott, Etran D L'Aïr, and more."

 

PRICE: $21.50

CAT #: TOYT 147LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Toy Tonics going new wave disco with Baby's Berserk's self-titled debut album. Two guys and two girls from Amsterdam and Montreal called Baby's Berserk. Baby's Berserk is about taking the freedom to be who you want to be, about being comfortable. Having played in all-girl punk bands since the age of 14, the bands singer Lieselot is an expert on female empowerment. In the great tradition of Roxy Music, Throbbing Gristle, and Malcolm McLaren, Baby's Berserk is not just about the edgy music, but also about a very strong own visual style. They readily blend their sounds with underground fashion. Sonically designed for gritty rock venues as well as up-to-date edgy dance clubs, Mano's lush compositions smoothly intertwine with the highly associative lyrics written by Puggy and Lieselot. Poets and literary addicts may think they've just discovered the rock n' roll equivalents of Sylvia Plath, Kurt Vonnegut, and Allen Ginsberg. To tell you the truth: their wild guess is pretty accurate as the works by these greats lie scattered around the Baby's Berserk studio for inspiration. The band was born in a laboratory back in 2019. Tired of being in bands with unruly and unpredictable humans, Mano Hollestelle set out to create a group of high precision robots to create the post-punk sound he had in mind. His outdated technology of floppy disks and cassette tapes worked well to program the androids, until one day a '90s rave mixtape was mistakenly entered into his computer. House music is a feeling and the punk bots instantly got hooked on it upon hearing it for the first time. They could never be reset to factory settings again. Mano worked tirelessly with his androids, currently known by their humanoid names of Lieselot Elzinga, Puggy Beales, and Eva Wijnbergen, to fulfil his evil plan to make the rockers dance and the dancers rock. Baby's Berserk is the fiendish extension of this plot. Beware, the band's bass driven grooves and computerized beats have been known to cast a spell upon all within earshot. So, what do the songs on Baby's Berserk tell you? That it's totally fine to have lots of fun in life! To have a boyfriend as an accessory ("Accessories"), to get inspired by SpongeBob ("Dancing With The Fish") and to blend your spirits with mixers whenever the hell you feel like it ("Rum 'n' Kola").

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: TDP 54114LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Reissue. Mixing the theatrical, the operatic and the ghoulish, Screamin' Jay Hawkins was a one-off whose shocking stage tactics helped him find initially fame in the mid-1950s. Recorded in Nashville in 1973 and his sole offering for local label Hot Line, A Portrait Of A Man And His Woman is Hawkins at his most accessible; the title track's haunting delivery and a remake of calling card "I've Put A Spell On You" balanced by bright takes of "Itty Bitty Pretty One" and Conway Twitty's "It's Only Make Believe," with plenty of grunts, shouts and animalistic interjections beneath Hawkins' operatic and gospel-tinged vibrato. Hawkins fans, take note! Licensed from Good Time Inc.

 

PRICE: $34.00

CAT #: TRILPFR 062LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

On the occasion of its exceptional evening at the Cabaret Sauvage, Tricatel releases a vinyl compilation of thirteen tracks, including several previously unreleased ones. It's a collector's item for long-time fans and for those who want to discover the label. The Tricatel Machine compilation pays tribute to this unique evening, including each artist present at the party. But not only that! Of the thirteen tracks, many are new or unreleased on vinyl. Features Leo Blomov, Lord$, Charles Dollé, Comateens, Guy Cabay, Louis Philppe, Catastrophe, Ingrid Caven, Chassol, Stéphane Salvi & Kumisolo, A.S Dragon, Bertrand Burgalat, and Karol Beffa. Printed innersleeve.

 

PRICE: $23.50

CAT #: VDSQ 031LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

A main architect of one of the most exciting and innovative groups of the last decade, Guerilla Toss, Arian Shafiee has recorded for labels as varied and iconic as Sub Pop, DFA, and Tzadik. Engines In Unity is the brilliant follow-up to his 2018 VDSQ debut solo album, A Scarlet Fail (VDSQ 022LP). The record presents a retrospective of Shafiee's singular relationship with the guitar thus far, reconciling his interest in slow, languorous music and deep sound design. Vivid and often destroyed, the pieces on Engines In Unity pan between chamber arrangements and more inherently guitar oriented songs, drawing from his love of classical, ECM jazz, "slowed + reverb" culture and new age. In the artist's usual fashion, he crafts fleeting music that escapes categorization, with every vignette showcasing a new elusive sound source (most of which are processed acoustic or electric guitars). Through hyper detailed production, Engines In Unity takes you into massive physical spaces, all the while feeling simultaneously epic and understated. Mastered by Dan Walker. Artwork by Robert Beatty. Deluxe LP edition with large size poster; heavy tip-on jackets with spot UV gloss and soft touch finishes and full color 35"x24" poster featuring artwork by Robert Beatty; pressed to high quality vinyl at RTI.

 

PRICE: $29.50

CAT #: WWSLP 047LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2023 repress; LP version. Gatefold sleeve; includes 24-page booklet. Wewantsounds reissue Akiko Yano's cult classic Ai Ga Nakucha Ne, recorded in 1982 and co-produced by Ryuichi Sakamoto. Ai Ga Nakucha Ne ("there must be love" in Japanese) is Akiko Yano's sixth studio album and follows Tadaima in 1981. It continues exploring the electro-pop sound of its predecessor, hot on the heels of her touring with Yellow Magic Orchestra between 1979 and 1980. For this album, Akiko decided to try something new; she enrolled English musicians Mick Karn, Steve Jansen and David Sylvian from Japan and booked the Air Studios in London under the supervision of engineer Steve Nye. Over a couple of weeks, the musicians created a fascinating soundscape full of catchy pop tunes, sung in both Japanese and English. Reminiscing about the studio sessions, Steve Jansen notes "Our music's different but we maybe had a similar process of working. It was a great environment because the studio was a great place to work. It was very insular. There were four studios and there were always groups working in there 24/7." The eleven tracks featured on Ai Ga Nakucha Ne, mostly composed by Akiko -- are a great collection of catchy tunes featuring her distinctive vocals and accompanied by the Japan musicians. As Akiko explains about the creative process, "I didn't think to imitate or to make another Tin Drum. But I had Steve Jansen and Mick Karn, these excellent musicians. They were eager to understand the songs, then they put in everything they had. I knew the material was different from what they usually played in Japan. But it was a great experience working with them." There are many highlights on the album, from the pop edge of "Aisuru Hito Yo" to the avant groove of "Another Wedding Song", each song is memorable and the album ends with the superb "Good Night" sung by Akiko and David Sylvian. The original 1982 LP release included a 24-page booklet featuring many photos by Pennie Smith and Japanese photographer Bishin Jumonji. The booklet is reproduced in its entirety here and the album on top of contributions by Mac DeMarco, a longtime fan of the album. Also includes a dual interview with Akiko Yano and Steve Jansen by journalist Paul Bowler. Audio remastered from the original tapes by Mitsuo Koike.

 

PRICE: $29.50

CAT #: WWSLP 050LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2023 repress. Wewantsounds present the first ever vinyl release of Ziad Rahbani's Houdou Nisbi recorded in 1985 and only released on cassette and CD in 1991. One of Rahbani's most praised albums, released on the sought-after Lebanese label Relax-in. Mixing Arabic music with funk, jazz, boogie and a touch of Brazilian music, it is considered a classic among Oriental groove fans, DJs and collectors around the world. Curated by Lebanese DJ and Journalist Ernesto Chahoud. Ziad Rahbani is one of the giants of Arabic music and a cultural icon in the Middle East. The musician, pianist and producer is also a celebrated playwright and a political activist. Coming out of an illustrious artistic dynasty (his father, famous composer and musician Assi Rahbani, was in The Rahbani Brothers and his mother is the legendary Lebanese diva, Fairuz), Ziad Rahbani released a string of key albums in the '70s that have since become cult among DJs and collectors. Heavily influenced by Western music, Rahbani brought these influences to traditional Arabic music early one. 1978 saw the release of two key Rahbani albums, the disco 12" Abu Ali and Bennesbeh Labokra... Chou? (WWSLP 044LP). Serving as musical director to his mother Fairuz, he produced some of her best albums including Maarifti Feek recorded in 1984 at his Beirut studio, By Pass, bringing his blend of modern influences to her traditional sound. At the very same time, Rahbani started recording his own album at By Pass with the cream of Lebanese musicians including saxophonist Tewfic Farroukh, guitarist Paul Dawani, and percussionist Emile Boustani. Bringing funk, boogie, jazz funk fusion and Brazilian music to the mix, Rahbani created a landmark album, Houdou Nisbi now considered one of the best jazz funk albums from the Middle East. Featuring such cult tracks as "Rouh Khabbir", a remake of the Crusaders' "Soul Shadow" sung by Rahbani himself, the modern soul of "Bisaraha" and the Brazilian flavored "For Sure", the album is both effortlessly groovy and steeped in Oriental music. Houdou Nisbi, which means "relatively calm", an expression used by news anchors on Lebanese TV to describe the mood during cease-fire in the civil war that went on between 1975 and 1990. The cassette artwork has faithfully been reproduced for vinyl release. Remastered. New liner notes by Lebanese DJ and curator Ernesto Chahoud in English/French.

 

PRICE: $31.50

CAT #: WWSLP 060LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

2023 repress. Wewantsounds release Sharayet El Disco a selection of Egyptian '80s disco and boogie tracks curated by Egyptian DJ Disco Arabesquo from his vast collection of cassettes. Most tracks have never been released on any other format and are making their vinyl debut with this set. A journey through the funky sound of '80s Egypt, Sharayet El Disco (which can be translated by "Disco Cassettes") features Simone, Ammar El Sherei, and more obscure names from Cairo's cassette culture. Sharayet El Disco is part of an important mission for Moataz Rageb aka Disco Arabesquo. The Amsterdam-based Egyptian DJ has been collecting cassettes from Arab-speaking countries and its diaspora for many years and has amassed a vast collection of Egyptian music concentrating on the '80s, the sound he grew up listening to. His goal has been to search for these rare sounds and make them known to a new vinyl-hungry audience. During this decade, the rich Egyptian music industry, which had seen such stars as Oum Kalthoum, Abdel Halim Hafez, and Warda take the Arab world by storm in the '60s and '70s, was going through a new phase and the cassette format was the cause. This radical change enabled many young musicians and producers to spread their music directly to consumers duplicating cassettes themselves. A new vibrant music scene erupted in Cairo blending their sound with trends coming from the US and Europe including, of course, disco, soul, and funk. The cream from this scene was soon picked up by the most daring labels, including Mohsen Gaber's Alam El Phan, Sout El Hob, and Americana. Sharayet El Disco gives you a glimpse of these great tracks which -- for most of them -- were only ever released on cassette. The set is a unique insight into the diversity of the Egyptian disco sound, from the pulsating disco of "Hezeny" by Hany Shenouda's Al Massrieen band to the boogie of Simone's "Merci", via Firkit El Asdekaa's tongue-in-cheek "Eklib el Sheriet" ("turn the cassette to the other side"), produced by legendary Egyptian musician Ammar El Sherei. The music is both inventive and funky and played with both Western and Arab instruments proving that quality of Egyptian music. Audio remastered for vinyl by David Hachour/Colorsound Studio in Paris. LP artwork by young Egyptian graphic designer Heba Tarek. Includes two-page insert featuring artwork of the original cassettes plus insightful liner notes by Moataz Rageb. Also features Afaf Rady, Dr. Ezat Abou Ouf & el four M, FIrkIt el Ensan, Eman el Bahr Darwish, Firkit Americana Show, and Lebleba.

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: WP 001EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

AKA AKA teamed up with Artenvielfalt for a fresh and exciting cover version of the iconic rave classic "Camisra - Let Me Show You". This legendary house music track has been given a contemporary update with a sophisticated and smooth beat, bringing new life to the beloved masterpiece. The track preserves the main elements that made the original such a hit while infusing it with a modern edge that is sure to get people on their feet and dancing. The energy and vibe of "Let Me Show You" have been reimagined for a new generation of music lovers, making it a must-listen for anyone who loves electronic dance music. Don't miss out on this incredible new release -- listen now and let it show you what it can do!

 

PRICE: $15.50

CAT #: WNCL 045EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

WNCL Recordings is back with a series of two-track 10" vinyl battle weapons for your record box. Jane in Palma returns to the Cassette Library with enough bass weight to sink a ship. You know the drill by now -- heavy duty cuts, not for the faint hearted.

 

PRICE: $14.50

CAT #: WDSCS 001CD

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

Bristolian promoters Worm Disco Club have been championing southwestern talent since their inception in 2014. Having collaborated with Glastonbury Festival on their notorious "Wormhole" stage and hosted the likes of The Comet Is Coming, The Heliocentrics, and The Mauskovic Dance Band at their regular club night, the name has become synonymous with quality groove laden goodness, percussive madness, jazz, psych and beyond. Now proudly presenting their label Worm Discs, the collective recruit some of Bristol's most notable emerging talent for an exploration into the new wave of jazz emanating from the city. Featuring the likes of Waldo's Gift, Run Logan Run (Montreux Jazz Talent Award winners), BaDaBoom, Lyrebird, and Alun Elliot, New Horizons channels the seismic energy of the sonically rich landscape into 12 progressive, psychedelic, impeccably crafted tracks. From the cinematic, post-rock infused intensity of Waldo's Gift's "Bergson" to the zen-like, floating melodies of Ishamel Ensemble's rework of Snazzback's "Flump" and the angular textures of Run Logan Run's epic "A Sea Of Apathy And Indifference" -- this record is true odyssey from start to finish, for those who really want take a trip down the Wormhole. Also featuring Alun Elliot-Williams.

 

PRICE: $28.50

CAT #: WRWTFWW 042LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2023 restock; double LP version. Heavy 350gsm sleeve. WRWTFWW Records reissue Swiss cult band Grauzone's self-titled album in an expanded "40 Years Anniversary Edition" packed with the original 1981 album plus nine extra songs, as well as extensive liner notes by Swiss music historian Lurker Grand. The pioneering band from Bern (Switzerland) had a short-lived but highly-regarded career which birthed a cult discography that still fascinates and resonates today. Consisting of core members Martin Eicher, Stephan Eicher, and Marco Repetto, and on-and-off participants Christian GT Trüssel, Claudine Chirac, and Ingrid Berney, the elusive group broke new grounds in the early '80s, experimenting with punk and industrial music, early techno sounds, minimalism, new wave, pop, and various electronics. With an innovative and polished approach to design, visuals, performance, and all-around style and philosophy on top of their superb music, the constantly transforming unit developed a whole experience -- the Grauzone experience: wild and unpredictable, yet sophisticated and cohesive, or as Swiss music historian Lurker Grand would call it, "an Art band with a Punk attitude." Completely rejecting the music industry rules and refusing to play the game of promotion, touring, release schedules, and TV appearances even though they had a multi-platinum international hit with the song "Eisbär", the band quickly disintegrated in full convention-defying glory, leaving behind an inspiring music legacy for the world to discover and discover again, one generation after the other. This extended version of their debut (and only) album beautifully crystallizes the Grauzone miracle/accident -- where pop and youthful experimentation meet at (new/cold/no) wave and industrial crossroads, and where classic hits ("Eisbär", "FILM 2", "Raum", "Träume Mit Mir", "Der Weg Zu Zweit") flawlessly mesh with unconventional deep cuts ("In Der Nacht", "Film 1", "Maikäfer Flieg"). Very simply put: good timeless music with an edge. Stephan Eicher went on to be, arguably, the most successful Swiss musician ever, with an international career extending from pop chanson to experimental escapades and collaborations with Moondog, artists Sophie Calle and Sylvie Fleury, and author Martin Suter among many other luminaries. Marco Repetto flourished as a techno and ambient producer, releasing multiple projects including releases on Aphex Twin's Rephlex label. Sourced from the original reels and put together under the supervision of band member Stephan Eicher.

 

PRICE: $30.50

CAT #: WRWTFWW 062LP

FILE UNDER: SOUNDTRACK

WRWTFWW Records is announces the first ever release of the long-lost original motion picture soundtrack from the 1988 cult horror comedy sensation Ghoulies II by the incomparable Fuzzbee Morse. Digging deep to uncover a true gem of the VHS era, this limited-edition vinyl release (500 copies worldwide) marks history in the making as a piece of film score lore is resurrected from the depths of oblivion. The LP is packed with 39 tracks and features an exclusive artwork by French illustrator Pierre Thyss, as well an obi and composer notes. The captivating melodies that once played hauntingly in the background of Ghoulies II were long believed to be lost forever. It took over 30 years and Fuzzbee Morse's unwavering determination to dig out the legendary recordings -- and restore them for full audio pleasure! The superb soundscape of Ghoulies II perfectly captures the chilling and wacky essence of the cult movie, as well as its creepy carnival setting. Morse, citing influences such as Bernard Hermann, Frank Zappa, and Igor Stravinsky, flexes his multi-instrumentalist skills, flowing with ease between magical fairground elements (with brilliant use of calliope, tuba, flutes and sparkly sounding synthesizers), dark atmospheres and frightening attacks (tribal percussion, strings, along with dissonant, atonal gongs, bowed cymbals), and goofy moods (bassoon, bass clarinet, glockenspiel, trumpet, clarinet). It's big cinematic horror movie music with a lighter comedic touch -- the '80s live again! To complete this collector's edition, French illustrator Pierre Thyss (the man behind the WRWTFWW Records logo) lends his talent to provide awe-inspiring visuals that flawlessly encapsulate the juxtaposition of horror and comedy Ghoulies II follows the release of the full uncut soundtrack of Ghoulies (1985) which was released on vinyl for the first time ever by WRWTFWW Records in 2020 alongside soundtracks for other Richard Band-composed, Empire Pictures-produced classics: TerrorVision and Troll. All these '80s horror favorites are still available -- complete the collection now!

 

PRICE: $11.50

CAT #: XI 101CD

FILE UNDER: EXPERIMENTAL

2023 restock. "'Phill Niblock's music has no precedents, invites no comparisons, and doesn't even suggest any metaphors to me. It is simply itself and must be heard to be believed,' wrote Tom Johnson in The Village Voice a decade ago. The same is true today--no one is doing what Phill Niblock is doing. Niblock takes the building blocks of music and stacks them in inimitable formations. In Four Full Flutes, adjacent tones beat violently against one another while clouds of harmonics hover above the wavering drone... When the piece ends, it takes the listener a few moments to recover. This physiological experience, when the ossicles slow their vibrating and the membrane hairs come to a standstill, is probably the only aspect of the music not regulated by the score... Playing this compact disc in a different room or moving around the room while the disc is being played actually alters the outcome. Similarly, the music can be experienced anew through different combinations, extra speakers, home stereo pyrotechnics, and volume level alterations. The effects intensify with louder levels of volume. The higher the volume goes, the higher you go" --Neil Strauss. "The aural effect is minimal to the max, but it isn't simplistic. The tones vibrate and glow, the densely packed texture shifting hues like a sonic aurora borealis" --John Rockwell, The New York Times. "The four pieces on this 80-minute CD are for multiple tracks of alto flutes, flutes, flutes and alto flutes, and bass flutes, performed by Petr Kotik, Susan Stenger, and Eberhard Blum." --Phill Niblock

 

PRICE: $14.00

CAT #: XI 150CD

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

On this album, Lucie Vítková and Merche Blasco explore cyborgness through their relationships with their instruments. Lucie perceives the accordion as an extension of their body -- sound, matter, and movement locked in a self-generating cybernetic loop. Merche built Anette, a 3D printer, as her interlocutor and companion in the performance space; in return, Anette printed thimble-microphones Merche wears on her fingers, which render the machine's unique electromagnetic voice audible to human ears. Performed through an octophonic system, the wearable microphones expand Merche's hand gestures to sonically fill the performance space, surrounding the audience with the sensation of being within Anette's busy, mechanical body. For this album, the eight signals broadcast by Merche's thimble-microphones were later mixed down to stereo, replicating the spatial image created live. This album is the record of an inter-material conversation among the trio of Vítková, Blasco, and Anette (technically a quartet since Merche was six months pregnant at the time), in which human and nonhuman elements of the cyborgian system are in constant interflow. The album includes a text written by Shelley Hirsch.

 

PRICE: $31.50

CAT #: XK 021LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Mats Erlandsson is a composer and musician, part of the vibrantly reemerging field of drone music in Stockholm, Sweden, associated with practices characterized by the extensive use of sustained sound. Erlandsson presents his work both as a solo artist and in collaborations, most notably together with Yair Elazar Glotman and Maria W Horn. The music on this recording is performed by a kind of fictitious chamber ensemble situated in an imaginary room outlined by textures that alternate between gestural foreground and passive landscape. The three pieces contained within this release are tied together by sharing similar harmonic material and instrumentation and could ideally be perceived as parts of one long performance stretching through the two sides of the record. The textural room in which this musical performance operates is unreliable, unstable, constantly shifting in size and activity from sparse and open to dense and claustrophobic. Inside this non-euclidean performance space a chamber ensemble made up of zithers expanded through analog tape transposition, harmonium and organ, double bass, digital FM, feedback-convolution and Serge modular synthesizer perform a music made from justly tuned intervals arranged in a way that blurs the distinction between traditional minor and major tonal harmony in favor of harmonic progression within an essentially modal framework. The material used to make these pieces included non-harmonic sounds and contaminated field-recordings that have gone through a sort of feedback process between digital and analog, or acoustic, processing where the recordings were edited, processed and re-amplified and recorded again in acoustic spaces to shape their character and imprint acoustic identities on the recordings. The tonal instruments were treated in a process analogous to this -- harmonic material built from recordings and digitally generated synthesis recorded, transcribed, rearranged and overdubbed again with additional electronic or acoustic instruments to form a composite electroacoustic instrumental sound.

 

PRICE: $42.00

CAT #: XK 023LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

XKatedral Anthology II is the second instalment in a series of archival releases dedicated to presenting music by composers affiliated with XKatedral working within the realm of slowly evolving harmonic and timbral music. This double-vinyl set contains an array of pieces dating from 2018 to 2020. This collection of pieces focuses on the use of synthetic sound and algorithmic composition languages as tools for precise work within the realm of spectral exploration. In addition to this, the electronic instrumentation in many of the pieces is augmented by acoustic instruments. Featuring: Kali Malone, Jessica Ekomane, Mats Erlandsson, Theodor Kentros, Wilma Hultén, Maria W Horn.

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: ZEHRA 010CD

FILE UNDER: EXPERIMENTAL

Flocks is a new duo, formed by drone specialist Werner Durand and Uli Hohmann. Musical landscapes that move between traditional as well as experimental sounds with influences from Krautrock and Jon Hassel's "fourth world" aesthetics. Werner Durand has made himself a name with various projects with Dhrupad singer Amelia Cuni, playing with Urban Sax, Arnold Dreyblatt, Henning Christiansen, David Behrman, Ellen Fullman, Catherine Christer Hennix, as the co-founder of The 13th Tribe, Armchair Traveller and Tonaliens (with Robin Ayward and Hilary Jeffery) plus numerous solo albums, released on labels like Black Truffle, Unseen Worlds, or Edition Telemark. Having studied saxophone as well as Indian/Persian flutes, the Berlin based Durand is a highly reputable protagonist in the drone scene, famous for his self-built wind instruments like buzz-clarinets or his PVC neys and horns. His partner in Flocks (and longtime personal friend) is Uli Hohmann whose early encounters with music from Asia, India and Africa led to studies with the Ghanaian master drummer Mustapha Tettey Addy and later Tombak and Daf with Nemad Darman (Iran). Hohmann played in a couple of projects that explored the language of classical Persian music, and started building his own stringed instruments (being an educated carpenter). In 2014, he joined Durand and Amelia Cuni for the album Clearing, and 2018 Duran and Hohmann decided to continue as a duo: Flocks was born. On their self-titled debut, they shape drone-y soundscapes based on their self-built wind- and stringed-instruments, Persian percussion and subtle electronics, drawing additional inspiration from krautrock (listen to the irresistible, hypnotic groove of "Quicksand") as well as Jon Hassel's "fourth world" aesthetics, placing the duo nicely between tradition and experiment.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: ZEHRA 010LP

FILE UNDER: EXPERIMENTAL

LP version. 180 gram vinyl. Flocks is a new duo, formed by drone specialist Werner Durand and Uli Hohmann. Musical landscapes that move between traditional as well as experimental sounds with influences from Krautrock and Jon Hassel's "fourth world" aesthetics. Werner Durand has made himself a name with various projects with Dhrupad singer Amelia Cuni, playing with Urban Sax, Arnold Dreyblatt, Henning Christiansen, David Behrman, Ellen Fullman, Catherine Christer Hennix, as the co-founder of The 13th Tribe, Armchair Traveller and Tonaliens (with Robin Ayward and Hilary Jeffery) plus numerous solo albums, released on labels like Black Truffle, Unseen Worlds, or Edition Telemark. Having studied saxophone as well as Indian/Persian flutes, the Berlin based Durand is a highly reputable protagonist in the drone scene, famous for his self-built wind instruments like buzz-clarinets or his PVC neys and horns. His partner in Flocks (and longtime personal friend) is Uli Hohmann whose early encounters with music from Asia, India and Africa led to studies with the Ghanaian master drummer Mustapha Tettey Addy and later Tombak and Daf with Nemad Darman (Iran). Hohmann played in a couple of projects that explored the language of classical Persian music, and started building his own stringed instruments (being an educated carpenter). In 2014, he joined Durand and Amelia Cuni for the album Clearing, and 2018 Duran and Hohmann decided to continue as a duo: Flocks was born. On their self-titled debut, they shape drone-y soundscapes based on their self-built wind- and stringed-instruments, Persian percussion and subtle electronics, drawing additional inspiration from krautrock (listen to the irresistible, hypnotic groove of "Quicksand") as well as Jon Hassel's "fourth world" aesthetics, placing the duo nicely between tradition and experiment.

 

PRICE: $15.50

CAT #: ZKR 028CD

FILE UNDER: CLASSICAL

zeitkratzer director Reinhold Friedl and his ensemble present new compositions, grounded on Domenico Scarlatti's piano sonata F-minor K.466. Commissioned by the dance company Rubato and dedicated to Mario Bertoncini (1932-2019). Little is known about Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757). His music is, so to speak, left to its own devices: free, cheeky, playful, sonorous, surprising. Harmonically strolling again and again into unforeseen regions, the ear leads, not the theory; and also, the fingers get their right: playful and haptic it goes. Scarlatti explained, "since nature has given me ten fingers and my instrument provides employment for all, I see no reason why I should not use all ten of them." Freedom, friction, and listening pleasure instead of convention: "He knew quite well that he had disregarded all the rules of composition in his piano pieces, but asked whether his deviation from the rules offended the ear? He believes there is almost no other rule than that of not offending the only sense whose object is music -- the ear." Reinhold Friedl applied this principle and composed the music for a choreography by dance company Rubato. Dance music drawn from Scarlatti, who was so inspired by dance music. The material of the piano sonata F-minor K.466 is twisted anew in all its richness, shifted back and forth, declined, frozen, noise-ified, sound structures extracted, floating. Those who know the sonata, will more than smell its shadows. Dedicated to Mario Bertoncini (Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza) who was particularly fond of K.466, on which all the music presented here is grounded.